The Programmer Cultivator

Chapter 38: Chapter 36: Zhang Deming, the Bargaining Genius

He started by quoting the market price and took a look at the other man, realizing he probably knew the market rates as well.

And so, Zhang Deming launched into his usual spiel. ”You’re trying to sell this on the sly,” he said. ”No matter what story you tell me, I can’t rule out the possibility that these are illicit goods.

On that point alone, it’s worth ten Spirit Stones at most, unless you can prove its origin.

But from the looks of it, you’re clearly planning to sell it secretly, aren’t you?

Secondly, this Cultivation Technique has a major flaw, so its value has to be cut in half again. Therefore, your price is high. Way too high.”

As Zhang Deming calmly recited his list of faults and slashed the price, Li Shifan’s face twitched. He clearly wasn’t much of a haggler.

After a long moment, he finally asked, ”Then how many Spirit Stones do you think it’s worth?”

Without batting an eye, Zhang Deming held up three fingers and said, ”Three.”

”Wha—?!!”

Li Shifan’s face was a mask of shock and disbelief. He had clearly expected to get haggled down, but not like this.

His expression was so genuine that even Zhang Deming’s composed facade wavered for a moment.

’Er, was I a bit too ruthless with that cut?’

’But you can’t blame me. Who asked you to show your hand right from the start, acting like you were peddling illicit goods that couldn’t see the light of day?’

’You were so obviously desperate to sell. If I’m not going to swindle you, who am I going to swindle?’

’Did you really think telling a story could hide the fact that these are illicit goods?’

’I’m taking a risk by buying this, you know!’

’This isn’t me bullying an honest person. This is venture capital. That’s right, VC. A venture investment in myself, shortened to VC!’

”Ahem, five?”

The two stared at each other for a long time. In the end, Zhang Deming was defeated by Li Shifan’s all-too-genuine expression of shock and proactively raised his offer a little.

”A Tier Two Cultivation Technique of Secret Level Mid Grade has a market price starting at fifty Spirit Stones.

Even though this one has quite a few flaws, it’s still a complete Cultivation Technique.

The market price for it here couldn’t possibly be less than twenty Spirit Stones, and you’re offering five...”

Li Shifan finally said after a long pause.

’Good, he’s making a counteroffer. That means there’s room to negotiate.’

Zhang Deming’s expression turned serious again. He held up one finger and said, ”First, twenty is the buyout price.

And you’re obviously not planning on an exclusive sale, are you?

This book looks quite old, and I’d guess it’s the original, but don’t tell me you haven’t kept a transcribed copy or a duplicate, right?

Second, twenty is the price for a public sale. You’re a servant; do you dare sell it openly?

The Sect may be peaceful, but for someone to deal with a mere servant like you—to bleed you dry so slowly you don’t even notice—would be all too easy.

I could come up with half a dozen schemes in my sleep to squeeze you dry within a month, and you’d be the one begging me to do it.

Third, and most importantly.

To get a price of twenty, your story isn’t good enough. You need a spiel that can withstand a bit of scrutiny. But you’re a terrible storyteller; your routine is too shallow. It’s a failing grade.”

Li Shifan fell silent once more. He was a poor bargainer who had run into a master haggler, and he couldn’t even confidently claim his wares were legitimate. The outcome of this exchange was more or less set in stone.

Seeing Li Shifan’s silence, Zhang Deming pressed on, ”I can see your Spiritual Qi is filled to the brim, almost to the point of overflowing.

I imagine your advancement is just around the corner.

All you’re lacking now is a decent sum of resources to break through your bottleneck.

Instead of clinging to this useless Cultivation Technique that you might never comprehend—that you might not even reach the Entry Level of in your entire lifetime—why not let it go and take a gamble?

Who knows? You might just soar to new heights and have a meteoric rise.

Sometimes, the only thing separating a soaring genius from an ordinary nobody is just one small push.

And right now, the opportunity for that push is right in front of you. Whether you seize it or not all depends on if you have the guts.”

Li Shifan: ”...”

’The way he puts it... I’m starting to feel like five Spirit Stones is more than worth it. At five Spirit Stones, it feels like I’m the one getting the better end of the deal!’

Zhang Deming felt his skin crawl under Li Shifan’s blank stare. He gritted his teeth and said, ”Six. Not a single stone more. Are you selling or not? Give me a straight answer.

If not, we’ll go our separate ways. You can keep looking for your next buyer and see how long it takes for a sucker to come along and take this off your hands.”

Li Shifan agonized over it for a long moment. Perhaps intimidated by Zhang Deming’s decisive tone, he made one last desperate attempt, ”Seven. I...”

”Done. Seven. It’s a deal.”

The words had barely left Li Shifan’s mouth when Zhang Deming instantly confirmed. He then took out a small cloth pouch containing the seven Spirit Stones.

He swiftly tossed the small cloth pouch to Li Shifan and said, ”Alright then, payment made and goods received. The road ahead is long; may we meet again if fate allows.”

With that, the tiny wings on Zhang Deming’s heels fluttered, and he instantly vanished from the alley.

Li Shifan stood stunned in the alley. As a cool breeze drifted by, he remained completely dumbfounded.

Looking at the seven Spirit Stones in his hand, he had only one thought.

’Who am I?’

’Where am I?’

’What did I just do?’

’It seemed he had just sold a fifty-Spirit-Stone Cultivation Technique for the ’high price’ of seven... a price he only managed to reach after his own arduous haggling???’

’How did I get tricked, step-by-step, into thinking that seven was a high price?’

’Gods, people who know how to do business are terrifying!’

Li Shifan stood there dumbfounded for a long while before finally putting away the Spirit Stones and leaving the alley.

...

After darting out of the alley, Zhang Deming quickly left the district for Cultivation Techniques and Techniques and entered another one. The main reason was to avoid having Li Shifan track him down for a dispute if he came to regret the deal.

As he tucked the Cultivation Technique into his pocket, Zhang Deming paused mid-stride.

In his repository, the orb of light that had been on the verge of completion suddenly finished condensing, and another small white dot appeared.

’Acquiring a Cultivation Technique increases my Qi Fortune, too?’

’Didn’t I have to actually learn it first?’

’Or is this increase in Qi Fortune from something else?’

He shook his head. He was still figuring out the rules for acquiring Qi Fortune, and since he couldn’t make sense of it, he couldn’t be bothered to dwell on it.

Zhang Deming had now arrived in the Miscellaneous Arts district.

Stalls were set up everywhere, the most common of which sold all sorts of cultivation materials: Spirit Medicines, Spirit Woods, Spiritual Foods, Spirit Grains, Spirit Fruits, and a dazzling variety of other Spirit Plants.

They took up most of the market stalls, a clear sign that Spirit Farming was the most common and lowest-valued profession on Little Hui Peak.

In addition, there were numerous potion stalls selling shoddy, low-grade concoctions.

There were messy Artifact stalls piled with all kinds of scrap metal junk.

Extremely crude card stalls sold nothing but Array Cards with minor Restrictions.

There were also the rarer stalls for Painters, Musicians, and a variety of others.

Seeing all this, Zhang Deming realized that picking up a side profession to earn money wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought.

There were far too many people in Low Tier Miscellaneous Arts. The competition was so fierce that it was completely unprofitable; some people were even operating at a loss just to drum up business.

Zhang Deming even saw more than one person offering their processing services for free.

It was just like in the games he’d played in his past life, where people would practice their side professions at a loss just to grind proficiency. The situation was exactly the same.

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