Chapter 8: Making Money (Part 1)

It was a young man in his twenties. His identity badge showed him to be an apprentice alchemist, with a simple and honest appearance. He asked sneakily, “Is this your first time at the Alchemy Pavilion?”
Guo Shier nodded. “Yes, uncle. Is there something you need?”
The man immediately looked troubled and said, “Young man, do I look that old? Don’t call me uncle—just call me big brother!” Then he added, “You’re here to exchange something, right?”
Guo Shier was surprised. “Exchange what? What are you all doing? Why are you so mysterious?” He noticed the name on the man’s identity badge—Wei Xian.
Wei Xian smiled. “I have 2,000 pounds of meat here. What do you have to exchange?”
Guo Shier was momentarily stunned. “How much is one pound?”
Wei Xian replied, “I’m not selling it. Only exchanging.”
Guo Shier said, “I know you want to exchange, but your meat… there must be some standard, right? How much per pound?”
Wei Xian replied bluntly, “One large alchemy coin per pound. But if you buy it with money, it’ll cost more—at least a few silver alchemy coins.”
Only after saying that did he realize, “Ah, what do I mean by my meat… No, it’s my meat… Ugh, how do you talk like that…” He found his words awkward no matter how he tried.
Zhang Dakui, who was following Guo Shier, was stunned, not knowing what to say. Meat that usually cost just a few coins per pound had now increased by forty to fifty times. Worse, it couldn’t even be bought with money—only exchanged. It was absolutely absurd.
Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, I don’t have anything valuable. Hehe, your meat… I’m not interested.”
Zhang Dakui secretly chuckled. That was really harsh to say.
Wei Xian sighed. “Sigh, you… Never mind. It’s not my meat anyway.” Disappointed, he hung the storage pouch he was holding at his waist and said, “If you’re not here to exchange food, then what are you doing here?”
Guo Shier smiled. “I’m here to buy cultivation storage pouches.”
Wei Xian was surprised. “Really? Buying cultivation storage pouches now? Even if you plant the ingredients right away, it won’t help. Ingredients are just tasty—they can’t be used as staple food… Uh, are you looking for special cultivation storage pouches? Listen, there are indeed plenty of these now, but they’re all used for exchanging food. No one wants to sell them.”
In fact, Guo Shier didn’t have any money at all. He had spent all his money on food. He whispered a few words in Zhang Dakui’s ear. Zhang Dakui nodded and turned to leave.

Guo Shier smiled and said, “Brother Wei, are all these people here to exchange food?”
Wei Xian sighed and replied, “That’s right. It’s been over a month now… Most people have run out of food at home. The rations distributed aren’t enough, so they have to exchange things for food.”
Guo Shier asked, “Brother Wei, how do you have so much meat?”
Wei Xian felt frustrated and said, “I tell you, young man, this isn’t my meat…”
Guo Shier laughed happily, “Really?”
Wei Xian sighed and said, “Talking to you is so tiring.”
Guo Shier burst into laughter and said, “Just joking, Brother Wei. Is there anyone here selling… uh, exchanging cultivation talismans?”
Wei Xian said, “There are many… They’ve used up the ingredients grown from the cultivation talismans and don’t have time to plant another batch. If they can get staple food in exchange, they’re willing to trade.”
Guo Shier asked, “Why isn’t anyone exchanging flour?”
Wei Xian said, “There are some, but very few… Flour is already expensive, and now it’s even more exorbitant.”
Guo Shier said, “Brother Wei, you go ahead with your work. I’ll go take a look.”
Wei Xian smiled and said, “I’m idle anyway. I’ll go with you.”
Guo Shier nodded indifferently and said, “Okay, let’s go together then.”
The trading area of the Talisman Pill Pavilion wasn’t very large, divided into an inner and an outer area. Most of those who came here to trade were apprentices of talisman pills, as well as apprentices of talisman masters. There were also a few, like Guo Shier, who came looking for bargains. Only a very small number of talisman pill masters and talisman masters themselves were present.
Setting up a stall was simple—just lay a piece of animal skin on the ground and place the items for sale on it. Some people would come to ask questions, while others, in a hurry, would take their items to various stalls to exchange them.
Guo Shier patiently checked each stall one by one. He found quite a few cultivation talismans at reasonable prices, mostly used to exchange for food. No one was willing to sell them because even with money, it was impossible to buy food right now.
These small stalls were rather shabby. Some had only a few talisman pills, while others had just a few ingredients. Guo Shier crouched in front of one stall, where two palm-sized talismans were placed on the animal skin. He asked, “Are these cultivation talismans? What are they used for?”
The person selling them was a talisman pill master who sat lazily on the ground, saying weakly, “They can only be used to grow ingredients; nothing else… These are special cultivation talismans for growing ingredients. They’re only for exchange, not for sale… Five hundred pounds of meat or a hundred pounds of flour will do.” The man was so hungry that his face was pale, and his hands were trembling slightly.

