Chapter 25 – Florida Man's General Store Runs a Promotion – Price Increases by 500%!
Leo explained his business scheme to Wu Buyi.
"You won't be doing it for free. I'll pay you commissions. For example, if an invited customer spends 100 years of lifespan in my store, I'll give you an item worth 10 years of lifespan as a commission reward! Easy, right?"
Wu Buyi was flabbergasted. He had never heard of this business scheme before. Even though he had traded with countless merchants and fellow cultivators, he never heard of the [Sale Commission] system.
Excited, Wu Buyi recited what he learned out loud, "S-So, if I introduce you to a customer, and that person spends 500 years of lifespan here, I get 50 years of lifespan as points to exchange for the items in the store? Is that correct?!"
"Of course!"
"I'M IN! COUNT ME IN!"
Wu Buyi readily accepted. After all, there was nothing to lose. Moreover, he knew hundreds of alchemists and experts in the Jianghu Alliance, and Wu Buyi was confident that those undying old coots would spend most of their lifespan for Leo's precious herbs and fruits.
The alchemist salivated, imagining what he could obtain for free. However, he was sober enough to figure out a problem – There was no currency or medium to tally Wu Buyi's commission rewards.
Having some doubts, Wu Buyi asked Leo, "But, fellow Daoist. How do we calculate my rewards? Do I have to claim it right away? Can we do something like my sect's contribution points so that I can trade my points with the reward material later?"
Leo had expected this. He checked the store system if he could bestow lifespan to others.
The answer was no – He could not give away his lifespan to other people directly.
However, there was a convenient way. As Leo examined the system menu, he noticed a locked feature.
[Unlock Store Employee Feature] – 100 Years of Lifespan
It cost 100 years to unlock, which Leo had no problem with that as he had eaten so many wolf steaks and grasses during the week.
DING
Leo unlocked it. Then, he tried to operate the system. He pressed on a new tab next to the store domain building menu.
<Please appoint your worker.>
A new window appeared. A resume template was shown on the screen. On the blank portrait, there was an [+] icon.
Leo pressed on it. Then, the system asked.
<Please choose the worker you wish to employ. The worker must be within your shop domain.>
'Oh?'
Leo immediately pressed the [+] icon. Then, a list of people in the domain appeared. As Wu Buyi was the only one here, there was only one name to choose.
After adding Wu Buyi to the menu, his general information was shown. The interesting part was at the bottom of the screen.
<Wage and Salary Settings>
<Please choose the payment method for the employee.>
There were four options – Monthly wage, Annual Salary, Commission-Based, and Contract-Based. In addition, Leo could adjust the wage or the commission rate.
However, one thing made Leo smile. He could pay Wu Buyi with lifespan instead of gold coins or other native currency. He immediately set the payment method to commission-based and set the fee to 10%.
DING
<Wu Buyi has been assigned as an employee.>
Only Leo could see the message. Wu Buyi was still oblivious to the changes.
After confirming the method, Leo confirmed their deal.
"We'll settle with a 10% commission. Also, you should know about the price of my items."
As soon as Leo mentioned the price tag, Wu Buyi immediately offered his advice.
"Sir, about the price of the items, can I offer my suggestion? You see, I believe you underprice them."
"Hmm?"
.
.
= At night =
Wu Buyi returned to the sect with a blank expression. His mind still recalled the deal he made with Leo while he looked at the living eyeball in his hand. He couldn't stop smiling.
He could tell that it was a parasite, judging how it secretly eat dead skin on his palm for food. He also looked at a banana in his left hand, which he got from Leo as the advanced payment for the .
"Instead of risking our lives in mystic realms, we can get cheap pills and alchemy ingredients from his store. This idea is... amazing and innovative!"
Wu Buyi was hyped. He rushed to his house to get a container for the golden sand banana and the eyeball. Then, he flew to a friend's abode - The pagoda of the grand elder Han Hao.
As soon as he entered Han Hao's room, he showed the grand elder the banana and the prosthetic eyeball.
"Han Hao. You see this?" Wu Buyi pointed at the banana, "Guess where I got it from?"
Han Hao slowly opened his eyes. He had been meditating and waiting for Wu Buyi's report regarding Leo for days. But instead of reporting, Wu Buyi seemed strangely excited.
