With the lesson learnt from the last ‘stroll’ across the outer areas, Finlay left his arrogance outside the hunting zone as he made his way through the familiar path to the Archery stone plaque, an unofficial hub right after entering the inner, deeper zone. On the way, he was tempted by the occasional small group of birds, but he refrained from trying his luck with the massive load of 129 metal arrows on his back– He was still a bit salty from losing that 1 arrow. While they weren’t particularly heavy at less than 15 Kg in total, they were cumbersome to move around with.
Without much incident, he reached the border areas where the dreaded blood bags started appearing. By now, it was already evening and he didn’t want to risk travelling in Mosquito territory with poor visibility. He found a safe spot and set up camp for the night. He set up a couple alarm traps in case any ground critters wanted to take their chances when he was resting. Finlay didn’t start any fires and simply ate some food he had bought with him. He meditated the entire night to cultivate, but he kept a vigilant eye, so he could react to any situation.
The night passed without much incident. Except for a couple twin horned rabbits that set off the alarm traps and a small group of mosquitoes that were attracted to the blood from the dead rabbits, there were no serious threats. At first light, he resumed his journey, wading through the territory of the flying pricks.
With a much better bow, higher cultivation and the new arrows, he made very short work of the small groups he encountered, not even missing any of his shots. He was proud at his progress, but didn’t let it get to his head as he carefully avoided any of the fights possible. By the end of the day, he reached the hub. It was bustling with dozens of people either going in and out of the place or just studying Archery around the stone plaque. There were also the familiar few who sold their services like escorting or offering to join teams who were heading into the deeper areas, selling healing supplies, arrow crafters and some who were even selling some of the materials they acquired, unwilling to make the long arduous trips back outside the hunting zone.
For most people, making the trip frequently is not an option as they will have to face unexpected dangers repeatedly, especially if they have large amounts of luggage to carry with them. Even the late stage Body Transformation Practitioners, who are typically doing everything to cross that final barrier and graduate from the valley, have to carefully consider before making such a journey, even more so if they are carrying loads enough to make it worth such a trip. Finlay’s situation was unique in the sense that he not only had physical capabilities much higher than a regular late stage, he is still less than half way through his Body transformation stage and needs a lot more resources to complete the realm.
Which is exactly why he got weird looks from almost everyone who spotted him with a large stack of arrows on his back. There were several sharp gazes from those who were trying to sell the potions and the one selling the arrow making service. He ignored them and made his way through. He casually took up an empty spot to occupy under a tree. He plopped down the arrows beside him, but wasn’t in a hurry to start selling them. He took out a few sheets of paper he had bought with him and started writing something in big letters. After observing him for a couple of hours, even those who were doing so closely, ignored him.
The next morning, there was a sign board that said “selling and bartering high quality arrows” and beside it, there was a list of things written in big letters, detailing what exactly was the price of 5 arrows and the materials that were accepted for bartering instead as well.
The most prominent and first mention was “Any Elemental beast cores or materials with Qi above medium grade except for Earth and Water.” Just below it it detailed the exact rates as well. Fire and metal were much better value than wind and late stage was also valued higher than mid grade which asked for 10 cores for 5 arrows, a steep price, designed to push too many such exchanges.
The other prominent thing was a list of rare Alchemy ingredients that Finlay needed to practise, but was not able to find in the surroundings or around the Alchemy stone plaque. Below it were other standard resources that he could potentially sell for a decent price, but are light and small in size. He wasn’t expecting much of these to be offered, yet put them in because he had another reason that could potentially help drive more people to visit his “stall”. In the next line, he wrote “Anyone confused about the details of the herbs can come talk to me for descriptions”. This was his real hook. Such information wasn’t particularly expensive, but it still required one to invest some significant time and money just for the off chance they could come across something valuable. It would only make sense if one wished to focus a lot of their time and efforts into searching for alchemical ingredients to sell for money. Hence, this was potentially useful information at free of cost. This helped drive more people to come check out his arrows and also earned him goodwill amongst strangers.
