Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 139 - 44 Introduction

Chapter 139: Chapter 44 Introduction

Master Qian of the Qianhe Sect was seriously pondering the words of Zheng Fa.

The Qianhe Sect was also a member of the Hundred Immortals Alliance, but it could not compare to the Jiushan Sect—the Jiushan Sect had three Nascent Soul masters, and it was a major sect within the Hundred Immortals Alliance.

The strongest in the Qianhe Sect was only at the Golden Core level.

Therefore, their workshop had never been as prosperous as the Jiushan Sect’s.

The cost of the Guiding Ship, for the Qianhe Sect’s workshop, was actually quite significant—if, as Zheng Fa said, the Jiushan Sect had already siphoned off the surrounding customer flow, then indeed, the Guiding Ship would be a loss.

But the Qianhe Sect had its unique characteristics.

They were quite experienced in the cultivation of spirit grain, especially Yellow Rice, which was somewhat famous within the Hundred Immortals Alliance.

"How does our spirit grain from the Qianhe Sect sell at the Jiushan Sect then?" After pondering for a while, Master Qian did not look particularly happy; he obviously knew that Zheng Fa had sought him out with certain requests in mind.

"Master Qian, I represent the Jiushan Sect’s workshop and want to cooperate with your sect," Zheng Fa said with a smile: "How it sells, of course, depends on your sect’s choice."

"First, of course, is that your sect rents its own storefront. You sell within our workshop—this means you would be responsible for your own profits and losses."

"Master Zheng, you might not know how hard it is to rent a storefront in your sect..." Master Qian said with a wry smile.

Zheng Fa certainly knew.

Since the Jiushan Sect’s workshop had gradually become prosperous,

before the rent even started to rise,

the transfer fees had already skyrocketed.

If the Qianhe Sect wanted to find a shop, it would be quite costly.

Moreover, it’s not like there were no spirit grain sellers in the workshop—renting a storefront would be too risky for the Qianhe Sect.

This option was merely rhetorical for Zheng Fa.

"Second, our workshop cooperates with you, purchasing your Qianhe Sect’s Yellow Rice directly, with your sect only needing to handle the cultivation... No need for storefronts, no need to worry about profits and losses."

"..." Master Qian gradually understood Zheng Fa’s intention: "Do we only need to supply to the Jiushan Sect in the future?"

"That’s right."

"And the price?"

"One Spirit Stone per three bushels."

"No way!" Master Qian’s lips quivered: "That’s the price in our own workshop!"

"Isn’t it that your own workshop has lost its business?" Zheng Fa said in a low voice.

"..." At these words, Master Qian grew even more upset.

After all, what Zheng Fa said was true. With Zheng Fa bringing in boatloads of people,

even the disciples of the Qianhe Sect were coming to shop at the Jiushan Sect.

What business could the Qianhe Sect’s workshop still have?

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

"Absolutely none!"

Master Qian flung his sleeve, ready to leave.

"At least three hundred bushels a month."

Master Qian’s steps halted forcibly.

"At least... three hundred bushels?"

"Only more, not less."

Master Qian’s expression twisted with conflict.

Three hundred bushels were almost a hundred Spirit Stones.

That amount was no small sum even for the Jiushan Sect’s workshop.

Let alone for the Qianhe Sect, especially as it had become increasingly difficult.

Otherwise, Master Qian would not have thought to come and learn by stealth.

"Master Zheng... this price is too low."

"Master Qian." Zheng Fa’s face bore an unmistakable resolution: "The Hundred Immortals Alliance is not limited to the Qianhe Sect in cultivating spirit grain. I can find other partners as well."

"No!" Master Qian hurriedly said: "There is room for negotiation; I will report back to the Sect Leader, there is definitely room for negotiation!"

When Master Qian left, there was a bittersweet expression on his face—as if he didn’t know whether bringing such a large order back would result in scolding or praise from the Sect Leader.

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

The Jiushan Sect had nearly drained all the nearby customer flow.

