Chapter 200 Prices
"Then where did the flesh and other animal bones that you cut off go? Were they sold? There are too few things on this list." Luo Xuanyi couldn't help but ask. She felt that if she didn't ask them, they would never say that they were not born to be sold.
Ma Jiaju quickly took over, explaining, "Everyone has a lot of stuff, but those who come directly to buy are usually independent cultivators with little money. Since there are fewer people, they buy smaller quantities at a time. We're used to giving most of the stuff to the mayor, who then negotiates with the various trading houses in town."
"Although selling in bulk makes less money than selling retail, it's more convenient because I can handle more goods at once. Otherwise, if these spirit beasts are piled up at home for a long time, even if they don't go bad, they will still look ugly and messy."
Mayor. Luo Xuanyi pondered: "What about herbs?"
Ma Jiaju shook his head. "No, my sister is in charge of the herbs. We process them ourselves according to her method before selling them. We make more money than selling them directly to the mayor. She's the only one here who knows a lot. She's even worked with Master Ruan before!"
Doctor Ruan, Ruan Chudie? Luo Xuanyi remembered what she had learned from the Wang family about Ruan Chudie being kidnapped by bandits and missing, so she wisely kept silent. She sorted out her thoughts.
"I heard that the trading house in town doesn't sell to independent cultivators, right?"
Ma Jiaju and several men nodded.
"Then I'm puzzled. Most of the trading houses that purchase spiritual herbs and demonic beasts are run by cultivators from the six major alliances. Why don't they arrange for cultivators to go up the mountain to gather and hunt, but instead go through an extra process to purchase them from your mayor?"
Talking about this, the men were silent. They all looked at Ma Jiaju, waiting for him to speak.
Among these people, Ma Jiaju was clearly the leader. Luo Xuanyi just looked at him. He lowered his head and thought for a while, his huge figure not shaking at all. After thinking for a while, he asked Luo Xuanyi, "You answer first, do you want to buy something?"
Luo Xuanyi smiled: "Of course I will buy it. But this amount alone can't satisfy my appetite at all."
Ma Jiaju stared at Luo Xuanyi and said bluntly, "Everyone can brag."
Luo Xuanyi slipped a storage bag from her sleeve and held it in her palm. She casually opened it and poured out a handful of spirit coins and stuffed them into Ma Jiaju's hand. She then threw the unblocked storage bag directly into his arms. Ma Jiaju was still staring at the spirit coins in his hand, and when he saw the storage bag thrown to him, he hurriedly caught it.
"This is a storage bag. It's filled with spirit coins. Each bag can hold 10,000 spirit coins. This bag plus the dozen or so you have makes a total of 10,000. If you don't believe me, just order them yourself." Luo Xuanyi acted generously, "I have dozens more storage bags like this."
It was a good investment; if she could refine the formation flag and still have time, she could always recoup her investment. Luo Xuanyi actually wanted to buy some quiet, undisturbed time; otherwise, she wouldn't be wasting her time here talking to them.
As soon as she entered the town, she spread a deathly aura throughout it. The only cultivators left were those at the trading houses, at the Foundation Establishment stage. The force blocked by Luo Xuanyi instantly killed them all without them having time to react. However, the trading houses had a constant flow of people, so if she took action, she would undoubtedly be discovered.
"I want to buy the opportunity to go up the mountain and gather and hunt on my own. As long as you don't bother me, I can add up all these spirit coins and calculate the price based on your original selling price. You can give me a price every day, and I will pay you the money on a daily basis. How about that?"
Even after Luo Xuanyi finished speaking, the others hadn't reacted. Ma Jiaju held seventeen spirit coins in his hand. In the dark, candleless hall, the coins glowed faintly, clearly genuine.
They were all hunters, and they couldn't help but mentally convert the numbers. Four of the easiest-to-obtain vines could be sold for one spirit coin. The vines grew on the roots of the Spider Mother Tree, and there was always the risk of being discovered and attacked by the Spider Mother Tree while harvesting them. Not to mention the other spiritual herbs, some of which grew on cliffs and were guarded by second-tier demonic beasts.
These martial arts mortals worked in teams of four, with one on sentry duty and three on the ground to deal with the demonic beasts. Even second-grade demonic beasts proved difficult to hunt, often requiring two teams to combine to kill without loss of life, and they might even incur some injuries. A whole second-grade demonic beast sold for a maximum of two spirit coins, and the trading house would even lower the price to one and a half spirit coins if they bought in bulk.
First-grade demon beasts were even less valuable. Lower-grade demon beasts were extremely easy to reproduce and were plentiful, so they simply couldn't fetch a high price. Although a team of three could hunt them, it would still expend their energy. Even at best, they could only hunt two per day, and they still had enough energy left to guard against unexpected attacks.
The price of two first-grade monsters was split between three people, and each person would receive ten strings of cash. However, copper coins were worthless these days, so they usually sold them in groups of six, each receiving one spirit coin. It was impossible to kill two monsters in a single day, so if they were lucky, each person could earn one spirit coin in five days.
At the end of the month, each person would have six spirit coins. Six spirit coins, when exchanged for copper coins to buy food and clothing, wouldn't be enough. The price of the oldest rice, a dan, was still rising, now costing twelve spirit coins. Even if one dan was eaten sparingly, it would only feed a family of three with a healthy adult male twice a month. The price of rice alone was crushing.
Therefore, every year, people who were too hungry to bear it and stole rice ears were lynched and killed. The mayor was very strict in dealing with this. After all, none of the rice belonged to them; their labor was used to offset the taxes paid by the court.
So in addition to hunting monsters, they also had to take extra risks to collect spiritual herbs. The children and women at home were also busy weaving or helping Ma Er Niang pound medicine to earn some money to barely make a living.
This is the real life of ordinary people under the righteous path. They have no energy to think about anything else. They have already tried their best to survive. After working hard for a whole year, the whole family can hardly buy a piece of meat to eat.
These were the residents of Guhu Town, nestled against the backdrop of twelve sacred mountains. Their income was considered above average compared to residents of other smaller towns. The few spiritual coins they earned were simply not saved; they were spent immediately.
And now, Luo Xuanyi tossed out a storage bag, claiming to contain a full ten thousand spirit coins. Ten thousand was a vast number, beyond their comprehension, but the seventeen in Ma Jiaju's hand were clearly visible.
Seventeen coins, two months' income, she just grabbed them.
The breathing sounds in the house suddenly became heavier. This is why chaos is so frequent in the land of righteousness, because this is not a prosperous era at all, but a chaotic era that swallows people.
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