Cheng Daqi

"Don't you even know that?"

The cultivator at the stall beside him raised an eyebrow and looked Zhao Huaian up and down with some suspicion.

"I've been in seclusion for the past few days and rarely kept in touch with the outside world, so I'm not too sure why GreenWood Market is so crowded today."

Shaking his head, Zhao Huaian looked at the stallholder beside him with an earnest expression.

"I think you've been in seclusion so long, it's made you stupid!"

The stallholder gave Zhao Huaian an amused look. "It's already April. Today's the day everyone can collect their monthly stipends, and a lot of people are heading out to take on missions, too. Naturally, the Market is much busier than usual."

As he spoke, the stallholder shook his head in disappointment. "Your business is so good that I figured you knew everything about the situation at Greenwood Market. I never thought you wouldn't even know that the first few days of the month are the busiest."

He'd seen how brisk Zhao Huaian's business was and had wanted to ask him for pointers on running a stall.

But now, it seemed Zhao Huaian might know even less than he did.

Zhao Huaian understood at once. "So that's why. I've been in seclusion these past few days and lost track of time. My mistake, my mistake."

"How could you make such a basic mistake and still have such booming business, with so many regular customers?"

Though the stallholder figured Zhao Huaian might not know as much as he did, he couldn't help asking what had been puzzling him.

Hearing the stallholder's question, Zhao Huaian smiled and pointed at the Spirit Talismans on his stall. "As long as the things you sell are good quality, you'll naturally get plenty of repeat customers."

"Really?"

The stallholder eyed Zhao Huaian skeptically.

"Why not buy one and see? I'll give you a ten percent discount. Maybe you'll become one of my regulars, too."

Seeing that the stallholder wasn't convinced, Zhao Huaian didn't bother explaining further. Instead, he smoothly changed tack and warmly tried to make a sale.

"W-Well, then, I'll take some Spirit Talismans..." A flicker of interest crossed the stallholder's eyes.

Zhao Huaian's business was booming, so the quality of his Spirit Talismans had to be good. And with a ten percent discount, perhaps he could even snag a bargain.

"Hahaha..."

Zhao Huaian laughed happily.

Before long, thanks to his enthusiastic sales pitch, the stallholder beside him had spent more than thirty Low-grade Spirit Stones.

But his smile soon vanished.

After buying Spirit Talismans worth more than thirty Low-grade Spirit Stones from Zhao Huaian, the stallholder had simply put them up for sale at his own stall.

He sold them at exactly the same price as Zhao Huaian, and even threw in a few little trinkets that didn't cost any Spirit Stones.

"Senior Brother, you're going a little too far..."

Looking at the stallholder, Zhao Huaian couldn't help feeling speechless.

If the man had bought Spirit Talismans from him and sold them at some other stall, Zhao Huaian would have been glad. At the very least, it would have saved him time.

But the man had set up right beside him, selling at the exact same price. It was obvious he'd siphon off some of Zhao Huaian's customers.

Noticing Zhao Huaian's displeased gaze, the stallholder gave a cheeky grin. "I'm just testing the waters. If they sell, I'll make a small profit. If they don't, I'll use them myself. Either way, I don't lose."

Well...

Zhao Huaian was truly at a loss for words.

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Still, he didn't say anything more. There was no need to sour relations with someone at Greenwood Market over such a small matter.

Besides, if their words got heated and they came to blows, the Greenwood Market guards would be called over. That would only make things worse.

Putting the little incident out of his mind,

Zhao Huaian soon went back to enthusiastically drumming up business amid the massive crowds.

In little more than half an hour, visits from new and returning customers had brought him dozens more Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Just as he was congratulating himself, a wrinkled old face squeezed in beside him.

Seeing that face, Zhao Huaian gave a cold snort and didn't even want to acknowledge him.

It was the very same stallholder from earlier.

When Zhao Huaian ignored him, the stallholder forced a smile and said with the familiarity of an old friend, "Young friend, my name is Cheng Daqi. I joined Greenwood Sect fifty years ago. My cultivation isn't much to speak of—I'm only at Qi Refining Layer Seven—but I know everything there is to know about the affairs of the Greenwood Sect's Outer Sect."

In less than half an hour, Cheng Daqi had sold all the Spirit Talismans he'd bought from Zhao Huaian, earning several Spirit Stones in the process.

He'd keenly sensed a business opportunity.

"Oh... and what does that have to do with me?" Zhao Huaian looked at Cheng Daqi coolly.

Earlier, with Cheng Daqi selling Spirit Talismans beside him, some of the customers at Zhao Huaian's stall had clearly been drawn away.

Otherwise, amid crowds this large, he could have sold Spirit Talismans worth a hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones in half an hour.

"If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me. Then you can focus on your cultivation without worry, and I'll tell you all about what's happening in the outside world."

Seeing how cold Zhao Huaian was, Cheng Daqi grew anxious.

"Enough, enough. Don't give me all that. You just want to buy Spirit Talismans from me at a discount and sell them yourself, don't you?"

Zhao Huaian waved him off impatiently. "Forget it. Not today, at least. Your stall is right beside mine, so you're bound to draw away some of my customers. If you keep this up, how am I supposed to do business?"

"Don't, don't, young friend! Let's talk this out!" Cheng Daqi's expression grew even more anxious. "We can actually work together. You're still young, so you must have plenty of better things to do than waste your time on the petty business of running a stall. How about I sell them for you?"

"You'd sell them for me?"

Zhao Huaian gave Cheng Daqi a strange look. "We barely know each other. How could I trust you?"

Still, Cheng Daqi's words had given Zhao Huaian something to think about.

He truly had no time to waste running a stall at Greenwood Market.

For now, it was manageable.

But as his cultivation improved and his Art of Drawing Spirit Talismans grew more proficient, the number of Spirit Talismans he drew each day would naturally increase significantly.

In that case, he'd end up wasting even more time running a stall at Greenwood Market.

But he had to do it. He needed to sell the Spirit Talismans in his hands, or how else would he get the Spirit Stones to buy cultivation resources?

"Buy them! I'll buy them from you, then sell them at Greenwood Market. I'd just need to pay a little less."

Afraid Zhao Huaian would refuse, Cheng Daqi hurriedly added, "You're young and need plenty of time to cultivate. From now on, I'll make sure my stall hours don't overlap with yours. And even if we set up on the same day, I'll pick a spot well away from your stall."

"What price did you have in mind? How many Spirit Talismans could you take at once?"

Hearing this, Zhao Huaian was immediately tempted.

If Cheng Daqi could buy a large number of Spirit Talismans at once, Zhao Huaian could give him a modest discount and sell them to him in bulk.