Chapter 138: Recommendation

The True Person Qian of the Qianhe Sect thought seriously about Zheng Fa's words.

The Qianhe Sect is also a member of the Baixian Alliance, but it is far from comparable to the Jiushan Sect—the Jiushan Sect has three Nascent Soul True Persons and is a major sect within the Baixian Alliance.

And the strongest power in the Qianhe Sect is merely a Jin Dan.

So their market was never as prosperous as the Jiushan Sect's before.

The cost of the welcoming boats is actually already quite high for the Qianhe Sect's market—if, as Zheng Fa said, the Jiushan Sect has already sucked away all the surrounding customer flow, then the welcoming boats would indeed be a loss.

But the Qianhe Sect is not without its own characteristics.

They have great expertise in planting spiritual grains, especially Huang Ya Rice, which has some fame within the Baixian Alliance.

"So how is our Qianhe Sect's spiritual grain sold in the Jiushan Sect?" True Person Qian pondered for a while but did not look particularly happy; he naturally knew that since Zheng Fa had specifically sought him out, there must be some demands.

"True Person Qian, I represent the Jiushan Sect's market and wish to cooperate with your sect," Zheng Fa said with a smile. "As for how to sell it, that is naturally up to your sect's choice."

"First, naturally, your sect rents a storefront itself to sell within our market—this requires you to bear your own profits and losses."

"True Person Zheng, you do not know how difficult it is to rent a storefront in your sect's market..." True Person Qian said with a bitter smile.

Zheng Fa naturally knew.

Ever since the Jiushan Sect's market gradually became prosperous.

The market rent had not yet started to rise.

The transfer fees had already skyrocketed.

If the Qianhe Sect wanted to find a shop, the cost would be considerable.

Plus, the market is not without those selling spiritual grains—renting a shop would be too risky for the Qianhe Sect.

This option was merely something Zheng Fa said for the sake of saying it.

"Second, our market cooperates with you; we purchase your Qianhe Sect's Huang Ya Rice, and you only need to manage the planting... whatever storefront, whatever profits or losses, your sect need not manage."

"..." True Person Qian gradually understood Zheng Fa's meaning: "We only need to supply the Jiushan Sect from now on?"

"Yes."

"What about the price?"

"One spirit stone for three Shi."

"No!" True Person Qian's lips trembled: "That is the price in our own market!"

"Isn't it that your own market has no business?" Zheng Fa said quietly.

"..." Hearing this, True Person Qian became even angrier.

This was naturally the truth; Zheng Fa brought people over boat by boat.

Even the Qianhe Sect's own disciples came to the Jiushan Sect to shop.

Then what business would the Qianhe Sect's market have?

"No room for negotiation?" Zheng Fa said, seeing his angry expression.

"Absolutely not!"

True Person Qian swept his sleeve and wanted to leave.

"At least three hundred Shi per month."

True Person Qian's steps stopped dead in their tracks.

"At least... three hundred Shi?"

"No less, only more."

True Person Qian's expression became conflicted.

Three hundred Shi is nearly one hundred spirit stones.

This sum is not insignificant even for the Jiushan Sect's market.

Let alone for the Qianhe Sect, especially since the Qianhe Sect is becoming increasingly difficult these days.

Otherwise, True Person Qian would not have thought of running over to steal techniques.

"True Person Zheng... this price is far too low."

"True Person Qian." Zheng Fa's face showed some imperiousness: "The Baixian Alliance does not have only the Qianhe Sect that can plant spiritual grains; I can find others."

"Don't!" True Person Qian hurriedly said: "We can negotiate; I will report to the Sect Master upon my return, and it can surely be negotiated!"

When True Person Qian left, his face held a mixture of sorrow and joy—as if he did not know whether the Sect Master would scold or praise him for bringing back such a huge order.

But both Zheng Fa and he knew that the Qianhe Sect would definitely agree.

The Jiushan Sect has already nearly sucked dry the nearby customer flow.

If the Qianhe Sect does not want to lose money, it can only become a supplier for the Jiushan Sect.

Although the profit is a bit lower, high volume makes up for the thin margin.

Watching his back, Shijie Yuan turned and asked Zheng Fa: "Shidi Zheng, why must you order Huang Ya Rice from them?"

