Chapter 30

Before Chen Hai arrived at Iron Stream Ridge, although Zhou Jingyuan recognized Ge Tong, they did not have much interaction. At that time, he was thinking of selling two old-looking fakes to Ge Tong for a profit.

After living together for half a year, Zhou Jingyuan thought Chen Hai would never mention this matter again, but he never expected him to suddenly expose it at this moment. No matter how thick-skinned he was, he still blushed in front of Ge Tong and asked with a wry smile, "Junior Brother Yao, why do you want to learn these things?"

"More skills never hurt," Chen Hai said with a smile, "Besides, only after I master this craft can I have the face to share a piece of the pie from Senior Brother Zhou's shop..."

Chen Hai revealed this matter at this time for two reasons: first, to remove any lingering distrust between Zhou Jingyuan and Ge Tong, and second, he not only wanted to learn the technique of making antiques from Zhou Jingyuan but also wanted to collaborate with him to turn it into a business.

In his previous life on Earth, Chen Hai had also deeply studied how to make antiques and paintings look old, but Earth is Earth, and Yanzhou is Yanzhou. The laws of nature are different on both sides. If he wanted to make antiques and paintings look old in Yanzhou, he still needed to learn from Zhou Jingyuan again.

Of course, the experience he gained in his previous life could still be useful, and he believed that if he were to take up this trade again in the Great Yan Empire, he would be more outstanding than the antique dealers of his previous life.

Of course, if Chen Hai were to do this business, he would also need to bring Zhou Jingyuan on board.

"Haha, if Junior Brother Yao says so, I dare not hide my skills," Zhou Jingyuan said, not caring about the awkwardness in front of Ge Tong and quickly agreeing.

Although Chen Hai's inability to advance to the Mystic Realm was worrying, after living together for half a year, Zhou Jingyuan had long recognized that Chen Hai was not an ordinary person.

Even if his cultivation could not improve, as long as he could regain Chen Lie's trust, Zhou Jingyuan believed that Chen Hai would still have a significant position in the Taowei Sect and the Chen Clan.

Not all noble children needed to have extremely high cultivation to obtain high positions. After all, a large number of clan and sect affairs still needed capable people to manage. In the Tianzhu Academy and the Wuwei military system, the court and local officials of the Great Yan Empire also valued governance skills more than cultivation levels.

Although Zhou Jingyuan had been managing his shop for the past two years, he knew there were some ceilings he could not break through.

Although Zhou Jingyuan had been thinking about attaching himself to a powerful clan, the core descendants of the Chai, Xie, and Li clans did not take him seriously; and people like Chai Rong, who were from the collateral line, were not worth Zhou Jingyuan's support and were particularly greedy and arrogant.

Zhou Jingyuan recognized that Chen Hai was not an ordinary person and naturally hoped that he would take a share from the shop.

Ge Tong, of course, would not hold a grudge over past events, but seeing Chen Hai and Zhou Jingyuan getting along so well, he could not help but frown and advise, "Doing this kind of thing in the Dao Academy, if it is discovered, it will be hard to deal with—Chai Rong may be practicing in the inner sect of the Seven Peaks, but the Chai clan's disciples in the Dao Academy will still keep an eye on Junior Brother Yao's every move."

"..." Chen Hai smiled and said to Ge Tong, "Senior Brother Zhou's talent is not just about making a few old things to deceive fellow disciples; it is somewhat underutilized. The weapons and armor produced by the Dao Academy are of very high quality, but their appearance is lacking. I was thinking of learning this craft from Senior Brother Zhou to make the weapons and armor produced by the Dao Academy look more ancient and elegant, which might be more popular outside the Dao Academy..."

"Is Junior Brother Yao saying that we should open a shop in Mengyi City?" Zhou Jingyuan asked, his eyes shining.

"Yes!" Chen Hai said, "How many people are there in the Dao Academy, and every fellow disciple has high standards, always dreaming of mystic weapons and magical treasures. Can Senior Brother Zhou forge mystic weapons and magical treasures to sell to them? In fact, even if he could forge them, how many could he sell in the Dao Academy in a year? Besides, these trades are controlled by a few major clans outside the sect. What qualifications do we have to snatch meat from these big shots? But what I think Senior Brother Zhou really wanted to do, and has not done yet, is to open a shop in Mengyi City. As the core of the Iron Stream Ridge defense line, half of the merchants traveling between Yan and Jin provinces pass through Mengyi City—what Mengyi City really needs in large quantities are high-quality weapons and armor..."

Zhou Jingyuan's eyes were bright, as if every word Chen Hai said resonated with him.

