Chapter 167 - 125: Mortal Realm Marketplace Opens
Upon stepping into Mortal City.
There were no shops to be seen. Instead, the street was lined on both sides with vendors, stretching for hundreds of meters. Every vendor looked at their group with a wide smile, their stalls displaying a vast assortment of goods.
The next moment—
"Father."
Qi Feng hesitated, pointing toward the first vendor. "Um, shouldn’t we buy some of these?"
In front of this vendor were two unlit Ghost Fires.
A sign was propped up beside them.
-
Level 1 Ghost Fire, 5 Ghost Stones each.
For High Level Ghost Fires, please inquire privately.
-
"..."
Valley Master Qi, who had originally planned to head straight for an inn, couldn’t help but freeze in place at the sight. ’A Level 1 Ghost Fire for five Ghost Stones?’
The current market price for a Level 1 Ghost Fire was around fifty to sixty Ghost Stones.
Even though he knew the inside story.
He knew that crafting a Ghost Fire didn’t actually require that many materials—just a handful of dried grass would suffice—but even then, the base cost was ten Ghost Stones.
And here they were selling for five Ghost Stones?
’Cheaper than the cost to make them?’
He suddenly found it hard to walk away. ’This is free money! If I just buy a batch and take it back to Jiangnan, it’s a guaranteed profit.’
But...
He looked toward the inn at the end of the street and took a deep breath.
"We’re not buying."
"Ghost Fires are too heavy. We won’t make much profit taking them back to Jiangnan. All our money is for the Pill Furnace."
The layout of this city was very strange.
After entering the city gate, there was only one road with no turn-offs. To get to the inn or any other area, one had to walk down this entire street first.
As for why the prices were so low.
There were only two possibilities.
Either the Mortal Realm possessed a Rare Direction of Qualitative Upgrade that drastically reduced the cost of crafting Ghost Fires, or they were selling at a loss to attract customers.
The latter seemed more likely.
Medicine King Valley had also used loss leaders in the beginning. Every major faction did.
"We’re not getting this either?"
Qi Feng stared longingly at a "Level 2 Earth Spike" displayed at another stall. It was only thirty Ghost Stones, with no extra Ghost Stones needed for supply.
"..."
Valley Master Qi was starting to feel tempted, but he still clenched his jaw. "No."
He began to walk faster.
He tried his best not to look at the stalls on either side. Every Ghost Stone spent here could be the one stone that made them lose the bid for the Pill Furnace.
’If I don’t look, I won’t be tempted to act.’
He hurried toward the end of the street until he saw several Skeleton Horses, as well as "Ghost Camels" and carriages pulled by Skeleton Horses.
The prices were clearly marked on a sign nearby.
-
One Skeleton Horse, 1,500 Ghost Stones. Not for individual sale. Bulk purchase for factions only.
One Ghost Camel, 2,000 Ghost Stones. Not for individual sale. Bulk purchase for factions only.
Carriage drawn by three Skeleton Horses, 5,000 Ghost Stones. Not for individual sale. Bulk purchase for factions only.
-
This time.
Valley Master Qi truly could not walk away.
He stood rooted in front of the stall, his breathing growing rapid and the tips of his ears turning red. It was as if he could see countless Ghost Stones waving at him!
In Jiangnan, a Skeleton Horse sold for 3,000 Ghost Stones.
Bring one back, and after subtracting travel expenses, he’d make a net profit of at least 1,400 Ghost Stones. If he bought more, the cost per Skeleton Horse would be even lower.
A Ghost Camel sold for 4,000 Ghost Stones, meaning a net profit of 1,900 Ghost Stones.
A carriage sold for 13,000 Ghost Stones, bringing in a net profit of 8,000 Ghost Stones.
’What the hell, this isn’t shopping!’
’This is just picking up free money!’
"Distinguished guests."
The owner of this stall, an elderly man, walked up with a broad smile and said, "Feel free to touch them. They’re all genuine Skeleton Horses."
This old man was none other than the Grand Elder of the Jiangbei Chen Family.
He had since surrendered to the Mortal Realm.
Today, he was serving as the stall owner here.
"Father!"
Qi Feng took a deep breath, pulled his father into a corner, and whispered, "There’s no reason not to buy these! It’s pure profit!"
"As long as we haul them to Jiangnan, we won’t have to worry about finding a market."
"Tons of people will be scrambling to buy them."
