The Marketplace of Wonders

With his first successful pill crafted and his alchemical knowledge proven, Amrit felt a chapter of his preparation close. The final trial was a combat tournament, and while he was confident in his abilities, Zian's earlier words about equipment lingered. His own creations were peerless, but they were also secrets. To understand the world, he had to engage with it on its own terms.

"The tournament will be a series of duels," Zian said, having finally composed himself after witnessing the miracle of the Dao Crystal. "It's not just about winning. It's about how you win. The Elders watch for skill, strategy, and temperament. Simply overpowering an opponent with raw strength is considered crude. They value finesse."

"Finesse," Amrit repeated, the word tasting strange. His methods—breaking artifacts, draining spiritual veins, creating impossible pills—were anything but subtle. Perhaps it was time to explore the more conventional avenues of the Academy.

"We have a fortune in Merit Points," Zian urged, his practical side taking over. "Even if the things they sell are flawed compared to your… work… a variety of tools is never a bad thing. And besides, the Central Marketplace is a sight to behold. It's the heart of the Outer Court's economy."

Amrit agreed. Understanding the flow of resources and power was as important as understanding combat.

They left the quiet residential sector and journeyed towards the city's bustling core. The Central Marketplace was not a single building but a sprawling, open-air plaza, even larger and more vibrant than the one where the Mission Board was located. It was a kaleidoscope of sight and sound.

Thousands of students and city residents navigated a labyrinth of stalls and shops. The air was a chaotic symphony of haggling merchants, boastful warriors showing off their new weapons, and the sizzle of street food cooked with magical fire. It was a place of pure, unadulterated commerce, where Merit Points were king.

The variety of goods was staggering. One stall, run by a grizzled, broad-shouldered dwarf, was covered in master-crafted axes and hammers, each one inscribed with heavy, solid-looking earth runes. Another, tended by a lithe elf with silver hair, displayed bows carved from living wood that seemed to hum with life, and arrows fletched with griffin feathers.

There were stalls selling maps to hidden resource points in the mountains, stalls trading in captured spirit beasts, and even information brokers who would sell secrets and rumors for the right price. This was the engine that drove the Academy's meritocracy. A student could complete a dangerous mission to hunt a beast, sell its core at the marketplace for Merit Points, and then use those points to buy a better sword to hunt an even stronger beast. It was a self-sustaining cycle of risk and reward.

Amrit and Zian wandered through the aisles, taking it all in. Amrit's spiritual sense and his system were working in tandem, providing a constant stream of information. He would glance at a "flawless" jade amulet and his mind would instantly supply the data: 'Micro-fracture near the clasp, 8% reduction in durability. Overpriced by 200 Merit Points.' He saw a "potent" strength-enhancing potion and knew it was brewed with inferior river water, causing a 5% chance of stomach cramps.

The entire marketplace, this "Marketplace of Wonders," was, to his eyes, a market of flawed goods sold by ignorant merchants to eager fools. Yet, the energy was undeniable. This was the world's standard of excellence, and he needed to understand it.

Their attention was drawn to a large, boisterous crowd gathered around a central auction stage. An auction was in progress, run by the Academy itself. The item currently on display was a magnificent suit of deep blue armor, shimmering with a watery light.

"For sale, one suit of 'Maelstrom Scale Mail'!" the auctioneer, a fast-talking man with a sharp goatee, announced. "Forged from the scales of a Deep-Sea Serpent Lord, it provides supreme defense against water and ice attacks and can allow the user to breathe underwater for up to an hour! A perfect tool for any aquatic mission! Bidding starts at 15,000 Merit Points!"

A flurry of bids immediately shot up from the wealthy students in the crowd. The price quickly climbed past 20,000. Amrit analyzed the armor from a distance. It was good, a solid 8.5/10, but the forging process had created weak points at the joints. His own seamless black armor, which he wore hidden under his robes, was conceptually superior in every way.

"Tempted?" Zian asked.

"No," Amrit said. "I am simply observing the economy."

As the armor sold for a staggering 28,000 points, the next item was brought onto the stage. It was not a weapon or a piece of armor. It was a pulsating, fist-sized organ resting on a block of enchanted ice. It was a deep crimson color and radiated a ferocious, fiery heat.

