First Piece of Industry

In the Immortal Sect, making money is not a difficult task for Foundation Establishment True Cultivator.

After all, every Foundation Establishment True Cultivator, as long as they are willing to spend the time, can basically obtain a Second Grade Hundred Arts of Cultivation certificate.

To be honest, Chen Mobai, the Talisman First genius of the Class 5012, has successfully Foundation Establishment, but he is still only a first-level Talisman Master.

Si Guanyu and Zhuang Jialan, who were in the same grade, had already studied hard in the fourth grade and passed the Second-tier Talisman Master assessment in their spare time.

If Chen Mobai hadn't improved his cultivation level so quickly, he probably would have already been stripped of his title as "Talisman First Master".

Foundation Establishment Cultivator, if they work hard, can generally earn over a million Merit Points a year.

Chen Mobai calculated the amount of Merit Points he would need to purchase from the Longevity Academy's pills if he wanted to extend his lifespan by 180 years.

A Longevity Replenishing Pill 8800 per pill; 30 pills would Merit Points points.

A Longevity Pill 128,000 per pill; if you take 9 pills, that's 1,152,000 Merit Points points.

Since it is impossible to purchase Turtle Longevity Pill, one may have to endure the Drug Resistance and continue taking the Longevity Pill after taking 9 pills.

Yu Rulin once said that the Longevity Academy had conducted an experiment and found that if the same person took the 10th Longevity Pill, the effect would only be to add 9 years to their lifespan.

After that, each pill reduces the lifespan by one year. By the time you take the 20th pill, the Longevity Pill will have the same effect as the Longevity Replenishing Pill.

However, this is still somewhat effective. If you continue to take it, each Longevity Pill will still have the effect of supplementing one year of lifespan, until you take 30 pills, at which point it will have no effect at all.

Taking 30 pills of both the Longevity Replenishing Pill and the Longevity Pill can replenish 177 years of lifespan, almost exactly offsetting the side effects of the Longevity Tree Fruit.

After mentally calculating the price, I quickly arrived at the accurate quantity.

4,104,000 points of Merit Points.

Four million...

Chen Mobai's lips twitched slightly.

It's a bit pricey. The fastest way is naturally to resell the Foundation Establishment Trio of the Dao Academy using academic credits. These things are in short supply throughout the entire Immortal Sect. As long as there is stock, there will be no shortage of buyers, and they will all buy them at a premium.

However, this method can only be used as a temporary measure. Chen Mobai will eventually graduate and cannot continue to take advantage of the Dao Academy forever.

We still need to find a way to make a stable income. After all, although resources are scarce in the Immortal Sect, there are still many good things. Accumulating some Merit Points in advance will come in handy someday.

After much thought, Chen Mobai even looked through the legal provisions of the Immortal Sect and discovered that most of the ways to make money on the Immortal Sect's side had already been taken over by others.

The most profitable items are naturally elixirs.

However, the Six Great Medicine Factories of the Immortal Sect occupy most of the market, leaving only the Longevity Academy and other specialized institutions that have a near-monopoly on a particular area.

The competition in the pill-making field, which was looked down upon by the Six Great Medicine Factories and the various universities of the Immortal Sect, was even more intense than imagined. Chen Mobai only briefly inquired with Wang Xingyu before deciding not to make money from pills.

He had originally planned to smuggle medicinal herbs from the Divine Wood Sect across the Sky River Realm to sell here, but Wang Xingyu said that in the Immortal Sect's spiritual medicine industry, every Herb entering the market needs to be stamped by the Immortal Sect Drug Administration bureau.

If you're making some for personal use in private, you don't have to follow this rule, but if you want to sell them in large quantities, you'll inevitably have to go through this hurdle.

The origin of medicinal materials must be clear, from planting to cultivation, to harvesting and storage. The process must be clear and straightforward. If any link is missing, the seal cannot be affixed.

Without the seal of the Immortal Sect, no pharmacy would buy it.

After elixirs, the next two traditional industries are Talisman and Magic Artifact.

Talisman have permeated all aspects of life in the Immortal Sect, and are considered consumables. Competition in this field is relatively stable. As long as someone can refine a talisman and has a professional and certified Talisman Master affix their professional seal, there will be people willing to buy it.

However, this relies on reputation. Even if Chen Mobai were to pass the exam to become Second-tier Talisman Master, he probably still wouldn't be able to compete with the large factories run by Third Grade or even Fourth-tier Talisman Master.

In the Magic Artifact industry, the most profitable items are naturally various household utensils, but Chen Mobai has no connections in that field.

There's no need to even consider Array Formation formations or infrastructure; I know absolutely nothing about them.

After much deliberation, he could only turn back to elixirs and Talisman.

He was familiar with Talisman, and as for elixirs, he had connections in the Sky River Realm.

