Sales Pitch

Zhou Ye knew Gao Xian was short on money, and a few dozen Low-grade Spirit Stones meant little to him.

By comparison, Deer Antler Powder mattered far more.

A top-grade pill like this was hard to buy even if you had money.

Gao Xian wasn't surprised by Zhou Ye's choice. He'd waited all night so the old man could get a better feel for Deer Antler Powder's effects.

He smiled at the old man. "Thank you, Uncle Zhou."

Zhou Ye beamed. "Deer Antler Powder is a pretty low-end product, after all. How about this: give me a thousand packets, and that'll be enough."

Ordinary Deer Antler Powder went for forty packets to a Spirit Stone.

The old man had been fairly generous to Gao Xian, offering him double the usual price.

Gao Xian smiled too. "Uncle Zhou, the Deer Antler Powder I make uses a special formula. You've tried it yourself. I'm not bragging when I say that dozens of packets of the ordinary stuff wouldn't be as effective as one of mine..."

Gao Xian argued his case. A thousand packets of Deer Antler Powder wouldn't be hard for him to make, but that wasn't how business was done.

Zhou Yuling had been very good to him, but she was one person and her father was another. He couldn't lump them together.

When you did business, you had to understand what business meant. Zhou Ye was talking profits, so if Gao Xian brought up personal favors, he'd be acting like a fool.

Zhou Ye wasn't offended. He'd thrown out a sky-high price, so he had to let Gao Xian bargain him down.

Gao Xian smiled. "Uncle Zhou, I have a proposal. I'll give you exclusive rights to sell all my Deer Antler Powder. I'll only charge you the cost price: ten packets for one Low-grade Spirit Stone."

"Hm?" Zhou Ye was a little puzzled by Gao Xian's sudden change of subject.

"Uncle Zhou, you've tried the Deer Antler Powder yourself. I won't say it's unmatched anywhere in the world, but here in little Flying Horse Market, it's a peerless spirit pill.

"There are six or seven thousand male cultivators in Flying Horse Market. Even if just one in ten needs it, they could go through six or seven hundred packets a day..."

Gao Xian drew on twenty years of experience persuading customers. He bombarded Zhou Ye with talk of markets, demand, consumption, quality, monopolies, and every other term he could think of.

Zhou Ye had never heard any of this before. Though he was an experienced man, Gao Xian's pitch still got his blood racing.

It was true. Deer Antler Powder had a huge market, and its superior quality meant it had no competition!

According to Gao Xian's calculations, this was a massive market worth as much as twenty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones a year.

Zhou Ye knew Gao Xian was exaggerating, but even if he only earned a tenth of that, he'd still clear two thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones a year.

The more Zhou Ye thought about it, the more he felt the business would make a fortune. He had to go for it!

In the end, Zhou Ye and Gao Xian reached an agreement. Zhou Ye would teach Gao Xian the True Yang Spear, while Gao Xian would give him exclusive rights to sell Deer Antler Powder as tuition. From then on, Gao Xian would supply Zhou Ye with at least a thousand packets each month, with payment due at the end of the month.

At Gao Xian's insistence, they added another condition: he could stay at the Zhou Family's home for a few days.

With the terms settled, both Zhou Ye and Gao Xian were delighted.

"The True Yang Spear condenses a man's innate yang energy into a spear through spiritual intent."

Zhou Ye gave a meaningful smile. "Do you know where a man's yang energy is strongest?"

Gao Xian hadn't understood at first, but when he saw the old man's leering smile, he suddenly got it. "There."

Zhou Ye explained the True Yang Spear in detail. He even brought out a scroll showing a long, golden, gleaming spear that looked mighty and imposing.

It was the visualization image for the True Yang Spear. Combined with the hand seals, incantations, and talismans, it formed a complete secret art.

After explaining it once, Zhou Ye gave the scroll to Gao Xian and hurried off to open his shop.

Gao Xian took the scroll back to the East Wing Room. He spent the whole day studying it, and the more he thought about the secret art, the more it seemed a little indecent.

That evening, after mooching dinner at the Zhou Family's home, Gao Xian asked Zhou Ye to clear up a few things about the True Yang Spear that he hadn't understood.

Zhou Ye took his responsibilities seriously and patiently explained each point, leaving Gao Xian with a great deal to think about.

Back in the bedroom of the East Wing Room, Gao Xian practiced the True Yang Spear for a while. With Sister Lan helping him condense talismans deep between his brows, he quickly found his rhythm.

When he emerged from his cultivation state, Gao Xian took out the Wind and Moon Mirror. Sure enough, the skill list on its back now included the True Yang Spear.

True Yang Spear: Condenses yang energy and spiritual sense into an invisible spear that can repel evil aura (1/10 Beginner).

All the abilities manifested on the back of the Wind and Moon Mirror could be upgraded with Humanity Aura.

