Chapter 28: The Shop & The Breakthrough
Time: The Next Morning.
Location: Fatty Wang's Treasure Pavilion, Green Willow District.
The morning sun filtered through the high, latticed windows of the Treasure Pavilion's private VIP room, casting geometric patterns of light onto the polished rosewood table. The air was thick with the scent of expensive jasmine tea and the heavier, sweeter aroma of ambition.
Luo Feng sat in a high-backed chair, his posture relaxed but his eyes sharp. His right hand was wrapped in a clean white bandage, concealing the charred skin from the Solar Bullet recoil he had suffered in the forest the previous day.
Opposite him, Fatty Wang was pacing. The merchant's round face was glistening with a sheen of nervous sweat.
"You want to stop selling?" Wang asked, his voice pitching up in panic. "Brother Luo, be reasonable! The twenty flasks of Spirit Surge Wine you brought yesterday? They sold out in two hours. I have mercenaries banging on my front door this morning asking for more. We are losing money every second you don't supply me!"
Luo Feng took a slow sip of his tea, letting the silence stretch just long enough to make Wang uncomfortable.
"I didn't say I would stop supplying you," Luo Feng said calmly, placing the porcelain cup down. "I said I am done being a peddler. I am done selling bottles by the crate like a common farmer selling cabbage. I want to be a partner."
Fatty Wang paused mid-pace. He froze, his small eyes widening. The merchant in him vanished, replaced by the calculating gaze of a clan member.
"A partner?" Wang repeated. "Explain."
"You have a shop," Luo Feng began. "You have the trade license. You have the location. And, from what I hear, you are a distant cousin of the City Lord."
Fatty Wang winced slightly. "Distant is the operative word. My father is the City Lord's second cousin's wife's brother. It gives me the right to open a shop here without paying protection money to the gangs, but that's it. The Main Clan doesn't respect me."
"That's exactly why we fit," Luo Feng leaned forward. "You have the shell. I have the pearl. I can provide a steady, exclusive supply of the Spirit Surge Wine and the Mutated Vitality Yams. But I won't sell them to you for a flat fee anymore."
Luo Feng slid a single sheet of paper across the table.
"I want a 40% stake in the net profits of this specific product line. In exchange, I give you total exclusivity. No one else gets this wine. You become the only source in Green Willow City."
Wang looked at the paper. "40% is steep. If I agree, I need volume. Can you produce a hundred bottles a day?"
"No," Luo Feng said flatly.
Wang frowned. "Then how do we make money?"
"Hunger Marketing," Luo Feng smiled. "Fatty, listen. If we flood the market, the price drops. But if we release only ten bottles a day? We make them wait. We make them bid. We turn a utility item into a luxury status symbol."
Wang's eyes began to widen. He understood greed perfectly.
"We rebrand your shop," Luo Feng continued. "We open a dedicated high-end section: The Phoenix Spirit Pavilion."
Fatty Wang slammed his hand on the table, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Genius. If we do this... the Main Clan will finally have to look at me. The Battle Hall masters will come to me to beg for a reservation."
"Exactly," Luo Feng nodded. "You handle the sales and the political shield. I handle the brew. One condition: My identity remains a secret. To the public, you have a mysterious 'Grandmaster Brewer' supplying you. I am just the agent."
"Agreed," Wang extended his hand. "To the Phoenix Spirit Pavilion."
Luo Feng shook it. "To survival."
The Return.
An hour later, Luo Feng walked out of the Treasure Pavilion with a new contract and a heavy advance payment of 200 Spirit Stones.
He walked back to his courtyard, locked the heavy iron-wood gate, and activated the alarm array. Then, he touched the wooden token at his waist.
Whoosh.
The world shifted. The dusty city air was replaced by the sweet, vitality-filled atmosphere of the Farming Space.
Little Gold, the Fire Crow, cawed from the roof of the tool shed. Silver and Snow, the two Cloud-Horn Goats, were head-butting each other in play.
Near the small bamboo house, Luo Xia was sitting in a rocking chair, sewing a tiny hat. Her complexion was rosy, the Mutated Yam Soup having stabilized her condition.
"You're back early," she smiled.
"The business is settled," Luo Feng said, sitting on the grass beside her. "We have a steady income now, Xia. No more scavenging. No more hiding."