However, Chen Mobai is currently only in the thinking stage and has not made a decision immediately.

He decided to consult a professional.

He opened his phone, and the profile picture of the owner of the Wood Spirit Talisman Shop that he used to frequent when he was still in Vermilion Cloud City was still lit up. Chen Mobai a private message pop-up.

The shopkeeper indeed remembered him as a big customer, and spoke to him in a friendly tone.

However, when Chen Mobai asked how to run a Talisman shop successfully, the latter simply replied with a speechless emoji.

Why ask someone in the same industry?

But the shopkeeper didn't have any big ambitions, and his shop was just a personal workshop. He just talked about his experiences and insights from running the shop over the years.

After listening to this, Chen Mobai felt deeply that it was not easy.

Lacking professional equipment and machines, the shopkeeper had to painstakingly prepare the Talisman Ink himself. Fortunately, he had some small tools to help crush cinnabar, fuse spiritual substances, and a timer and thermometer to control the heat.

If this were in the Sky River Realm, where everything could only rely on experience and manual labor, Chen Mobai would probably have given up immediately.

The advantage of small workshops is that there are no maintenance costs for large equipment, no cost of hiring monks, Talisman Brush Talisman Paper can be purchased, and if the talisman pen is well made, it can be used for several years.

However, the downside is that it can't be scaled up significantly.

The profit margin for Talisman is already meager, and since any Talisman Master can create one, the competition is fierce.

Thanks to its industrialized system, the entire Immortal Sect has saved on labor costs, Talisman industry now only has a profit margin of about 5%.

Even so, at least a hundred newly registered Talisman Shop still close down and file for bankruptcy every year.

The Wood Spirit Talisman Shop has been able to operate on the Immortal Sect Network for ten years, and even make a slight profit every year, is already a very good example of business performance in the industry.

[Generally speaking, even if we Qi Cultivation Cultivator pass the exam to become Second-tier Talisman Master, we can only barely make ends meet. But it's different for Foundation Establishment True Cultivator. As long as they are willing to settle down in a local area, cities like Vermilion Cloud City are willing to allocate a piece of land for them to start a business for free, and there are even various tax incentives.]

Therefore, in the Immortal Sect, only cultivation level matters. It's a pity I Foundation Establishment Failure and am now heavily in debt to the bank. Although I've reached the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Refining again, I doubt I'll ever be able to advance any further in this lifetime.

Now, all I can do is hope that my younger siblings, who are in university, can successfully Foundation Establishment, so that our family will have a chance to escape our debts and turn our lives around.

Towards the end of the conversation, the owner of the Wood Spirit Talisman Shop seemed to be touched and sent a long message, expressing his feelings about the hardships he had endured over the years.

Chen Mobai comforted him for a couple of minutes, then added his real-life contact information and called his mother.

"What? You want to open Talisman factory?"

Upon hearing Chen Mobai's plan, Tang Pancui immediately cried out in surprise.

"Yes, I heard that Vermilion Cloud City has a policy of granting land to Foundation Establishment True Cultivator cultivators who settle down. I've already reached Foundation Establishment, so I can't waste this opportunity."

When Chen Mobai was in college, his household registration was transferred to Chicheng Cave Heaven.

Now that they've discovered there are benefits to moving back, they naturally won't let it pass them by.

"Son, I'm very happy that you have such ambition, but starting a business is not a simple matter. After acquiring the land, you need to build a factory. Where will you get the start-up capital? Even if you manage to build it, the subsequent operation and management team will be another big problem. Even if all of that is completed, there is still the issue of finding a sales channel for the Talisman you make..."

Tang Pancui, as expected of a veteran employee who had worked at the Talisman factory for over twenty years, was very clear about the ins and outs of it.

"How about we open a small shop first and gain some experience?"

Chen Mobai was scolded and realized that he hadn't thought things through, but his entrepreneurial spirit remained undiminished.

As Two-Realm Trader, he felt it was necessary to open a legitimate factory on the Immortal Sect side as a cover for large-scale reselling in the future.

"That would be best. And if you really want to start a business in your hometown after graduation, I have a way to help you."

Tang Pancui suddenly said something that surprised Chen Mobai.

"Mom, you're just an employee, how can you even start your own business?"

"Our boss is said to be about to break through to the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer. If he wants to go further, he definitely can't stay in a small place like Vermilion Cloud City. He has to go and explore those Great Cave Heaven. In that case, he'll have to get rid of these factories. I'll talk to him. If you're really interested, he might be happy to sell them to you."

Upon hearing this, Chen Mobai couldn't help but recall the scene of playing in the Talisman factory where his mother worked when he was a child.

He had met the boss a few times; he was a very gentle person.

His name is Wu Shangru. He is a graduate of the Vermillion Cinnabar Academy. He successfully Foundation Establishment while in school and was recruited by Vermilion Cloud City as a talent. After years of hard work in Talisman Making and doing business, he has built up his current business.

