Chapter 9: Transactions

Two copies! As you know, the success rate of making talismans has always been very low, " Wu Yan said calmly.

Upon hearing Wu Yan's words, the shopkeeper glanced at the waist tag and then chuckled, saying: "So it turns out Brother Wan wants to make some extra money. This makes things easier. I am Guo Panzai, and today I will purchase all the talismans in Brother Wan's possession. As for the price, it will be one spirit stone for each piece."

Good! Deal! However, Guo Pangzi readily agreed to Wu Yan's terms, as these were merely some low-grade materials, which were insignificant compared to the profits he would gain

"Please remain calm, Brother Wan," Guo said, unfazed as he stopped Wu Yan. "I believe Brother Wan has also noticed that our business is not doing very well. If these talismans are sold at market prices, it may take a long time to sell them, which would be unfavorable for both of us. However, if we lower the prices of these talismans, they can be sold quickly. In that case, the cooperation between you and me can continue for a long time."

Moments later, Wu Yan left Guo Panzai's small shop, having added thirty spirit stones and sixty sets of talisman materials to his storage bag. He had finally gathered enough spirit stones to purchase the Dragon Marrow Pill. Suppressing the joy in his heart, Wu Yan walked expressionlessly into a shop called Shen Dan Tang. This shop was run by a small sect from Blue Star, thus it was quite large, certainly not comparable to the small shops of Guo Panzai and Tu Shuzi.

With this unexpected gain, Wu Yan finally managed to temporarily escape the predicament of lacking spirit stones. However, he was still a bit short of being able to purchase the Dragon Marrow Pill, so after dealing with a few trivial matters, he immediately began crafting talismans.

"However, the price you offered is simply too low; I can't even guarantee my costs," Wu Yan said with a furrowed brow, feeling somewhat troubled. Yet, in his mind, he quickly calculated that the blank talisman paper, cinnabar, and beast blood required for the talisman-making could all be self-supplied. It could be said that he only needed to invest a bit more time. Even if each talisman were sold for just one spirit stone, he could still earn at least forty spirit stones each month, which is nearly equivalent to the monthly income of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.

A month later, Wu Yan's figure reappeared in Star Canyon, but he was dressed in the attire of an ordinary cultivator. Looking at the towering Star City ahead, a hint of confident smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. In the past month, he had crafted a total of sixty-three Ice Spike Talismans, keeping thirty for his own use, while selling off the remaining talismans.

"Oh, I need a Dragon Soul Pill," Wu Yan replied淡淡, but he felt as if he were dreaming. He never expected that after thirty years of hard work, he could finally afford to buy a Dragon Soul Pill.

Wu Yan did not notice the unusual color in the monk's eyes, but directly took out fifty spirit stones to purchase the Dragon Marrow Pill, and then floated away.

"This esteemed guest is most welcome. What elixirs may I assist you with?" A cultivator at the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage immediately approached Wu Yan upon his entrance, showing no sign of disdain despite Wu Yan's eighth level of cultivation.

"Dragon Essence Pill? Good, it will require a total of fifty spirit stones." Upon hearing that Wu Yan wanted to purchase the Dragon Essence Pill, the alchemist from the Divine Pill Hall couldn't help but glance at him again. After all, for a cultivator at the eighth level of the Qi Refining stage, fifty spirit stones was indeed a significant amount.

"What kind of talisman? Is it a low-level one or a mid-level one?" The boss, who had originally felt somewhat discouraged, immediately perked up upon hearing Wu Yan's words

Wu Yan chose the same shop as last time. Although he knew the owner was somewhat unscrupulous, this was precisely what he needed, as only such profit-driven individuals were suitable for his grand scheme to amass wealth. He was now capable of mass-producing low-level talismans, but how to sell them and to whom was a crucial issue to consider. If he only had a small quantity of talismans, he could easily sell them at market price without attracting any attention. However, if a large number of talismans appeared in quick succession, it would inevitably bring trouble upon himself. Therefore, Wu Yan opted for this somewhat greedy owner, as he could offer him a relatively low price. In the face of greed, the owner would naturally not disclose this matter to others.

