Immortality Begins as an Alchemy Master 12

Chapter 12: Great River City Has Its Own Circumstances

Before a stone slab, an old man held a spicy beef jerky, his eyes brimming with insatiable curiosity.

Before him stood a tall, handsome, and dashing young man, one hand behind his back, the other holding a long piece of beef jerky, eloquently speaking.

“Don’t understand? I’ll teach you!”

“So-called brand value is the extra value artificially added to a commodity’s inherent value.”

“Still don’t understand?”

Seeing the old man’s bewildered expression, Luo Chen sighed, pointing at the scattered cultivator market with his beef jerky.

“In this market alone, there are at least three stalls selling low-grade talismans, right?”

“Mm-hmm, Lu Heng, Mao Wuya, and myself—we’re the ones who consistently sell talismans,” Chen Laodao interjected quickly, seizing the opportunity to speak.

“Then, how do you see them? And how do you see yourself?”

Chen Laodao scoffed, “That little Lu Heng, his skills are lacking; his talisman paper is all purchased from me. He’s not worth mentioning!”

“And Master Mao?”

“He’s a latecomer, his skills are comparable to mine, but he’s ninety-three years old, a skeleton in the grave already!”

“And what about Daoist Friend Chen yourself?”

Chen Laodao stroked his white beard, confidently saying, “I started working odd jobs at the Divine Talisman Pavilion at twenty, learning talisman paper techniques for five years and then another fifteen years before entering the talisman path. Since putting up my sign, I’ve been setting up my stall here for twenty-five years. I’m still young and strong, my skills are superb. If a cultivator comes to the market and wants to buy talismans, they must first visit my stall!”

Clap clap clap!

Luo Chen clapped, a look of satisfaction on his face.

“Daoist Friend Chen, that’s right. Your talismans already possess basic brand value. It’s a combination of your experience working odd jobs at the Divine Talisman Pavilion, your twenty-five years of unwavering dedication to your stall, and the consistent quality of your talismans.”

Chen Laodao was quite pleased, but after a moment’s thought, he felt something was amiss.

“But in all these decades, my talismans haven’t fetched high prices!”

“High prices are indeed rare, but compared to others, aren’t your prices generally higher?”

“I suppose that’s true, but still not as high as the Divine Talisman Pavilion. Customers who need large quantities of talismans still prefer to go to the Divine Talisman Pavilion.”

Luo Chen rolled his eyes, “The Divine Talisman Pavilion is backed by the Extreme East Six Regions, the Divine Talisman Sect, one of the six great upper sects, their brand value is given by Golden Elixir Cultivators and Nascent Soul Realmers. Can you compare yourself to them?”

“True.” Chen Laodao now had a clearer understanding.

“So, your stall’s brand value has reached its limit, it can’t grow much further. In this situation, you need to seek another path!”

“Such as?”

“Give your individual products brand value.”

“More details!”

“Give it a story!”

Chen Xiping froze, “Zong Miao Pills? Cloud Crane? Hehuan Sect’s Cloud Crane Upper Person?”

“You’re a quick learner!”

Hard!

Hard!

My fists are hard again!

After that hardening moment, Chen Laodao entered a sage-like state of clarity.

“You mean, I need to give my talismans a story, just like you?”

“Yes.”

“Is it that simple?”

“That simple!”

“Then why did you go through all that unnecessary talk earlier?”

“It wasn’t talkative enough, I need to earn back the interest from your fifty Spiritual Stones loan, you know!”

Inhale! Exhale!

Taking a deep breath, Chen Laodao decided not to get angry. He was sixty-five; he had to take care of his health.

“But how do I tell this story?”

Luo Chen looked at his stall. Chen Laodao’s talisman types were familiar to him. There were six types in total: the lowest-grade Cleansing Talisman and Wind-Riding Talisman; mid-grade Fireball Talisman and Earth Spike Talisman; and the Earth Wall Talisman and Concealment Talisman.

The Fireball Talisman and Earth Spike Talisman sold the most, but the unit price was very low, one and a half spiritual stones per talisman.

The highest-priced ones were the Earth Wall Talisman and the Concealment Talisman.

The former sold for two spiritual stones each, and the latter started at three spiritual stones, sometimes fetching five or six spiritual stones, or even higher, during periods of high demand.

Talismans had a strong market among low-level cultivators.

Their power was slightly weaker than spells, but they were faster to cast and consumed very little spiritual energy.

Especially those related to defense and life-saving were very popular.

Pointing to the Concealment Talisman, Luo Chen’s mind raced, combining what he’d seen in the *Six Regions Chronicle*, and devised a story outline.

However, the specifics had to be filled in by Chen Laodao; his experience surpassed Luo Chen’s.

Luo Chen also suggested telling stories to new customers, but sticking to the old approach for repeat customers.

The Concealment Talisman also needed a makeover; it shouldn’t be so drab. Without affecting its use, add two gold borders.

This way, even without telling stories to old customers, he could try raising prices.

After giving his guidance, Luo Chen couldn’t hold back any longer.

He rushed into the scattered cultivator market like a gust of wind, carrying a large sum of money.

Purchasing! Purchasing! Frenzy purchasing!

Night had fallen, moonlight illuminating the ground brightly.

A young man, carrying two large snakeskin bags, walked quickly along the road.

The bags were genuine snakeskin, tough and capacious!

Today’s market trip was delayed because of selling Zong Miao Pills and discussing matters with Chen Laodao.

After completing his purchases in the evening, he arrived at this time.

Walking on the sun-baked dirt road, Luo Chen’s breathing was labored.

Although his feet moved swiftly, his eyes constantly scanned, paying close attention to the shadows between the wooden houses.

Great River City strictly prohibited fighting, but only within the Inner City.

They didn’t care about the scattered cultivators in the Outer City.

The spiritual stones collected each month were only used by the bigwigs in the Inner City to deal with any demonic beasts that broke in.

Therefore, strongmen often robbed and murdered cultivators in the Outer City, especially at night.

It could only be said that Great River City had its own unique circumstances.

Luo Chen currently had no spiritual stones on him; his entire fortune was in those two snakeskin bags on his back.

But to put it simply, it was only worth one hundred spiritual stones.

Moreover, it was scattered and troublesome to sell.

However, his own assessment was one thing; whether someone would attempt to rob him was another.

“Damn it, once I have enough spiritual stones, I must move to the Inner City!”

Luo Chen cursed under his breath, walking nervously along the dirt road.

Perhaps it was the bright moonlight tonight, perhaps it was his ragged clothes, or the ugliness of the two snakeskin bags on his back.

In any case, Luo Chen safely returned home.

Sometimes, when a person is sufficiently humble, even robbers wouldn’t bother with them.

Luo Chen didn’t feel bitter; after catching his breath, he sorted the materials from the bags onto the shelves.

With one hundred spiritual stones, he purchased nineteen sets of Zong Miao Pill ingredients, costing ninety-five stones.

With the remaining five spiritual stones, he bought some Valley-Clearing Powder ingredients for three stones, according to his success rate, he could make at least thirty bottles. Selling them at one and a half stones per bottle, he could earn six spiritual stones, with a net profit of about half, three stones.

The other two spiritual stones: one went towards ten jin of spiritual rice, and the other went towards two months’ rent to the City Lord’s Mansion.

Yes, his outermost house had a monthly rent of half a spiritual stone, so he paid every two months.

Pouring the spiritual rice into the rice container, Luo Chen slumped onto a wooden stool in the living room, inhaling the scent of herbs filling the room, and grinned.

Although tired, he felt happy.

Tomorrow, he could start expanding production!

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