Monetizing

When Qin Huaian returned to his cave abode, it was already night. He took stock of the items in his space.

He had 64 spirit stones left. Over the past month, he had traded ores for more than 180 spirit stones, while the Mirror Body's cultivation had consumed 120. There were nearly twenty thousand jin of Red Copper Ore in the space, along with two fist-sized pieces of Red Copper Essence.

Ore could not increase his cultivation; it had to be converted into spirit stones.

Besides, the original owner had focused solely on raising his cultivation and had not learned any combat techniques or spells.

Of course, the original owner could not be entirely blamed. Within Cloudfield Market and the surrounding tens of thousands of li, the Yellow Mountain Sword Sect stood head and shoulders above all others. Under its restraint, the smaller sects and clans had little conflict and the region was relatively peaceful.

Among low-level cultivators, aside from those who regularly hunted demonic beasts for a living—especially unaffiliated cultivators—most simply cultivated their techniques to raise their realms and did not spend energy learning combat skills.

Unaffiliated cultivators already tended to have mediocre aptitude. Most learned a few simple skills related to the hundred arts of cultivation to make a living. Earning cultivation resources and improving their cultivation took up most of their time, leaving them little energy to study combat skills.

This had also left a great many low-level unaffiliated cultivators lacking in combat experience.

Ever since he had been robbed by the mine tyrant right after transmigrating, Qin Huaian had firmly believed that he needed means of self-defense. Merely raising his cultivation realm would definitely not take him far.

There were several minor spells recorded in the latter half of the Azure Splendor Art booklet the original owner had obtained. Yet the original owner had only cultivated the foundational technique and had not practiced the minor spells afterward.

With a thought, the Azure Splendor Art appeared in Qin Huaian's hand. Opening the booklet, he found three spells recorded in the back: the Fireball Technique, Spirit Eye Technique, and Dust-Cleansing Technique.

The Fireball Technique could circulate spiritual power and condense a fireball to attack. The stronger the spiritual power, the greater the fireball's might. This spell was not bad; it could serve as an offensive method.

The Spirit Eye Technique could reveal the realm of cultivators no higher than himself. That was quite practical too.

The Dust-Cleansing Technique could remove dust from one's body and clothes. How should he put it? A divine art for bathing and washing clothes.

He would first try cultivating the Fireball Technique. In his heart, he silently recited, "Deduce the Fireball Technique."

[Consume 20 spirit stones. The Mirror Body can deduce the Fireball Technique to the Beginner level, requiring 1 hour; consume 40 spirit stones to halve the time required.]

"Consume 20 spirit stones. Deduce it to the Beginner level."

An hour later, he had already understood the spiritual power circulation route of the Fireball Technique. He opened the panel:

Cultivation: Qi Refining (Level 2, 41/100)

Technique: Azure Splendor Art (Mastery 1/100, can be deduced)

Fireball Technique (Beginner 1/100, can be deduced)

Qin Huaian tried condensing a fireball in his palm. A single fireball could consume at most five percent of the spiritual power within his body. The more spiritual power it consumed, the greater its might, but correspondingly, the longer it took to condense.

For example, condensing only a small cluster of ordinary flame could be done instantly and consumed little spiritual power. But condensing a fireball containing five percent of his body's spiritual power would take roughly the time of one breath. One breath was already rather long in combat.

He needed to continue deducing it. There was only one way: burn money!

Early the next morning, Qin Huaian headed straight for the inner city.

He did not go to Rosy Cloud Pavilion. Instead, he went to a shop called Precious Splendor Tower, one of the larger Dharma Artifact shops in Cloudfield Market. It specialized in Dharma Artifacts, refining materials, and the like.

"Fellow Daoist, is there anything you need to buy?" As soon as he entered Precious Splendor Tower, a pretty female cultivator came forward and asked with a smile.

"I would like to sell some refining materials."

"This way, please. Have a seat and wait a moment. I'll call our appraiser." The female cultivator led Qin Huaian into a small partitioned room to the side and had him sit down. Every customer selling items conducted business in such rooms to protect their privacy.

Qin Huaian was not worried about some scenario where a powerful shop bullied its customers or became greedy at the sight of wealth. On one hand, the Yellow Mountain Sword Sect's territory was relatively peaceful, and such large shops valued their reputations. On the other hand, the shop handled a huge volume of transactions every day. His little bit of goods was not worth coveting.

A moment later, the female cultivator led a white-bearded old man into the room. The old man had white hair and a youthful face, his spirit brimming with vigor. He rather matched Qin Huaian's image of an immortal cultivator.

"This is Master Nangong of our shop. Fellow Daoist, please let the master examine the materials you wish to sell."

Qin Huaian took out the two pieces of Red Copper Essence and placed them on the table. Before leaving, he had already taken them from the Seed Space.

The old man held them in his hands and examined them for a while before saying, "Red Copper Essence, with very high purity. The purchase price is 160 low-grade spirit stones per jin. What do you think, young friend?"

"As Master Nangong says." Qin Huaian cupped his hands.

"Good. Luo Yan, calculate the spirit stones for this young friend."

After weighing them, the female cultivator smiled at Qin Huaian. "The two pieces of Red Copper Essence weigh a total of 53 jin and 6 liang, for a total of 8,576 low-grade spirit stones. Do you have anything else to sell, Fellow Daoist?"

"No. What prices does your shop offer for storage bags?" Qin Huaian decided to buy a storage bag to make it easier to sell ore later.

