Chapter 989 Revival
w.a.n.g Zhong nodded. He had no choice, as he definitely had to go through a process to understand the laws in the divine territory. He felt that Old Cow was deliberately treating him as a target to show off to. What should he do…? He did not know.
The chattering throughout the entire journey allowed w.a.n.g Zhong to expand his knowledge greatly. Other than the Sh.e.l.l Shade Faction and the ma.s.sive hole, Catanlyke District was still rather normal in other aspects. The streets were flouris.h.i.+ng and colorful, strangely shaped races were found everywhere. Although most races lived together, there was still a main civilization in every small region. The style of buildings along the streets would tend towards that civilization. This was a rather normal tradition in the Land.
The stronghold of the various large civilizations were the various blocks. Large civilizations had strongholds in every core region, while small civilizations could only occupy the peripheral areas. However, even these small civilizations were at least level-6, such as the Ninth Wilderness Path and Sh.e.l.l Shade Faction. If civilizations like Earth wanted to establish a basic reputation on the Star Alliance, the minimum requirement was to lead a small region, increase their civilization level, or have an extremely powerful individual. Then, they would have the right to buy and sell shops in the Land and expand their sphere of influence. When they formed places like "Earth Street" and "Earth Village", these places would be the strongholds of humans. However, it was evident that these pleasant desires were too unrealistic. To the humans who could only depend on others for a living, this kind of future was far too distant…
There was also a great power in the wholesale market.
"This is the Allansi civilization." Old Cow introduced them to w.a.n.g Zhong. Unlike the darkness elves, there were not as many strange taboos here. They did not need to hide, with even Old Cow talking about them right in front of their faces. Allansians were easy to get along with and loved peace. Of course, their interest was money, and peace was simply supplementary. After all, it was said that amiability begat riches. Furthermore, they did not have great combat power. They were a civilization that was adept at growing and cultivating plants, and were the biggest merchants of materials for elixirs and wholesale products in the Star Alliance. Although their civilization level was not high, they were extremely rich.
"Be careful of those Allansians. Although they seem generous, in reality, they are all cunning and shrewd. You must be alert when doing business with them. Don"t be fooled because you were careless!"
Allansians seemed to cla.s.sify as celestialoids, but they looked like a shuttle used for weaving, with a round head and sharp ears. It felt as if they would be able to spin many times to form a whip. Their skin was pale, and their hair was a rather beautiful platinum. Their ears were long and sharp, and their hearing was highly developed. The boss of the wholesale shop was half a building away but could clearly hear Old Cow talking to w.a.n.g Zhong. He flashed a big smile and went to greet them. "Dear Cow, you seem to have a bias against us. We are just running a large business. We are not calculative, nor will we cheat or trick people."
Old Cow"s eyes widened. "Not calculative? Last time, you brought in so many products, yet you weren"t willing to round off the cost for me? And you still dare to say that you are not calculative?"
"You were rounding off too much, Dear Cow." The sharp-eared Allansian boss did not seem to care. He was grinning from ear to ear. "You wanted me to round off from over 2,900 Star Coins to 2,000 Star Coins. How does that make sense? This time, I will give you a special discount. I will round off the last digit for you."
"Nonsense, is that of any use? At least round off the tens!"
"Okay, okay, okay, Dear Cow. You are our old customer, so this small matter is not a problem. As for the price, we will keep it as usual…"
"As usual?" Old Cow"s eyes widened and pushed w.a.n.g Zhong out. "Do you recognize who he is?"
The Allansian boss was slightly dumbfounded. When he suddenly looked at w.a.n.g Zhong"s physique, he thought that he was a fallen Heavenly Wing who had folded his wings. But how could this be the case? Heavenly Wings would not rob openly, right? Furthermore, he did not have any wings. Thus, the Allansian boss did not quite approve of him.
"This is a human!" Old Cow was full of confidence. "A level-3.5 civilization. Have you heard of them?"
w.a.n.g Zhong was slightly surprised. He never thought that a human from a level-4 civilization could be used to scare others.
The Allansian boss was also evidently stunned. What did this mean? What was his train of thought?
Meanwhile, Old Cow laughed. "Even this kind of trash civilization can enter the Star Alliance. What does this mean? This means that the situation in the entire Land is very poor and needs new resources to make up for it. It is not easy to sell things, so why are you being calculative with me? I am going to level up soon. Where else are you going to find such a good partner to work with?"
