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Chapter 183: Swindler
🕑 Added 2024-01-09 00:54:29 +0000 UTCImmortal Path Space : Table of Content/Chapter List
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Wang Hong hadn't even finished his cup of tea when the fellow led an Old Man into the room.
"Junior Hu Jin, may I ask what instructions the senior has for me?" the Old Man, upon entering, first gave a bow and respectfully inquired.
"I wish to collaborate with you and engage in a small business. I wonder if you might be interested," Wang Hong said casually after taking a sip of tea.
"Oh? As long as it's within the junior's capabilities, I am naturally willing," Hu Jin replied with caution. Who knew what kind of small business a Foundation Building cultivator would propose.
"It's something easily within your reach. I want you to help me purchase some Demonic Beast corpses. I am willing to pay a high price," Wang Hong explained. However, he noticed no signs of surprise or joy on the other's face, just an expression that was difficult to read.
Little did he know that over a decade ago, a group of loose cultivators had pulled off a similar stunt. Roaming into the Boundary Mountain Range in search of Spiritual Herbs or materials from Demonic Beasts, they ended up with nothing but trouble and decided to salvage what they could.
Following the principle of not letting opportunities slip, they gathered a large pile of Demonic Beast corpses. Back in Jin'an City, they visited various shops, claiming to urgently need a batch of Demonic Beast corpses, negotiated with the shopkeepers, and agreed to purchase them at a high price.
The next day, they sent people with the Demonic Beast corpses to those shops for sale, and naturally, they fetched good prices. However, once the shops bought the corpses, they waited in vain for the cultivator who had promised to buy them at a high price.
This incident became a hot topic in Jin'an City's gossip circles.
The shopkeeper naturally knew about this, and when Wang Hong finished speaking, he felt that such an outdated trick was still in use?
If the other party weren't a Foundation Building expert, he would have already kicked him out.
"Senior, our humble shop operates on thin profits, and Spirit Stones are not readily available. This business is inconvenient for us. Please, find someone else," Hu Jin respectfully declined.
This puzzled Wang Hong even more. He was offering a good deal, so why were they pushing it away? Well, if they didn't want to, he wouldn't force them. With so many shops in Jin'an City, one rejection wasn't a big deal.
After leaving, Wang Hong approached several other shops but was surprised to find that they all declined to cooperate in purchasing Demonic Beast corpses.
Perplexed and frustrated, he felt that he needed to expand his influence to this side in the future. In Azure Void City, such trivial matters wouldn't require his personal intervention. A simple order to his subordinates would suffice.
Unfortunately, he lacked that strength now. Azure Void City was relatively safe, and having one or two Foundation Building cultivators in the open would maintain order.
Jin'an City was different; it was a chaotic place with frequent conflicts. Survival would be challenging with insufficient strength.
Currently, he had only two Foundation Building cultivators at his disposal, Liu Changsheng and He Yuan, and he was uncertain about the success of Ma Brothers' Foundation Building.
At least he needed to cultivate several more Foundation Building cultivators among his subordinates to expand in this direction.
But for now, he had to approach these shops for collaboration. He didn't have the time to collect Demonic Beast corpses himself.
He always believed that matters solvable with Spirit Stones should be resolved with Spirit Stones.
So, Wang Hong returned to the first shop he visited. Hu Jin, the shopkeeper of this establishment, had just seen Wang Hong off, and now, in no time, he was back.
Hu Jin was puzzled. Were swindlers nowadays so persistent?
Unable to offend a Foundation Building cultivator, Hu Jin reluctantly ushered Wang Hong into a private room.
"Senior, our humble shop has been facing difficulties with Spirit Stone circulation lately. We genuinely cannot cooperate at this time," Hu Jin complained directly upon seeing Wang Hong.
"Tell me the truth. What's the reason behind your reluctance to cooperate with me?" Wang Hong, now emanating Foundation-Building Pressure, demanded.
Seeing Wang Hong genuinely angered, Hu Jin, despite having a mid-stage Foundation Building cultivator backing him, knew that if Wang Hong killed him in a fit of rage, there would be no revenge or compensation afterward. He had to earnestly explain the situation to Wang Hong.
It was then that he realized he had been mistaken for a swindler all along.
"I can prepay a portion of the deposit here. Will that put your mind at ease?" Wang Hong, unable to prove he wasn't a swindler, decided to make a partial payment to ease the other party's suspicions.
Hu Jin, surprised that Wang Hong not only didn't blame him but was willing to prepay, became even more confused. Was this a new type of scam? Still, Wang Hong had gone this far, and Hu Jin couldn't refuse without offending him.
"Of course! Of course!" Hu Jin nodded repeatedly. He had decided to focus on purchasing Demonic Beast corpses with these prepayments and wouldn't charge a single extra Spirit Stone.
"Here are five thousand Spirit Stones. I'll come back to collect the Demonic Beast corpses in a month," Wang Hong placed five thousand Spirit Stones and then left.
A month later, Wang Hong returned to the same shop, the same secret room.
Hu Jin handed over several Storage Bags to Wang Hong, who, after scanning them with Divine Sense, frowned and asked, "Is this all there is?"
He had left five thousand Spirit Stones as a deposit, and these Demonic Beast corpses were not worth even five hundred.
"Senior, please don't be upset. This is all we've received in a month, a total of two hundred and sixty Spirit Stones."
Even Hu Jin felt a bit guilty because he hadn't actively collected Demonic Beast corpses for Wang Hong. There wasn't even a signboard at the shop entrance advertising their purchase.
Wang Hong was frustrated. Azure Void City could purchase many Demonic Beast corpses, and with the Human-Demon Battlefield nearby, they could easily pick them up in the Boundary Mountain Range.
If Zhang Chunfeng entered the mountains once, he could collect so many Demonic Beast corpses. Wang Hong sighed, realizing that it's difficult to find trustworthy subordinates.
"Here's the deal. For every Demonic Beast corpse you purchase in the future, I'm willing to settle two-tenths of the payment with second-tier Nourishing Essence Pills."
Since the other party was not proactive, Wang Hong had no better solution than to entice them with benefits.
Due to the rise in raw material costs, the price of Nourishing Essence Pills had also increased significantly. Each pill now cost four hundred Spirit Stones and was hard to come by.
Hu Jin was a bit stunned this time. Nourishing Essence Pills were scarce resources, and even with Spirit Stones, they might not be obtainable.
He began to doubt the other party's intentions, but regardless of whether it was genuine or not, he decided to purchase more this time. He wanted to see if Wang Hong could indeed use Nourishing Essence Pills as payment. If true, it would be a huge profit for him.
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Next Chapter >>Chapter 184: Spirit Stone Vein
