Spirit Beast Hall, Uncle-Nephew Conflict

Red Cliff Market.

Early that morning, the crisp crackle of firecrackers suddenly rang out from the southeastern side of the market.

Upon hearing the sound, experienced cultivators within the market knew that another new shop had opened.

Generally speaking, only newly opened shops were permitted to make such a commotion in the market.

Otherwise, any shop or individual who caused such a disturbance within the market would ordinarily face a hefty fine or even imprisonment.

And when a new shop opened, it would, in principle, sell its goods a little cheaper for the first few days or first month in order to attract customers.

Thus, whether they were there to enjoy the spectacle or hunt for bargains, many idle cultivators in the market immediately streamed toward the new shop.

Spirit Beast Hall!

That was the name of the shop opening today.

One could tell from its name that the shop's business was surely related to demonic beasts.

At that moment, outside the shop entrance, the newly appointed shopkeeper, Zhou Jiasheng, was smiling broadly as he clasped his hands toward all directions and offered words of welcome.

"Welcome, fellow Daoists, to our shop. This old man is Zhou Jiasheng. Entrusted by the family, I serve as this shop's shopkeeper. Today is our grand opening, and all goods are being sold at a ten percent discount. Fellow Daoists, do not miss this opportunity!"

Zhou Jiasheng was sixty-two this year. Strands of white had begun to appear in his hair, and fine wrinkles lined the corners of his forehead. He no longer looked young.

He wore a small drooping mustache above his lips and always had a smile on his face, looking like a shopkeeper by nature.

The reason Zhou Daoyi had chosen him as shopkeeper was that he truly had relevant experience in the past. He possessed considerable skill at appraising all kinds of common spirit items and was unlikely to be fooled into accepting counterfeits.

As for choosing Zhou Chun as a clerk, one reason was that Zhou Chun had recently rendered repeated meritorious service and had to be rewarded.

The second was that Zhou Chun enjoyed reading and learning. His theoretical knowledge had already surpassed that of many cultivators of his generation. If he could follow Zhou Jiasheng in the shop and gain practical experience for several years, turning theory into genuine learning, he would become a great asset in the future.

At this time, hearing Zhou Jiasheng say that all goods were discounted by ten percent today, many of the cultivators who had come to watch were tempted.

At once, someone walked into the shop and called out, "Shopkeeper Zhou, what treasures does your shop sell? Judging by its name, could it be that you sell spirit pets and mounts?"

"You are correct, fellow Daoist. Our Spirit Beast Hall does indeed sell spirit beast eggs, and from time to time we will also offer domesticated demonic beast cubs for advance order."

Zhou Jiasheng nodded with a smile, confirming the matter.

But then he shifted the subject and continued, "However, our main goods are pills that raise spirit beasts' cultivation, Secret Formula Beast Repellent Medicine, Secret Formula Insect Repellent Medicine, Secret Formula Spirit Beast Rations, and similar items. We can also tailor breakthrough methods for spirit pets stuck before a bottleneck. No success, no charge!"

Having said that, he clasped his hands again and continued, "Of course, our shop will also purchase all kinds of demonic beast eggs and demonic beast cubs at fair prices, as well as all kinds of spirit herbs and ores—even information concerning certain demonic beasts!"

After hearing his words, many cultivators present immediately realized that today's bargain would not be easy to snatch up.

Spirit pets were not something just anyone could afford to raise. Even among cultivators of those Cultivation Families, fewer than two out of ten could afford one.

Since the Zhou Family's Spirit Beast Hall specialized in spirit pet supplies, what use would they have for them?

Still, since they had already come, and since Secret Formula Beast Repellent Medicine, insect repellent medicine, and other items useful when traveling outside were also for sale, these cultivators entered the shop with the intention of broadening their horizons.

Inside, Zhou Chun, dressed in a blue-gray long robe, greeted each cultivator entering the shop with a smiling clasp of his hands. He also answered the questions of those who asked.

Yet at his suggestion, slips of paper had been posted beside the various counters throughout the shop, clearly listing the general effects and prices of the relevant goods.

The custom for running a shop in this world had originally been to serve dishes according to the plate—that was, the shopkeeper and clerks kept the prices of all goods in their heads. When customers asked, they would sell at a high price whenever possible rather than a low one, while leaving room for bargaining.

But Zhou Chun knew well that this approach had both advantages and disadvantages. For a newly opened shop like Spirit Beast Hall, which needed to build its reputation and name, it offered little benefit.

Therefore, before the shop officially opened, he successfully persuaded clan chief Zhou Daoyi to put prices on every item, sell goods at the listed prices, and refuse all bargaining.

This was, in truth, opening a supermarket in the Cultivation World.

Zhou Chun did not know whether any other shops in this world had done this before.

But at the very least, he had never seen one in Red Cliff Market.

That way, even if Spirit Beast Hall's method was not readily accepted by cultivators at first, it would at least leave a deep impression on those who visited and make them remember the shop.

This had been Zhou Chun's most practical reason for persuading Zhou Daoyi.

The supermarket model also had another benefit: it reduced the need for customers to ask prices, sparing Zhou Chun, the clerk, from saying many meaningless and repetitive things.

After all, if prices were not displayed, many cultivators would first try asking for a price and haggling, regardless of whether they could afford the goods or intended to buy them.

Sure enough, many cultivators entering the shop were struck by Spirit Beast Hall's peculiar sales method, and people continuously voiced their opinions.

