Isn't This a Game? Why Are You All Cultivating for Real!

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Trading with the Caravan

"No matter how we look at it, the location from the prophecy always points to the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect."

The highest level of the Star-picking Tower.

The space was vast and empty, containing nothing at all.

Only in the very center floated a huge, slowly rotating copper mirror.

It looked plain—as plain as the kind of mirror you could buy by the dozen in the mortal realm for a single Spirit Stone.

Within the mirror, scenes from the Yunzhou Continent flickered into view from time to time.

Now and then, a trace of a demon beast would flash by, or a small sect from a remote corner would emerge.

Even a few mortals from the common world made it into the mirror’s view.

It even showed two Cultivators who seemed to have gotten into a conflict, with one suddenly raising his middle finger at the other.

The image was gone in a flash.

Suddenly, a voice spoke, and an orb of light materialized beside the mirror.

The orb shimmered with a brilliant light, obscuring whatever was inside. A voice faintly emanated from it, saying, "The Ten Thousand Immortals Sect must be monitored. There has to be a reason for the prophecy left by Master You Shan Liu of the Tianyang Sect before his fall."

"Hmph. They disagree."

Another orb of light appeared, its tone tinged with displeasure. "The Ten Thousand Immortals Sect says we should submit to Heavenly Destiny. The prophecy only mentions an otherworldly visitor. The part about them bringing chaos to Yunzhou is our own speculation; the prophecy never said the visitor would bring disaster."

Yet another orb of light emerged. "Utter nonsense! An otherworldly visitor, someone who doesn’t belong to our Yunzhou Continent—how could they not harbor malicious intent?"

"It just says ’otherworldly visitor.’ Can we be so sure they aren’t from the Yunzhou Continent? Don’t forget what other places exist beyond the Yunzhou Continent."

At these words, all the voices fell silent.

After a long silence, a voice finally said, "Forget it. Let’s wait until the Immortal Sacrifice Ceremony is over before we ask the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect for their thoughts. The ceremony is imminent, so let’s not stir up trouble. The Ten Thousand Immortals Sect is full of lunatics. Best not to provoke them."

The Star-picking Tower returned to its tranquility once more.

The massive, slowly rotating copper mirror also stopped spinning. It remained suspended in mid-air, but the image within had faded to black.

***

"Fan Guzhou, you can’t be a capitalist in a video game!" Wu Dahu cried out in anguish. "I buy ten bottles of wine, you give me one for free. How is that a loss for you?"

Fan Guzhou raised an eyebrow. "Get lost. If you wanted the regular stuff, we could talk. But you’re asking for the Blood Pearl Grass-infused kind—buy ten, get one free, and on credit? Where on earth can you find a deal like that? Take it or leave it!"

Having monopolized Wang’an County’s fine wine trade, Fan Guzhou was feeling pretty cocky.

Wu Dahu was buying the wine to bribe Senior Brother Lü of the Taohua Sect.

They had already spent all their money on Palm Thunder, leaving them completely broke.

They needed to restock.

Their only option was to shamelessly ask Fan Guzhou to open a tab.

He was the player most likely to have any money right now.

Fan Guzhou pointed him toward another option. "The Sect offers loans. Why don’t you get one?"

Wu Dahu shot him a resentful look. "I don’t want to pay interest."

Fan Guzhou: "Then I can’t help you."

Wu Dahu gritted his teeth. "Once they add the cash shop, I’ll pay you back double!"

Fan Guzhou wasn’t falling for empty promises. "It’s not even guaranteed this game will get a cash shop."

Seeing he couldn’t trick Fan Guzhou, Wu Dahu tearfully bought ten bottles of the Blood Pearl Grass-infused wine.

Four low-grade spirit stones per bottle.

He was instantly bankrupt.

The cost would be split between the four of them. They’d have to grind hunting demon beasts on First Mountain until they were dog-tired just to earn it back.

But it was all worth it to keep their Senior Brother happy!

Chen Miaomiao found it much easier to fit in after she developed the Blood Pearl Grass-infused wine.

She taught the method to Fan Guzhou and the other life-skill players.

Even though the other players weren’t as skilled as she was, their success rate increased with practice.

The fine wine infused with Blood Pearl Grass seemed like a niche product, but its launch caused a sensation in Wang’an County.

It sold for five low-grade spirit stones a bottle, and people were actually buying it.

Cultivators normally disdain mortal food, but the moment you mention it’s infused with Blood Pearl Grass...

...it’s no longer just an elixir. It’s a fine wine containing Spirit Grass!

It’s a mark of sophistication!

Besides, it was genuinely delicious.

Previously, some Cultivators who disliked mortal food hadn’t been interested, even when they heard the restaurants in Wang’an County were rolling out all sorts of new delicacies.

That was until this Spiritual Wine appeared.

Although the Spiritual Wine was expensive, a single bottle had restorative properties and tasted exquisite.

Buying a bottle every now and then to flex was a pretty good feeling.

Most importantly, Fan Guzhou made it a limited-run item.

The wine seemed like something only a sucker would buy, but it had one major advantage.

Nothing like it existed on the Yunzhou Continent.

No Cultivator would bother going through the trouble of infusing mortal food with spiritual properties, and those who could wouldn’t think of commercializing it for others.

So this market segment was still completely untapped.

At least, it was in Wang’an County.

But his plans didn’t stop there.

Spiritual Wine made from First Rank Blood Pearl Grass wasn’t that impressive, but what about Second Rank?

Or Third Rank?

As long as they could consistently grow Second and Third Rank Spirit Grass, Fan Guzhou and his group wouldn’t restrict themselves to just making Elixir Pills.

And it wasn’t just the people in Wang’an County who were willing to pay for this.

The trade caravans were also interested.

Three days after Song Jiulai left for Liu Xian City, a trade caravan arrived in Wang’an County.

This caravan was made up of Foundation Establishment Cultivators. They primarily traveled between the towns surrounding Liu Xian City, a force strong enough to handle any danger they might encounter.

They didn’t sell common goods, but rather more specialized items.

Spiritual beasts, for example.

In this case, however, they were just common First Rank Little Flower Beasts.

These Little Flower Beasts were very popular among the female cultivators of the Yunzhou Continent.

Mainly because they were truly pretty and cute.

They were timid, had no combat ability, and their main purpose was to be uselessly ornamental.

Little Flower Beasts came in several colors: white, yellow, blue, and green.

When frightened, they would bury themselves in the dirt, taking on the appearance of a flower.

When the danger passed, they would emerge, waddling on their swaying paws. They looked a bit like cartoon ducklings, with a flower perched on their heads.

Their beaks, however, were pointed.

Though useless, they sold extremely well.

It wasn’t just the female cultivators who liked them; even the players who had never seen one before were smitten.

"What? Ten low-grade spirit stones for one? That’s highway robbery!"

When the players heard the price, they were all completely deterred.

In their current impoverished state, very few of them could afford one.

Some players thought about taking advantage of the Sect by getting a loan to buy one.

But the system stated: "Failure to repay within one month will result in an account ban."

The players: "..."

After calculating the exorbitant cost, they ultimately chose to give up, filled with regret.

Forget extra money, right now anyone with even a few points had spent them on Palm Thunder. The new players who just joined were only on their second day of grinding like slaves and had even less money.

The only ones with any money were Fan Guzhou and Chen Miaomiao.

Meanwhile, while restocking in Wang’an County, the trade caravan also noticed Fan Guzhou’s Spiritual Wine.

They too saw the market potential and immediately expressed their willingness to make a deal with Fan Guzhou.