MI Chapter 13 (Patreon)

Chapter 13: Life's Unending Hardships and Ill Fortune

Chen Qing was reclining lazily on a lounge chair in the shop. When the plain-faced female cultivator saw Chen Qianliu return, she smiled. "You've made this little shop far too comfortable. If you hadn't come back, I was just about to usurp your nest and lounge around for a while longer. Why would I be in a hurry to find you?"

The cultivators who spent their years at the Suiyang Immortal Market were, in fact, all very poor and had little prospect for their cultivation. If one wasn't lacking in cultivation resources and still had some ambition, who would waste their time in this place?

Chen Qing usually worried about her business and had other troubles on her mind; she rarely had a chance to relax. On the contrary, here in Chen Qianliu's place, his wooden house—designed in the style of an esports den from Earth—gave people a sense of clear breezes and bright moonlight, a feeling of returning to their youth. She felt more cheerful staying here than in her own place.

Although Chen Qianliu had a youthful appearance, he was, after all, a man of three lifetimes, and his conduct was mature. None of the cultivators at the Suiyang Immortal Market treated him as a child, only as an old monster who had retained his youth. He let out a laugh and said, "Fairy Chen doesn't visit a temple without a cause. You must be here to find me for something else."

Chen Qing hesitated for a moment, then said, "You also know that for cultivators like us with low cultivation bases, business is difficult. If we start competing with each other, I'm afraid life will become even harder for all of us."

Chen Qianliu instantly understood. He said, "The jade talisman I'm refining is for my own use."

Seeing the slight hesitation on Chen Qing's face, he knew she wasn't fully convinced. He took out the other two pieces of miscellaneous material and said, "The green jade stone I bought produced three pieces of material. One is currently being refined into an illusion-type jade talisman to replace this crude wooden staff I'm using. As for the other two pieces, if Sister Chen is interested, I can sell them to you."

Only then did Chen Qing let out a slight sigh of relief. She was in the low-level magical treasure business and was already having a hard time. If another competitor appeared, life would likely become even more difficult, which was why she had come to ask.

Chen Qianliu's willingness to sell his spare jade talisman materials clearly indicated he had no intention of becoming her competitor, which set the female cultivator's mind at ease.

Chen Qing flipped the pieces over and over, looking at them. "I'd also been watching that piece of green jade stone of Lingxiaozi's for a long time. I never thought it could produce any good-quality material. I didn't expect you to have such good luck, actually managing to snag a small bargain. I would like to buy them, but unfortunately, I don't have any spare Talisman Coins on hand."

Although Chen Qing's business was poor, she had some savings after many years, enough to buy these two pieces of material. She was just a kind-hearted person and didn't want to push things too far, which was why she had phrased it so tactfully.

Chen Qianliu's heart stirred slightly. He said, "Sister Chen, why don't you give me one of your green jade stones in exchange for these two finished pieces of material?"

Seeing the surprise on Chen Qing's face, he quickly explained, "I want to refine a protective jade talisman for myself, but as Sister Chen can see, these two pieces of material are ordinary, and the one I'm working on isn't much better. If I can trade for another piece of green jade stone, I'd like to gamble on my luck again."

Chen Qing immediately understood. Chen Qianliu wanted to refine a magical treasure for himself; of course, he would hope for it to be as good as possible. After all, a cultivator's protective magical treasure was often used for decades, or even several hundred years. If the foundation was too poor, it would have to be replaced as soon as one's cultivation base increased slightly. All the previous hard work would be wasted, which was a great pity.

Although Chen Qing didn't know if this child-like fellow had any chance of advancing his cultivation base, no one could say it was wrong for him to be so motivated. She immediately replied, "I do have a piece of green jade stone. I also wanted to refine a jade talisman from it, but I've never had the courage to break it open. Since Daoist Friend Chen wants it, I won't take advantage of you. I'll add in a piece of Hundred-Refined Steel."

