Originally, Aster was going to return to the valley after completing the mission, but since this little situation regarding the reward that he was supposed to get, came his way, he decided to stay a bit more in the Central Capital.
While Angela did her part, he and the girls that tagged along left the mission hall and went to the Twin Sword Store, which Aster's family owned.
It's worth mentioning that when he appeared in the mansion, Helena and Dahlia weren't there, so they should be at the store, and Aster could drop by to say hi, while he waited for the elders to appear.
The group calmly walked through the streets of the Central Capital, until they reached a pretty crowded area, as always there was a line formed outside of the store, this time Mylene stayed behind, so she with Helena's advices and Lilia's green light expanded the catalogue of elixirs and pills that the store offered for the public.
In comparison with other stores, the pills and elixirs sold in Aster's store were of a better quality for their price, so of course the junior disciples, and those without a rich backer were charmed by such good deals.
The Myriad Occupation sect was different to other sects, in the sense that outside status meant nothing in its territories, the strong families that gathered from all over Galatia, had to build their own little forces inside of the sect, from zero, and only after hundreds of years of accumulation they got some ground after becoming inner elders, or getting the support of the Core Elders.
But even then, they couldn't affect the internal functioning of the sect, because inner at elders at most can make others outer disciples, of course there are exceptions, but all of them don't originate in Galatia, like Agnes who is "only" an inner elder, but holds authority equal to a Core Elder, and is probably as strong as some of them.
It was done like that, because the idea of the sect was for strong people to join, regardless of their background, even great talent alone wasn't enough to guarantee a spot in the sect, since there was a combat test too, the Myriad Occupation sect was the only sect in the middle ranked Stellar Systems that had the "luxury" of rejecting talents, based on their attitude.
Most of those lazy asses who wanted to get special treatment from the very beginning, who for some reason were mostly the guys who joined with the fantasy of being surrounded by the pretty and talented female disciples, ended up leaving in disgrace to the Pleasure Palace, where their demands were met.
The girls on the line immediately recognized Aster and the others, since most of them belonged to the Black Sword faction, though there were also disciples from the other peaks and factions here, which is why the list of public pills was reviewed by Mylene, Aster already had plans for that, and this incident only made him accelerate them.
While the girls on the line curiously gazed at him, Aster and the girls entered through the staff exclusive front door, one would think that a store with such a large line would be crowded, but that wasn't the case.
Inside the batch of girls that were allowed to enter, were calmly observing the products that were offered, asked the girls that worked in the store about it, and made their purchases, it was a harmonious scene.
"Welcome back, miss Lilia just contacted me to say they were back, but I didn't expect to see you so soon, that's good, little Dahlia has been complaining that little Kana wasn't here to continue with the process of creation of the garden at the valley", Helena who was sitting behind the main counter of the store, saw Aster and smiled at him, as she greeted him.
"Aunt!", Dahlia who was helping a girl choosing a pill, complained from the second floor, which made Aster chuckle.
"You can go play with Kana once the store closes, I'll be in the meeting room upstairs, some important people will be coming in a few minutes just send them there, if they show any disrespect just send them away", casually said Aster.
With what he was going to do with Lilia and the others, Kana won't stay in the room anyway, the little girl had her own time to be spoiled by Aster, which usually came after he had finished his "battle" with the star maidens, in the meantime she just played in the valley with the little wyrm and some of the other girls, mostly Mylene but now Mira and Nim will also be joining… probably.
"Important guests?", asked Helena, only to hear Aster say.
"Core Elders, only let the Core Elders in, with the exception of the ones from the Red Sword, Brown Anvil, Purple Lotus and Light Blue anvil factions, the others can come in".
Helena was speechless for a second, the Brown Anvil is the neutral faction of the Blacksmith Peak, she knew that Aster was in bad terms with the original faction of the Blacksmith Peak, the Light Blue anvil faction, but the Brown Anvil was a new one.
Still, Helena knew Aster should have his reasons, so she didn't question him and just nodded.
"Got it, leave it in my hands".
Aster nodded back and then he went upstairs followed by Aria who was hugging his right arm, taking advantage of the fact that Alice, Lilia and Sarina weren't here to compete with her, and the others.
The second floor of the store had less girls looking through the racks and shelves which were filled with things, because the treasures, pills and elixirs here were those that only cultivators from the Star Tribulation to the Sea of Knowledge realms, will be able to properly use.
Of course, they were free for everyone to buy, but their prices were exponentially higher, also not everyone could power formations that were meant for higher realms than theirs after all.
Aster and the girls went straight for the meeting room, which was protected by two giant statues, some of the clients recognized Nerissa and gave her strange gazes, before they continued with their own things.
