Qi Yue looked at Zhou Mo, who seemed restless and eager to give it a try, and said blankly, "Demonic cultivation gets you killed fast, and killed young."
"First, let me explain my understanding of the sword. Though you wield a saber, all weapons in this world share common ground; there are always similarities."
"The sword is a weapon of emotion."
"It differs in each person's hands."
"If your disposition is cold and detached, it is a sword of heartlessness."
"If you are clever and adaptable, it is an exquisite sword."
"If you are free and unconstrained, it is a carefree sword."
"If you are obsessive and frantic, it is a demonic sword."
"The same holds true for the saber."
"A saber also possesses emotion."
"Channeling your own emotions into your weapon and giving them vent through martial techniques will often drastically amplify their might, while helping you find..."
Under the sun,
Zhou Mo listened in silence, studying patiently and attentively.
Time slipped by,
and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
The rainy season across Jiangnan, Jiangxi, and Jiangdong was drawing to a close. The day after tomorrow was also the date Fan Domain had long slated for the opening of its marketplace. An auction would commence during this period as well. Various factions would gather in Fan Domain by then, word having been spread well in advance.
"Are the auction items ready?"
Chen Fan arrived at the warehouse and looked at Wang Kui, who was bustling inside. The last trip to the Jiangbei Chen family had brought back quite a haul of ghost stones—a full seventeen thousand of them, nearly double what they had obtained from the Qiuhe Wang family.
It had to be said,
the Jiangbei Chen family was indeed wealthier.
They had also brought out several exotic treasures, though none were particularly valuable.
"Nearly ready," Wang Kui said, emerging from the warehouse. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he panted, "The auction lots are divided into three tiers. The first tier is to warm up the crowd, consisting of the Green-grade exotic treasures you personally selected, Domain Lord."
"Some are unopened, while others are already opened."
"The second tier is a step up."
"For example,"
"that Yellow-grade pill furnace brought back from the Dan Sect, along with several other high-value items."
"As for the third tier—"
"the grand finale—"
"we have prepared a single item."
"It's the qualification for Fan Domain to construct Level 3 walls for another faction, guaranteed uniform patterns, at just two thousand ghost stones per meter."
"Mm."
Chen Fan nodded in slight satisfaction. From what he had learned recently, a major source of revenue for the Tianxia Pavilion—a faction composed of architects—was constructing buildings for other forces.
However, architects in this world incurred vastly higher costs than he did.
Building one meter of Level 3 wall cost him a mere 560 ghost stones.
Other architects required a cost of 1,500 ghost stones per meter of Level 3 wall, and the patterns were random. Chen Fan, on the other hand, could guarantee a completely uniform pattern.
Once this lot went up,
it would be more than competitive.
"Good. Get everything in order. The marketplace will open shortly."
"Understood."
Chen Fan continued his inspection of the warehouse. Having spent few ghost stones lately, over a hundred thousand of them remained piled here. Just looking at them brought a sense of comfort.
Beyond that,
there were the copper pipes accumulated during the rainy season, all stacked inside the warehouse—more than a hundred thousand meters of copper pipe available for use.
The auction was merely a gimmick.
The opening of the marketplace was where the real money would be made.
The rainy season ended.
Two days passed.
Major factions dispatched representatives toward Fan Domain one after another. Qi Feng and the others who had stayed in Jiangbei City looting corpses in Pingcheng met up with the party sent by Medicine King Valley and set off for Fan Domain together.
Beside Nameless Mountain,
a brand-new city had risen from the ground along the coast, the two characters "Fan City" carved above its gates.
"How magnificent,"
murmured Qi Feng, Young Master of Medicine King Valley. As the first faction to arrive, he stared at the city gates, the two jade lions flanking the entrance, the jade stone paving the ground, and the decorations hanging on both sides of the street. After lingering in a daze for a long time, he whispered, "Though... why does it feel so familiar?"
Many distinctive features, like those jade lions, were straight out of the Dan Sect.
"Valley Master Qi, Young Valley Master."
Chen Fan, waiting by the gates, stepped forward to greet them. Cupping his hands, he beamed. "Please, step right inside. Today marks the opening day of Fan Domain's marketplace. Thank you all for coming to grace us with your presence."
"You flatter us, you flatter us!"
Valley Master Qi of Medicine King Valley approached with a broad smile. "I've been coveting those Dan Sect treasures for quite some time. At the risk of making Domain Lord Chen laugh, I might not be able to patronize the stalls this time around. I have to reserve every bit of our funds to buy that Yellow-grade pill-refining furnace."
"No matter, no matter. Please, head inside and take a look around as you please."
