"I will go to Mo Shuang Mountain to practice in two months. Before I leave, I plan to hold a market in Fengshan."
In the elegantly decorated living room of Liu's house, Jiang Xia calmly held the tea bowl and first gave a few instructions to Liu Hui on the chip communication.
Then he said to his future fellow disciple, the third prince Shi Rui, who was washing the oil stains off his hands after operating a machine tool for a day:
“I will become a cultivator and practice with fellow Taoists in the Fengming Nation’s cultivation circle, but I deeply feel that the local incense is not popular and people’s livelihood is declining.
I also heard that cultivators in other places have their own local markets to exchange supplies with fellow Taoists and connect with each other, but we don’t have one here.
This is not good.
But I want to start one, but I don't know much about the spiritual practice market. Brother, what do you think ? Or if you have any suggestions, please tell me."
Shi Rui, who had been the machine operator for several days, was now full of energy. He smoothed his clothes and wiped his face, looking like a working man.
This very handsome guy didn't care much about his image. After washing his hands, he sat opposite Jiang Xia and picked up the teacup to drink from it in big gulps .
Then he said with a relaxed smile:
"Junior Brother Jiang does have good ideas and is good at doing business, but I'm afraid things won't be that easy."
“I’ve heard from Master that there are indeed many markets in various places in Kumu Territory that are specifically for cultivators to purchase goods, but most of them are small circles, and good goods are scarce, and they are not presentable.
If you want to make it big and do it well, you need the support of the local official sect.
But the situation in our Mo Shuang Mountain is special.
The sect is short of manpower, and it is already stretched to the limit to supply various standard magical instruments to cultivators from all over the place through the official channels of the Immortal Alliance every year, so it is unable to spare staff to open and manage the market.
If the sect doesn't intervene, it will be up to you, Junior Brother Jiang, to do it alone, which is probably not justified."
Shi Rui shook his head and said:
“I don’t think this is going to happen.
But what kind of market are you holding, Junior Brother? You have so many good things, like this machine tool in your house, are you sure you don’t want to sell it? Such a sophisticated mechanical device, let me tell you.
As long as you agree, I will go talk to Master and count it as your contribution to the sect, and exchange it for some training supplies, isn't that great?"
When he talked about the machine tools at Malte, he was very excited and it was obvious that he was very fond of those precision machines.
This is not the first time that Shi Rui has persuaded Jiang Xia to sell machine tools.
With his knowledge, he naturally knew that this astonishing manufacturing tool combined with Mo Shuangshan's tool-making technology, would definitely produce greater results.
"The machine tool is not for sale for the time being. It is the property of the wasteland ascenders. Brother, you don't have to worry. Such a good thing will definitely be donated to the sect in the future."
Jiang Xia put down the tea bowl and said slowly:
"Let's talk about the market again. Just like what Senior Brother just said, we should hold a local market."
"You see, the elders in the sect are busy with their cultivation and cannot spare any energy. As the younger generation, we should help them solve their problems.
Mo Shuang Mountain is a first-rate sect in the local area, but it has very little contact with fellow Taoists here. It is no exaggeration to say that the entire Fengming Country's cultivation circle is a mess.
Without anyone taking the lead, and everyone not sharing what they have with each other, everyone is just keeping their own things to themselves. If this continues, it will be even more difficult for us to make long-term development as this is already a remote area in the cultivation world.
Brother Shi..."
"hey-hey."
Before Jiang Xia finished speaking, the third prince suddenly laughed.
Seeing Jiang Xia's surprise, he waved his hands and said:
"In the sect, I used to be the youngest in my master's line, and I'm not usually addressed like that. It feels weird when you call me like that.
It's okay, it's okay, just keep talking, and call me brother a few more times, it sounds very comfortable."
"Okay, brother."
Jiang Xia looked at Shi Rui with a strange look. This guy's happiness was very simple.
He continued:
“Brother, look, I will also become an inner disciple of Mo Shuang Mountain, publicize the prestige of our sect, and unite the local cultivators around our Mo Shuang Mountain. That is the natural thing to do.
You don't have to worry about the sect. Let's decide on a strategy first, and then I'll go talk to Elder Wang Liufu. Elder Wang is always reasonable.
It won't be a big problem for us to ask him to come forward in this market."
"this……"
The third prince is an honest man and a tech geek. He is not the type of person who likes to mess around. After hearing what Jiang Xia said, he found nothing wrong with the logic.
But it always feels weird.
He thought for a few breaths, nodded and said:
"If Uncle Liufu is willing to step forward, then in name, there really is no problem. But what are we going to sell?
Junior brother, please listen to me for a few more words.
