Chapter 54: The 'Xian Alliance - Shi Sect' System Slightly Mobilizes, Forcing Normal Cultivators to Dance with Jie Cultivators

Just as Yulou was finalizing the cooperation between Hundred Treasures Pavilion and Qing Xi Fang on the horse race, Hundred Treasures Pavilion's competitors were also, as if facing a formidable enemy, deliberating on how to deal with Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

"They're going too far. Copying our name would already be enough.

But they actually sell talismans too — this is outright bullying."

In the rear courtyard of Bai Fu Tang, a Che clan Qi Refining cultivator dressed as a shopkeeper was complaining.

He was the shopkeeper of Bai Fu Tang, Che Zengye.

The Qi Refining stage talisman market in Qing Xi Fang was only so large. Through several generations of operation, the Che clan had built up the reputation of Bai Fu Tang, giving it one-third of Qing Xi Fang's market.

One-third sounds small, but for a fully competitive commercial district, this kind of dominance was already not low.

But the Wang Shi suddenly sprouted a Hundred Treasures Pavilion out of nowhere. Its name was nearly identical to Bai Fu Tang's, and its business overlapped heavily — how could Che Zengye not be anxious?

"They're really bullying you, so what can you do about it.

Zengye, just tell me — what's your plan to respond?

I came all the way to Qing Xi Fang not to listen to you complain."

The Che clan patriarch Che Zengshu said to his younger brother with some helplessness; he rather disagreed with what Che Zengye had just said.

The Wang Shi of Anbei Kingdom was a great and powerful clan; they wouldn't deliberately copy the Che family's shop name. But how to respond to Hundred Treasures Pavilion's fierce challenge was indeed a difficult problem.

Qing Xi Fang was only so big. With the Wang Shi name behind it and plenty of innovation in its operations, Hundred Treasures Pavilion naturally had no shortage of customers.

But if they eat two more bites, the Che family's Bai Fu Tang eats two fewer — this was a serious problem!

How could Che Zengshu not worry? That was why he had rushed over in such a hurry.

"Patriarch, we can also run a three-person ten-percent-off group deal to steal customers from Hundred Treasures Pavilion."

As for copying Hundred Treasures Pavilion's strategy, Che Zengye had no reservations — after all, Hundred Treasures Pavilion had copied Bai Fu Tang's name first.

"You're thinking too simply. Our model is buy low, sell high.

We buy talismans in bulk at low prices from loose cultivators and small clans, then slowly sell them off.

Hundred Treasures Pavilion's model is for the Wang family to draw talismans themselves, and once drawn, sell them through their own shop.

Bai Fu Tang cannot compete with them on price cuts!

If we compete on price cuts, we're sure to lose. We need to think of other methods."

A grain of dust from the era, when it falls on an individual's shoulder, becomes a mountain.

To prove his Jin Dan, Master Mangxiang massively pushed pressure downward through the Red Lantern system's hierarchy.

The Wang Shi, as a vassal of the Red Lantern and a small faction of the Mangxiang lineage, actively got cut down to the heel.

Amid the changes, to maintain the family's balance of income and expenditure, Wang Xianmao established Hundred Treasures Pavilion in Qing Xi Fang.

And so, the Che family's Bai Fu Tang was put in a tight spot.

The cost of Master Mangxiang's tribulation was naturally borne by the Red Lantern.

When the Red Lantern faced pressure, it could also directly share it among its many vassals.

When the Wang Shi faced pressure, it could, through various means, pass it on to loose cultivators and small clans.

But for a small Qi Refining clan like the Che Shi, what were they supposed to do?

The tides of the era transmitted layer by layer, and when they reached the Che Shi, the Bai Fu Tang they had built up over many years was as fragile as a sheet of paper.

The gap between the Che Shi and the Wang Shi was enormous. Many methods that might have worked in the past lost their effectiveness when facing Hundred Treasures Pavilion, which had the Foundation Establishment immortal clan Wang Shi behind it.

Che Zengye thought for a long time, then said in a low voice.

"Patriarch, don't you know a few Jie cultivators? On the surface, their identities have nothing to do with one another.

We can use these people to spread rumors that Hundred Treasures Pavilion's talismans don't work well, to damage their reputation!"

