After leaving the Pill Pavilion, Su Yun strolled leisurely along the market streets.
The streets teemed with people, and hawkers' cries rang out without pause.
He had no hurry to return to the Azure Cloud Sect.
With plenty of spirit stones on hand, he decided to wander wherever he pleased.
As he scanned the stalls on either side, he walked and quietly planned his next move.
For now, he would have to put alchemy on hold.
The three hundred bottles of premium pills he had just sold were far too many.
It would take the entire Azure Cloud Market a long time to absorb them.
Scarcity made things precious.
If he kept selling premium pills in bulk over a short period,
supply would outstrip demand.
The price of pills would inevitably be driven down.
That would cost him more than it was worth—sheer foolishness.
He couldn't put all his eggs in one basket.
Alchemy could wait.
So what should he do next to make money?
Su Yun's eyes flickered slightly. He already had an answer.
Talisman-making.
Talismans were one of the hard currencies of the cultivation world.
Like pills, they were always in demand.
Low-level cultivators relied on them to fight, defend themselves, travel, and explore Secret Realms.
They couldn't do without talismans.
Setting fires, controlling water, riding the wind, shielding the body, blasting things apart—
there were countless varieties, with an enormous range of uses.
For killing, escaping, dueling, and adventuring, they were indispensable.
They were consumed in great quantities, and the rate of repeat purchases was astonishing.
What's more, the barrier to making talismans was very low.
It didn't require profound cultivation.
As long as one had enough spiritual power, steady control, and knew how to draw runes, one could get started.
Ordinary people could do it, Rogue Cultivators could do it, and low-level cultivators could do it too.
Talisman-making was difficult for others because runes were easy to draw incorrectly, spiritual power was hard to control evenly, and lines could break.
But he was different.
He had Thousandfold Amplification.
His spiritual power was amplified, his comprehension was amplified, and his control was amplified.
Others might spend half a day drawing one useless talisman.
He could probably make one a minute—and every one would be high quality.
Power, appearance, purity—
his talismans would utterly outclass the ordinary ones on the market.
It was another steady, wildly profitable line of business.
Su Yun walked along with a smile.
Without realizing it, he seemed to have become addicted to making money.
His cultivation was clearly surging, and his strength growing ever greater.
Yet he just couldn't stop himself from wanting to save spirit stones, stockpile resources, and build up capital.
Most likely, the money-making instinct carved into the bones of Chinese people had awakened in him.
What could he do?
It was a habit he'd formed growing up.
Without savings, his heart would never be at ease.
And that was even more true in the cruel cultivation world.
People always said that cultivation was about longevity, enlightenment, and transcendence.
Nonsense.
In his eyes,
the first priority of cultivation would always be money.
As the old saying went: wealth, companions, techniques, and a place to practice.
Wealth came first.
Without resources, everything else was empty talk.
Low-level cultivators needed money for medicine, talismans, and magic weapons.
Mid-level cultivators needed money to venture into Secret Realms, buy spiritual materials, and improve their techniques.
Even those lofty Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation bigwigs needed vast quantities of spirit stones to keep their sects running, set up mountain-protecting formations, and stockpile heavenly treasures.
No one could get around the question of money.
In his view, the cultivation world was essentially a mortal realm, only magnified.
The major sects were giant corporations.
The sect master was the chairman.
The elders were senior management.
Inner disciples were full-time employees.
Outer disciples were interns.
Servant disciples were the bottom-rung laborers.
Everyone had their own role.
Disciples worked for the sect, fought, completed missions, and gathered resources.
The sect paid them in stipends, pills, and cultivation techniques.
The people at the bottom produced resources to support those above them.
The more powerful the elites became, the better they could protect the sect.
And the more stable the sect, the more comfortable life was for those at the bottom.
It sounded mutually beneficial.
Strip away the outer layer, and it was exploitation.
The disciples at the bottom worked themselves to the bone, day after day.
Most of the resources were concentrated in the hands of the elites.
Low-level cultivators struggled and clawed their way through life.
