"No, it’s not that..."
Cheng Yong didn’t know how to explain and, recalling something, pointed at the price list and said,
"This thing can’t be treated as a collector’s item, not that—I’m not belittling it, but... how should I put it, we can’t selfishly keep to ourselves everything that has been blessed by the Sea God."
"Moreover, if Uncle Xia Yu hadn’t given a reference price, nobody would know how to exchange... After all, we can’t just give it away for free, and if we were to buy it, everyone is afraid of that kind of situation..."
"How should I say..."
"Afraid that everyone has a different view of its value, so some people might pay more and some might pay less?"
Feng Yuan took over the conversation, and Cheng Yong nodded in agreement,
"Exactly! That’s the issue, and if it hasn’t been authenticated by Uncle Xia Yu, people may not acknowledge its authenticity..."
"So what is he calculating?"
Liu Wenli was somewhat puzzled; it seemed to her that since the old man in front of them could directly determine the value, why was he still scribbling and sketching? Cheng Yong shook his head,
"Because of reputation, if he were to set prices carelessly, it would leave others dissatisfied."
Feng Yuan understood the reason for the other party’s actions; after all, if you can’t justify the price you set, even if it works a time or two, who will trust you in the long run?
Liu Wenli, still not quite understanding, said,
"What’s there to be dissatisfied about? Doesn’t everyone do that?"
"The big families determine the price of a product, and anyone who dares disrupt the price they set will..."
Having glanced at Mo Ling and Wei Dingwu, Liu Wenli didn’t continue. Although Wei Dingwu might understand, since Feng Yuan had already asked her to blur those future memories, she didn’t want to remind him of those memories that weren’t particularly pleasant.
"That’s a big family’s way; he might not have the ability to control the market."
Hua Yiyou spoke up to explain and looked at the old man who was still writing and drawing,
"His job is actually more like that of an appraiser in an auction house, because he has long been giving fair appraisals that most people trust, but if he messes up because of it, no one will believe his conclusions anymore."
"Auction house? You know about such things too?"
Liu Wenli asked with some surprise, to which Hua Yiyou smiled and responded,
"There is one in Great Li City, although it might not compare with those real, large auction houses."
"Actually, it isn’t just for the sake of being fair."
Xia Yu raised his head, glanced at everyone, and with a smile, explained,
"The children of the vast sea, because most of them don’t have fixed dwellings, established a Shell Coin Bureau in every major gathering place to ensure that everyone’s belongings can circulate properly and not be subjected to terribly unfair price gouging. Every so often, everyone exchanges price information with each other."
"If I can’t justify my prices, the other Shell Coin Bureaus won’t acknowledge the prices I set, which... would tarnish the Sea God Coins."
Remembering the additional value brought about by the Sea God, Xia Yu felt a headache. If he added that value, he simply couldn’t persuade others to agree, but if he didn’t include it, he felt it was a form of disrespect to the Sea God.
As the magnificent Sea God, His Sea God Coins being judged only by their practical effects seemed inappropriate to him.
Seeing Xia Yu’s dilemma, Feng Yuan said with some puzzlement,
"Is the value that difficult to determine? The usage effects are all the same; Delong Tower wouldn’t make Shell Coins with varying effects."
"It’s not that simple..."
As Xia Yu spoke of the problems he was facing, Feng Yuan thought for a moment and said,
"Can’t you just judge based on the actual usage effects? After all, it’s just a temporary measure we’re using, and I don’t believe we will be purchasing a lot of things here."
"No! That would be an insult to the Sea God!"
Xia Yu shouted angrily while Feng Yuan scratched his head, not understanding, and said,
"How come you’re praising the Sea God on one hand, but on the other, you’re unwilling to admit that the things personally made by the Sea God have special significance? How is that any different from those land dwellers?"
Hearing Xia Yu’s words, Mo Li and the others were somewhat speechless. They didn’t quite understand where this novel idea of Xia Yu’s had come from; at least, from what they knew, all the major Temples were very enthusiastic about the items made by their own Divine Lords, and most of the time, these pieces were the most valuable gifts exchanged among the Nobles.
