Chapter 3628 — The Hong Clan Trading Association

Naturally, after touring the entire Outer Street and Middle Street, Wei Zhao had still found a few items that caught his eye. The trouble was that none of them came cheap. Each required anywhere from several dozen to more than a hundred spirit jades. They would be of some use to Wei Zhao, but none was truly crucial or urgent; they were all things he could buy or do without. If he had thousands of spirit jades to spare, he might have picked them up without a second thought. But under the circumstances, he decided it was better to look around first.

After making a complete circuit of the Outer Street and Middle Street, Wei Zhao had already planned to leave. Yet something happening ahead made him stop in spite of himself.

It was the entrance to the Inner Street. Ordinarily, idlers were strictly forbidden from entering; only the most outstanding inner disciples of the Threefold Pavilion, those near the top of its rankings, were qualified to go in. The last time Wei Zhao had come, the place had been deserted and shrouded in an air of mystery. Today, however, people were streaming inside in a bustling tide. What surprised Wei Zhao was that many of them were merely experts in the early Foundation Establishment stage, while the guards responsible for maintaining order were not stopping them as they had last time.

What was going on? Wei Zhao stood there in a daze for a moment before finally spotting, above the entrance to the Inner Street, a special sign unlike the one that had been there before: Inner Street Open Day! Beneath it was a smaller line of text: Experts at the early Foundation Establishment stage or above may enter.

Wei Zhao had dealt with all sorts of commercial tactics back when he was in the mundane world. After pausing to think it over, he quickly understood the reason behind it.

As the marketplace's most mysterious and exclusive street, the Inner Street imposed an entry threshold mainly to emphasize the prestigious status of those allowed inside and thereby attract the Threefold Pavilion's most elite inner disciples. After all, those people possessed vast quantities of spirit jades and formed the core of the high-end consumer base. Once the Inner Street restricted entry so that everyone else was barred while they alone could enter, admission itself became a symbol of exalted status. Having their sense of superiority satisfied, they would naturally be even more willing to come here and spend.

In fact, any item worthy of being sold on the Inner Street was bound to be far more upscale than those on the Outer Street and Middle Street, and its price naturally much higher as well. Anyone who had not reached the requisite level simply could not afford such things. Rather than waste time displaying them on the Outer Street and Middle Street for the sake of low-level cultivators, it was better to gather them in the Inner Street, create the effect of exclusivity, and cater specifically to the Threefold Pavilion's most elite inner disciples.

From a purely commercial standpoint, then, the Inner Street was essentially the marketplace's top-tier VIP area. Its existence was both logical and effective. But every commercial strategy had its drawbacks, and the Inner Street was no exception.

Even as its exclusivity attracted the Threefold Pavilion's elite disciples, the Inner Street's disadvantage was equally obvious: its customer base was inherently small. There were only so many elite disciples in the Threefold Pavilion, which meant the Inner Street's market was naturally limited. For a commercial organization striving to grow, that was clearly no good.

After all, although ninety-nine percent of the low-level cultivators on the Outer Street and Middle Street could not afford the Inner Street's wares, there were always a few exceptions among them—potential customers such as the scions of cultivation families, whose own strength might be mediocre but whose pockets were as deep as those of the Threefold Pavilion's elite disciples. Thus, Inner Street Open Day had come into being.

Once a month, the marketplace's most mysterious street opened for a single day to ordinary cultivators who normally fell short of the entry requirement. This allowed it to attract more potential customers without provoking resentment from the Threefold Pavilion's elite disciples. In fact, that one day each month gave more low-level cultivators a firsthand understanding of the privileges those elite disciples enjoyed, making them even more envious and jealous. Inner Street Open Day therefore did not make the elite disciples feel that their status had been cheapened; on the contrary, it further satisfied their sense of superiority. It achieved two aims at once.

Sometimes it was better to seize an opportunity than wait for the perfect day. Since he had this rare chance to glimpse the Inner Street for himself, Wei Zhao naturally would not let it pass. He had nothing else to do, after all. Perhaps he might come across some treasure that truly appealed to him—or even find the Heart-Eroding Exquisite Grass, the final ingredient he needed to refine the Heavenly Dao Golden Pill. That was not impossible, either.

Releasing the aura of an expert in the early Foundation Establishment stage, Wei Zhao was waved through after the Inner Street guards gave him a single glance.

Following the flow of people into the Inner Street, Wei Zhao cast a brief look around and immediately saw that it was indeed very different from the Outer Street and Middle Street. The distinction was obvious in both the street layout and the structure of the shops.

Put simply, the Outer Street had no proper storefronts at all; it was essentially nothing more than a row of street stalls. The Middle Street was somewhat better, but in nature it was hardly different from a farmers' market in the mundane world. The Inner Street, however, was a different matter entirely. Nearly twenty shops stood in view, each occupying its own independent pavilion. Their layouts were elegant and imposing, and it was obvious at a glance that this was an upscale district.

Under ordinary circumstances, the Inner Street did not receive much traffic. A shop was considered to be thriving if three or four people entered at once. But today's Inner Street Open Day was clearly an exception. Forget three or four—at this rate, even thirty or forty might not be enough to contain the crowd.

Fortunately, the shops were spacious enough that even so many people pouring in did not make them seem overly crowded. Trained disciples had also been assigned specifically to receive customers. Thus, although the scene looked feverish, it remained orderly enough and did not descend into chaos.

With keen interest, Wei Zhao followed the flow of people from shop to shop, examining each one carefully. As he had expected, the prices of the Inner Street's wares were far above those on the Outer Street and Middle Street.

Outside, an item costing several dozen spirit jades was already considered expensive, and anything priced above a hundred was exceedingly rare. On the Inner Street, however, virtually every item started at several dozen spirit jades. Wei Zhao visited several shops with the crowd and saw almost nothing priced below fifty spirit jades. Items marked at over a hundred, or even several hundred, were everywhere.

So it really was true: only after entering the Inner Street did one realize just how poor one was. Wei Zhao had thought that although he did not have many spirit jades, he certainly could not be called poor. Yet after making the rounds, he instantly felt the same way he had when he once carried a single small spirit jade while touring the Outer Street and Middle Street: his purse was painfully light.