The Qianhe Sect, not wanting to lose money, could only be a supplier for the Jiushan Sect.

Although making less profit, it was a case of small profits but quick turnover.

Watching his back, Yuan turned and asked Zheng Fa: "Zheng, why are you insistent on ordering Yellow Rice from them?"

There were a few other seniors in the pavilion, all looking at Zheng Fa with puzzled eyes.

"Our workshop’s products are too homogenous; we must have more diverse and attractive goods," Zheng Fa explained: "Besides, didn’t you say Yellow Rice is delicious, Senior Yuan?"

Hearing this, Yuan couldn’t help but smile.

Indeed, Yellow Rice was personally selected by Senior Yuan, and Zheng Fa also found it quite good.

"But isn’t three hundred bushels a bit too much? What if we can’t sell it?"

Senior Yuan was still somewhat worried.

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

"Hm?"

"Our Jiushan Sect, not counting the family members of the disciples, has about a thousand people," Zheng Fa calculated: "A disciple consumes about five or six taels of spirit grain a day, which is one fifth of a bushel for a month; at least over two hundred bushels are needed monthly, and if you add their relatives, three hundred bushels are certainly not enough."

According to the calculations of the Xuanwei Realm, one bushel is about nine hundred taels. Just for the consumption of the Jiushan Sect disciples, these three hundred bushels would be nearly used up.

"You’re saying... this spirit grain is bought for the disciples?"

"Senior Yuan, have you noticed that the price of spirit grain in our workshop has gone up?" Zheng Fa said softly.

"This... seems to have increased a little." As a Golden Core cultivator, Senior Yuan was not that sensitive to it, and only after thinking deeply for a while did she frown and say: "These crooked merchants!"

"It may not necessarily be intentional on their part." Zheng Fa, however, shook his head: "Recently, everyone has made money, not just spirit grain, but the prices of other things are also rising."

To put it dramatically, this was a bit of small-scale inflation starting to appear in the Jiushan Sect.

And this was not necessarily a bad thing.

After all, it meant the disciples of the Jiushan Sect were richer than before.

"I was thinking, not everyone has become wealthy, and some disciples, especially those who are new to the sect, don’t earn any money at all, merely living on the monthly allowance," Zheng Fa explained to the others: "These affordable Yellow Rice grains are exactly what they need."

Zheng Fa ordered Yellow Rice from Qianhe Sect, naturally to reinforce the advantage Jiushan Sect currently held—the market saw a surge in foot traffic, and they certainly needed several flagship products, or else transactions would revolve around the same few spirit talismans.

Indeed, it would have wasted the opera Zheng Fa had introduced.

But the main reason was that he noticed some of the disciples at the lower rungs not only failed to grow wealthy from the Sect’s development.

Instead, their lives had become even more difficult.

In this round of growth for Jiushan Sect, it was the influential families behind shops and those vendors with connections and starting capital that had grown rich.

The poorest group had hardly reaped any benefits.

Instead, they had to bear the brunt of rising prices.

In the end, this was Zheng Fa’s version of the "Basket of Vegetables" project.

Inside the room, the way these senior brothers looked at him slowly changed, seeming somewhat filled with silent grievances.

"Fellow seniors, why do you look at me like that?"

"...Junior brother, why were you born so late?" A senior brother with the surname Yang suddenly exclaimed.

"?"

...

At Zheng Fa’s home, he sat on the meditation cushion, preparing to condense his fifth Primordial Talisman.

This time, he was going to condense a Yin Fire Element Primordial Talisman—the Raising Cloud Talisman.

Most Fire Element talismans are typically offensive in nature.

Zheng Fa didn’t really need those now.

But the Raising Cloud Talisman was quite suitable for him—this spirit talisman would allow a cultivator to morph into a streak of cloud light, soaring through the sky, making it convenient for modern-day travel.

After all, with radar and such nowadays, other means of flying might get one mistaken for an unidentified flying object.

Having the cover of cloud light was much better.

