Immortality Begins as an Alchemy Master 151

Nearby cultivators couldn’t help but look over.

“We’ve lost face, everyone!”—Zhou Yuanli bellowed. He dared not hesitate; Luo Chen was watching him, and if he really did return the goods to Uncle Mi Shuhua, the consequences would be far worse than this current embarrassment.

Next, Luo Chen improvised a few catchy rhymes, giving the artifact shop some impromptu advertising. He only stopped when Duan Feng looked at him with a pleading gaze, clearly weary.

Waving his hand, he said, “Get further away! Look at your pathetic performance; you can’t even shout slogans with enthusiasm. How can you expect to handle robbing cultivators if you’re like this?”

Zhou Yuanli and Liu Qiang, like startled birds, scurried far away. They couldn’t afford to lose face, especially since they weren’t unknown figures; many scattered cultivators in Great River City knew them.

After they had gone, Luo Chen’s expression turned serious. “How’s the income lately?”

Duan Feng sighed. Seeing his expression, Luo Chen felt a jolt of anxiety. However, Duan Feng’s next words greatly relieved him.

“I was too arrogant before,” Duan Feng admitted, “and I never really listened to your advice.”

“This artifact business is indeed far more lucrative than fighting and killing.”

Under Luo Chen’s watchful gaze, Duan Feng gestured with his hand: two thousand!

Luo Chen’s eyes widened. It had been less than half a month since the Fenghai forging shop opened! He’d earned this much already?

After Duan Feng explained via voice transmission, Luo Chen finally understood. Repairing artifacts only earned a few hundred spiritual stones; the work was incredibly time-consuming. The real money was in recycling second-hand artifacts and selling them at a high price.

Many second-hand artifacts, seemingly severely damaged, were actually just misunderstood by cultivators who lacked expertise. Duan Feng would buy them cheaply, then with minor repairs, restore them to 80% or 90% of their original power. He’d then resell them at a high profit.

The Guyuanshan Mountain Range had always been a place of significant artifact damage, causing a large demand in Great River City. With the recent increase in conflict, the problem had worsened. In a short time, Duan Feng had consistently bought low and sold high. The profit margin was staggering.

“I have several severely damaged mid-grade artifacts on hand,” Duan Feng explained. “I bought them for only two or three hundred spiritual stones each.”

“Give me some time to repair them, and I can sell each for seven or eight hundred.”

“The only thing holding me back is a lack of manpower.”

Duan Feng pointed to an iron ingot. “Take this refined iron for example. Hammering it is the most basic work, but it’s incredibly time-consuming.”

“Even a cultivator at the Qi Refining Mid-Period, or even Early Period, could do it. If I could save enough time, I could study some of the formations I have, and maybe even repair high-grade artifacts in the future.”

Luo Chen had never heard Duan Feng speak so much at once. But he listened intently, because this was Duan Feng’s area of expertise.

Halfway through, Luo Chen realized Duan Feng’s predicament. It was the same problem he’d faced with alchemy: simple tasks requiring little skill but enormous amounts of time without help. And the solution was simple!

People. People were never in short supply. Even in the Cultivation World, there were plenty of low-level scattered cultivators available to employ!

“This is easy to solve, I…”

Just as Luo Chen was about to offer help, his words trailed off. He and Duan Feng both looked towards Qinghe Mountain. A large group of cultivators were frantically fleeing down the massive mountain path hidden by ancient trees. Hundreds of them, a sea of people!

At first glance, the fleeing cultivators looked like they were being chased by ferocious demonic beasts. The cultivators outside the mountain stopped what they were doing, looking at the fleeing crowd with apprehension. Their clothes were covered in blood and claw marks, as if they had just been in a fierce fight for their lives.

Closer! Closer!

Soon, the vanguard reached the edge of the mountain. Without hesitation, Luo Chen sent nearby Liu Qiang to capture a Qi Refining Mid-Period cultivator.

“What happened? Why the panic?”

The cultivator, initially angry at being captured, shivered at the sight of a group of late-stage cultivators.

“Senior,” he stammered, “there’s a demonic beast riot in the mountains; they’re attacking everyone indiscriminately.”

Demons beast riot?

Luo Chen frowned and asked directly, “Where are the Foundation Establishment cultivators leading the group?”

The cultivator exclaimed in terror, “A few days ago, the Heavenly Work Spirit-Stealing Formation suddenly contracted, pushing all cultivators below the Foundation Establishment stage out. We don’t know what happened to the Foundation Establishment cultivators!”

Formation contraction?

Duan Feng pondered, murmuring, “That usually happens when a formation’s energy is insufficient; it shrinks to protect the core area.”

Luo Chen’s eyebrows shot up. It seemed the Golden Elixir relic battle had reached a critical point.

Letting the fleeing cultivators go, Luo Chen looked into the distance. With his enhanced Double Spirit Eye Technique, his vision extended far beyond that of any Qi Refining cultivator; a miniature thousand-mile vision. He saw figures flitting among the towering trees, and massive shapes, more than ten feet tall, savagely pursuing the fleeing cultivators.

“Let’s go back,” Luo Chen said calmly, “A wise man doesn’t stand near a crumbling wall!”

(Thank you to Lao Zhang112 for the 500 starting coin reward, thank you to Luo Mou ah for the 666 starting coin reward, and thank you to everyone for your chapter reviews and rewards!)

(End of Chapter)

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