Making Money, Nothing Shameful About It

Pingyun Market

Among the countless shops, the business at Baixi Residence was exceptionally fiery, besieged by throngs of rogue cultivators and the mortal retinues who accompanied them until not a drop of water could leak through.

Inside, they did not just sell Baixi Brew, talisman paper, and spirit rice. They offered a mundane medicinal salve known as Earth Origin Paste. Though its healing efficacy could not match true medicinal pills, it still retained thirty to forty percent of their potency, and it could be applied externally or ingested. Most importantly, its price was merely a fraction of what healing medicines like the Blood Replenishing Pill cost.

Rogue cultivators were universally impoverished and embittered. On ordinary days, they wished they could split a single portion of cultivation resources in half to spend. Naturally, they favored the far more worthwhile Earth Origin Paste.

The price of a single Blood Replenishing Pill could buy six or seven portions of Earth Origin Paste. Even if the medicinal effects were inferior, they could simply use more of it. No matter how one looked at it, it was a better bargain than buying pills.

Though everyone knew that healing faster during a life-or-death crisis increased the odds of survival, rogue cultivators were simply too poor!

As for the mortals who had followed the cultivators into the market, they were willing to spend heavy sums to bring a portion of Earth Origin Paste home as a family heirloom. To mortals, this was equivalent to a second life; who could say when it might save their household from disaster?

"Take a look, step right up! Today's special price, just ten Jin of spirit rice will buy you one portion of Earth Origin Paste! Pass by, but do not miss out!"

The shouts of the Baixi Residence attendant stirred the crowd into an even greater frenzy.

"Give me a portion, give me a portion!"

"Everyone out of the way, I want one!"

...

Ten Jin of spirit rice equaled one-tenth of a Spirit Stone. If exchanged for mortal gold or silver, it was only seven or eight taels-an exceedingly generous price.

By comparison, the Blood Replenishing Pills and Qi Returning Pills sold by the Huang family demanded five Spirit Stones per bottle. That meant half a Spirit Stone for a single pill-a disparity of over five times the price.

The Zhou family's explosive business naturally drew the envy of other immortal clans. But this was the market; since the ruling Huang family had not intervened, the others dared not make a move either.

From a window in the Qingfeng Tower, Huang Zhengming watched the commotion at Baixi Residence with a calm expression.

Beside him, Huang Zhenghua asked, "Clan Brother, should we act to suppress the Zhou family? If this continues, who is to say it won't impact our own pill trade?"

"There is no need," Huang Zhengming shook his head. "Those buying Earth Origin Paste are nothing more than rogue cultivators and mortals. It will have little effect on us."

Because of the steep prices fetched by medicines like the Blood Replenishing Pill and Qi Returning Pill, generally only cultivators from immortal clans would purchase them. When injured, these rogue cultivators would rather grit their teeth and endure than spend the stones.

In other words, there was virtually no true conflict in trade between the Zhou family and the Huang family. The Zhou family had merely seized the lowest tier of the market.

Over these years, the Zhou family had been far more obedient than the other clans. They never delayed in cultivating the required spirit plants. Though they surely harbored resentment, it was nowhere near as intense as the bitter grievances held by the others.

Under such circumstances, there was absolutely no reason to begrudge them this meager profit. Doing so would make the Huang family appear petty-how could they command respect as the leaders of the righteous path?

He turned his head and asked, "How goes Xuanqing's cultivation?"

"Xuanqing has already condensed fourteen strands of Spiritual Qi. As long as he polishes his foundation a bit more before taking the Green Jade Pill, he should break through successfully," Huang Zhenghua replied.

Huang Zhengming instructed, "That is good. Tell Xuanqing not to act with undue haste. Cultivate slowly; his foundation must be absolutely stable."

To the Huang family, what they lacked now was not Green Jade Pills, but disciples with outstanding aptitude. Thus, even after an entire year had passed, the Huang family still only possessed six Qi Condensation cultivators.

Of course, this was because the Huang family refused to recruit too many cultivators of foreign surnames. Had they done so, their ranks of Qi Condensation cultivators would have swelled by several more.

Huang Xuanqing was a descendant of the Huang family's 'Xuan' generation. His aptitude measured two Cun and four tenths. As long as he was nurtured properly, he was guaranteed to reach Qi Condensation.

Most importantly, his innate soul was far stronger than an ordinary person's. Once he became a Qi Condensation cultivator, he could follow Huang Zhengming to learn the art of alchemy. In the future, he might even become the Huang family's second alchemist!

When that day arrived and the Huang family began training Huang Xuanqing in pill refinement, their demand for low-grade medicinal herbs would become massive. Naturally, they would need the Zhou family's services even more.

The four great arts-Pills, Formations, Talismans, and Artifacts-all required a formidable soul to learn. Yet, before a cultivator reached the Foundation Establishment realm, their soul underwent very few fundamental changes. Only by stepping into Foundation Establishment and giving birth to spiritual sense could the soul be vastly elevated, unless one cultivated incredibly rare soul-path methods.