"Is that an earth element fruit? Where did you get that from? The mystic realm hasn't opened yet." Han Hao frowned and gazed at the jumping eyeball in a bottle.
"From the usual place, Daoist Florida Man's store."
"We asked you to investigate the person, not to shop! What the hell, Buyi?"
When they chatted a few days ago, they agreed that Wu Buyi would visit the mysterious cultivator to investigate his motive. However, this guy flew around and visited so many cities during the days, which disappointed Han Hao.
Wu Buyi looked smug. He giggled, "You know what? I'm going to work part-time for Daoist Florida Man's store now. I'll send all the available alchemists to visit his store and buy his rare herbs. Tell the others for me that I won't be going to the mystic realm this season."
"WHAT?! BUT WHY?!" Han Hao was taken aback.
"Can't you tell what it is in the bottle, Han Hao?"
"..."
Han Hao deeply sighed and stared at the living eyeball. Although he wasn't an alchemist, he could identify it.
"Prosthetic organ. Yeah, this is a valuable treasure. If you sell this, you'll be rich. So, why are you showing me this? I know you're rich. What's the point?"
Wu Buyi paced around the room. He continued mumbling. At a glance, he seemed restless. In reality, he was drunk on dopamine and serotonin.
"We have a new project, Han Hao. Daoist Florida Man is planning to supply us with rare elemental fruits and herbs. Actually, if we have enough supply, we might no longer need to rely on the mystic realms anymore!"
"Hah?"
Han Hao's expression turned ugly, confused. As Wu Buyi was too excited, he didn't properly explain what he saw or did.
Wu Buyi also realized that he forgot to report everything in detail, he started by patting the bottle of eyeball.
"Ahem! Sorry, I got too excited," Wu Buyi took several deep breaths. He continued, "What if I tell you that Daoist Florida Man has about 20 eyeballs like this."
"W-WHAT?!"
Han Hao counted his fingers. One of them was enough to fetch one million spirit stones. With 20, it could drive the Jianghu Alliance insane or even trigger a war!
"That's not all, friend," Wu Buyi continued, "In his store, I saw thousands of immortal grasses, hundreds of yin cabbages, and hundreds of desert bananas! This doesn't include Fenrir's heart, liver, blood, and bones! Hell, he has so many ingredients that he made inferior grain pills using elemental herbs! My heart still aches whenever I think about it. Buy hey, one of those pills is still very useful for the disciples, especially the ones that have already awakened their elemental Qi. They don't need to risk their lives to cultivate elemental Qi in the mystic realms anymore. We can simply give the elemental pills to the promising disciples instead!"
Wu Buyi talked so fast that he stuttered.
Meanwhile, Han Hao managed to put the puzzle pieces together and understood the general idea. He instantly found the flaw of this scheme.
"What if that person suddenly runs out of rare herbs? What about the investment and prices of those pills? No sane man will supply everything for free. So, Buyi, what's the catch?"
Wu Buyi puffed his chest and widely smirked. He laughed at Han Hao.
"You fool. Daoist Florida Man is someone from a higher realm. I saw his spatial ring. It doesn't look like something that we're wearing. There must be some herbs or treasures that he hasn't shown us yet. Also, he doesn't need spirit stones or gold coins! He only needs our lifespan!"
"Lifespan? Oh, right." Han Hao narrowed his eyes. He had heard of this from his son, Han Meng.
At first, Han Hao believed that Han Meng was tricked. But after hearing Wu Buyi's testimony, his interest was piqued.
"How much does he need?"
Wu Buyi walked toward a shelf and picked up a blank paper. He took a brush and started writing.
.
Immortal Grass – 50 Years per blade
Golden Sand Banana – 50 Years per Piece
Yin Cabbage – 50 Years per Head
Elemental Grain Pill – 10 Years per pill
Prosthetic Eyeball of Fenrir – 500 Years per eye
.
Wu Buyi grinned. He came up with this price to make Leo's store more profitable. Moreover, with these price tags, his income would increase as well. Even though it would cost more to buy Leo's stuff, the appropriate value would make the store more attractive to old experts.
"How about it? Cheap, right?"
"..."
