Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Late Qi Refinement, Good Things Come in Pairs

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Hongya Marketplace, Spirit Beast Restaurant.

After more than a month had passed, the customer flow at Spirit Beast Restaurant had greatly decreased.

Now, unless they needed to buy or sell something, cultivators who had already visited the shop would not come again.

However, some cultivators who sold items to Spirit Beast Restaurant saw that the purchase prices for certain items here were higher than other shops.

Therefore, some cultivators who came back from adventuring and obtained various spiritual objects would compare prices among different vendors and always included the Spirit Beast Restaurant as one of their options.

That morning, a black-clothed middle-aged man with a Qi Refinement late-stage cultivation level strode into the Spirit Beast Restaurant.

After entering the shop, he called out familiarly to the person behind the counter, “Taoist Friend Zhou, Lin has brought some business to you again.”

Behind the counter, Zhou Chun, who was reading a book, heard the greeting and hurriedly got up to look at the newcomer.

Recognizing the man’s face, he also greeted him with a smile and a clasped fist, “It turns out to be Taoist Friend Lin, what treasures have you obtained this time?”

“Nothing much, just a few spiritual medicines I picked a few days ago when I joined some friends to hunt demon beasts,” said the black-clothed man.

As he spoke, he patted his storage pouch at his waist and took out three wooden boxes, placing them on the counter.

Then, without seeming to care much, he said nonchalantly, “Taoist Friend Zhou, take a look for me and see how much these items are worth in Spirit Coins.”

“Then I won’t be polite,” replied Zhou Chun.

He opened the first wooden box, took out a ginseng-shaped spiritual medicine the size of two fingers, and began to inspect it closely.

He turned the spiritual medicine this way and that to check for any damage or scars while also examining its length, size, and the patterns on it.

He then brought it to his nose and sniffed deeply to take in the medicinal scent.

Afterward, he pinched the ginseng stalk and rubbed it a few times to ensure that it was not a counterfeit glued together.

After inspecting, smelling, and verifying the spiritual medicine, Zhou Chun put it back into the wooden box and said to the black-clothed man, “A freshly harvested Yellow Sprout Ginseng, with an age between fifty and seventy years, no damages, our shop’s purchase price is seven Spirit Coins.”

Upon hearing this, the black-clothed man’s eyes flickered, and he said, “No rush, let’s look at the other two items.”

Seeing this, Zhou Chun nodded, smiling, then opened the other two wooden boxes and inspected the spiritual medicines within.

“A freshly harvested Silver Thread Orchid, in good condition without damages, our shop’s purchase price is five Spirit Coins.”

“A freshly harvested Flame Grass, slightly damaged, our shop’s purchase price is eight Spirit Coins.”

After quoting the prices for the spiritual medicines in all three boxes, Zhou Chun began placing the medicines back into the boxes while asking the black-clothed man, “Taoist Friend Lin, are you satisfied with my quotes? Would you like to sell these spiritual medicines to our shop?”

“The quotes are indeed fair; it seems Lin must frequent your esteemed shop more often,” the black-clothed man said with a slight smile, showing his satisfaction.

Then, he pushed the three wooden boxes towards Zhou Chun and left with the twenty Spirit Coins given by Zhou Chun.

After the black-clothed man left, Zhou Jiasheng, who was sitting in the shop, got up and walked to the counter. In front of Zhou Chun, he opened the three wooden boxes and reexamined the three spiritual medicines.

After looking at them, he said to Zhou Chun indifferently, “The Yellow Sprout Ginseng is over sixty years old; a price of seven Spirit Coins is very normal.”

“The Silver Thread Orchid has matured and can be used in medicine; a price of five Spirit Coins is also normal.”

“The Flame Grass’s rhizome has a slight crack, causing some loss in medicinal efficacy and making it difficult to preserve for a long time; it’s worth at most seven Spirit Coins!”

After saying this, he shook his head at Zhou Chun and continued, “You are still young and need to learn and do more; I’ll put that one Spirit Coin on your tab for now!”

“Yes, nephew understands,” Zhou Chun replied, noting down the transaction in the ledger.

After the ledger was done, he said in a low voice, “Actually, nephew also knew that the Flame Grass wasn’t worth eight Spirit Coins, but the purchase prices given by other shops for the first two spiritual medicines basically wouldn’t differ, and since Taoist Friend Lin still chose to come to our Spirit Beast Restaurant despite that, it’s clear he was not satisfied with the other shops’ purchase price for Flame Grass.”

“In such a case, nephew thought, if we can make a concession of one Spirit Coin this time, making him prioritize our Spirit Beast Restaurant the next time he sells spiritual objects, then this one Spirit Coin would be well spent!”

Zhou Jiasheng’s expression became slightly intense, and he looked at him with a surprised look.

After staring at Zhou Chun for a while, he sighed with a complex expression and said, “I am not as good as you!!”

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Having said that, he laughed at himself and said, “All these years, the Zhou Family has thrived. I’ve always prided myself on being mature and steady, experienced in worldliness, and yet today, a young junior has taught me a lesson. It’s truly laughable!”

His feelings at that moment were indescribably complex.

Seeing this, Zhou Chun quickly said, “Uncle Sixteen is being too serious. Your approach to this matter wasn’t wrong, don’t all the other shopkeepers and shop assistants do the same?”

