Chapter 29

Suddenly, he saw two young tricksters. One appeared calm and composed, while the other looked boastful and slightly frowned as he pointed to the side, saying, “This place doesn’t seem suitable for sleeping, does it?”

Steward Liu thought to himself that these boys were certainly full of themselves, but he still smiled and said, “You both know where this is, so there are many inconveniences. Since you’re here to do business, the buyer needs to see some results. Can you two young masters understand?”

“Alright then.”

Yi Zui displayed an impatient expression, casually grabbed a pill from the table, tossed it into his mouth, and pressed a talisman onto his forehead. Instantly, he leaned back against the chair.

Steward Liu, who was certainly no ordinary person, could tell real sleep from fake sleep. Seeing Yi Zui’s steady breathing, he thought to himself that the talisman was indeed real. Did these two young tricksters believe that mixing truth with lies could easily fool the black market?

Observing the young boy’s demeanor while he slept, he seemed like a young master from a prominent family who had run away from home after being wronged. Perhaps he had stolen the pill and talisman, spent all his money, and was now here spouting nonsense, hoping for some luck?

Steward Liu was not the only one paying attention to this small, dark room.

After the talisman bearer took the tray out, it had to be presented to several elders of the black market. Borrowing the black market’s convenience also meant giving the black market some benefits. Everything that flowed through here had to first pass through the black market.

The black market would not undercut prices, but it would have a priority to buy.

So earlier, the elders had also seen the seemingly ordinary pill and talisman. Initially, they were indifferent, but the large quantities listed on the front and the names of the items on the back of the paper caught their attention.

Now, several pairs of eyes were watching with interest.

No one believed the claims were true, but some thought the pill seemed well-made, so they watched out of curiosity to see how these mischievous youngsters would handle the situation.

Inside the small, dark room, Steward Liu was still speculating dismissively when he suddenly noticed the boy’s breathing pause.

The boy seemed to enter a state of absolute tranquility. As he sat there, he naturally exuded a profound aura, like a natural vortex wanting to absorb all the spiritual energy of this world into his body!

The silk black curtain moved without wind, and Steward Liu’s eyes widened in disbelief as he watched the boy quickly enter a meditative state, rendering him speechless for a long time.

This… he really entered meditation?!

Wasn’t that a bit too easy?!

The elders in the back of the black market, who had been watching, suddenly stood up and exchanged glances, seeing shock in each other’s eyes.

…The boy’s meditation was definitely genuine!

In other words, the pill and talisman… were actually real?!

Yu Xizhi did not stand up. She still looked calm and composed, lowered her voice slightly, and smiled.

“Steward Liu, what do you think?”

Steward Liu licked his lips, a light gleaming in his narrow eyes. He wanted to immediately put a talisman on his own forehead and pop a pill into his mouth. Before he could respond, there were two knocks at the door.

The black curtain swayed slightly, and an elder with white hair and a long beard stepped in excitedly.

In the practice of cultivating immortality, hierarchy, cultivation level, and realm are emphasized, but age is never considered. Although the black market has powerful Nascent Soul cultivators in charge, the white-haired elder who walked in was only at the Foundation Establishment stage. Cultivators naturally live much longer than ordinary people, but this longevity is limited. For instance, entering the Qi Refining stage can extend life by several times, and with each subsequent stage like Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment, life expectancy increases correspondingly. The higher the cultivation, the more one’s lifespan aligns with the heavens and earth.

However, those whose cultivation stagnates will eventually reach the end of their lifespan as time passes.

This white-haired rogue cultivator had evidently lingered at the Foundation Establishment stage for so long that his hair had turned completely white.

He stared intently at the meditating Yi Zui, circling his chair a few times, fingers trembling slightly.

“He’s really entered meditation…?!”

After a moment of deep thought, he turned abruptly to Yu Xizhi, his eyes filled with a desperate, frenzied light and his voice hoarse.

“How many of these pills and talismans do you have? I’ll take them all!”

Steward Liu, finally recovering from his shock, quickly interjected, “Elder Chen, this… this isn’t according to the rules! Normally, we need to check if the market wants them first.”

