Chapter 81: Selling
Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Selling
The old man fell silent. After a moment, he spoke. "Fellow Daoist, are you truly interested and not just trying to trick me? This item is quite valuable. If you really want it, you’ll have to leave a deposit of fifteen Spirit Stones with me." After saying this, the old man put on an expression as if he were taking a huge risk.
"Fellow Daoist, do you take me for a three-year-old child? Fifteen Spirit Stones is probably enough to buy more than half a wolf corpse. If you took the Spirit Stones and ran, who would I even look for?" Lu Zhao retorted, his tone firm.
"Then what do you propose?" The old man’s tone softened again. He clarified, "If you want this corpse, you must leave something as collateral. Otherwise, I would rather not do this business." The old man first took a step back, then stated his bottom line.
After a moment of thought, Lu Zhao took out an item. The old man looked closely. "This is a Puppet." "Correct. A Tier One Lower Grade Puppet—an Ice Mouse Puppet. It’s worth fifteen Spirit Stones. What do you think, Fellow Daoist?"
"This..." The old man was in a difficult position. While Puppets weren’t exceptionally rare in Bixia Marketplace, they weren’t exactly a common sight either.
He wasn’t really sure of the item’s value. After thinking for a moment, the old man decided to agree. After all, if he could close this deal, he would earn a good number of Spirit Stones. Besides, this person seemed quite sincere; it was worth the risk.
"Alright. In three days, same place, we’ll make the trade." The old man gritted his teeth and agreed.
Lu Zhao nodded and handed the Puppet to the old man. Taking the Puppet, the old man breathed a sigh of relief. "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist. I have been running a stall here for decades. I wouldn’t ruin my reputation over something worth a dozen or so Spirit Stones." He then announced loudly that he had accepted a Puppet as a deposit and would be selling a wolf corpse to Lu Zhao in three days, even showing the Puppet to the onlookers.
’This man must still be a little worried,’ Lu Zhao thought to himself as he watched the old man. Lu Zhao could guess his intentions; he was using this method to prevent Lu Zhao from backing out of the deal.
However, this was also to his advantage, so he said nothing and quietly watched the old man’s performance.
Once it was all over, he left Black Stone Lane and went to Zhao Xiaoshu’s home. Lu Zhao saw narrow, maze-like paths winding and twisting, with stagnant, foul-smelling water collected on the uneven ground.
Most of the houses here were patched together from cheap materials. Some were made of crooked wooden planks with wind whistling through the gaps. But this was the West District’s shantytown, the residence of low-level Cultivators.
Lu Zhao arrived before the door of one of the houses.
KNOCK KNOCK!
Lu Zhao waited at the door for a Half quarter hour, but no one came to open it. Just as Lu Zhao assumed no one was home and was about to leave...
CREAK!
The door opened, and a small head peeked out. Seeing this, Lu Zhao understood at once. ’This must be one of Zhao Xiaoshu’s relatives.’
The one who opened the door was a little girl who looked to be only seven or eight years old. She wore faded, well-washed clothes, and her face was dark, smeared with something Lu Zhao immediately recognized.
"Sen...ior..." the little girl said.
Lu Zhao got straight to the point. "I’m looking for Zhao Xiaoshu. Where is he?"
Hearing this, the little girl let out a breath of relief and said, "Big Brother went to the Hundred Arts Workshop in the South District."
"When will he be back?" Lu Zhao asked.
"Uhm..." The little girl began to stammer again.
Seeing this, Lu Zhao had no choice but to say, "Have him come find me at Guiyun Residence tomorrow at 7:00 AM. Just tell him that!"
The little girl nodded frantically. Seeing this, Lu Zhao turned and left.
At early 5:00 AM the next day, just as Lu Zhao stepped out of his house, he saw someone standing outside. It was none other than Zhao Xiaoshu.
"Senior, please don’t be offended. My little sister is still young; she didn’t mean to slight you." Zhao Xiaoshu looked completely terrified.
"It’s fine," Lu Zhao said. "You’ve probably guessed why I was looking for you, haven’t you?" he added, looking at Zhao Xiaoshu.
"This junior has a small guess," Zhao Xiaoshu said in a low voice. "It must be about the shops in the Marketplace?" he added.
"Correct. You’re as smart as I thought!" Lu Zhao nodded in satisfaction. ’It’s so much easier talking to intelligent people.’
"First, give me a general overview of the shops in the Marketplace that buy Spiritual Materials. Just tell me what you know," Lu Zhao said to Zhao Xiaoshu in a gentle tone.
"Yes, Senior. If we’re talking about which shop in the Marketplace buys the most Spiritual Materials, it would have to be Bailing Tower..."
Two quarter hours later, Zhao Xiaoshu had poured out everything he knew, like spilling beans from a bamboo tube.
After listening, Lu Zhao nodded. The information Zhao Xiaoshu provided was all common knowledge, nothing precious, but it was enough to help him with his initial screening.
"Follow me."
With that, Lu Zhao took the lead and set off.
Zhao Xiaoshu followed close behind, matching his every step.
More than half a day later, Lu Zhao left Celestial Star Tower in the Golden Treasury Workshop of the North District. It was the fourth shop Lu Zhao had visited that day. After visiting four shops, Lu Zhao already had a preliminary estimate of the prices in Bixia Marketplace.
He could now roughly judge how many Spirit Stones he could get for the resources he had on hand—not including the Ironwood, Profound Iron, Ice Wind Stone, Ice Condensing Stone, and Water Spirit Jade.
If he sold all the remaining resources, he estimated he could get close to three thousand Spirit Stones. The main haul was the Cold Iron; that alone was estimated to be worth nearly two thousand Spirit Stones. The profit had already doubled.
As for the other items, if he sold them off slowly, piece by piece, he could probably recoup nearly a thousand Spirit Stones.
"To the Alchemy Room!" Lu Zhao said to Zhao Xiaoshu, who had been trailing behind him all day like an attendant.
"Yes, Senior." Zhao Xiaoshu bowed, then pointed the way for Lu Zhao, giving him a simple introduction as they walked.
"When it comes to alchemy rooms in Bixia Marketplace, the most famous is naturally the Bixia Pill Room. It’s directly affiliated with the Bixia Sect. They have a complete range of Pills, and the quality is impeccable. It’s just that the ’price’ is a bit steep." He deliberately emphasized the word "price," as if afraid Lu Zhao wouldn’t hear him.
Lu Zhao nodded and said, "Let’s go to that one."
Lu Zhao naturally didn’t like expensive Pills, but for something one consumed, he had to find a reliable alchemy room, even if the price was a little higher.
Three quarter hours later, Lu Zhao arrived at the entrance of the Bixia Pill Room. The building’s main doors were a fiery vermilion. Inside, the beams were carved and the rafters painted. A simple, ancient Pill Furnace stood in the grand hall, emitting waves of Spirit Light and suffused with the fragrance of herbs, presenting an extraordinary and impressive sight.
’They certainly have the grand presentation down. I just hope their Pills live up to the name,’ Lu Zhao mused as he stepped into the hall.
As Lu Zhao entered, a woman in her twenties, dressed in white with delicate features, approached him. "Fellow Daoist, what kind of Pill might you be looking to purchase at our Bixia Pill Room?"
The woman’s voice was as clear and crisp as an oriole’s song.
Lu Zhao didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly, "What kind of Pills do you have that can help a Late-stage Qi Cultivator improve their Cultivation? Give me the details."