Do not die

After leaving the hotel, Meng Zhou took a quick stroll around the Hongsongling Market.

The scale of the market is slightly larger than that of Nuanyungu Market, but the overall impression given to Meng Zhou is more noisy and chaotic.

After careful observation, he realized the origin of this impression.

Because in this Hongsongling market, there are much fewer shops selling finished magical instruments, elixirs, and talismans compared to Nuanyun Valley. Instead, there are more individual stalls selling various raw materials.

These stalls are not concentrated in one area like Nuanyun Valley Market, but are scattered randomly along the street, giving the overall impression of a mess.

However, as he watched more, Meng Zhou gradually came to realize that Hongsongling Market was not really chaotic.

On the contrary, there were always patrolling monks maintaining order. Once someone started a dispute and the situation seemed to escalate, someone would immediately appear around them.

In order to have a more realistic experience, Meng Zhou also took out some scattered items and set up a stall.

These fragmentary items are all leftovers from various trophies harvested in the past. Among them, the largest number and the greatest value are dozens of talismans. There are various types, including first-level low-grade practical talismans and first-level high-grade talismans. It can be used to save one's life and escape or serve as a weapon for a fatal blow.

Secondly, there are various types of weapons and hidden weapons that are not ranked as high-grade, between magic weapons and ordinary soldiers, and some plasters and pills that stop bleeding and detoxify. Both in terms of effect and price, they are also between ordinary and low-grade. between.

Meng Zhou's original intention was to use these pieces to test the waters and get a feel for the market conditions in Hongsong Ridge.

He thought it would take several hours to sell these items, but when he put these items out, there was no shortage of customers in front of the stall.

Moreover, when they heard his quotation, everyone looked like they had made a profit. They did not counter-offer at all and just bought it quickly.

In less than half an hour, everything on the stall was sold out.

These seemingly inconspicuous bits and pieces brought him a total of 389 low-grade spiritual stones.

Although the total of these spiritual stones is equivalent to an ordinary first-level middle-grade magic weapon, Meng Zhou also used this to truly feel the influence of Hongsongling on all kinds of crafts including talismans and magic weapons. Strong demand for products.

Afterwards, Meng Zhou wandered around Hongsongling Market for another two or three hours, and did not return to the hotel until it was almost evening.

While wandering around, he also saw a lot of wood spiritual materials that met his needs, and the prices were very affordable.

But Meng Zhou just looked at it and didn't buy any of it.

A small fight cannot satisfy his needs at all.

He deliberately took a detour to Red Pine Ridge, as a small trip could not satisfy his appetite.

But if he buys too much, even if he deliberately spreads his purchases, people in the circle will know that someone is planning to buy wood spiritual materials before tomorrow, which will directly increase the difficulty for him to buy a large amount of goods.

Therefore, this matter must be resolved quickly, without giving them time to "reconcile" each other.

By the time they reacted, he had completed the transaction and disappeared without a trace. This was the effect he wanted.

…

The next morning, Meng Zhou appeared again at Hongsongling Market.

After walking around for a while, we stopped in front of a stall.

This is a middle-aged monk with an eighth level of Qi training. Compared with other stall holders, his demeanor is very leisurely, like an outsider.

On the stall in front of him, there were two objects, a log of red pine and a wooden board with writing on it.

[We provide various quality red pine raw materials. The larger the quantity, the more affordable the price. Details are negotiable. 】

When the other party saw Meng Zhou standing in front of the stall, he raised his eyelids and asked, "Want to buy red pine wood?"

"Um."

"What quality?"

“I don’t care about quality, as long as the price is right, I want it.”

The middle-aged man's originally casual look suddenly became serious, and he stared at Meng Zhou looking up and down, as if he wanted to get acquainted with him again.

"How much do you want?"

Meng Zhou said: "It depends on how much you have!"

When the middle-aged man heard this, his eyes narrowed. After a while, his eyes were fixed on Meng Zhou before he asked word by word: "Are you serious?"

"How much free time do I have to have before I am looking for something to do?"