He stayed with her for a while, soaking in the peace. But Luo Feng knew peace was fragile. To protect it, he needed power that matched his wealth.
"I need to cultivate," Luo Feng said, standing up. "I'm close."
Luo Xia nodded. "Go."
The Breakthrough.
Luo Feng walked to the center of the clearing, near the Spirit Spring.
He sat down in the lotus position. He placed a ceramic jar in front of him. It was the Flame Spirit Wine (Batch 2), aged in the Time Dilation for weeks. It was thick, dark maroon, and hummed with heavy, aggressive power.
"Layer 4 is the limit of the mortal body," Luo Feng whispered. "But Layer 5... Layer 5 is the awakening of the Mind. The Spirit Sense."
He unsealed the jar and drank.
Gulp.
It felt like swallowing molten lava.
BOOM.
The energy exploded in his stomach. The Fire Qi roared through his veins. His skin instantly turned lobster-red. Steam rose from his shoulders.
"Hold it," Luo Feng gritted his teeth.
He triggered the Sun & Moon Technique.
The Sun aspect grabbed the chaotic fire, compressing it into a dense, golden river.
The Moon aspect coated his meridian walls in cool ice.
Thump... Thump...
The energy rose from his Dantian, climbing up his spine, reaching the base of his skull. And then it hit the barrier.
Pain. Blinding, white-hot pain. It felt like a spike being driven into his brain. The barrier to the Spirit was solid.
"Break!" Luo Feng roared internally.
He poured every ounce of the high-grade wine's energy into that mental wall.
CRACK.
He felt something give. A fissure appeared in the darkness behind his eyes.
"More!"
SHATTER.
Suddenly, the pain vanished. The pounding heart stopped. The heat faded into warmth.
Luo Feng opened his eyes.
The New World.
He didn't just see the farm. He felt it.
An invisible radar expanded from the center of his forehead, covering a perfect sphere of 10 meters.
He didn't need to turn his head to know Little Gold was preening a feather on the roof. He could feel the juice pulsing inside every grape on the vine.
The world had been 2D. Now, it was 3D.
[System Alert]
[Congratulations! Cultivation Breakthrough.]
[Current Level: Qi Refining Layer 5 (Early Stage).]
[Unlock: Spirit Sense (Range: 10 Meters).]
[Unlock: Mental Manipulation (Basic).]
"Mental Manipulation..." Luo Feng whispered.
He knew what this was. This was the foundation of the legendary Flying Sword techniques.
Usually, a cultivator needed a specific "Sword Control Spell" manual to fly a weapon. The spell acted like software, making the flight smooth, fast, and energy-efficient.
Luo Feng didn't have a spell manual.
But he had raw power.
He looked at his Spirit Iron Dagger resting on the grass two meters away.
"I don't have the spell to make it dance," Luo Feng narrowed his eyes. "But I have the strength to make it move."
He focused his Spirit Sense. He visualized an invisible hand extending from his mind, wrapping around the hilt of the dagger.
Lift.
The dagger trembled.
It didn't shoot up gracefully. It wobbled. It shook violently, like a heavy weight being lifted by a shaking hand.
"Up!" Luo Feng commanded, sweat beading on his forehead.
The dagger jerked off the ground. It hovered in the air, spinning slowly and clumsily.
It wasn't elegant. It consumed a lot of mental energy because he was brute-forcing the physics instead of using a technique. But... it was flying.
Slash.
Luo Feng pushed with his mind.
The hovering dagger shot forward. It wasn't as fast as a bullet, but it was fast enough. It buried itself deep into the wooden post of the goat pen with a dull thud.
Luo Feng exhaled, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"It works," he grinned.
He didn't need to hold the weapon anymore.
"If I am fighting a melee enemy," Luo Feng analyzed, "I can use my Saber in my hands to block, and use my Mind to control a dagger to stab them in the back."
It was a dirty trick. A surprise attack.
"This is better than a spell," Luo Feng decided, pulling the dagger out of the wood with his hand. "Spells have patterns. Brute force telekinesis is unpredictable."
He looked at the farm, his eyes glowing with confidence.
The partnership gave him money.
The breakthrough gave him radar.
And now, Mental Manipulation gave him a third hand.
"I am ready," Luo Feng said. "Let the business grow."
[End of Chapter 28]
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