With Elder Ming calling them out to drop pretenses, the murmurs in the Central Council Chamber died down.
These old foxes, who had spent centuries navigating the treacherous currents of the Western Sacred Lands' economy, knew better than to feign ignorance. The rumors of the East had been trickling in, first as whispers of a heaven-defying artifact destroyed, then as tales of a miraculous store, and finally, through the undeniable evidence of the goods their own junior merchants had been scrambling to acquire from the secondary market.
But acknowledging it was one thing. Betting their entire guild's future on it was another.
"Indeed, we have known what it is you're trying to present, Elder Ming," The eldest Grand Elder named Jin Gu, Jin Cheng's own uncle, finally spoke. "A store that sells miracles. A Shopkeeper who commands the wind and rain. But is it invincible? We deal in riches and treasures. How does gaining that token equate to us tearing down our foundations?"
