Cultivation begins with harvest.

At Cangshi Fanglin Hall, the shopkeeper across from them carefully tasted a sip of the chilled shrimp oil, savored it for a moment, and then revealed a hint of surprise.

"Ice Mouth Shrimp Oil?" The shopkeeper savored the Ice Mouth Shrimp Oil with lingering relish. He was merely sent by the Cang Clan to help with tasks, and this year he would be completing his term and returning to his clan. He was only at the second level of Qi Refining. Yet, this sip of Ice Mouth Shrimp Oil would allow him to cultivate faster in the future, making his meridians stronger and wider, and naturally improving his cultivation efficiency.

Working in Xingfeng Market can broaden one's horizons, but the main focus is on doing practical work, with few opportunities for cultivation. As one approaches the age limit, one naturally becomes very sensitive to such spiritual objects.

"Currently, for the most common spiritual items that can broaden and nourish the meridians, based on the Meridian Protection Pill, Fang Lintang can offer 1,200 yuan per liter. If the quantity is large, we can continue to negotiate." Although the shopkeeper's cultivation level is not high, his knowledge and judgment may be better than Chen Guang's. This is what they do, so he quoted a price right away.

Chen Guang laughed and said, "The Meridian Protection Pill only has a nourishing effect, but it does not have the effect of widening or warming the meridians. Judging the value of my shrimp oil by the Meridian Protection Pill is underestimating my shrimp oil."

The shopkeeper nodded. If this were a market for casual cultivators, he would definitely try to rip them off. If the other party didn't know the value of the goods, he would make a killing. But the market for offerings was different. He just planned to use this as an excuse to lower the price first, and then raise it later. The other party would definitely be grateful. Wouldn't that be like binding a customer?

But if the other party knows its value, then you can only be direct.

In Xingfeng Market, you can't do business that's too unscrupulous. Everyone else is from the same sect, while the shop owners are outsiders. Even if fellow disciples undercut each other and one side suffers a big loss, it's just a personal grudge. If they're too greedy, and you spread the word, your shop might be boycotted, and it will be hard to continue doing business.

The profits in the Xingfeng Market are meager but stable, and the chances of getting good things are much greater than in the Sanxiu Market. He cannot make such a mistake.

"It was my oversight. How about 2,200 ears of rice per liter? For every additional liter sold, we can add 100 ears of rice per liter, up to 2,600 ears of rice. What do you think?" The shopkeeper, after a moment's thought, directly stated his bottom line.

"No rush," Chen Guang said with a smile. "What if I were willing to provide the formula? Would your esteemed establishment be willing to accept it?"

The shopkeeper was startled and couldn't help but glance at Chen Guang. He said politely, "Then we'll have to rely on our shopkeeper. Please wait a moment, sir, I'll go and fetch him right away."

Chen Guang picked up his teacup, indicating that he wasn't in a hurry, and only then did he hurriedly go downstairs to invite the shopkeeper.

While the title of "shopkeeper" implies a degree of autonomy, it is ultimately a polite way of referring to the monks' service staff. For larger businesses, the actual shopkeeper is still in charge.

"Da da da"

Light footsteps approached, and the door was pushed open by a slender, white hand. A young woman wearing a long dress that transitioned from blue to white walked in. The dress was made of solid material but had no extra embellishments, just like her overall attire, which was clean and neat without any complicated decorations.

Her movements were as graceful as a canary's, her eyes were bright and clear, and although she wasn't particularly beautiful, she gave off a friendly vibe, like the girl next door.

"My name is Cang Yunxian, the second manager of Fanglin Hall. I apologize for keeping you waiting, sir." Cang Yunxian's voice was clear and crisp. She bowed to Chen Guang before slowly sitting down opposite him.

"Let's try it first and then talk about it." Chen Guang took out another jade bottle containing just enough iced shrimp oil to taste its effects.

Cang Yunxian nodded, gently picked up the jade bottle, examined it for a few moments, then used her magic to wrap the shrimp oil and put it into her mouth.

As Cang Yunxian savored the icy shrimp oil, Chen Guang sensed a slight surge of magical power, indicating that she had used some kind of trick.

This was expected.

Cang Yunxian should possess the ability to appraise treasures.

