Repaying the Family

Zhou Yang fled the "Drunken Immortal Restaurant" in a rather disheveled state.

His image had been completely shattered in front of his sisters after they learned that he had come up with the scheme for them to use their charms to help the restaurant generate revenue.

He knew that if Zhou Yuanzhen and the others hadn't been willing, his schemes would have been useless.

After all, while the family could assign them tasks to work at the restaurant, they couldn't force them to sacrifice their appearances for the family's income. Doing so would not only invite ridicule from other families but also hurt the hearts of all clan members.

The reason Zhou Yuanzhen and the others were willing to follow his schemes, aside from the commission they received, was their high level of awareness. They understood that the family's cultivation resources were hard-earned and didn't want to be useless to the clan.

The male cultivators in the family had to tirelessly travel with merchant caravans for months in the desert, fighting and risking their lives against Sand Bandits and Demonic Beasts to earn spirit stones for the family.

Now, all they had to do was sacrifice a little of their charm to help the family generate income. What reason did they have to refuse?

As cultivators of the family, they couldn't just enjoy the family's benefits; they also needed to share the family's responsibilities.

Without the family's protection, it would be far more than just a small sacrifice of their charm for female cultivators with such low aptitude to survive in the Cultivation World!

However, even though that was the logic, the act of having female cultivators sacrifice their charm for income was not something to be proud of. As a man, Zhou Yang still felt a sense of shame and awkwardness when facing these sisters.

Compared to these brothers and sisters who silently contributed to the family, he felt like a parasite.

Although, from a practical standpoint, the merit of his discovery of the "Haoyang Cave" and the Crimson Flame Iron Ore Vein was greater than the combined contributions of all cultivators of the "Yuan" generation.

"I didn't have a choice before, but now that I've come to the market town, I'll use my Artifact Forging Art to repay the family!"

Zhou Yang walked along the path in the market town, looking at the cultivators coming and going, and secretly made a resolution in his heart.

The next day, all three employees of the "Jade Spring Tower" were dispatched to the most crowded areas of the market town, loudly hawking the words Zhou Yang had taught them.

"Come, come, all fellow Daoists, please take a look! The [Jade Spring Tower] is celebrating its 230th anniversary with a grand promotion! Starting today, anyone who spends over three hundred spirit stones at the Jade Spring Tower will have a chance to get a Tier 2 High-grade Artifact Forger to refine a second-tier low-grade artifact for free. Those who spend over five hundred spirit stones can get a chance to refine a Tier 2 Mid-grade artifact for free. Those who spend one thousand spirit stones can get a chance to refine a Tier 2 High-grade artifact for free. All artifact refining failures will be compensated at 70% of the original price."

"The [Jade Spring Tower] is celebrating its 230th anniversary with a grand promotion! All custom artifact orders are reduced by 30%. We accept all artifact refining below Third-tier, with a 70% material cost refund for failures. Don't miss out!"

Zhou Yang's Artifact Forging Art had reached Tier 2 High-grade, with a success rate of about 30% for refining Tier 2 High-grade Artifacts, and over 60% for refining Tier 2 Mid-grade Artifacts.

Artifact Forging was different from Alchemy. If an artifact forging failed, as long as it was salvaged in time, the materials would not be completely destroyed, only their grade would be reduced. This was the confidence he had to accept so many orders.

Furthermore, the most direct way for an Artifact Forger to improve their Artifact Forging Art level and success rate was to forge more artifacts. With more artifacts forged, the success rate would definitely increase.

For example, Zhou Yang's father, Zhou Xuanhao, was also a Tier 2 High-grade Alchemist, but his success rate for refining Tier 2 High-grade Spirit Pills was as high as 50%, surpassing most Tier 2 Alchemists in this "Golden Sand Market."

The reason for this was that he had been a Tier 2 High-grade Alchemist for many years and had opened his furnace to refine Tier 2 Spirit Pills hundreds of times.

The "Jade Spring Tower" had previously accepted artifact customization orders, but only for Tier 3 Low-grade Artifacts. Each time an order was accepted, the Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan personally handled the refining.

However, the Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan could not easily leave the clan, and the refining materials for Third-tier Artifacts were not something everyone could afford. Therefore, on average, they might not receive even one artifact customization order in ten years.

But now it was different. With Zhou Yang, a Tier 2 High-grade Artifact Forger, stationed at the "Jade Spring Tower," all the Tier 2 artifact customization orders that the Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan used to look down upon or didn't have time to refine could now be handled by him.

His pricing was also very fair. For each successful artifact refinement, he only charged 30% of the artifact's value, which was extremely attractive to those Rogue Cultivators.

For example, a Tier 2 High-grade Artifact would cost at least five hundred low-grade spirit stones in the shop, but the value of the raw materials would be good if it reached one hundred low-grade spirit stones.

Many Rogue Cultivators, after obtaining the raw materials, could only sell them cheaply to the shops because they didn't understand artifact forging. Then, they would buy the artifacts refined from these materials at five to ten times the price.

But now it was different. As long as they brought the materials to Zhou Yang for refining, even if it failed, they would only lose less than thirty low-grade spirit stones. If it succeeded, it would be equivalent to earning at least two to three hundred low-grade spirit stones!

