Chapter 344 - 344 – Scanner
Now, Gravis' interest was piqued, and he looked at what the guy had to offer. He was flying inside a wooden house with one floor. Keeping that whole thing floating probably needed some concentration. After all, a whole house, even if it was small and made out of wood, wasn't light. Gravis guessed that he would only be able to keep that thing floating for a couple of hours.
Gravis looked through the wares and saw some peculiar things. Artifacts, rings, weapons, and many different interesting things were displayed. Beside each object was a small sign that described the object in full detail. The writing was incredibly small, and mortals wouldn't even be able to see a letter.
Of course, people in the Unity Realm and stronger had powerful eyes and could also read with their Spirits. Apparently, that's how the sellers described their wares. After all, people who couldn't even read the writing probably also didn't have the money to buy the wares.
Gravis read through some descriptions and found something. "What's Nascent Nourishing?" he asked.
The seller rolled his eyes again. The kid didn't even know that? "Nascent Nourishing is the Realm above the Unity Realm. People also call it the Equalization Realm. I'm currently in the middle Stages of that Realm."
Gravis absorbed the knowledge like a dry sponge. Apparently, as soon as he had returned from the lower world, the restrictions that his father had put in place to keep cultivation secret had been lifted. 'I have a powerful will now, and seeing the distance of power won't make me despair anymore,' Gravis thought.
Gravis also finally learned the power of the seller. 'The middle Stage of Nascent Nourishing, huh? That's one and a half Realms higher than me. No wonder I feel like he could slap me to death. Even now, I feel nervousness inside of me by just standing near him. His power just feels overwhelming.'
Gravis scratched his chin in thought. 'I still can't feel the power of the people in the actual city, which makes them all many times stronger. I wonder how powerful those people are? I'm really only at the beginning of cultivation. Basically, every single person flying around here can slap me to death. If I didn't have such a powerful will, I might've become demotivated.'
"Oi, don't scare my customers with that ugly expression," the seller said, pulling Gravis out of his thoughts.
'Fuck, I really need to keep my thinking face in check,' he thought. "Sorry, I was lost in thought," Gravis said. "I noticed that you don't sell stuff at the middle or higher Stages of the Nascent Nourishing Realm. Is there a particular reason for that?" Gravis asked in interest.
The seller laughed a little. "You're a smart one, eh? You immediately noticed that," the seller said with a smirk. "Of course I have stuff for these Stages. I'm a tycoon, after all. Yet, I don't carry them with me," he said.
Gravis' brows furrowed. "Why? Wouldn't you earn more money by selling those?"
The seller laughed a little again. "Sure, I would, but I think you should be able to figure out the reason why I don't sell those. After all, I have told you all the rules that the Sky Community has to follow."
Gravis' eyes shone a little. "All the rules, huh? So, only killing is forbidden, and everything else is allowed?" Gravis asked.
The seller smiled and nodded. "Exactly! There is no rule against stealing or fighting, as long as no one dies. This means someone can just walk by and pocket my entire shop. That's why every shopkeeper only brings wares to sell that are only interesting for people, at least, one Stage lower than them. Some people at the same Stage as the seller might be interested in some peculiarity, but it's not worth the fight, most of the time."
"Interesting," Gravis said. "So you just don't carry stuff with you that could interest stronger people than you. That's how you are able to sell your wares. I'm guessing that you also don't carry such stuff in your Spirit Space?" he asked.
"Right," the seller said. "I keep all my stuff in a warehouse in my company," he said.
Gravis lifted an eyebrow. "Your company?" he asked.
The seller snorted. "Of course. Every seller has their own business. The people who can sell their wares here are smart and have established their place. Everyone is a smart businessman."
Gravis nodded. "Thank you for explaining that to me," Gravis said as he looked at the wares again. He also noticed some materials, pills, and even techniques. The available techniques were so numerous and varied that Gravis guessed that this one shop had more techniques than the entire lower world he had just left.
Just the cultivation techniques were very varied. He saw some elemental cultivation techniques and battle-techniques, faith techniques, consuming techniques, ritual techniques, and many other things.
