Murder and Treasure Seizure-Was It Finally My Turn?

Repeat customers had always been clients Luo Chen valued highly!

He had also always tried his best to cultivate repeat customers of his own, rather than mooching customer sources from Old Taoist Chen every time.

But Grain Avoidance Pills were common goods. Even though he had refined mid-grade ones before, they could not build much of a repeat customer base, and his output was limited as well.

All Wonders Pills, however, gave him an opportunity.

After casually chatting for a few words, Luo Chen arranged all the pills.

Old Taoist Chen took another look this time. The quantity was clear at a glance, and he secretly thought that Luo Chen's Pill Refining skills had indeed made a breakthrough.

With each of these recent stalls, the quantity he brought out had been increasing.

Of course, his "Spirit Stone loan" had surely contributed to that as well.

As the sun rose, more and more cultivators came to the market. Luo Chen and Old Taoist Chen began making sales one after another.

"Little Luo Fellow Daoist, what a coincidence!"

"Yeah, what a coincidence!"

Luo Chen warmly greeted Zeng Wen, pointing at the bottles and jars before him. "Getting some?"

"Getting some!"

Zeng Wen picked up five bottles of Grain Avoidance Pills and played with them in his hand. "Your skills really are excellent. I tried your Grain Avoidance Pills last time, and they were actually top-grade. They were far better than everyone else's."

"As long as they fill your stomach. Thank you for the praise, Fellow Daoist."

"Throw in two bottles of All Wonders Pills while you're at it!"

"Mm."

With perfect mutual understanding, Luo Chen stuffed two bottles of All Wonders Pills from the stall into Zeng Wen's hands. The two exchanged smiles; everything went without saying.

The cultivator selecting talismans beside them seemed to know Zeng Wen.

"Brother Zeng, that Spotted Tiger Butcher Li slaughtered at his home yesterday was your trophy, wasn't it? You truly reaped a bountiful harvest on this trip into the mountains!"

"Ah, demonic tigers plague the world. I merely acted on Heaven's behalf. Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning."

"Aren't you being too modest? What are you buying?"

Zeng Wen quietly tucked the All Wonders Pills into his Storage Bag, holding only the bottles of Grain Avoidance Pills.

"Buying some Grain Avoidance Pills to stockpile. They'll make things more convenient next time I enter the mountains. Brother Duan, no more chatting—I have something urgent to do, so I'll be leaving first."

Zeng Wen hurried away.

The cultivator Zeng Wen had called Brother Duan looked somewhat puzzled.

Then he saw Luo Chen take two exquisite jade bottles from the bag beneath the stall and set them out.

It seemed that Zeng Wen had bought those things just now too?

"What kind of pills are those?"

Luo Chen's eyes lit up. "All Wonders Pills. Interested in hearing about them, Fellow Daoist?"

Customers came and went, but the conversations were all much the same.

They asked for sky-high prices while the buyers haggled from the ground up.

I boasted about how good my goods were, while they picked them apart and found a whole heap of flaws.

Then, once they settled on a price both sides could accept, the deal was done.

Unlike those aloof rogue cultivators who simply sat in meditation once they set up their stalls, the Azure Stone stall was far livelier. Both the old man and the young man had thick enough skins and sharp enough tongues.

Whenever Luo Chen had time, he would also help Old Taoist Chen boast a little and sell a few talismans.

Perhaps because it was market day, Luo Chen's own pill business went very smoothly.

By noon, he had sold nearly everything.

All thirty bottles of Grain Avoidance Pills were sold, bringing in six Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

All twenty bottles of All Wonders Pills were sold, bringing in one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

The difference between the two was enormous.

But in terms of profit, the All Wonders Pills had currently earned nothing at all. They had merely broken even.

The Grain Avoidance Pills, on the other hand, still netted a clean profit of three Spirit Stones after costs.

In truth, with his Grandmaster-level proficiency in Grain Avoidance Pills, Luo Chen might have earned even more by increasing their production.

But the Grain Avoidance Pill market was what it was, and so was its capacity for consumption. Even if he earned more, it would only amount to a few extra Spirit Stones.

He would take this opportunity to grind up his All Wonders Pill proficiency. Later, he could begin earning on a large scale.

Transform the business, open new channels.

The brief growing pains were acceptable!

Old Taoist Chen kept urging him to repay the money. Helpless, Luo Chen returned fifty Spirit Stones on the spot.