Finally, he mentioned the money he was willing to exchange 5 arrows for. Which was an almost offensive 1 1/2 bits. Finlay first did this because he really was reluctant to keep going back outside to get resources he needed and second because he was aiming for those desperate few who urgently needed some strong boost to their attacking ability, yet did not have the time to look for things they could use to barter.
He also checked with the one person who was selling cheap arrow making services using wood and beast materials from the surroundings. Since their target market did not overlap much, he gave his blessings to Finlay.
By afternoon, at least about 40-50 people had come to him to check on his wares. Without fail, every single one of them asked about the appearance and details of each Alchemy material that they were not aware of. Finlay patiently explained to everyone, leaving a good impression on a lot of them. It could be considered a little too much effort for just selling a few arrows, especially considering the fact that he has no plans to make any constant supply runs to get more arrows. But in the future, he also plans to sell the Harmonizing Pills, the recipe detailed on the Alchemy stone plaque. Building an audience here would certainly help with that.
But unfortunately, of the 40-50 who came to him, only about 10 of them seemed to show genuine interest in purchasing the arrows and only 2 of them actually bought 5 arrows each. One of them exchanged 2 late stage wind element cores for 5 arrows and another used some Alchemy materials for another 5. Both of them left FInlay satisfied with what they offered.
*sigh*
‘Those 2 exchanges were good but I was still hoping there would be a lot more than 10 sold by now. This is taking too long.’
Apart from this, there were other unexpected gains from meeting so many experienced and older people. Perhaps it is due to the good will he had just earned, some would occasionally chat up with him about other happenings in the valley and Finlay took the opportunity to ask about rare materials that he needed for his cultivation. He already knew that Metal was virtually non-existent in the valley and the answers he received with the strange looks, further cemented that piece of information. He also vaguely asked about materials related to other elements and surprisingly, he heard a very interesting piece of news.
“...actually, there are rumours of an antelope magical beast with horns of lightning. I’m not sure if they’re just a variant of the same species we so commonly see with the earth attribute but from what I’ve heard, I think it’s very much real. Let me give you a piece of advice brother. If you even think you’ve come across this beast, you better run away. There is a reason why information on this beast seems to be so elusive. I reckon most who encountered it didn’t live to tell the tale.”
Finlay on the other hand was suppressing his glee as he tried his best to maintain a serious face and nodded in acknowledgement. He also overheard some gossip about random things and one of those was about a secret meeting organised on the second night after pill distribution in the deeper zones. He was desperately lacking materials with Fire and Metal essence to use in cultivation and this secret meet might just be the thing he needed right now.
Apart from the friendly ones, there were also obviously those who either mocked him for the prices or provided unsolicited advice and caused trouble in general. The most common were those who offered a low ball price, trying to bargain a better price than others. Finlay politely refused whenever he could. By now, only 1 or 2 newcomers would occasionally come to check his stall and he wasn’t expecting many more sales.
As he was boredly waiting for the next person who wanted information on the Alchemy materials, he saw a group of people run into the area in a hubbub. They loudly spoke to another group waiting in the area and seemed about to set off together somewhere in a hurry. As they were leaving, the leader of both groups seemed to check the stalls for something as he was leaving. He spotted Finlay’s sign and paused. He quickly conversed with a passerby pointing at Finlay and came running toward him. Finlay suddenly had an uncomfortable feeling from the expressions and the appearance of the group.
“You! I heard you’re selling high quality arrows? Who are you? No, that doesn’t matter. How much for all of them??”
After the rapid questions were fired at him, Finlay suppressed a sign from escaping at how this group truly seemed like trouble. He wanted nothing but to refuse to hear whatever they were saying and pack up and leave, but he felt like that would only make things worse. Moreover, they hadn’t yet said or done anything unreasonable or offensive. He would hear them out at least.
“Hello, you can call me Ming. You heard right. I have very good quality arrows I just bought from…”
“Stop babbling nonsense and hurry and tell us what you want.”
He was rudely interrupted by another beside the apparent leader of the group who without pause seemed to be moving towards Finlay’s back where the stack arrows were placed. Filay’s face fell at the scene and he moved over to block his path in a flash as he continued without pause.