After saying this, he also gave a bitter smile and said, “This approach of mine was just a little trick, perhaps after the next visit, if Taoist Friend Lin finds there’s no profit to be made, he might not come back in the future!”

“No, you don’t need to comfort me.”

Zhou Jiasheng shook his head, his face a complex mix of emotions, and stretching out his hand, he said, “Although I had my disagreements with the way you handled things earlier, I am not blind, nor is my heart. I can still clearly discern the facts and judge what’s good and bad!”

“What you just said was exactly right. If we can provide benefits to clients in these small details that other shops do not offer, we have a great chance of leaving a good impression in their hearts, making them prioritize us when they want to sell their spiritual objects next time, without giving other shops an excuse to cause us trouble!”

Having reached this point, he conceded sincerely, “No wonder the Clan Leader insisted on having you come here to gain experience. Evidently, our venerable Clan Leader had long noticed your extraordinary perceptiveness and brilliant ideas!”

From that day on, Zhou Jiasheng’s attitude towards Zhou Chun had visibly improved a great deal.

Even if Zhou Chun made a mistake when appraising certain spiritual objects, Zhou Jiasheng no longer scolded him with a frown; instead, he would calmly explain where Zhou Chun went wrong and how to correct it.

He would even, during his leisure time, share with Zhou Chun stories about the times he was deceived when learning his trade, teaching Zhou Chun how to recognize the techniques of expert fraudsters.

However, this meant that Zhou Chun’s previous plan to discreetly acquire spiritual medicines had to be put on hold for the time being.

Fortunately, he wasn’t in a particular hurry and was content to learn this knowledge day by day.

As time passed, by the third month of Zhou Chun’s arrival at the marketplace, he had finally broken through to the ninth level of the Qi Refinement Realm after consuming the tenth Jade Ginseng Pill, officially entering the latter stage of Qi Refinement.

This breakthrough from the middle to the latter stages of Qi Refinement Realm brought substantial benefits to Zhou Chun.

First of all, his mana had increased by almost sixty percent, allowing him to sustain the battle with the Moon Blade Meteor Wheel, a top-grade Tier-One Magic Artifact, for over fifteen minutes.

Then, his Divine Sense had also been greatly strengthened. The range of his Divine Sense detection had leaped to more than eighty zhang, enabling him to control three or four Magic Artifacts simultaneously without feeling any strain.

Also, due to the increase in his cultivation level, the power of the secret techniques he had already mastered, especially the Five Elements Spiritual Armor Technique, had significantly improved.

And fortunes tend to come in pairs.

Not long after the news of Zhou Chun’s breakthrough reached the family, Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi promoted him to a core clan member and Zhou Zhengyong to an elite clan member.

It turned out that after numerous negotiations and haggling, they were finally ready to announce the opening of the Red Shine Iron Mine for mining.

After extensive discussions, the Red Shine Iron Mine would be mined jointly by the five major Cultivation families, with the Zhou Family, being the discoverers of the mine and able to provide the deterrent force of Purple Mansion Phase Cultivators to ward off any coveting parties, receiving thirty percent of the mining profits.

The Sun Family from Golden Maple Ridge, being closest to the mine, would provide free restocking and rest areas for the miners without compensation, also taking on part of the mining tasks and receiving thirty percent of the profits.

The Wang Family from Hongyao Valley had a Purple Mansion Phase Cultivator and was willing to share the task of purifying and eliminating half of the Evil Qi within the Red Shine Iron ore, thus getting twenty percent of the profits.

The Mu Family from Biyun Mountain and the He Family from Qingzhu Mountain, because they only shared in the task of purifying and removing the Evil Qi from the Red Shine Iron ore and providing military deterrence, would each only receive ten percent of the mining profits.

Having agreed on the profit distribution, the five major Cultivation families each sent people to Sun Family’s Golden Maple Ridge to oversee the mine.

They were also hiring a large number of lower-level Loose Cultivators to mine the ore.

Moreover, news about the appearance of the Red Shine Iron Mine quickly spread throughout the marketplace.

For a time, the entire Cultivation World of Lanzhou was aflutter with the news of the mine.

“Recently, due to the events surrounding that mine, there has been quite a stir in Lanzhou’s Cultivation World. The Clan Leader told us through the Messenger Hawk that we should also collect and pay attention to the opinions of the Cultivators in the marketplace regarding this matter.”

“This old man needs to oversee the shop, so Nephew Zhengchun, you take care of this task.”

In the Spirit Beast Restaurant, after reading the letter brought by the Messenger Hawk from the family, Zhou Jiasheng informed Zhou Chun about the situation.

The Messenger Hawks raised by the Zhou Family could communicate over thousands of miles.

Furthermore, except for taking off and landing, these hawks flew at high altitudes well above thousand zhang, and unless Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators or flying Demon Beasts took action, it was difficult to intercept them.

Thus, every ten days, the marketplace could exchange letters with the family back at Jiufeng Ridge, sharing some non-sensitive information.

Since the marketplace was protected by formations, the Flying Eagle couldn’t enter. Normally, Zhou Chun would leave the marketplace at a fixed time to go to a mountaintop outside to signal the circling hawk to land and exchange letters.

Hearing Zhou Jiasheng’s words, Zhou Chun’s heart stirred, and he immediately responded, “I understand. Then I will take care of the shop’s affairs while Uncle Sixteen toils elsewhere.”