The middle-aged man suddenly stood up and said to Meng Zhou: "Please come with me!"

He didn't even care about the stall and led Meng Zhou away directly. Meng Zhou didn't doubt him and just followed him.

While in Nuanyun Valley, Meng Zhou was introduced by Wu Tong and came into contact with a monk who had a large backlog of red pine wood.

Those red pine logs were undoubtedly wholesaled from Red Pine Ridge.

And Meng Zhou also knows a common sense: if there is demand, there must be a market.

Perhaps in the beginning, if the monks from Nuanyun Valley wanted to buy enough spiritual materials in Hongsong Ridge, they would have to go shopping everywhere in person.

But it won’t be long before Hongsong Ridge will automatically complete structural reset and optimization adjustments.

The communication with Chu Zheng also confirmed this. Ever since Nuanyun Valley and Hongsong Ridge hooked up with each other, all kinds of spiritual material resources in Hongsong Ridge began to be concentrated at a speed far faster than before.

In addition to the leading forces including the Anle Gang, the casual cultivators in Hongsong Ridge also began to share their wealth with each other in order to get a share of the pie.

Soldiers versus soldiers, generals against generals, the casual cultivators from Nuanyun Valley would avoid large forces even for safety reasons, and would instead cooperate with the casual cultivators from Hongsong Ridge at the same level.

And this is also an important reason why so many casual cultivators were robbed and killed by organized groups. Who would be willing to share a piece of fat with others when they can clearly have it all to themselves.

However, basic food habits still need to be discussed, and no one dares to set fire to Nuanyun Valley or Red Pine Ridge.

After all, if the order is really completely disrupted, the leading forces who benefit the most from the current situation will suffer the most.

Even the most vicious He Shengtang only dares to secretly do cross-border activities outside Nuanyun Valley. For those monks who successfully return, not to mention punishment, not even a hint of malice will be revealed.

It was precisely because he knew the dirty inside story that Meng Zhou was so generous in contacting the other party, without fear of being seen at all.

The middle-aged monk led the way, and the two of them entered an alley one after the other. Soon, he led Meng Zhou into a small courtyard.

The middle-aged man nodded gently to Meng Zhou in the courtyard, "Please wait a moment!"

Meng Zhou waited in the courtyard for a while, and a short, fat old man with a ninth level of Qi training came out. He looked at Meng Zhou and asked, "Your Excellency, are you from Nuanyun Valley?"

"Do you need to go through the process before selling something? So what if I'm not? So what if I am?" Meng Zhou said calmly.

Chubby didn't seem to really want an answer. Seeing that he could deal with a ninth-level qi-training monk in such a nonchalant manner, he gently nodded to the middle-aged monk next to him, and finally kindly reminded Meng One sentence from Zhou:

"No matter where you are from, please leave as soon as possible after completing the transaction. Please pay attention to safety when leaving Red Pine Ridge!"

After saying this, he did not stay in the courtyard longer, and turned back, leaving Meng Zhou and the middle-aged monk alone in the courtyard.

Meng Zhou was deep in thought, and the next step was naturally the detailed negotiation process, which would inevitably involve bargaining. He acted like this because he didn't want to leave a bad impression on his guests as he was using his power to overpower others, right?

Although it was only a brief contact, regardless of whether the other party was intentional or intentional, the impression left on Meng Zhou was very good.

When Meng Zhou sat down at the guest table under the guidance of the middle-aged monk, his mentality became much calmer, and the instinctive resistance in his heart when he first came to a strange environment seemed to be resolved in this way.

The middle-aged monk went straight to the point and directly asked Meng Zhou about the quantity and quality he needed.

Meng Zhou asked, "Do you accept the direct exchange of magical weapons?"

The middle-aged monk's face showed joy, and he nodded quickly: "Of course, I can't ask for it!"

The next step is to care about the quality and quantity of the instruments.

Meng Zhou first took out three first-order low-grade magic weapons, and the middle-aged monk nodded slightly.

