Chapter 184 - 179: Purple Abyss Trading Company
That morning, Li Yuan left home to restock on Spiritual Ink in the loose cultivator quarter.
As he walked south along the main street, he noticed there were more Inspector Generals on patrol than usual.
Normally at this hour, you would only encounter a single pair of Inspector Generals every few hundred yards along the main street. They would walk in pairs, stopping here and there at a leisurely pace.
Today, on the stretch of road from his courtyard gate to the loose cultivator quarter, Li Yuan had already run into four pairs. Their pace was a bit quicker than usual, and their eyes swept over the cultivators passing by.
They were all outer disciples of the Primordial Yang Sect, dressed in off-white Daoist robes with standard-issue tokens fastened to their waists.
Li Yuan paid them no mind and kept walking.
The entrance to the loose cultivator quarter was livelier than usual. Seven or eight loose cultivators had gathered outside the stone railings. Some were squatting, others standing, all of them talking loudly about something.
As Li Yuan approached, he happened to overhear a short, stout loose cultivator in the center of the group.
"...The Li family’s old patriarch, he went to the Primordial Yang Sect."
A loose cultivator with a short beard standing nearby was taken aback. "The Li family patriarch? Which one?"
"Who else could it be?" The stout loose cultivator lowered his voice slightly, but made no real effort to be discreet. "The oldest one. The one who never shows his face. Flew over there himself a couple of days ago."
"Flew over? How would you know?" the short-bearded loose cultivator asked with a frown.
The stout loose cultivator pointed east. "Someone I know from back home farms at the foot of Primordial Yang Mountain. He was out in the fields that evening when a huge gust of wind kicked up overhead. He looked up and saw someone flying in from the south on a beam of Spiritual Light, heading straight for the summit."
Another loose cultivator, an older man in his fifties with a sallow complexion, sidled up to the group.
"Who cares what he’s doing there? Matters of Foundation Establishment have nothing to do with us."
"That may be true," the short-bearded loose cultivator said, rubbing his chin and glancing toward the main street, "but there has to be a reason for all the extra Inspector Generals."
"Who knows," the sallow-faced loose cultivator said with a shake of his head before turning and walking away.
The stout loose cultivator muttered a few more words, and the crowd gradually dispersed.
Li Yuan walked past them without breaking his stride.
’The patriarch of the Li family has personally gone to the Primordial Yang Sect. Whatever his purpose, this is no small matter.’
’But it has nothing to do with me, anyway.’
Li Yuan entered the loose cultivator quarter, bought Spiritual Ink and a batch of cinnabar, picked up two Gray Badger hides from a beast skin stall, and returned to his courtyard to continue making talismans.
He spread his materials across the table, dipped his brush in ink, and began.
A Fireball Talisman.
Six Spirit Patterns flowed from the first stroke to the last in one smooth motion. A crimson luster rose from the talisman’s surface, steady and restrained.
As he finished the fifth talisman, he noticed a subtle change in his technique.
Previously, a part of his mind had remained taut with every stroke. ’Is the Spiritual Power flowing correctly? Is the density sufficient? Where does the next pattern begin?’ — these judgments had long become instinctual at the Minor Achievement and Great Success stages, but the instinct itself still occupied a sliver of his focus.
Now, even that sliver was gone.
His hand drew while his mind remained completely empty. The flow of Spiritual Power, the inscription of the patterns, the convergence of the Talisman Core—the entire process seemed etched into his very bones, bypassing his brain to be executed directly by muscle and meridian.
When he finished the fifth talisman, the crimson luster that rose from its surface was a shade deeper than that of the previous four.
A panel appeared before him.
[Talisman: Fireball Talisman - Great Success (0/3200)]
Great Success.
Li Yuan picked up the Fireball Talisman and gave it a look.
The precision of the patterns was another notch higher than before. The Spiritual Power was distributed with perfect uniformity through every line, and the leakage during the final convergence was practically zero. Using the same materials, the resulting talisman had a Spiritual Power density nearly ten percent higher than his previous works.
Li Yuan stacked the finished talisman and continued to draw.
By the end of the morning, a thick stack of finished talismans was piled on the corner of his desk.
Putting down his talisman brush, Li Yuan glanced at the remaining materials for the Spirit-Refining Talismans in his storage pouch.