The two struck a deal, and both were in high spirits. Chen Qianliu invited the female cultivator to stay a while longer, but Chen Qing politely declined. She left with the two pieces of jade material in her sleeve and, in just a short while, returned with a piece of green jade stone and a piece of Hundred-Refined Steel.

From this small detail, Chen Qianliu deduced that Chen Qing's storage magical treasure likely had a small capacity, which was why she hadn't been carrying these two heavy items with her. He was curious as to where Chen Qing might have hidden these two heavy objects, but he wasn't the type to pry into others' private affairs. He accepted the items and watched Chen Qing hurry away, a faint smile on his face. He suddenly felt a surge of excitement.

Although he didn't think the green jade stone containing the White Emperor's Legacy would be in Chen Qing's hands, having one more chance was, in any case, something to be happy about.

Chen Qianliu deliberately opened his shop and did business for three days before he found the time to cut open the piece of green jade stone from Chen Qing. This time, his luck was terrible. It only produced two pieces of low-quality material. It was a small loss.

Chen Qianliu was reluctant to let it go. He still wanted to recoup some of his losses, so he pondered for half a day and decided to use the Fire word-art to refine them. The Fire word-art was originally an offensive magical art. These two low-quality jade pieces couldn't withstand strong magical power, making it impossible to refine them into attack-type talismans like the True Fire Talisman. Even if he forced it, the power would be too weak. Chen Qianliu changed his approach, taking the light attribute of fire, and refined two Radiance Fire Talismans.

The Radiance Fire Talisman was more powerful than the True Fire Talisman and even had the wondrous effect of warding off evil. It was a high-end jade talisman. These two low-quality pieces couldn't even be refined into True Fire Talismans, so they certainly couldn't withstand the Radiance Fire Talisman. But Chen Qianliu abandoned the offensive art, stripped away the evil-warding effect, and changed its use to illumination. When activated, it would only fill the room with a dazzling, bright light.

He even deliberately adjusted the light spectrum. Although he had no proper equipment and was relying purely on his naked eye, which would surely have a large margin of error, it was still much more comfortable on the eyes than candlelight or an oil lamp.

Daoist Wuchang and Chen Qing learned that Chen Qianliu had used the Radiance Fire Talisman to refine two jade talismans that could only be used for illumination. Both of them strongly disapproved, but they both agreed to try and sell them on consignment. Each took one, treating it as a minor add-on.

Just as Daoist Wuchang and Chen Qing had expected, no one asked about these two jade talismans. Chen Qianliu was disappointed, but there was nothing he could do.

Several months passed in a flash, and it was time for the minor market again. The originally quiet Suiyang Immortal Market gradually grew lively with cultivators from all paths. These cultivators set up stalls, displaying a dazzling array of immortal and wondrous objects, which also improved the business of long-term rogue cultivators like Chen Qianliu.

Chen Qianliu's stock of talismans, which he had accumulated over this period, sold out in just two days. With no more business to do, he could only take back the two Radiance Fire Talismans to serve as window dressing. But even as the Suiyang Immortal Market grew more popular, his two talismans, purely for illumination, still attracted no inquiries. He had no choice but to switch to selling cooling tea and dried fruits, but business remained slow.

In his previous life, although Chen Qianliu had often visited Immortal Markets, he had never seriously done business. After selling cooling tea and dried fruit for two or three days, he finally realized: on Earth, restaurants, coffee shops, milk tea shops, fruit stalls, bakeries, and bun shops were everywhere...

This was a cultivation world. How could cultivators dare to casually eat things from strangers? What if someone had placed a Gu poison, a poisonous curse, or a forbidden art on it? They could be controlled by that person for the rest of their lives, never able to break free. Who would dare risk that, just for a bit of oral gratification, and eat something from a stranger?

By the time Chen Qianliu realized this, the minor market was already nearing its end and would be dispersing in another two or three days. He could only sigh helplessly, blaming himself for having no business sense.

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