So Muddled

Lin Qingbai glanced again at the large locust tree, his anger growing with every look.

He cursed under his breath before turning and heading back to his own pavilion.

Xinghua Lin Pavilion, in the backyard.

Lin Qingbai strode into his room, picked up a cup of cool tea, and gulped it down.

After finishing the cup of cool tea, it seemed it still couldn't quell the anger in his heart.

He raised the teacup and smashed it heavily onto the ground!

The teacup instantly shattered into pieces.

"Damn it!"

Lin Qingbai cursed loudly.

Just then, someone walked in from outside the door.

He happened to witness the scene and asked, "Brother Qingbai, what's wrong? What has you so furious?"

Lin Qingbai turned his head and saw that the person who had arrived was a member of the Lin Family, Lin Qingshan.

"Qingshan, why are you here?" Lin Qingbai quickly asked.

Lin Qingshan held a status in the Lin Family equivalent to Meng Bohai's in the Meng Family, so Lin Qingbai had to show him some deference.

Lin Qingshan stood at the doorway and replied, "The Patriarch sent me. What happened just now? In this heat, is it necessary to throw such a tantrum?"

Lin Qingbai replied, "Half a month ago, didn't Elder Brother Qingke go to the Black Market to purchase the research method for the Five Elements Defensive Talisman? I've been in seclusion all these days, working to produce this Five Elements Defensive Talisman. Fortunately, not only did I succeed in creating it, but I also optimized it. Its defensive capabilities naturally surpass those of the Meng Family's defensive talismans."

Lin Qingshan heard this and said, "Isn't that great? Sell them quickly and directly suppress the Meng Family's talisman market!"

"Great, my ass!"

Lin Qingbai swore, continuing, "I devised a plan. I found a rogue cultivator who had previously bought a Meng Family defensive talisman and gave him a few Five Elements Defensive Talismans, telling him to return the Meng Family's talisman. It went well at first, but I never expected that after three days, the Meng Family would actually develop a new type of talisman!"

Lin Qingshan frowned slightly and asked, "A new type of talisman? What is it called? How does it compare to our Five Elements Defensive Talisman?"

"Alas! The Meng Family's new talisman is called the Spirit Taming Talisman."

Lin Qingbai shook his head gently and sighed, "Its effectiveness is even better than our Lin Family's Five Elements Defensive Talisman! Those rogue cultivators who were initially attracted to our Five Elements Defensive Talisman have likely all been lured away by the Meng Family's Spirit Taming Talisman by now!"

Lin Qingshan's frown deepened, and he said in a low voice, "How could this be? In such a short period, the Meng Family managed to develop a new talisman. Could they have consulted an expert?"

Lin Qingbai replied, "They didn't consult any experts. For the past three days, I've had people watching the Xinghua Meng Pavilion. No one entered the Xinghua Meng Pavilion except for Meng Luohai's return."

Lin Qingshan thought for a moment and then asked, "How much is the Meng Family's Spirit Taming Talisman priced at?"

Lin Qingbai gave a wry smile and said, "It's the same as our Lin Family's Five Elements Defensive Talisman, five Spirit Stones per talisman."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qingshan clenched his fists tightly and angrily exclaimed, "Despicable! The Meng Family is trying to cut off our Lin Family's source of income!"

He knew that the market for low-tier families like the Lin Family, Chen Family, and Meng Family was mostly targeted at rogue cultivators.

These rogue cultivators were not like family cultivators who had vast families providing them with Cultivation Resources.

Low-level rogue cultivators generally lived hand-to-mouth. They were short on cash and would compare prices before buying anything for their cultivation.

Now that the Meng Family's Spirit Taming Talisman had the same price as the Lin Family's Five Elements Defensive Talisman, those rogue cultivators would, without a second thought, abandon their Lin Family's Five Elements Defensive Talismans and turn to buy the Meng Family's Spirit Taming Talismans.

Lin Qingshan thought of this and asked, "What should we do?"

Lin Qingbai looked into Lin Qingshan's eyes and said hesitantly, "This isn't even the worst part. The most important thing is that in order to seize the Meng Family's talisman market share in one fell swoop, I mobilized the family members in the pavilion over the past half month, working from dawn till dusk to produce the Five Elements Defensive Talismans. We've stockpiled over four thousand Five Elements Defensive Talismans, and they're all piled up in the storeroom now!"

"What?"

Lin Qingshan suddenly roared, "Qingbai! How could you be so foolish?"

Lin Qingbai was filled with regret at this moment.

But in this world, where could one find a pill for regret?

Lin Qingshan paced back and forth in the room, enraged, and said rapidly in a low voice, "Over four thousand talismans, that's over twenty thousand Spirit Stones! Now it's all gone down the drain!"

Lin Qingbai quickly defended himself, "Qingshan, twenty thousand Spirit Stones is just the total selling price. The cost wasn't much, only a little over ten thousand Spirit Stones."

"Only a little over ten thousand Spirit Stones?"

Lin Qingshan questioned, "Is our Lin Family a high-grade cultivation family? No! We are just a low-tier family. Can this over ten thousand Spirit Stones be converted into cash? No! They can only sit in the storeroom! Waiting to gather dust!"

Lin Qingbai knew the seriousness of the situation and pleaded, "Qingshan, please help your brother Qingbai!"

"Hoo!"

Lin Qingshan plopped down onto a stool and looked up at Lin Qingbai, saying, "I can't help! The cost of making just one Five Elements Defensive Talisman is over ten thousand Spirit Stones. When Elder Brother Qingke went to the Black Market to buy the Five Elements Defensive Talisman, how many Spirit Stones did he spend? Do you know that?"

Lin Qingbai had a crestfallen expression and shook his head, sighing, "Five thousand Spirit Stones or eight thousand Spirit Stones, I'm not too sure."

Hearing this, Lin Qingshan felt his head was about to explode.

"Calculating it this way, the cost is still nearly twenty thousand Spirit Stones?"

After saying this, Lin Qingshan felt speechless.

Lin Qingbai quickly poured Lin Qingshan a cup of cool tea and said, "Qingshan, you absolutely must help me. The urgent matter now isn't to calculate the cost of those talismans, but to find a way to sell them as quickly as possible, recover the funds, and stop the losses!"

Seeing Lin Qingbai's humble demeanor, Lin Qingshan asked helplessly, "What is the cost of producing one Five Elements Defensive Talisman?"

Lin Qingbai quickly replied, "Excluding the cost of the talisman paper and the Spirit Energy brush, plus labor, it's about three Spirit Stones."

Lin Qingshan murmured, "Three Spirit Stones, three Spirit Stones. Qingbai, go hang a sign outside. Even though Xinghua Lin Pavilion is having a big sale, a Five Elements Defensive Talisman will only cost four Spirit Stones."

Lin Qingbai looked down and calculated, "Four Spirit Stones? That should be fine. It doesn't matter if we earn a little less, as long as we can break even quickly!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a junior from the Lin Family rushed in anxiously from outside.

"Clan Uncle Qingbai! Clan Uncle Qingshan!"

Lin Qingbai, who had been in a state of high tension, was startled by the junior's sudden shout.

"Were you chased by a dog? Watch your demeanor!" Lin Qingbai reprimanded.

The Lin Family junior's face was anxious. "It's bad! Second Clan Uncle, First Clan Uncle, I don't know what's going on with the Meng Family's merchant stall, but they've started a promotional event, and everyone in our shop has run off!"

Lin Qingshan immediately stood up upon hearing this and asked, "A promotional event? What kind of event?"

.:wap.

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