Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming

On this clear morning, the crisp sound of firecrackers suddenly rang out from the southeast side of the marketplace.

Upon hearing the noise, the experienced cultivators within the marketplace knew that a new store was opening.

Generally speaking, in the marketplace, only the opening of new stores was permitted to create such a commotion.

Otherwise, any store or individual causing such a disturbance in the marketplace at other times would have to pay a hefty fine or even face imprisonment.

With new store openings, it was customary to attract customers by selling items at slightly lower prices for the first few days or even a month.

Therefore, whether it was out of curiosity or the desire for a bargain, many idle cultivators in the marketplace soon flocked towards the location of the newly opened store.

Spirit Beast Restaurant!

That was the name of the store that had opened that day.

Just by the name, one could tell that the business dealt with Demon Beasts.

And at that moment, the newly appointed shopkeeper, Zhou Jiasheng, stood outside the door, smiling and greeting guests from all directions with a traditional hand-folded salutation.

“Welcome, fellow Daoists, to our store. I am Zhou Jiasheng, entrusted by the Zhou Family to serve as the shopkeeper. Today, as our store opens, all goods are being sold at a 10% discount. Fellow Daoists, do not miss this opportunity!” he said.

Zhou Jiasheng was sixty-two this year, with white hair and fine wrinkles on his forehead, indicating his advancing age.

With a neat goatee and a constant smile on his face, he had the natural look of a shopkeeper.

Zhou Daoyi had chosen him to be the shopkeeper because of his past experience and high level of appraisal skill for common Spiritual Objects, which made it unlikely for him to be deceived by counterfeit goods.

Choosing Zhou Chun as an assistant was partly due to Zhou Chun’s recent accomplishments, which could not go unrewarded.

Moreover, knowing Zhou Chun’s love for reading and studying, which had already put him far ahead of his fellow cultivators in theory, it was believed that after some years of hands-on learning in the store under Zhou Jiasheng, he would be able to turn his theoretical knowledge into practical wisdom, becoming highly valuable.

At that time, hearing that Zhou Jiasheng was offering a 10% discount on all goods for today, many of the visiting cultivators were tempted.

Immediately, someone started walking into the store and asked aloud, “Shopkeeper Zhou, what treasures does your store have? Judging by the name of the store, could it be that you sell Spirit Pets and mounts?”

“You are right, Daoist,” Zhou Jiasheng confirmed with a smile, nodding. “Our Spirit Beast Restaurant indeed has Spirit Beast Eggs for sale, and we will periodically release some tamed Demon Beast Cubs for pre-order.”

Then his tone changed as he continued, “However, our main products are Elixirs to enhance the Cultivation Level of Spirit Beasts, Secretly-Made Beast-Repelling Medicine, Secretly-Made Insect-Repelling Medicine, Secretly-Made Spirit Beast Feed, and more. We also offer customized breakthrough methods for Spirit Pets stuck at their cultivation bottlenecks—no charge if they do not succeed!”

After finishing his speech, he gestured welcomingly and then added, “Of course, our store also purchases various Demon Beast Eggs, Demon Beast Cubs, various Spiritual Medicines, ores, and even information on certain Demon Beasts at fair prices!”

After listening to his words, many cultivators present realized that the bargains today might not be easy to come by.

Not everyone could afford a Spirit Pet, not even amongst cultivators from cultivating families; perhaps not even two out of ten could afford to keep one.

Since the Zhou Family’s “Spirit Beast Restaurant” was focusing on Spirit Pet supplies, what use would their purchases be to them?

However, since they were already there, and considering that Secretly-Made Beast-Repelling Medicine and Insect-Repelling Medicine could be useful while traveling, the cultivators still entered the store, keen to broaden their horizons.

Inside, they saw Zhou Chun, dressed in a cyan-grey long robe, smiling and greeting each visiting cultivator with a bowed hand, and providing answers to those who had questions.

However, under his suggestion, notes had been pasted near each counter, clearly listing the general effects and prices of the goods.

Traditionally, stores in this world operated by “quoting prices on the fly,” with prices kept in the minds of the shopkeeper and assistants, attempting to sell as high as possible when customers inquired, and allowing customers the space to haggle.

But Zhou Chun knew well the pros and cons of this approach and that for a newly opened store like “Spirit Beast Restaurant,” which needed to establish a good reputation, it wasn’t of much benefit.

Therefore, before officially opening, he successfully persuaded the Clan Leader, Zhou Daoyi, to price all items and sell them at the marked price, with no bargaining allowed.

This was essentially operating a supermarket within the Cultivation World.

Zhou Chun did not know if there were other stores in the world that did the same, but he had never seen such a system in Hongya Marketplace.

In this way, even if “Spirit Beast Restaurant’s” approach was initially difficult for some cultivators to accept, at least those who visited the store would have a deep impression and remember it.

This was the most practical reason Zhou Chun used to persuade Zhou Daoyi at the time.

Furthermore, the supermarket model had the advantage of reducing the need for price inquiries, allowing Zhou Chun to avoid repeating a lot of meaningless talk.

After all, without displayed prices, many cultivators would feel compelled to inquire and haggle regardless of whether they could afford the items or not.

At this time, many cultivators who entered the store were indeed surprised by “Spirit Beast Restaurant’s” unique selling method, and they continuously expressed their opinions.