Only two sheets of golden talisman paper remained. He had less than half a small bottle of Dark Gold Spiritual Ink, and his supplies of Spirit-Attracting Sand and Soul-Stabilizing Powder were also running low.
These were all leftover materials he had saved from his work for Pill Refiner He. Once they were gone, he would have to spend his own Spirit Stones to buy more if he wanted to keep making Spirit-Refining Talismans.
The cost of Tier One Top Grade talisman materials was in a completely different league from Tier One Low Grade.
Golden talisman paper cost eight Spirit Stones per sheet. A bottle of Dark Gold Spiritual Ink was thirty Spirit Stones. Spirit-Attracting Sand and Soul-Stabilizing Powder were another significant expense. All told, the material cost to create a single Spirit-Refining Talisman was about fifteen Spirit Stones.
Furthermore, he couldn’t produce these materials himself.
His current hide-processing skills were only good enough for Tier One Low Grade beast hides. The fibers of Tier One Low Grade hides were coarse and had poor Spiritual Power permeability, meaning the processed hides were only suitable for making Tier One Low Grade Talismans.
To create Tier One Top Grade talisman paper, his hide-processing skill would need to reach a corresponding level. He was still a long way from that.
’Best not to rush into buying a large stock of materials for Spirit-Refining Talismans just yet.’
As evening fell, Li Yuan divided the talismans he had made that day into two batches.
He took one batch to a procurement shop on the main street and sold it.
The other, he brought to the Purple Abyss Trading Company.
The Purple Abyss Trading Company was located in the north-central section of the main street. It was a two-story stone building with a storefront a size larger than the average shop and a sign with gilded characters. Li Yuan had sold talismans here a few times before; his Spirit-Refining Talismans were especially popular at this establishment.
He pushed open the door and went inside.
Behind the counter sat the proprietor, Shopkeeper Han, a lean, shrewd-looking man in his fifties who was currently flipping through a ledger.
A low table was set up beside the counter, where a youth of sixteen or seventeen sat, a talisman brush in his hand, drawing on a sheet of Cyan Pattern Paper.
The youth’s technique was clumsy. He couldn’t control the Spiritual Power flowing from the tip of his brush, and as he was drawing a Fire Gathering Pattern, the power dissipated halfway through, bleeding out from the edges of the lines into an inky blotch.
The youth peeled the ruined talisman off the table and tossed it into a bamboo basket by his feet. The basket already contained seven or eight other failures.
Hearing the door open, Shopkeeper Han looked up from his ledger. Upon seeing Li Yuan, he closed the book.
"Li Dao You."
Li Yuan placed the talismans on the counter.
As was his custom, Shopkeeper Han picked out two of them to inspect. He pressed his fingers against the talisman’s surface, then nodded in satisfaction.
"The quality is excellent, as always."
He stacked the talismans neatly, flicked a few beads on his abacus, and quoted a price.
The Spirit Stones were neatly stacked and pushed across the counter, and Li Yuan swept them into his storage pouch.
Just as he was preparing to leave, Shopkeeper Han came out from behind the counter.
"Li Dao You, why don’t you have a seat? There’s something I’d like to discuss."
He gestured toward a tea table further inside the shop.
Li Yuan gave him a look, then walked over and sat down by the table.
Shopkeeper Han poured two cups of tea, pushing one in front of Li Yuan before picking up his own and taking a sip.
"You’ve been selling your talismans here for a while now," Shopkeeper Han said, setting down his cup. "I’m well aware that the quality of your work is among the best in all of Yunyang Market."
He cut straight to the point.
"I’d like to propose a long-term partnership."
"What are the terms?"
"Two things." Shopkeeper Han held up two fingers.
"First, a steady supply. At least one batch every half-month. Any type of talisman is fine, just supply whatever you have. The more, the better. I won’t set a fixed number, but the supply must be consistent."
He raised a second finger.
"Second, an increased purchase price. On top of the current rates, I’ll raise the price for Tier One Low Grade Talismans by ten percent. For Spirit-Refining Talismans, I’ll raise it by fifteen percent."
A ten percent increase.
A Fireball Talisman would go from a little over three Spirit Stones to around three and a half. A Rejuvenation Talisman would go from three and a half to nearly four. A Spirit-Refining Talisman would go from forty to forty-six.
