Happy Cooperation

Whenever someone needed to be dispatched regularly to Yuanling City, and particularly someone who could be directly told about it even though he was an outsider, the first possibility that came to mind for Yuan Bi—who, as the head of the family, had long managed the Yuan family's business affairs—was that this person had come to do trade.

Lin Xiao nodded in agreement and said:

"Exactly so. Our sect is small and modest in scale, and we wish to expand a little, but our resources are thin. We had no choice but to find ways to open up new sources of income."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Bi was silent for a moment, then carefully chose his words and said:

"Might I ask what kind of business your sect intends to pursue? If there is an opportunity, perhaps we could even explore working together?"

He had also thought that Lin Xiao bringing this up of his own accord might well carry some intention of seeking cooperation with the Yuan family—after all, if one were to develop ventures in Yuanling City, having proper cooperation with the Yuan family would undoubtedly be highly advantageous.

Then Lin Xiao gave a modest smile and said:

"Thank you for your kind consideration, Clan Head Yuan. Our sect's resources are meager, and starting some truly unique business is beyond us. However, in our region there are quite a few small sects and clans that band together for mutual support. It is no easy matter for them to travel far, yet they still have needs, and they also have some goods to offer.

"So our sect thought we might act as intermediaries, running errands on their behalf and earning a bit of hard-earned money. That can count as an income of sorts."

When he finished speaking, Yuan Bi nodded in understanding.

He had no intention of pressing further or investigating where Lin Xiao's sect was specifically located.

After all, for those small sects that could easily be wiped out, their mountain gate's location was more or less a private matter.

There were many such small sects and clans dwelling in seclusion.

It was just that not many came to Yuanling City to do business.

Because compared to other cities in the Southern Spirit Domain, Yuanling City was still rather remote. Rather than come to Yuanling City to trade, it made more sense to travel a bit further to another city, or else they were simply closer to somewhere else altogether.

"Then this works out quite conveniently. We also have a few lines of trade for basic goods. If you are willing, Fellow Daoist, we could sit down and discuss the details."

Yuan Bi made the decision on the spot.

The fact that he could decide so quickly was only partly due to the goodwill built from the matter involving the clan ancestor.

The more important reason was that, recently, several major supply lines for basic goods in Yuanling City had been severed because of the Wu family's extermination.

Perhaps they were acting out of self-preservation, but as far as those large suppliers were concerned, Yuanling City was merely a chicken-rib of a trade zone—not too painful to abandon.

They still had numerous goods routes across the Northern and Southern Spirit Domains, so giving up a remote city like Yuanling was nothing much.

And so, because these major suppliers had withdrawn from Yuanling City, the business of several families in the city had been affected to some degree.

It was just that not much time had passed yet, and the impact was not yet obvious.

But as the head of the family, Yuan Bi could hardly fail to notice such a situation.

In the future, families like theirs—who could mostly produce and supply what they needed themselves—might be fine, but the city's vast numbers of small households and independent cultivators would be in trouble.

Because it was easy to foresee that once the city's current stockpiles were depleted in a while, and the merchants' inventories and follow-up supplies began to fall short of demand, the prices of those basic cultivation supplies might stop being so basic anymore.

Therefore, the moment he heard Lin Xiao say that there were many small sects and clans back in his region that could provide a steady amount of goods, he made his decision.

Even a mosquito's leg is still meat.

As the head of the number-one family in Yuanling City, Yuan Bi naturally did not want a steep rise in prices to alter the city's atmosphere too much.

For a city like Yuanling, which was crowded with low-rank cultivators, such a shift would, without a doubt, not be a good thing—no need to even think about it.

So many low-rank cultivators chose to settle in Yuanling City precisely because it was out of the way, without the oppressive presence of high-rank cultivators everywhere, and because the prices of basic goods were low while the variety and quantity were both ample.

Not like those bustling grand cities, where low-rank cultivators barely had any decent living space, and the shops focused far more on the more profitable cultivation goods favored by high-rank cultivators.

As for the basic cultivation supplies that brought in little profit for low-rank cultivators, their prices were also graded into three tiers and six classes according to the status of the city.

Take an example.

The very same basic talisman that might sell for three or four spirit stones in Yuanling City, if taken to Jinshan City, would not only have fewer options in quality but would cost at least five or six spirit stones per talisman.

For someone with a bit of family wealth, that difference of one or two spirit stones might be negligible—round it off and it hardly counts.

But for the vast majority of low-rank cultivators who weren't well-off to begin with, that gap was far too significant.

Yuan Bi did not keep any of this to himself—he told Lin Xiao directly.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, you see the current situation in Yuanling City. Business is bound to be plentiful from here on. How about we set the purchasing price at thirty percent above the usual market rate?"

Hearing this, Lin Xiao realized that Yuan Bi was essentially offering to concede profit to his side, and he quickly declined:

"Clan Head Yuan, that absolutely won't do. In business, let us speak as businesspeople. Only a sound business relationship can last long, wouldn't you agree?"

Seeing him say this, Yuan Bi smiled and did not insist further, saying:

"But no matter what, the volume of goods your sect can supply won't be enough to fill the needs of so many low-rank cultivators in Yuanling City. In the future, the price of these basic supplies in the city will inevitably rise somewhat.

"So let us follow what you said, Fellow Daoist Lin—business is business. Let us set the purchase price at ten percent above the old market rate. If prices in the city change too greatly later on, we can adjust the purchase price again. How does that sound?"

This price was more or less what Lin Xiao had expected, so he nodded in agreement.

He smiled at Yuan Bi and said:

"Then so be it. We'll settle the details later. For now, let me wish us a pleasant cooperation in advance."

"Pleasant cooperation."

Jiang Youfu, who had been quietly watching the entire exchange from the side, saw that the conversation had ended on a good note, so he pulled a large pile of food out of his storage pouch and said:

"Since everything's gone so pleasantly, how about we have a bite to eat?"

Over at the Bibo Hot Springs, Liu Chun had just arrived. He took a simple look around the surroundings.

The place was ringed by stone forests, with only the side facing out toward the mountains left open. The view was excellent, and the scenery was very fine.

But because a isolation formation had been set up here, even without any cover, nothing from the inside could be seen from outside.

The stone forests all around were probably what separated this from the other sections of the Bibo Hot Springs.

In Clan Head Yuan's Bibo Hot Springs area, between the thatched hut and the hot spring, there was an open space of about ten-odd square meters. Liu Chun looked around in all directions and thought that he could set up his talisman-carving table here during the day, keeping watch over his younger sister in the hot spring.

He carried Liu Qin into the thatched hut for a look as well.

Inside, apart from a narrow bed, there was nothing else—empty and bare. It was clear that this place had been abandoned for quite some time.

After confirming the surroundings, he came back to the edge of the Bibo Hot Springs and reached out to test the emerald-green spring water.