Although the art of appraising treasures has not yet formed a systematic approach, it has already reached a certain scale. The ability to perceive various spiritual objects with greater sensitivity and subtlety is a manifestation of this skill. It is perfectly normal for a business to open a shop and cultivate a few cultivators with the ability to appraise treasures.

"Indeed, the effect is quite obvious. Because it's a gourmet recipe, the absorption is also very good. However, it only uses five raw materials, and the process isn't very complicated, so it's not difficult to crack. Therefore, we can't use the market's 'hundred times' standard. We are willing to offer 80,000 silver dollars to buy this recipe. If you want to sell it to other shops, we can only offer a maximum of 30,000 silver dollars." Cang Yunxian revealed some details about the Ice Mouth Shrimp Oil, and thus began to exert pressure.

Chen Guang frowned; this price was significantly lower than he had expected.

A hundredfold increase is an unspoken rule in the market. Selling a formula starts at a price a hundred times higher than the finished product. If there is no finished product, then the discussion is based on similar spiritual items.

But Cang Yunxian has already made it very clear that it is easy to crack, which means that it is impossible to sell an exclusive product; it is easy to crack, which means that buying the formula now is just because they are optimistic about the prospects of shrimp oil, saving them the trouble of scrutinizing the details and gaining an advantage, and therefore they cannot follow the 100x standard.

Fang Lintang's offer was approximately forty times higher.

"I'll consider it a little more," Chen Guang said, letting out a long sigh.

Cang Yunxian smiled and said, "Please feel free, sir. Fanglin Hall is always at your service."

Chen Guang naturally wanted to compare prices from different vendors; this was obvious to anyone with eyes to see.

However, after a little over half an hour, Chen Guang returned to the Cang Clan's Fanglin Hall and looked for several shops. The prices were all similar, with the most expensive being the Dongfang Clan's Chaxi Pavilion, which only offered him 70,000.

It seems that everyone agrees that the recipe for iced shrimp oil is worth the price.

Cang Yunxian welcomed Chen Guang into the private room on the second floor and explained, "Everyone here is in business. If this recipe wasn't easier to absorb, it probably wouldn't be popular. There are many alternatives for this type of spiritual item, such as pills or elixirs. It's just to provide cultivators with another option."

"To promote the sales of shrimp oil, we need to reduce the losses of other products that expand our business channels. Compared to newly emerging shrimp oil, our existing system is more mature and will not be easily changed. If customers still have doubts, they can purchase shrimp oil at the market themselves."

"It's still not a complete monopoly."

Chen Guang realized he had oversimplified the matter. New things might appear in the market every year, but they would disappear within two months. What truly remained were those that had been recognized and selected by generations of cultivators. Clearly, the Ice Mouth Shrimp Oil could not achieve the meteoric rise he had imagined and bring him a huge fortune.

As for selling frozen shrimp oil himself, he could only make a small profit.

These shops only need to obtain some shrimp oil, replicate it, and place it in their own shops to easily suppress Chen Guang's sales channels. This is fair competition and does not violate the sect's rules. Although Chen Guang can use his low cost to fight back, that's just how the commercial prospects of Bingkou shrimp oil are. The formula is simple and has no barriers. As long as Chen Guang dares to sell it, they will have a way to crack the formula.

Cracking a secret recipe is never a sin in the cultivation world; rather, it's a skill.

"Shopkeeper, there's no need to explain. I understand. Let's go with your price." Chen Guang also came to terms with reality. Eighty thousand Sui Yuan was lower than expected, but it was still a substantial sum of money.

Cang Yunxian acted quickly, bringing out the spirit contract to ensure that Chen Guang would only provide the formula to Fang Lintang.

Chen Guang didn't ask why. Using the same approach he had taken in his previous life, Fang Lintang became the first shop to sell iced shrimp oil. Even if others later cracked and copied it, the first shop's brand would give people a more authentic and reliable feeling. It would take time for others to crack and copy it, and that time would be enough for Fang Lintang to establish its brand.

The iced shrimp oil wasn't that important, but some of the cultivators it attracted might become regulars at Fanglin Hall.

After completing the transaction, Cang Yunxian readily extended the timeframe for Chen Guangyou's 20% discount purchase of Fang Lin to half a month.

However, before reaching the fourth level of Qi Refining, Chen Guang had no intention of leaving the Qingheng Sect, and he didn't know when he would be able to use this extra gift.