The goods inside the Immortal Mansion were now worth over fifteen thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, and the cargo on Jinbao’s back was worth nearly two thousand.
Based on his experience that a rchant run quadrupled his investnt, by the ti he made a round trip to the Southern Border, his goods would be worth a staggering seventy thousand Spirit Stones.
’Such a vast quantity of Spirit Stones is what a small sect might accumulate over three generations. Now it’s all on . If word of this fortune gets out, I’m afraid I’ll never make it back alive.’
After unloading the goods from Jinbao’s back, Fang Qingyuan returned to his room and settled down to ditate.
’There’s still a month to go, so there’s no need to rush. I’ll watch how things play out for a few days, get familiar with the local prices, and then make a plan. It’s not too late.’
...
「Three days later.」
Fang Qingyuan leaned against a railing, gazing into the distance. Below, the city was bustling with people, a tide flowing through the streets and alleys.
Cliff City was ho to over 300,000 mortals and more than a thousand Cultivators, truly deserving of the na Immortal City.
The main reason for the abundance of Cultivators in the city was an auction scheduled in half a month, which had attracted people from all over to join the excitent.
Add to that the rchant caravans and mbers from the surrounding tribal sects, and now you could run into four or five Cultivators just by turning a corner on the street.
The place where Fang Qingyuan was staying was the grandest and most magnificent building in the city, known as the Celestial Wings Building.
Cliff City itself was built atop a thousand-zhang precipice, and the Celestial Wings Building was situated on an even higher cliff behind it. A large portion of the building jutted out from the cliff face, suspended in mid-air a thousand zhang from the ground.
Looking out, one could see half the building overlooking the lively, mundane streets of Cliff City, while the other half stretched toward the heavens, touching the floating clouds.
Resting on a high cliff and eting the clouds, it was both majestic and exquisite—the most spectacular sight in the city.
The Celestial Wings Building had eight floors in total. The bottom three were accessible to Qi Cultivation Cultivators, the middle three were for Foundation Establishnt Cultivators, and the top two were exclusive to Golden Core Cultivators.
Fang Qingyuan was currently on the second floor. He had co here mainly because the Celestial Wings Building was hosting a month-long auction.
The event featured both high-end and low-end auctions. To build excitent for the high-end auction in fifteen days, the bottom three floors of the Celestial Wings Building had been converted into a free-trade market. Anyone could set up a stall by paying a certain fee in Spirit Stones.
Fang Qingyuan had brought a lot of rchandise, and he couldn’t sell it all in one place. He planned to take a multi-pronged approach. Besides selling to established shops, he couldn’t afford to miss the market here.
After paying the fee in Spirit Stones, Fang Qingyuan took Jinbao, chose a spot near a window, set up his stall, and began to slowly sell off the goods he had brought.
Jinbao was now squatting in front of the stall, watching over it, while Fang Qingyuan leaned by the window to enjoy the view, savoring a mont of leisure amidst his work.
But a mont later, Jinbao’s cry reached his ears. Fang Qingyuan took a couple of steps back to his stall and saw a pair of Cultivators had stopped in front of it.
It was a male and a female Cultivator, both at the Late-stage of Qi Cultivation. The two wore matching cyan Daoist Robes that looked neither new nor old. The material was average at best, but they were impeccably clean.
Seeing their attire, Fang Qingyuan had a pretty good idea of their situation. ’This pair of Cultivators probably isn’t very wealthy. I should quote a lower price later, so I don’t scare them away.’
The Female Cultivator had her left hand gently linked with the man’s arm, her body leaning slightly against him. Seeing Fang Qingyuan approach, she spoke.
"This piece of wood heart on your stall, what grade is it? And how much does it cost?"
Hearing her ask for the price, Fang Qingyuan considered for a mont before replying.
"This is the wood heart of a Tier One Middle Grade Cyan Jade Peach Wood. This piece weighs three jin, seven liang, and eight fen, and it was harvested from a century-old tree. It cost nearly three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones to acquire. Since it has caught your eye, you can have it for three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones. I won’t even make a profit; let’s just consider it making a friend."
After Fang Qingyuan finished, the woman let out a sneer and said:
"You dare ask for three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones for a Tier One Middle Grade material? You should know that a finished Tier One Middle Grade Magical Artifact is only worth five or six hundred Spirit Stones. If I buy this wood heart, I still have to add other supplentary materials and hire soone to refine it. By the ti it’s finished, won’t it end up costing seven or eight hundred Spirit Stones?"
Hearing the woman nitpick, Fang Qingyuan actually felt more at ease. ’I’m not afraid of you haggling; I’m afraid of you walking away without a word.’
So, Fang Qingyuan continued his pitch:
"You can’t look at it that way. Look at where we are! Where are you going to find a wood heart this large in the desert? You think it’s expensive? I think it’s expensive too! Plus, it’s from a century-old tree and the portion is so generous. It’s more than enough to refine a Magical Artifact, with plenty of material left over. You can use the scraps to make a few wood-elent Talismans; wouldn’t that recoup so of your Spirit Stones?"
Fang Qingyuan delivered his heartfelt speech, thinking it was incredibly persuasive, but the woman wasn’t buying it. She retorted directly:
"What would I do with so many scraps? I’d have to find a Talisman Master to craft them, and that’s another expense. How about this: you cut the wood heart in half for , and you can keep the rest to sell slowly."
Hearing this, Fang Qingyuan imdiately replied:
"You must be joking, my friend. This wood heart is a single, complete piece. How can it be split? If the quality degrades after cutting, wouldn’t I suffer a huge loss? How about this: since you’re so keen on buying it, I’ll take the liberty of knocking off ten Spirit Stones. That can cover your cost of finding a Talisman Master."
Hearing this, the Female Cultivator glanced at the Male Cultivator beside her, signaling him to chi in and not just stand there silently.
Who would have thought the Male Cultivator would just stamr for a few monts before saying:
"Getting ten Spirit Stones off is not bad. Why don’t we just buy it?"
The Female Cultivator shot him a glare, then flung his hand off her arm. She moved right up to Fang Qingyuan and slashed the price directly:
"I think one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones is more than enough."
...
About half an hour later, Fang Qingyuan held two hundred and thirty Spirit Stones in his hand, his head still buzzing.
"She’s an incredible haggler..."
Fang Qingyuan lanted inwardly. The wood heart he had initially priced at three hundred had sold for only two hundred and thirty. And that wasn’t all. The damned woman had also forced him to throw in a few Water Marsh Spirit Leaves for free.
’Even though I acquired the wood heart for less than a hundred, I only a little more than doubled my money. I feel like I’ve taken a loss.’
Before Fang Qingyuan could recover, another Cultivator arrived at his stall and started asking for prices. With a sigh, Fang Qingyuan pushed his recent frustration to the back of his mind and focused on the custor before him.
「Six hours later.」
After more than a dozen groups of custors had co and gone, Fang Qingyuan counted his earnings for the day, feeling both exhausted and happy.
A strong thought now dominated his mind: how could he get Jinbao to talk and help him sell things?
Just as Fang Qingyuan was counting his money, a cheerful voice spoke up:
"That’s a fine little bear you have there. How much are you selling it for?"
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