At his current rate of production, Li Yuan could earn over a hundred extra Spirit Stones a month.
Li Yuan thought for a moment.
’The terms weren’t bad. A ten percent price increase on top of a stable sales channel was much more convenient than running all over the place to sell his wares piecemeal.’
"Agreed."
The smile on Shopkeeper Han’s face broadened, and he immediately asked a second question.
"As for the nature of our partnership, would you prefer it to be public or private?"
"What do you mean?"
Shopkeeper Han pointed to the wall above the counter. Several wooden plaques hung there, inscribed with the names of the Talisman Makers who sold their wares through the Purple Abyss Trading Company, along with the types of talismans they specialized in.
"If we go public, I’ll hang a plaque for you right there with your name on it. When customers come looking for talismans and see your name, they’ll remember it because of the high quality of your work."
He held up one finger.
"The advantage is that you’ll build a reputation. In time, people will start seeking you out for custom orders."
He held up another finger.
"If we keep it private, everything stays as is. You provide the supply, I sell it. Outsiders will only know that the Purple Abyss Trading Company has excellent talismans, not who makes them. The advantage is Concealment."
Public or private.
Reputation versus Concealment.
’Reputation could bring in more income. Custom-ordered talismans fetch a much higher price than wholesale ones; the potential increase in total earnings was huge.’
’Concealment would reduce the risk of being targeted. A Talisman Maker was a lucrative profession, and a big reputation would attract not only customers but also those who coveted his skills and wealth.’
’However, Yunyang Market was the territory of the Primordial Yang Sect, and fighting was forbidden within its walls. His own Cultivation was at the Qi Refining Eighth Level, and he could easily defeat an ordinary cultivator at the Qi Refining Ninth Level. With his Aura Concealment and Acute Perception of Hidden Auras active, if someone were to get any ideas, he would likely be the first to notice.’
’Besides, accumulating Spirit Stones was his top priority. The three main ingredients for the Breaking Element Pill would cost at least three thousand Spirit Stones combined. Relying on the income from wholesaling talismans was far too slow. Taking custom orders was the most direct way to speed things up.’
"Public," Li Yuan said.
Shopkeeper Han nodded.
"Excellent. I’ll have a plaque carved and hung up for you tomorrow."
He pulled a thin document from under the counter and pushed it in front of Li Yuan.
"It’s a simple partnership agreement. Look it over, and if there are no issues, just sign it. It doesn’t involve any blood essence; it’s just a standard business contract that either party can terminate at any time."
Li Yuan picked it up and scanned the contents. It was simple: Supplier Li Yuan agrees to provide at least one batch of goods per half-month, with a purchase price set at ten to fifteen percent above the market rate. Either party could terminate the agreement at any time with no penalty.
’No hidden traps.’
Li Yuan signed his name and put his copy away.
Shopkeeper Han stored the original in a drawer, then stood and cupped his hands in a salute to Li Yuan.
"A pleasure doing business with you."
Li Yuan nodded, then rose and walked toward the exit.
As he passed the low table, Shopkeeper Han’s son spoiled another sheet of paper. The basket of ruined talismans at his feet was nearly full.
The youth glanced up at Li Yuan, then lowered his head and continued to draw.
Li Yuan didn’t pause, pushing the door open and exiting the Purple Abyss Trading Company.
He returned to his courtyard and closed the door.
Li Yuan sat on his wooden bed, crossed his legs, and began to cultivate.
Spiritual Qi surged into his body. The pure Spiritual Power within him expelled the impurities, then condensed and sank into his Dantian. His courtyard was close to a branch of a Spirit Vein, making the ambient Spiritual Qi exceptionally rich. The gains from every circulation cycle were substantial.
The dual cultivation of spirit and blood, an effect of the Blood Coagulation Pill, allowed his Qi Blood to circulate in sync with his Spiritual Power. Combined with the boosts from the Spirit Absorption Pill and the Realm-Breaking Pill, his Cultivation progressed more than twice as fast as that of an ordinary Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.
One cycle. Two cycles. Three cycles.
His Cultivation advanced steadily.
Outside the window, Yunyang Market gradually grew quiet. The light from the Spirit Lamps beyond the courtyard walls filtered through the cracks, casting several bands of pale yellow light upon the stone-paved floor.