Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Making a Fortune, Purchasing Another Magic Artifact

Hongya Marketplace, Li’s Herbal Shop.

Ever since the Zhou Family had opened the Spirit Beast Restaurant in Hongya Marketplace, the shopkeeper of Li’s Herbal Shop would often pop by to maintain good relations.

After all, they had all originally been fellow sect brothers from the same sect, and although they had parted ways, the bonds of the past still remained.

Now that they were both doing business in the marketplace, exchanging information was necessary.

Sometimes, Li’s Herbal Shop would receive some kind of spiritual object that was beneficial for the growth of demon beasts, and they would then resell it to the Spirit Beast Restaurant, making a profit from the margin.

Likewise, if the Spirit Beast Restaurant received spiritual medicines that were useful for Li’s elixir making, they would sell them in turn.

Since both parties had ways to remove the Evil Qi from the spiritual objects, such transactions could even be made at regular prices without consideration of whether the Evil Qi had been purged.

This practice wasn’t unique to the Zhou and Li families; other shops in the marketplace were doing it too.

However, everyone would only trade with stores they were intimately familiar with, and would not easily reveal their urgently needed items to other shops to prevent price markups through malicious intent.

Therefore, when Zhou Chun suddenly dropped by for a visit, Li Siyuan, the shopkeeper of Li’s Herbal Shop, immediately knew that he was probably going to lose some money today.

But even so, he greeted Zhou Chun with a smile and said, “Nephew Zhengchun, you’re here! What good things have you brought Uncle Li this time?”

Zhou Chun, hearing this, responded with an equally broad smile and a nod, “Yes, Uncle Li, you’re guaranteed to be very satisfied with today’s item!”

Upon these words, Li Siyuan’s heart skipped a beat and his smile gradually faded away.

He had detected a very bad omen from Zhou Chun’s words and expression.

Today’s visit from Zhou Chun wasn’t just about losing some money; it was likely to be a significant loss!

Immediately his expression changed slightly and he coughed twice before saying, “Cough cough, Nephew Zhengchun, there’s no need for riddles between you and me about what’s on your mind. What is it exactly? Bring it out for me to see.”

“Heh heh, the item is right here, Uncle Li can see for himself!”

Zhou Chun grinned, then reached for his storage pouch at his waist, took out the jade box containing the Red Essence Ganoderma, and placed it on the counter.

“This is… Red Essence Ganoderma!!”

Li Siyuan opened the jade box and took out the red Lingzhi to examine it closely, then looked at Zhou Chun with a face full of shock.

Zhou Chun simply smiled and said, “There’s no need to rush, Uncle Li, take your time and see, so you won’t be mistaken.”

Hearing this, Li Siyuan managed to suppress the shock and excitement in his heart, and carefully inspected the Ganoderma again.

After half a moment, he finally placed the Lingzhi back into the jade box and said to Zhou Chun with a very complicated expression, “Nephew Zhengchun is indeed fortunate. To come across a Red Essence Ganoderma with a medicinal age of two hundred years is quite the feat!”

“Heh heh heh, Uncle Li, let’s speak frankly. How many spirit coins are you willing to offer for this Ganoderma?”

Zhou Chun laughed triumphantly. There was no need to conceal anything, so he directly asked Li Siyuan for the price.

“How about this price?”

Li Siyuan extended his hand and shook his five fingers.

“Not good enough!”

Zhou Chun shook his head, looking earnestly at Li Siyuan and said, “It’s not that I am greedy, but Uncle Li knows the value that the Red Essence Ganoderma can bring in your Li Family’s hands. This price is not sufficient for such an item.”

Upon hearing this, Li Siyuan’s expression soured as he said, “But this price is already more than double the normal market rate. Nephew, flipping it for such a profit, isn’t that enough for you?”

“It’s not interesting when you put it that way, Uncle Li. If you acquired a stalk of Dragon Transformation Grass, would you sell it to the Zhou Family at the normal market price?”

Zhou Chun shook his head and continued, “I am afraid that not even if our Clan Leader emptied his pockets and still owed thousands of spirit coins would you be willing to let go of it.”

The market price, to businessmen, is merely a reference point.

Scarcity dictates value. For many items with value beyond what’s available on the market, their true worth simply cannot be measured by market prices.

As for the Red Essence Ganoderma, who knew how many red Lingzhi there were for just one to appear; its formation was completely irregular, and it couldn’t be cultivated in large quantities artificially.

This was destined to mean its market price could only serve as a reference.

Upon hearing Zhou Chun’s example, Li Siyuan’s expression darkened and he was left without a retort.

Indeed, if the Li Family got their hands on a stalk of Dragon Transformation Grass, let alone whether they were willing to sell it,

If they were willing to sell it, they would surely require the Zhou Family’s Zhou Daoyi to bankrupt himself before agreeing to a deal.

In the end, he could only grit his teeth and say, “Then how about six hundred spirit coins? That’s the highest price I can offer. If you’re still not satisfied with this, then just keep the item and wait for a better offer!”

Seeing this, Zhou Chun knew it was time to state his own realistic expectation.

He immediately said, “Here’s another option for you, Uncle Li. Four hundred spirit coins, plus two bottles of the ‘Yellow Cloud Pill.’ How about that?”

The ‘Yellow Cloud Pill’ was an elixir from the Li Family used to improve the cultivation level of cultivators at the later stages of Qi Refinement, and it was even more effective than the ‘Ginseng Yellow Pill’ Zhou Chun had previously acquired from a bandit cultivator. One bottle was priced at one hundred eighty spirit coins, so two bottles amounted to three hundred sixty spirit coins.

