35: Chapter 35: Forced Activation of Charming Keywords! A Commoner's Underdog Business War!

Ji Mengxue's hand on the abacus stopped.

Her gaze fell on the jade token on the counter, then followed the wood grain to the back.

Shen Ji stood at the door.

His ash-grey long robe was freshly tailored, the fabric pulled tight by 180 jin of muscle.

Old scars from ten years of hauling ore crawled from his neck into his collar.

Half an incense stick ago, Shen Ji sat at the teastall at the city gate and called up the system panel.

Five equipment slots, [Wealth Returns After Being Spent (Gold)] must be equipped.

[Business Sniffing]—doing business without it is like fishing blind, locked in.

[Diligence Overcomes Mediocrity]—effort brings double rewards, applies to business wars too.

[Glib Tongue] is a sharp tool for negotiations.

Four are set.

He thought for a long time about the last slot.

The [Unremarkable] effect from the second simulation start was to lower presence, good for hiding.

But with only ten months left until the next simulation, he didn't need to lay low during the starting phase; he needed absolute speed.

Start high enough, and he'd have the capital to bet on a bigger game next time.

[Elegant Temperament] is good for offense.

He clicked the panel.

[Name: Shen Ji]

[Cultivation: Peak Qi Refining Level 7]

[Current Luck Value: 128]

[Equipped Traits 5/5: Wealth Returns After Being Spent (Gold), Elegant Temperament (Green), Glib Tongue (Green), Diligence Overcomes Mediocrity (Green), Business Sniffing (Blue)]

The panel flashed with a pale golden halo.

The charm bonus exclusive to green traits quietly merged into this weathered body.

Ji Mengxue's gaze swept over the scar.

The man before her was rough and savage, yet exuded an intensely oppressive sense of aggression.

She sat up straight unconsciously, putting away her casual demeanor.

Her gaze lingered on Shen Ji's broad chest for two extra breaths.

Shen Ji remained expressionless and walked straight to the counter.

"Guest?" Ji Mengxue pushed the abacus aside, resting both hands on the counter. She leaned forward naturally, her voice turning soft and welcoming.

Shen Ji remembered that in the first simulation, her face had been cold as ice.

"A token from the Ling Family." Shen Ji tapped the jade token with his knuckle. "A partner of Second Young Master Ling, here to discuss some business."

Ji Mengxue picked up the jade token. Spiritual energy probed inside, the patterns interlocking perfectly. She placed the token back on the table, her fingernails tapping lightly on the wood.

"A partner of Second Young Master Ling?" She looked Shen Ji up and down. "Your build doesn't look like someone who calculates accounts."

"I used to haul stones."

"Hauling stones turned you into a partner?"

"I got lucky."

Ji Mengxue chuckled. She pulled down her sleeves and walked out from behind the counter. "Sit inside, tea is on the house."

Shen Ji followed her through the main hall into the private room in the back courtyard.

Last simulation, he had thrown money to clear the path and only made it through this door on his fourth visit to the Yunlai Inn.

Tea was served. The coarse tea for guests in the main hall was replaced with freshly brewed Biluochun.

Ji Mengxue sat opposite him, resting her chin on her crossed hands. "Speak, what business?"

Shen Ji picked up the tea but didn't drink. "Three things. First, the supply channel for spiritual field fertilizer; I want the first-hand price from that farm east of Yunzhou City. Second, the list of markets for pill raw materials—which ones are for long-term cooperation and which are one-off deals. I want the list."

He set down the teacup and looked her in the eye. "Third, the gap in demand for new spiritual materials within a 300-mile radius of Yunzhou City over the last half year."

Ji Mengxue's crossed fingers paused. In the previous two simulations, Shen Ji had spent heavily to buy insider information on sect recruitment. This time, he didn't mention it at all.

The Moyun Sect's outer disciple recruitment age limit was 25; he was 28. Since that path was cut off, he changed lanes—make money first.

"These three questions of yours are worth thirty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones." Ji Mengxue held up three fingers.

"Twenty," Shen Ji said. "I'll use intelligence to cover the remaining ten."

"What intelligence?"

"Three supply contracts for the Ling Family's outer courtyard spiritual fields were intercepted last month." Shen Ji looked at her. "The supplier was threatened and dared not continue cooperating with Ling Feng. This news hasn't spread yet."

Ji Mengxue withdrew her hand. She stared at Shen Ji's face for a moment.

"You're one of Ling Xiao's people, how do you know about Ling Feng's side?"

"I hauled stones in the outer courtyard for ten years, I know people on both sides." Shen Ji took a sip of tea and added, "Business is about making friends."

He threw back the exact words Ji Mengxue had said in the first simulation.

Ji Mengxue laughed. She picked up the teapot and leaned over to refill Shen Ji's cup, her posture very humble.

"Deal."

"I'll give you the list tomorrow, and I'll help you set up the channel appointments."