"…" w.a.n.g Zhong and the Allansian boss instantly furrowed their eyebrows.
"Give me a 30% discount!" After he was done using w.a.n.g Zhong, Old Cow pushed w.a.n.g Zhong aside and confidently said, "Don"t say that I bullied you. I gave you a fair chance to bargain!"
"…Dear Cow, you have taught me something new!" The Allansian boss seemed to have finally recovered from his tongue-tied state after a long while. Even though he was a member of a race that was famous on the Star Alliance for their ability to earn money, he felt that his negotiation abilities were much weaker than Old Cow"s. "How about this? I will give you a 15% discount on top of your existing 10% discount.
"A 25% discount! That is my lowest!
"A 20% discount. I can"t go any lower! If I go any lower, I won"t make any profit!"
"Profits? You are still being calculative! All you Allansians are a bunch of misers!" Old Cow whispered with a hateful expression on his face. Then, he took out a form. "Okay, okay, then it"s a deal. Give me a 25% discount next time. Give me your best goods. Don"t pa.s.s off second-grade goods as good products. Don"t even think about smuggling them in! You know my habits. I will check through them!"
"No, no, no, I can only give you a 25% discount next time!" The Allansian boss waved his hand. "Dear Cow, as for the checks, if you find any fake product, we will make up for it with ten products."
"Look at your shameful calculative habits!" Old Cow rolled his eyes at him. A 20% discount was already a ma.s.sive breakthrough. What about the 15% discount next time? He would leave it for the next time he came and would think of a way to increase the discount to a 25% discount. Old Cow waved his large hand. "Stop the nonsense. You chatter so much just about the price. Hurry up and give me the products!"
Dragon"s tongue orchid, ghost gra.s.s, heavenly baby fruit, lantern fire wick, hundred-flower sh.e.l.l snake fruit… The products were planted in individual pots. w.a.n.g Zhong recognized all of them and could tell that they were all good products. These plants were considered rather valuable. Furthermore, they were delicate and not easy to cultivate. Meanwhile, those that were stored in large boxes with runes engraved on them were cheap.
In the divine territory, good things might not be very expensive. This was because the quality-price ratio was a very important factor to consider. Furthermore, not only was the value of the product itself important, its rarity also had to be considered. For example, the box of Loying Fruit that Old Cow had ordered contained rich spiritual energy and was an essential material to create many kinds of elixirs. It could be used in a wide range of areas and would normally not be cheap. However, this plant was easy to cultivate and was small, allowing it to be easily transported. Furthermore, it was also grown in large quant.i.ties. Thus, the price of transporting them from where they were produced in the Fifth Dimension to the divine territory was much lower than many other products. It was in high supply and high demand, and had a low cost. Thus, the price of the Loying Fruit would not be inflated. The large box of Loying Fruit that Old Cow had ordered contained 10,000 fruits, but only cost 100 Star Coins.
However, even with this worthless item, Old Cow was very picky. When he opened the box, he could not help but check every single piece. Meanwhile, the Allansian boss constantly furrowed his eyebrows when he saw this.
"Dear Cow, you are delaying too much time like this. We have specialized equipment to conduct checks. We can do a free wide-scale quality check in front of you now."
"Go to the side and wait there!" As Old Cow spoke, he picked up a few pieces with slight flaws from the box. In reality, these blemishes did not greatly affect their quality. "With your equipment, can you still say that your products are good? Furthermore, you said that you will replace one poor product with ten products, right? Count these. There are twenty-one poor plants!"
Even w.a.n.g Zhong started to sweat profusely seeing this, let alone the Allansian boss. If Old Cow was given a magnifying gla.s.s, he would definitely observe these 10,000 Loying Fruits for an entire day!
This tenacity was too terrifying. When the Allansian boss saw Old Cow"s slow actions, his eyelid twitched continuously. In the end, Old Cow picked out 100 fruits with small flaws. The boss no longer had the courage to give him another 1,000 fruits for him to slowly look through and waved his hand. "I will give you a discount worth a thousand fruits…"
"That is 10 Star Coins." Old Cow taught w.a.n.g Zhong with great satisfaction. "Did you see that? This is how you do business! What is the most important when opening a shop? It is one word, conscientiousness! Next time, if I ask you to replenish our stock, you have to choose like this!"