There were still several Shixiong in the small pavilion, all looking at Zheng Fa with puzzled eyes.

"Our market's products are too single; we must have more and more attractive goods," Zheng Fa explained. "Besides, wasn't it Shijie Yuan you who said Huang Ya Rice was delicious?"

Hearing this, Shijie Yuan could not help but laugh.

Huang Ya Rice was indeed Shijie Yuan's strict selection; Zheng Fa ate it and thought it was good too.

"But is three hundred Shi a bit too much? What if we can't sell it?"

Shijie Yuan was still a bit worried.

"Shijie Yuan, have you calculated how much spiritual grain our Jiushan Sect consumes in a month?"

"Hmm?"

"Our Jiushan Sect, not counting the disciples' family members and attendants, has nearly over a thousand people," Zheng Fa calculated. "One disciple consumes about five or six liang of spiritual grain a day; a month is one-fifth of a Shi, so a month requires at least over two hundred Shi; if we add those relatives, three hundred Shi is definitely too little."

According to the calculation method of the Xuanwei Realm, one Shi is about nine hundred liang; just the consumption of the Jiushan Sect's disciples would nearly exhaust these three hundred Shi.

"You mean... these spirit grains were purchased for the disciples?"

"Senior Sister Yuan, I wonder if you've noticed that the price of spirit grains in our market has risen," Zheng Fa said softly.

"This... it does seem so." As a Jin Dan cultivator, Senior Sister Yuan was not so sensitive to this; after pondering carefully for a while, she frowned and said, "Those profiteers!"

"It's not necessarily their doing," Zheng Fa shook his head. "During this period, everyone has earned money; it's not just spirit grains—the prices of other things are rising too."

To exaggerate slightly, this was a small-scale inflation within the Jiushan Sect.

This was not a bad thing.

After all, it happened because the disciples of the Jiushan Sect were wealthier than before.

"I was thinking that not everyone has become rich; some disciples, especially newly admitted ones, cannot earn money at all and survive solely on their monthly subsidies," Zheng Fa explained to them. "These affordably priced Huang Ya Rice are exactly what they need."

Zheng Fa ordered Huang Ya Rice from the Qianhe Sect, of course, to consolidate the Jiushan Sect's current advantage; now that the marketplace had foot traffic, it naturally needed some flagship products, otherwise people would only buy and sell a few spirit talismans.

It would truly be a waste of the plays Zheng Fa had created.

But the main reason was that he had seen that some disciples at the bottom had not become wealthy due to the Jiushan Sect's development.

On the contrary, their lives had become even harder.

In this round of development within the Jiushan Sect, those who grew rich were the great families behind the shops and the vendors who had some connections and capital.

But the poorest group basically enjoyed very few benefits.

Instead, they had to bear the rising prices.

Ultimately, this was Zheng Fa's version of the "Vegetable Basket" project.

Inside the room, the gazes these senior brothers cast upon him gradually changed, seeming somewhat resentful.

"Senior Brothers, why are you looking at me like this?"

"... Junior Brother, why were you born so late!" a senior brother surnamed Yang suddenly sighed.

"?"

At Zheng Fa's home, he sat on a meditation cushion, preparing to condense his fifth Yang Yuanfu.

This time, he intended to condense a Yin-attribute Fire-element Yang Yuanfu—the Ju Xia Fu.

Most Fire-element Yang Yuanfu leaned toward offensive capabilities.

Yet Zheng Fa did not really need that nowadays.

The Ju Xia Fu, however, suited him very well; this talisman allowed a cultivator to transform into a streak of rosy light and fly through the air, making travel convenient in the modern era.

After all, there were radars and such in the modern world; with other methods of flight, one might be mistaken for an unidentified flying object.

Having the cover of rosy light was much better.

Nowadays, condensing Yang Yuanfu was familiar territory for him; after swallowing a Yuan Yuan Dan, in less time than it takes to burn an incense stick, the Ju Xia Fu appeared within his dantian.

What surprised him somewhat was that after the Ju Xia Fu took form, the five Yin-attribute Yang Yuanfu merged into one and slowly began rotating within his dantian.