Then, Meng Zhou successively took out five first-order middle-grade magic weapons and four first-order middle-grade magic swords. A smile finally appeared on the middle-aged monk's face.

When Meng Zhou finally took out two first-grade high-grade magic swords and a first-grade high-grade giant hammer, his eyes immediately became larger and brighter.

"How much red pine wood can these be exchanged for?"

Although he had expected it, after some not-too-intense bargaining, the result still made Meng Zhou feel that it was a bit exaggerated.

Among the high-grade magic weapons, the giant hammer of ordinary quality was exchanged for six shares of first-grade high-grade red pine wood, while the two high-grade magic swords were exchanged for five shares of high-grade red pine wood.

A total of eleven pieces of high-grade red pine wood.

Five medium-grade magical instruments that were satisfactory in all aspects were exchanged for twenty-eight pieces of medium-grade red pine wood.

Four medium-grade magic swords were exchanged for ten shares of mid-grade red pine wood, and three low-grade magic weapons were exchanged for eight shares of mid-grade red pine wood.

A total of forty-six copies of medium-grade red pine wood.

Meng Zhou was mentally calculating the amount of spiritual materials he could acquire from this transaction, but on the other hand, he couldn't help but make another calculation.

Except for those non-special magic weapons, for most regular magic weapons, the total value of one main material and all other auxiliary materials is equivalent to between half and one part of the main material.

After preparing these materials, you can basically start the furnace and refine the equipment.

In other words, the material cost of a magic weapon is in the price range of one and a half to two parts of the main material.

But the value of a magical weapon is of course not limited to the material cost, but also takes into full consideration the success rate of the weapon and the technical value of the weapon maker.

In Nuanyun Valley, a decent magical weapon is worth about three to four times the price of its main materials.

The huge difference between it and Hongsong Ridge mainly lies in the cognitive difference in the success rate of weapon refining and the technical value of the weapon refining master.

There are too many professionals in Nuanyun Valley. In order to build a reputation and obtain more materials so as to gain an upper hand in the competition with other professionals, they are willing to take orders that only barely return the original investment.

If the success rate is too low and you are not competitive among peers, you may even be willing to take orders at a discount when faced with certain opportunities.

The technical value is hardly reflected.

The situation in Hongsong Ridge is completely opposite. According to Hongsong Ridge's practice, if you want to ask professionals to refine weapons and elixirs, you must prepare three to four copies of various materials, and you must fully consider the possibility that all the refining will fail. .

If all refining fails, then sorry, try again next time.

If the refining is successful, another fee will be paid to the refining person.

If all these expenditures are replaced by main materials, wouldn't one magic weapon be worth seven or eight main materials? This is still considering the less and everything is going well.

The time, energy, favors, and smiles that went into it have not yet been taken into account.

For Meng Zhou, exchanging a mediocre giant hammer weapon for six main materials of the same grade was a huge profit.

For the middle-aged monk, this is a lot more profitable than trading, and there is no loss at all.

Everyone felt that they had made a profit, and no one felt that they had suffered a loss.

"No wonder the Professionals Association only made a small start, and all the other forces rushed in like chicken blood."

Meng Zhou also tasted the benefits and asked, "How much wood spiritual material do you still have on hand?"

The middle-aged monk was stunned and seemed to realize something. He leaned forward in excitement and asked:

"Do you have anything else to trade?"

Meng Zhou said: "It depends on whether you have a lot of wood spiritual materials in your hand."

The middle-aged monk lowered his head and considered it, then shook his head with some disappointment and said: "After completing this transaction with you, I won't have much red pine wood that I can use... Wait, you mean wood spiritual materials are not limited to In red pine?”

Meng Zhou nodded: "As long as it is a medium-to-high quality wood spiritual material, I want it."

The middle-aged monk nodded heavily and said, "If this is the case, our transaction can continue... I wonder what you want to trade next?"

Meng Zhou placed the four talismans in front of him and said, "These are the four talismans."

When the middle-aged monk saw this, the look of expectation on his face turned into disappointment, and he said, "A talisman?"