Che Zengshu was startled. He glanced around, quickly realized it was only the two of them, and his suspended heart settled back down.

Leaning his head toward Che Zengye, he scolded in a suppressed voice.

"Don't talk nonsense. We supply those people — that's supplying, and supplying is normal business.

If we hire those people to do things, wouldn't that mean we're mixing in with Jie cultivators too?"

Well, well — there was a reason Bai Fu Tang's business stood out uniquely in Qing Xi Fang.

Besides normal sales in the shop, the Che family also had a special secret sales network dedicated to supplying talismans to Jie cultivators.

"Patriarch, Hundred Treasures Pavilion is pressing us step by step. Backed by the Wang Shi, the quality of their goods is not low.

Moreover, they have multiple kinds of spiritual pills in supply. As things stand, with one side gaining and the other losing, Bai Fu Tang's business is in danger.

We must take action — when it's time to cut, cut!"

In Che Zengye's eyes there was helplessness, struggle, madness — but never hesitation.

Bai Fu Tang's business concerned the Che family's very survival; he had to protect it!

Under his brother's gaze, the Che clan patriarch was silent for a long time, then finally said.

"I'll arrange it. You don't need to worry about these matters. Oh, and just tell the shop assistant that I only came to stay for one day."

The 'Xian Alliance - Shi Sect' system only needed to mobilize slightly, and it forced normal cultivators into being compelled to dance with Jie cultivators.

These past few years, many things have been different from before.

Compared to Jiang Baobian, who still cared about appearances and decorum, the new garrison cultivator Mu Chunze was so black he'd dilute water with water.

Diluting water with water — ordinary people couldn't even think of something like that.

No wonder he could apprentice under a Purple Mansion!

Yulou had originally planned to wait until Master Master Hongmei sorted out his thoughts before going to Hua Feng Residence to continue his cultivation studies.

After all, Master Master Hongmei was currently under great psychological pressure, and Yulou worried that this kind-hearted-faced but black-hearted master might blow up at them.

But yesterday Lin Lin Lin Lin Shijie Zhong Ningyao came to visit them, suggesting Master Master Hongmei might have already adjusted his state.

Therefore, Yulou and Wang Yuan arrived at Hua Feng Residence early today.

"Is my master here?" Yulou asked the front hall attendant.

"He went out early this morning. Zhong Ningyao the Fairy is in, though—she is in the side hall talking with a female customer about a custom artifact commission."

Hearing the clerk's reply, Wang Yuan looked toward his older brother.

"Brother, while we have the chance now, let's refine the Purple Copper Law-Breaking Pestle."

The two brothers still owed Wu Jinyan a debt from the famine and needed to pay it back as soon as possible.

Although Wang Yulou was now the Shopkeeper of the Treasure Pavilion, he could not freely dip into the spirit stones on the pavilion's account.

Not wanting to disturb Zhong Ningyao, the two came before the artifact-refining furnace.

Wang Yuan stoked the fire, Wang Yulou fetched water, and they were ready in no time.

"This is still our first time refining artifacts on our own. Wang Yuan, why don't you go first?"

Wang Yulou's request was a little baffling. Wang Yuan was puzzled for a moment, but did not refuse.

In truth, what Wang Yulou had considered was that his own attainment in the Dao of Refining was higher than Wang Yuan's.

If he refined first, any explosions would affect his own state—and even more so Wang Yuan's.

Letting Wang Yuan go first, with his competitive young temperament, would make him refine more carefully.

At the same time, with Wang Yulou—whose refining attainment was a notch higher—backing him up, the pressure in Wang Yuan's heart would be much lighter.

The two factors stacked together: the value of the decision itself to let Wang Yuan refine first became clear.

Wang Yulou calculated things this finely, which was why he spoke up and let Wang Yuan go first.

Cultivation is like this.

Two chunks of purple copper—the material cost alone was nearly three hundred spirit stones. Adding up all the miscellaneous auxiliary materials, refining would consume at least three hundred and ten spirit stones.

Three hundred and ten spirit stones, refining six Purple Copper Law-Breaking Pestles—each one's cost came to fifty-two spirit stones.