“..just bought them from the blacksmith. As for the price, it is all listed on that board over there. I’m offering a wide variety of options for all of our convenience. Please exchange according to that list. Lastly, I cannot sell you all of them. I need some for myself as well. I have 75 for sale regardless. I’m sure that will be more than enough for your needs.”
The group seemed to have a fierce expression when they were approaching him, yet they also didn’t seem to look at finlay with much importance. But after witnessing his simple physical speed, everyone seemed to have been startled. There were even those who were about to casually go past him from the other side who stopped what they were about to do and warily stood behind the leader. The leader recovered quickly and made eye contact with the others before speaking.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“So, it is brother Ming! I am Dokgo Xu. Please call me Brother Xu. It seems we were a bit rude earlier. We’re in a bit of a hurry and overstepped our bounds. I hope you find it in you to overlook it once. I apologise on everyone’s behalf.”
He offered a salute by cupping his hands. Finlay returned the gesture.
“It’s fine. Since brother Xu is here to purchase arrows, I naturally can’t be too harsh with my customers,” Finlay answered with a small smile on his lips.
With those words, he diplomatically blackmailed them by indirectly implying that they better purchase something now that they were already rude. Else, he wouldn’t really forgive their inappropriate behaviour. The other party seemed to have picked it up as well, from their polite reply.
“Of course! We’re definitely here to purchase those arrows. One of our brothers is in a bit of trouble. We could certainly use some fire power right now, but…It seems the prices you listed are a little too steep. A poor quality spirit stone for 50 arrows is a little too high no matter how we look at it.”
“Ohh…I’m not forcing you to purchase them using money at all though. If you look at the price by converting other options, some of them are as cheap as half a spirit stone for the same 50 arrows. Why not exchange them?” Finlay also handed over an arrow so they could confirm their quality.
“They are definitely very good quality...but we do not have any of those other resources on hand right now and we also do not have the time to gather them. If we delay much longer, my brother’s life might be in danger.”
“How is that my problem? On the contrary, are you saying your brother’s life is worth less than a single spirit stone?”
“No, I…”
The man went silent as his expression changed a few times. Then he spoke to others in his group in a hushed tone before turning back to Finlay.
“I only have a total of 4 bits on hand. How about 40 arrows for it?”
“Huff! Are you joking?! That’s way too low. Even rounding up, that only nets you 14 arrows.”
“30! How about 30? We need at least that much to guarantee his safety!”
FInlay was had had enough and was about to send them off, but he noticed the expressions of the leader and those around him. He could instantly recognise it. It was one of desperation. It seemed these people, albeit rude, were genuinely caring of this brother of theirs. Finlay wasn’t a cold hearted fellow to begin with. He actually came from a peaceful, mundane world without the ruthlessness of this magical one. He simply couldn’t knowingly let someone die with the knowledge that he could have helped. So, he relented and threw them a bone here.
*sigh*
“Okay I will give you 40 as a loan. I expect you to pay me back for the unpaid 27 in the other materials in the next 2 days. If you can accept that deal, I’m willing to put my trust in you brother Xu. What do you say?”
The other party was not stupid and realised that Finlay was being generous and considerate of their situation, especially when he offered 40 instead of 30. He promptly promised to hold his end of the bargain and thanked him.
“Thank you Brother Ming. Me and my brothers here won’t forget this kindness. We will definitely keep our end of the bargain.”
Finlay actually wasn’t placing too many hopes on them paying it completely back. Either way, it’s not like he was making any monetary loss and he primarily did it to help people. They took the 40 arrows and dashed out of the hub area.
By evening, Finlay had been lucky to have exchanged another 5 arrows for some Alchemy materials. In total, on his first day, he sold 55 arrows. Although 27 of them were sold as a loan. All in all, he thought it wasn’t a bad first day. He already made almost all of the 8 bits he had invested in the 100 arrows with another 45 remaining. Since he had loaned those 27, he was going to wait for those 2 days here before moving to the clearing at the Alchemy Stone plaque.
