Chapter 24: The Shop's Business Gradually Booms

Song Cai arrived at the Pill Extremes Peak and found Zhou Wuyou through the paper crane. "I'm Song Cai, Senior Brother Su's newly recruited assistant. Greetings, Senior Brother Zhou!" Song Cai said with a cheerful smile. Zhou Wuyou waved his hand. "I'm Zhou Wuyou. No need to call me senior brother." "Haha, you're too modest, senior brother. I've only just arrived at the peak a few days ago and there's much I don't understand. I hope Senior Brother Zhou won't hesitate to teach me in the future," Song Cai said. "We're all working for Senior Brother Su. No need to be so polite!" Zhou Wuyou replied with a smile. Song Cai then asked curiously, "By the way, Brother Zhou, what exactly does Senior Brother Su sell?" Zhou Wuyou explained, "Oh, it's just that Zhang Wei and I made some pills and magical artifacts that were hard to sell. Senior Brother Su happened to have a shop, so he let us sell them there. Also, some of the newcomers we know have finished products, so we're helping them sell those in the shop too." Song Cai stroked his chin. "I didn't hear Senior Brother mention anything about consignment fees." "Senior Brother said no consignment fees are needed," Zhou Wuyou said. Song Cai looked surprised. "No consignment fees? What does that mean?" He fell into deep thought. "What's there to think about? Senior Brother said the shop only has a two-month lease. After that, it'll be gone anyway. It's better than leaving it empty," Zhou Wuyou said casually without much thought. Hearing this, Song Cai shook his head. "No one ever thinks they have enough spirit stones. Although Senior Brother didn't say it outright, I believe there must be deeper meaning behind this!" "Hmm?" Zhou Wuyou was startled. He also began pondering but couldn't figure out the reason. After all, this matter had been proposed by him and Zhang Wei in the first place—it was just a coincidence. "Is it possible that Senior Brother Su wants to run the shop business, using these cheap artifacts from fellow disciples to warm up the market? If it shows promise after two months, he'll continue. If not, he'll just stop naturally! Otherwise, why would he rent a shop just to do useless work? Low-grade items don't make much profit, but high-grade ones have huge margins!" Song Cai said with wise eyes. Zhou Wuyou suddenly understood. "So that's how it is. It seems I was too shallow in my thinking." "And actually, there's another purpose—to cultivate reputation!" Song Cai continued. "By providing convenience to fellow disciples, they'll feel grateful to Senior Brother Su, gradually gathering prestige. Maybe Senior Brother's goal is to become the top inner sect disciple! What he's doing now is just laying the groundwork in advance!" Zhou Wuyou widened his eyes, looking at Song Cai as if he were a genius. "Where are you from, junior brother?" "Hehe, the Song Family of Haoyue City!" "Could it be the merchant-path golden core Song clan?" "Exactly." Zhou Wuyou showed an expression of sudden understanding—no wonder this guy's mind was so sharp, truly worthy of being from a family famous for commerce. Song Cai added, "Brother Zhou, it would be best if you could mobilize your connections to let more disciples know you're working for Senior Brother Su and providing consignment assistance. We can't have zero consignment fees—that would make people suspicious. Just say we're only charging one percent, and the more the better. Leave the selling to me!" "One percent? Just one percent? That's too low. How about five percent?" Zhou Wuyou asked. "Hehe, Senior Brother Su isn't doing this for money!" Song Cai said. "True!" Zhou Wuyou nodded. "I'll go mobilize my connections now. To be honest, after a year as a laborer, I know too many alchemists! Although they're all low-level. I also have some subordinates who can help register consignment information and verify spirit stones. What about Zhang Wei's side..." "I've sent my brother there. I'll just need to inform him!" Song Cai took out a paper crane, spoke a few words into it, and the crane flew away on its own. Soon, both Zhou Wuyou and Zhang Wei became busy. Meanwhile, Song Cai and Song Qian went to the market area, mobilizing some of the Song family's personnel there. Although most were ordinary people, it was enough to establish the shop's initial reputation. Song Cai even specially consulted with his family elders, receiving their approval and praise, encouraging him to work hard, saying that a young inner sect disciple must have superior spiritual roots, especially from the Mysterious Extremes Peak, and that following him would lead to boundless prospects, etc. By the very next day. Inside the [Su Yuan's Forging] shop, various magical artifacts, pills, and even some talismans had been rearranged. These items were clearly low-grade, and their prices didn't seem high either. Song Cai and Song Qian were busy organizing, arranging, and setting prices in the shop, with several ordinary helpers assisting—the place was bustling with activity. About a hundred meters outside the shop, a short fellow was speaking to a young cultivator: "Immortal Master, the shop ahead is the one I told you about—the best quality, cheapest and most affordable in the Seven Extremes Market! I've lived in this market since childhood and know everything about it!" "Really? Don't try to trick me—I don't have many spirit stones!" The young man said, tightening his belt. "Immortal Master, I'm just a lowly ordinary person—how would I dare deceive you? I value my life! I definitely wouldn't lie! But it's best if you don't tell others about me. I'm afraid if other shop owners find out I told you this, they might do something to me." The short