Chapter 24: Communication Meeting
Grand Market in Yunzhong City
Lin Jiang noticed that there weren't many people around and started to daydream. He was calculating his expenses for the past two years in Yunzhong City. Lin Jiang had a habit of keeping track of his major expenses.
In the first year, Lin Jiang spent about six thousand eight hundred spirit stones and earned three thousand five hundred. In the second year, he spent seven thousand two hundred spirit stones and earned four thousand two hundred. In two years, he used up his savings of six thousand three hundred spirit stones.
"Income and expenses are imbalanced. If I earn three thousand a year, I can only survive for a little over ten years."
Lin Jiang sighed. If he didn't have savings, he would have gone bankrupt a long time ago. Either he could choose to share an apartment with others to reduce expenses, or he would have to endure the difficult days in Yunzhong City.
Lin Jiang looked down at his magical charm. The items on his stall were increasing, indicating that sales couldn't keep up with his production, resulting in a stockpile. He still had hundreds of them in his storage bag. Ultimately, he couldn't bear to sell the store because it would be too much of a loss.
"Big brother, big brother..."
The sound echoed in Lin Jiang's ears again, but he felt that the little guy had grabbed his hand. Lin Jiang quietly activated his spiritual power and flicked away Zhang Ruifeng's hand.
"What's the matter?"
Lin Jiang tried to appear indifferent. He was truly helpless with this Zhang Ruifeng. He was too familiar and had no sense of boundaries. Clearly, Lin Jiang had no interest in him, yet he kept pestering him to chat every day.
"Big brother, you don't use your stall all day. Can I use it after you leave?"
Zhang Ruifeng said, "In the market of Yunzhong City, stalls can be resold, rented, or loaned. The city doesn't care as long as they receive the payment."
"No."
"Come on, big brother, don't be so stingy. I'll pay you rent. The stall fee is one spirit stone per day. I'll rent the remaining days at the price of three spirit stones per day."
"Why come to me? Go find someone else."
"I don't know anyone else, but my brother is the best."
"If I let you rent the stall, will you stop bothering me?"
"Okay, I promise."
"Alright, after I close the stall, you can use it."
As soon as Lin Jiang heard this, he immediately agreed. Whether it was about money or not, he just didn't want to be bothered anymore. Lin Jiang felt that he had become a bit introverted, and he couldn't stand this talkative person.
Speaking of these two siblings, they were quite unique. Zhang Ruifeng, the older brother, was talkative, while his younger sister obviously had social anxiety. Having known her for over a year, he had never heard her say more than twenty sentences. She would just stare off into space at the stall every day, making others think she was mute.
"Thank you, brother."
Zhang Ruifeng was overjoyed when he saw that Lin Jiang agreed. Now, he could bring even more medicinal herbs to sell.
"Little brother, why don't you rent my stall too?"
At this moment, a person who sold things at a stall to Lin Jiang's right spoke. She was a beautiful young lady with attractive features. She also seemed to know most of the stall owners on this street.
"No, sister, you work at the stall for around ten hours a day, but the rent you pay is not worth it. Unlike big brother, who only works for four hours a day."
Zhang Ruifeng shook his head directly. It wouldn't be worth it to rent the beautiful young lady's stall. He would have to work for around ten hours every day, and his working hours would overlap with hers. It was not like Lin Jiang, who only worked for four hours a day, sometimes even less than four hours. That was when he could make money.
"He's a clever little devil."
As soon as the beautiful young lady heard this, she became angry. Zhang Ruifeng might be young, but he was very shrewd. He had been thriving in the big market for the past two years.
The beautiful young lady's eyes shifted, and she looked at Lin Jiang. She said, "Jiang, my Taoist friend, it's been some time since you last came to buy talisman paper from me."
"Lately, spiritual talismans haven't been selling well, so I haven't used up all the talisman paper."
Lin Jiang calmly replied. The beautiful young lady's business overlapped with his, as they both sold some basic spiritual talismans and talisman paper. It seemed that her family also cultivated a special herb for the Zhonghang Sect, which could be used to make talisman paper.
"Taoist Friend Jiang, do you have some time to discuss and exchange knowledge about drawing talismans? I would really like to learn from you."
"I'm busy, no time."
Lin Jiang refused again, he couldn't stand the beautiful woman's voice, it was like a peg sound, no, it should be a peg monster, giving him goosebumps.
"Taoist friend, why are you in a hurry to refuse? I have good relationships with many Taoist friends, as independent cultivators, we should bond together, exchange cultivation experiences and resources. You are a high-level Taoist friend..."
"It's my turn to set up a stall today, Zhang Ruifeng. The stall is yours now."
Without waiting for the beautiful woman to finish, Lin Jiang immediately packed up and left. Deceptive people always caused trouble in relationships. This beautiful woman, with close relations with several male cultivators in this street, had made many people jealous. Lin Jiang didn't want to offend anyone for no reason, it was not worth it at all.