"And now, a rare treat for our alchemists and beast-tamers!" the auctioneer boomed. "Freshly procured from the volcanic northern peaks! The core of a mature Fury-Flame Lion!"

A gasp went through the crowd. The Fury-Flame Lion was a notoriously powerful and savage magical beast. Its core was a concentrated essence of pure fire Prana, a priceless ingredient for high-grade fire-element pills or a powerful meal for a fire-aspected spirit pet.

"Look at the purity!" the auctioneer exclaimed. "No damage from the hunt! This is a perfect specimen! The bidding will start at 20,000 Merit Points!"

The crowd buzzed with excitement. This was a treasure that even the likes of Yan Tao, the alchemical genius, would covet.

Amrit's eyes narrowed. He focused his senses on the core, his system instantly providing a deep, analytical dive.

[Item: Fury-Flame Lion Core (Mature).]

[Quality: 9/10 (Externally). The core's energy is potent and stable.]

[Hidden Flaw Detected: A latent spiritual parasite, a 'Soul-Ember Larva,' is dormant within the core. The larva is undetectable by conventional means. If the core is consumed or refined, the larva will awaken and attempt to bond with the host's spirit sea, slowly siphoning their energy and causing eventual madness.]

The "perfect specimen" was a time bomb. A beautiful, potent, and deadly trap. The hunter who had procured it had likely been killed by the lion's mate before they could detect the subtle signs of parasitic infection, or perhaps they were simply not skilled enough to notice.

"21,000!" a student from a fire-wielding sect shouted.

"23,000!" another countered.

The bidding war began, driven by the rarity and apparent perfection of the core. Zian looked at Amrit. "That could be used to create a pill that would give you a massive temporary boost in the tournament."

"It is poison," Amrit stated simply.

Zian frowned. "Poison? It's one of the purest fire sources I've ever sensed."

"The poison is not in the fire," Amrit said, his gaze fixed on the stage. He had no interest in the core itself, but he felt a strange sense of responsibility. Allowing a fellow student, even a rival, to unknowingly consume such a thing felt wrong. It was an offense against the very nature of cultivation and growth.

The bidding had reached 29,000 points. The main contenders were a disciple from the fire sect and another wealthy-looking youth who had a small, sleeping fire-lizard on his shoulder.

Just as the auctioneer was about to close the bid, Amrit acted. He did not shout or raise his hand. He simply focused his will on the lion core resting on the stage fifty feet away.

He channeled a single, needle-thin thread of his Spirit-Prana. It was an almost invisibly small amount of energy. He sent it through the air, a silent, untraceable dart. He did not target the core itself, but the dormant Soul-Ember Larva within it.

His intent was simple: Awaken.

The thread of Prana struck the larva. It was like poking a sleeping hornet with a stick.

On the stage, the Fury-Flame Lion Core, which had been radiating a steady, powerful heat, suddenly convulsed. A high-pitched, psychic screech that only Spirit Sea cultivators could hear erupted from it. A foul, dark-red smoke began to seep from its surface, carrying an aura of spiritual decay and ravenous hunger.

The auctioneer stumbled back from the stage, his face paling. "What is this? What's happening?"

The students in the crowd gasped and recoiled. The pure, potent fire energy was now tainted with something vile and parasitic. The "perfect specimen" had revealed its rotten core.

The bidding stopped instantly. The students who had been fighting over it now looked at the core with horror, realizing they had nearly spent a fortune on a cursed object that would have destroyed their cultivation.

Amrit watched, his expression unreadable. He had not exposed the flaw with words. He had simply made the truth manifest itself. It was a far more powerful and undeniable statement.

The auction was thrown into chaos. The marketplace buzzed with the news of the cursed core. Amidst the confusion, Amrit turned to Zian.

"I have seen enough of this market," he said. "Let us return."

They walked away, leaving the chaos behind them. Zian looked at Amrit with a new kind of awe. Amrit's powers were not just for combat or creation. He possessed a level of perception that was, in its own way, a terrifying weapon. He could see the hidden truths and fatal flaws that no one else could.

In a marketplace built on appearances and perceived value, the man who could see the absolute, unvarnished truth was the true king. Amrit hadn't spent a single Merit Point, but he had left the Marketplace of Wonders with the most valuable asset of all: a deeper understanding of the flawed, beautiful, and dangerous world he was determined to conquer.