Shen Ting saw her surprise and explained, “Foundation Establishment is the first major hurdle for cultivators. A supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pill is priceless, so fifty thousand is not much. If you have supreme-grade Golden Core-Condensing Pills or Nascent Soul-Forming Pills, you are always welcome to find me. I will certainly not disappoint you with the price.”
Xue Mingzhao nodded, grabbed the bag of spirit stones, and turned to leave. Su Ye hurriedly followed in her wake.
Before the two of them could take more than a few steps out the door, the assistant from the Jiudan Pavilion chased after them. Holding a storage bag in his hand, he beamed with a bright smile. “Fellow Daoists, please wait! This is a small token of appreciation from our manager. Please accept it!”
Xue Mingzhao swept her divine sense over it—ten bags of tea leaves were neatly arranged inside.
Su Ye was incredibly embarrassed, his toes practically clawing a basement into the soles of his shoes.
Good heavens. So the manager had actually gone and arranged it based on what the two of them had whispered inside the shop?
Xue Mingzhao tucked the storage bag into her robes without batting an eye. “Thank you, and please thank your manager for me. If I have more pills next time, I'll definitely come to you again.”
By the second-floor window, Shen Ting stood with his hands behind his back, watching the two young people disappear around the street corner.
These pills... something was not right.
It was true that the pills were of supreme grade, but a faint, incredibly weak ancient aura lingered deep within the pill veins. This was definitely not something an ordinary alchemist could refine.
The assistant walked upstairs with quiet steps and reported in a low voice, “Manager, the tea has been delivered. Those two fellow Daoists seemed very pleased.”
Shen Ting continued to look down at the market street, giving a solemn instruction. “In the future, if those two come to our door, report it to me immediately, no matter what I am busy with.”
The assistant bowed respectfully in response, silently engraving Xue Mingzhao and Su Ye's appearances into his mind.
...
On the other side, Xue Mingzhao and Su Ye had just turned past two streets when they heard a thunderous shouting ahead:
“New arrivals at the Heavenly Talisman Pavilion! Supreme-grade Sky-Blasting Talismans are on sale for fifty thousand spirit stones each! Quantities are limited, so hurry and grab yours!”
As soon as those words fell, many surrounding cultivators instantly swarmed forward, scrambling to squeeze into the Heavenly Talisman Pavilion.
Xue Mingzhao and Su Ye paused in their tracks, sharing a tacit look.
What profiteers!
Xue Mingzhao clicked her tongue inwardly. When she had sold those supreme-grade Sky-Blasting Talismans in bulk, they were only five thousand high-grade spirit stones each. Now, they were reselling them for a whopping fifty thousand, a tenfold markup!
This was simply an exorbitant profit.
Looking at the crowd fighting to squeeze in, the idea of opening her own shop began to bud in her mind.
The two of them took a turn and headed straight for the most budget-friendly market.
She made massive purchases of talisman paper and talisman ink, and also gathered a heap of spiritual plants, herbs, and various auxiliary alchemy ingredients, fully stocking up on all essential materials.
After a round of shopping, one hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones were instantly gone.
Passing by a spiritual tool shop, she noticed various artifact-refining tools and spirit-nourishing jade wares displayed in the window, all of which looked to be of excellent quality.
Xue Mingzhao paused slightly. After pondering for a moment, she stepped inside.
When she came out, another one hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones were gone.
Su Ye lamented, “These spirit stones disappear way too fast. Two hundred thousand is just gone like that.”
Xue Mingzhao looked entirely unbothered as she casually tossed the storage bag in her hand. “It's only two hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones. Just pocket change.”
Spending money was for the sake of earning more. Only when the investment was in place would the exorbitant profits follow.
...
Su Mingyuan had already been squatting outside the city for half the day.
He was just a bag of old bones; what was the point of shopping? It was much better to bask in the sun and take a nap here.
Spotting the two of them strolling back from afar, he waved his hand. “Hurry up, we're returning to the sect.”