Once inside of the meeting room, Aster and the others took each a seat, Nerissa noticed that the gazes of the girls she encountered were different than usual but she put the subject at the back of her mind, right now she was interested on what Aster was planning.
And she didn't have to wait even five minutes, before the communication device on the table of the meeting room lit up.
"The Core elders of the Green Lotus and White Sword factions arrived, they are going upstairs", Helena's voice could be heard coming from the formation.
Aster then heard someone knocking on the door and with a wave of his hand, allowed the door to be opened.
Two somewhat familiar figures came from the now opened door, the first one was a brown-haired woman with honey toned eyes, who was wearing a green dress, that was the Core Elder of the Green Lotus faction, she looked familiar to Aster, not because he has met her or even saw her before.
But because she looked really similar to the Law Enforcer Amelia, the one that gifted him a quite high ranked pill as an apology for how the inner elders of the Alchemy Peak acted back then at the admission trials, with the difference that her hair only has a few bangs of green hair and is mostly brown, not to mention she looks younger appearing to be in her late twenties, similar to Valentina.
"Good evening, Lord of the Twin Sword Valley, my name is Ophelia and I'm the Core Elder of the Green Lotus faction, sister Amelia told me to come say hi and discuss about those ores of White Silicon that you have to spare", the voice of Ophelia was calm and gentle, she also had a thin herbal scent around her, something normal considering she is an alchemist focused on cultivating spirit herbs, which is the specialty of the Green Lotus faction.
Aster stood up and offered Ophelia a seat, the four original factions are supposedly the ones created by the ancestors, so this woman is probably related to one of his godmothers, also Amelia left a good impression on him, and Ophelia was honest in her greeting too.
"A pleasure, please take a seat while we wait and don't worry, it will only be a little wait of five minutes", he said.
Ophelia gently smiled and then sat on the chair which was offered to her, the other elder who entered the room was also someone Aster was somewhat familiar with, though they didn't directly meet since he was in disguise back then.
It was the Core Elder of the White Sword faction, whose job is to supervise the auction house at the Treasure Planet for certain events, Mikaela, her long black hair and black eyes made a good contrast with her heavy armor, her expression as rather emotionless, though she has a tinge of curiosity in her eyes as she said.
"I'm Mikaela Blanche, it's a pleasure… though I think this isn't our first time seeing each other", said Mikaela as she stole a gaze at Camila, Aster made quite a mess in the Treasure planet, so while others were convinced, he wasn't the one who got practically everything from the auction, as his cultivation didn't match with that person, which others were still looking for, Mikaela couldn't help but relate it to Aster.
Aster chuckled in response, as he also offered a seat to Mikaela, she wasn't too talkative, and she could even be considered hard to approach, but she didn't seem to have any ill intent, so Aster didn't take it personal.
The wait of five minutes went on pretty fast, and just before it ended, the formation on the table lit up and Helena's voice came from it, Aster could have made it so only he could hear it, but he chose to not do so.
"The Core Elder of the Yellow Anvil and the Silver Caldron factions arrived… there is also the one from the Brown Anvil and the one from the Red Sword faction requesting to enter, I did as you asked and only allowed the first two to enter".
Aster smiled, the fish took the bait, he ordered the door to open and the newcomers entered the room.
Normally, Aster would be welcoming of the elders from the original factions, or at least give them the benefit of doubt, since they are the ones whose vision aligns with the ancestors, but there is an exception, since the Supreme Elder from the Blacksmith Peak represents the will of the ancestor of the Blacksmith Peak, that means the original faction of the Blacksmith Peak is his enemy.
And so, the opposition, which in this case is the Yellow Anvil faction is technically more apt to be in good terms with him, that being said, Aster had a bad impression of them too, because one of the girls that was with the clown of Edward back then, was the highest ranked disciple of the Yellow Anvil faction, though she seems to have left him after that for some unknown reason.
In a sense, he should have been also against Mikaela because the other girl that also seemed to have cut ties with Edward, was the same, the highest ranked disciple from the White Sword faction, but Mikaela not only is upright, she is also working with/for the Alchemy Peak's ancestor, in other words his godmother.
"I'm Riley Lancer, I had my doubts, but the weapons on the racks that I saw earlier speak for themselves, it's a pleasure Lord of the Twin Sword valley", the first one to introduce herself, was the elder of the Yellow Anvil faction, she even extended her hand to offer a handshake, a strange thing to do considering that is a custom more commonly expected from men.
