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Chapter 8: Trade
After experiencing two lifetimes of cultivation, Lan Chang'an had seen more than his share of selfishness and lack of integrity among cultivators. They tended to be quite pragmatic.
However, to his surprise, the casual agreement made two years ago had drawn the willingness of Zhao Siyao, who had already entered the sect, to honor it.
"Hmm, there's still a year left."
Lan Chang'an pondered. Considering his current identity as the young master of the Angry Bird Gang, spending two or three years seeking enlightenment in cultivation, it was time to return to the secular world and take a break.
Making connections with people from the sect would always be beneficial.
In the cultivation world, background was crucial.
The sects are at the upper echelons of the cultivation world and have more channels, so they can be one step ahead of the others when it comes to news about certain major changes in the world.
...
After bidding farewell to Li Ergou, Lan Chang'an headed to the Mu family's Book Depository Pavilion.
In the library, Lan Chang'an could only peruse basic cultivation books.
Luckily, he wasn't here to find any secret cultivation techniques.
Even if it was the Mu family's top cultivation techniques, they might not be able to catch Lan Chang'an's eyes.
He was here to look up books on geography.
From his memories of this life, he had confirmed that he was in a different Immortal Cultivation land from both of his previous lives.
Half an hour later.
Lan Chang'an emerged from the library, his expression pensive.
"The Great Qing cultivation Realm... Liang Kingdom... Chen Kingdom... Fēng Kingdom..."
In the Book Depository Pavilion, there was very little information beyond the geographical scope of the Liang Kingdom.
This cultivation realm was called "Great Qing."
It was vast, with hundreds of countries.
Not every country had spiritual veins above the third grade; some smaller countries lagged behind in cultivation civilization, with the Core Formation Realm as their limit.
The medium and large kingdoms all had fourth-grade spirit veins, suitable for cultivation up to the Nascent Soul Realm.
The Liang Kingdom where he resided could only be considered a medium-sized country and the strongest force called the Departing Flame Palace, had a True Monarch in the Nascent Soul Realm presiding over it, they're the master of this region.
Below the Departing Flame Palace were the four major sects, each with several Core Formation Realm cultivators.
The Jin Yun Valley was one of them.
Following closely were the seven great cultivation families, the strongest families in the Liang Kingdom.
Each of the seven great families had a long heritage, with at least one Fake-Dan Immortal and multiple Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.
Compared to the Mu family at Feiyue Lake, they were ten times stronger, if not more.
"One Palace, Four Sects, Seven Families..."
Lan Chang'an roughly outlined the Liang Kingdom's cultivation world's structure.
The Mu family he belonged to was considered a power at the bottom of the cultivation world, only slightly stronger than wandering cultivators and Qi-Refining families.
"Is this Great Qing realm in the Heaven Honoured Continent like in my previous life?"
Lan Chang'an couldn't draw a conclusion; he feared he would need to reach a higher realm to confirm.
In his previous life, he had cultivated to the Core Formation Realm before he realized that the vast realm he was in, called Great Kun, was only a remote part of the Heaven Honoured Continent.
It was rumored that in the truly prosperous Earth Realm of the Heaven Honoured Continent, there existed a fifth-grade spirit vein, which theoretically had the chance to give birth to a Deity Transformation Realm cultivator.
...
A few months later...
Lan Chang'an opened his eyes from meditation, The Evergreen mana in his body progressing smoothly.
"Without the aid of elixirs, at this rate, I'm afraid it will take three or four years for me to advance to the third layer of Qi-Refining."
This was without counting the bottlenecks, after all Lan Chang'an being a re-cultivator, he could ignore bottlenecks during the Qi-Refining stage. 𝘧𝓇𝘦𝘦𝔀ℯ𝘣𝓃𝓸𝓿ℯ𝘭.𝑐𝓸𝓂
The Ancient Trees Evergreen Technique needed to draw on the Qi of the ages and had the effect of prolonging one's life, so Lan Chang'an could understand the slow pace of progress.