It can't be said that he has any prejudice against talismans. In fact, the unit price of talismans is far from being compared with the magic weapon. His appetite has been so high due to the transaction just now that he can't help but feel disappointed.

Meng Zhou stretched out his hand and said, "You can first take a look at the qualities of my four talismans."

These four talismans are naturally the Cleansing Talisman, the Light Body Talisman, the Flying Arrow Talisman and the Ice Talisman, all of which are of master-level quality.

The middle-aged monk naturally saw the four types of talismans at a glance. After all, these four talismans were not uncommon and were all relatively common types.

But as soon as he got started, he said "Huh" and made a sound of surprise.

The cleansing talisman, the light body talisman, and the flying arrow talisman are all first-order low-grade talismans, but the three master-quality talismans all have power close to the first-order mid-grade.

The Ice Talisman, which was originally a first-level mid-grade one, had power close to that of a top-grade one.

Meng Zhou waited for the other party to check everything carefully before asking: "How is it?"

The middle-aged monk praised: "It's very good. I have rarely seen any better talismans of the same type than them."

"Then what's your quote?"

The middle-aged monk opened his mouth and wanted to speak, but closed it in time. After a while, he spread his hands and said:

"You know, as a one-time consumable, a talisman is not worth a few spirit stones even if it is of excellent quality. This is different from a magic weapon."

"That's your price."

Meng Zhou paused and then changed his words: "Uh, or you can just tell me how many such talismans it takes to get a medium or high-grade wood spiritual material."

The middle-aged monk stared at Meng Zhou, not sure what he really thought, but he still started to think seriously.

After a while, he spoke slowly:

"If the quality of other talismans is equivalent to these, I can accept forty cleansing talismans in exchange for one medium-grade wood spiritual material.

Thirty-six copies of the Light Body Talisman can be exchanged for one copy, and thirty-two copies of the Flying Arrow Talisman can be exchanged for one copy. Well, they are all medium-grade wood spiritual materials. "

After that, he picked up the ice talisman and inspected it carefully before saying slowly: "Thirty ice talismans can be exchanged for one high-grade wood spiritual material."

"Okay, just pay the price and replace them all with wood spiritual materials." Meng Zhou said as he placed four thick stacks of talismans on the table in front of the middle-aged monk.

The middle-aged monk saw the four thick stacks of talismans and was stunned for a while before asking: "How many?"

"Four hundred copies each, and the quality is exactly the same as the one you checked. You can check it carefully."

The middle-aged monk shook his head, held the pile of four hundred ice charms in his hands, made a swishing sound with his hands like drawing money, listened to his ear, and said directly:

"I believe you!"

Then, he thought for a while and said:

"If you follow the quotation just now, you can exchange these ice talismans for nearly thirteen and a half pieces of high-grade talismans, and the other talismans can be exchanged for a little more than thirty-three and a half pieces.

I count you fourteen copies of high-grade spiritual materials and thirty-three copies of mid-grade materials.

Including those exchanged for magic weapons, there are a total of twenty-five copies of high-grade spiritual materials and seventy-nine copies of mid-grade spiritual materials. "

Having said this, he said apologetically: "The quantity of red pine wood is insufficient, so I can only replace a large part of it with other wood-type spiritual materials for you."

"Okay." For Meng Zhou, there was no problem at all, and he answered naturally and simply.

The middle-aged monk breathed a long sigh of relief. Finally, he looked at the table full of trading items and said, "I need some time to collect spiritual materials. Will you wait for me here or come with me?"

Meng Zhou said, "I'll just wait for you here."

The middle-aged monk stared at Meng Zhou and nodded heavily: "Okay, please wait a moment, I will be back soon."

Meng Zhou waited in the small courtyard for about half an hour, and then left the small courtyard with a lot of harvest.

By the time he walked out of the alley and walked the lively streets of the market again, his image had quietly changed into another one.

Then, instead of running away after completing such a huge transaction, Meng Zhou turned around and entered a large store.

The huge plaque reads "Anle Chamber of Commerce".