"What a strange person."
The beautiful woman watched as Lin Jiang walked away, thinking to herself. She knew he was a rich man who lived alone and was not interested in women. She thought he must be blind.
······
"Dear friend, come in and let's exchange our knowledge of Taoist arts."
On the way to the city center, Lin Jiang heard a sweet voice coming from Spring Coming Tower. He looked up and saw a group of beautiful fairies waving at him. They were showing off their charms and beauty.
Lin Jiang felt uneasy and hurriedly walked away. The price of love in Yunzhong City was much higher than in Lin Family Market. In Lin Family Market, he could easily find something with just a few spirit stones. But here in Yunzhong City, he needed twenty spirit stones just to have a small meat dish. And the better quality ones had no price limit. Lin Jiang couldn't afford to spend so much money just for a trembling feeling.
It had been several years since he came to Yunzhong City. He only went to satisfy his cravings occasionally. Eating too much not only made him worry about his waistline, but also about his storage bag bursting.
After walking a few hundred meters, Lin Jiang arrived at Duobao Pavilion. Duobao Pavilion was a well-known store under the Cloud Sword Sect. It had branches all over Yun State and had a good reputation. It was unlikely for someone to be killed or robbed after revealing their wealth inside. However, the probability of such incidents happening was much higher in unknown stores.
Some small stores even relied on such incidents for their survival. The customers who came to their stores were like fat sheep in their eyes.
"Hello, Taoist friend Jiang. You're here."
As soon as Lin Jiang entered, a familiar steward came up to him. Lin Jiang nodded and followed him into a private room.
Duobao Pavilion had many sales stewards, each with sales targets. So they also took care of their customers. Lin Jiang was not a new customer and had already become familiar with one of the stewards.
"Taoist friend Jiang, what can I help you with this time?"
"It's still the same, Energy Nourishing Pill, Spirit Gathering Pill, they all have to be top-quality."
Lin Jiang said, "Medicinal pills are classified into different qualities: top-quality, high, medium, and low. This is quite vague in the Lin family neighborhood and Anhua City, but in Yunzhong City, it's very clear."
Different qualities of medicinal pills had different prices. The better the quality, the milder and more abundant the spiritual energy, and the fewer side effects there were. If you took a low-quality pill, it would take several days to recover, otherwise, harmful substances would accumulate, and the consequences would be serious. In the future, if you took the same pill again, the effect would be greatly reduced, or unexpected accidents might occur during the crucial breakthrough process.
"Okay, Taoist Friend Jiang, I will arrange for someone to deliver it right away."
The steward smiled. Straightforward customers like Lin Jiang were rare in Yunzhong City. Most of the lower-level cultivators lived difficult lives, so they tended to be petty. Lin Jiang was different from them. He had always been straightforward.
"The medicinal pills are correct, they are spirit stones. Please check."
"No problem, Taoist Friend Jiang won't be wrong."
"I'll leave first."
"Wait a moment, Jiang, my Taoist friend."
"Is there anything else?"
"Well, Taoist Friend Jiang, you see, our Duobao Pavilion holds regular exchange meetings as a way to give back to our customers. During these meetings, senior experts in the Building Foundation Period come to host and answer members' questions. We also organize impromptu auctions and trading sessions. At our Duobao Pavilion, only customers who have spent a certain amount of spirit stones are eligible to participate. I wonder if Taoist Friend Jiang is interested."
"When?"
"At the beginning of each month."
"I will go and take a look then."
"In that case, you can come to Duobao Pavilion earlier and I will personally take you there."
"Okay."
Lin Jiang nodded and then left. He had heard about such exchange meetings before. Many people in the bustling market area boasted about it as if being able to participate in these meetings was a symbol of status for independent cultivators.
And indeed it was true. Lin Jiang had spent at least five thousand spirit stones at Duobao Pavilion to receive the invitation. Regular independent cultivators had no qualifications whatsoever.
Half a month later, Lin Jiang attended his first exchange meeting. As a newcomer, Lin Jiang was very cautious and didn't say a word from beginning to end. He also didn't participate in the resource exchange. This time, he considered it a learning experience.
However, this exchange meeting opened Lin Jiang's eyes. There were countless cultivation techniques and various spiritual objects in the world that Lin Jiang had never seen before. It was his first time seeing them.
"Usually, the exchange meetings are organized every two to three months, lasting four to six hours. It doesn't take up much time, but the gains are substantial. You should participate more in the future."
Lin Jiang made up his mind. He wanted to attend more of these exchange meetings because isolating himself and relying solely on his own knowledge was not advisable. He realized that he knew very little about the cultivation world. Moreover, the information shared by the majority of elite participants in the exchange meetings was much more reliable than what independent cultivators at the marketplace provided.