Now, he was practiced at condensing Primordial Talismans; within less than the time it took an incense stick to burn after swallowing a Yuan Condensing Pill, the Raising Cloud Talisman appeared in his Dantian.

What surprised him was that after the Raising Cloud Talisman took shape, five Yin Element talismans slowly began to revolve together within his Dantian.

A golden lotus pedestal appeared within his Dantian; upon its petals were drawn the Right Stand No Shadow Talisman, Frost Blade Talisman, Nourishing Spirit Talisman, Evergreen Talisman, and Raising Cloud Talisman.

But what caught Zheng Fa’s attention the most was the base of the lotus pedestal, where the phantom of another lotus pedestal was growing—though only made of some ethereal golden lines, the shape of the seat and lotus petals was distinctly evident.

He couldn’t help but think of what Zhang had told him about Yin Yang Mutual Generation.

While his divine sense was immersed within his Dantian, the sky above his courtyard suddenly fell streaked with five-colored cloud lights.

Surrounding Zheng Fa’s Quiet Room, the cloud light drew the eyes of the nearby cultivators.

"Han Junior Brother, what is this?"

Senior Li asked Han Qi.

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

"It’s nothing, probably Junior Brother Zheng has made another advance in his cultivation."

Han Qi said with a proud look on his face: "Although Zheng Junior Brother has Dual Spirit Roots, I heard that his progression speed is the fastest among the new disciples, not losing out to those with Single Spirit Roots."

Senior Li nodded, his expression growing noticeably more anxious.

The more talented Zheng Fa was,

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

Years of being looked down upon in Jiushan Sect had nearly shattered his confidence.

Seeing his expression, Han Qi could guess what he was thinking and suddenly asked, "Senior brother, did you specially buy a new set of clothes today?"

Senior Li smiled bashfully and said, "There was some cheap Yellow Rice for sale at the workshop today, I saved some money, and thought dressing properly would show respect, lest Zheng Junior Brother feels disrespected..."

"That Yellow Rice is precisely what Zheng Junior Brother bought for us disciples to eat."

"Ah?"

Han Qi smiled at Senior Li, "I don’t know if Zheng Junior Brother will be impressed by rune craftsmanship, but Senior Li, Zheng Junior Brother is not one to look down upon us."

After looking at his new clothes for a moment and falling silent, Senior Li finally smiled, his face reflecting a sense of relief.

...

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

Han Qi introduced Senior Li to Zheng Fa.

"Senior Li, nice to meet you."

Zheng Fa, seeing the slightly unnerved expression of Senior Li, took the initiative to salute.

Senior Li, taken aback, hastily returned the salute, looking as if it had been a long time since anyone had spoken to him like that.

"Han Senior Brother, you’ve brought Senior Li here because...?"

Han Qi glanced at Senior Li and said, "Better let Senior Li speak for himself."

"I... I would like to ask Junior Brother Zheng to lend me some spirit stones." After hesitating for a long while, Senior Li actually made such a request.

Borrowing money?

Zheng Fa blinked, not fully understanding, and glanced at Han Qi—was this his relative?

"..." Han Qi was somewhat at a loss for words too: "With clear insight, Junior Brother Zheng, Senior Li’s request to borrow money isn’t for himself but for research."

"Research?"

Zheng Fa finally became interested; there weren’t many in Jiushan Sect who liked to research.

Looking at Senior Li, who could barely articulate his words, Zheng Fa asked, "Researching what?"

"Talisman crafting."

Senior Li pulled out a blood-colored block from his embrace; the block was even carved with the pattern of a Golden Armor Talisman.

"Talisman crafting?"

Is this talisman printing?

Zheng Fa took the block and looked at Senior Li, a glint of interest flickering in his eyes: "Just this one piece?"

"Only this one was successful, the others... would explode."

Zheng Fa’s hand shook; why hadn’t you said that earlier?

Li Nuo said with a dim expression: "My father died in an accident while researching talisman crafting."

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

"My courtesy name is Shicheng," Li Nuo replied, somewhat lost.

Fortunately, it wasn’t Beier.