Guo Shier said, “Five hundred jin of meat for two cultivation talismans.”
“Go and steal them! One cultivation talisman is worth at least five hundred large talisman coins! Two talismans in exchange for nine hundred jin of meat or 180 jin of flour—no bargaining!”
Guo Shier smiled slightly. Such a trade wasn’t disadvantageous for him, but if he waited a few more days, the terms would definitely change. No one could withstand the fear of hunger, and by then, maybe ten jin of meat could get him those two cultivation talismans. He wasn’t in a hurry to act and nodded, saying, “I’ll think about it further.”
The talisman artisan sighed and continued sitting there, waiting for someone to come and trade. Unfortunately, almost no one was interested in cultivation talismans now. It wasn’t because they were bad, but because only those in the professions of talisman artisans and spellcasters would use them. People from other professions couldn’t even use them even if given to them. With their stomachs not even filled, who would have the interest to play around with cultivation talismans?
Originally, Guo Shier had thought cultivation talismans would be very valuable, as they were like a production site where many things could be grown. But after experiencing them firsthand, he realized that although cultivation talismans could produce vegetables and plants, the area was small, there were many occupational restrictions, and the output was limited. The people here were all big eaters, and the amount produced by cultivation talismans was far too little to satisfy their hunger, so naturally, the price dropped.
Wei Xian followed Guo Shier around for half a day but ended up not exchanging anything. He couldn’t help asking, “Young man, why aren’t you exchanging anything?”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “I don’t have any money or food with me—how can I exchange?”
Wei Xian glared in anger. After a while, he said, “You… you… Sigh, how stupid I am…”
Guo Shier said, “It’s not that you’re stupid; it’s that you were thinking… This kid should be easy to deceive, right, Brother Wei? Unfortunately, I’m a poor kid, much poorer than you. Disappointed? Hehe, oh right, I also need to thank Brother Wei for accompanying me for so long. Thank you!”
Wei Xian was stunned. He indeed had such an idea. Generally, younger apprentices always had a few good items given to them by their masters. If lucky, they might be able to deceive them into getting one or two items, which would be a big profit. Who would have thought this kid would see through his intentions at a glance? He wasn’t angry. It would be great if he could deceive them, but it wouldn’t cause any loss either. It was just a bit embarrassing to be laughed at by a kid.
“Nonsense! When did I deceive you?”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Alright, since you’ve followed me for so long, you should know I’m poor. Look… over there is an apprentice. Go ahead. Good luck…”

Wei Xian forced a wry smile. Even if he truly wanted to deceive others, he couldn’t succeed. Sighing, he said, “Ah, it’s hard to be a good person…”
Guo Shier laughed nonstop. He said, “If Brother Wei tried acting, he wouldn’t make a good actor—he can’t even deceive people.”
Sure enough, Wei Xian fell for it again. He said, “What? I can’t deceive people? Is ‘deceiver’ written on my face? It’s just that you kid are sharp-eyed… Ugh, you brat! I fell for your trick!” He suddenly realized it. If he claimed to be a good actor, then he was a good deceiver; if he claimed to be a bad actor, it was even worse—he was a stupid deceiver. The most infuriating part was that, whether good or bad, he was still a deceiver.
Zhang Dakui came in from outside and went over to Guo Shier, whispering a few words. Guo Shier nodded and said, “Uncle Zhang, come with me.” He headed toward a stall. Wei Xian followed out of curiosity, not expecting to deceive anyone, just wanting to see what this penniless kid planned to do.
Guo Shier approached the alchemist who had two cultivation talismans and exchanged them for flour without haggling. Then, he exchanged them one by one for anything he had seen before and whose exchange terms he knew. In just a short while, he obtained eight cultivation talismans—six ordinary ones and two for growing spiritual herbs.
Next, Guo Shier stood in the middle of the market and shouted, “Who has books on cultivation? I’ll exchange them at a high price! Cultivation talismans can also be exchanged!”
Wei Xian stared in shock. Only then did he realize the kid had been playing tricks on him all along. This kid wasn’t poor at all—he was far richer than him.
“Hurry up if you want to exchange… The price will change by tomorrow…”
People here were rather reserved and rarely shouted in the market, but Guo Shier was different. He understood the importance of promotion. Until he found a better method, shouting was also a form of advertising. Plus, with his childlike appearance, he didn’t have to worry about others’ opinions.
His clear childlike voice broke the dull atmosphere of the market. A few people gathered around. One of them said, “I have a cultivation talisman. How do you plan to exchange it?”
“Four hundred pounds of meat, or eighty pounds of flour!”
The man clearly wasn’t willing to haggle. He said, “Then I’ll exchange two hundred pounds of meat plus forty pounds of flour. Will you agree?”
Almost no one knew about Guo Shier’s previous transactions, so his price didn’t seem low. He said, “Sure. First, show me the cultivation talisman—what kind of plant is it?”
The man replied, “It’s a cultivation talisman for growing birch trees.”

Guo Shier was overjoyed. The leaves of the northern birch were indeed the famous northern birch leaves, and there was even such a cultivation talisman. He said, “Give it to me; I’ll exchange it!”