Some thought that not being able to haggle was outrageous, while others believed that if the prices were indeed fair, it would save them a lot of trouble.

In the end, there were many onlookers, but few buyers.

After all, Spirit Coins are not blown in by the wind; if something isn’t urgently needed, most cultivators will not part with their money easily.

On the contrary, what most interested these cultivators was the “Spirit Beast Restaurant” purchasing Demon Beast Eggs and Demon Beast information.

Many people were inquiring about the purchase price, and some asked if the information they had about certain Demon Beasts’ whereabouts could be sold to the “Spirit Beast Restaurant”.

They even just wanted to earn Spirit Coins from the “Spirit Beast Restaurant”!

Fortunately, Zhou Chun had made some preparations for this.

For those cultivators who inquired about Demon Beast Eggs and Demon Beast Cub information, he gave a general reference price for low-level and mid-level Demon Beasts, stating that the specific price would depend on the quality of the beast itself.

For those asking about purchasing Demon Beast information, Zhou Chun simply pointed to a white paperboard in the shop, which already had several pieces of Demon Beast information being purchased by the Zhou Family Cultivators written on it.

Among them, the first was an announcement by Zhou Jiapeng that they were buying information on the whereabouts of female Iron Feather Hawks.

Indeed, most of the Demon Beast information purchased by the Zhou Family was for the purpose of finding suitable beasts for breeding.

Given the vastness of the Cultivation World and the footsteps of cultivators present everywhere, seeking certain Demon Beasts through the help of the vast number of cultivators was certainly many times more convenient than searching alone.

And just by providing information, they could earn a considerable amount of Spirit Coins, which also left many cultivators who visited the shop today with another deep impression of the “Spirit Beast Restaurant”.

In the midst of the hustle and bustle, the first day finally came to an end.

When it was deep into the night and most cultivators in the Marketplace had already gone to sleep, Zhou Chun was still up with Zhou Jiasheng, tallying the day’s shop income and expenses.

“Today, we sold a total of three low-level Demon Beast Fire Sparrow eggs, one low-level Demon Beast Gale Eagle Egg, three bottles of Beast Spirit Pills, fifty-six portions of Secretly-Made Beast-Repelling Medicine, thirty-two portions of Secretly-Made Insect-Repelling Medicine, and seventy-eight portions of Secretly-Made Spirit Beast Feed… a total income of seven hundred and fifty-six Spirit Coins.”

“Additionally, today we purchased a century-old Red Candle Fruit plant, a piece of Thunderstrike Spirit Wood, and two low-level Demon Beast Blood Snake eggs… a total expenditure of four hundred and thirty-nine Spirit Coins.”

In the shop, after tallying the day’s business income and expenses, both Zhou Jiasheng and Zhou Chun’s expressions were somewhat displeased.

The first day of business was when customer traffic was at its peak, with one day often equaling a month’s business, which was quite normal.

The fact that the income in Spirit Coins did not break a thousand was indeed somewhat embarrassing.

There was nothing to say about the expenses, as they were all reasonable expenditures.

“Nephew Zhengchun, tell me, what do you think about today’s income?”

Behind the counter, Zhou Jiasheng closed the account book and looked calmly at Zhou Chun.

Although there was no blame in his words, Zhou Chun knew that his insistence on setting clear prices had indeed upset his elder.

This was actually quite normal.

The longer a person works in an industry and the older they get, the more likely they are to be limited by their experience and to become arrogant.

In Zhou Jiasheng’s eyes, no matter how much merit Zhou Chun had achieved for the family or how smart he was, he was just a youth who had just passed the age of twenty-five and had no experience managing a shop.

Such a junior learning how to manage a shop by his side would not cause any concerns for him; he might even be happy to have extra help.

But for such a junior to start meddling and changing the shop’s business model as soon as he arrived, undermining his authority as the Shopkeeper?

How could he not be angry?

If Zhou Chun’s clear pricing had resulted in very good business income today,

Zhou Jiasheng, despite his discomfort, would have no further objections to it.

But as fate would have it, the business income on the first day did not meet expectations and was even considerably lower than expected.

How could Zhou Jiasheng keep the frustration inside from showing?

The calmer his expression now, the more it indicated that the fire inside him was burning ever more fiercely, needing his strong effort to suppress and calm it.

Yet, since he had asked the question, Zhou Chun still had to say what needed to be said.

He immediately bowed his hands toward him and spoke earnestly, “Uncle Sixteen, please understand, I believe that although today’s income is somewhat below expectations, it does not mean we have failed!”

“I trust that you also saw and heard today, Uncle, that even if the customers who came to our store did not engage in trade, they were all abuzz about our practice of clear pricing. I believe if you go out and about tomorrow, you will hear discussions about this matter.”

“As word of mouth spreads, even cultivators who weren’t in the Marketplace today will hear of the reputation of our Spirit Beast Restaurant and will come out of curiosity to verify its authenticity.”

“In this way, I believe that in the coming month, our Spirit Beast Restaurant will be crowded with people, and we won’t have to worry about the source of customers.”

“And as long as there are more customers, some of them will inevitably need the items in our store, and it will be quite normal for them to purchase something along the way.”

“Therefore, in my opinion, the income from just one day doesn’t say much.”

However, after he finished his righteous speech, what he saw was a barely concealed sneer on Zhou Jiasheng’s face.