Chương 38: The Tian Family's Pressure

Now Zhang Huaijin's cultivation had entered the eighth level of the Qi Refining Realm. Both his spiritual soul and body refinement had reached the perfection stage of the Qi Refining Realm. Since learning about the Earth Fiend Spirit Body, Zhang Huaijin had also picked up bits and pieces of information about it.

Legend held that if someone with the Earth Fiend Spirit Body absorbed the essence blood of seventy two different types of powerful spirit beasts, their physique would transform into a Saint Body, elevating their constitution to new heights. Each type of spirit beast blood essence could temper their bones and even imprint the beast's innate skills deep into their own bloodline. For now, Zhang Huaijin had only just begun to grasp the Diamond Palm.

But as time passed and he absorbed more blood essence from the ape clan, the specific bone he had chosen would become increasingly refined. Eventually, this skill would be carved directly into the depths of his bones, becoming his very own Bloodline Ability. When that time came, as long as his lifeblood didn't run dry, he could unleash the technique without restraint. From this perspective, the Earth Fiend Spirit Body was indeed an incredibly powerful physique. But growing it required endless resources.

Fortunately, Zhang Huaijin already had the Realm-Breaking Pearl. He didn't really need the Earth Fiend Spirit Body on top of that. The power within the Realm-Breaking Pearl had condensed to about a quarter of its capacity once again. After all, small amounts add up. Even though the spirit beasts he'd been absorbing were low level, quantity made up for quality! Still, Zhang Huaijin's personal supply of spirit stones kept shrinking by the day. —— Three days later, Zhang Huaijin emerged from seclusion.

The artifact forging shop's business was still chugging along, but it wasn't as strong as before he'd withdrawn to cultivate. Zhang Huaijin didn't let it bother him. He gathered the accumulated spirit beast materials and Mystic Iron from the shop and began forging spirit artifacts. His current strength was nothing short of formidable. His success rate for refining Tier 1, Upper Grade spirit artifacts was now approaching one hundred percent.

With his powerful soul, his strong physical body, and his abundant spiritual energy, three forces working in harmony, Zhang Huaijin had no equal within the entire Qi Refining Realm. —— Ten days later, the refining materials that had piled up in the shop were used up. The shop's inventory of spirit artifacts was once again overflowing. But to Zhang Huaijin's surprise, customer traffic had dropped again, not even two thirds of what it had been six months ago.

Aside from the artifact refining business, the shop's other operations were doing just fine. Zhang Huaijin went straight to Zhang Hong.

"Uncle Hong, what's going on?" His voice was calm, but there was an edge beneath it. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"You mean the artifact business?" Zhang Hong's face was etched with worry.

"So you do know. Tell me, which family is causing trouble?" Zhang Huaijin's words carried a chill. The foot traffic at the artifact shop was abnormal. Some of the rogue cultivators and cultivators from minor Qi Refining Realm families who used to visit regularly had simply vanished. Without these customers, even his Tier 1, Upper Grade spirit artifacts weren't selling. Zhang Huaijin was confident in the spirit artifacts he refined.

Not only was the quality excellent, but the prices were also lower than those at other artifact shops. The problem wasn't with his goods. External interference had to be at play.

"It's the Tian Family." Zhang Hong's voice was heavy.

"The Tian Family's main business is artifact forging. Their two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators are both Tier 2 artifact forgers. And among their Qi Refining Realm clan members, there are also several Tier 1 forgers." He paused briefly, then continued.

"Our artifacts are better quality and slightly cheaper, so our sales were booming. That hurt the Tian Family's business."

"Naturally, they couldn't just sit back and do nothing. The Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator they have stationed in Langya County Town made an announcement." Zhang Huaijin watched Zhang Hong as he hesitated.

"What did he say?" Zhang Huaijin asked, his voice utterly flat.

"He said, 'Choose the Tian Family or choose the Zhang Family, think carefully about the consequences.'" Zhang Hong's voice was blunt, but his expression was grim.

"And they've even posted people across the street to watch our shop."

"Under the pressure of the Tian Family's power, some rogue cultivators and weaker Qi Refining Realm family cultivators simply don't dare step into our shop to buy spirit artifacts anymore."

"Over time, our family's artifact forging business has become pretty dismal." Zhang Hong's voice carried a mix of grief and indignation.

"This can't go on forever, can it? Isn't the Tian Family being way too overbearing?" Zhang Huaijin shook his head, clearly unimpressed by their tactics.

"It's not like they're just bullying us outright," Zhang Hong explained.

"They've got a strategy."

"For every Tier 1, Lower Grade spirit artifact purchased, they give away a Tier 1, Lower Grade talisman. For every Tier 1 Upper Grade spirit artifact purchased, they give away a Tier 1, Mid Grade talisman." That way, even if the Tian Family's artifacts weren't as good as the Zhang Family's, the buyers had less reason to complain. The Tian Family made less profit per sale, but they snatched the customers away. With this give and take strategy, the Zhang Family had no way to compete.

Zhang Huaijin's expression darkened, but he couldn't see an immediate solution.

"Uncle Hong, I understand."

"The spirit wine shop isn't affected, right?" Zhang Huaijin asked.

"No," Zhang Hong replied.

"There aren't many competitors in Langya County Town for that business." Zhang Huaijin nodded slowly.

"Let me think of a countermeasure. You go ahead with your work." The joy of advancing to the eighth level of the Qi Refining Realm had completely vanished, replaced by this thorny problem. —— The truth was, Zhang Huaijin actually had a way to solve the artifact shop's predicament.

If he spread the word that he would forge custom spirit artifacts, charging only two batches of materials per commission and guaranteeing one hundred percent success, every Qi Refining Realm cultivator in Langya County Town would come flooding through the doors. Business would boom again. But he couldn't do that. Doing so would directly break the industry rules of artifact forging.

Normally, an artifact forger, aside from taking three batches of materials, also charged a hefty commission for forging a spirit artifact. You could imagine how profitable artifact forging really was. Of course, becoming a forger required investing enormous resources. Not everyone had Zhang Huaijin's talent, or his jaw dropping success rate. Zhang Huaijin always used only one batch of materials to successfully forge a spirit artifact for his family.

Every spirit artifact he personally made saved the family huge amounts of resources. This was a major reason why the Zhang Family had grown more prosperous in recent years. Plus, the Mystic Iron ore vein they controlled had provided them with abundant Mystic Iron reserves. But for now, the Zhang Family could only swallow their pride and endure.

—— Although Zhang Renan had joined the Heavenly Crane Sect, every power in Langya County Town understood the cold reality: from now on, Zhang Renan had nothing to do with the Zhang Family. By the time Zhang Renan grew strong enough to make a difference, decades would have passed. While other families were wary of the Zhang Family, the Tian Family wasn't overly afraid. After all, the Zhang Family was still just a Qi Refining Realm family.

Even if the Heavenly Crane Sect promised to give them a Foundation Establishment Pill, there was no guarantee that anyone in the Zhang Family would successfully establish their foundation. Those who understood how difficult Foundation Establishment truly was knew this well. In the decades since the Tian Family had risen to become a Foundation Establishment Realm family, they had only produced two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.

Even if someone from the Zhang Family succeeded, they wouldn't catch up to the Tian Family's accumulated strength for decades. To protect their family's interests, the Tian Family's move to suppress the Zhang Family was entirely expected.