Therefore, before Foundation Establishment, anyone wishing to cultivate the four arts had to possess a powerful innate soul. Only then could they control the myriad profound changes during the refinement process. This was exactly why cultivators skilled in the four arts were so exceedingly rare.

Meanwhile, in the rear courtyard of Baixi Residence, Zhou Minghu was sipping tea and sharing pleasantries with Meng Zhenfei of the Meng family.

Meng Zhenfei gazed toward the bustling scene in the front courtyard, unable to stop himself from sighing. "Brother Zhou, your family's trade is truly flourishing. It really makes one envious."

"To be able to find such a strange insect as the Golden Border Earth Centipede... truly, what profound fated chance."

"Not at all, not at all. Golden Border Earth Centipedes are troublesome and costly to feed. My family is merely earning some hard-fought silver for our labor," Zhou Minghu said with a faint smile.

Meng Zhenfei did not refute him. Though the Golden Border Earth Centipede was extraordinarily rare, the expense of rearing them was steep. For the Zhou family to mount such a massive operation, calling it 'hard-fought silver' was not false.

This was what all the immortal clans believed. What they did not know was that this Earth Origin Paste was blended with White Marrow Grass and a variety of other medicinal herbs. The actual consumption of Golden Border Earth Centipedes was quite minimal.

If the Zhou family lacked anything, it was definitely not herbs; their harvests severely outpaced their sales. Yet, they could not carelessly flood the market with raw materials. Naturally, they had to devise ways to refine them into other goods for sale.

With the Purple Gold Vine in their possession, the cost of cultivating low-grade spirit plants was utterly negligible. To the Zhou family, the cost to produce a single box of Earth Origin Paste did not exceed two Jin of spirit rice. It was a vastly profitable endeavor.

Amassing wealth in silence-this was the Zhou family's current doctrine.

Meng Zhenfei abruptly changed the subject. "I wonder what Fellow Daoist thinks about the sale of Green Jade Pills this year?"

Zhou Minghu laughed playfully. "I have no thoughts on the matter."

Meng Zhenfei wanted to press the issue, but Zhou Minghu smoothly deflected him with vague words.

Meng Zhenfei glared furiously at Zhou Minghu. "Your Zhou family deserves to be lowly! Timid as a mouse, utterly spineless."

Zhou Minghu kept his smile. "Making money... there's nothing shameful about it."

Meng Zhenfei's anger flared to the extreme. Flicking his sleeves, he stormed out of the courtyard.

"Take care on your journey, Fellow Daoist."

Zhou Minghu called out loudly, though the smile on his face slowly dissolved.

How could he not see through Meng Zhenfei's intentions? The man wanted to drag the Zhou family into an alliance to oppose the Huang family.

After pondering for a moment, Zhou Minghu summoned Wang Dashi. "Dashi, gather this year's White Marrow Grass and deliver it to the Huang family immediately."

"Brother Minghu, the clan has only sent over a dozen or so stalks. We don't have enough to meet the quota," Wang Dashi said, his face full of confusion.

"Pay it no mind. Whatever we have in the shop, give it to them. Send all the dried ones over as well."

Though puzzled, Wang Dashi obeyed without a second word. The man had few redeeming qualities, but unquestioning obedience was his greatest virtue.

Over on the other side, Huang Zhengming and his brother naturally witnessed the delivery of the White Marrow Grass.

"Clan Brother, this Zhou family truly knows which way the wind blows," Huang Zhenghua sneered, though his tone soon shifted to worry. "But are we pressing them too hard? The Meng, Wei, and Fang families, along with the newly elevated immortal clans, are all harboring grievances. If they rise up and attack as one, I fear we may struggle to fend them off."

Even as a member of the Huang family, he felt their clan's actions had gone slightly too far.

Over these years, the Huang family had sold a total of twenty-five Green Jade Pills. Eight of those had been purchased by the Fang, Zhao, and Fan families, resulting in the Fang and Zhao families gaining three Qi Condensation cultivators each, while the Fan family chose to keep their pills hidden.

The remaining seventeen pills had given rise to eleven entirely new immortal clans outside the original eight.

Yet, the four families led by the Meng family had not received a single pill!

This left the four clans seething with unvented resentment. The Meng family, in particular, had recently produced a second Qi Condensation cultivator through fated chance. Since then, they had been secretly colluding with the others, eager to orchestrate a rebellion.

Zhou Ping, who possessed the martial prowess to fight a fourth or fifth-layer Qi Condensation cultivator, was a natural target for the Meng family to recruit.

Huang Zhengming stared coldly at the Meng family's shop in the distance. "Then we will slaughter the chicken to warn the monkeys-we shall bestow grace and enforce might!"

88.181.249.5

ns88.181.249.5da2