I Live Forever With My Proficiency

Chapter 5: A New Way of Making a Living

Chen Ping spent the entire morning selling meat.

He was enjoying himself.

"Fellow Daoist, how much is your meat?" someone asked.

"These are Rank One Demonic Beast meat, 10 kilograms for 1 Low Grade Spirit Stone, no partial sales. These are ordinary animal meat, 1 silver for 1 kilogram, can be sold in smaller quantities."

"Alright, give me 10 kilograms of Demonic Beast meat."

Chen Ping swiftly cut a piece without hesitation and handed it to the thin-faced fellow Daoist who was buying meat in front of the butcher shop.

"Here, 10 kilograms, not a gram more, not a gram less."

Upon hearing this, the thin-faced fellow Daoist was stunned and didn't take the meat. "You... you didn't even weigh it, how do you know it's exactly 10 kilograms?"

Chen Ping smiled and said, "My eyes are my ruler."

The thin-faced fellow Daoist: ???

Since the customer didn't believe him, they had to weigh it.

As a result, when it was weighed, it was exactly 10 kilograms, not a gram more, not a gram less.

The thin-faced fellow Daoist stood there dumbfounded, as did the two or three other cultivators who were picking and choosing in front of the stall.

This... is incredible.

On the other hand, He Xianxiang and the nearby shop owners who sold other goods, having witnessed Chen Ping's miracles, smiled at the astonished meat-buying cultivators with an expression that seemed to say, "You guys haven't seen much, have you?"

They completely forgot that when they first saw Chen Ping's knife skills, they had the same expression.

"Give me 20 kilograms. If you can do it without a gram more or less, I'll give you an extra two silver." A middle-aged female cultivator didn't believe it.

Alright.

Two silver is still money.

Even fly meat is meat.

Cloud Link City only has three types of currency: Spirit Stones, gold, and silver.

Gold and silver are not worth much and can only be used to buy some daily necessities like bedding. Ordinary animal meat and fruits and vegetables can also be bought with them.

But when it comes to high-end goods produced by cultivators, such as talismans, Law Weapons, and even the essential Spirit Rice and Rank One or higher Demonic Beast meat for cultivation, they can only be traded with Spirit Stones.

The exchange rate between gold and silver and Spirit Stones is not stable.

Most of the time, dozens or even hundreds of taels of gold may not be able to exchange for one Low Grade Spirit Stone.

Silver is even cheaper.

Chen Ping followed the same routine, one person, one knife, one piece of meat, and weighed exactly 20 kilograms, not a gram more, not a gram less.

Now everyone was convinced.

More people came to buy meat.

Good knife skills mean good meat... this is the power of word-of-mouth and subtle marketing.

"Buy quickly, there's not much left. Once it's sold out, we'll close." Chen Ping accelerated his hunger marketing, hoping to sell out quickly and go back to gain experience.

"..."

For the rest of the time, Chen Ping only demonstrated slightly better knife skills than the regular meat sellers.

Even so, they sold the same amount in half a day that they usually sold in a whole day, with not a single piece left.

Chen Ping thought to himself, fortunately, it's not me selling the meat I hunted, otherwise, how could it be so smooth? At least I would have to wear a mask.

Now everyone knows that he is just a worker, at most skilled in cutting meat.

He wasn't worried about being targeted by those seeking wealth.

As for He Xianxiang, who has been selling meat here for many years, he probably has his own connections, otherwise, he would have been targeted long ago.

There is a knack to selling meat.

That's how it is.

When it was almost time to close, a middle-aged cultivator walked over.

"He Xianxiang, I'm here to pick up the skins."

He Xianxiang had obviously prepared in advance and handed a bundle of well-packaged animal skins to the middle-aged cultivator. "It's all here, all good quality skins, 63 kilograms. Do you want to weigh them?"

"Look at what you're saying, can't I trust you?" The middle-aged cultivator chuckled.

After completing the delivery and paying the money, he hurriedly left.

Chen Ping, lost in thought, asked, "Senior, what can that Fellow Daoist do with these raw hides he just bought?"

He Xianxiang replied while packing his things, "These raw hides have many uses. They can be used to make furniture, soft armor, and leather bags, among other things."

"But that cultivator just now didn't buy the hides for these purposes."

"He bought them to make talisman skins."

Talisman skins?

Chen Ping was momentarily stunned.

Then he remembered, he had some knowledge about this.

The base material for talismans can be paper or leather. Low-grade talismans usually use paper, but for high-grade talismans, paper cannot withstand the spiritual energy and the laws of the heavens contained within them.

These high-grade talismans must be made with animal hides.

Right.

Why didn't I think of that?

Those below the third level of Qi Refining cannot draw talismans, but they can make talisman skins.

Making talisman skins does not require the support of spiritual energy above the third level of Qi Refining.

"Can you make money from this?" Chen Ping asked directly.

He Xianxiang's tone carried a hint of envy. "Yes, it's much more profitable than selling meat. But it's difficult. It requires a lot of skills. Without some ability, it's hard to make good talisman skins. Even a slight deviation in strength control will greatly increase the failure rate of drawing talismans and even affect the power of the talisman. So although many people have learned to make leather, very few succeed."

Difficult?

Difficult is good. There are fewer competitors.

Isn't this tailor-made for me?

Moreover, learning the art of making leather is a long-term profitable skill. In the future, after reaching the third level of Qi Refining, he can also use the leather he made to draw talismans.

One investment, long-term returns.

Worth investing in.

Chen Ping didn't beat around the bush and directly asked, "Senior, can you introduce me to that cultivator just now? I want to learn how to make talisman skins from him, and I can pay for it."

He Xianxiang, walking side by side with Chen Ping, hesitated for a moment. "You want to learn how to make talisman skins?"

Chen Ping didn't hide it. "I want to give it a try."

He Xianxiang originally wanted to advise against it, saying that it's too difficult. But he thought that it's good for young people to have some ideas, showing their ambition, so he stopped the thought of dissuasion.

At his age, his cultivation level couldn't go any higher, and his lifespan was limited. He no longer had the motivation to learn.

Lack of energy, lack of motivation.

"Have you made up your mind?" He Xianxiang smiled.

"I want to give it a try," Chen Ping repeated.

Actually, it's not just a try.

It's a sure thing.

Compared to the money-making opportunities he had thought of before, making talisman skins is more reliable. He doesn't need to go out and take risks; he just needs to stay at home and make talisman skins.

It perfectly aligns with his central idea of quietly developing himself.

"In that case, go and give it a try," He Xianxiang said again. "But you don't need to learn from that cultivator just now. He's just a novice and can't teach you. If you really want to learn, go to Qi Jianglun in the north of the city."

"But Qi Jianglun is a snob and likes to hide his skills. Many people have gone to learn from him three or four times and still couldn't learn anything, wasting a lot of money."

"But when it comes to the art of making leather, Qi Jianglun's skills are truly extraordinary. In Cloud Link City, he may not be the top, but he is at least outstanding."

"But those who are better than him are unwilling to teach others, and those who are willing to teach are not as good as him."

"If you want to learn, just pay the tuition once and give it a try. If you have the talent, you can continue learning. If you don't have the talent, it's better to stop in time. Qi Jianglun's place is like a bottomless pit."

He Xianxiang introduced a lot in one breath.

Chen Ping listened quietly.

He silently took note of everything.

At the same time, he asked He Xianxiang for Qi Jianglun's address and planned to find some time to visit.

(End of this chapter)