Gao Xian had gained some experience by now. One look at the points needed to upgrade the True Yang Spear told him it was a very low-level spell.

Well, it was on the same level as Deer Antler Powder. At least it could repel evil, and that was enough.

Looking at his Humanity Aura, he saw that Zhou Yuling's contribution had brought it up to a whopping seventy-eight points.

What was he waiting for? He immediately spent the points to upgrade it.

Ten points of Humanity Aura brought the True Yang Spear to Proficient Level. But upgrading it again would take twenty points.

That was different from the points needed to upgrade Deer Antler Powder.

He spent another twenty points of Humanity Aura, bringing it to Mastery Level. The next upgrade would cost forty points.

Gao Xian looked at the more than forty points of Humanity Aura he had left, gritted his teeth, and spent them all. The True Yang Spear rose to Expert Level.

In his experience, reaching Mastery Level in a skill already put you ahead of eighty percent of your peers.

Expert Level, meanwhile, brought a fundamental transformation.

Inside the Wind and Moon Mirror, Sister Lan formed a hand seal and silently recited an incantation. A crimson spear appeared before her.

As she cast the spell, the crimson spear suddenly thrust forward.

A fierce heat flared between Gao Xian's brows. It felt as if an invisible, scorching spear had pierced through his mind. His spirit jolted, and many memories of practicing the True Yang Spear flooded into his mind.

It was quite a while before Gao Xian opened his eyes.

Once he had fully absorbed those memories, it felt as if he'd practiced the spell for twenty or thirty years. He had completely mastered all its fine techniques and gained an extraordinarily deep understanding of the True Yang Spear.

The room was dim, yet he could make out the shape of the teacup on the table. A moment ago, he certainly wouldn't have been able to.

Had upgrading the True Yang Spear to Expert Level improved his eyesight?

No. The smell of tanned animal hide wafting from next door had grown stronger, and he could even faintly sense each wisp of scent drifting through the air like smoke.

The little, shabby bedroom had suddenly come into sharp focus.

The True Yang Spear must have enhanced his spiritual sense—in other words, his mental power—making his awareness keener and his reactions faster. This, in turn, had sharpened his eyes, nose, ears, and other senses.

With stronger spiritual sense, he could take in more information and analyze and understand it faster. That was what had brought about these obvious changes.

How could he describe the feeling? It was like upgrading to a VIP membership and going from a blurry 480p picture straight to 1080p.

Details he hadn't noticed before were now clear to his eyes and senses.

That was why his surroundings had suddenly taken on such vivid definition.

For this benefit alone, upgrading the True Yang Spear had been worth it.

Gao Xian wasn't a military buff, but even his limited knowledge of warfare told him that intelligence came first.

Sun Tzu had said it long ago: Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

Knowing what your enemy was up to let you calmly plan your strategy and win.

The boost to his mental power had sharpened his six senses, allowing him to gather more and richer information.

In battle, that would translate into a tremendous advantage.

The Expert-level True Yang Spear was quite powerful, too. The invisible spear, formed from spiritual sense and yang energy, didn't just dispel evil aura; it could also attack an enemy's spirit—or, to put it another way, their mind and consciousness.

Gao Xian formed a hand seal. Deep between his brows, Sister Lan condensed a talisman, and a crimson spear took shape within him.

Whenever he wished, he could send that invisible spear thrusting out with a thought.

The True Yang Spear was strongest within five zhang. Beyond that, its power gradually diminished. Its maximum range was ten zhang.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a suitable target to test the power of the Expert-level True Yang Spear.

When he opened the Wind and Moon Mirror, he saw that its description of the True Yang Spear had changed as well.

True Yang Spear: Condenses spiritual sense with yang energy to forge an invisible spear that can frighten the spirit and dispel Evil Spirits (1/80 Expert).

Gao Xian noticed that the description had changed. The addition of "frighten the spirit" meant the True Yang Spear could affect cultivators, too.

Intuition told him the Expert-level True Yang Spear would be enough to shake a cultivator like Old Wang.

Old Wang had a formidable sword art, but his vital energy and spirit were weak. He probably wouldn't be able to resist a spell that struck directly at the spirit.

Of course, that was only a guess. He'd need to test its true power in a real fight.

The best thing about the True Yang Spear was that it was invisible. With Sister Lan condensing the talisman inside him, he could unleash the spell in an instant to frighten his enemies.

As he formed the True Yang Spear, Gao Xian felt the scorching, spear-like yang energy between his brows, and a powerful sense of security welled up inside him.

The wisp of evil aura that had been tormenting him seemed to have been completely driven away by the fierce yang energy radiating from the True Yang Spear.

Gao Xian put the True Yang Spear away and let out a long, satisfied breath. At last, he'd dealt with the evil aura that had been clinging to him!

Tonight, he could finally sleep in peace!