"A low-grade Storage Bag costs 1,000 low-grade spirit stones, an Intermediate Storage Bag costs 10,000 low-grade spirit stones, and a high-grade Storage Bag costs 100,000 low-grade spirit stones."

"Please get me a low-grade Storage Bag."

"Certainly. Please wait a moment."

A moment later, the female cultivator returned and handed him a storage bag. "Your 7,576 low-grade spirit stones are all inside the storage bag. Please keep it safe."

"Thank you." Qin Huaian accepted the storage bag, sent spiritual power into it to inspect it, and confirmed that everything was correct. Qi Refining Stage cultivators could not project their divine sense outward, but they could infuse spiritual power into a storage bag to retrieve and store items.

Qin Huaian examined the low-grade Storage Bag. Its interior was less than one and a half meters in length, width, and height, with approximately three cubic meters of space. Its capacity was quite considerable. Of course, it could not compare to his Seed Space.

As he walked out of Precious Splendor Tower, Qin Huaian looked calm on the surface, but inwardly, he was thrilled. Finally, he would not have to count spirit stones three or five at a time anymore. Make spirit stones, keep making spirit stones—the feeling of having money was amazing!

Qin Huaian was not worried that selling ore would arouse anyone's suspicions. He had already seen quite a few stalls on the streets selling ore, and the amount he was selling was negligible to a shop. It was not even enough to buy a better Storage Bag.

As far as Qin Huaian knew, when these shops bought items—whether spirit herbs, ores, or demonic beast materials—they generally did not ask where they came from.

The only thing he needed to worry about was flaunting his wealth and making someone greedy. Selling to these large shops was precisely to prevent that. Large shops generally had good reputations and better confidentiality. It was rare for them to leak customer information.

Qin Huaian quietly placed most of the spirit stones and the Storage Bag into the Seed Space, leaving only some spirit stones on his person.

He still needed to buy some pills. This place was not on the same street as Rosy Cloud Pavilion; they were nearly ten li apart. As Qin Huaian walked, he devoted a portion of his attention to the Seed Space.

"Deduce the Fireball Technique."

[Consume 40 spirit stones. The Mirror Body can deduce the Fireball Technique to the Mastery level, requiring 2 hours; consume 80 spirit stones to halve the time required.]

"Consume 40 spirit stones to deduce it." Qin Huaian did not choose to accelerate it. He was not short on one hour, and spirit stones were hard to earn.

"Greetings, Shopkeeper Xue." Qin Huaian entered Rosy Cloud Pavilion and greeted Shopkeeper Xue.

"Young friend Qin, you're here. Have you gone out gathering herbs lately? I haven't seen you for quite some time." Shopkeeper Xue responded with a smile.

"I have not been searching for medicinal herbs lately. I went to the Red Copper Vein of the Yellow Mountain Sword Sect to mine."

"Haha, not bad, not bad. I hear that vein's output has been very high lately. Moreover, the Yellow Mountain Sword Sect is no longer increasing the number of miners, so many people are looking to buy mining work permits. The transfer fee for a single permit can sell for 500 spirit stones."

Qin Huaian was slightly surprised. Was it really this popular? The clerk beside him, Wang Gui, also cast him a trace of envious gaze.

"Haha, I was simply lucky. I signed up some time ago."

"Shopkeeper Xue, I came this time to buy some pills. I want twenty bottles of Grain-Repelling Pills, two bottles of Qi Recovery Pills, and one Essence Cultivation Pill."

"Young friend Qin, are you planning to stay in the mining area long-term?" Shopkeeper Xue asked with a smile.

"Going back and forth is rather troublesome. While the Red Copper Ore is bringing in good income, I want to save up some more spirit stones."

"Wang Gui, fetch the pills for young friend Qin." Shopkeeper Xue instructed.

A moment later, Wang Gui handed over several pill bottles and said expressionlessly, "Twenty bottles of Grain-Repelling Pills, 10 spirit stones; two bottles of Qi Recovery Pills, 200 spirit stones; one Essence Cultivation Pill, 100 spirit stones. Total: 310 spirit stones."

Is mining really that profitable? Even if it is, he can't squander money like this. He's even using Qi Recovery Pills. What a spendthrift! Wang Gui grumbled inwardly.

Ignoring Wang Gui's tone, Qin Huaian checked the items and, after confirming they were correct, lined up the spirit stones on the counter. He turned and cupped his hands toward Shopkeeper Xue. "Then I shall take my leave first."

"Good, good. Come again next time."

Qi Recovery Pills could rapidly restore spiritual power and could also be used for cultivation. Cultivating with spirit stones would lead to bottlenecks; it was not as though an unlimited supply of spirit stones could raise one's cultivation without limit. However, cultivating with Qi Recovery Pills could, so long as one's aptitude was not too poor, pile one's way up to the Late Qi Refinement Realm through pills.

Of course, this method required a vast quantity of Qi Recovery Pills, far exceeding the consumption of cultivating with spirit stones. Even major sects and great clans would not allow their disciples to cultivate this way. Besides, disciples of major sects generally had excellent aptitude, while those with poor aptitude found it difficult to enter in the first place. Their normal cultivation speed was already very fast.

Essence Cultivation Pills were healing pills and were highly effective for Qi Refining Stage cultivators.

Leaving Rosy Cloud Pavilion, Qin Huaian turned and headed toward Cloudfield Market's largest trading house—Hall of Myriad Treasures.