Riley was a woman who seemed to be in her early thirties, she had green eyes and relatively short hair that reached her chest, her most eye-catching characteristic is that she is tall… really tall, surpassing the two mark meter, something Aster has only seen in Rya and Lilia, besides that she was wearing a red blouse, a long skirt that reached all the way to her feet, leather boots and gauntlets as well as a heavy leather apron, giving her the appearance one would expect from a blacksmith, apparently she was in the middle of her work when she rushed all the way here.
Aster accepted the handshake and was momentarily surprised by the strong grip of the woman in front of him, but he answered in kind, in terms of physical strength, when has he ever been afraid of anyone, besides Lilia of course.
Riley saw the black-haired young man easily accepting the handshake and she smiled before she took the seat offered to her.
The last one, was a young woman with dark gray hair, similar to William's, with the difference that William's hair has a metallic tone, and this woman doesn't, she is also rather slim, and has glasses, a completely different "build" when compared to the tower-like shirtless William, despite the fact that Aster could tell they were somewhat related.
"My name is Amanda Talis, it's a pleasure", said Amanda as she raised the sides of her dress like a noble lady, which made Aster inwardly chuckle.
'Is she really from the same family as that guy… I guess mom's friends and their direct relatives are the black sheep of their families', he thought.
"The pleasure is mine, please take a seat, so we can start negotiating", said Aster, the glassed girl nodded and then sat in front of Riley, in silent.
Aster also returned to his seat and then said.
"Before we start, as normal in these kinds of negotiations, you have to swear that this conversation won't be leaked to any third parties, naturally the same doesn't apply to me".
The four Core Elders nodded, that is an unwritten rule, the buyers can't share what is discussed in a negotiation that involved precious materials, the seller won't do it as it would ruin its business after all, after they had made the respective soul oath, Aster dropped a bomb by saying.
"Perfect, now let's start with the price, I have two hundred kilograms of White Silicon Ore, that can be distributed among you four, how much does each of you receive depends on how much you are willing to pay, I'll listen to you".
The four elders were in awe for a second, before Riley laughed as she raised her hand.
"Forty million middle grade spirit jades for fifty kilograms of White Silicon ore, if it is truly of the best quality the payment can be made in high grade spirit jades, I heard it was of the highest purity, but I need to see it with own eyes before deciding the final type of payment", she said.
Aster's eyes glowed for a second, forty million middle grade spirit jades is a lot, but to be honest for him, is just numbers, unless they are talking about high grade spirit jades, which are apt for those in the high ranks of the Transcending realms and above.
'I guess the Star Obsidian is way more valuable than the White Silicon, as expected of something offered by one of my godmothers as a fortunate encounter, in a special event', thought Aster.
A single kilogram of refined Star Obsidian was realistically buyable with ten million middle grade spirit jades, the White Silicon Ore price offered by Riley was of around eight hundred and twenty thousand middle grade spirit jades per kilogram, which is less than a tenth of the price of one kilogram of Star Obsidian.
But that is understandable, Star Obsidian is hard to find in high quantities, and it is hard to refine as well, while White Silicon Ore can be found in great quantities, as long as one is willing to risk its own life.
And it is also easy to refine, which is one of the reasons as to why, Spirit Blacksmiths and everyone goes crazy over it.
Still, Aster wasn't going to let these elders have it easy, because from now and onwards there won't be a Silicon Forest in the Fritz Stellar System, and the White Silicon Ore he got is… different than the one they know, for sure.
"My bad, I should have shown you the quality of the goods first, also I would suggest you to prepare high grade spirit jades, instead of middle grade ones", said Aster.
Then under the surprised eyes of the four Core Elders, he took out a hand sized white-transparent crystal.
"H-Half Immortal grade material!", exclaimed the tall elder Riley, with a surprised voice, the other three elders were also amazed.
White Silicon is a peak Stellar grade material, so it can still be bought with middle grade spirit jades, but this variation presented by Aster has surpassed its limits, in a sense it is harder to find a half Immortal grade material than a low-grade Immortal one, because things that have the potential to be Immortal grade don't get stuck in the middle.
But at the same time, things whose potentials are of the peak Stellar grade don't go further than that, only under very special circumstances, such a thing happens, in this case, these white-transparent crystals were attached to the diamonds that the Diamond Bone Orchid created, after accumulating energy for countless years.
Daimon had no use to them, because he will use the diamonds for the girls, as they are full fledged Immortal grade materials, though of low grade unlike the Orchid, as they were created as an expansion of it, their value and properties surpass these ores he is selling by a lot.
So why not use them to increase the influence of his store, and also teach that elder a lesson.
Read 𝓁at𝙚st chapters at (f)re𝒆we(b)novel.com Only