Chen Fan did not mind at all, maintaining an affable chuckle while barely containing the amusement in his eyes. Didn't want to buy?
He would show this world the true meaning of:
High! Quality! Low! Price!
Just then—
another faction arrived with carts and carriages.
Valley Master Qi spoke hurriedly, "Domain Lord Chen, we shan't disturb you any longer. We'll head inside first."
"Go right ahead."
"Remember,"
Valley Master Qi warned in a solemn, grave voice as he led Qi Feng into Fan City, "according to my sources, the Hongdan Workshop from Jiangxi has also arrived with the exact same objective as ours: that furnace."
"Domain Lord Chen will certainly display many fine goods in the marketplace, but we must not buy a single one. Every coin must go toward purchasing that pill furnace."
"Understood."
Qi Feng nodded in agreement. He naturally understood what a Yellow-grade pill furnace meant to them—it would be adding wings to a tiger, enabling them to refine higher-grade pills and earn far more ghost stones.
Upon stepping inside Fan City,
what met their eyes was not a line of storefronts, but vendors seated uniformly along both sides of the street, stretching for several hundred meters. Every vendor beamed at their group, their stalls laden with all manner of wares.
The next moment—
"Father,"
Qi Feng said, pointing somewhat hesitantly toward the first vendor. "Um... should we buy a few of these?"
Before this vendor sat two unlit ghost fires.
Beside them stood a sign:
"Level 1 Ghost Fire: 5 ghost stones."
"Inquire privately for higher-grade ghost fire."
"..."
Valley Master Qi, who had originally intended to head straight to an inn, froze on the spot at the sight. A Level 1 ghost fire for five ghost stones?
At present, a Level 1 ghost fire generally went for around fifty or sixty ghost stones.
Even knowing the inside secret—
that constructing a ghost fire did not actually require that many materials, just a handful of dry grass—it still carried a base cost of ten ghost stones.
Yet here it was selling for five ghost stones?
Lower than the production cost?
He suddenly felt his legs grow heavy. This was practically free money! As long as they bought a batch and took them back to Jiangnan, it was a guaranteed, risk-free profit.
However...
He looked toward the inn at the far end of the street and drew a deep breath.
"We're not buying."
"Ghost fires are too heavy. Hauling them back to Jiangnan won't yield enough profit. Every coin goes to the furnace."
The city's design was exceedingly peculiar.
From the city gate, there was only this single street with no branching paths; to reach the inn or any other district, one had to walk down this entire road first.
As for why it was so cheap,
it boiled down to two possibilities:
either Fan Domain possessed a rare qualitative-change upgrade path that drastically reduced the materials needed to build ghost fires, or they were taking a loss just to drum up business.
The latter seemed far more likely.
Medicine King Valley had taken losses to attract attention in the beginning, as had every other faction.
"Not this one either?"
Qi Feng looked rather wistfully at the "Level 2 Ground Spikes" displayed on another stall—only thirty ghost stones, with no additional ghost stone upkeep required.
"..."
Valley Master Qi felt temptation stirring, but gritted his teeth slightly. "No."
He quickened his pace,
doing his utmost to avoid looking at the vendors on either side. Every ghost stone spent here could mean losing out on the furnace by a single stone.
As long as he did not look, he would not be tempted.
He walked briskly toward the end of the street until, near the end, he spotted several Skeleton Horses, along with Ghost Camels and carriages drawn by Skeleton Horses.
The prices beside them were clearly marked:
"One Skeleton Horse: 1,500 ghost stones. No individual sales; bulk faction purchase only."
"One Ghost Camel: 2,000 ghost stones. No individual sales; bulk faction purchase only."
"Carriage drawn by three Skeleton Horses: 5,000 ghost stones. No individual sales; bulk faction purchase only."
This time,
Valley Master Qi could not take another step.
Standing before the stall, his breathing grew ragged, and the tips of his ears turned bright red. He seemed to see countless ghost stones waving at him!
A Skeleton Horse sold for 3,000 ghost stones in Jiangnan.
Taking one back, even deducting travel expenses, yielded a net profit of at least 1,400 ghost stones. If bought in bulk, the overhead per horse would be even lower.
A Ghost Camel sold for 4,000 ghost stones, yielding a net profit of 1,900 ghost stones.
A carriage sold for 13,000 ghost stones, yielding a net profit of 8,000 ghost stones upon return!
This was no mere purchase!
This was scooping up free money off the ground!
"Honored guests,"
the stall owner, an elderly man advanced in years, stepped forward and introduced the wares with an ingratiating smile. "Feel free to touch them. They are genuine Skeleton Horses through and through."
This old man was none other than the Great Elder of the Jiangbei Chen family.