Only a rare few defied fate and changed their lot.
The vast majority became stepping stones.
The only difference was that this exploitation wore the robes of cultivation, instruction, and sect loyalty.
It sounded righteous and respectable, dressed up in fine words.
Without some benefit in it, who would bother founding a sect?
One could cultivate alone, free and unburdened.
Why take charge of tens of thousands of disciples?
Why fret over countless trivial matters?
It was nothing more than this: more people meant more resources and greater strength.
An individual's strength was limited.
A sect's strength was boundless.
The elites used resources accumulated by those below them to grow stronger quickly.
Then they used that formidable power to suppress external enemies and protect the sect.
A closed loop.
A perfect closed loop.
Having thought it all through,
Su Yun felt no disturbance in his heart. Instead, he was even clearer-eyed.
That was why he had to have money and keep stockpiling resources.
He had to pave his own way.
Azure Cloud Market.
The streets were crisscrossed, and the crowds were dense and disorderly.
Su Yun deliberately turned into a secluded, quiet alley.
Tall walls rose on both sides, and weeds grew wild. Few cultivators passed through.
The only sound in the silence was the rustling of weeds in the wind.
After making sure no one was watching,
Su Yun's fingers twitched, and spiritual power quietly stirred.
He activated the Breath Concealment Art and Disguise Technique together.
His aged, wrinkled skin tightened before his eyes.
His stooped back slowly straightened.
His head of gray-white hair turned into short, jet-black locks.
A moment later,
a completely different person walked out of the alley.
He looked to be in his thirties, with an ordinary face and unremarkable features.
He wore dark clothes, stood tall and straight, and carried himself with a calm, restrained air.
His cultivation was still at the sixth level of Qi Refining.
Su Yun raised a hand and felt his cheek.
He had no choice but to be cautious.
Wang Fugui had been respectful and smooth in his dealings.
But people's hearts were hard to read.
A transaction worth more than fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones was enough to stir everyone's greed in the market.
Who could guarantee that Wang Fugui wouldn't secretly send people to follow him?
One must not harm others, but one must always guard against harm from others.
In the cultivation world, caution could never go wrong.
A careful sailor could sail for ten thousand years.
One more layer of disguise meant one more safeguard for his life.
With his appearance changed, Su Yun set off from the alley again, his expression calm.
He headed straight for the various material shops around the market.
He planned to buy talisman-making materials in bulk.
Yellow talisman paper, cinnabar spirit ink, demon-beast blood sand, talisman brushes, spirit sandalwood...
There were many kinds of low-level talisman materials.
With his current cultivation at the sixth level of Qi Refining,
he could draw Blazing Fire Talismans, Wind Travel Talismans, Shield Talismans, Explosion Talismans, and Sharp Metal Talismans.
These five low-level talismans were of moderate difficulty, sold best, and were most in demand among Rogue Cultivators.
If he was going to do it, he would do it to the fullest.
Su Yun walked into the first talisman-material shop.
He didn't pick, choose, or ask the price.
He bought every last material in the shop's inventory.
The owner grinned from ear to ear.
Then came the second shop.
He swept up all its stock too.
The third, the fourth...
Su Yun spent freely and without hesitation.
With a wave of his hand, he would lay down a thousand low-grade spirit stones, paying without delay.
Spirit stones clinked as they flowed out like water.
Every shop owner looked at Su Yun as if he were the God of Wealth himself.
They bowed and scraped, treating him with utmost respect.
A big customer who cleared out an entire shop's inventory in one go was the sort one might not see even once in a whole month.
In less than an hour,
Su Yun had visited more than half of the market's material shops.
He had thrown down nearly twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones.
His storage bag was packed with thick stacks of yellow talisman paper, jars of bright red spirit ink, and fine wolf-hair talisman brushes.
The quantity of materials was enormous.
It was enough for him to work without sleep and draw several thousand low-level talismans.
His assets had shrunk, but Su Yun didn't care.
He had to be willing to spend capital if he wanted to make more.
Before long, this investment would earn him back several times over.