Some thought the inability to haggle was too outrageous, while others felt that if the prices were truly fair, it would save them a great deal of breath.

In short, there were many onlookers but few buyers.

After all, no one's spirit coins had been blown in on the wind. Unless they truly needed something immediately, most cultivators would not spend lightly.

What interested these cultivators most, instead, was Spirit Beast Hall's purchase of demonic beast eggs and demonic beast information.

Many asked about the purchase prices, while others asked whether information they knew about the whereabouts of certain demonic beasts could be sold to Spirit Beast Hall.

They even wanted to earn spirit coins from Spirit Beast Hall alone!

Fortunately, Zhou Chun had made some preparations for this as well.

For cultivators asking about demonic beast eggs and demonic beast cubs, he gave general reference prices for low-level and mid-level demonic beasts, saying that the specific price depended on their quality.

As for those asking about selling demonic beast information, Zhou Chun directly pointed to a white board inside the shop, where several pieces of demonic beast information sought by Zhou Family cultivators were currently written.

The first entry was, astonishingly, Zhou Jiapeng's request to purchase information on the whereabouts of female Iron Feather Eagles.

That's right. Most of the information on demonic beasts the Zhou Clan was purchasing was meant to locate demonic beasts suitable for breeding.

The Cultivation World was vast, and cultivators' footprints reached every corner of it. Relying on the countless cultivators out there to seek news of where certain demonic beasts appeared was naturally many times more convenient than searching alone.

And simply providing a piece of information could earn one a considerable sum of spirit coins. This also left many cultivators who visited the shop today with another deep impression of Spirit Beast Hall.

Amid the bustle, the first day finally came to an end.

Late at night, when most cultivators in the marketplace had already gone to sleep and rest, Zhou Chun was still accompanying Zhou Jiasheng as they took stock of the shop's income and expenditures for the day.

"Today, we sold three low-level demonic beast Fire Sparrowbird eggs, one low-level demonic beast Gale Eagle egg, three bottles of Beast Spirit Pills, fifty-six portions of Secret Formula Beast Repellent Medicine, thirty-two portions of Secret Formula Insect Repellent Medicine, and seventy-eight portions of Secret Formula Spirit Beast Rations... for a total income of seven hundred and fifty-six spirit coins."

"Additionally, we purchased one hundred-year-old Red Candle Fruit plant, one section of Lightning-Struck Spirit Wood, and two low-level demonic beast Red Blood Snake eggs... for a total expenditure of four hundred and thirty-nine spirit coins."

Inside the shop, after Zhou Jiasheng and Zhou Chun finished tallying the day's income and expenses, neither of them looked particularly pleased.

The opening day was precisely when customer traffic was at its greatest. It was perfectly normal for a single day to equal an entire month.

Yet their spirit coin income had not even surpassed a thousand. It truly looked rather unsightly.

There was nothing to say about the expenditures; they were all reasonable expenses.

"Zheng Chun Nephew, tell me. What do you think of today's earnings?"

Behind the counter, Zhou Jiasheng closed the account book and looked at Zhou Chun with a calm expression.

Although there was no blame in his words, Zhou Chun knew that his earlier insistence on clearly marked prices had indeed made this elder quite unhappy.

That was actually only natural.

The longer a person worked in a particular trade, and the older they became, the more easily their thinking was confined by experience—and the more self-righteous they tended to become.

In Zhou Jiasheng's eyes, no matter how much Zhou Chun had contributed to the clan or how clever he was, he was still only a young junior who had just passed twenty-five, with no experience whatsoever in running a shop.

He would have no objections to such a junior following at his side to learn how to manage a shop. He might even welcome the extra pair of hands.

But for that junior to interfere and alter the shop's business model the moment he arrived, stripping him, the shopkeeper, of his authority—

How could he not be angry?

If Zhou Chun's clearly marked prices had made today's revenue look exceptionally good—

Then even if Zhou Jiasheng felt displeased, he would not have raised any further objections.

But the first day's revenue had failed to meet expectations, falling considerably short of them, in fact.

How could Zhou Jiasheng keep the anger in his heart from spilling out?

The calmer his expression appeared now, the more it showed that the fire in his heart was burning hotter and hotter, requiring him to forcibly suppress and soothe it.

But since he had spoken up to ask, Zhou Chun still had to say what needed to be said.

He immediately cupped his hands toward him and said solemnly, "Sixteenth Uncle, in this nephew's view, although today's income fell somewhat short of expectations, it does not mean we have failed!"

"I believe Sixteenth Uncle saw and heard it yourself today. Even those customers who came into our shop without buying or selling anything held lively discussions over our clearly marked prices. I believe that if you go around the marketplace tomorrow, you will hear people talking about this everywhere."

"As word spreads from mouth to mouth, even cultivators who were not in the marketplace today will hear of Spirit Beast Hall's reputation once they arrive, and they will come out of curiosity to see whether it is true."

"With that, I believe that throughout the next month, Spirit Beast Hall will see a tide of people flowing through its doors. We need not worry about a lack of customers."

"And once there are more customers, some of them will naturally need the goods in our shop. When the time comes, it will be perfectly normal for them to pick up a few items while they are here."

"Therefore, this nephew believes that one day's income alone proves nothing."

Yet after he finished this impassioned speech, what he saw was the cold smile Zhou Jiasheng could no longer conceal.

I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying! If nothing unexpected happens, the desert should update its final chapter tomorrow!