Sea Cultivation: Giant Ships and Heavy Artillery Knock on the Door to All Races

Chapter 265 Unable to Refuse the Kindness, Magical Treasures Appear Frequently (Third Update)

"It's only been three hours, but the transaction volume has already exceeded the total transaction volume of Yundu Island in the previous twelve hours!"

Lin Lishen spoke with some emotion, although he had long known that such hub-and-spoke locations would have a more open atmosphere and a higher willingness to close deals.
But to everyone's surprise, the ship was overwhelmed with orders just a few hours after docking. Local cultivators started buying as soon as they boarded. If it weren't for their limited capital and the understanding that scarcity drives up prices, the average order value could have been even higher.

Because the cultivation world in the ocean is so vast, and there are so many different sects and lineages within the Storm Ocean, this regional scarcity is inevitable.
For example, the first-grade high-quality Exploding Dragon Flame Talisman, which is very common, ordinary, and mass-produced in the Fish-Dragon Islands, is a hot commodity here.

Because the mainstream first-tier high-grade fire attribute attack talisman here is the Fire Dance Whirlwind Talisman, every cultivator here has the Fire Dance Whirlwind Talisman and knows how to deal with/counter it, when the Exploding Dragon Flame Talisman enters the market, it's a complete market crash, and everyone wants to buy it.

This is only one reason. Because this is a major port, the locals have a business sense and know how to buy goods from passing merchant ships and then sell them to other passing vessels to profit from the scarcity price difference. This has even become a trend, leading to a high transaction volume.

As Wenren Feihuang had said, many of those who concealed their identities were there to buy goods anonymously. Although there were also quite a few who came to dispose of smuggled goods, there weren't as many as one might imagine. Clearly, the locals had other channels for dealing with these goods, and all the passing ships were potential targets.

Because the market is large enough, the dumping of the Tianji Wheel will not disrupt the local market, and the capital of a mere independent cultivator cannot buy much.

In fact, the biggest partners are the local Foundation Establishment forces. They purchase the most goods, almost all in bulk, and then sell them to local independent cultivators at higher prices after the merchant ships leave.

Don't be fooled by the seemingly high profit margin of the Tianji Wheel; compared to the profits of the local Foundation Establishment forces, it's not that high. They hoard the goods and raise prices by several tens of percent, making them truly exorbitantly profitable!
They weren't without the method to refine the Exploding Dragon Flame Talisman, but the cost of refining it on their end was always far higher than that of the Fish-Dragon Islands. This wasn't just a problem with their production system; it also involved many other issues such as raw material supply and market trends.

After all, prices are determined by the interplay of supply and demand in the market!
At noon the next day,

The business of Tianji Wheel became even more booming, with merchants who heard the news lining up in droves, and there were even people who would queue up for others.

Seeing that everything was in good order, and even that officials from Haiyue Immortal City had come out to help maintain order, Lin Qianfan left Tianji Wheel and headed to Tianxian Tower to keep his appointment with Wenren Feihuang.

In terms of land area, Haiyue Immortal City is not large, but it looks very majestic because it is built at an angle on a cliff by the sea.
Haiyue Immortal City stands very tall, with buildings arranged in neat rows. Upon closer inspection, its distinct layers and staggered layout reveal a unique style, making it a relatively rare form of city construction. This is because most immortal cities are flat, which makes it easier to set up formations.

After entering the city, I found that the urban landscape was well-designed, with reasonable layout of various areas, a strong commercial atmosphere, and a strong sense of cultural exchange. It was clearly influenced by many cultures from other places and was a very inclusive city.

Compared to Yundu Immortal City, the residents here are of a much higher standard. Late-stage Qi Refining cultivators are a common sight, and Foundation Establishment cultivators are not uncommon either. You could shout in any street and a Foundation Establishment cultivator would turn around and look.

Tianxianlou, the most luxurious restaurant in Haiyue Xiancheng

The place is lavishly decorated, filled with singing and dancing, and extravagant displays of wealth.

"Brother Lin, let me introduce you to these three..."

Today's meal is not a welcome banquet, but a gathering organized by Wenren Feihuang. The other three people are from three other Golden Core forces in the Haiyue Four Islands, and they are also their core Golden Core seeds.

Lin Qianfan only arrived at Haiyue Immortal City last night, and they are here at noon today. They probably won't make it in time. It's possible that they were notified in advance, or they may have other things to do here.

"Nice to meet you..."

It turns out there was a grand event in Haiyue Immortal City, and these three were already here. They were all talented young men, so they gathered together.

