Chapter 318: Struggle

"I have some talismans I want to sell,” said Fang Chen casually.

Deacon Wu frowned. "Ordinary talismans can be sold at the small shops down the street. We don’t accept those here."

"Deacon Wu, I have middle-grade, yellow rank spiritual herbs here I want to sell," said a customer from behind Fang Chen, interjecting. He took out a dozen types of herbs, and with an oily smile, he said, "Please offer me a higher price this time. The Nocturnal Valley has been extremely dangerous lately, and many brothers were injured just to obtain these spiritual herbs."

"Alright, let me take a look. If the quality is good, I'll give you a slightly higher price. After all, you’re one of our regulars, aren't you?" said Deacon Wu, nodding with a smile as he began to appraise the spiritual herbs, ignoring Fang Chen.

Fang Chen couldn’t help but smile; it seemed that the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was the same everywhere.

"Young man, what kind of spiritual talismans are you selling? I'm planning to buy some for my daughter for self-defense. I'll buy them from you if they’re suitable," a middle-aged man behind Fang Chen kindly asked him.

Fang Chen turned to look at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man was surprised to see his white eyes.

Hmm, is he blind? How did a disabled man become a cultivator? Was he blinded in a fight?

Fang Chen could tell that the middle-aged man was Foundation Building Realm cultivation even with his restrained aura.

"They’re peak-grade Purple Lightning Talismans. Are you interested?" said Fang Chen casually after some thought.

The middle-aged man was taken aback, his surprise palpable. "Peak-grade Purple Lightning Talismans?" he repeated incredulously. "How many do you have, and what's the price?"

Fang Chen smiled. "You can name your price. I don't have many, just a little over a hundred."

Over a hundred peak-grade Purple Lightning Talismans?

The middle-aged man was astounded.

He hadn’t been this surprised in many years since he had become a Foundation Building Realm cultivator.

These types of talismans were very rare, and they were coveted everywhere, to the point where they’d be snagged up almost immediately when they appeared on the market. Yet, apparently this young man before him had over a hundred of them!

Purple Lightning Talismans were mostly used on the offensive, and the fact that these were peak grade meant that their power had to be astonishing. They were the best type of low-grade, yellow rank talismans for self-defense, they were very popular around sect disciples and were second to none.

Deacon Wu, who had been busy appraising a couple of spiritual herbs, immediately swiveled his head to stare at Fang Chen with astonishment after he heard what Fang Chen had said.

The customer whose spiritual herbs were being appraised was similarly surprised. Did he hear that right, or was his ears messing with him?

The middle-aged man, sensing that the atmosphere in the shop had turned quite odd, quickly said to Fang Chen, "Let's discuss this at a tea house, young man."

Fang Chen nodded with a smile. "Sure."

Deacon Wu jumped out from behind the counter quickly and crossed to stand in front of them, blocking their way. "Hold on a moment."

There was a smile on Deacon Wu’s face. "Since this young man wants to sell Purple Lightning Talismans, it's only appropriate for him to sell them to our Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. The prices we offer are very reasonable."

The middle-aged man’s face darkened. "Didn’t you just tell him to find another shop to sell his talismans? Now that I want to buy them from him, you’re going to hinder the transaction. Isn’t that inappropriate?"

Deacon Wu glanced at him indifferently. "If you want to buy Purple Lightning Talismans, wait until our Heavenly Treasure Pavilion gets them from him, and then we'll set some aside for you. Since he’s in the pavilion, it’s only right for him to sell them here, to us.”

"You’re way too arrogant! I refuse to believe that you can be so domineering in the Grand Qian Empire." the middle-aged Foundation Building Realm cultivator suddenly sneered, and his aura suddenly spread, stifling.

Deacon Wu was only at the 12th stage of Qi Refining, so he immediately felt the pressure weighing down on him.

He was pressured, but not afraid, however; there was a Golden Core Realm cultivator overseeing the pavilion, so for a Foundation Building Realm to cause trouble here was simply laughable.

"What's going on?"

"Someone’s arguing with Deacon Wu? Foolish! This is Heavenly Treasure Pavilion! Does he not want to be able to buy things here from now on?”

