Before the blue bluestone slab, an old man held a strip of spicy beef jerky, an unquenchable thirst for knowledge burning in his eyes.
In front of him stood a tall, handsome, dashing young man with one hand clasped behind his back and a long piece of jerky in the other, holding forth with effortless eloquence.
"Still don't get it? I'll teach you!"
"Brand value, so to speak, is the extra value artificially added to a product on top of its intrinsic worth."
"Still lost?"
Seeing the old man's blank expression, Luo Chen sighed and pointed his strip of beef jerky toward the loose cultivator bazaar.
"In this market alone, there are at least three vendors who sell low-grade talismans long term, right?"
"Aye, aye. Lu Heng, Crow Mao, and me—we're the long-term talisman sellers," Old Daoist Chen chimed in hurriedly, glad to have something to add.
"And how do you view them? How do you view yourself?"
Old Daoist Chen sneered disdainfully. "That brat Lu Heng lacks skill. He even sources his talisman paper and skins from me. Not worth mentioning!"
"And Master Mao?"
"A late starter. His skill is on par with mine, but he's already ninety-three. A dried-up skeleton waiting for a grave, nothing more!"
"What about you, Daoist Chen?"
Old Daoist Chen stroked his graying beard, declaring with absolute confidence, "At twenty, this old man started as an odd-job boy in Divine Talisman Pavilion. In five years, I mastered talisman skin preparation, and fifteen years later, I stepped onto the path of talismans. Since hanging out my own shingle, I have kept a stall here through wind and rain for twenty-five years. I am in the prime of my strength, and my craft is consummate. Any loose cultivator who comes to this bazaar to buy talismans will always inspect my stall first!"
Clap, clap, clap!
Luo Chen applauded with a gratified smile.
"Spot on, Daoist Chen. Your talismans already possess a fundamental brand value. It was forged from your background as an odd-job hand at Divine Talisman Pavilion, your twenty-five-year reputation of keeping your stall through thick and thin, and your consistent quality."
Old Daoist Chen felt quite pleased with himself, but upon reflection, something didn't seem right.
"Yet after all these decades, I still can't sell my talismans for a high price, can I?"
"Truly high prices are rare, yes. But compared to the others, aren't your prices generally a notch above?"
"I suppose so, but I still can't compare to Divine Talisman Pavilion. Customers looking to buy in bulk still prefer going there."
Luo Chen rolled his eyes. "Divine Talisman Pavilion is backed by Divine Talisman Sect, one of the six supreme sects of the Far East Six Domains! Their brand value was bestowed upon them by Golden Core Masters and Nascent Soul True Persons. You expect to compete with that?"
"True enough." Old Daoist Chen regained a bit of self-awareness.
"So you see, your stall's brand value has hit its ceiling. You can't grow it much bigger as a whole. Under these circumstances, you must find another way!"
"Such as?"
"Assign brand value to a single individual product."
"Be specific!"
"Spin a story for it!"
Chen Xiuping blinked. "Myriad Wonders Pill? Yun Zhonghe? Master Yunhe of the Hehuan Sect?"
"You catch on fast!"
Clenched!
Clenched again!
His fists were clenching hard once more!
Once the impulse subsided, Old Daoist Chen settled into a state of serene, untroubled clarity.
"So you mean I should take a talisman and make up a story for it, just like you did?"
"Yup."
"That simple?"
"That simple!"
"Then why did you blather on with all that nonsense before?"
"If I didn't say enough, how could I feel right taking that fifty-spirit-stone loan from you?"
Inhale! Exhale!
Taking a deep breath, Old Daoist Chen resolved not to lose his temper. He was already sixty-five; he needed to care for his health.
"Then how am I supposed to tell this story?"
Luo Chen glanced at the stall. He knew the old man's inventory like the back of his hand.
There were six kinds in total: the lowest-grade Cleansing Talismans and Wind Control Talismans; the mid-grade Fireball Talismans and Earth Spike Talismans; and finally, Earth Wall Talismans and Qi-Concealing Talismans.
The biggest sellers were the Fireball and Earth Spike Talismans, though their unit price was low at a spirit stone and a half apiece.
