Fang Qingyuan happily placed the Spirit Stones into his storage pouch. With thirty-four Tier One Spirit Stones inside, he felt as if his pouch had grown considerably heavier.
'Of course, that's just my imagination.' The items inside a storage pouch were as if stored in a vacuum, with no pressure or gravity. How could they have any weight?
After stashing the Spirit Stones, Fang Qingyuan began to plan his next venture. Should he continue transporting Red Lotus Fruits, or switch to a different commodity?
If he stuck with Red Lotus Fruits, he couldn't bring in too large a quantity. Black River Square was only so big, and the one hundred and twenty fruits from this trip would be enough to keep Old Fan stocked for several days.
'So, it would be better to switch to something new. Talisman Paper seems like a good option, too. Black River Square is short on that as well.'
Celestial Gate Mountain was like a big city; pretty much anything from there was better than what you could find in Black River Square.
No matter what he transported, Fang Qingyuan was bound to make a profit. It was just a question of how much.
After stepping out of Old Fan's shop, Fang Qingyuan didn't rush to leave Black River Square. He meandered down the marketplace streets, peering into one shop after another, trying to spot other goods he could profit from by shuttling them back and forth.
But after looking around for a while, Fang Qingyuan realized there were very few items that suited his needs.
Small items offered low profit margins, as their prices weren't much different from those at Celestial Gate Mountain Marketplace. This was because small goods were easy to transport. A few storage pouches could hold plenty, and if a shortage occurred, a single Cultivator could restock them with one round trip.
That left very few options. 'It seems only large, hard-to-transport items are a perfect fit for my Immortal Mansion Space.'
Having reached this conclusion, Fang Qingyuan made up his mind and walked into a shop on the edge of the Marketplace.
"Shopkeeper, what are your prices for Spirit Wood and Spiritual Bamboo?"
The Shopkeeper saw Fang Qingyuan inquiring about prices and replied lazily:
"Tier One Locust Spirit Wood is three Spirit Stones a unit, Tier One White Spirit Wood is four Spirit Stones a unit, five-year Spiritual Bamboo is one Spirit Stone a stalk, ten-year is three Spirit Stones a stalk, twenty-year is..."
As the Shopkeeper's voice droned on, Fang Qingyuan's mind began to race. 'This Spirit Wood and Spiritual Bamboo are all much cheaper than at Celestial Gate Mountain.'
'It looks like transporting raw materials is a viable way to earn Spirit Stones after all.'
Spirit Wood is sold by the unit and takes up a lot of space. The same goes for Spiritual Bamboo. Their volume is considerable, and a typical storage pouch can't hold much, if any.
It's difficult to transport and has a low value, so most Cultivators wouldn't go out of their way to move it.
Fang Qingyuan had never considered transporting Spirit Wood before, but now that he had an Immortal Mansion the size of an acre, a hundred-odd units of Spirit Wood would be no problem at all.
'But I only have thirty-four Spirit Stones right now, so I can't buy much. Oh well, I'll take it one step at a time. No need to be hasty. There's still plenty of time.'
"I'll take eleven units of Tier One Locust Spirit Wood. Delivered to the docks, and please be quick about it."
Fang Qingyuan slapped thirty-three Spirit Stones onto the table, cutting off the Shopkeeper's long-winded speech.
The Shopkeeper froze for a second, then shot to his feet and yelled toward the back of the shop:
"Xiaowu, hurry up and get eleven units of Spirit Wood on a cart to the docks! Don't keep the customer waiting."
A clear voice answered from the back, and then Fang Qingyuan saw a tomboyish-looking girl start loading Spirit Wood onto a flatbed cart.
Fang Qingyuan watched the scene unfold without saying a word, nor did he step forward to help.
Within a quarter-hour, all eleven units of Spirit Wood were loaded. Piled high on the cart, it looked like a small mountain, completely obscuring Xiaowu, who was pushing from behind.
Cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage have shallow reserves of Magical Power. For some daily heavy lifting, it's often more convenient to use physical strength than to expend Magical Power.
For instance, a Mid-stage Qi Refining Cultivator could easily drag these eleven units of Spirit Wood using Magical Power, but the young girl had to use a cart.
Fortunately, the bodies of Qi Refining Cultivators are nourished by Spiritual Qi, making them all far stronger than ordinary people. They had plenty of muscle.
"Sir, should we head out now?"
A voice came from behind the cart, asking if he was ready to leave. Fang Qingyuan nodded, then suddenly realized the girl couldn't see him. He had to call out his reply.
"Let's go."
And so, Fang Qingyuan walked in front, followed by the cart piled with Spirit Wood, which the young girl pushed with all her might.
Since flying was forbidden within the Marketplace, it took Fang Qingyuan about ten minutes to walk to the docks. By the time the Spirit Wood was unloaded into a warehouse, the sky had already begun to dim.
After sending Xiaowu on her way, Fang Qingyuan entered the warehouse and quickly moved the Spirit Wood into his Immortal Mansion.
The eleven units of Spirit Wood landed inside the Immortal Mansion, taking up only a tiny fraction of the space. The remaining area seemed even more vast by comparison.
After stowing the Spirit Wood, Fang Qingyuan went to the Beast Cage and released his Flying Manta Ray. Having been cooped up for a little too long, the Manta Ray was in a bit of a mood.
Fang Qingyuan had no time to humor it, though. Seeing only two passengers at the docks, he decided not to wait any longer. After calling them over and getting them onto the Manta Ray's back, he urged it into the air.
Fang Qingyuan was in such a rush because he was afraid of running into Tribulation Cultivators if darkness fell completely.
These highwaymen of the cultivation world generally lay low during the day, only daring to emerge and prey on passing Cultivators under the cover of night.
Fang Qingyuan knew his own limits. When it came to combat, he wasn't completely useless, but he was mediocre at best.
His major, the Wood Spirit Root, was not suited for combat to begin with. On top of that, he had spent his entire fortune on activating the Immortal Mansion, leaving him with no powerful Magical Artifacts for self-defense.
His Qingfeng Sword and Turtle Shell Shield were both run-of-the-mill items, more for appearances than for any real use in a fight.
Fortunately, Fang Qingyuan wasn't entirely without an ace up his sleeve. His trump card was that this Flying Manta Ray was fast.
"A little faster, old friend! Four Pig Fish for you when we get back."
Hearing the reward Fang Qingyuan offered, the Flying Manta Ray beneath his feet gave a powerful flap of its fins and surged forward with renewed vigor.
...
「Halfway through their journey...」
Through a break in the strange spectacle of the black sea of clouds, a mountain peak appeared below.
The peak pierced straight up from the depths of the cloud sea. It was quite broad, though not particularly treacherous. The summit and a portion of the mountainside appeared to have been artificially flattened. Aside from ordinary trees and plants, a strange building stood there.
When Fang Qingyuan saw the building, he knew he had reached Black River Peak. It was the tallest mountain in the Black River, situated right in its center. Atop it sat a dilapidated, wild temple that served as a rest stop for passing Cultivators.
Typically, when Cultivators ran low on Magical Power halfway through their flight, they would have to stop here if they didn't want to risk falling into the muddy swamps of the Black River below.
But despite its prime location, Black River Peak had no Spirit Vein. Consequently, no Cultivator had ever bothered to occupy it and claim it as their private domain.
Fang Qingyuan had set foot on Black River Peak only once and had never gone back. Every time he passed this point, he would urge his Manta Ray to speed up and fly past as quickly as possible.
This was because he had no idea what kind of powerful figures might be holed up in that wild temple, and he wanted no part of it.
But, as fate would have it, his worst fears were realized. Just as Fang Qingyuan urged his Manta Ray to accelerate, a figure shot out from the wild temple on the peak below, flying toward them at incredible speed.