After a long time, it was already afternoon when he finally finished checking the goods that were worth over 1,000 Star Coins. As the merchant was slowly packing, Old Cow wanted to go somewhere else to take a look. Thus, he entrusted this to w.a.n.g Zhong. "Observe their packing carefully. Although we have ordered the goods, don"t allow them to change the goods after we have picked them so carefully."
When the Allansian boss saw the large black cow wander to the flower shop opposite, he finally felt as if he had put down a heavy load. He wiped his sweat and felt rather sentimental. "Doing business with Dear Cow always feels like a cruel torment every time. However, he said something good. Business is becoming harder and harder as customers are too picky now."
As he spoke, he swept the "defective" goods that Old Cow had picked out into a large box and saw w.a.n.g Zhong"s curious gaze. He did not look down on his status as a so-called level-3.5 civilization. He opened the box and allowed w.a.n.g Zhong to take a look. w.a.n.g Zhong saw a mess of plants in all sizes inside. They all had flaws in some way or another, but they were evidently products that could still be used. "Look. These are all the products that those picky customers have picked out."
w.a.n.g Zhong had an idea. "Boss Hu, how do you deal with these products?"
"Relax, we Allansians only sell the best products. After all, we dare to say that we will replace any defective product with ten products. We will definitely not mix these defective goods into new stocks." Boss Hu rolled his eyes. "We will throw all of these away. Ha ha."
The foolish cow thought that he had struck a good deal, but Boss Hu actually started with 50% discounts for all his other customers. He was only calculative with customers who bothered over trivial matters and were greedy for small gains. The impatience he had shown was just an act. Furthermore, Old Cow always bought many goods that Boss Hu did not know how he would deal with. Thus, he would definitely play along. Moreover, although he had always come alone in the past, he had brought a strange creature this time. Boss Hu definitely had to be very careful.
This gaze was very familiar. w.a.n.g Zhong had seen this expression when unscrupulous merchants succeeded in their schemes. After all, the eyes were the windows to one"s soul, and this applied to many races. Of course, this did not apply with those who had hundreds of windows.
"Boss, don"t throw them away. Give them to me. I am learning how to make elixirs and can use them," said w.a.n.g Zhong with a smile.
"Brother, I can"t give you these for free. We also give batches of products to students learning alchemy. However, since you followed Old Cow here, I will give you some face. These will be yours for 10 Star Coins."
"Boss Hu, I think that the goods you sell to my boss are slightly expensive. My boss thinks highly of me, and I might be the one buying supplies next time." w.a.n.g Zhong did not need to speak much and stopped here. Luckily, he had lived in the lower cla.s.ses of society and would not be tricked by this. Boss Hu did not seem like an idiot.
"Ha ha. Brother, you are very straightforward. We Allansians like to make friends. Sure, this is yours for one Star Coin. Let"s not sow any discord."
"Sure. What a happy deal!"
One Star Coin was what w.a.n.g Zhong had wanted. He maintained his composure on the surface, but he was burning with excitement on the inside. This was the first step in changing his fate.
The transportation of the goods was done by the machinery race, who monopolized this line of business. Although the delivery fees were not cheap, it was safe. Very few people in the Land dared to challenge the machinery race in this aspect. Of course, other goblins also ran similar businesses. They were relatively cheaper, but their efficiency was poor. Meanwhile, air transport was completely monopolized by the machinery race. This time, Old Cow had bought many goods. w.a.n.g Zhong even had the feeling that just opening a flower shop was an injustice to Old Cow. It felt as if he was doing business underground, but he had never been able to ask this.
After a busy day of work, he finally returned to his room. w.a.n.g Zhong could not wait to start experimenting.
There were over a hundred fruits in the box, but w.a.n.g Zhong very quickly realized that he had been tricked. Eighty percent of the goods were dead and had lost all their spiritual energy. This wastage was natural when goods were transported to the divine territory, and defective goods would become worthless goods, just like how items from Earth would transform when sent here. After selecting the fruits for a long time, there were only 32 fruits that were still "alive".