"It’s probably referring to those coastal towns."
Liu Wenli explained. Seeing everyone’s confusion, Liu Wenli smiled and said,
"Compared to the Nobles, they are much less discreet, though perhaps the families are different."
Slightly confused but not delving deeper, Guo Huai scratched his head as Feng Yuan glanced at Xia Yu and said,
"So, what should we do? We can’t just keep the price uncertain forever, right?"
"Hold on, hold on, let me think... There has to be a way that neither shortchanges anyone nor causes the Sea God to lose face..."
Xia Yu was pacing around the room as if pondering something, Liu Wenli thought for a moment then spoke,
"You should be able to gather most of the people from the Shell Coin Bureau, right? Why not just have Delong Tower mint a batch of Shell Coins right in front of them?"
"No, no, that won’t do. Although we sometimes get together for a small meeting, most of the time it’s impossible to have the majority present, and besides, wouldn’t that be treating the Sea God as what?!"
Xia Yu immediately objected without thinking, and Cheng Yong said with a wry smile,
"That’s impossible. Apart from the fact that everyone can’t arrive at short notice, just consider that the town mayor would definitely not allow the Maritime People to come near our Pearl Town."
"The Maritime People?!"
Wei Dingwu was somewhat surprised. While he was not clear on the specifics, they could clearly feel that there seemed to be a hereditary enmity between the Maritime People and the Aquatic People, so why would any of the Maritime People come over?
After glancing at Wei Dingwu, Xia Yu stroked his beard and said,
"The Shell Coin Bureau isn’t just made up of us Aquatic People, you know. The bureau existed long before we split, and at least quite a few old-timers are with the Maritime People’s Shell Coin Bureau."
The always quiet Xiao An said incredulously. He found it hard to believe that the elder Xia Yu would have connections with the Maritime People, who were clearly enemies. Seeing Cheng Yong, who also appeared disbelieving, Xia Yu just laughed and explained,
"What’s so strange about that? In the beginning, the discord between the Aquatic People and the Maritime People was only because of a difference in philosophy, but..."
As he spoke, Xia Yu’s tone grew somewhat melancholic,
"As time went by, our hatred for each other became more and more intense, and now we really don’t dare to tell others this truth."
Remembering something, Cheng Yong and Xiao An fell silent, while Feng Yuan, somewhat puzzled, said,
"If it was only a philosophical conflict, how did it escalate to this state?"
"No, wait, let me think..."
As if recalling something important, Feng Yuan quickly spoke up. Seeing Feng Yuan deep in thought, Liu Wenli, somewhat baffled, said,
"Could it be that some accident happened?"
"A communication problem?"
Feng Yuan looked towards the elder Xia Yu and said, then turning to Cheng Yong, he added,
"I almost forgot. You could say that you don’t really have a fixed place of residence, and the Island Jellyfish in the sea can move wherever they want. Contacting you probably relies on small messenger birds or something similar, and if some minor disputes were exaggerated through such messages..."
"But surely their letters wouldn’t convey such peculiar news, would they?"
Liu Wenli was puzzled. As for ordinary people distorting the information as it spread—where would they even get so many messenger birds on the sea? Those birds lived on land, and even on land, no country was extravagant enough to allow ordinary people to use messenger birds for communication.
"Meeting up on the Starlit Sea or something like that. Although the Starlit Sea is vast, their range of activity isn’t actually that wide—mostly still around the Black Sea between Divine Land and Omeilia."
Feng Yuan waved his hand and said. In reality, the Starlit Sea between these two continents was quite unique—many of the special natural disasters didn’t exist there, which is why Omeilia and Divine Land were considered a single region in the Alliance. The Black Sea practically had no barrier effect, and before the advent of real high-speed waterways, Omeilia and Divine Land were the only continents that could freely travel to one another. The connection between other continents was not nearly as convenient, and certain natural disasters there could even defy Legendary Level Spirit Beasts.