The customers in the store whispered to each other.

Some of the cultivators around came over to try and de-escalate the situation.

"How can we address you? Can you give Deacon Wu some face? Let’s not blow this out of proportion."

Deacon Wu was smiling smugly.

"My name is Fang Ao," said the middle-aged man. “You should show me some respect if you don’t want to blow this out of proportion.”

"Fang Family? It seems he's a Foundation Building Realm expert from the Fang Family’s third branch."

There were whispers all around.

Wu Jiuquan’s expression stiffened slightly. He hadn't expected the man to be from the Fang Family. This made things a bit more complicated.

The commotion had caught the attention of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion cultivators. A few moments later, a middle-aged man in green approached with large strides and smiled at Fang Ao.

"Brother Fang, my subordinate was ignorant. Please don't take offense. It's all a misunderstanding. Let's sit down and talk."

"Shopkeeper Wu, there isn’t any misunderstanding. I'm here to make a deal with this young man. Please don't interfere."

Wu Jiuquan’s expression shifted. Stepping a little closer to Shopkeep Wu, he whispered, "Uncle, this deal he’s talking about involves Purple Lightning Talismans, that’s why I intervened."

Purple Lightning Talismans!?

Shopkeeper Wu's expression changed as he looked at Fang Chen and Fang Ao.

After a moment, he smiled and said, "Brother Fang, if the customer was here to sell us the Purple Lightning Talismans, then according to the rules, you can’t just jump at the opportunity and claim you’ll buy them off him. That’s not how things work in the pavilion.”

"That’s not what happened. It’s your nephew that doesn’t have any patience. He told the young man that he should go and sell the talismans at another shop. Since that was the case, I thought it’d be better If I bought them from him."

Shopkeeper Wu looked at Wu Jiuquan.

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Wu Jiuquan's expression changed slightly. He tried to explain himself hastily, "Uncle, I thought he was going to sell me Divine Movement Talismans or something...."

The shopkeeper’s face darkened. He finally understood why this dispute had even happened, it was all because of this nephew of his.

"Even if he was going to sell you Divine Movement Talismans, you shouldn't have pushed him away. Haven’t I told you this before?"

"Uncle, I was wrong," Wu Jiuquan lowered his head, not a shred of his usual arrogance could be seen.

Many of the customers watching felt strangely happy to see him like this.

Then, the gazes of the customers present fell on Fang Chen gazes subconsciously, feeling perplexed. Purple Lightning Talismans? These were rare talismans meant for personal use. Which wasteful family scion was this?

“I’ll deal with you after I’m done with this deal,” said Shopkeeper Wu coldly to Wu Jiuquan.

With that, he turned to Fang Chen, putting on a more friendly face. "Young man, just now was a mishandling on our part, causing you much offense. I wonder how many Purple Lightning Talismans you're selling, and what grade they are? We are willing to buy them."

Fang Ao's brow furrowed slightly. "Shopkeeper Wu, do you think I'm invisible?"

Shopkeeper Wu bowed repeatedly. "Sorry, sorry, I was just following the rules. Brother Fang Ao, please forgive me for any offense."

Fang Ao's face was grim. However, when he saw how humble Shopkeeper Wu was acting, he found it difficult to push the matter.

"How much are you offering for the peak-grade Purple Lightning Talisman?" asked Fang Chen.

Shopkeeper Wu’s eyes lit up.

They’re peak grade?

This grade yielded extraordinary profits. With proper management, they could even yield a profit margin of thirty to forty percent!

Thinking of that, Shopkeeper Wu immediately replied, "We can offer you twenty-eight pieces of low-grade spirit stones for each talisman."

"That's too little.” Fang Chen turned to Fang Ao. “Senior, how much are you offering?"

Fang Ao's eyes flickered in thought, after a moment, he said, "I won't bid against the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. I'll offer one price. If you find the price okay, then sell it to me. If the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion offers a higher price, you can sell it to them."

Fang Chen nodded. "Please go on, senior."

Thinking it over for a moment, Fang Ao offered, "Thirty-five pieces of low-grade spirit stones for each one. If that’s okay with you, I'll take them all."