On the way back, Su Ye couldn't hold it in any longer. He leaned in with a mysterious look. “Master, do you know how many spirit stones Junior Sister spent today?”
Su Mingyuan did some quick math. Excluding the half she had given him, Mingzhao should still have four to five million spirit stones left from what she earned in the mystic realm.
Since a decent spiritual tool cost five million spirit stones nowadays, even if they spent it all, it wouldn't be that much.
“It's a good thing for your junior sister to buy some things,” Su Mingyuan said in a calm, elder-like manner. “From now on, you two just focus on cultivating. I will find a way to handle the money-making.”
Su Ye said, “Junior Sister spent two hundred thousand!”
Su Mingyuan replied, “Only two hundred thousand? That's not much.”
Su Ye burst out laughing. “Master, you're actually saying 'only two hundred thousand'? Have you forgotten how you tossed and turned for three nights, unable to sleep, just because you lost five mid-grade spirit stones last month? Now you don't even care about one hundred thousand high-grade ones?”
Su Mingyuan's eyes suddenly widened. “How much? Two hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones?!”
Seeing Su Mingyuan's ghost-seeing expression, Su Ye felt thoroughly satisfied. He mimicked his previous tone in a sarcastic voice, “It's only one hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones~”
Su Mingyuan leaped up instantly. “Where did you two get so much money? Did you rob the City Lord's Mansion??”
Xue Mingzhao giggled and spilled the beans like pouring beans from a bamboo tube, telling him everything about selling talismans and pills over the past few days.
While the two of them spoke with animated gestures, Su Mingyuan listened with mounting dread.
From the cheap mask that was seen through at a single glance, to the two of them boldly sneaking into the black market.
By the time Su Mingyuan finished listening, his blood pressure had hit the roof. He raised his hand and slapped each of them on the back of their heads. “Fortunately, you two at least had the sense to find reputable shops! And thank goodness those two establishments are reputable businesses with status on the Tianyan Continent, so they didn't care to swindle you for such a small amount! If you had gone to some small, shady shop and run into a black-hearted merchant, you two would have been sold today and still been happily counting the money for them!”
“And that black market is a mixed bag of good and bad people. One of you is at Qi Condensation and the other is at Foundation Establishment. If something really happened, could you have even escaped?!”
Realizing their folly after the fact, the two of them stood there obediently, taking the scolding without daring to make a sound.
Su Mingyuan scolded them for a long time until his mouth was dry and his throat felt like it was on fire.
Xue Mingzhao was quick to react, immediately offering a water flask with an incredibly sycophantic grin. “Master, Master, have some water and rest a bit? Calm down, calm down. Getting too angry is bad for your health.”
Su Mingyuan took the flask and gulped down a big mouthful, but he sighed in his heart.
In the end, it was still because he, as their master, was useless and incompetent. That was why his disciples had to go out and work to earn spirit stones at such a young age.
He looked at the two of them, his worry far outweighing his anger.
“Leave the money-making to your Second Senior Brother in the future. You don't need to worry about it.”
“If you really want to earn money, just hand over your drawn talismans and supreme-grade pills to your Second Senior Brother to sell—”
Su Mingyuan suddenly registered what he had said and stared at Xue Mingzhao. “Wait, did you say... you can refine supreme-grade pills?”
Xue Mingzhao nodded obediently.
Su Mingyuan looked at her with a complex gaze, unable to calm his racing heart for a long time.
Ever since this child came to the Grand Primordium Sect, she had given him one surprise after another. By now, they were almost turning into shocks.
If someone told him right now that she could blow up the entire Eastern Territory, he would probably believe it.
All signs pointed to the fact that Xue Mingzhao was not just a genius, but a peerless monster of the kind that only appeared once in tens of thousands of years.
He knew the current situation of the Grand Primordium Sect better than anyone.
The words Xie Huairen had said suddenly flashed through his mind, and Su Mingyuan began to hesitate.
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