A tenfold return on investment!

Where else could they find such a good deal?

In an instant, the "Jade Spring Tower," which had been in a mediocre position in the market town, became the liveliest place. Many Rogue Cultivators who heard the news came to inquire about the authenticity of the news.

When these people entered the store and saw the abundance of pills, artifacts, and talismans, some couldn't resist buying what they needed, which directly led to a significant increase in the sales of the "Jade Spring Tower."

Zhou Yang played a trick at this time. When registering those who came to customize artifacts, he deliberately put the Tier 2 High-grade Artifact refining orders at the back. This way, he could first refine the second-tier low-grade and Tier 2 Mid-grade Artifacts to improve his artifact forging success rate and minimize losses from failures.

With the "Jade Spring Tower" full of customers, it naturally attracted envy, jealousy, and dissatisfaction from the shopkeepers of other stores in the market town. Many Artifact Forgers from other families were also waiting to see Zhou Yang make a fool of himself.

The service of customizing artifacts had always been available in shops that mainly dealt with artifacts. However, the general consensus was that they should absolutely not accept orders that matched their own Artifact Forging Art level, and in case of failure, they would only refund half of the material cost at most. If successful, they would charge 50% of the purchase price of a similar artifact.

Only by doing so could they ensure a profit; otherwise, they would be working for the Rogue Cultivators for free.

After all, they mastered the Artifact Forging Art, and Rogue Cultivators, after obtaining the materials, could only sell them to them at a low price, whether they were willing or not.

Therefore, in the eyes of these Artifact Forgers, Zhou Yang's current approach was bound to lead to ruin. Who did he think he was? A Third-rank Artifact Forger?

It wasn't just the Artifact Forgers who thought this way. Even Zhou Xuanlin, who was still in the market town purchasing spiritual items for Zhou Xuanhao's Foundation Establishment celebration, thought the same when he heard about Zhou Yang's plan. He even tried to persuade him to give up with the earnestness of an experienced person.

But after Zhou Yang calculated the numbers for him, he said nothing more and quietly went back to his own business.

Zhou Yang didn't care what outsiders thought. After sorting things out internally, he rented an artifact refining room in the Earth Fire Cave opened by the Chen Family on Golden Mist Mountain and prepared to stay there long-term.

Anyway, he had made arrangements at the "Jade Spring Tower." Apart from Zhou Ping, who would return to the family with Zhou Xuanlin, Zhou Yu and Zhou Xiong, who remained here, only needed to follow his instructions to maintain the normal operation of the "Jade Spring Tower." Even if there was something that required his attention, they could notify him using a sound transmission talisman.

As for the "Drunken Immortal Restaurant," because the Foundation Establishment celebration of the family also required entertaining some distinguished guests, the Old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan had already issued an order for Zhou Yuanchun and others to return to the family to help. The "Drunken Immortal Restaurant" would be temporarily closed for a period of time.

Earth fire is a high-temperature flame originating from underground magma, with a flame temperature much higher than the Foundation Establishment True Fire of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Moreover, it does not consume the cultivator's mana when used and never needs to worry about depletion.

Because of these advantages, ever since cultivators discovered the miraculous use of earth fire, Alchemists and Artifact Forgers with cultivation levels below the Nascent Soul Stage have abandoned True Fire in favor of Earth Fire for alchemy and artifact forging.

After all, alchemy and artifact forging are both energy-intensive tasks. If mana is also consumed to maintain True Fire during refining, it is easy to fail due to insufficient mana supply.

Especially for the refining of some high-level pills and artifacts, which take a very long time, ranging from several days to even tens of days. Over such a long period, even Golden Core Stage cultivators would be greatly depleted.

However, although Earth Fire is good, not everyone can utilize it.

First, to draw Earth Fire from underground, cultivators with a cultivation level of Purple Mansion Stage or above must personally take action. Then, it is necessary to invite a formation master of Third-tier or above to set up a suppression formation to suppress and seal the violent and fierce Earth Fire. Finally, it is necessary to invite an Artifact Forger of Third-tier or above to refine special purification artifacts to remove the poisonous fire and malevolent energy contained within the Earth Fire.

Without any one of these steps, it would be impossible to turn earth fire into something practical.

Therefore, while everyone knew the benefits of earth fire, only the major sects and large families with cultivators at the Purple Mansion Stage or higher could truly establish earth fire rooms to utilize it.

Cultivators from small families like Zhou Yang's, if they wanted to use earth fire for artifact forging or alchemy, could only do as the Rogue Cultivators did: obediently go to cultivator markets like the "Golden Sand Market" and pay spirit stones to rent the earth fire rooms opened by the Chen Family.

The Chen Family had built thirteen earth fire rooms in the earth fire caves of the "Golden Sand Market," charging spirit stones according to three grades: A, B, and C. The single A-grade earth fire room required ten low-grade spirit stones per day, the four B-grade earth fire rooms required three low-grade spirit stones per day, and the remaining C-grade earth fire rooms only required one low-grade spirit stone per day.

Zhou Yang was only forging Tier 2 Artifacts, so renting a C-grade earth fire room was more than sufficient.

Update, going to sleep! Requesting recommendation tickets, requesting investment in the new book.