Upon hearing Lin Qianfan's identity and learning that he traded goods throughout the four regions of the Inner Sea, everyone was quite surprised. This was a rare occurrence, as most Golden Core seeds were kept at home.

Subsequently, they collectively invited Tianji Wheel to visit their island after completing the Haiyue Bay business, stating that they indeed needed Tianji Wheel to help them regulate domestic demand, and promised a 50% discount on taxes.

Lin Qianfan possessed a complete sea map, so he naturally knew that Haiyue Immortal City was already quite small, and the other three immortal cities would only be even smaller.
Because the four islands of Haiyue are not very large and lack abundant resources, other third-tier merchant ships generally do not go there. This is why they have a genuine need, rather than just making empty promises at the dinner table.

"I see! Then each family can stay for two days. Let's make it clear that it's a maximum of two days, since the ship's inventory is limited, and these things will become worthless once they're no longer scarce."

Lin Qianfan agreed without hesitation.
These three individuals, who were able to befriend Wenren Feihuang, were naturally core Golden Core seeds from their respective families and had a promising future.

They had previously studied in the City of a Thousand Stars, but they weren't studying at the Martial Might Hall at the time, so they hadn't interacted before.

But this time it happened, even if it was just a small taste!

Five days later,
Having made a fortune, Tianji Wheel left Haiyue Immortal City, planning to first go to Xuanyuan Island as agreed, and then follow the sea route to the other two islands of Haiyue Four Islands, staying on each island for two days.

The atmosphere at Haiyue Bay is cheerful and the transaction efficiency is extremely high. Although there are more local foundation-building forces than those on Yundu Island, they are all efficient and completed the transaction in just six days, including those who are just passing through.

After reviewing the accounts, the data was quite impressive. The cargo turnover rate at Haiyue Immortal City exceeded 40%, nearly three times that of Yundu Immortal City, and the spirit stone surplus also reached a new high.

However, the main business here is selling goods, and we buy relatively few goods. This is mainly because the local produce is relatively scarce, and with so many people choosing to go into business, there is a lack of local signature products.

It's not that they really can't choose the goods. Haiyue Immortal City has a lot of products that have flowed in from other places, but Tianji Wheel can't get the purchase price from them. Who would do something without high profits?
Tianji Wheel's sourcing principle is to source directly from the place of origin for higher profits!
The overall situation of the latter three immortal cities is indeed not as good as that of Haiyue Immortal City. They are all relatively barren small immortal cities. Although they have a long history, they are not much better than Yundu Immortal City. However, there are obviously far fewer people engaged in commerce here, and they are mainly engaged in production.

The first Xuanyuan Island mainly operates in the fishing industry. Their core industries are deep-sea fishing, near-sea aquaculture, and deep processing of seafood. They have more than one Fengying ship for collecting seafood.

These assets were brought in from the outer sea by Xuan Yuan Sea Pavilion, and they are very well suited to the natural conditions of Xuan Yuan Island. This should be one of the reasons why they chose Xuan Yuan Island.

The second spirit island primarily operates in agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, and pharmaceuticals. Their core industries encompass the entire industrial chain, including spirit plant cultivation, intensive cultivation of spirit herbs, breeding of spirit beasts and birds, forest maintenance, and mining development. While the industrial chain is relatively complete, these industries are too basic, and quantitative changes don't necessarily lead to qualitative leaps. Therefore, profits are actually not high. It's not that they deliberately choose to engage in these low-profit industries, but rather that these are the only suitable options given their natural conditions.

The third island has even worse natural conditions. Despite being a low-grade third-tier spiritual vein, even after land reclamation and artificial modification, it is still only comparable in size to a large second-tier spiritual island.
Therefore, they are actively developing and operating industrial immortal arts, somewhat similar to the centralized industrial system of Guanlan Immortal City, but their scale is much smaller than that of Guanlan Immortal City, and they are not high-end enough.

"These four islands are all very limited and destined to never amount to anything, unless the Wenren family has the ability to completely control the other three islands and turn them entirely into resources for Haiyue Island. However..."

Difficult, difficult, difficult! Difficult as ascending to heaven!
Even the problem of Haiyue Immortal City being divided among four families cannot be solved, so the Wenren family cannot be said to have grown bigger and stronger; they are limited in every way.

The reason why the last three islands were only visited for two days each, and no auction was even held, is that they were too small in scale, and some customers had already settled their needs during the Blue Blood Jellyfish Tide and Haiyue Bay seasons, so there was no point in staying any longer.

During this period, Lin Qianfan met with them several times, and now they can be considered friends. They warmly invited Lin Qianfan to come here again next time, and Lin Qianfan naturally agreed.

