Big Data Cultivation Chapter 766

Chapter 766: Chapter 766: The Xenophobic Qingning Prefecture Chapter 766: Chapter 766: The Xenophobic Qingning Prefecture This initial summer, Fushan Prefecture Qingning Mansion suddenly became bustling.

Mu Fengtang was one of them, an early-stage martial master in his twenties from Dali Province in Tianfeng County. Originally wandering around Lening Prefecture in Fushan County, he now hastened to Qingning Prefecture with four others.

The Mu Family of Dali Province was a member of the Family Alliance, and Mu Fengtang was a scion of the long branch; however, the innate of the Mu Family now came from one of the three branches instead. The long branch had previously had more resources, but now they had dwindled.

Saying he was an eighteen-year-old martial master, even by the standards of the Mu Family, was quite a feat of talent, but as the resources of the long branch diminished, he had been stuck at the early-stage martial master level for two years without advancing.

Such a pace in cultivation could not even catch up to Gazi, but Gazi's elixirs were supplied by Feng Jun. More importantly, the Luohua Manor had a Spirit Gathering Array. Although this was a lowly magical realm, a small concentration of spiritual energy could still sustain two mid-stage Qi Refining practitioners.

Once he passed twenty, Mu Fengtang was ejected from the clan, following tradition; he had to undergo worldly experience to prove he was worthy of support.

He received three hundred taels of Gold in support from his family: two hundred from the family coffers, and the remaining hundred pieced together by his mother.

Traveling with him were a fifty-year-old old servant, a guardian in his thirties, a young manservant, and a female attendant.

One has to admit, a great clan is a great clan. Even the scions they drive out to start their own ventures have a substantial capital of three hundred taels of Gold and four people to assist them–far higher than the starting point of those commoners who start from scratch.

In the blink of an eye, Mu Fengtang had spent nearly a year in the Mortal World. The original capital of three hundred taels of Gold had grown to nearly a thousand. He felt he was a genius in business, and those habits cultivated from a young age made him start spending liberally.

As a result, he was severely cheated. A batch of his goods was switched with fakes, leading to great losses.

As a scion of the Mu Family traveling the world, he was not allowed to reveal his identity. Outraged, Mu Fengtang, with his guardian in tow, confronted the swindler.

The other party was prepared, however, and a fierce fight ensued. He sustained minor injuries, and his guardian was severely wounded; they killed three men from the other side.

Then the officials arrived, nearly catching them both. It was fortunate that the Mu Family rule was “do not actively reveal” one's identity rather than absolutely forbidding it.

The matter ended there. Mu Fengtang managed to recover most of the switched goods, but he still had to make a token gesture to the officials. He didn't need to pay for the funerals, but he still needed to treat his injuries, didn't he?

After that, he faced similar setbacks two more times, each time being cheated without warning. Once, even a young official conned him. Although the official apologized upon learning his identity, he absolutely refused to return the money.

Seeing that a year had passed since he started, Mu Fengtang's original three hundred taels of Gold had dwindled to less than two hundred and fifty. He found the jianghu too perilous and simply decided to travel and enjoy the scenery, adopting a “go with the flow” attitude towards making money.

This time, he was enjoying himself in Lening Prefecture when he suddenly discovered a new product called “perfume” in the Tiantong Commercial Alliance.

In fact, Tiantong had always sold similar items, such as rouge and face powder–cosmetics for women, with something like fragrant dew resembling this “perfume.”

But perfume was cheap; the cheapest perfume could be bought for forty bottles with one tael of Gold, which is equivalent to two and a half silver yuan per bottle.

However, the base currency for Tiantong's business was Gold, and above that, Spirit Stones; they did not use silver yuan at all.

What Mu Fengtang valued was not the fragrance of perfume, but its inexpensive insect-repellent effect.

Tianfeng County was located in the hot south, where mosquitoes were rampant each summer, many of which were poisonous. The locals used wormwood and other incense, as well as camphor balls, but these had strong odors and were not popular with the masses.

Once, an incident occurred in the Mu Family's wine cellar when camphor balls were used to prevent insects. The smell seeped into the wine–the flavor of decades-old wine permeated with the scent of camphor balls, which was unbearable for people.

But with perfume, it would certainly be different. Even if a little scent of perfume seeped into the strength of the wine, at worst it would just add some fragrance. Although it was not solely the rich aroma of the wine, it was still within people's tolerance.

Moreover, some people had a natural aversion to the scent of wormwood or camphor balls, causing adverse reactions in their bodies. In the Earth Realm, there's a specific term for this called “allergy.”

Qingning Prefecture was only at the start of summer, but in Tianfeng County, the mosquitoes had already begun to run rampant.

Mu Fengtang instinctively realized that this was truly a valuable item, especially the cheapest perfume, known as “Dew Fragrance Water,” which had a significant market.

Although he hailed from a noble family, not all noble families were equal, were they? The fact that the Mu Family had the tradition of “scions wandering the Mortal World” indicated that the ancestors paid great attention to staying grounded.

Of course, what the ancestors did was one thing, but descendants willing to stay grounded became rarer over generations. However, Mu Fengtang was an exception. He could have accessed abundant resources but now had to compete through worldly experiences, and he was always bothered by that.