As Gravis read the descriptions, he felt his horizons widen. 'There are so many methods to cultivate? Someone can use the belief of others as nourishment for their path? It's even possible to sacrifice the lives of weaker beings to gather and purify Energy. There are even techniques for enslavement and stealing someone's potential via sex.'
Gravis furrowed his brows. 'Some of them fill me with revulsion. It's like they are the absolute opposite of my lightning.'
"Hey! I said, stop making that face!" the seller shouted.
Gravis quickly shook his head. "Sorry," he said as he continued reading with interest. After a while, he found something that interested him. It wasn't a technique, but an object. Gravis pointed at it. "This looks interesting," Gravis said.
The seller saw what Gravis was pointing to and rolled his eyes. Of course, Gravis chose one of the cheapest things he had to offer. Well, the kid was only at the beginning of the Unity Realm, so he probably didn't have much money.
"Yes, as it says on the sign, it's a scanner. It has millions of plants, ores, and resources in its database. You just need to point it at something, and it will tell you what it is," the seller explained.
Gravis nodded. "How come it's so cheap?" he asked.
"The laws of our world are too overbearing, making the scanner very expensive to use. After all, it needs Energy. It's only a basic model. They are basically being sold everywhere. They have a lot of information, but it just takes too much Energy to use them."
Gravis scratched his chin. "Stronger people know more about their craft, so they wouldn't need the scanner, while weaker people can't even use it. That's why it's so cheap, right?" Gravis asked.
The seller nodded. "Yes, and the more advanced the material, the more Energy it needs," he said, but then smirked. "But aren't you the lucky one? It's actually perfect for you, isn't it?" he asked.
Gravis also smirked. "Right," he said.
Both of them knew why this scanner was perfect for Gravis. Gravis was wearing the emblem of a Research Adept, which meant that there was a high chance that he would go to a middle world next. The middle world didn't have such oppressive laws as the highest world. Therefore, the scanner would become many times cheaper to use. Yet, there was something else that Gravis wanted even more.
"What about an encyclopedia about resources? That way, I don't need to use a scanner," Gravis said.
The seller smirked. "If you want an encyclopedia that covers what the scanner knows, you need to go to the actual city. No one in the Sky Community has the guts to sell something like that."
Gravis furrowed his brows. "But isn't it just the same thing as what's recorded in the scanner? Shouldn't it be cheaper instead of more expensive?" he asked.
The seller laughed a little. "That's the thing. The scanner has been created to tap into a new market. It's impossible for anyone without a considerable amount of power to siphon the data out of the scanner. Therefore, the people who can't afford the encyclopedia can only purchase the scanner."
Gravis scratched his chin. "So, since knowledge has no production cost, you use something that is, theoretically, way more expensive to create a cheaper product. I'm guessing that there is an artificial scarcity for the actual encyclopedias?"
The seller's eyes sparkled. "Smart kid. That's exactly right! The company that makes the scanners doesn't want to make enemies with all the people who have bought the expensive knowledge. Yet, they still want to make money from the sea of weaker cultivators. With these scanners, they don't publicize the information but still give a cheap alternative for weaker cultivators. Smart, isn't it?"
Gravis nodded. This truly was smart.
"I don't have any hard currency, so I can only barter with some stuff that I have brought from the lower world," Gravis said.
"That's what I thought," the seller said. "Normally, I wouldn't even look at someone at the beginning of the Unity Realm, but I saw your Research Adept badge. The stuff from lower worlds is rather weak and cheap, but some lower worlds have an abundance of rare resources. You might have no wealth at all, or a lot of it."
Gravis nodded. "Makes sense. Let me just transfer to you an image of some of the things I have in my Spirit Space."
Gravis wasn't afraid that the seller would attack him. After all, this was the lowest shop in the Sky Community. Gravis only needed to fall a bit to enter the city's area. The seller wouldn't be able to follow him to the city.
Gravis sent a picture of some of the stuff he had looted from the High Priest, and the seller started smirking.
"You're a rich customer," he said with a smirk.
Gravis smirked back.