CHAPTER 138: CHAPTER 101: LIFE IS TOUGH, THE COMPETITIVE TALISMAN MASTER_2

"Indeed, I still need to enter the market to take a look at the situation."

Jiang Fan clenched his fists.

Previously, he remained in the slum area and didn’t go into the market because he was worried that his skills weren’t enough.

He feared that after entering the market, he would be ambushed by tribulation cultivators.

But after ten days of hard cultivation, his abilities had improved significantly.

Moreover, during this time, he also drew a lot of talismans.

He believed that with these lower-grade talismans protecting him, even if he encountered tribulation cultivators, he would not be afraid.

If things got really bad, he could also awaken Elder Fu on himself.

After all, Elder Fu had three chances to act.

Although such opportunities were indeed precious, if it came down to a life-or-death crisis, there would be no other choice.

So he felt that given his abilities, entering and leaving Cyan Forest Market shouldn’t be a big problem.

"Weiwei, I need to go to Cyan Forest Market."

Thinking of this, Jiang Fan immediately said to Su Weiwei.

"Mm, I understand."

"Husband, be extra careful."

Su Weiwei was also very aware of the dangers of Cyan Forest Market, especially since the slum area was a mix of all sorts, with many people having different agendas; you never know who is a friend or foe.

However, she believed that given her husband’s abilities, those cultivators shouldn’t be able to harm him.

"I’ve left some lower-grade talismans for you."

"If you encounter danger, use them."

"Don’t hesitate; your husband is a low-grade talisman master."

"The thing he lacks least is talismans."

Jiang Fan also left Su Weiwei with some trump cards, to avoid her encountering any danger while he was away.

"Mm."

Hearing this, Su Weiwei nodded, feeling a sweet warmth inside.

Whoosh!

After bidding farewell to Su Weiwei, Jiang Fan proceeded towards Cyan Forest Market.

Of course, before entering Cyan Forest Market, he first disguised himself, changing his appearance.

This was also a way to protect himself.

To avoid any incidents and getting linked to his real identity.

"The slum’s hygiene is indeed atrocious."

Jiang Fan walked along the slum’s road, noticing that the surrounding roads were muddy, mostly just dirt paths.

If it rained, it would be very troublesome, with mud everywhere.

Moreover, the cultivators living here discharged their waste everywhere.

This also led to the wastewater ditches stinking to high heaven.

But this couldn’t be helped.

The cultivators living here were all struggling to survive.

Most of the time, they plunged into the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range, hunting demon beasts to earn spirit stones.

They wouldn’t know when they might die.

No one had the mind to focus on hygiene.

"There are even bodies?!"

Jiang Fan’s pupils contracted; he noticed in some secluded alleys there was actually a human cultivator’s corpse, bloodstains all over the ground, but the surrounding cultivators seemed used to it.

They had long gotten used to it.

They mostly just stepped over it, not taking it seriously.

Chaos, disorder, death could come at any moment.

This was the slum area.

Fortunately, these days he and Su Weiwei had stayed hidden at home, avoiding the darkest sides of the slum.

So they hadn’t experienced any danger.

But danger was still present, never knowing when it might fall upon him.

Whoosh!

Jiang Fan took a deep breath, calming his nerves, and after passing through several alleys, he finally arrived at the entrance of Cyan Forest Market, a massive stone gate.

The entire market was surrounded by towering city walls, resembling a county town, with strict guards.

There was also a group of cultivators guarding around the market’s gate.

They were the guards of Cyan Forest Market, with cultivation at least above the seventh-layer Qi Cultivation.

For loose cultivators, they were an unbeatable existence.

No one dared to cause trouble inside the market.

However, Cyan Forest Market welcomed all cultivators and didn’t even require an entry fee.

So Jiang Fan entered Cyan Forest Market quite easily.

Once inside the market, the number of cultivators undoubtedly increased manifold.

On both sides of the road were various vendors setting up stalls, selling a myriad of items.

Various strange herbs, all sorts of fresh vegetables, fruits, spirit rice, and even demon beast meat and various internal organs and bones.

Besides these, there were also people selling magical artifacts, talismans, and elixirs.