Elder Chen ignored him, his eyes growing even more crazed as he fixed his gaze on Yu Xizhi.

“Whatever the market offers, I’ll pay double!”

He was nearing the end of his lifespan, with only about three years left. Despite having accumulated a considerable fortune over his life as a rogue cultivator, wealth was meaningless without the time to spend it. He felt he hadn’t lived long enough and wanted to extend his life further.

Yet despite all his efforts, he hadn’t even come close to breaking through his current stage, not even to a minor breakthrough.

The reason was simple: in his younger days, he had had a few fortuitous meditative breakthroughs, which had elevated his realm. But since then, he has never been able to meditate again!

Elder Chen had nearly given up hope, resigning himself to his fate. But unexpectedly, he now stumbles upon these miraculous pills!

“Steward Liu, Elder Chen,” Yu Xizhi calmly addressed them, as if Elder Chen’s intense gaze didn’t affect her. “There’s one thing I must clarify. While the talisman for inducing sleep is undoubtedly effective, the pill for meditative dreams is not guaranteed.”

“I’ve tested it many times and can only say it has about a thirty percent chance of inducing meditation. Originally, our deal was cash and carry. Given that we’ve demonstrated its effectiveness here, I could have mentioned this or not. However, in cultivation, we value fate. Since I am selling these pills, I must make it clear upfront that if they don’t work, it’s a matter of luck and not related to the quality of our pills.”

It was at this moment that Steward Liu’s expression truly changed.

From the start, he had recognized that the meditating little immortal was a cultivator of a higher realm than his own. However, he couldn’t ascertain the situation of the young woman, whom he could instantly tell was disguised as a man. Observing the young man’s respectful attitude towards her, he also addressed her as a young master.

But deep down, he had dismissed it as some noble lady taking her guard out to explore out of curiosity.

However, hearing Yu Xizhi now, he realized that the pills… were actually made by her!

While there was no shortage of alchemists in the world, most of those serving various sects merely followed established recipes to produce beneficial pills. The higher the level of the pill, the lower the success rate. Often, a furnace full of rare treasures could end up exploding and yielding nothing, flattening half a mountain in the process. Most spent their time trying to create ancient, rare pills, leaving little room for other pursuits.

At this moment, the girl before him had crafted pills he had never seen before!

Steward Liu’s expression became solemn, and his attitude shifted drastically from before. He respectfully bowed to Yu Xizhi, “Naturally. Young Master, please name your price.”

Yu Xizhi had no idea how much these pills were worth, but she had a plan for selling them: “These pills won’t be sold individually. They come in sets of ten, and the price won’t be set too high.”

Having managed the black market for a long time, Steward Liu immediately understood her intention.

The pills didn’t guarantee effectiveness every time. Taking one was akin to a lottery draw. A set of ten pills would be like ten consecutive draws. Those with good luck might hit the jackpot, while those less fortunate would feel compelled to try again.

This resembles gambling. The more one loses, the more determined they are to win. Such an effect could never be achieved with individual sales.

Steward Liu admired Yu Xizhi even more for her keen insight.

With such a rare and astonishing product, she could have easily auctioned them off individually for a quicker, more substantial profit.

But she had thought it through. While the price per set of ten pills would be lower, the addictive nature of trying one’s luck would drive repeated purchases. Addiction was the most powerful and profitable method!

This was the best strategy when dealing with a high volume of goods!

Impressed by her foresight, Steward Liu was about to say more when Yu Xizhi continued, “I want these pills to be sold exclusively by the black market. Most importantly, I want them sold only to rogue cultivators.”

Steward Liu was stunned.

Elder Chen, beside him, nearly burst into tears.

The life of a rogue cultivator was extraordinarily tough.

Aside from a few who naturally loved freedom, most rogue cultivators were too old to join sects and missed the prime age for developing their roots, thus being rejected by major sects. They were forced to scavenge the discarded scraps of sects, desperately extracting scant spiritual energy from the mortal world and fighting like lone wolves in secret realms, with survival rates as low as one in a hundred.

And now, someone was saying they would sell such wonderful pills only to rogue cultivators?

This person could be hailed as a beacon of hope for rogue cultivators!

