Chapter 27

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Chapter 27: Centennial Celebration

In Yunzhong City, Lin Jiang treated himself to a huge cake and inserted 105 candles on top.

“One hundred and five years old.”

Lin Jiang sighed and then blew out all the candles in one breath. Today was his birthday, and he was one hundred and five years old, still at the seventh level of Qi Refining.

This made Lin Jiang very frustrated. The cultivation talent of this body was really terrible. It had taken ninety-three years for him to reach the seventh level of Qi Refining at the age of one hundred and five. If it hadn’t been for the system’s help, he would have long perished.

After finishing the cake, Lin Jiang tidied up and headed to Duobao Pavilion to buy more elixirs. Currently, he mainly used Spirit Gathering Pills, Energy Nourishing Pills, and Soul Nourishing Pills. He had to buy them every month, which cost him hundreds of spirit stones.

“Hello, Taoist friend Jiang.”

“What are you planning to do at Duobao Pavilion? It looks so festive.”

At the entrance to Duobao Pavilion, Lin Jiang saw many employees cleaning the doors, windows, and walls. Some were also hanging red cloth on the plaques, making the place look like a wedding celebration.

“Don’t you know it’s the Centennial Celebration of Yunzhong City, Taoist friend Jiang?”

“I haven’t heard about it. Can you tell me more?”

“Sure. Yunzhong City was established thirteen hundred years ago. Starting a thousand years ago, every hundred years, we celebrate the Centennial. During the celebration, the entrance fee to Yunzhong City is completely waived, and many activities are organized. For example, they invite various performing troupes, such as acrobats and opera groups, to give free performances.”

“At the same time, our store will offer a series of special discounts, such as an 80% discount on purchases. Additionally, our Duobao Pavilion, being a large store, will bring out many hidden treasures to sell, such as rare items like the Building Foundation Pill, which aren’t often seen. There will be plenty of them available when the time comes. Taoist Friend Jiang, please prepare yourself. Who knows? You might get lucky and buy something great.”

“It’s like Double Eleven in the Immortal Realm.”

Lin Jiang sighed and exclaimed, “Who says cultivators don’t know marketing? This is marketing, and they’ve been doing it for a thousand years. Truly impressive!”

“Taoist friend, what is Double Eleven?”

“It’s nothing special. It’s a custom in my hometown. On November 11th, all the businesses join together to hold an event. Like you, they also have discounts to attract people to shop and buy things.”

“Why November 11th? Why can’t it be any other day?”

“Um, that’s not important.”

Lin Jiang rolled his eyes. Can I blame it all on unscrupulous merchants? Originally, Double Eleven was Singles’ Day, but those merchants turned it into a shopping spree. It’s just ridiculous.

“Haha, that’s how it is. Taoist friend Jiang, I advise you to prepare more spirit stones so you can take advantage of the better discounts.”

“When will the Centennial Celebration be held?”

“It’s still half a month away. Seven days before, it will be announced at the City Lord’s Mansion. We got the information in advance, so we are getting ready.”

“Understood, it’s a warm-up. Alright, I’ll come later. Save some good things for me.”

“That’s necessary. Taoist Friend Jiang is our honored guest.”

The steward nodded. Lin Jiang and he had been working together for many years, so they were very familiar. Guests like Lin Jiang, who were generous, were their favorites.

When they arrived at the market from Duobao Pavilion, many people were already discussing the Centennial Celebration of Yunzhong City. It seemed the news had already spread, but Lin Jiang was unaware, as he had turned a deaf ear to it.

“Taoist Friend Jiang, you’re here.”

The beautiful young woman saw Lin Jiang and greeted him warmly.

“Taoist Friend Liu, hello.”

Lin Jiang bowed to the beautiful young woman. Over time, he didn’t feel as cold or reluctant toward her anymore.

He had learned her story. Her surname was Liu, and her name was Liu Bai Xue. She had a husband and children. Her husband was a fully accomplished Qi Refining cultivator, but several years ago, he got into a fight outside and had his meridians severed, leaving him paralyzed. Their child was still young. Now, the whole family relied on her to make a living.

During the day, she set up a stall at the big market, and at night, she went back to farming. She even had to take care of the household. She had almost sacrificed all her time for cultivation.

The reason she had complicated relationships with many men was actually to support her family. After all, she was a woman with limited social experience, so she had to use her feminine charm to attract attention.

After hearing her story, Lin Jiang admired her greatly. Women like her, who were virtuous and capable, were rare. Although she lacked a bit of method, nobody was perfect. One shouldn’t demand too much.

“Taoist Friend Jiang, have you eaten? I brought some food.”

“I have already eaten, thank you, Taoist Friend Liu.”

Lin Jiang waved his hand. Although he no longer kept his distance, he didn’t want to get too close either. He didn’t want to end up like someone named Cao. At most, he could do what Li Daming did.

“Does Taoist Friend Jiang know about the Centennial Celebration in Yunzhong City?”

“I just heard about it too.”

“Did you know this year marks the tenth Centennial Celebration? I heard that Zhonghang Sect and Cloud Sword Sect plan to turn it into a millennium celebration this year. It will be much grander than ever before.”

