Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 15 The Old Courtesan of Yuanlai Tower.

Yuanlailou.

The building has three floors, and the treasure contains ten thousand items.

Stepping inside, Su Qing was overwhelmed by the dazzling array of spiritual materials and items on just one floor, many of which piqued his interest.

"Fellow Daoist Su, it's been a while since you've been here. Our shop has recently received quite a few new items. Please take your time looking around. If you need anything, come and find me!"

A plump, middle-aged woman approached Su Qing and greeted her warmly.

"Fellow Daoist Wang thinks too highly of me. I can't afford the things at Yuanlai Tower."

Su Qing waved to Wang Rong, indicating that she was a poor man. Although the high-end goods at Yuanlailou looked good, they were also ruthless in ripping people off, and were far inferior to the cheap and good quality goods at Baibaoge.

Seeing that Su Qing had no intention of making a purchase, Wang Rong pursed her lips, and the smile on her face immediately faded.

In her youth, she was the most popular courtesan in the Red Sleeve Pavilion. Later, as she aged and her beauty faded, she used her social skills to transition to the Yuanlai Pavilion. After some trial and error, she rose to the position of deputy head of the pavilion.

She's always been in business where she gets other people to spend their money. Does she think she can't tell who has money and who doesn't?

She and Su Qing were old acquaintances. In the past six months, this first-level puppeteer had come to Yuanlai Tower several times to sell puppet materials, each time carrying thousands of spirit crystals with him.

She knew that those materials were all from Baibaoge. It was not uncommon for puppeteers to make money from materials. Even the puppeteer guests of Yuanlai Tower would go to Baibaoge to resell materials.

Both Baibaoge and Yuanlailou were tacitly aware of this, and the two shops would even reconcile their accounts to estimate the approximate success rate of each puppeteer, talisman maker, and weapon refiner. In this way, when placing an order with them next time, they could appropriately reduce the amount of materials required.

From the materials Su Qing sold her, she deduced that Su Qing's success rate in refining first-tier low-grade puppets was at least 40%, and that of first-tier mid-grade puppets was more than 20%. Such a success rate was outstanding among first-tier puppeteers, and it was comparable to some puppeteers who advanced to the second tier using uncommon runes.

No one would believe that such a puppeteer had no spirit crystals. Unfortunately, no matter how eloquent Wang Rong was, Su Qing remained unmoved. He didn't spend a single spirit crystal he earned from Yuanlai Tower.

This made her furious, but there was nothing she could do.

"What, is Yuanlailou now only selling goods and not buying them anymore?"

Ignoring the sorrow on Wang Rong's face, Su Qing asked with a smile.

"Of course I'll take it! I'll take as much as you have!" Wang Rong said generously. Although the profit from buying goods wasn't as high as from selling them, every little bit helps, and she had no reason to refuse.

The two arrived at a private room, where Su Qing poured out a pile of materials from her storage bag.

Wang Rong, who had been nonchalant and only intended to have the goods weighed, changed her expression upon seeing the materials.

"These... these must be the materials for crafting the witch puppet. I never expected that this witch puppet was made by you, fellow Daoist. We thought that the Hundred Treasures Pavilion was losing money to gain publicity and was deliberately trying to curry favor with the Yunshan Sect."

It's no wonder Wang Rong was surprised. Recently, at auctions in various markets within the Yunshan Sect and the Desire Demon Sect, there have been demon puppets up for auction. They have become popular because they appeal to the tastes of certain cultivators. However, a mid-grade first-order puppet can sell for the price of a high-grade first-order puppet.

Because of the biomimetic runes on it, which are recognized by the cultivation world as one of the most difficult runes to draw, many cultivators assume that such puppets are difficult to make without being a second-tier puppeteer.

Hiring a second-tier puppeteer to craft a first-tier puppet would be too costly, so Yuanlai Tower assumed Baibao Pavilion would only lose money on this deal and had no intention of hiring a second-tier puppeteer. However, now that Wang Rong learned the witch puppet was made by Su Qing, she realized Baibao Pavilion had made a huge profit!

Her beautiful eyes flickered, and her alluring charm reappeared. She smiled sweetly at Su Qing and said:
"Fellow Daoist, your puppet master skills are so superb, it's a waste of your talents to be a guest of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. Why not come to my Yuanlai Tower? I can guarantee that the benefits of being a guest of my Yuanlai Tower will be no less than those of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion."

"Fellow Daoist flatters me. Although I am just a rogue cultivator, I know the principle of not selling myself to two masters. Manager Liu has treated me well, so I won't embarrass myself by coming to Yuanlai Tower."

Su Qing had no interest in Wang Rong's recruitment. While Baibaoge's power was indeed weaker than Yuanlailou's, Yuanlailou imposed many restrictions on its guests compared to Baibaoge, which had few restrictions on its guests.

For example, the guests of Yuanlai Tower can only sell puppets that are permitted by Yuanlai Tower. If they sell puppets without authorization, the warriors kept by Yuanlai Tower will treat their guests with extreme cruelty.

Su Qing couldn't accept this point alone, so she could only refuse with a cold face.

Wang Rong was provoked by Su Qing's words, "I won't sell my clothes to two masters." She thought Su Qing was mocking her, and she didn't give Su Qing a kind look during the rest of the sales process.

Su Qing didn't want to explain, after all, Wang Rong was just a receptionist at Yuanlailou and didn't have much authority. But she also felt that it was easier to deal with the King of Hell than with his underlings. To avoid unnecessary trouble when selling goods in the future, after receiving payment of more than 3,400 spirit crystals, she decided to explain.

He reluctantly bought a low-grade first-tier magic robe, which added 1,800 spirit crystals to Wang Rong's sales record, finally bringing back a smile to the face of this old courtesan of the Red Sleeve Pavilion.

·····
"Damn it, she changed her tune so quickly. She must have done it on purpose. With sales skills like that, no wonder she became the deputy head of the building!"

Having spent most of the spirit crystals she had acquired, Su Qing couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. However, she quickly recovered her composure when she realized that she truly needed the robe.

As soon as he stepped out of Yuanlai Tower, he put on his Buddhist robe.

The first-tier low-grade magic robe was inscribed with various runes that could be combined to form many first-tier Taoist spells such as purification, protection, exorcism, and waterproofing. Its functions were extremely practical, which made Su Qing feel much better.

Seeing that it wasn't too late, he quickly ran to the stall area, grabbed half a stall from the old Taoist priest who sold talismans, set up two witch puppets, and started hawking them.

The items were displayed for most of the hour, and while many people inquired about the price, not a single transaction was made.

Just as Su Qing thought that the recent tense atmosphere in the market was causing cultivators to be less willing to spend money on their desires,

Looking up, I saw a spirit house divided into more than ten individual rooms standing in a corner of the stall area.

Male cultivators lined up in a long queue outside, while three or five beautiful female cultivators greeted and saw them off with smiles at the front of the queue.

On the roof of the spirit house, a beautiful female cultivator sat on a recliner, leisurely cracking melon seeds. Suddenly, her eyes met Su Qing's, and her eyes lit up. She flew to Su Qing's side like the wind.

"I was just looking for you. The business of these Passionate Puppet Masters is really good, especially the witch puppets. Five spirit crystals a time, and those male cultivators don't even haggle. Give me a few more, I want them all witch puppets!"

Seeing the gleam in Tang Wanqing's eyes, Su Qing finally understood why his witch puppets weren't selling.

A witch puppet costing three to five hundred spirit crystals is far too expensive for an ordinary cultivator.

But if it's five spirit crystals, you can taste the flavor of a witch, and most male cultivators would really be willing to part with them!
(End of this chapter)