You’d be a fool not to make money!
The Tianji Wheel only needs to run once, and the next time it can be used to stockpile goods according to the needs of each island!

Toot~
When leaving Haiyue Four Islands, the total cargo of the Tianji ship was less than 80% of that when leaving Yundu Island. This was after trying to replenish it as much as possible. The main reason was that there was not much black market goods on the last three islands, and their products were relatively low-grade and not worth purchasing.

It's better to keep the cash and wait for the right opportunity!

It had been over a month since we set off, and the storm season had begun. These past few days had been spent braving storms and thunder.

Fortunately, ordinary storms have little impact on Tier 3 ships; only a portion of spiritual energy needs to be mobilized to maintain the ship's stability. However, this has caused the Tianji Wheel's speed to slow down.

"Next stop: Cangxia Mountain! As one of the lucky few who advanced to a large Golden Core force during the beast tide, I should be able to replenish the goods!"

The Yulong Islands are located in the heart of the Western Regions. The journey has been mostly northward, with little time spent in the Western Regions itself.

The next destination, Cangxia Mountain, is located at the border of the Western Regions and the Northwest Regions, but it still belongs to the Northwest Regions and is the most important stop in Lin Qianfan's plan.

Their fate was completely opposite to that of the Yin family of Blood Slaughter Bay. Cangxia Mountain was one of the Golden Core forces that benefited the most from this beast tide.

By repeatedly traversing the northeastern defense line to harvest the beast tides, he successfully entered the late stage of the Golden Core realm several years ago. In addition, several other Golden Core cultivators also achieved a leap in strength during the beast tides.

The journey from Haiyue Four Islands to Cangxia Mountain is long, but the boat did not stop. From those at the False Core stage to those at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, everyone was putting in their best effort to prepare goods, planning to make a fortune at Cangxia Mountain.

Fifteen days later,

The Tianji Wheel, though not fast, was stable and finally crossed the uninhabited sea area where the Western Regions and the Northwest Regions met. Lin Qianfan's Vast Ocean Spirit Guide in his dantian also finally lit up the Northwest Region sea map.

As usual, Lin Qianfan first searched for any third-tier magic treasures that he could safely acquire, as this was the most important matter.

"Huh? There really are? And more than one? Brilliant!"

The reason for choosing the northwest region over the north-south direction is twofold: firstly, the northwest region is larger than the west region and is more likely to produce magical treasures; secondly, the northwest region is a defensive region, having just experienced the millennium beast tide, and is most likely to still have unclaimed magical treasures left behind.

"Five locations. Three are near the defense line, likely left behind by Golden Core cultivators who perished during the millennium beast tide. One is not far from here, and the other is near the Silent Sea. We can only choose the one closest to us!"

Five targets in total, with the option to choose – brilliant!
Lin Qianfan was somewhat pleased, as obtaining just one more magic weapon would be enough to help Xiao Xinglan overcome her tribulation.

With Xiao Xinglan's unparalleled strength among her peers, as long as she successfully advances to the early stage of the third rank, Lin Qianfan's risk resistance level will also increase infinitely, and he won't have to worry about encountering any accidents when running a business in the four regions of the Inner Sea.

"It's not that you have to have only two items; actually, the more the better..."

If Lin Qianfan's thoughts weren't encrypted, Xiao Xinglan could hear them directly.

"Huh? Didn't you say before that two magic items would be enough?"

"Wasn't that because I was afraid of putting too much pressure on you? Who knew you, my darling, would be so efficient? The ocean is like your home!"

Xiao Xinglan's tribulation is destined to be extraordinary. Even without the Heavenly Dao Needle deliberately targeting her, it is still very dangerous. Ordinary magic treasures with low compatibility may not be able to help her withstand more than a few powerful lightning tribulations before they are completely destroyed. Therefore, in principle, the more magic treasures the better.

"So expensive? What about wild demons without magical artifacts?"

"Beasts without magic weapons have to rely on sheer brute force to survive; it's all about luck. Otherwise, how could humans, with such weak foundations, dominate the vast ocean? Their rate of advancement to higher ranks is overwhelming!"

"Okay, I'll try my best!"

Because the matter of searching for magical treasures cannot be easily revealed, even Lin Qianfan's protector, the Third Elder, cannot easily disclose it. Therefore, the Tianji Wheel's trajectory remained normal as it headed towards Cangxia Mountain.

Lin Qianfan plans to find the magic treasure on his own when the time comes, since he will be staying in Cangxia Mountain for a long time this time.

(End of this chapter)