Chapter 26 – Florida Man's Overpriced Rotten Tea Becomes Popular Among Elders
After Wu Buyi had left, Leo took notes of the suggested price and started labeling his items. He spent a few extra lifespans, purchasing label stickers from the shop system. He also bought a box of ball pens for writing.
When Leo finished writing the notes, he pondered.
'I doubt everybody can read modern numbers. It's still up to me to trade the lifespan anyway. I wish I had a bot or A.I. employee to run the store.'
Leo shifted his attention to the hundred bamboo baskets outside the store. He widely smiled when he noticed the varieties of veggies and fruits. Aside from the old stuff, there were new goodies - Tomatoes, carrots, lettuces, onions, watermelons, oranges, and lychees. There was even a basket of tea leaves.
In addition, the two sacks of seeds reminded Leo that he hadn't cleared enough land to make a vegetable garden or farmland yet.
Seeing so many fruits and veggies, Leo rubbed his hands. He was excited.
'New research materials! Also, I haven't eaten those for ages! I need to try the regular ones before I start making the mutated ones.'
Leo put on his hazmat suit. Then, he transferred the baskets and sacks of seeds to the storage house, aka the alchemy workshop building. He spent the entire night researching new materials and eating the samples.
...
DING
<You have discovered Invigorated Tea Leaf.>
<You have discovered Fiery Yang Tomato.>
<You have discovered Unicorn Horn Carrot.>
<You have discovered Weeping Onion.>
<You have discovered Bloodmelon.>
<You have discovered Tiger Killing Orange.>
<You have discovered Lychee of Drowning.>
DING
<Refining Rejuvenate Tea!>
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BANG
BANG
At 5 AM, someone knocked on the front door.
Leo jolted up from his bed. As he went to bed at 3 AM, he was in a bad mood. Being half-asleep and wearing only a t-shirt and short pants, Leo opened the door without looking at the visitor first.
"Yeah, what!?"
"MEOW!"
In front of the cabin, Cat tried to squeeze in. However, its head was too big.
"You... you're a plant. You're supposed to act like plants even if you're carnivorous! Stop waking me up in the early morning!"
"MEOW-MEOW!"
"IT IS WEDNESDAY, MY DUDE!"
"MEEEEEEOOOOOOW!!"
Cat smacked the door frames, trying to get in no matter what.
Leo frowned and rubbed his eyes. He gently pushed the giant chomper's head out of the way and walked out of the store to see why Cat panicked.
Behind Cat, Wu Buyi and a dozen middle-aged cultivators in the same uniform stood there, gazing at Cat in curiosity. Everybody but one man stood behind the alchemist.
Han Hao, the grand elder, also tagged along with the team. He glared at the monster plant and the shop owner, scanning their cultivation strength. Then, he noticed Leo's strange aura.
'Oh? A soul formation rogue cultivator? So the rumor is true.'
Han Hao continued to observe Leo.
Meanwhile, Leo swiped the corners of his eyes and wiped his dirty fingers with the hem of his t-shirt. Then, he faced the visitors and inwardly complained.
'I guess I haven't set the opening hours yet. Oh, well. I haven't visited a proper store for ages. I forgot about that. I'll tell that guy to mind the time after this.'
As it would be rude and stupid to push the rare customers away, Leo put on a business smile and greeted everybody first.
"Welcome, dear guests. Are you here for a visit, or are you here to purchase my ware?"
Wu Buyi brightly smiled and cupped his fist, "As promised, I've brought you some customers. Let me introduce them to you. The guy with a similar face as mine is Han... I mean, Daoist Bald Swordsman!"
Han Hao's Daoist title was Bald Swordsman. He got this title not because he was bald, but because he rarely carried a scabbard when he was young. Thus, his mentor gave him that title to remind him not to carry unsheathed swords everywhere. However, as Han Hao got older, he became bald. Afterward, the Daoist title became a curse to him.
Secondly, the Daoist Title was similar to an alias or a business name that cultivators used to introduce themselves to strangers. Only elders could call their juniors or their friends by their real names.
Meanwhile, Han Hao didn't care about the title anymore. He took a deep breath and cupped his fist, showing Leo some respect and giving him face.
"Junior Bald Swordsman greets Hermit Florida Man. I heard that you're selling rare herbs for lifespan, so I wish to purchase some. As for the people behind me, they are deacons and elders of the Life Sword Sect. They also wish to see your goods."
Nothing made Leo happier than good-mannered customers. He slowly dragged Cat aside and gestured for them to enter the store.
"Very well. Please come in. Oh, don't mind the mental plant. He's harmless. Look at him. Whenever he sees strangers, he gets rowdy..."
While Leo was speaking, Cat got angry because Leo forcefully pulled him away from the store entrance. It flailed its branches and roots around.
WHACK
The long branches and roots hit the store's exterior walls and rooftop. However, it didn't budge.
Instead, Cat cried in pain. It felt like it kicked an iron plate.
"MEOW!!"
While in pain, Cat crawled to the roof and jumped off from the back, running toward the alchemy workshop and getting to another roof.
The crowd watched how the monster plant nimbly moved to the back of the store. The elders and deacons behind Wu Buyi let out a long sigh of relief as they managed to avoid an unnecessary fight. They followed Leo into the store.
