Cultivating Immortality: Starting from Ferrying Passengers

Chapter 13 Monster Talisman
In a relatively spacious courtyard on the streets of Konoha, dozens of monks gathered.

There are hundreds of people of all kinds. Although there are not a hundred people here, it seems very lively. This is mainly because the practitioners have a strong aura and a strong sense of presence.

Fang Jingxuan brought Tuo Yuan and followed Lao He into this place, attracting the attention of many people for a moment.

Fang Jingxuan appeared calm and composed on the surface, but he was actually quickly calculating the strength of those present.

When a wild animal enters an unfamiliar territory, it must quickly confirm its position in the food chain, otherwise its strength may lead to misjudgment, which may easily put its life in danger.

After a quick look, I found that most of the people here are at the early stage of Qi Refining.

Unlike those cultivators in the early stage of Qi Refining outside the market town, those cultivators in the early stage of Qi Refining who can live in the market town either have relatives working in the market town, have connections, and have people to take care of them.

Or you can have a skill to make a living, such as working in a basic industry related to talismans, making animal skin talisman paper, drawing some basic talismans, and you won't lack the monthly rent of five low-grade spirit stones.

Most of the cultivators present belonged to these two categories, except for a few whose aura was different from that of the others, which aroused Fang Jingxuan's vigilance.

Two of them were in the middle stage of Qi Refining, with similar faces and fierce auras, and more murderous aura than ordinary practitioners.

Fang Jingxuan's heart trembled. These should be professional combat monks who specialize in guarding and fighting. Compared with these two, most of the monks here are professional monks of daily life, and their combat power is very different.

In addition to these two people, there are several cultivators with higher cultivation levels. Fang Jingxuan couldn't figure out the details of these people for a while.

"So you're Brother Fang, the ferryman. My humble name is Tian Qingyun. I have a small monster-hunting team under my command. I usually run a monster meat shop. If Brother Fang is short of meat, please patronize us."

As soon as Fang Jingxuan entered the room, a cultivator with a smiling face came forward to talk to him. This person's cultivation level was the fifth level of Qi Refining, which was the highest among the many cultivators present.

Seeing someone showing goodwill and such a high level of cultivation, Fang Jingxuan politely agreed and said he would definitely visit in the future.

At this time, Lao He coughed lightly and said:

"Brother Fang, this is your first time here. If you don't understand something, feel free to ask and look around. We're all from the same neighborhood, so we won't cheat you. Don't you agree, Team Leader Tian?"

Tian Qingyun's expression remained unchanged, and he continued to smile:

"That's right. We can cheat anyone but not our neighbors. Don't worry, Brother Fang. The monster flesh and blood we buy from our own people is absolutely clean and fresh."

Fang Jingxuan was a little sensitive. Listening to the words of these two people, he seemed to feel that Lao He was somewhat dissatisfied with Tian Qingyun, and Tian Qingyun was also a little afraid of Lao He, but on the surface he still respected Lao He.

Alas, dealing with people is really tiring. Every random word has several hidden meanings. If you are a little slow, you can't hear the hidden meaning at all.

In addition to Tian Qingyun, several other people came forward to say hello, and Fang Jingxuan responded to them one by one.

After this process was completed, Fang Jingxuan took Tu Yuan to a corner and began to wait quietly.

At this moment, Fang Jingxuan was secretly happy in his heart. It seemed that with Tuyuan's blessing, his status among this group of cultivators was also rising sharply.

Otherwise, with his status as a casual cultivator at the second level of Qi Refining, how could he be worthy of these cultivators' active interest?
It seems that I can be ranked among the top ten among the forty or fifty people here.

A moment later, with the arrival of the remaining few people, Lao He said that the neighborhood mutual aid association would start now.

Fang Jingxuan took out two bags of spiritual rice from his storage bag, opened them, and placed them in front of Tuoyuan. Tuoyuan was huddled in its thick shell, with only its head exposed, staring intently at everyone who passed by.

After a few moments, an older monk came up.

"Fellow Daoist, how much is the spiritual rice? Besides spiritual stones, do you accept other items?"

Fang Jingxuan looked at the man's starched white Taoist robe and it was obvious that he was not well off. Hongyefang had been closed for half a month, and the price of spiritual rice in the market had been rising. This man was probably about to run out of rice.

Not everyone has a sensitive sense of crisis, and not everyone can stockpile a lot of spiritual rice. If Fang Jingxuan hadn't been reminded by Wei Tong, he wouldn't have thought of buying so much spiritual rice to stockpile.

"The price before was one low-grade spirit stone for one dou of spirit rice, but now you know how can you find such cheap spirit rice? I saved all this with great difficulty. If you want it, I'll give you eight kilograms for one low-grade spirit stone."

One dou is 12.5 jin. Fang Jingxuan has raised the price by more than half. Don’t even mention that he is a rip-off. The rice shops in the market are even more rip-off. Now one low-grade spirit stone can only buy six jin.

Hearing the price Fang Jingxuan offered, the man looked a little sad. After thinking for a few breaths, he said:

"To be honest, I've already bought back all the spirit stones I had, but who knew the market would be shut down suddenly? Now, this is the most I have. I wonder if I can exchange it for a bushel of spirit rice from you?"

The man took out a dozen thin things that looked like animal skins from his arms and handed them to Fang Jingxuan for inspection.

Fang Jingxuan took one, unfolded it and looked at it carefully. It was as thin as paper and as soft as water, like animal skin treated with special drugs.

"These are talisman papers made from low-grade first-grade monster hides. They're commonly used by talisman makers. Normally, a dozen of them cost one low-grade spirit stone. How about I exchange a dozen and a half of these beast hide talisman papers for a bushel of spirit rice?"

It turned out to be animal skin talisman paper. I was wondering why it felt so familiar. I also have a few talismans in my storage bag, and the feel is very similar to this.

However, one finished talisman costs five low-grade spirit stones, and a dozen talisman papers are only worth one low-grade one. Obviously, the biggest profits in the talisman-making industry belong to the talisman makers.

Fang Jingxuan was willing to accept this kind of animal skin talisman paper. After all, once the blockade was lifted, the price of this talisman paper would stabilize, and the price of spiritual rice would also fall. By trading it back and forth, he could earn at least a dozen low-grade spiritual stones, which would make up for his losses in recent days.

"It's fine to exchange it, but why didn't you go to the market and sell the talisman paper to those shops before?"

"Hmph, those shops are all asking for high prices. They've pushed the prices too low, and I'm even going to lose money. Who wants that?"

So that's how it is. Fang Jingxuan remembered the appearance of the shops in the market town, nodded in agreement, weighed out a bucket of rice from the bag, and gave it to the man.

Looking at this person's happy expression, Fang Jingxuan felt more relieved in his heart. This was a good start.

As soon as this person left, someone else immediately took over:

"Brother Fang, I have some fragments of magical instruments. Would you like to see them?"

Fragments of magical instruments? !
Fang Jingxuan immediately became excited. This thing was a valuable item. Even if it was just a fragment, it was still worth a lot of money. If it was worth repairing, he would make a lot of money.

So Fang Jingxuan looked forward to it:
"That's great, take it out and have a look."

(End of this chapter)