As the tea was poured, she looked up at him. "Next time you come, go straight to the back courtyard. It's too crowded out front."

Shen Ji nodded, not bothering with extra pleasantries.

—

Late March.

Shen Ji clutched the list and dove into the Yunzhou City wholesale market.

The [Business Sniffing] trait was firing on all cylinders.

As soon as he stepped across a shop threshold, if there was a price gap of more than 20% above market value, the nerves at the back of his head would jump wildly. The harder they jumped, the bigger the profit.

Just as Shen Ji turned a street corner, a dry wail came from an old woman at a stall behind him.

"Oh! Why did I sell it for thirty-seven!"

"This mouth is a ghost smeared with honey!"

Shen Ji quickened his pace and dove into the crowd.

At the stall earlier, he hadn't just blindly cut the price.

With [Business Sniffing] as a safety net, he knew the bottom line for the spiritual ink was thirty-five stones, and the old woman's psychological price was forty.

He first pointed out that the storage box was damp, pressing the price to thirty-eight.

Then he chatted about the taboos of using ink for the city's talisman masters, acting like a complete expert.

Finally, looking troubled, he took out thirty-seven Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, saying the old talisman master he was giving it to had a weird temper and would find two extra stones unlucky.

"The extra two are just to make a friend; I'll come to you again when you have good stock."

Under the influence of [Glib Tongue], the old woman was bewildered and happily accepted the spirit stones.

Mid-April.

Shen Ji's working capital rolled up to nine hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

He met with Ji Mengxue at Yunlai Inn every five days.

They discussed which trade routes had soaring freight costs, which shops had changed backers, and what rare goods Wanbao Pavilion was secretly collecting recently.

Intelligence was priced clearly, money and goods exchanged.

The tea served became increasingly refined, and the meeting spot moved from the front courtyard private room to a private pavilion in the back.

This day, Ji Mengxue was waiting at the entrance of the pavilion with a plate of pastries.

"Try it, freshly made osmanthus cakes."

"What's the price?"

"Free."

Shen Ji picked one up, threw it into his mouth, chewed it up, and flipped open the ledger to cut into the next supply price.

Ji Mengxue watched him swallow the exquisite pastry in three bites, silently picking up the teapot to refill his water.

Early May.

Shen Ji drew a web on scrap paper.

The network of spiritual material supply and demand within a 300-mile radius of Yunzhou City.

Lingxu Temple's alchemy room was spending heavily to acquire cold iron powder, and the only two workshops in the city couldn't handle such a large volume.

Ling Xiao had a half-abandoned dark line in the black market specifically for collecting underground raw ore, which happened to be the source of cold iron powder.

Shen Ji spent three days running the route.

He bought up the black market ore and hired rogue cultivators to grind powder day and night.

Under the banner of the "Ling Family Trading Firm," he became the exclusive supplier to Lingxu Temple.

On May 12th, delivery was made on schedule.

After the Lingxu Temple procurement manager verified the purity, he immediately approved a doubled order on the spot.

End of May.

Shen Ji crossed the threshold of the Ling Family's main hall with three contracts and a brand-new ledger.

Ling Xiao leaned back in his mahogany chair, flipping through the account papers.

Three months.

Eighty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones had rolled into two thousand four hundred.

After deducting the split and expenses, Ling Xiao's spirit stone treasury had an extra one thousand two hundred in cash out of thin air.

"Clap."

Ling Xiao closed the ledger, his folding fan tapping the table.

"That line with Lingxu Temple, do you want to make it long-term?"

"If production capacity can keep up, I'll do it." Shen Ji said. "But the black market dark line could be cut at any time. I need a regular mine as a trump card."

Ling Xiao flipped his wrist.

A pure black token flew out of his sleeve.

Shen Ji reached out and caught it.

The back was engraved with the character "Ling," and the edges were embedded with broken spirit stones; this was the access token for the Ling Family's core industries.

"The Ling Family has an iron mine in Central State."

Ling Xiao flicked open his folding fan.

"Take this token to find the mine manager; he will approve a separate procurement line for you."

The folding fan pointed remotely at Shen Ji.

"Deputy Envoy Zhou of the Yunzhou City Market Management Bureau has drunk my tea."

"If you want to expand your business, you absolutely cannot bypass him. I'll send someone to take you to introduce yourself later."

Shen Ji tucked the black token into his chest and turned to walk out.

Just as he crossed the threshold, Ling Xiao's voice drifted out.

"Shen Ji."

"Hm?"

"You've dressed up nicely." Ling Xiao rested his chin on his folding fan. "But the way you walk still has that mud-legged smell of someone hauling stones in the outer courtyard."

Shen Ji didn't stop walking.

"What's wrong with the mud-legged smell?"

He patted the heavy black token in his chest hard through the fabric.

"As long as it can haul money back, that's all that matters."