Wu Yan was certainly aware of the shop owner's hesitation, so he immediately took out a badge he had seized a few days ago and waved it in front of the owner, saying: "You need not worry about the source of these talismans, owner. I am Wan Ming, a disciple of the Tianshufeng Talisman Hall. These talismans are accumulated by my fellow disciples and me; we merely wish to exchange them for some spirit stones. You must understand that this is not a secret matter. If it weren't for the hassle, we could easily contact other lower-ranked disciples directly."

With a quiet sigh, Wu Yan began to examine the other items in his storage bag: two identity tokens, four jade slips, three thunder talismans, one earth escape talisman, two low-grade alchemy cauldrons, dozens of unknown herbs, and thirty-five spirit stones. "Ha! This time I can strike it rich! Truly worthy of a senior external disciple! The rewards are exceptionally abundant! Hehe! No wonder so many people like to be bandits! I imagine Senior Brother Ma's gains must be even more substantial!" Wu Yan thought with a hint of malice.

"Boss, I apologize, but I am not here to purchase items from your esteemed shop," Wu Yan said with a smile. "However, I do have some talismans for sale, and I wonder if you might be interested"

Upon reflecting on this, Wu Yan reanalyzed the events of yesterday. If his conjecture was correct, the woman in white must have first engaged in combat with the two individuals, using those two flying sword artifacts to destroy their magical tools. At that moment, the Foundation Establishment cultivator appeared alongside the book, saving their lives. This was followed by the scene of the subsequent pursuit. It is likely that those two flying sword artifacts were undoubtedly high-grade magical tools; otherwise, the woman in white would not have been able to withstand the pressure from a Foundation Establishment cultivator for so long. However, although she managed to create some distance from the Foundation Establishment cultivator by self-destructing her magical tool, it is feared that she would still be unable to escape.

"How strange? How could these two fellows not even have a single offensive magical artifact?" In a stone house on the back mountain of the Symbol Refining Hall, Wu Yan, who had narrowly escaped with his life, was examining his spoils. He had thought that since those two were cultivators at the eleventh level of Qi Refining, they should possess quite a few valuable items. However, to Wu Yan's great disappointment, there were not only no offensive magical artifacts in the two storage bags, but even defensive artifacts were nowhere to be found. "No wonder those two didn't even activate their protective shields yesterday; I thought they were just overly arrogant! But to my dismay, there were not only no offensive magical artifacts in the two storage bags, but even defensive artifacts were missing. No wonder those two didn't even activate their protective shields yesterday; I thought they were just overly arrogant! It seems they are even poorer than I am. Huh? No, wait! These two are at least disciples at the eleventh level of Qi Refining; how could they not have a single magical artifact? Could this matter be related to that woman in white?"

"Of course it is low-level. Does the boss think that a low-level cultivator like me would possess a mid-level talisman? Moreover, even if I did, I wouldn't sell it." Wu Yan took out an ice spike talisman and placed it in front of the boss, then lowered his voice and said, "These are all ice spike talismans, a total of thirty. If the price you offer is reasonable, we can continue to cooperate."

Haha! Welcome to our store and library! What would you like to buy, my friend? I can assure you that the items in our store are absolutely of high quality and low price, providing exceptional value! As soon as Wu Yan walked in, the short and stout owner immediately greeted him with a beaming smile, passionately extolling the items in his store to an almost unparalleled height.

What? One piece! Boss Gu must be joking with me! If it's at this price, how can we make any extra profit? It would be good enough if we don't lose our capital!" Wu Yan said coldly, turning to leave.

Thirty sheets? The boss was clearly a bit surprised; he looked Wu Yan up and down a few times, his gaze revealing some hesitation.

"Hehe! This is no problem. I can provide materials for you, Brother Wan. For each talisman, in addition to the purchase price of one spirit stone, I will also give you a free portion of vermilion and beast blood with five elemental attributes. What do you think, Brother Wan?" Guo, the chubby man, said with a smile to Wu Yan, his face no longer showing the earlier worry and hesitation, but rather a look of having successfully executed a cunning plan.

Next, Wu Yan used his spiritual sense to examine the four jade slips. The contents included the Thunder Technique and the Earth Escape Technique, as well as a basic alchemy technique. The latter held little significance for Wu Yan at present, as his current cultivation level required a substantial amount of energy to simultaneously study weapon forging and talisman crafting, leaving no room for alchemy. However, the former was different; both of these spells were low-level intermediate spells. As long as Wu Yan's cultivation level reached the tenth tier, he would be able to practice them, which would also mean he could create low-level intermediate talismans.