Having wandered the Mortal World for so long, he had made and lost money; the things he had seen and heard were too numerous to count.

He had a precise vision for the market of Dew Fragrance Water: the mid to high-end demographic.

Families that were too poor wouldn't bother with camphor balls or wormwood. When it came to mosquitoes, they resorted to manual methods.

Take the Deng Family Brothers' father Deng Yifu, for example. After Deng Yifu retired from the Escort Bureau, he could earn twenty or thirty silver yuan each month. A bottle of Dew Fragrance Water cost two and a half silver yuan and could last at least a month or two. With frugality, it could last five or six months without an issue.

If it were placed in a wine cellar to evaporate freely, it could probably not be used up in a year.

For a family of such stature, buying a bottle of Dew Fragrance Water would certainly not be an issue.

Although Deng, the head of the Escort Bureau, was considered high-salary class, he wasn't really anything special in Xiyin City; there was one critical point that could completely restrain him–his household was small and insignificant.

Compared to Deng Yifu, a family like Dongmu Tian Family was simply a behemoth, and a bottle of Dew Fragrance Water… how could that possibly be enough?

Even if not a hundred bottles were needed a month, there should certainly be several dozens.

Mu Fengtang figured it this way; in each county, it wasn't necessary to have many, just one powerhouse like the Dongmu Tian Family was enough, and the monthly sales of Dew Fragrance Water in that county would easily exceed a hundred bottles–after all, there were other wealthy households as well.

Tianfeng County alone had over a hundred counties, plus dozens of large cities; selling twenty thousand bottles of perfume a month would be no problem.

In other words, the two hundred plus taels of Gold he had on him, if all used to purchase Dew Fragrance Water, would only amount to eight or nine thousand bottles, only enough for half a month's consumption in Tianfeng County.

This business… was definitely doable!

After realizing this, he wasted no words before bringing his entourage to Qingning Prefecture, wanting to investigate the source of the goods closely.

To the average person upon hearing that the Tiantong Commercial Alliance was involved in this trade, probably no one would have the courage to compete.

But Mu Fengtang was a descendant of the Family Alliance and knew much more about the Tiantong Commercial Alliance than the average person; he understood that the Alliance's main clients were not from the Mortal World. They amassed Gold to purchase treasures from the Mortal World.

Therefore, for many products, the Tiantong Commercial Alliance allowed competition from others, and given the limited manpower the Alliance had in the mundane world, they even relied on people from the Mortal World to help with sales.

For example, in the Eastern Branch where Huang Fu Wuxia was located, the branch itself only had about a dozen people–if you don't count the followers Chairman Huang Fu brought from his own family.

Then, how many people could the Eastern Branch have across its eight counties? Merely two or three people per county, certainly not enough to handle everything.

Hence, although it was like stealing rice from the mouth of the Tiantong Commercial Alliance, Mu Fengtang believed that the Alliance wouldn't react, and besides, this was the territory of the Eastern Branch, while Tianfeng County fell under the responsibility of the Southern Division.

After arriving in Xiyin City, he inquired around to find out where Dew Fragrance Water was sold in large quantities.

Unfortunately, no one would tell him where to find such massive sales, only saying that it was available here at three silver yuan per bottle.

He inquired for two whole days and deeply felt the hostility of this city towards outsiders.

Even other outsiders found him, saying they knew where the perfume was sold but demanded to know how much he was planning to buy before revealing anything.

Mu Fengtang was not new to this world and would not disclose how much he wanted to buy; he simply told the other party to provide the address and he'd reward them with ten silver yuan.

The outsider refused to agree, and now the tables turned with Mu Fengtang glaring at him.

His attitude clearly suggested–if you dare not to leave Xiyin City, you'll be in for it.

Although the Mu Family was a member of the Family Alliance, they could not just kill someone in broad daylight in Qingning Prefecture.

Scared like a frightened animal, the outsider didn't dare cross Mu Fengtang. But that's beside the point. Two days later, Mu Fengtang gave up this method of inquiring and sent a visiting card to the illustrious Deng Yifu of Xiyin City.

He had heard that the man was only of Intermediate Level martial master, who had previously worked in the Escort Bureau but later retired.

Interestingly, while he was a martial master, many didn't acknowledge him, but after retiring, no one in the entire Prefecture city dared to offend him, supposedly because he had connections with some influential figure.

In his visiting card, Mu Fengtang didn't use his real name but instead adopted the name “Mu Tang, a junior in the arts of war.”

However, by using “junior” instead of “younger generation,” he clearly indicated his status as a martial master.

Regrettably, when the servant returned after delivering the card, he was accompanied by a man resembling a house steward and a young lad.

The lad carried a tray in his hands, upon which were two silver yuan notes–amounting to twenty pieces.

The house steward smiled warmly, stating that the old master was not feeling well lately and could not meet external guests. He offered twenty silver yuan to reinforce your distinguished journey.

Well, Mu Fengtang immediately realized that they had mistaken him for someone seeking charity.

Helping those in urgent need of money was something the Mu Family also did, and they would give no less than fifty silver yuan when they did.

However, it should be clear exactly whose urgent needs the Mu Family dared to meet.

Chapter end

Report