The Five Elements Banner and the Impulse Buy

Baek Cheong, having made an impulsive purchase, lay on her bed, losing track of time as she monitored the trends on Mumyungbang. Her heartfelt attempt at trolling had been buried under the mockery of other users, but the fervor surrounding the Five Elements Pill continued to burn steadily. The bidding, which had stalled briefly at fifteen premium spirit stones, began to climb again as the auction deadline approached and the users who had been waiting for the right moment finally entered the fray.

Finally, a notification appeared, signaling the end of the long, five-day auction.

Baek Cheong’s jaw dropped as she saw the result. Converted into low-grade spirit stones, that was a staggering two hundred thousand. "I'm rich!" But her joy was short-lived. When she checked the winner's realm ID, her face twitched slightly. Before long, User (237.309) left a post that seemed to boast of the bid.

In the end, a mad old monster had used his overwhelming wealth to crush the other users and get his hands on the Five Elements Pill. And he hadn't even bought it for himself, but to feed to a test subject. "Well, it's not a scam... so he'll find out once he feeds it to the subject. And if it is a scam, what's he going to do about it?" Baek Cheong bluffed, wiping away the cold sweat trickling down her neck. She forced herself to shake off the anxiety and checked her Storage Pouch. The trading function of Mumyungbang was precise to a fault. In one corner of the pouch, twenty premium spirit stones, emitting a brilliant luster, were stacked neatly. She took one out and examined it; feeling the high-purity spiritual energy, she finally realized she had become rich.

'What should I spend this on?' But even with twenty premium spirit stones, the situation was awkward. She was only at the 5th star of Qi Refining; it was dangerous to use premium spirit stones outside, and the source was too suspicious to explain to her family elders. If she, who had been holed up in the main house, suddenly pulled out twenty premium spirit stones, a terrifying interrogation about their origin would surely follow. She couldn't very well confess that she had sold them in a mysterious, unidentifiable space called Mumyungbang.

"Ah, I have the spirit stones but can't use them as I please. They're completely useless, like a chicken's rib." Baek Cheong licked her lips, staring at the premium spirit stones in her pouch with resentful eyes. From the start, she could take as many alchemy ingredients as she wanted from Yakseon's Alchemy Room, and the family provided everything she needed for cultivation without hesitation. With more spirit stones than she knew what to do with, her eyes naturally wandered.

'Since I earned these spirit stones in Mumyungbang, should I flex in Mumyungbang?' Baek Cheong slowly browsed the items for sale on the marketplace board. She held onto the expectation that, just as she had sold the Five Elements Pill, someone might have posted a massive opportunity. However, as she browsed, the Mumyungbang marketplace was no different from before; it was far from the romantic imagination she had held. The items filling the board were mostly ordinary 1st-tier low-grade herbs, crude basic talismans, or suspicious items of unknown origin. Furthermore, when she searched for reviews related to the marketplace on the general discussion board, the situation was even more dire.

As a place where countless users existed, it was essentially a lawless zone where scams and deceit ran rampant. Unless one had the discerning eye to distinguish between users and posts, the Mumyungbang marketplace was a place where you could get your nose cut off while your eyes were wide open. "As expected, non-face-to-face transactions can't be trusted." Baek Cheong couldn't hide her disappointment and flipped through the marketplace posts. While filtering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out the trash, she delved into the older posts on the board until she stopped at one particular listing.

A brutal price tag of ten premium spirit stones. In contrast, the description felt so sparse and flimsy that it seemed insincere. On the surface, it looked like a scammer's post or the prank of an attention-seeker who had posted an absurd price just to enjoy the reactions. 'This realm ID...!' But as Baek Cheong recognized the ID, her small heart began to pound violently. This was the user she had stumbled upon while struggling to resolve the cursed quality of her O-spiritual root, the senior O-spiritual root user who had freely shared opportunities related to such roots in Mumyungbang before suddenly ascending to the upper realm.

'Could it be... did they leave it on the marketplace ages ago and forget about it?' Since the marketplace board, like the information board, didn't have many new posts, one could find posts from several years ago just by flipping through a few pages. Consequently, older posts often remained like bad inventory. It was highly likely that this was an item User (718.44) had tried to dispose of long ago, only for it to remain unsold.

'I have to buy this, no matter what!' Baek Cheong jumped up from her bed, trembling with excitement. It was an item belonging to a great cultivator who had ascended to the upper realm, a senior who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had overcome the shackles of the O-spiritual root and awakened to the principles of the five elements to the extreme. Given the name Five Elements Banner, it had to be an incredible opportunity, a banner specialized in handling the energy of the five elements. If not for User (718.44)'s advice, she would never have awakened to the mutual generation and circulation of the five elements, and would still be struggling to break through the 5th-star barrier while aimlessly browsing the forum. Thus, a blind faith and respect for User (718.44) had taken deep root in Baek Cheong's heart.

"It's mine!" She lost her reason, gripped by a compulsive urge to buy. Yet, a sudden, random question arose. 'But how do I pay for and receive an item from someone who has already ascended to the upper realm?' It was unclear whether Mumyungbang could transmit items across realm boundaries. 'Well, it seems like there's a separate Mumyungbang for the upper realm, so it'll probably handle it.' Baek Cheong tossed the useless worry aside. The premium spirit stones were of ambiguous use anyway. Even if she were scammed and lost them, it would sting a little, but it wouldn't be a blow to her livelihood. If anything, considering she could pick up a great opportunity from an ascended great cultivator for a pittance (?), this was an investment well worth the risk.

With a notification she wouldn't have even glanced at under normal circumstances, ten premium spirit stones vanished from her pouch without a trace. And as if in exchange, a worn, crude banner appeared in her pouch. Even though the pouch was linked to Mumyungbang, the principle behind it was so wondrous she was dying of curiosity. "I, I really bought it!" Baek Cheong, trembling with excitement, pulled out the Five Elements Banner that had been sent to her pouch. Expecting it to emit heaven-shaking spiritual energy and brilliant, five-colored light, she even activated her Divine Sense to inspect it.

"...Huh?" But her excited expression slowly stiffened. The Five Elements Banner she inspected with her Divine Sense was far different from her expectations. It was a crude, wretched thing, consisting of a crooked wooden stick that was embarrassing to even call a pole, and five strands of yellowed, tattered, five-colored cloth tied clumsily to it. Far from emitting heaven-shaking spiritual energy, it barely leaked a presence weaker than a common 1st-tier low-grade talisman.

"No way, right?" Baek Cheong panicked and spread her Divine Sense to scan the banner. But she couldn't figure out how to use it. Even when she tried injecting the energy of the five elements from her Dantian in turns, the tattered rags merely fluttered helplessly; no magical fluctuations or sense of a formation manifested. "What, what is this? How do I use it?" No matter how much she waved the banner or tapped the wooden stick, there was no change. A sense of desolation washed over her, as if she were holding a cheap banner used by ordinary people. 'Could it be... did I get scammed by a senior user who ascended to the upper realm?' Baek Cheong stared back and forth between the pathetic Five Elements Banner in her hand and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠premium spirit stones in her pouch, which had been halved, and froze in a state of utter despair.

"Hey, no way. That can't be." What kind of Transformation-stage cultivator would try to scam a junior? '...At least, I wouldn't.' A sudden prick of conscience made her retort to herself. But looking at the Five Elements Banner she had spent ten premium spirit stones on, she felt as if she were lost in a labyrinth. "Seriously, what is this?" Baek Cheong thought that perhaps, like her White Pearl Artifact, it had a specific way to be used. After all, she didn't want to believe that she had been blind enough to get scammed.