This is doing business with cultivators, which is different from the business between your Kunlun Square and ordinary people. The cultivators will not buy firewood, rice, flour, oil, vegetables and fruits in our market.
I know that you have top-quality spirit stones for sale in Kunlun Square, but spirit stones are something that only we weapon makers use mostly. Ordinary cultivators only prepare a few pieces at most to use for formation functions.
If you don't have good stuff in hand, and you rashly go to hold this market, I'm afraid it will ruin the reputation of the sect."
Shi Rui drank his tea, thought for a while, and said:
“In fact, it stands to reason that if we hold a market in the name of Mo Shuang Mountain, the most outstanding commodities will naturally be the various artifacts of our sect.
The magical instruments and treasures made by our sect are very famous in the entire cultivation world.
However, those items already have fixed sales channels, and it would be difficult to raise a large amount of them temporarily."
"Yes, Senior Brother is right. Elder Wang Liufu told me before that he has some things he makes himself on weekdays."
Jiang Xia flexed his fingers, looked at Shi Rui, and said:
"Brother, don't you have several sisters as well? You can ask them if they have any magical instruments or treasures that they don't need, and they can bring them to the market to sell.
It would be good to exchange some immortal money for cultivation."
"Okay, I'll ask tomorrow."
The third prince readily agreed, smiled again, and said:
"My senior sisters are all smart people. In addition to practicing, they also try to make some equipment, but magic weapons...
Junior brother, you don’t have to think too much.
Those things were given by Master, and they are usually treated as treasures by the senior sisters, and they will not be sold. "
"It doesn't matter. Just have it."
Jiang Xia waved his hand nonchalantly.
He actually didn't care whether Mo Shuangshan could produce some magical weapons. He said all this to lead to what he was going to say next.
"Come, Brother, take another look at this."
Old Jiang flicked his left hand lightly, and something appeared in his hand out of thin air, like a magic trick, but it couldn't scare Shi Rui, who had seen a lot of things in Mo Shuang Mountain.
"A ring?"
He stared at Jiang Xia's fingers and said in a strange tone:
"Where did Junior Brother Jiang get it? It looks like a high-quality product."
“A friend gave it to me.”
Jiang Xia ignored the question, handed the item in his hand to Shi Rui, and said:
"I plan to sell this in the market. I made it myself. Brother, you must have seen many magical instruments in Mo Shuang Mountain. I would like you to take a look at this for me. What grade can this thing be?"
The third prince took what Jiang Xia handed over.
It's a gun.
The classic M107 semi-automatic heavy sniper.
Silver grey.
No scope added.
Although the sharpshooters in the Fengming National Army are very fond of this thing, in the circle of cultivators, no matter how sophisticated the scope is, it has almost no market.
It has a simple shape and is heavy in the hand.
The modular design has no extra decorations. Under the lights in the hall, the cylindrical muzzle with a wedge-shaped flash hider shines with a cold light.
Shi Rui was not unfamiliar with this thing.
He has been operating machine tools and making weapons with Malte these days, and has also seen many exquisite gun drawings from Malte. He is already very familiar with this deadly weapon.
This should be a high-end firearm, an advanced weapon that was not sold to my uncle's new army.
He took it in his hand, turned it over from left to right, then skillfully pulled the safety, loaded the gun with a click, and stroked the cold gun twice with a man's love for weapons.
He then put his shoulder to the ground and performed a few shooting movements, feeling the center of gravity and grip of the weapon, and then said to Jiang Xia:
"It's a qualified weapon, of good quality, but it looks... very familiar."
"Of course it looks familiar."
Jiang Xia curled his lips, shrugged and said:
“This was made by my senior brother yesterday using that machine tool. I just took it and modified it a little bit.
I know what you are worried about, brother. The musket is very powerful for mortals, but it is just so-so for monks.
Even for cultivators at the Qi training stage, there are ways to be immune to damage from musket bullets, but I made some modifications to it, and I think it should be considered a magic weapon now.
You try injecting spiritual energy into it."
Shi Rui nodded.
Although he had practiced in Mo Shuang Mountain for many years and had not yet reached the Qi training stage, he was still able to mobilize spiritual energy.
He injected spiritual energy into the gun in his hand, and saw several hidden talisman arrays light up at the front and back ends of the silver-gray gun. Jiang Xia pointed to the rockery outside the hall.
Shi Rui stood up, took a step out of the door, and shot in a combat posture on the steps. He took slight aim and pulled the trigger. The recoil was partially offset by the butt of the gun, pushing the third prince's body to swing a little.
The pointed bullet shot from the muzzle spun at high speed as it flew out, carrying a fiery red light, flying like a rocket, smashing a man-high rock into pieces from a distance of dozens of meters.
It was like firing a incendiary bomb.