Many loose cultivators were attracted, flocking forward to haggle.

But aside from these small stalls, the market also had many built shops.

Dharma Artifact Pavilion, Fire Refining Workshop, Talisman Pavilion, Hundred Pills Workshop, Ten Thousand Treasures Tower, Manchun Courtyard, and so on.

"So that’s a brothel?"

Jiang Fan made a strange face as he saw Manchun Courtyard being the liveliest place, occupying an entire street with at least dozen or twenty buildings.

A large number of cultivators were coming and going on this street.

Underneath each building stood a group of heavily made-up, seductive, well-figured female cultivators.

"Hey handsome, is it your first time at Manchun Courtyard?"

"If it’s your first time, our Manchun Garden is free, you know."

Instantly, a demoness set her eyes on Jiang Fan, immediately approaching to bring in a customer.

Her gaze was enticing, soft and alluring.

As if she could lie on the bed at any moment, ready to be toyed with.

"Ahem, no need, I’m just passing by."

Jiang Fan coughed and almost fled in panic.

He was well aware of the terrible nature of this brothel, a place of bone-melting enchantment.

The free things are the most expensive ones.

Once tried, it’s nearly impossible to escape.

After all, these demonesses master various techniques, ordinary male cultivators can hardly resist.

His neighbor Lu Xian Neng, originally an ambitious Talisman Master, tried it once for free and then became a regular, unable to leave.

Of course, the reason he could resist such temptation was purely because these demonesses were just average.

Nothing compared to his Dao Companion.

This superficial charm technique was far inferior to the natural allure of his Dao Companion.

......

Several hours later.

Jiang Fan had also managed to tour the entire Cyan Forest Market.

The Cyan Forest Market wasn’t very large, comparable to a small county town.

So it didn’t take too long to completely walk through it.

His main interest was understanding the prices of goods and talismans in Cyan Forest Market.

After all, as a Talisman Master, the method to make money in the future would certainly be selling talismans.

Such a venture was absolutely risk-free.

"The talisman masters here are unbelievably competitive."

Jiang Fan was speechless, thinking originally to sell some talismans in the market to earn spirit stones.

But he realized that talisman masters here were extremely competitive.

Actually selling at cost or below cost.

As if trying to bankrupt their fellow talisman masters.

He understood why these low-grade talisman masters did this.

Because the profession of Talisman Master is the easiest to become a beginner in within the cultivation realm.

Many people can refine lower-grade talismans.

This led to an increasing number of lower-grade talismans.

Those lower-grade talisman masters, to recover costs, were forced to sell at reduced prices.

For them, as long as they could cover costs and continue to improve their talisman-making skills, it counted as profit.

Like those high school and middle school graduates, working for a few hundred to a thousand a month for the experience, causing a significant drop in summer job wages.

Similarly, in past lives, some low-end products like clothes, toys, and so on had frighteningly low profits.

For profitable ventures, for large margins, high-end products, products with technical content are needed.

Like airplanes, cars, and so forth.

The same logic applies to talisman masters.

To truly make money, middle-grade talismans are the answer.

The number of cultivators who can produce middle-grade talismans is far less.

Not finger-countable, but significantly fewer.

Therefore, only talisman masters above middle grade would be valued in Cyan Forest Market.

"I can’t compete with these wretches."

"If I’m going to do this, it has to be high-end products."

"Working tirelessly on lower-grade talismans doesn’t earn much."

"It’s purely working for other cultivators, entirely unnecessary."

Jiang Fan clenched his fists.

Without the intention to sell talismans, he ran to buy some spirit rice and demon beast meat instead.

Spending a total of thirty spirit stones.

He wanted to test if this spirit rice and demon beast meat were really that useful.

Having done all this, Jiang Fan planned to leave Cyan Forest Market and return home.

"What’s going on? It seems someone has set their sights on me."

"Just buying some spirit rice, are there that many tribulation cultivators?"

Jiang Fan narrowed his eyes.

Instinctively, he sensed someone watching him from the shadows.

But he didn’t show any emotion, remaining unmoved.

As if he hadn’t noticed anything.