He had already submitted to Fan Domain,
and was serving as a stallkeeper today.
"Father!"
Qi Feng took a deep breath, pulled his father into a corner, and whispered, "There's no reason not to buy this! It's pure free money!"
"If we bring these back to Jiangnan, we won't have to worry about finding buyers at all!"
"People will be fighting over them!"
"Let me think... let me think..."
Valley Master Qi found it difficult to maintain his composure, rubbing the bridge of his nose repeatedly as though scraping skin.
What made a good business?
High margins, high repeat purchases, high turnover rate—checking even one of those boxes qualified as a solid business.
Yet—
if they bought this batch of Skeleton Horses and transported them back to Jiangnan, they would hit all three.
This was profit upon supreme profit!
Only...
only...
why would Fan Domain sell to them? If Fan Domain hauled them straight to Jiangnan and sold them for 2,500 ghost stones, wouldn't they make far more?
That was the core question.
Without understanding this, one could easily walk into a trap.
"Stallkeeper,"
Valley Master Qi inhaled deeply, took a stride back to the stall, and asked in a low voice, "there is one matter I wish to ask. Why doesn't Fan Domain transport these Skeleton Horses to Jiangnan to sell them directly? You could easily fetch 2,500 ghost stones each and make even more."
"A fine question,"
Elder Chen replied, having undergone thorough training over the past days. Smiling smoothly, he answered without missing a beat.
"First,"
"Fan Domain is a newly risen power. Its trade routes with Jiangnan, Jiangdong, and Jiangxi have not been fully established. If Fan Domain were to handle sales personally, we could not move large quantities in a short span of time."
"Second,"
"doing so would inevitably infringe upon the existing factions selling Skeleton Horses across Jiangnan, inciting needless confrontations. But if everyone sells them, we become a community of shared interest. Would those few horse-trading factions dare lay a finger on you?"
"Third,"
"the Skeleton Horses are merely the beginning."
"Fan Domain intends to integrate the trade routes of every faction and forge a Silk Road, dumping Fan Domain's goods into farther lands—even... the Guanxi Plain."
"Everyone profits together; everyone shares the meat."
Truth be told,
when he first learned of this plan, he could not help but marvel at the Young Master's audacious brilliance. If this succeeded, every faction would become a downstream distributor for Fan Domain,
acting as Fan Domain's extended tentacles in the world.
The domain's influence would multiply tremendously.
Furthermore, just as Valley Master Qi pointed out, selling them for 2,500 ghost stones would yield higher immediate profits. But the Young Master sought not just profit for himself, but profit for others as well.
Everyone would prosper together.
By conceding a portion of the margin,
countless factions would work on Fan Domain's behalf, and the trade networks and connections they had cultivated over decades would all be harnessed by Fan Domain.
He did not know what the Young Master's actual production cost was.
If the cost was around 1,000 ghost stones, it was an utterly perfect business. Even if it were slightly higher—say, 1,300 or 1,400 ghost stones—it would still be a solid long-term enterprise, even if short-term gains were modest.
"..."
His eyes rimmed with red, Valley Master Qi stared fixedly at the Skeleton Horses before him, torn by inner turmoil. Medicine King Valley was built on alchemy; a Yellow-grade pill furnace would bolster the valley's foundations and allow them to produce higher-tier medicinal pills.
Yet precisely because Valley Master Qi made his living selling pills, his trade connections were exceptionally vast, and he shared business interests with numerous factions across Jiangnan.
Spending 75,000 ghost stones to buy fifty Skeleton Horses...
He was confident he could flip all of them at 2,500 ghost stones each within a single day. Back and forth, that would be a profit of 50,000 ghost stones!
If he bought a hundred horses,
that would be a profit of 100,000 ghost stones.
It was purely free money.
The only problem was that Medicine King Valley did not possess that much liquid capital in ghost stones. He had already brought sixty percent of their reserves, intending to secure that Yellow-grade pill furnace first.
However—
if he bought these Skeleton Horses, he could only watch helplessly as the Hongdan Workshop of Jiangxi swept the Yellow-grade furnace away.
Elder Chen stood smiling pleasantly, applying no pressure whatsoever.
Yet an odd sensation stirred in his chest.
In terms of status,
Valley Master Qi ranked far higher than him—a heavyweight figure who commanded life and death over an entire region. Yet right now, the man was agonizing, red-faced with indecision.
The sight brought Elder Chen a quiet thrill of satisfaction.
Damn.
Working under the Young Master was infinitely more comfortable than serving the Old Master.
At the very least, everything they did was out in the open and upright.
No shady, guilt-ridden deeds that kept a man tossing and turning in bed at night.
Chapter 125