FInlay could not enter meditation when he had valuables amongst so many strangers and so spent his time on practising Alchemy with the materials he received for the sold arrows or those he could find in the surroundings. The next morning, the group from the day before hurriedly came back with a person on a stretcher. They ran towards a healer who was offering his services. They seemed to visibly relax after he had been healed and examined. The leader came towards Finlay with another 2 in tow.
“Brother Ming, I offer my honest thanks once again. You have helped save my brother. Please don’t hesitate to ask me for any help you might need in the future.”
“Well, it’s good that your man is fine. At least my arrows didn’t go to waste. As for the help you offered, I’ll be happy as long as I receive my payment according to the promise.”
The earnest face on ‘brother Xu’ broke as he awkwardly chuckled.
“Ofcourse, we will not back away from what we’ve promised. Please be assured.”
Finlay simply nodded without much expectations. He was already glad that he was able to help save a life and he hadn’t judged these people’s situation wrongly. The words of this brother Xu seemed to have some weight, as in the next 2 days, Finlay intermittently received materials and beast cores from people claiming to be from the same group. Finlay couldn’t really tell since he had a pretty terrible memory of faces and he wasn’t even paying particular attention to them since he half expected to never see them again. So he only focused on counting whatever was paid to him in their name.
At the end of those 2 days, he had sold off a total of 70 arrows including the 27 sold on loan. He even received more than 70% of what the group owed him. All in all, his profits were pretty decent. He was satisfied. In fact, he was so satisfied that he considered if it would be a good idea to earn all the resources he needed through this method instead of focusing on Alchemy. The thought only occurred briefly though as it immediately broke down upon any contemplation. First of all, more than half of the arrows were sold to one party and even amongst the other 30, he was only able to sell so many because people either had some materials on hand that were accumulating over time and they found a good and convenient investment for them. Yes it’s an investment because, if one were to be careful, the arrows can be reused a lot due to the high durability of the iron arrows.
Even if he could sell them at the same rate, soon, he will have no need for some of the Alchemy materials and materials filled with wind energy. At which point, there would be even less people who could afford to buy it. Even if he reduced the money cost at that point and he was able to sell at a decent profit, he would still have to make the long trip back to the market area to purchase the materials he needed from the stock of the stores, which will be marked up considerably. Not only that, his whole time and effort will be spent on purely business and money making instead of gaining an important skill such as Alchemy.
WIth the 2 day’s time limit up and the arrows considerably reducing in load, Finlay decided to leave to the Alchemy area to focus on his next step, Pill making.
To be continued.
Preview - System Status
Identity :
Finlay
Male
14 yrs old
–
Mortality :
Sura (Mortal)
Job :
None
Titles :
None
Cultivation :
Body Transformation stage level 9 (Water and Earth Dual attribute cultivation)
Stats :
→open←
Skills :
The All seeing eye (Analyse) :
(Grade - E)
Authority granted by the first god of the world, Dinn. You can peer into the secrets of things and beings of this world as long as you know what you’re looking for. (Requires activation conditions)
Inventory space :
(Locked until Foundation Establishment)
Universal Language comprehension (Grade A+);
Mana Blast (Grade F+)
Spiritual :
Cultivation Talent :
S+ Grade (Appears as C-)
Divine Sense :
None
Law Comprehension :
S Grade
Physical :
Body Type :
Five Element body (Grade : B+(Aggregate)) (Appears as C-)
Elemental Attunements :
Metal
S- Grade
Five Element Body Type
(Dominant trait)
Earth
A Grade
Wind
C+ Grade
Fire
C- Grade
Water
D Grade
Light/Darkness(Yin/Yang)
D- Grade
Lightning
F+ Grade
Other Talents :
Weapon Talents :
Sword/Bladed type
A+ Grade
Ranged
C+ Grade
Hand to Hand
C Grade
Polearms/Spear
D Grade
Soul based/Mental type
D- Grade
Qi Circuits :
(Arrays, Formations, Magical Restrictions)
B- Grade
Crafting Talent :
C+ Grade
Alchemy Talent :
D+ Grade