Yu Xizhi, however, was unaware of Elder Chen’s emotional turmoil. She was merely concerned about her pill-making technique being recognized and the low or possibly high success rate attracting sects’ attention and leading to trouble.

This matter was significant, beyond Steward Liu’s authority. He was about to send a formal request to the chief steward when an excited voice transmitted directly into his mind: “Accept. Agree to all her conditions. Also, give her a black token as a sign of our sincerity!”

With newfound confidence, Steward Liu said, “I humbly suggest that since we are selling in this manner, we should price the pills at ten high-grade spirit stones per set, paired with the sleep talisman. We will handle all packaging and promotion, with profit-sharing as you specified. However, once a batch is sold out, we will take pre-orders. We request that you complete the batches on time and deliver them promptly. If you have other matters, please inform us in advance to prevent customer dissatisfaction.”

Yu Xizhi thought to herself that it was no wonder there was already a mature business model in place. With Steward Liu’s words, she found no issue. Seeing that Yi Zui was about to wake up soon, Yu Xizhi calculated the time and felt it was about right. So, she nodded decisively and tossed out a qiankun bag, saying, “There are a hundred pills and a hundred talismans in there. How you decide to inflate the price afterwards is none of my concern. I just hope no one knows the origin of these pills, and I require an advance payment.”

“Of course. Without such a reputation in the black market, it would likely have dried up long ago.” Steward Liu accepted the qiankun bag with both hands. “Please wait a moment, Young Masters.”

Since Yu Xizhi had made her conditions clear, Elder Chen naturally wouldn’t object. With the items already in the building, he followed closely, prepared to double the purchase.

Upon returning, Steward Liu had an additional qiankun bag in hand. “Ninety high-grade spirit stones in total. Please verify, Young Master. Additionally, there’s a deposit of thirty high-grade spirit stones for a batch of ninety pills, along with some voice transmission talismans. May I inquire about the delivery time?”

“Delivery time?” Yu Xizhi smiled knowingly.

“It depends on the production time of one of the ingredients. I don’t expect it to exceed two months.”

Steward Liu had no objections. Two months were much quicker than he had imagined. He then handed over a black token.

“This is the black token of the black market. With this token, Young Master can enjoy a ten percent discount when buying and can sell at a slightly higher price.”

As the young man on the side woke up from his meditation and sleep, stretching lazily and standing up, feeling refreshed but dissatisfied, “The spiritual energy here is too thin, isn’t it? I feel like I’m suffocating when meditating. Oh, isn’t this a black token?”

Yu Xizhi handed him the token casually and then turned her gaze back to Steward Liu.

Steward Liu thought he had said everything necessary and had given the black token. Did they need to sign or stamp it too? But the black market was precisely what it was because it left no evidence, and verbal agreements were never broken. Did this young master not know?

With this thought in mind, he tentatively asked, “Is there anything else, Young Master?”

Unexpectedly, Yu Xizhi said, “I just gave you the qiankun bag for storing the pills. Remember to return it when you’re done.”

Yi Zui was surprised.

“You need that too?”

Yu Xizhi was even more surprised, “A qiankun bag is worth ten spirit stones. Why wouldn’t I need it?”

The two looked at each other, and Steward Liu quickly fetched the qiankun bag and returned. He then remembered another question: “In the future, if we need your assistance, may I ask for the name of this esteemed Young Master?”

Yu Xizhi hadn’t expected this question. She knew that selling pills privately would result in punishment from her sect. While she could accept money, she couldn’t bear this responsibility alone. So she cleared her throat and said earnestly, “The name is Xia.”

——Xia Yiyao’s Xia.

In the wind and snow, two figures steadily moved away. Steward Liu watched their departing figures, feeling complex emotions.

The young man’s dissatisfaction with the thin spiritual energy here indicated he was used to places with abundant spiritual energy and was likely a disciple of a major sect. Yet he showed respect and seriousness towards the young girl, indicating her higher status.

So… which prominent sect’s direct female disciple has the surname Xia?

Steward Liu’s thoughts raced as he felt the need to investigate.

After all, the black market not only traded goods but also sold information.