A golden lotus platform appeared in his dantian; on its petals were inscribed the Upright Shadowless Talisman, the Frost Blade Talisman, the Spirit-Nourishing Talisman, the Evergreen Talisman, and the Ju Xia Fu.

But what attracted Zheng Fa's gaze most was the phantom of another lotus platform growing beneath the base of the first; although it consisted only of faint golden lines, the shape of the lotus seat and petals was nevertheless very distinct.

He could not help but recall what Senior Sister Zhang had told him about the mutual generation of Yin and Yang.

Just as his divine sense was immersed within his dantian, streaks of five-colored rosy light suddenly descended from the sky above his courtyard.

The rosy light encircled the meditation chamber where Zheng Fa cultivated, causing all the nearby residing cultivators to turn their heads in astonishment.

"Junior Brother Han, what is this?"

Senior Brother Li asked Han Qi.

Today was the day Han Qi had prepared to introduce him to Zheng Fa.

"Nothing much; it should be that Junior Brother Zheng's cultivation has advanced once again."

Han Qi said this, a hint of shared pride on his face: "Although Junior Brother Zheng possesses dual spirit roots, I've heard that his current rate of progress is the fastest among their group of new disciples, rivaling even those with single spirit roots."

Senior Brother Li nodded, yet his expression grew even more apprehensive.

The more talented Zheng Fa was,

the more he worried whether Zheng Fa would look favorably upon him.

The cold glances he had endured for so many years in the Jiushan Sect had nearly made him lose all confidence.

Observing his expression, Han Qi roughly guessed what he was thinking and suddenly asked, "Senior Brother, did you specially buy a new set of clothes for today?"

Senior Brother Li smiled with slight embarrassment and said, "There was especially cheap Huang Ya Rice for sale in the marketplace today; I saved a little money and thought I should dress more decently, lest Junior Brother Zheng think I disrespect him..."

"That Huang Ya Rice was specially purchased by Junior Brother Zheng for disciples like us to eat."

"Ah?"

Han Qi smiled at Senior Brother Li and said, "I don't know whether Junior Brother Zheng will take an interest in talisman seals, but Senior Brother Li, Junior Brother Zheng is not someone who looks down on us."

Senior Brother Li glanced twice at his new clothes, fell silent for a moment, and finally broke into a smile, a sense of relief appearing on his face.

"Junior Brother Zheng, this is Senior Brother Li Nuo."

Han Qi brought Senior Brother Li before Zheng Fa and introduced him.

"Senior Brother Li, pleased to meet you."

Seeing Senior Brother Li's somewhat unnatural expression, Zheng Fa took the initiative to bow in greeting.

Senior Brother Li froze, then hastily cupped his fists toward Zheng Fa, as if it had been a long time since anyone had spoken to him in such a manner.

"Senior Brother Han, you invited Senior Brother Li here because..."

Han Qi glanced at Senior Brother Li and said, "It's better for Senior Brother Li to explain himself."

"I... I wish to ask Junior Brother Zheng to lend me some spirit stones," Senior Brother Li said after a long silence, surprisingly voicing the request.

Borrowing money?

Zheng Fa blinked, glancing at Han Qi with some confusion—was this man a relative of his?

"..." Han Qi was also at a loss for words: "Junior Brother Zheng, please understand clearly; Senior Brother Li did not borrow the money for himself, but for research."

"Research?"

Zheng Fa finally took an interest; there were not many people in the Jiushan Sect who liked research.

Looking at Senior Brother Li, who could barely speak clearly, Zheng Fa asked, "Researching what?"

"Talisman printing."

Senior Brother Li pulled a blood-colored cube from his robe; engraved upon the cube was the pattern of the Jin Jiafu.

"Talisman printing?"

Was this talisman printing technology?

Zheng Fa took the cube, gazing at Senior Brother Li, a faint glimmer appearing in his eyes: "Is this the only one?"

"This is the only successful one; the others... will explode."

Zheng Fa's hand trembled; why didn't you say so sooner?

Li Nuo said gloomily, "My father died accidentally in an explosion while researching talisman printing."

"... Senior Brother Li, do you have a courtesy name?"

"My childhood name is Shicheng," Li Nuo replied, somewhat bewildered.

Fortunately, it wasn't 'Bell'.