Cultivating Immortality: Starting from Ferrying Passengers

Chapter 135 Negotiation Calculation
"Guest, may I ask you a question? Where did you obtain this item?"

Fang Jingxuan calmly observed the other person, and only when the person in front of him began to show some anxiety did he slowly and deliberately say:

"I don't recall your Grand Merchant Guild having a rule about asking customers about the origin of their goods."

At this moment, the master appraiser's face completely lost its arrogance, and he immediately explained:
"The customer has misunderstood. We do not have such a rule. However, the sealing technique used on your item is the style of our Datongxing Trading Company. It is not usually circulated and is considered an internal secret. Now that it has appeared in the customer's hands, since our store is going to accept it, we still have to ask a few questions."

Fang Jingxuan understood that he had previously speculated about this situation. Every major merchant house had various marking methods, and major merchants could easily recognize items with keys as their own.

Fang Jingxuan had considered the choice of Datongxing Trading Company for a long time. In fact, he could have easily chosen any trading company to sell to, but the price would have been too low.

Without the corresponding key, the contents cannot be retrieved, and therefore cannot be sold for a good price.

If I could find a way to retrieve the [Golden Disc and Jade Bone Plate] from inside, why would I sell it? I could just keep it for myself.

Because he couldn't open it himself, other businesses couldn't sell it for a good price, so Fang Jingxuan decided to return it to its rightful owner.

Datonghang Trading Company has a good reputation and is quite large in scale. Its influence spans Baishan, Nanhai, and the surrounding areas of Qiyun. It is a legitimate trading company.

The larger the business, the more it values ​​its reputation. It's not reasonable to arrest Fang Jingxuan and torture him just because he produced one of their lost items.

If Datonghang Trading Company had always operated this way, their business wouldn't have lasted this long.

"I found this item in the storage bag of a cultivator after I killed him. That's all I can say about it. I don't know if you'll accept it or not. If you don't, I'll ask other merchants. I think Guanghui Pavilion and Wanbao Pavilion should be quite interested in it."

Fang Jingxuan made a move to stand up, but the master appraiser opposite him quickly stopped him:

"Please don't worry, guest. We will definitely accept it. However, we don't have the means to open the sealed items here. We will need to ask someone from Baishan to come over."

"Perhaps I should send a message first, asking the guest to wait here for a few days. Rest assured, our Datong Trading Company will cover all expenses for food and lodging during this time."

In response, Fang Jingxuan reached out, gently took the sphere, and placed it into his storage bag, then slowly said:

"Then hurry up, I have other things to do and can't stay here too long. After five days, I won't sell anymore."

After saying that, Fang Jingxuan took the 3,200 low-grade spirit stones he had just received and went straight out the door. After a few turns, he disappeared into the crowd.

After Fang Jingxuan left, the master appraiser immediately reported the matter to the shopkeeper of the local business.

The shopkeeper here was a middle-aged male cultivator at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. After hearing about this, he pondered and said:

"The cipher on that Taixu Sphere shows it's the mark of Baishan, right? I remember that two years ago, Shen Yuwan, the newly appointed deputy manager of the Lianshui City branch of the Shen family, also lost a Taixu Sphere during a transport mission."

She had just been transferred there when this blunder occurred. In order to minimize the impact, she used her connections with the Shen family to handle the matter discreetly, and thus the matter was left unresolved.

"I didn't expect that this matter would make progress in just two years. Good. Go use the communication array to send a message to the Baishan Lianshui City branch, and have Shen Yuwan come to handle it personally."

After listening, the master appraiser smiled and said, "Then congratulations in advance to you, Manager. With this matter, Shen Yuwan will definitely owe you a favor. Although the Shen family has been declining for the past hundred years, it was still one of the five founding families of the business. With her favor, it will be of great use at a critical moment."

These words pleased the shopkeeper, but he still replied sternly:

"It's all for the future of the business, right? Actually, this Guixu branch is quite good. Whether I get promoted or transferred depends on the opinion of the Qiyun headquarters."

"Then what should we do with this cultivator who has the Void Orb? Should we send someone to keep an eye on him to prevent him from ruining your plans?"

"No, I can't give people a reason to criticize me. There are too many spies watching me. I don't need to worry about them. This is a mess at the Baishan Lianshui City branch. We can only lend a hand, but we can't take on too much responsibility. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, who will be responsible?"
Shen Yuwan's favor isn't worth my effort; it would be more appropriate if it were her older brother. Anyway, we've delivered the message, so she has to accept the favor. Doing ten more things wouldn't increase her gratitude. That's it."

Back at the inn, Fang Jingxuan breathed a slight sigh of relief after confirming that no cultivators were following him.

Just as I expected, Datong Trading Company did not choose any extreme measures.

Of course, this is also due to the deep-rooted influence of a reputation built up over thousands of years. If it were any other merchant guild, Fang Jingxuan would not have acted so aggressively.

He wouldn't even consider putting it up for trade.

Fang Jingxuan discovered that the largest trading companies in the cultivation world all originated from Qiyun. Their headquarters were in Qiyun, and their branches were spread throughout the entire cultivation world.

Other regions do not have trading companies of this scale, which shows that the culture of Qiyun can indeed cultivate trading companies of this style.

As for Baishan, Yushoumen, various Confucian sects, Nanlin Temple, Kurong Temple, and other major sword sects, none of them would have such a business philosophy.

Ignoring these distracting thoughts, Fang Jingxuan continued to deduce the impact of this matter. The item in his hand should be very important to Shen Yuwan; it was evidence of her mistake at work.

If this were in Baishan, Fang Jingxuan wouldn't dare to do this, as it's Shen Yuwan's territory. But in the South China Sea, it involves another branch of Datongxing. If Shen Yuwan intends to kill someone to silence them, she would first have to pay the price to silence the Guixu branch.

This made things complicated, so Fang Jingxuan guessed that Shen Yuwan would avoid making a fuss and try her best to smooth things over.

So what price would Shen Yuwan be willing to pay for this?

Five days passed quickly. On this day, Fang Jingxuan disguised himself again and came to the Datonghang Trading Company.

This time, however, he was invited up to the second floor as soon as he explained his purpose, an area that only Foundation Establishment cultivators could set foot in.

In a private room, a maid led Fang Jingxuan inside. Fang Jingxuan casually glanced around and found that the room was decorated with great taste.

The floor is covered with a beautiful carpet, some of the decorations are exquisite and elegant, and several ink wash landscape paintings hang on the walls.

After Fang Jingxuan sat down, only a few breaths later, a beautiful figure walked out from the inner room in the side hall.

This woman wore a light purple dress, the hem revealing a section of her fair calves. Her hair was styled in a cloud-like bun, and she had a full figure and delicate features. Upon seeing Fang Jingxuan, she parted her lips slightly and uttered a few gentle words:
"My name is Shen Yuwan, and I am currently the manager of the Datongxing branch in Baishan Lianshui City. I apologize for keeping Fellow Daoist Chen waiting."

(End of this chapter)