Selling Medicinal Herbs

Aside from the fact that martial arts lineages and martial forces occupied and possessed more martial resources themselves,

it also had something to do with one's innate foundation.

The marriage partners of martial arts lineages generally possessed martial arts foundations as well. If both parents had decent martial arts foundations, their children's aptitude would be far stronger than that of ordinary people.

This was also what left many ordinary people helpless, with no way around it. Many people were born already leaving ordinary people far behind in innate foundation and aptitude, even setting aside their family resources.

Lin Fan's predecessor had also come from a collateral branch of a prominent family in the capital. A fifth-grade martial arts foundation was not especially good, but neither was it poor.

By noon, Lin Fan and the villagers of the hunting party arrived at the town gates, pushing carts piled high with goods.

After a brief interrogation by the guards, the customary queue inspection, and the payment of some entrance fees,

the group slowly pushed their handcarts through the gates.

The town had nearly a hundred thousand residents, and each gate saw a great many people entering and leaving. There were burly men carrying unknown goods on their backs; lean woodcutters with dark, sun-baked skin, shouldering two full loads of firewood; old men pushing carts of charcoal; elegant young masters in green robes with swords at their waists; and wealthy people being carried past the gates in sedan chairs.

Fortunately, guards maintained order, so no chaos broke out. Once inside the town, the streets were broad, and pedestrians and carts transporting goods flowed by without end.

Though he had already absorbed his predecessor's memories, Lin Fan still found it all rather astonishing. It was as though he had arrived at some novel scenic attraction, looking here and there.

There were many shops along both sides of the street.

There were pill shops, bookstores, weapon shops, painting shops, food shops, and some whose business he could not even identify.

Although this was not one of those immortal cultivation and qi-refining worlds from novels in his previous life, martial arts cultivation in this world still required medicinal pills.

His predecessor had some understanding of them. Certain medicinal herbs were combined in prescribed proportions with other ingredients and refined into pellets, which had many uses.

Some could increase a martial artist's cultivation speed. Some could increase a martial artist's strength or explosive power, while others increased endurance. There were also antidote pills and all manner of strange and unusual medicinal pills.

With the Cultivation Effect Doubling System, which doubled his cultivation effects by consuming silver, Lin Fan had far less need for those pills. After all, rather than spending silver to buy pills that increased cultivation speed, it was better to recharge that silver into the system and use it to activate the doubled cultivation effect.

There were also bookstores. The technique books Lin Fan had previously asked Wang Su and the others to bring back had been bought from such shops.

Their prices were not exorbitant, but neither were they cheap. A little over one tael of silver was enough to cover half a month's wages for an ordinary person at the bottom of society.

In truth, the cost of producing books was not very high. But for ordinary people to copy books and sell them in this world was absolutely forbidden.

The bookstores lining the streets all had permits from the government and imperial court, and were run by various factions, or even by the authorities themselves.

Without government permission, privately selling books on martial arts cultivation methods would bring extremely severe punishment if discovered. It was like the salt and iron trade in ancient Blue Star during his previous life—if ordinary people involved themselves in it, the consequences of being caught by the authorities would be grave.

The reason the Zhao Kingdom allowed these bookstores to sell basic martial arts books was not only to earn a sum of silver through them, but also to discover martial arts talent for use by the court and the nation.

However, they only sold basic cultivation methods and techniques. As for cultivation methods beyond the Bone Tempering Realm, either the prices were so high as to be unacceptable, or one could only obtain them by joining a martial force or the authorities.

Following Uncle Wang and the others through twists and turns and across several streets, they arrived at one of the Su Family's shops. This was also where Uncle Wang and the others often sold their prey.

The Su Family itself had a great demand for game meat, and it also ran many shop businesses. Once they sold off their goods early, they could return sooner. If they set up a roadside stall and sold things one by one, they would likely have to spend the night at an inn in town by the time darkness fell.

Not only would that delay them, it would also cost an extra sum for the inn.

It was Lin Fan's first time coming here.

After entering, they were received by a maidservant.

"Do you buy medicinal herbs here as well?"

Inside the antique and elegant shop, a maidservant stood behind the counter as though she had stepped out of an ancient painting.

"Young master, are you looking to sell medicinal herbs? Our shop can purchase them."

Lin Fan called for Uncle Wang to first carry down the medicinal herbs from the cart and place them inside the shop.

Removing the straw and leaves covering them, he took out the herbs one by one and laid them across the counter,

until they filled more than half of it.

"Young master, please wait a moment. There are quite a lot of medicinal herbs, so allow me to report this upstairs."

After glancing over the herbs a few times, the maidservant ran upstairs.

Before long,

a figure came downstairs following the maidservant.

"This is Miss Su Qingwei of our Su Family. Young master, you may discuss the matter with her."

After giving Lin Fan a slight gesture of acknowledgment, the maidservant stepped aside.

Looking at the medicinal herbs covering the counter, Su Qingwei saw a young man in green robes standing in the shop, tall and straight as jade. Though his appearance seemed ordinary, his temperament was as gentle as polished jade, and his entire bearing possessed an indescribable uprightness.

Relying on her sharp intuition, Su Qingwei concluded that this young master certainly possessed martial cultivation, and that it was not low. At the very least, he was in the Late Skin Tempering Realm.

Moreover, the youth did not appear old. He was about the same age as she was, yet his cultivation was already so high. His talent could be considered quite good. She herself was only in the Mid Skin Tempering Realm.

He lacked the ostentatious and sharp-edged air common to martial arts experts. His temperament was gentle, and at first glance, one might mistake him for a scholarly young master well-read in poetry and books, making people instinctively feel close to him.

Those eyes of his revealed an indescribable depth and calmness. Looking into them, one could not help but sink into their depths.

At that thought, Su Qingwei's evaluation of Lin Fan rose considerably.

"I heard that you wish to sell a large quantity of medicinal herbs, young master. I can make the decision to purchase them at eighty percent of the market selling price. Would you be willing?"

Eighty percent of the market selling price was eighty percent of the price listed in Lin Fan's medicinal herb catalogue. The prices in that catalogue were what consumers would pay in the market to buy such herbs.

The Su Family shop's offer of eighty percent exceeded Lin Fan's expectations somewhat. According to his predecessor's memories, ordinary shops generally bought medicinal herbs for around sixty or seventy percent of the market price.

After all, such shops also had costs such as rent and labor. Storing and maintaining medicinal herbs also required expenses, and there was no telling how long it would take before they were all sold. Eighty percent was already a very fair price.

"Alright. Then I'll have to trouble Miss Su to take stock of them. I'll sell them all."

Lin Fan took out all the remaining medicinal herbs from the herb basket.

Dressed in an elegant, plain skirt, Su Qingwei stepped behind the counter, bringing with her a faint, almost imperceptible fragrance unique to a young girl.

She extended jade-like hands, white and flawless as scallion stalks. With light, practiced movements, she inspected and registered the herbs one by one. The ornamental bracelet on her wrist collided softly as she moved, producing crisp, tinkling sounds.

The young girl had a lovely face, brows like distant mountains, and a slender figure. Her plain-colored clothes further accentuated her cool, noble temperament. She possessed both a faint sense of distance and the warmth of a girl next door.

After staring blankly for a while, Lin Fan hurriedly looked away.