"Let me think, let me think..."
Valley Master Qi was also struggling to remain calm, repeatedly rubbing the bridge of his nose as if performing Guasha.
’What makes a good business?’
’High profit, high repurchase rate, and high turnover. A business is considered good if it has even one of these.’
But—
’If I buy this batch of Skeleton Horses and take them back to Jiangnan, it’ll have all three.’
’This is the best of the best when it comes to profit!’
It’s just...
It’s just...
’Why would the Mortal Realm sell them to us? Wouldn’t they make even more money by taking them to Jiangnan themselves and selling them for 2,500 Ghost Stones?’
This was the main question.
If he couldn’t figure this out, it was likely a trap.
"Shopkeeper."
Valley Master Qi took a deep breath, strode up to the vendor, and said in a low voice, "I have a question. Why doesn’t the Mortal Realm take these Skeleton Horses to Jiangnan to sell them directly? They could sell them for 2,500 Ghost Stones and make a larger profit."
"An excellent question."
Standing before his stall, Elder Chen, who had been well-trained for this in recent days, answered with a practiced smile.
"First."
"The Mortal Realm is a newly risen power. We haven’t fully established trade routes with places like Jiangnan, Jiangdong, and Jiangxi. If the Mortal Realm were to sell them ourselves, we wouldn’t be able to move many units in a short period."
"Second."
"Doing so would inevitably disrupt the existing powers in Jiangnan that sell Skeleton Horses, provoking unnecessary conflict. However, if everyone is selling them, then you all become a community of shared interests. Would those few powers dare to make a move against all of you?"
"Third."
"The Skeleton Horses are just the beginning."
"The Mortal Realm intends to integrate everyone’s trade routes to build a new Silk Road, allowing us to distribute the Mortal Realm’s goods to more distant places, even... the Guanxi Plain."
"Everyone earns money together, everyone gets a piece of the pie."
To be honest.
When he had first learned of this plan, he couldn’t help but admire the Young Master’s audacity. If this succeeded, all these other factions would become downstream partners of the Mortal Realm.
They would all become the Mortal Realm’s external tentacles.
The faction’s influence would increase dramatically.
And just as Valley Master Qi had said, they could have made more by selling at 2,500 Ghost Stones. But the Young Master didn’t just want to make money for himself; he wanted others to make money too.
Everyone gets rich together.
By giving up a portion of the profit.
He could make numerous factions work for the Mortal Realm, allowing all the trade routes, connections, and other assets they had accumulated over the years to be used by the Mortal Realm.
He didn’t know what the Young Master’s production cost was.
If the cost was around 1,000 Ghost Stones, then this was an absolutely perfect deal. If the cost was slightly higher, say 1,300 or 1,400, then it was more of a long-term investment, with mediocre short-term gains.
...
"..."
Valley Master Qi’s eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at the Skeleton Horses, his mind in turmoil. Medicine King Valley had been built on Alchemy. A Yellow Level Pill Furnace would deepen their foundation and allow them to refine High Grade Elixirs.
But—
Precisely because Valley Master Qi made a living selling Elixirs, his trade network was extremely wide. He had business dealings with many factions in Jiangnan.
’Spend 75,000 Ghost Stones to buy fifty Skeleton Horses.’
’I’m confident I could sell them all within a day for 2,500 Ghost Stones each. That’s a profit of 50,000 Ghost Stones in one go!!’
’If I were to buy a hundred of them...’
’...that would be a profit of 100,000 Ghost Stones.’
’This is completely free money.’
’It’s just that Medicine King Valley doesn’t have that many liquid Ghost Stones. I’ve already brought sixty percent of our funds with me, planning to secure that Yellow Level Pill Furnace first.’
’If I buy these Skeleton Horses, then I’ll have no choice but to watch helplessly as Jiangxi Hongdan Square takes that Yellow Level Pill Furnace.’
Elder Chen stood there with a gentle smile, not rushing him.
But inwardly, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
’In terms of status,’
’Valley Master Qi’s status is far above mine. He’s a major figure who holds the power of life and death over an entire region, yet right now, he’s agonizing over this, red-faced and flustered.’
The feeling gave him a secret thrill.
’Dammit.’
’Working under the Young Master is so much more satisfying than working under my old master.’
’At least everything we do is open and aboveboard.’
’We don’t have to do those shady things that make you lose sleep at night.’