Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

"Okay." Tong Peipei nodded, took her seat again, and began to discuss how to divide the profits from these two similar types of Talismans.

"The Calm Heart Talisman and the Water Heart Talisman have similar effects and belong to the same category of Basic Talisman."

"The difference is that the Calm Heart Talisman is a non-attribute Talisman, whereas the Water Heart Talisman is a Water Attribute Talisman... In terms of effectiveness and sales, the Calm Heart Talisman should have the lead, outperforming the Water Heart Talisman..."

Tong Peipei analyzed.

Cultivators with other attributes can use a Water Attribute Talisman like the Water Heart Talisman, but compared to a non-attribute Talisman like the Calm Heart Talisman, its effects are inevitably diminished.

Furthermore, it was precisely because the Calm Heart Talisman was a non-attribute Talisman released around the same time as hers that she knew she was in the wrong.

According to the Inner Collection’s agreement.

Wei Tu’s primary focus going forward was to be on Earth and Wood Attribute Talismans, while hers was on Water and Metal Attribute Talismans.

"My proposal is this: Fellow Daoist Wei raises the price of the Calm Heart Talisman, while I maintain my original price. In the future, I will give twenty percent of the profits from the Water Heart Talisman’s sales to you."

Tong Peipei hesitated for a moment before proposing a solution.

"That’s too complicated." Wei Tu shook his head, a look of dissatisfaction on his face. "If I raise the price of the Calm Heart Talisman, sales will inevitably suffer. Fellow Daoist Tong... even with twenty percent of the profits from the Water Heart Talisman, it won’t be enough to cover my losses."

In reality, the solution Tong Peipei proposed wasn’t bad.

He risked losing Spirit Stones if sales of the Calm Heart Talisman dropped after a price increase.

But the upside was that by stopping production of the Calm Heart Talisman, he would not only passively earn twenty percent of the Water Heart Talisman’s profits but also save time he could devote to his Cultivation.

This latter benefit made even a small loss of Spirit Stones acceptable.

But the crux of the matter was that Wei Tu didn’t trust Tong Peipei to actually give him the promised twenty percent of the Water Heart Talisman’s profits.

They simply didn’t have that level of trust between them.

"Then what do you have in mind, Fellow Daoist Wei?"

Tong Peipei wasn’t angry when she heard Wei Tu’s refusal. After all, haggling was an unavoidable part of any negotiation.

"I can give up the profits from the Calm Heart Talisman and stop selling it on Danqiu Mountain in the future, but the price is..."

Wei Tu paused.

"Feel free to speak your mind, Fellow Daoist Wei." Tong Peipei’s Liuu Mei twitched slightly, and she subconsciously pressed her legs together.

’Wei Tu is quite close to that bitch, Hu Yao. One look and you can tell he’s no good.’

Wei Tu didn’t notice Tong Peipei’s thoughts. He mused for a moment before asking tentatively, "Since Fellow Daoist Tong possesses a Talisman Master’s Inheritance, then about the Inheritance for Earth and Wood Attribute Talismans..."

Seeing Tong Peipei’s apparent intention to refuse, Wei Tu quickly changed his tune. "As long as you are willing to give me the Talisman Making Techniques for three Level 1 Talismans, Fellow Daoist Tong, then I have no problem yielding the profits from the Calm Heart Talisman to you."

The profits from the Calm Heart Talisman were substantial, but as long as he could master more advanced Talisman Making Techniques, it was a price he was willing to pay.

He wasn’t like Tong Peipei, whose talent in the Talisman Dao was so limited that she could only specialize in a few Basic Talismans.

Hearing this, Tong Peipei’s brow smoothed, and she laughed. "Since you put it that way, Fellow Daoist Wei, how could I possibly disagree? I will deliver the Talisman Making Techniques for three Earth and Wood Attribute Talismans to your home tomorrow."

She didn’t have an Earth and Wood Spirit Root.

She couldn’t craft Immortal Talismans of those two attributes.

Giving Wei Tu three of them wasn’t a particularly painful decision for her to make.

As for whether this would cause the Tong Family’s ancestral Talisman Master Inheritance to be leaked...

...she hadn’t really thought that far ahead.

After all, it’s easy to squander an inheritance.

"By the way, I have one more question for you, Fellow Daoist Tong. Who gave you these Calm Heart Talismans on the table...?"

A thought struck Wei Tu, and he seized the opportunity to ask.

"It was Mao—" Tong Peipei, still giddy from the good news and with her guard down, answered Wei Tu without thinking.

The words had barely left her mouth when she realized her slip of the tongue and immediately clamped her mouth shut, unwilling to say another word.

"Talisman Master Maoo?"

Wei Tu’s gaze turned cold as he pressed the question.

There were quite a few Cultivators with the surname Mao in the shantytown, but when he thought about it, the only one hostile to him was the other Talisman Master in the Inner Collection—Talisman Master Maoo.

"I must be going now."

Tong Peipei stood, gave a quick curtsy, and hurriedly departed from the hut.

Even though she suspected Talisman Master Maoo had deceived her, she would have to confront him personally before deciding how to proceed, rather than leaking the information here and now.

"Talisman Master Maoo."

Inside the hut, Wei Tu took out a brush and paper and wrote down the name "Talisman Master Maoo."

Recording details with a brush and paper was a habit he had developed in his early years after learning from Fu Zhizhou.

...

「The next day.」

Tong Peipei visited as promised, bringing Wei Tu the Talisman Making Techniques for three Level 1 Talismans.

These three Level 1 Talismans.

They were:

The Wood Attribute "Thorn Cage Talisman."

The Wood Attribute "Demon Wood Talisman."

The Earth Attribute "Rock Shield Talisman."

Upon seeing the three Talismans, Wei Tu’s brow furrowed. He cursed inwardly at Tong Peipei for being so malicious and stingy.

In the Talisman Dao, Auxiliary Talismans had the highest sales and were the easiest to craft, making them the best choice for a Talisman Master to practice with and improve their skills.

Attack and Defensive Talismans were considerably more expensive than Auxiliary Talismans of the same Level, but they were also the most difficult to craft.

Very few Talisman Masters chose to practice with Attack or Defensive Talismans when trying to hone their craft.

If Tong Peipei had included even one Auxiliary Talisman among the three Level 1 Talismans she gave him, Wei Tu wouldn’t have thought much of it.

But two Attack Talismans and one Defensive Talisman... This was Tong Peipei’s blatant way of making things difficult for him, essentially screwing him over.

’I’ll remember this little slight.’

Wei Tu thought.

He had traded the entire market for the Calm Heart Talisman for these three Level 1 Talisman Making Techniques.