fellow shrunk his neck, cautiously looking around as if afraid someone might be watching. "Alright, take me to see first." Soon, the young man was led by the short fellow to the front of [Su Yuan's Forging]. Seeing such a large shop, the young man began to have second thoughts—the shop wasn't small, and rent in the market area wasn't cheap. Although the location was somewhat remote, the items sold here must be more expensive than street stalls. When he turned around, the short fellow had already disappeared. "Customer, what would you like to buy?" A helper quickly came out, smiling. "We sell low-grade magical artifacts, pills, and talismans here. Although they're low-grade, they're all made by Seven Extremes Sect disciples—the quality is superb, but the prices are cheap! For example, this Swift Movement Talisman—a low-grade talisman—costs one spirit stone elsewhere, but we only charge 98 fragment spirit stones here!" The helper spoke rapidly, finishing his pitch in moments. The young man looked surprised. "So cheap?" Actually, Swift Movement Talismans typically cost 103 fragment spirit stones among rogue cultivators—here it was five fragment stones cheaper! "If it's so cheap, isn't it defective?" The young man doubted. The helper pointed to some words on the wall. "This shop is opened by an inner sect disciple of the Seven Extremes Sect. If we sell defective goods and ruin our reputation, the inner sect disciple behind us would face punishment from the sect. Compared to that, why would we cheat you out of a few fragment spirit stones?" The helper said. The rogue cultivator carefully examined the words at the entrance. He knew that claims like "opened by an inner sect disciple" in market shops had real validity—otherwise, the market managers would have shut down the shop immediately! This made the rogue cultivator tempted. "Can I go in and look?" "Of course! Please follow me—let me show you around!" The helper led the young man to the pill section, where many shelves displayed bottles of pills. To the young man's surprise, beside each pill was an introduction—not just about the pill's effects, but also a brief introduction to the alchemist who made it, stating which Seven Extremes Sect alchemist produced the pill! For the same type of pill, the price actually varied depending on which alchemist made it? "Ahem, Immortal Master, all the pills here are made by Seven Extremes Sect disciples. The prices fluctuate slightly based on quality, but the effects are similar. You can buy according to your needs—absolutely worth the price!" The helper quickly added. The more the rogue cultivator looked, the more tempted he became. Sect alchemists were much better than those unaffiliated ones outside. Although he could tell these were novice works, they were definitely better than outside alchemists—at least he wouldn't end up with poisonous, evil, or defective pills! And the prices were truly affordable—some were slightly higher than street stalls, but some were even cheaper! Feeling the seven spirit stones and 238 fragment spirit stones in his pocket, the rogue cultivator began selecting what he needed. A while later. The young man left with only one fragment spirit stone remaining for emergencies—the rest had been exchanged for two pills and one talisman! He left happily. In the shop's backyard, a helper handed two fragment spirit stones to the short fellow. "Good job. Keep bringing people!" "Will do, boss!" Song Cai, sitting behind the counter, observed the helper's sales process and nodded in satisfaction. It seemed the sales techniques he'd taught overnight were effective. From the beginning, he'd targeted cash-strapped low-level rogue cultivators, which was why he'd sent people to scout for them near the stall areas and market entrance. These people might seem insignificant, but rogue cultivators loved to stick together and spread word of mouth—with that, the shop wouldn't lack customers. Sure enough, as he predicted. In the morning, only a few scattered rogue cultivators were brought in. By afternoon, the number had reached over a dozen! Many pills and talismans were sold, and even a low-grade magical artifact was sold at the "high price" of 20 spirit stones! By the second day of operation. The number of rogue cultivators visiting surged to over a hundred! Some of them were repeat customers from the previous day! Clearly, they had tried the shop's products and were satisfied with the value! By evening. Song Cai and Song Qian did the accounts together, both looking surprised. "Brother, sales have reached 1,358 spirit stones! Over half our stock is gone!" Song Qian said in astonishment. "Hehe, perfectly normal!" Song Cai laughed. "Rogue cultivators are poor, but not stupid. When they see a good deal, won't they spend? Remember, we're only charging a one percent commission. After all this work, we've only made 13 spirit stones—it's practically charity!" "Brother, what do you think Senior Brother Su really intends? At first, he didn't even want the one percent! If it's just wasted effort, why are we working so hard?" Song Cai's eyes gleamed. "You don't understand. Others who become top inner sect disciples do so through high cultivation, powerful techniques, or strong backgrounds—but none have used methods like this. This merchant-like approach is a bottom-up strategy, quietly influencing low-level disciples. When these low-level disciples advance to become outer and inner sect disciples, Senior Brother Su will only need to raise his arm to become the top disciple, wouldn't he...?" "Haha, when others later uncover Senior Brother Su's rise, our merchant family's status will rise too!" Song Cai laughed, patting Song Qian's shoulder. "Understand now?"