After the explosion, flames covered an area of ​​several meters.
The fire was burning several meters high.
The most amazing thing was that the shot was fired silently. Even the vibration of the gunpowder and the bang of the bullet flying out of the muzzle seemed to be muted.
“Interesting.”
The third prince looked at the gun in his hand in surprise, then walked out of the door with Jiang Xia. A ball of fire in front of him burned for half a minute and then disappeared.
Jiang Xia squatted down and picked up a stone with his left hand.
The stone clearly showed signs of being burned through by flames and was already very unstable. With a slight squeeze, it shattered like gravel.
"How's it going? Not bad, right?"
He dropped the fragments in his hand, turned around and winked at Shi Rui.
The latter nodded and said seriously:
"The power of this gun is comparable to the mid- to low-quality Fire Dragon Balls made by our Mo Shuang Mountain. It is almost equivalent to burning a genuine Fire Controlling Talisman."
He stroked those strange marks and said to Jiang Xia:
“But it can fire continuously, and it is swift and silent when activated. From what I have seen, it is considered to be a relatively mediocre tool among those at the Qi training stage.
The main problem is that it is not very convenient to carry, and you have to aim before you can shoot.
If you don’t shoot well, you’re done for.”
"Don't jump to conclusions, my good brother."
Jiang Xia shook his head, took out another handful of bullets painted in different colors from his storage ring, handed them to Shi Rui, and said:
“This is a matching set.
Brother, please take these spirit-imbued bullets used in different battles and try them out. I need a professional like you to give me some suggestions for improvement.
There are some for ghosts here.
Targeting monsters.
There are also armor-piercing bullets for body cultivators, and split bullets that can cause damage to a large area."
"Is it divided into such fine details? It seems that I really underestimated it."
The third prince did not refuse the job of testing the gun.
He loaded different bullets into the magazine with great interest.
For a moment, all kinds of lights were flying in the yard.
Shi Rui happily indulged in the thrill of being a quickshooter, firing vigorously. After he fired the last bullet, he rubbed his sore shoulders and said with satisfaction:
"Just from the perspective of destructive power, Junior Brother, your gun is definitely good enough to be classified as a magical weapon. It's just hard to determine its grade, after all, we don't have any ghosts here to test it.
But if you want to sell it in the market, it should be enough.
It's just that this spear is a little different from the magic weapons of our Mo Shuang Mountain. I don't know if fellow Taoists can adapt to it. In addition, Junior Brother, the formation engraved on your spear...
Isn't this our Mohist technique? "
Shi Rui blinked his eyes, looked around, and whispered to Jiang Xia in a strange tone:
"Where did you get it from?"
"Well……"
Jiang Xia said vaguely:
“A friend gave it to me.”
"Don't lie to me, brother."
Shi Rui laughed and took a step closer to Jiang Xia. He blinked his eyes and said mysteriously:
"I know where you got it from."
"Hmm? You know?"
Jiang Xia's expression became strange.
He had no idea what strange thoughts were coming to Shi Rui's mind at this moment, but the next moment, Shi Rui raised his finger, and a very familiar thing appeared in his palm.
"It's a good thing I got from the Hongyan Society, right?"
The third prince held in his hand the same storage ring as Jiang Xia's, and rubbed his hands with a wink.
explain:
“I know that group has repeatedly warned members not to reveal their existence, but Junior Brother, the Hongyan Society is a big business, their customers are spread all over the cultivation world, and they are a time-honored brand.
The communication stone, which was originally a relatively secretive thing, has gone crazy in the past decade or so and has been distributed everywhere in the world.
This is a semi-open secret.
When I saw your ring just now, I wanted to say that you, my junior brother, don’t know much about the anecdotes of the cultivation world. Just like me back then, I’m afraid you have been intimidated by that group of people.
You see, I am also their member.
Not just me.
The three elders of our sect, as well as fellow disciples, are all their members.
No more words to say.
Hurry up and show me the good stuff you found, so I can open my eyes."
“Is that so?”
Jiang Xia finally reacted at this moment.
He thought that the mysterious Hongyan Society was really some secret organization?
But it does explain it.
Why does Liu Bao, a mortal, have the Hongyan Society's communication stone in his hand? It seems that the Hongyan Society, an old-fashioned black market, is really not to be underestimated. It is estimated that it has almost managed the circle of cultivators.
Now we are starting to explore the "downstream market".
"Alas, I have made a fool of myself, Senior Brother."
Jiang Xia shook his head and sighed, then said to Shi Rui:
"This secret technique of possessing spirits was indeed bought by me from the Hongyan Society. If you want to see it, I will make a copy for you right now.
But Brother, can you tell me, what is the origin of the Hongyan Society?"