However, every gain has its loss. The resources and spiritual energy of Vermilion Cloud City cannot compare with those Great Cave Heaven. While he earned tens of millions of Merit Points, his cultivation progress was undoubtedly much slower.

If Chen Mobai remembered correctly, Wu Shangru should be eighty years old. If he cannot cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer within the next forty years and misses the peak of his physical essence, he will basically have no hope of Core Formation.

If Wu Shangru has even greater ambitions, he should indeed go to the Great Cave Heaven.

Clearly, this Chief Graduate of the Vermillion Cinnabar Academy still has ambition.

That evening, he personally called Chen Mobai.

Chen Mobai politely addressed him as "Uncle," after all, he was an elder who had watched him grow up, and the latter was very pleased with this address.

Wu Shangru had actually planned to leave Vermilion Cloud City for a long time, but he was able to rise to prominence with the help of the Vermilion Cloud City government. The current City Lord was reluctant to let such a talented person like him leave because of this favor.

Although the Foundation Establishment True Cultivator of the Seventy-Two Blessed Lands of the Immortal Sect have mostly flowed out to the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens, the City Lord of Vermilion Cloud City simply refuses to allow Wu Shangru to relocate, as long as possible.

Moreover, his Soaring Heavens Talisman Factory is one of the pillar industries in the area. Although Wu Shangru promised to hand over the factory under his name to local entrepreneurs when he left, there would be no large-scale unemployment problem.

However, if it weren't for a renowned Foundation Establishment True Cultivator taking over, this Talisman Factory, with an annual output value of several million, would definitely have only gone downhill and eventually ended up in bankruptcy liquidation.

This is why Wu Shangru, who should have left Vermilion Cloud City five or six years ago, was held back here.

He had already found a way to get the qualifications to buy a Water Origin Golden Core Pill by transferring his household registration to Huayang Cave Heaven and having sixty years of experience and dedication working at the largest Talisman factory in the Immortal Sect.

Wu Shangru actually joined the company twenty years ago; now all that's missing is his household registration.

Now that Chen Mobai has come knocking on his door, it is exactly what Wu Shangru needs.

With the most popular Wuqi Dao Academy Chief from the immortal Immortal Sect taking his place, Vermilion Cloud City will probably send him off with great fanfare so that Chen Mobai's household registration can be transferred back as soon as possible.

"Nephew, you've helped me out of this predicament. How about this: I'll hire you as the spokesperson for my Soaring Heavens Talisman Factory. I won't pay you the spokesperson fee. After you graduate in four years, I'll give you my business in Vermilion Cloud City. What do you say?"

Wu Shangru presented very sincere conditions from the beginning, Chen Mobai agreed immediately after considering them.

"Alright, then I will arrange for your mother to take over the Talisman factory starting tomorrow. If you have time, you can come back to sign the contract. If you don't have time, I will come to Chicheng Cave Heaven to find you in person."

Chen Mobai thought about it and decided it would be better to go by himself.

After all, he made a great deal, getting Talisman factory with a fifty-year reputation for free by endorsing it for four years.

Although the land belongs to Vermilion Cloud City, the factory buildings and equipment combined are worth at least tens of millions of Merit Points.

He ended up sacrificing himself, but he had originally planned to find a quiet, inconspicuous place to cultivate and improve himself after graduation.

Vermilion Cloud City is just the right hometown.

Before going back, Chen Mobai called Qing Nü, but unfortunately she was busy improving herself, and Vermilion Cloud City would evoke her memories of Kong Feichen and Yang Jing, so she didn't plan to go back.

"By the way, since you were able to appear in Lesser Red Heaven, are you also in Chicheng Cave Heaven?"

Chen Mobai suddenly remembered this question, but Qing Nü replied that she was not there.

"The Spirit Vein of Chicheng Mountain are actually one of the Ancient Dragon Vein. Theoretically, they can flow through most of the Immortal Sect, which is why we chose to open the Lesser Red Heaven here."

"The Four Great Dao Academies and Ten Great Academies all have Internal Projection Line allocated by the Immortal Sect that can enter the Lesser Red Heaven, but they are not as stable as those in the Chicheng Cave Heaven, and the number of people who can enter is limited."

"However, after this period of internal testing, Lesser Red Heaven has become stable. Once the core Fifth-Order Spiritual Treasure is put into place, the Chicheng Mountain Dragon Vein will be fully activated and will cover the entire Immortal Sect. At that time Foundation Establishment True Cultivator who have graduated from our Four Great Dao Academies for a long time will be able to enter one by one. Your invincible Win Streak Record may be in jeopardy."

Chen Mobai chuckled softly upon hearing Qing Nü's words.

"I've been waiting for someone who can defeat me to appear."