Chen Hai continued, "Senior Brother Zhou has been in the Institute of Artifacts for years and knows which fellow disciples are not doing well in Mengyi City. Our weapon shop will not lack craftsmen. Of course, besides ordinary high-quality weapons and armor, we also need to produce a batch of high-end, artistic masterpieces. Like the Wind and Cloud Boots that Senior Brother Zhou made for me, if we can apply the technique of making them look old, making them look more ancient and elegant, and using the best materials, we don't need to boast that they are thousand-year-old treasures, and people will still flock to buy them. After all, even among the noble children, not everyone has the talent for cultivation, but some are favored by their elders in the clan. They are our key potential customers. Of course, our weapon shop also needs a catchy name, and we need to stamp our name on all the weapons and armor we produce, with the intention of long-term operation. Once our reputation spreads, more people will come directly to our weapon shop..."

"Good, good..."

Zhou Jingyuan considered himself to have commercial talent, and the more Chen Hai talked, the more he felt he could only admire him. He really could not understand why the Yao clan would expel such an excellent descendant, or why the Chen clan could not accommodate him. Did they really think that only those with high cultivation could be superior?

Ge Tong had been devoted to cultivation for years and did not involve himself in secular affairs, nor had he started a family. Even so, listening to Chen Hai, he found his words logical and said with a smile, "Hearing you talk like this, I am tempted to join in and share a piece of the pie."

"Even if you don't say so, I would still bring you in, thinking that once Senior Brother Ge successfully opens the Spirit Sea, you will be the backing of our weapon shop within the sect," Chen Hai said.

Ge Tong wanted to join in but insisted on not taking too much of the share. He smiled, "I will take ten percent, and I won't worry about it, so it won't interfere with my cultivation. You should quickly think of a catchy name and spread the reputation as soon as possible."

"The name is simple, just call it the Medicine Garden Weapon Shop," Chen Hai said.

"..." Zhou Jingyuan initially found it strange, but after careful consideration, he slapped his thigh and said, "When people hear Medicine Garden, they will only think of medicinal herbs and elixirs, and then the name will be forcibly combined with a weapon shop, which sounds strange but leaves a deep impression. It might not take long for it to become well-known in Mengyi City..."

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The Dao Academy was built along the eastern slope of the main peak of Iron Stream Ridge, and Mengyi City was built in the basin south of the eastern slope, only about fifty to sixty miles away. Chen Hai could overlook the ten thousand lights of Mengyi City from the Medicine Garden, but since he arrived at Iron Stream Ridge, he had always stayed in the Dao Academy for cultivation and had never left to visit Mengyi City.

The Blood Cloud Wasteland was in chaos, and the puppet clone was hiding in a cave and would not come out for the time being. Chen Hai's real body was also stuck in a bottleneck in cultivation, and to break through in a short time, he needed to take higher-level spiritual medicines to replenish his essence and energy.

The elixirs within the Taowei Sect were even more problematic than mystic weapons and magical treasures. Some spiritual medicines, which could clearly improve effectiveness by one or two percent, had their exchange price doubled; and elixirs with a slight effect of healing hidden injuries in the spirit meridians had exorbitant exchange prices, which Chen Hai did not even dare to think about.

At this time, Chen Hai decided to temporarily slow down his cultivation and collaborate with Zhou Jingyuan to open a weapon shop in Mengyi City.

Although the Medicine Garden was still continuously moving in new medicinal herbs and spiritual trees, the growth of medicinal herbs and spiritual trees usually took years, and it was sufficient for Ge Tong to lead Shen Xiu and other medicine boys to tend to them.

After deciding to open the Medicine Garden Weapon Shop, Chen Hai and Zhou Jingyuan acted quickly.

With Shen Kun's help, they quickly bought a courtyard on Changhua Street in Mengyi City.

The courtyard had a three-section layout. The front section had a gate and a sign for the Medicine Garden Weapon Shop, officially receiving customers; the back two sections were used as a workshop for making weapons and armor and as dormitories for craftsmen and apprentices.

In addition to Ge Tong, Chen Hai and Zhou Jingyuan also brought Shen Kun on board.

Shen Kun had accumulated enough merit to be granted the rank of Deputy Captain of the Hundred Warriors, and his official duty was the city patrol officer of the southern district of Mengyi City, a minor official. However, Changhua Street was within his jurisdiction.

Thus, Chen Hai and Zhou Jingyuan each contributed 800 points of sect merit, while Ge Tong and Shen Kun each contributed 200 points of sect merit, totaling 20 million coins of the Great Yan currency, to open the Medicine Garden Weapon Shop.

Zhou Jingyuan had good connections in the Institute of Artifacts and found four experienced craftsmen within three days.

These four craftsmen were all from poor families and had entered the Mystic Realm. They were then gradually assigned to the military, where they did not have the opportunity to advance in cultivation or accumulate military merit to be promoted. For years, they had been making weapons and armor in the military camp, with no chance to stand out.

When Zhou Jingyuan found them and promised them a generous annual salary and a certain percentage of profit sharing, and they heard that Ge Tong and Shen Kun were also involved, they readily took off their military uniforms and each brought three to five apprentices to join the Medicine Garden Weapon Shop...

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