“Is that true?”

“Of course! It’s already the thousandth-anniversary celebration. And the bigger the celebration, the more money they make. They don’t charge entrance fees, but businesses will definitely have to pay taxes. If everything goes well, the income for the next two weeks will be more than what they earn in ten years.”

“That makes sense. It seems there’s some truth to it.”

Lin Jiang nodded. The amount of transactions under such a marketing strategy would surely be huge. Both sects had experts, so they wouldn’t overlook this opportunity.

“Taoist Friend Jiang can prepare in advance. There will surely be a huge number of cultivators flooding into Yunzhong City. I heard that during the celebration a hundred years ago, there were hundreds of thousands of cultivators from other places who came. Even small vendors earned a large amount of money.”

“And there will be many rare things we usually don’t see, like cultivation techniques, secret arts, medicinal pills, and weapons. There will be plenty, and they might even be cheaper than usual.”

“Understood, I will prepare.”

Lin Jiang nodded. He was most proud of his spiritual talismans. It seemed he needed to stock up and find a way to make a big profit.

He also had some things to sell. For example, the Green Rock Pill Lin Ying had bought for him. He had kept it for years, but it wasn’t practical to use in everyday life. This time, it would be useful to sell it before it lost its effectiveness.

“Taoist Friend Jiang, let’s share our strengths and weaknesses, and communicate more in the future. It’s important for lower-level cultivators to unite.”

“Okay, thank you, Taoist Friend Liu.”

Lin Jiang nodded. The beautiful young woman wasn’t useless at all. She had many friends, followers, and was well-informed. She was much better than him, who had social anxiety. In the future, he could gather useful information from her.

·······

As news of the Yunzhong City Centennial Celebration spread, the city’s market visibly became bleak.

It seemed that the merchants were stocking up, and even the small vendors were doing the same.

Naturally, Lin Jiang couldn’t avoid this. Not only did he set up a stall casually, but he also worked overtime. Apart from the five hours he spent practicing each day, he used all his other time to draw talismans.

He even reduced his sleeping time to three hours.

Actually, for those at the later stage of Qi Refining in cultivating immortality, it was perfectly fine to go without sleep for ten and a half days. But once they reach the Foundation Building Period, sleeping became a basic instinct. They could go without sleep for half a year or even a whole year without feeling tired.

Lin Jiang used to sleep for about eight hours a day in order to maintain a regular life and be lazy. But this time, he was ready to make a big profit, so he tried to reduce his sleep time as much as possible. However, he couldn’t go without any sleep at all.

Three days before the grand centennial celebration, the number of people flowing into Yunzhong City suddenly increased. Almost every day, thousands or even tens of thousands of cultivators from other places flocked in.

The news about the centennial celebration of Yunzhong City seemed to have spread throughout the entire cultivation world of Yun State.

The first ones to make a big profit were the inns. Lin Jiang even heard that some businesses that usually didn’t do well transformed their own stores and warehouses into temporary inns.

“Some of the businesses couldn’t resist putting their goods out for sale. These bastards are crazy; they’re selling at higher prices than usual and shamelessly claim they have an 80% discount.”

Instead of setting up a stall, Lin Jiang gathered with a few friends he had met at the Duobao Pavilion exchange fair.

For the past few years, Lin Jiang had always participated in the exchange fair at Duobao Pavilion. He learned about the Soul Refining Technique from there.

“That’s right. I received news that the City Lord’s Mansion received a lot of complaints about these unscrupulous merchants. They promised big discounts, so how can they raise the prices?”

The group of people discussed and criticized those businesses that were selling at higher prices than usual and still claiming to offer big discounts. They simply saw them as fools.

Of course, large establishments like Duobao Pavilion wouldn’t do such things. Those small businesses were the ones causing trouble. The City Lord’s Mansion received a large number of reports. If they were to thoroughly investigate, it would be a big trouble for them.

After cursing the shop, everyone started discussing their goals for the centennial celebration.

Some wanted to buy advanced cultivation techniques, some wanted to change to a handy flying sword, but most people wanted to take the opportunity to buy a Foundation Building Pill.

Normally, Foundation Building Pills were sold in Yunzhong City, but the quantity was too limited and the price was pushed to the extreme. During this centennial celebration, many forces gathered, and the supply of Foundation Building Pills would multiply, giving them a certain opportunity.

Currently, these Qi Refining Period cultivators valued the Foundation Building Pill the most.

It was nearly impossible for them to break through to the Foundation Building Period on their own. That was exclusive to the geniuses. As for them, reality had already proven that they weren’t geniuses. If they were, they wouldn’t have become independent cultivators; they would have been recruited by sects and clans a long time ago.

“Taoist friend Jiang, are you going to buy a Pill for Building Foundations?”

“I’m not ready yet, I haven’t reached the Eighth Level of Qi Refining.”

Lin Jiang shook his head. He had no intention of buying a Pill for Building Foundations, even though he could afford it now. His goal this time was to exchange for a new cultivation technique.

If there were no Heavenly-level ones available, at least a Earth-level one would do. After all, he didn’t find anything below Earth-level appealing.

Even though I am not rich, it doesn’t mean I can’t have high standards, right?