A Shopping Spree
Just as he was about to leave, Accountant Wu suddenly called out to him, "Young Master Shen, please wait."
Shen Jingchuan turned around. "Mr. Wu, is there anything else?"
"That's right," Accountant Wu said with a smile, "There's a small auction in our market the day after tomorrow. I wonder if Young Master Shen would be interested?"
Shen Jingchuan's eyes lit up—he was extremely interested. He had been worried about where to find good things.
"Oh? Really? That's great, I've been wanting to broaden my horizons."
Accountant Wu took out a gold-embossed invitation from his sleeve and handed it over with both hands:
"Steward Wang specifically instructed me to ask you about this. He said if you're interested, this invitation is for you. It's a VIP invitation specially prepared for you; you'll need it for entry, and a seat has been reserved for you."
Shen Jingchuan accepted the invitation; the gold lettering gleamed in the sunlight.
"Thank you so much, Steward Wang! I'll definitely go the day after tomorrow to broaden my horizons."
"Young Master Shen, you're too kind." Accountant Wu returned the courtesy with a smile, "Then I won't see you off. See you at the auction the day after tomorrow."
See you the day after tomorrow.
Shen Jingchuan carefully tucked the invitation into his pocket, left the hall of affairs, and instead of returning directly to the inn, Shen Jingchuan strolled around the market.
He had already stored all the supplies from the Storage Rings of the three robbers from the last time into his Heaven and Earth Ring and upgraded them.
The quality of the upgraded items changed so much that no one would recognize them, so he wasn't worried at all. He found several shops and sold them off in batches.
They didn't even keep the flying swords and other magical Law Artifacts inside; they sold them all after leveling up, and in total, they got back more than two thousand Spirit Stones.
He went into the talisman shop he came across and spent more than two thousand Spirit Stones to buy more than one hundred talismans, all of which were of medium quality and cost about twenty Spirit Stones each. They included defensive, offensive, and supportive talismans.
He originally wanted to buy more high-grade ones, but unfortunately, the Spirit Creek Market was too low-level. After wandering around for a long time, he only managed to buy one high-grade Purple Lightning Talisman —a lightning-type offensive talisman. Once activated, it could summon a bolt of purple lightning to strike people, with power comparable to a full-force Late Qi Refining cultivator.
Shen Jingchuan went from shop to shop, buying and selling as he went. He bought quite a few pills, a few from each shop, for a total of twenty Mid-Grade Qi Gathering Pills. He also bought two mid-grade Mid-Grade Qi Condensing Pills from two slightly larger pill shops and three from each shop, for a total of five pills.
Finally, Shen Jingchuan circled around two more streets to make sure no one was following him before returning to the inn.
He returned to his room and put all the pills and talismans into his Chaos Heaven and Earth Ring. With a thought, the Ring began to operate, and the quality of the pills slowly increased.
He thought for a moment, then counted out two thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones from his Storage Ring and threw them in as well.
Upgrading a pill requires energy, and he didn't know how much energy twenty-five pills would require, but feeding more was better than not having enough.
Moreover, Xian'er said that if this Ring absorbs a large number of Spirit Stones, it can unlock new functions.
He was quite looking forward to it, so whenever he had extra Spirit Stones, he would stuff them into the Ring so that Xian'er and the Heaven and Earth Ring could absorb them.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
"Young Master Shen, you're back?" It was Xiaohuan's voice.
Shen Jingchuan got up and went to open the door. Xiaohuan was standing at the door. Seeing him open the door, she quickly said:
"We know you're back. My young lady wants you to come over."
"Okay, I'll be right there." Shen Jingchuan closed the door behind him and followed Xiaohuan toward Xiao Mingshu's room.
He pushed open the door, Xiao Mingshu was sitting at the table. Seeing him come in, she smiled and looked up:
"Hey little brat, are you done with your business?"
"It's done." Shen Jingchuan sat down opposite her. "The contracts are all signed. Steward Wang said they'll start arranging the shop and renovations in the next couple of days."
"Why did you take so long?" Xiao Mingshu glanced at him.
"Hey, after signing the contract, I chatted with Accountant Wu for a bit, and then wandered around a bit on my way out," Shen Jingchuan smiled.
Xiao Mingshu's eyes lit up, and she leaned forward:
"Oh? Did you find any good treasures while browsing?"
Shen Jingchuan thought for a moment and nodded, "I did manage to find some things."
"Let me see it!" Xiao Mingshu became interested.
Shen Jingchuan, without batting an eye, fabricated a lie. "I haven't gotten the things back yet. Let's do it tomorrow. I'll show them to you tomorrow."
"Really?"
Xiao Mingshu was a little disappointed, but she didn't ask any further questions.
"Okay. I was originally planning to leave tomorrow."
"Oh? So eager?" Shen Jingchuan was taken aback.
Xiao Mingshu: "Yes, we've sold everything we needed, like the watches and makeup mirrors. The restaurant is still under renovation, so there's no point in us waiting here. We should go back first and come back when the renovations are almost finished."
Shen Jingchuan nodded:
"Actually, I also wanted to go back as soon as possible. But..."
He took the gold-embossed invitation from his pocket and placed it on the table:
"There's a small auction in our market the day after tomorrow. Steward Wang specially had Accountant Wu give me this VIP invitation. I was thinking, let's go and see, what if there's something good? We've made so much money, we should turn it into cultivation resources, otherwise what's the use of carrying around a bunch of Spirit Stones?"
Xiao Mingshu picked up the invitation and flipped through it; her eyes lit up.
"An auction? That's great! I've been wanting to see some excitement too. Okay, let's stay a couple of days."
After a night of cultivation, Shen Jingchuan got up early the next morning.
He first circulated the "Heavenly Eye Peering into Truth Instruction" in the room, raising his aura to about the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.
He carefully applied makeup in front of the mirror—put on a fake beard, applied a layer of yellow powder to his face, and changed into an inconspicuous gray cloth robe. He looked ten years older, so much so that even his own mother wouldn't recognize him.
After tidying up, he took out the items he had upgraded yesterday from his Heaven and Earth Ring and checked them.
The Ring can only be upgraded by one level. He bought all mid-grade items yesterday, so these twenty-five pills and more than one hundred talismans were all upgraded to high-grade without any doubt.
That top-grade Purple Lightning Talisman was upgraded to the highest grade, and he kept it for himself, intending to use it as a trump card.
The rest can all be sold.
Shen Jingchuan sorted the items, put them in his pocket, checked his makeup again, and then pushed open the door to leave the inn.
He circled around most of the market, selling a few pills and a few talismans from each shop separately.
They bought and sold simultaneously, selling talismans to buy elixirs, and selling elixirs to buy talismans.
With a single resale, the profit is at least several times the initial investment. Buying mid-grade pills and selling high-grade ones yields four or five times the profit, while talismans increase even more.
After making his rounds, Shen Jingchuan sold all his goods and then bought over a hundred Mid-Grade Qi Gathering Pills, fifteen Mid-Grade Qi Condensing Pills, twenty Mid-Grade Mind-Calming Pills, and over twenty various mid-grade talismans. He was really going all out.
These things should last him for a while.
He still had over 12,000 Spirit Stones in his Storage Ring, which was a huge profit. To be honest, he was a little scared to hold that much money.