However, it was a good deal to have obtained all these for one Star Coin. w.a.n.g Zhong quickly adjusted his state of mind and entered his fragment world. He placed the 32 fruits on the ground lightly, and something strange happened. The ground that was extremely st.u.r.dy to him seemed to have turned into liquid as a strange integration occurred between the ground and the fruits. The ground slowly became soft like a liquid and automatically "engulfed" the fruits. Then, the ground became flat again and looked as if nothing had been planted. Then, he sprinkled some water from the flower nursery on the ground, but it was repelled by the ground and was not absorbed.
These two strange discoveries left w.a.n.g Zhong in disbelief. At first, he thought that the fruits had actually been "eaten up". However, as he took a closer look and slowly sensed the air, he could still feel power from the Fate Stone slowly seeping into the planted ground, as if it was nouris.h.i.+ng the plants. He did not even need to water them with water.
This was useful!
Lao w.a.n.g was slightly excited, as the first step had been very successful. He thought about the lantern fire wick that he had casually tossed into the fragment world but later discovered had grown completely here. He seemed to have figured out the reason why.
As he sensed the delicate power of the Fate Stone flowing into the ground, w.a.n.g Zhong observed but did not see the surface of the ground protruding even slightly. It seemed like he would not see any results for a while. Thus, he had no choice but to retreat from the fragment world. Even if the Fate Stone was actually useful, it looked like it could not hasten the process.
w.a.n.g Zhong had a pleasant dream last night. He dreamt that his fragment world had become vast and boundless, and various mysterious all-natural treasures were growing inside. However, this was discovered by a Heavenly Core expert who wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h the world. Then, w.a.n.g Zhong gave a cold snort and used only the tip of his finger to turn the Heavenly Core expert into air. He recalled the loneliness of being invincible and sensed how the Star Alliance changed their perspective of humans. Just as he was enjoying himself, Old Cow"s explosive roar sounded. "The sun is already high in the sky, but you"re still sleeping? Wake up and work. We"re opening the shop!"
...
At that moment, in the distant and unreachable Heaven was a sacred mountain covered in dense mist. Colorful mist swept past the mountains, while purple clouds floated about. Occasionally, real dragons and sacred phoenixes could be seen, and the figures of the Qilin[1] and other strange beasts appeared from the mist and the clouds. It was a divine sight.
Deep within the sacred mountain was a palace that seemed to be made out of ice. Cold air surrounded the palace and did not disperse. The surroundings were extremely peaceful as everything had been frozen. It was as if the palace had been sealed for 10,000 years and had been standing since the beginning of time. A purple dragon that was several hundred meters long lingered outside the palace and seemed as if it was protecting this place. It did not move and looked like it had existed as long as the ice palace had been standing. If it were not for the purple air that occasionally shot out from its nose, one would have wondered whether this was a realistic statue.
Crack…
A clear cracking sound suddenly broke the silence that had shrouded the ice palace for 10,000 years. A crack appeared in the ice underneath the palace. Even though it was a light sound, the ma.s.sive dragon immediately sensed this. Its ma.s.sive eyelids that were the size of a room were lifted, revealing a pair of terrifying eyes. It was as if there was lightning flas.h.i.+ng past its eyes.
Closely after.
Crack crack crack crack!
There was a series of cracking sounds. Not only did the ice creak, countless colorful flowers also grew and bloomed in the walls and pillars of the palace that was made out of ice.
"Princess!" A ma.s.sive dragon that was lingering outside the castle jumped up from the ground. Its ma.s.sive body soared high into the sky and turned into countless purple thunderbolts that shot at the ground. When it landed on the ground, it had turned into a humanoid elder with white hair. There was boundless joy and excitement on his face as he respectfully waited outside the palace.
Several hundred years had pa.s.sed, and the princess had been sleeping for a long time. He had been on guard here all this while and could not remember exactly how long he had been keeping guard outside the castle. The day that the princess revived had finally arrived.
The entire palace had been enveloped in a blooming sea of flowers. One could hear the faint cry of dragons and phoenixes in the air, while the Qilin and other beasts in the mountains roared. The entire sacred mountain was undergoing a revival, making everything in its surroundings wors.h.i.+p it!
Clang clang clang clang!
The heavy door of the palace gradually opened amidst the mist. A fragrant scent gushed forth, and purple air blew past. A beautiful and otherworldly barefooted girl appeared at the door of the palace.
[1] Qilin - a mythical hooved chimerical creature in Chinese mythology