However, the primary ingredient for making this elixir was hundred-year Yellow Essence and Cloud Mist Grass, both of which were extensively cultivated in the medicine garden of the former Sanjue Sect. The actual cost of making this pill was very low for the Li Family.

Zhou Chun’s current offer was also roughly treading on the bottom line of Li Siyuan’s heart.

So, one could see the indecision written all over his face, as he struggled to make up his mind.

Zhou Chun, on the other hand, did not press him, simply resting his hand on the jade box containing the Red Essence Ganoderma, looking like he could leave at any moment.

After hesitating for quite a while, Li Siyuan finally let out a deep sigh and said, “Ah! Forget it, Uncle Li will take a big financial hit today, let’s do as you said, Nephew Zhengchun!”

Upon hearing these words, Zhou Chun immediately loosened his grip, bowed with his hands folded before him, and chuckled, “Haha, Uncle Li is indeed generous. I’ll express my thanks right away.”

Thus, the two exchanged money and goods, quickly completing the transaction on the spot.

Once the trade was over, Li Siyuan carefully stored away the Red Essence Ganoderma and looked at Zhou Chun with a pained expression, asking, “Tell me the truth, Nephew Zhengchun, how much did you spend to get this Red Essence Ganoderma?”

“One hundred and thirty-five Spirit Coins, just acquired this morning. I was afraid it wouldn’t be fresh if I waited too long, so I hurried over to deliver it to Uncle Li,” replied Zhou Chun with a smile on his face, not concealing the truth at all.

After hearing his reply, Li Siyuan’s eyes twitched, and he felt as if his heart was bleeding.

Why hadn’t he encountered such good fortune!

He couldn’t help but show a smile uglier than crying and said, “Well, I really do have to thank you, Uncle Li!!”

“No need for thanks, in the future, if Uncle Li comes across any good items, just keep our Zhou Family in mind, that’ll be enough!” Zhou Chun said with a beaming smile, seemingly oblivious to the deep meaning in Li Siyuan’s words.

“There will be an opportunity, definitely an opportunity!” Li Siyuan said through gritted teeth, determined to recoup his losses next time.

But at this moment, he felt so distressed that he lacked even the desire to chat with Zhou Chun anymore, and he soon actively bid his farewell.

After Zhou Chun left Li’s Herbal Shop, he did not rush back to the Spirit Beast Restaurant but headed straight for “Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.”

Now, having six or seven hundred Spirit Coins in his possession, he could afford another top-tier first-grade Magic Artifact from the “Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.”

Two hours later, in the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion’s backyard weapon testing grounds, illuminated by the glow of “Sun Glow Stones” set atop the lamp pillars, Zhou Chun and a manager from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion stepped into the area.

The manager produced a Token Talisman, made a gesture with both hands, and cast a spell on the artifact, which immediately emitted a pale yellow glimmer that fell upon seven copper pillars about ten feet tall in the arena.

Instantly, a thick and majestic earthen yellow light emanated from the seven pillars, quickly connecting with each other to form a murky, earthy-yellow light barrier encompassing the pillars.

Seeing this, the manager immediately said to Zhou Chun standing behind him, “Taoist Friend Zhou, you may begin. The strength of this Array Protective Shield is roughly equivalent to a second-grade lower-tier defensive spell!”

“Alright, then I won’t stand on ceremony.”

Zhou Chun’s face flashed with excitement as he swiftly tapped his Storage Pouch, summoning his newly purchased Magic Artifact.

A palm-sized earthen yellow seal flew out of his Storage Pouch, spinning around briefly before hovering above the Array Protective Shield.

Then, Zhou Chun channeled his mana into it, uttering a single word, “Expand.”

In an instant, a dazzling earthen yellow light burst forth from the seal.

The palm-sized earthen yellow seal inflated and grew to the size of a carriage in just a few breaths!

“Fall!”

With a loud command from Zhou Chun, he pointed at the huge seal in the sky.

Immediately, the enormous seal obeyed, crashing down hard onto the Array Protective Shield below.

Boom!

The seal plummeted down, striking the Array Protective Shield with great force.

It caused the Array Protective Shield to cave inward by a significant margin, shaking violently with visible cracks appearing all over it.

After a standoff lasting roughly two or three breaths, the seal, having exhausted the mana Zhou Chun had fed into it, rapidly shrunk back to its original palm-sized form and was flung out, returning to Zhou Chun’s hand.

Only then did the manager look at Zhou Chun with a grin and say, “How about it? Are you satisfied with the might of this ‘Mini Thousand Hills Seal,’ Taoist Friend Zhou?”

Hearing this, Zhou Chun smiled with a mixture of joy and concern, “I am satisfied, but it consumes mana rather excessively. With my Qi Refinement ninth layer cultivation, I can only activate it for three attacks!”

The manager, hearing this, smiled diplomatically and said, “That may not be entirely bad. With the power of this item, Taoist Friend Zhou, even after you succeed in Foundation Establishment, you can continue to use it for a while before acquiring a second-grade Magic Artifact.”

“Perhaps,” Zhou Chun replied, noncommittedly shaking his head without voicing any further dissatisfaction.

Previously, when he visited the “Heavenly Treasure Pavilion” to buy a Magic Artifact, he noticed that the ‘Mini Thousand Hills Seal,’ which he had seen once alongside the ‘Moon Blade Meteor Wheel,’ was still unsold, and he immediately took an interest.

However, he harbored some doubts about whether the item was truly as powerful as described, which led him to test it just now.

Now that he knew the results, and its power was indeed as strong as described, there wasn’t much left to say.

The decision was easy: buy it!