The most expensive were the Earth Wall and Qi-Concealing Talismans.
The former went for two spirit stones each, while the latter started at three spirit stones. When supply ran tight, they could fetch five or six spirit stones, or even more.
Talismans had a massive market among low-tier cultivators.
They packed slightly less power than direct spells, but their activation speed was blistering and their spiritual energy cost was practically negligible.
Those tied to defense and survival were especially coveted.
Pointing at the Qi-Concealing Talismans, Luo Chen turned the idea over in his mind. Combining it with what he had read in the Record of Customs Across the Six Domains, he outlined a rough narrative on the spot.
The concrete details, however, would have to be fleshed out by Old Daoist Chen, whose worldly experience far exceeded Luo Chen's.
Luo Chen also offered a word of advice: spin the story for new customers, but stick to the old ways with regular patrons.
Even so, the Qi-Concealing Talismans needed a visual makeover. They couldn't stay dull and drab. Without impairing their function, two golden borders could be traced along the edges.
That way, even without telling stories to the regulars, he could test the waters with a modest price hike.
Once his advice was dispensed, Luo Chen could wait no longer.
Like a sudden gust of wind, carrying a fortune in his robes, he dashed straight into the loose cultivator bazaar.
Procure! Procure! Procure like mad!
...
Night fell deep and heavy, the moonlight casting a bright, clear sheen over the ground.
A young man strode briskly down the road, carrying two enormous snakeskin sacks on his back.
The sacks were crafted from genuine serpent hide—tough and wonderfully roomy!
Between hawking the Myriad Wonders Pills and conversing with Old Daoist Chen, his trip to the market had dragged on far longer than usual.
By the time he finished stocking up at dusk, the hour had slipped away.
Walking along the sun-baked dirt path, Luo Chen's breathing turned somewhat heavy.
Though his feet moved swiftly, his eyes swept incessantly, paying special attention to the dark spaces between the wooden shacks.
Fighting was strictly forbidden in Dahe Market, but that rule applied only to the inner city.
No one cared about the loose cultivators out in the outer city.
The spirit stones collected from them each month merely guaranteed that the luminaries of the inner city would step in to deal with demon beasts should they ever breach the perimeter.
As a result, highwaymen, bandits, and opportunists murdering for treasure were commonplace in the outer quarters.
Daytime was manageable, but once night descended, such incidents erupted without end.
One could only say that Dahe Market had its own peculiar conditions.
Luo Chen didn't have a single spirit stone left on his person; his entire net worth was stuffed into the two large snakeskin sacks on his back.
In truth, their total value was merely a hundred spirit stones.
Moreover, the goods were miscellaneous and scattered, making them terribly bothersome to resell.
Yet what he thought was one thing; whether someone might covet what he carried was another entirely.
"Dammit, once I have enough spirit stones, I'm moving straight into the inner city!"
Luo Chen cursed under his breath, walking the dirt road with his heart in his throat.
Perhaps it was the brilliant moonlight tonight, or perhaps it was his tattered garments and the hideous appearance of the two snakeskin sacks.
In any case, Luo Chen made it home without incident.
Sometimes, when a person looked wretched enough, even bandits couldn't be bothered to rob them.
Luo Chen felt no bitterness about it. After catching his breath for a moment, he began sorting the various materials from the sacks onto his shelves.
Of his hundred spirit stones, ninety-five had gone into purchasing raw ingredients for nineteen batches of Myriad Wonders Pills.
Of the remaining five stones, three were spent on materials for Fasting Powder. Based on his success rate, that would yield at least thirty bottles. Sold at five bottles per spirit stone, they would fetch six spirit stones, yielding a net profit of around half—three spirit stones.
As for the other two stones, one bought ten jin of spirit rice, and the other went to the Castellan Manor to cover two months of rent.
Yes, his shack on the outermost fringe cost half a spirit stone a month, so he paid it in two-month intervals.
Pouring the spirit rice into the rice crock, Luo Chen collapsed onto a wooden stool in the main room. Breathing in the herbal fragrance that filled the air, a broad grin broke across his face.
He was exhausted, but his spirits soared.
Tomorrow, he could officially expand production!
Chapter 12