"The Immortal Cultivation World is ever-changing, and things are unpredictable. With my cultivation speed being so slow, I need acquire some other protective measures."
Lan Chang'an understood the importance of being prepared for the worst.
No matter how calm and stable his cultivation seemed now, the Mu family could face a catastrophe at any moment.
He had experienced such a thing in his previous life.
In terms of protective measures, Lan Chang'an, as a Martial Innate, could enhance his survivability.
"Martial Innate masters need to get in close range to threaten Qi-Refining cultivators; this is a limitation."
Lan Chang'an contemplated.
"Perhaps I should try my hand in some concealed weapons?"
The last time he killed a cultivator from the Zheng family, he used the Sky Piercing Finger technique, which could be combined with concealed weapons.
With hidden weapons laced with poisonous substances from the cultivation world, he might achieve unexpected results.
Of course, true protective measures still relied on the methods of the Immortal Dao.
"It's time to go back to the old ways of the previous two lives." Lan Chang'an chuckled.
Two years ago, when he just reached the second layer of Qi Refining, his spiritual power was too weak. Now, at the second layer of Qi Refining, he could start implementing his plans.
In his first life, he was a talisman master, skilled in the craft.
In his second life, after hundreds of years practice, he became a third-rank talisman master.
Talismans were an excellent choice for both protection and earning spirit stones.
After confirming his plan, Lan Chang'an began preparing materials and tools for drawing talismans.
Originally, he thought buying materials might be troublesome.
Soon after, he learned from Li Ergou that the Feiyue Manor held a small trade within the family in the middle of every month.
The trading event took place at the September Building of the Manor.
...
Seven days later, during the full moon.
Lan Chang'an and Li Ergou arrived at the September Building.
Built over a stream, the pavilion was quaint and elegant, with water pavilions and terraces, tranquil and refined.
Various stalls were set up on the pavilions, with Mu family members displaying their goods on stone tables.
The crowd wasn't large, with only a few dozen people manning the stalls. Some of them weren't even cultivators but rather descendants of cultivators within the family.
After all, there were only a hundred or so cultivators in the entire Mu family.
Lan Chang'an browsed through several pavilions.
The stallholders not only sold items but also sought to buy various cultivation resources.
At two or three stalls, there were offerings of talisman paper, cinnabar, and talisman brushes for sale.
However, the quality was lower than Lan Chang'an had anticipated, and they were scattered, with no single stall offering a complete set of what he needed.
"I should sell these first."
Lan Chang'an found an empty pavilion and put up for sale the inferior-grade magical weapon and Wind Walking talisman from his last battle.
"Big Brother Lan, why are you selling magical weapons? If the spirit stones aren't enough, I will lend you some."
Li Ergou's expression changed.
"No need, I have my own plans."
A inferior-grade magical weapon wasn't of much use to Lan Chang'an.
He'd rather turn it into spirit stones and use them to enhance his protective measures through talisman crafting.
Lan Chang'an was considered a new face.
Some Mu family members were curious and walked to his stall to have a look, but most of them were not interested and asked questions casually..
After waiting for a long while, a sincere buyer finally came.
"How much for this iron sword?" The one who spoke was a dry old man, over the age of a man in his prime, with a cultivation of the third layer of Qi-Refining.
Lan Chang'an quoted, "Forty low-grade spirit stones."
"Too expensive! An ordinary low-grade magic weapon sells for only fifty or sixty pieces of low-grade spirit stones. This shoddy item of yours can easily get damaged if used in a prolonged fight..."
The old man furrowed his brows, trying to negotiate.
Lan Chang'an smiled. didn't he just want to cut the price?
"You are talking about the worst inferior magic weapon, this magic weapon of mine is slightly repaired, much better than that kind."
"If you buy it in good faith, I will offer a single price of thirty-five low-grade spirit stones, with a low-grade wind travelling talisman attached."
