Chapter 12 Setting Up a Stall

Chapter 12: Setting Up a Stall

Spring fled and autumn arrived; in the blink of an eye, a year had passed.

During this time, Wang Hao’s cultivation had advanced considerably, and he was not far from reaching the fifth layer of Qi Refining. Logically, he should have continued his seclusion to attempt a breakthrough, but the auction for the Foundation Establishment Pills was approaching. The Green Bull Market had become much livelier, so Wang Hao decided to venture out and join the excitement, hoping he might gather some of the spiritual herbs needed to refine Foundation Establishment Pills himself.

Moreover, the auction wasn't just about Foundation Establishment Pills; there would be many other treasures available. He needed to exchange some resources for Spirit Stones in advance to prepare.

Over the past year, he had made no progress in talisman-making. The reason was simple: he had no experience using a brush in either his past or present life. The initial step of learning to copy characters alone would waste a great deal of time, and time was precisely what Wang Hao lacked the most. He could only set it aside for now. If his cultivation stalled at the late stages of Qi Refining, he could practice talisman-making then, perhaps while searching for the spiritual herbs required for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

While talisman-making proved unfeasible, Wang Hao’s alchemy skills had improved significantly. After achieving a sixty percent success rate in refining Fasting Pills, he began attempting to refine Spirit Gathering Pills. After dozens of failures, he finally succeeded. Now, he no longer needed to purchase pills for cultivation; the output from his Penguin Farm was sufficient to refine Spirit Gathering Pills for his own use, with plenty to spare. Over this period, he had accumulated over thirty bottles of Spirit Gathering Pills, which could be exchanged for nearly a thousand Spirit Stones.

The farm now boasted nine plots of land. One was occupied by the Golden Thread Spirit Apricot tree, three were planted with the herbs required for Spirit Gathering Pills, and the remaining six were all planted with Spirit Talisman Grass, utilizing its high maturation efficiency to continuously expand the space.

The cost of reclaiming land kept increasing. The tenth plot would require one thousand and seventy-five Spirit Stones. He had already deduced the pattern: it involved an arithmetic progression. The reclamation cost for the n-th plot equaled the cost of the previous plot plus twenty-five times (n-2).

Moreover, after developing the sixth plot, the option to upgrade to red soil became available. The first upgrade required five hundred Spirit Stones, and the second required seven hundred.

He had already upgraded one plot, and the effect was remarkable. It could now grow second-tier crops, and the maturation time was accelerated. Wang Hao planted some Spirit Rice as a test and concluded that it matured twice as fast as on the ordinary farm soil—meaning it was twenty times faster than real-world time!

This discovery made Wang Hao reconsider his approach. As long as the cost of reclaiming new land was higher than the cost of upgrading to red soil, upgrading was far more cost-effective. Unfortunately, he had been too focused on cultivation and alchemy earlier and hadn't noticed this nuance, wasting many Spirit Stones in vain. Otherwise, he would have three plots of red soil by now.

After checking his belongings, Wang Hao left his home. The once-every-twenty-years Foundation Establishment Pill auction had a significant impact on Green Bull Market. In just the month leading up to the auction, the market's population surged dramatically, increasing from a usual resident population of over ten thousand to nearly fifty thousand.

Most of these people weren't there to bid for the Foundation Establishment Pills, but rather to take advantage of the massive crowds to sell their own goods.

Wang Hao went to the Wang Family Pill Shop first. He sought out Wang Yanfeng directly and sold him ten bottles of Spirit Gathering Pills. Selling more would raise suspicion; being a first-tier mid-grade alchemist wasn't an issue, but explaining the source of such a vast quantity of herbs would be difficult.

Wang Yanfeng naturally offered words of encouragement and praise.

However, Wang Hao hadn't come for a lecture; he wanted to accompany Wang Yanfeng to the auction.

So, he carefully asked, "Eighth Uncle, has the family decided who will attend the auction?"

