Chapter 48: Wood Spirit Talisman Shop

Pills cannot be sold. For other sellable items, cultivation techniques are restricted by one's Dao Heart, and formations are too high-end, usually only purchased in complete sets by large corporations. He also lacks sufficient startup capital for magical artifacts. Therefore, only "talismans" remain.

The immortal sect's development of talismans has reached its peak, integrating them into all aspects of society. This is because many within the immortal sect, to focus on cultivation, do not bother learning minor practical spells like cleaning or healing arts. Talismans are essentially solidified spells.

The largest source of income for the talisman factory where Chen Mobai's mother works is the "Flying Talisman." Flight is a human dream, but Qi Condensation cultivators cannot master flying techniques, so this talisman became the most purchased product. In the immortal sect, daily life talismans like flying talismans, cleaning talismans, and directional talismans are the best sellers. In contrast, talismans like the Wood Armor Talisman and Green Arrow Talisman, which Chen Mobai always bought, are niche products due to the scarcity of conflicts in the immortal sect. Low demand keeps their prices from rising.

However, the Heavenly River Realm is different. Directional talismans, cleaning talismans, and any non-combat talismans are considered useless there. This is the business opportunity Chen Mobai spotted.

He went to the Wood Spirit Talisman shop where he had previously bought from. The owner seemed to be a talisman master specializing in wood-element talismans. The shop offered low-grade first-tier talismans: Poison Talismans, Entanglement Talismans, Wood Shield Talismans, Wood Prison Talismans, and Detoxification Talismans, all priced at 15 merit points each. Before acquiring the tortoise shell opportunity, Chen Mobai earned pocket money by cutting talisman paper. A pack of pre-cut small talisman papers, the raw material for these low-grade first-tier talismans, could only be sold for 2 merit points.

This doesn't mean the merchants are greedy. The primary cost for talismans is the "ink." Different talismans require specifically blended inks, and the preparation process is complex. A single mistake can ruin the batch, requiring re-proportioning. While ink for low-to-mid-tier talismans can largely be mass-produced, high-tier talisman inks still need to be manually prepared by talisman masters.

For this reason, the lowest price for a high-grade first-tier talisman has surged to 500 merit points. Chen Mobai looked at the only four available talismans in the shop: Revival Talisman, Wooden House Talisman, Wood Spirit Talisman, and All Flora as Soldiers Talisman. Among them, the "Revival Talisman" is like an enhanced version of Spirit Recovery Water. It restores depleted spiritual energy and, while doing so, removes all negative conditions, quickly bringing the user back to peak condition. It costs 500 merit points per talisman. The "Wooden House Talisman" is the best-selling daily life talisman. When used during an outing in the wilderness, it instantly creates a habitable wooden house. It can be customized during creation based on needs, from a single room to one-bedroom, two-bedroom, or three-bedroom with a living room, and even with a large courtyard. Prices are customized, starting at 1000 merit points for a single room. Chen Mobai had not heard of the "Wood Spirit Talisman" before. He read its description and was amazed. When activated, it allows the wearer to experience the cultivation speed of a wood-element Heavenly Spirit Root for one hour. However, its price has soared to 5000 merit points. The final one, the All Flora as Soldiers Talisman, is the only offensive talisman, surprisingly priced lower at 3000 merit points.

Besides these four high-grade first-tier talismans, there was also a low-grade second-tier treasure: the Yi Wood Divine Thunder Talisman. This was also an offensive talisman, priced a bit lower at only 50,000 merit points. In Nanxi Market, Chen Mobai had inquired about the price of such talismans, which generally started at fifty spirit stones.

He wanted to buy a Wooden House Talisman to establish a second base in the Heavenly River Realm's barren mountains, in addition to his water mansion. However, the Wooden House Talisman was too expensive, so he had to give up for now. Chen Mobai bought 20 of each of the five types of low-grade first-tier talismans, and finally, one Revival Talisman, spending a total of 2000 merit points. Seeing the sharp decrease in his card balance, he felt a unique satisfaction after spending the money. These items, when resold in the Heavenly River Realm, would yield approximately a tenfold profit.

Carrying the dream of getting rich, Chen Mobai spent a long time calming his mind, entering meditation, and cultivating his spirit.

The next day. After returning from school, Chen Mobai first visited the Evergreen Pharmacy. All the medicinal herbs were ready, and Qingnu began to show her skills. He didn't disturb her much and left immediately. Since the talismans were purchased online, it would take some time for them to be delivered, so Chen Mobai could only prepare for his stall today. He also took the opportunity to get rid of his tattered belongings.

Nanxi Market. This time, he didn't see the Liu-surnamed boy in hemp clothes; he must have gotten business. However, the other guide boy from last time was there. His eyes lit up when he saw Chen Mobai, but then he seemed to remember something and hesitated to approach. But Chen Mobai needed his help and waved him over.

"Senior, you called for me." With a nervous heart, Qi Er walked over and first bowed to Chen Mobai.

"I have some miscellaneous items I'd like to sell. Setting up a stall would be too slow. Do you know of any channels?"

"Senior, would you prefer a quick sale or a slower one?"

"What's the difference between quick and slow?" Chen Mobai asked with interest.

"For a quick sale, you can directly sell to the twenty-six shops in Nanxi Market. As long as the items' origins are legitimate, they will accept them all. For a slower sale, you can entrust them to a 'stall master' for consignment. The stall masters will give you half the value of the spirit stones upfront, and the remaining half will be settled after the consigned items are sold, minus a ten percent commission."

These "stall masters" are essentially the most reputable individuals among the stall owners in Nanxi Market. In reality, they are all protégés of the six major powers, serving to help these powers control the entire market of Nanxi Market.

Qi Er explained these intricacies to Chen Mobai.

"Which are the six major powers?" If it were before, Chen Mobai would not have asked such a common-knowledge question. But during his last visit, he learned that cultivators from other countries often visited this market, so pretending to be an outsider would not draw attention.

"You might not be familiar with the four local Foundation Establishment families of our Yun Country, Senior, but you must know the Five Elements Sect and the Divine Wood Sect." Chen Mobai did know them. They were mentioned in the introduction to the Great Sects of the Eastern Desolation as two of the Seven Great Sects. The Divine Wood Sect had even split off from the Five Elements Sect, and disciples from the two sects almost always fought when they met.

"Good. Take this dagger. I have a Qi Condensation cultivation technique and a few bottles of pills that I need to deal with. Their origins are certainly legitimate. Do you think those large shops would take them?" Qi Er accepted the dagger from Chen Mobai, his eyes slightly brightening. Although the item wasn't worth ten taels of gold, if he could help this senior with his business, the senior might be pleased enough to offer more rewards. Thus, he eagerly began to help with the assessment.