Chapter 378

Chapter 378: Increasing Income and Reducing Expenses

"This spirit sword, I will have our shop’s best weapon refiner handle it," the shopkeeper said with a smile, clearly understanding Wang Chen’s feelings at that moment. "If you are lucky, you might just get a flying sword of magical artifact quality!"

Weapon refining could be considered one of the greatest mysteries in the world of cultivation. During the forging process, due to the materials used and the heat applied, a magical artifact might undergo unusual changes. The final product could exceed the normal quality or be imbued with special attributes, referred to as a top-grade item. Generally speaking, the more skilled the weapon refiner, the higher the chances of producing a top-grade item. Of course, such top-grade items are rare and hard to come by, often appearing only once in a hundred tries.

Although the shopkeeper clearly aimed to comfort Wang Chen, he felt somewhat uplifted by his words. He couldn’t help but ask, "So, how many spirit stones does a real third-grade flying sword cost?"

Even the best magical artifact is just a second-tier spirit tool. The shopkeeper’s answer left Wang Chen speechless—the lowest-grade magical artifact starts at ten thousand Intermediate Spirits!

What does ten thousand Intermediate Spirits mean? It is equivalent to one hundred twenty thousand spirit fragments, and he couldn’t afford it even if he emptied all his savings! As for treasure-level flying swords, one should know that flying swords are considered "luxury goods" among magical artifacts.

Wang Chen weighed his storage bag and felt like a poor fool. He realized that if he were to spend freely, his current amount of spirit stones would barely support him for a few years. He had already spent four hundred thousand spirit stones on task information and the flying sword modification. Nearly half of his savings was gone. Considering his long-term plans, he needed to find a way to increase his income and reduce expenses!

After leaving the Sword Shop, Wang Chen continued wandering around Wailing City. This time, he purposefully entered and exited several stores, asking about the prices of various materials, magical artifacts, talismans, and elixirs.

After making the rounds, Wang Chen’s mood soured considerably. He discovered that the method he excelled at for earning spirit stones had become ineffective in this immortal city! Wailing City had countless shops, including many talisman shops. After making inquiries and doing some calculations, Wang Chen was astonished to find that even with his level of perfect mastery in talisman-making technique, he would struggle to compete with these specialized talisman shops.

The prices of legal symbols were incredibly transparent here; each quality was sold for a set price, and there was little difference between the various shops. The profit margins were tightly restricted! Materials, labor, and rent in Wailing City were all expensive. If Wang Chen wanted to engage in talisman sales, he could only set up a stall at the celestial market, and even if his talismans were superior, he couldn’t expect to sell them for a High Price.

In particular, he noticed that many first-grade legal symbols in shops were similar, looking as though they had been batch-processed using a special method, resulting in products that were almost identical. Yet the quality was still impressive!

This indicates that the West Sea Spiritual Realm possesses a more advanced level of productivity!

Individual cultivators have little competitive power compared to these large-scale workshops.

Thus, if Wang Chen wants to make money through talismans, he must work hard on higher-level spiritual symbols.

The profits from spiritual symbols are relatively higher.

But they are still limited.

After investing a large amount of time and energy, what significance is there if the returns are minimal?

Over the next few days, Wang Chen visited the celestial market in Wailing City twice.

Wailing City’s celestial market is vast, able to accommodate tens of thousands of stalls, attracting many cultivators for trading every day.

Wang Chen conducted a market survey in this celestial market.

The results left him even more disappointed.

In terms of talisman sales alone, the competition was incredibly fierce.

The learning threshold for Talisman Making is low, and the production costs are also low, so many cultivators work part-time as talisman makers.

In the celestial market, Wang Chen saw several skilled talisman makers offering legal symbols at the advanced level, with some even approaching master level.

Yet their prices were not high at all.

In comparison, alchemy and weapon refining, which require high investments and yield greater returns, while also competitive, definitely have potential profits higher than those from Talisman Making.

Should he consider changing his path to learn alchemy or weapon refining?

Wang Chen couldn’t make up his mind right away.

He didn’t hastily make a decision and first went to the Sword Shop to pick up his modified Wind and Thunder Sword.

"Mission accomplished."

The shopkeeper smiled as he presented a sword box, saying, "Please take a look, honorable one."

Wang Chen took the box and opened it, and his eyes immediately lit up.

The size and shape of the Wind and Thunder Sword had not changed, but now there was an added crimson fire line along the spine of the sword. The sword light radiated fiery energy, looking completely different from before the modification.

He couldn’t help but hold the sword and try to infuse it with his magic power.

Flames erupted intensely along the blade.

The sword energy transformed into flames shooting up several feet high, with flickering lightning within the fire, displaying an impressive might!

It was clear that its essence had undergone a profound transformation.

Most importantly, the wind and thunder properties of this spirit sword had not been diminished; the lightning aspect had even strengthened.

But what stood out most was the newly added fire property, which resonated perfectly with Wang Chen’s elemental affinity!

Now this spirit sword should be called the Wind, Thunder, and Fire Sword.

However, that name was too ordinary; he needed to come up with something more dignified once he returned.

Wang Chen couldn’t put it down, feeling immensely satisfied.

"This sword can be called a magical artifact."

The shopkeeper stroked his beard and explained, "It can enhance the power of fire spells by up to fifty percent, possessing both wind and thunder abilities, making its destructive power even more formidable!"

He had a look that said, “You’ve struck gold.”

Wang Chen chuckled and immediately put away the brand new top-tier spirit sword.

He happily paid the remaining balance.

Then the shopkeeper displayed two more flying swords on the counter.

He pointed to the one on the left and said, "This flying sword for sending messages is a gift; you can take it for free."

"As for this one…”

The shopkeeper pointed to the flying sword on the right, “It’s different from a regular flying sword for sending messages; it has both sword flight and Protection abilities, rated as a second-grade high quality."

Sword flight refers to the ability to fly with the sword, and Protection means the sword light can shield the user.

Sword cultivators typically have three flying swords: one main battle sword and two auxiliary swords.

This one is a typical auxiliary sword!

Wang Chen truly admired the shopkeeper’s business acumen. “How many spirit stones?"

"If you want it, I can give you a discount."

With a kind expression, the shopkeeper smiled like a thousand-year-old fox, “Just one hundred thousand spirit fragments.”

Knowing that Wang Chen had no Intermediate Spirits, he directly quoted a price in spirit fragments.

"Eighty thousand!"

Wang Chen replied fiercely, trying to negotiate.

He didn’t want to be taken advantage of, but he genuinely needed it.

Having already knelt, he thought it didn’t matter if he bowed once more!

The shopkeeper shook his head like a rattling drum, "Our shop does not offer reductions!"

But Wang Chen was determined to stand his ground.

Ultimately, he obtained this auxiliary flying sword for eighty-eight thousand spirit fragments.

His savings shrank further.