Then, after repaying them, he wheedled and pleaded for half the day before borrowing them back again.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely pay you back. You've seen my earnings lately. Just consider it funding a poor cultivator's training. Once I make it big, I'll repay your kindness as abundantly as a spring!"

"How about this? I've sold out of pills, so I'll work for you this afternoon and help you sell talismans!"

"Trust me. If I help you sell out sooner, you can go back and draw a few more talismans. You'll earn all the extra back and more."

After much coaxing and pleading, Luo Chen ultimately managed to keep the one hundred and six Spirit Stones in his pocket.

The price was that he had to work as a temp for the afternoon.

"Huh, did something happen over at Brother Wang's stall?"

While selling talismans, Luo Chen looked up and discovered that Wang Yuan's stall in the distance was surrounded by people.

He wanted to go watch the excitement, but Old Taoist Chen grabbed hold of him.

"Don't go!"

"What is it?"

"Have you forgotten what happened the last time there was a situation like this?"

Luo Chen stopped in his tracks, recalling a scene from the original owner's memories two years ago.

Then and now, the scene was astonishingly similar.

"Enemies had come looking for him?"

Old Taoist Chen looked over there with a complicated expression. "Although most rogue cultivators are lone wolves, some still have family and friends."

"If they died, then so be it. But when their Magic Tools and robes were brought out and sold, anyone who ran into them would still have a knot of indignation in their heart."

Realization dawned on Luo Chen. Sure enough, the crowd over there was bristling with drawn swords.

It looked as if they would start fighting outright at the slightest disagreement.

Wang Yuan was at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining Stage. The cultivators daring to surround him could hardly be much lower in cultivation.

If they really started fighting, going over there to eat melons would make it easy for him to get caught in the crossfire.

"They won't fight. Don't worry—the Inner City strictly forbids fighting."

Old Taoist Chen shook his head. He had seen such things far too many times.

All he could say was that people like Wang Yuan, who licked blood from knife edges, would eventually run into ghosts after walking too many nights.

Sure enough.

After tossing out a few harsh words, the three cultivators left the Rogue Cultivator Market indignantly.

Wang Yuan still wore that neither-cold-nor-warm expression. He sat cross-legged before his stall, his eyelids drooping as though he had not woken up.

"Selling Magic Tools stained with blood is pretty risky," Luo Chen muttered. "Why not just sell them directly to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion?"

Old Taoist Chen sneered. "The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion buys them back at half price, gives them a slight remelting and repair, then sells them for an even higher price than the original. How could that earn as much as selling them yourself at a stall?"

So that was how it was!

Luo Chen understood. The Magic Tools at the Rogue Cultivator Market varied wildly in quality, and it all depended on a cultivator's own eye.

And without being remelted, they were too conspicuous and could easily be recognized by the original owner's friends.

Their only advantage was probably that they were much cheaper than official prices.

"I only have a Low-Grade Magic Sword on me right now, and it's the kind covered in rust."

"Once I have money in the future, should I hunt for bargains at the market or buy from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion?"

Luo Chen stroked his chin, just as in his previous life when he had pondered whether to buy a BMW or a Mercedes-Benz.

Fantasy lasted only a moment.

Working, however, lasted an entire afternoon.

After helping Old Taoist Chen clear out the talismans, he hurried off to purchase the raw materials he needed.

After several large purchases in a row, he had already discussed things with the sellers and asked them to reserve the goods for him as much as possible.

So although time was short, he still spent all one hundred-plus Spirit Stones.

Not a single one was left!

Going all in was a kind of wisdom.

Luo Chen had never lacked the courage to go all in. Especially in the early stages, even if he lost everything, he only had to start over from the beginning.

By the time he headed home carrying a huge snakeskin sack on his back, the sky had darkened once more.

Luo Chen strode along the dirt road of the Outer City Area, humming a line or two now and then.

"I cannot drift with the current, for the eternal life I dearly love."

Abruptly, Luo Chen's footsteps stopped.

Under the moonlight, four people blocked his path.

A dark moon and high winds—a perfect night for murder and treasure seizure. Was it finally my turn?

With a thump, Luo Chen's heart sank to the bottom of the Lancang River.

When you encounter ads like "Are you a real person?", there is no need to pay attention to them. Simply close them; do not scan codes or send text messages!