One failed refinement meant fifty-two spirit stones gone. How could Wang Yulou not be careful?

On the surface, he was only fussing over a tiny detail.

Even if Wang Yulou sold two hundred Purple Copper Law-Breaking Pestles, the spirit stones earned still could not buy the Mid-Quality Spirit Artifact waist-belt at his waist.

Yet a tree that fills one's embrace grows from a tender shoot; a nine-story terrace rises from a basket of soil.

One must be resolute, after all, for the burden is heavy and the road is long.

Neither Wang Yulou nor Wang Yuan lacked grand ambitions, but the young Wang Yuan clearly did not understand the deeply hidden steadfastness within Wang Yulou.

He simply stood before the refining furnace, tossed the purple copper straight in without even looking, and said at the same time,

"I feel I can refine five layers of prohibitions into it. Brother, may I try?"

Clearly, his competitive spirit had been guessed right by Wang Yulou.

"Of course you may, but if it explodes, that's fifty-two spirit stones lost.

Go ahead and try. Fifty-two isn't much—it's just two and a half years of our clan's stipend, that's all."

With Wang Yulou saying so, Wang Yuan naturally did not dare be overconfident and take the risk.

Thus, Wang Yulou was in charge of stoking the fire, and Wang Yuan handled the refining.

Under the brothers' careful coordination, the first Purple Copper Law-Breaking Pestle was soon refined.

Only, the pestle Wang Yuan refined had merely three layers of prohibitions.

The design called for four layers: beyond the three basic prohibition layers, one more Law-Breaking Prohibition layer was to be refined in.

But clearly, when Wang Yuan reached the fourth layer, he was somewhat unequal to the task.

It was too small—the volume of a third of a chunk of purple copper was really too small; he could not handle it.

"Who was it just now who said he could refine five layers in?"

Wang Yulou placed the Purple Copper Law-Breaking Pestle into the mandrill blood to soak, laughing as he asked and answered himself.

"Oh, I can't remember—anyway it wasn't me, haha."

Mandrill blood can increase the might of Law-Breaking. Wang Yuan's Purple Copper Law-Breaking Pestle was refined in a middling state, but the nature of purple copper itself determined that it could already provide a certain Law-Breaking ability.

It was still that same logic: a spell unleashed with ten units of magic power, when struck by a purple copper law-sword with five layers of Law-Breaking Prohibitions, could be directly severed with just three units of magic power.

When breaking various defensive-type spells, the advantage was even greater—cutting through them like slicing melons and vegetables.

And this clumsy version of the Purple Copper Law-Breaking Pestle could achieve breaking a ten-unit spell with eight units of magic power. From this angle, it still had value.

Embarrassed bright red by Wang Yulou's teasing, Wang Yuan said nothing more.

He calculated the magic power within his body, tossed another small chunk of purple copper into the refining furnace, and his eyes were full of solemnity.

This time, I will definitely refine a four-prohibition-layer Purple Copper Law-Breaking Pestle!

Wang Yuan could refine ink jade into a Mid-Quality Technique artifact embryo, so he did have some talent in the Dao of Refining. Of course, this might also be due to Wang Yulou's goading and leading.

Just as Wang Yuan mobilized his magic power and wrestled with the purple copper in the refining furnace, Lin Lin Lin Lin Shijie Zhong Ningyao brought a female cultivator whose face was veiled with a gauze scarf into the back hall.

"Friend Yingxi, our Huafeng Residence truly does not accept orders for wood-attribute artifacts. My father excels in metal and stone; fire-method refining is also not suited to wood-attribute artifacts.

However, I can introduce you to a suitable place. Look, they are sons of the Wang Shi of Anbei Kingdom. The Wang Shi are renowned within the Red Lantern Shrine for their wood methods."

Lin Lin Lin Lin Shijie Zhong Ningyao seemed to be introducing the Wang Shi to this female customer?

Wang Yulou had no time to pay attention to the two women, and looked toward Wang Yuan instead.

Good, good, good—this lad Wang Yuan truly does have some wisdom in him.

Two female cultivators were right beside him, yet he didn't even glance at them, and his Artifact Crafting Method remained as steady as ever.

Wang Yuan, you lad are destined for great things!