Lan Chang'an was too lazy to pull more crap and directly gave a price that was slightly lower than the market value.
The old man's eyes flickered, attempting to further negotiate the price.
Lan Chang'an ignored him.
"Alright, let's make the deal at this price."
The old man smiled back.
Thus, Lan Chang'an sold his spoils from the previous battle for thirty-five low-grade spirit stones.
With the spirit stones in hand, Lan Chang'an was ready to buy a set of talisman drawing materials.
"Big Brother Lan wants to buy talisman painting materials? How about looking for Big Miss Mu Xiuyun?"
Li Ergou suggested, glancing at a nearby pavilion.
"You mean, the Mu family's young lady?"
Lan Chang'an followed his gaze.
On that pavilion, two beautiful women had just set up their stall.
One of them was Mu Xiuyun.
Under the bright moonlight, the young girl's skin was as bright as snow, and she was as gentle as jade; her skirt was as tight as her shoes, and the train of her green hair moved with the wind, as if it were a light cloud coming out of the mountain.
"Missy is a first-rank talisman master."
Li Ergou dared not look too much, hiding his amazement.
"A first-rank talisman master? She should be able to provide everything I require."
Lan Chang'an remained composed and walked towards Mu Xiuyun's stall.
Li Ergou followed closely behind, his heartbeat accelerating, secretly thinking, "Worthy of being a big brother, facing the big miss without the slightest big of timidity."
Seeing the two men approaching, Mu Xiuyun nodded slightly, indicating they could look around for themselves.
On the contrary, beside her, a red-skirted young girl was surprised and sized up the two of them.
Lan Chang'an did not move as he scanned the stall and secretly nodded his head.
Mu Xiu-yun was indeed a fine first-rank talisman master. She had all the materials he needed for drawing talismans, and the quality was good, meeting his complete set of needs.
"How much for this talisman brush?"
Lan Chang'an picked up an ink-blue-colored talisman pen.
"This is a inferior-grade magical tool, the Green Ink Talisman Brush, priced at seventy low-grade spirit stones." A young girl's voice as clear and pleasant as a spring came out.
"What about this one?"
Lan Chang'an changed to another brush, black and slightly yellowed, with some mottling.
"This one... It's a severely worn-out Black Brush Talisman Brush, selling for twenty low-grade spirit stones. I need to mention that it can draw up to a hundred more talismans at most before becoming completely unusable."
Looking at this brush, Mu Xiuyun hesitated slightly, her eyes showing a trace of reluctance.
"I'll take it."
Lan Chang'an could see that the base of this talisman pen was not bad, and the other party's offer was reasonable.
"Also, a small bottle of Blood Ink Vermilion Sand and twenty sheets of first-rank talisman paper."
"What's the price for first-rank fine talisman paper? Oh, give me three sheets."
Lan Chang'an bought all the materials he needed for drawing talismans in one go.
Due to limited funds, he purchased fewer quantities of each item.
"I will honestly charge you 40 low-grade spirit stones for everything."
Mu Xiuyun smiled pleasantly.
"Huh! I only have thirty-five low-grade spirit stones? How about making the deal at this price?"
Lan Chang'an brazenly proposed.
Actually, Mu Xiuyun's offer was considered fair.
He tried to make a small cut.
If it didn't work, he could always return a few talisman papers with nothing to lose.
Upon hearing this, the red-skirted girl snorted:
"Kid! I am afraid that you don't know the rules, Sister Xiuyun's stall doesn't bargain!"
The girl was quite pretty, fair-skinned with long legs, a delicate melon-seed face, willow-leaf eyebrows, and almond-shaped eyes.
Li Ergou had thin skin and felt embarrassed. He said awkwardly, "Big Brother Lan, forget it! I'll lend you a few spirit stones..."
"You, are you Lan Chang'an?"
Suddenly, Mu Xiuyun's gaze turned, fixing on Lan Chang'an, her expression inscrutable.