Trading Beasts for Weapons

"That brother asked a good question. Come, stand at the front. Everyone, make some room."

The crowd was a mix of confusion and a thirst for knowledge. The price was the question on everyone's mind.

It was one thing for someone to offer goods for sale.

Whether they could afford it was another matter entirely.

As everyone knew, immortal weapons were the best under heaven. Only a lucky few had ever heard of or seen one, let alone considered buying one.

Next were heaven weapons, which always commanded astronomical prices.

Then came earth weapons and spirit weapons.

These were obtainable, but their prices remained consistently high.

After all, only great sects and major clans could afford to support a master forger. They primarily produced for internal consumption, only releasing a small portion onto the market.

Spirit weapons were manageable and not particularly rare.

However, an artifact at the level of an earth weapon was not something one could simply buy on a whim.

Even for those who risked their lives for coin, purchasing an earth weapon was a great luxury.

The Wendao Sect Little Grand-Uncle before them was a sixth-rank spirit forger.

He could naturally forge earth weapons.

This was good news to them; at the very least, they had access to a direct source and a way to purchase them.

At the same time, they harbored a faint hope. They hoped that since he had traveled so far to set up shop, he might offer them a lower price or a discount—ideally, one within their means.

Even if such a thought was a mere fantasy for most.

Seeing the crowd grow and the atmosphere reach a fever pitch, Xu Xian stopped keeping them in suspense.

Amidst the anticipation, he announced his final pricing.

"Quiet, everyone!"

The crowd fell silent...

"My forging workshop only sells boutique goods. What does that mean? It means I only sell earth weapons, not spirit weapons!"

The crowd gasped...

"I do not want spirit stones for my weapons..."

The crowd erupted in an uproar...

"If you want one, bring me the corpses of beasts. Five fifth-grade beasts for a low-tier earth weapon, seven fifth-grade beasts for a mid-tier earth weapon, and ten fifth-grade beasts for a high-tier earth weapon."

As the youth spoke, the crowd began to whisper and murmur, the atmosphere reaching a boiling point.

Trading beast corpses for blades was certainly a novel approach.

However, in Demon-Slaying City, beast corpses were already a form of hard currency. On closer inspection, it was just old wine in a new bottle.

Aside from the novelty, there was nothing else to it. Their first reaction was to silently calculate in their hearts.

Was this deal worth it or not?

"Five fifth-grade beasts for a low-tier earth weapon... is that a loss or a gain?"

"A single fifth-grade beast corpse is worth over a thousand spirit stones. Five would be at least six thousand, almost seven thousand."

"So, is it worth it?"

"When you add it up, it's not much different from buying one directly. It might even be a bit more expensive."

"Yeah, a cheap high-tier earth weapon costs about ten thousand spirit stones. Ten fifth-grade beasts can also sell for over ten thousand. He might even be making a bit of a profit on the side."

"So, is this a trap?"

"No, no, you can't calculate it like that. A high-tier earth weapon isn't something you can just buy whenever you want..."

"Exactly. They usually go to auctions. Even if you have the money, you might not be able to get one."

"So is it a good deal or not...?"

They lowered their heads, huddling in groups of six or seven, discussing in hushed tones and looking at one another. Amidst the noise, they couldn't seem to make sense of the math.

Some said it wasn't worth it, that Xu Xian was just using a different name for the same old scheme and that all merchants under heaven were equally greedy.

Others said it was a great deal because earth weapons were not easily found elsewhere.

Everyone held their own opinions and arguments.

Occasional arguments broke out, followed by moments of doubt.

Someone in the crowd shouted, "Master Xu, your business doesn't seem all that great, does it?"

Seeing someone voice their doubt, the crowd stopped their internal debates and turned their focus back to Xu Xian.

"Yeah, exactly! Can't you give us a more honest deal?"

"Master Xu, it's too expensive! We can't afford it. How about a discount?"

"Master Xu, your claim of being the 'Number One Forging Workshop' is probably just a boast, isn't it?"

"For the same price, why should we buy from you?"

Wen Qingxue remained expressionless, maintaining her detached attitude as she watched Xu Xian's performance. Yao Xiaoxiao, however, looked slightly anxious. Seeing the crowd's unrest, she broke into a cold sweat for her Little Grand-Uncle.

As for Yao Zhijian, he sat on the roof with his eyes half-closed, secretly cursing them.

'A bunch of idiots.'

A sixth-rank spirit forger.

There were fewer than a hundred of them in all of Fanzhou.

The weapons they forged were not things you could just buy on the market. To put it simply, if a sixth-rank forger made three weapons, the best would be kept, the middle one sold to acquaintances, and only the poorest of the three would end up on a store shelf.

For the same tier, the value was vastly different.

Of course, he didn't believe there were no experts in the crowd. They were likely just trying to take advantage of the chaos to get a better deal.

Xu Xian wasn't flustered at all. Everything he saw was within his expectations. Since he had traveled thousands of miles to open a shop here and taken such risks, his goal was a monopoly.

He wanted to monopolize the acquisition of all fifth-grade beasts hunted in Demon-Slaying City.

Since it was a monopoly, how could he not have something truly special?

Curling his lips into a smile, he held up one finger and laughed. "Everyone, I will only say two things. First, as long as it's a fifth-grade beast and the corpse is intact, I don't care about the species or the bloodline."

He paused, then held up a second finger, raising his voice to a resonant shout. "Second, if you trade with me, the forging happens on the spot. If you want a saber, I'll forge a saber. If you want a sword, I'll forge a sword. The size, the style, the tier—you decide!"

"You are all cultivators, the elites of this world. You know in your hearts whether this is a good deal!"

As soon as Xu Xian said this, the front of the shop erupted into a frenzy.

Setting aside the first point—where some beasts were better than others—that was only a small benefit.

But the second point was a game-changer.

Forged on the spot to your own specifications? That was the ultimate trump card.

As mentioned before, earth weapons were different from spirit weapons. Spirit weapons had many styles and many sellers, so a buyer could usually find something suitable.

But that wasn't necessarily true for earth weapons.

There were only a few mainstream types, and the styles were mostly the same.

But now, Xu Xian's goods were made to order. Not just the style, but even the dimensions could be customized. The difference was like the gap between a generic product and a bespoke creation.

It didn't just sound good; it fulfilled the fantasies most people had for their weapons.

For the vast majority of cultivators, an earth weapon was something they would use for a lifetime. Just like buying a house, it was inevitable that they would spend their life savings on it.

But finding one they truly loved usually required a great deal of luck.

And now, Xu Xian had eliminated that concern.

There was really nothing left to hesitate about.

Even a fool could see the value in this.

"I want to order one!"

"Count me in!"

"Me too..."

"Can you forge a fan for me?"

"I want a ruler!"

They scrambled forward, one after another. In their sudden fervor, they were like elderly people rushing for free eggs, terrified that if they missed out today, Xu Xian would close up shop.

Xu Xian smiled radiantly and reassured them, "Everyone, it's goods for work! Those with beast corpses, come to the front. Those without, please step back!"

"This is a small business. Strictly no tabs!"

A cultivator who looked like a scholar squeezed out of the crowd. He looked refined and elegant as he tossed out a storage bag and called out loudly:

"Master Xu, there are six fifth-grade beast corpses in here. Can you forge a fan for me? I have the blueprints..."

Xu Xian squinted slightly and declared decisively, "I can!"