294: Chapter 294 Ways to Make Money

One week later.

Nie Ning stared blankly at a large stack of papers on the table.

"I only told you to go out and gather information on what makes the most money in the city. Why did you bring back so much?"

Rubbing his temples, Nie Ning leaned back on the sofa and looked at the Saya in front of him with a helpless expression.

As a person with ideals and ambitions, it was naturally impossible for Nie Ning to sit around and deplete his resources in Blood Rainbow City.

With his current expenses, he would have to start wandering again within half a year, or even three to five months.

To avoid ending up on the streets, Nie Ning had to find a way to make some money.

But Saya had brought out a pile of business proposals and market research, which made Nie Ning's head throb.

"This is it. The most profitable thing is, of course, being a boss, and the most profitable profession in Blood Rainbow City is a Nutritionist—ideally a chef with a unique recipe."

"However, you certainly wouldn't be able to do that, Sir, and I haven't reached that level either."

"Alternatively, there's Alchemy and pharmacy, or joining a guild in the city to go out on missions with others."

"Given your strength and potential, joining a power like the Yishi Mansion would be the most cost-effective. At that time..."

"..."

Saya went on and on at great length.

Nie Ning only reached one conclusion: to make money, one needed a craft.

Moreover, what Saya was describing clearly didn't meet his expectations. A few dozen or a hundred mid-grade magic crystals a month—could that even be called a job?

Pharmacy was indeed profitable, but the competition was too fierce, making it easy to run into conflicts of interest with others.

A Nutritionist was essentially a chef, and in Blood Rainbow City, the cutthroat nature of this industry was even more intense than pharmacy.

Alchemy required more brainpower; ideally, one would have personal patents, such as developing popular items. Nie Ning clearly didn't meet this requirement.

Because judging by the level of development in Blood Rainbow City, anything he could think of from his past life could be manufactured by others here.

Even if it didn't exist, it only proved that it didn't meet market demand, and nothing more.

Take telephones, for instance. It wasn't that wizards couldn't make them, but Elemental Power interference meant that manufacturing them would involve increased costs.

Ska City had a similar alchemical tool called the Sound Transmission Box.

If one encountered a Corruptor they couldn't defeat, they could only rely on the Sound Transmission Box to request reinforcements, and it could only be sent to the core receiver in the Royal Capital.

But based on the prices here, the production cost was roughly 1 mid-grade magic crystal.

Nie Ning didn't know the price of the core receiver, but it certainly wouldn't be low.

Unless a cheap and mass-produced alternative could be found, it would be impossible to popularize it worldwide.

...

...

Listening to Saya's incessant chatter, Nie Ning felt quite a headache.

'Do I really have to resort to selling my body?'

After all, he had a strong physique and abundant vitality; this area was his forte.

But he was now a Fourth-Ring Wizard, and doing so would lead to being looked down upon by his peers.

He didn't care about people talking behind his back, but if someone said it to his face, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop himself from fighting them.

At this moment, Nie Ning looked at Saya and suddenly noticed she had changed into new clothes today: "You bought new clothes?"

Saya paused for a moment and nodded with a slight blush.

Although Nie Ning had fallen to the point of needing to work, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Nie Ning's strength and potential were nothing short of ridiculous, so she naturally wanted to get closer to him.

"Then tell me, would there be any merit in me opening a clothing factory?"

Nie Ning suddenly asked.

"Clothing?"

Hearing this, Saya couldn't help but be stunned, a strange look appearing in her eyes.

It wasn't that she looked down on Nie Ning, but for someone who only cared about buried-head cultivation, she really couldn't imagine what kind of tricks Nie Ning could pull off with clothing.

Seeing this, Nie Ning took a piece of paper from the table, then pulled a pen out of his spatial ring and began to draw.

"What do you think of this outfit?"

Nie Ning finished drawing in less than a minute and then handed it to Saya.

Saya looked at the sketch, a look of astonishment appearing on her face: "You designed this?"

"Of course."

Nie Ning's skin was thicker than a city wall as he spoke as if it were a matter of course.

What he had drawn was one of the various popular styles of women's Hanfu from the internet in his previous life.

This world mainly followed a European aesthetic.

Usually, it was those puffy long skirts, somewhat similar to princess dresses.

Or more ladylike floral dresses.

The reason he chose to draw women's clothing was actually because women's money was the easiest to earn.

If he made men's clothing, a single outfit might be worn for years. By the time the shop went bankrupt, the clothes might still be there. How could he make any damn money then?

Furthermore, he wanted to do business with Transcendents. The main clothing for male wizards was only one thing: robes...

They were either black or white; he couldn't play any tricks even if he wanted to.

Physical classes were even harder. Not to mention they ran around the streets in armor all day, most people weren't nobles and didn't care about clothing at all.

If it weren't for the impact on public decency, the streets would probably be full of shirtless brutes.

...

"But just one style won't work. We still have to find merchants to manufacture them, and there's a high probability they'll be copied by others."

Saya reluctantly put down the paper, speaking with some concern.

Because it wasn't an alchemical item and had no unique added functions, it was very easy for a situation to arise where everyone copied each other.

Nie Ning smiled nonchalantly: "Since we're doing it, we'll naturally do it ourselves. Besides, we're selling to Transcendents, so we'll need some alchemical improvements."

After hearing this, the look of distrust in Saya's beautiful eyes intensified.

She felt that Nie Ning must have thought about this outfit for a long time, and likely didn't have much else in stock in his head.

Moreover, this wasn't the current mainstream design, so the results were unknown.

As for the Alchemy aspect, heh...

"Don't worry, I can handle both the Alchemy and the clothing styles."

Nie Ning waved his hand, signaling Saya to be at ease.

Needless to say for the clothing styles, once he was done copying ethnic costumes, he could move on to cosplay outfits.

With the level of entertainment development in this world, it would be enough for him to use for several hundred years.

As for Alchemy, it was slightly more difficult.

However, Heloise's legacy contained many alchemical design blueprints.

Most were for fused material production, including the production process for chaos crystals, as well as some rune array diagrams and alchemical item blueprints for practice.

Some could be used on clothing and were original designs, which could significantly reduce the possibility of plagiarism.

Some were semi-finished design diagrams; if an Alchemy master could be found, they might be able to perfect them.

"Uh, Sir, how about we make a few finished products first to test the waters?"

Saya didn't have the heart to crush Nie Ning's confidence and made a quiet suggestion.

In reality, she didn't hold much hope for this.

Not many Transcendents would buy into it. There were specialized alchemists in the city making clothes, and their reputations had been built up for who knows how many years. It would be very hard to break through here.

"Hmm..."

Nie Ning rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment: "Then let's make a few first and see."

He knew all of Heloise's alchemical designs, but he rarely personally manufactured them.

And things for Transcendents not only had to look good but also had to have very high practicality—for example, a cleaning function was just one of the basics.

However, he didn't have any better options; he couldn't squeeze into the overly popular industries with his current abilities.

...