Upon getting inside, they gawked at the showcase refrigerators.
"Immortal grass!"
"THOSE BANANAS!?"
"Y-Yin cabbages?"
While the deacons were amazed by the items, Han Hao was interested in the content in the freezer chests. He looked inside and found mutated wolf's organs. Without hesitation, he asked Leo.
"How much for all of these?"
Leo looked at the chests and shook his head, "Those are not for sale."
"Oh... a pity."
Han Hao deeply sighed. He turned his attention to the other freezer chests. However, most of them only stored wolf organs and meat.
But one of them had something else. In one of the chests, there were five clear glass bottles of silver liquid. Curious, Han Hao opened the chest and brought one chilling bottle out. Although the bottles were sealed, Han Hao instantly recognized the content due to the sparkling color and pieces of tea leaves inside.
'Rejuvenate Tea?!'
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While Leo gazed at his customers, he inwardly grumbled, regretting that he didn't have enough time to make more pills or potions to sell. In addition, he didn't have enough refrigerators or showcases to display the new mutated fruits and vegetables. Most of the newly mutated fruits and veggies were still in the alchemy workshop.
Leo deeply sighed and looked at Han Hao, who was checking the new potions that Leo had made last night.
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Alchemy Recipe – Rejuvenate Tea
Three Invigorated Tea Leaves
One Water Element Catalyst
One Liter of Freshwater
Water and Earth Essence
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Inferior Rejuvenate Tea
- Restore and repair bone marrow.
- Decrease physical age by one year per liter.
- Increase metabolism.
– Very high chance to increase appetite.
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This tea had no effect on cultivation. However, it served as a cosmetic for cultivators. Moreover, it was easy to make as the alchemy cauldron only required 10 minutes to make one liter of tea.
However, Leo had an issue. He wasn't confident that he was a good salesman. He looked at Wu Buyi, asking him to evaluate the price tag with his look.
Wu Buyi noticed Leo's gaze. He widely grinned and checked the freezer chest that Han Hao was gawking at. Then, he discovered the Rejuvenate Tea.
"Oh, my. What do we have here?" Wu Buyi merrily laughed and glanced at Leo. The latter shifted his eyes, gesturing to Wu Buyi to pitch the sale.
"Ahem!"
Wu Buyi coughed and took the hint. He smiled at Han Hao while he intentionally described the perks of this tea.
"Friend, do you know what the tea can do?"
Han Hao clicked his tongue, annoyed by Wu Buyi's smugness. Still, he played along, wondering what the alchemist was up to.
"What?"
"This high-classed tea is Rejuvenate Tea, made from the elusive invigorating tea leaves that can only be found in jungle-based mystic realms. Usually, 7th-grade tree monsters protect these tea plants and hide them behind their unique illusion arrays. If you eat the leaves raw, you will be energized for weeks. But if you turn them into tea, it can decrease your bone age!"
Han Hao snorted as he was aware. On the other hand, the group of following deacons and elders were amazed.
"R-Really?"
"Decreasing our bone age?"
Rushing to the freezer chest, the men gazed at the glass bottles in admiration. Then, they asked Leo, "H-How much are these, sir? We heard that you only accept lifespan. We wish to trade with you!"
Leo stroked his beard, but he glanced at Wu Buyi. Again, the salesman racked his brain and came up with a proper price on the spot.
Wu Buyi coughed and pretended to be the know-it-all guy.
"First off, we have to think about the average income of cultivators. Every golden core cultivator in the mainland usually works for a sect or an organization, and their annual income is 1,000 spirit stones. If we use this as a standard, 1,000 spirit stones equate to one year of lifespan. Now, let's look at the tea. As these tea leaves are difficult to come by and they taste like fine wine, they are naturally expensive. The Jianghu Alliance's best tavern usually charges 5,000 spirit stones per small cup. But for this one, they came in a bigger bottle. So, from my calculation, this bottle should be worth about 250,000 spirit stones at the minimum."
Wu Buyi widely grinned. He looked at Leo, asking for confirmation.
"My guess is 250 years of lifespan per bottle. Am I right?"
Leo maintained his pokerface, but his internal expression turned dark. He complained in his mind.
'I imagined 50 years. Damn, it was too cheap again?!'
Leo looked at Han Hao and his followers. He shook his head.
"I'm not that heartless. 200 years per bottle."
Wu Buyi coughed twice, gesturing to Leo that it was underpriced. However, Leo shook his head again.
"I have a dozen of these in the storeroom, and I'm selling them at a wholesale price so that you can go and resell them if you wish."
"..."
Wu Buyi widened his eyes for a moment as he found the idea amazing. He thought to himself.
'So, if Daoist Florida Man sells the items cheaper than the market price, he will naturally attract greedy merchants here to spend their spirit stones or lifespan for his goods. And when those merchants make a profit, they will come here again for more. This is ingenious!'
The alchemist inwardly gave Leo a thumbs up. Meanwhile, Leo had another idea.
'How much do you think the production cost is? Only one year of lifespan, you dum-dum! I only invested a year of my lifespan to get a luxurious-looking glass bottle, but the material cost and process costs are free! Why should I sell them at a market price? I have more margin, so I'm gonna cut the damn price to make my rivals out of business!'