"Hmm? You want to go to the auction?" Wang Yanfeng shook his head slightly and chuckled. "I wondered why you came to see your Eighth Uncle today—you definitely have an agenda! It looks like I was being sentimental thinking you just came to visit."

Wang Hao hurriedly apologized. "How could that be, Eighth Uncle? You know me—I'm completely focused on cultivation right now. I haven't stepped out my door all year; I came straight to you as soon as I left seclusion. As for the auction... your nephew just wants to broaden his horizons."

Wang Yanfeng smiled and nodded slightly. "That is true. Your father told me earlier to keep an eye on you, but you didn't even leave your house—you saved your Eighth Uncle a lot of trouble! Alright then, I'll be representing our family's shop at the auction anyway; you can stay by my side. The auction starts in five days. Don't go wandering off that day—I'll send someone to fetch you."

"Thank you, Eighth Uncle," Wang Hao bowed respectfully before adding, "Eighth Uncle, the market is bustling right now; your nephew would like to go buy some spiritual herbs..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Yanfeng interrupted, "Alright, go on! You've been cooped up for over a year—are old habits resurfacing? Go ahead and browse; you seem steady enough now. Just don't cause any trouble!"

"I definitely won't cause trouble for Eighth Uncle." Wang Hao excused himself and left the shop.

Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at a huge square filled with small stalls.

Setting up a stall in the square didn't require rent, but it was already packed to the brim; finding an empty spot wasn't easy for Wang Hao.

The stalls displayed a dazzling array of goods, including many peculiar items. However, most were still first-tier Spirit Rice, first-tier forging materials, first-tier pills, first-tier talismans, or first-tier spiritual herbs. Truly good items were scarce, and they were scattered throughout the chaotic market. Having to search through them one by one was troublesome. Since searching himself was bothersome, why not let others come to him?

After observing briefly, Wang Hao grasped how transactions among Rogue Cultivators worked. It wasn't much different from the vegetable markets in his previous life, except the currency was replaced by Spirit Stones.

A key point, however, was that sales were final. If you got a bargain, consider yourself lucky. If you bought a fake at a loss, don't come complaining.

After walking around without finding any free space, Wang Hao ended up paying two Spirit Stones to a Rogue Cultivator for his spot.

He took out a sign he had prepared earlier and placed it in front of the stall. It read: Spirit Gathering Pills—Exchanged or Purchased for Various First or Second-Tier Spiritual Herb Seeds or Live Plants!

As soon as his stall was set up, people came inquiring about prices continuously. Initially, Wang Hao sold several bottles cheaply. But later, realizing these people only wanted to buy with Spirit Stones without offering rare seeds, he changed his terms.

Exchange only—no sales!

The crowd around Wang Hao's stall thinned considerably. A few who hadn't secured a bargain grumbled, but law enforcement personnel were watching from the edges of the square. They didn't dare make a scene, only muttering softly before shaking their heads and leaving.

"Fellow Daoist, what is the price for these Spirit Gathering Pills?"

A soft, gentle woman's voice drifted over, pleasant to the ear.

Wang Hao looked up to see a young woman, around seventeen or eighteen years old, standing before him. She wore a yellow ruqun, her skin as white as snow, her face like peach blossoms, and her eyes resembling clear pools of water.

Since arriving in this world, this was the first time Wang Hao had seen such a beautiful woman. He froze momentarily.

"Fellow Daoist? Are you selling these pills or not?" Being stared at made the woman tense, her tone turning cold.

Wang Hao snapped back to reality, hurriedly composing himself. He wasn't the original Wang Hao; he couldn't make such mistakes. Women only slowed down cultivation speed!

"Oh, naturally I am selling. But the prices aren't cheaper than the shops. Miss, if you have rare spiritual herb seeds or live plants, exchanging them would be much more cost-effective for you."

"How would the exchange work?"

"That depends on what seeds Miss can offer. If they are common varieties, there is no need. Only relatively rare ones can be exchanged. For example, seeds related to the herbs for the Foundation Establishment Pill! If Miss can produce those, we can exchange based on value. For rare ones, I can offer a higher purchase price," Wang Hao explained.