[Name: Trilok
Age: 19
Spirit Vein: Green (Upgrade Requirement: 50,000)
Cultivation: Spiritual Dweller— 9 (Upgrade Requirement: 15,000)
Spirit Points: 60,160
Technique: Sea God's Grace (High-Legendary)(Special Traits: Heart of Sea— 1)(Upgrade Requirement: 200,000)
]
'33,000!' Trilok was tongue-tied. The highest he had fetched for the recipe was 26,000 but this time, he had truly reached the peak of his alchemical product. Right now, he had 47,500 coins in the crate but Kol and him didn't complain about the weight at all!
'7700 coins for the cost of the raw material. 800 coins for the extra vials of glass. And out of 14500 coins generated by the sale of alchemy products, 3% would be taxed at the exit... which would be... 435 coins. Hmm, affordable. Hehe, no tax on the sale of recipes. This is one of the greatest benefits a trade ship provides to an alchemist! A pure profit of 38,565 coins and best of all, I can breakthrough into the next rank!' Trilok's smile grew wider.
Kol didn't mind the strange state of Trilok. She herself felt wet by the sight of a crate filled with coins! Who wouldn't?!
This much revenue meant a bonus at the end of the month!
Trilok knew how to keep his employees happy.
'But it's just that... he only likes to see me,' Kol groaned internally, 'What I wouldn't give for him to throw me in the crate and keep my butt up and...' Kol gulped, 'Except coin, of course! A girl gotta live, eat... and...' she took glances towards the humming a jolly tune.
The two didn't stop anywhere. Instead, the Alchemist and his retainer quickly returned to the deck of the trade ship.
The large earning still didn't kick the two in their heads to make them saunter in a ship with a literal crate of coins. No. They were going to safely hide it in the store, slowly take out the money in pouches, and spend it on the things they need.
As expected, the exit to the ramp was now patrolled by guards who wore steel armors and had the lower halves of their faces revealed.
Trilok saw the tavern owner showing a few parchments and then paying dozens of coins to the guards before nodding thankfully and leaving with his daughter. As he left, Trilok followed and took out three parchments from his tunic.
Silently, he handed the three documents to the left guard with a stamp in his hand.
"Store— Bitter Medicine; Healthy Life. Owner: Trilok."
"Yes," Trilok nodded.
"Alright. According to the policies of the sea trade, the sale of alchemical products under the banner of an official trade ship requires 3% tax on the total revenue excluding the alchemical products sold to the management which incur 2% tax not including recipes of alchemical nature. You are hereby taxed 435 coral coins. Please pay quickly if you wish to depart the ship."
Trilok nodded and handed the guard his pouch. Of course, he had already calculated the amount and separated it. He wasn't going to show a crate full of coins even if the guard knows about his earnings on paper.
The sight of coins always has a significant impact than some words on paper.
Stamping the paper with the small seal in his hand, the guard returned the parchments and allowed Trilok to leave.
"Sir, can you help us down? Our crate is a bit heavy," Trilok inquired with a shy smile.
'Ah, the wallows of rich!' he sighed internally.
"No. We have our duties," The other guard rejected without hesitation.
Sighing, Kol and Trilok slowly pulled the crate from the two-wheeler cart. Of course, Trilok slowly brought the empty cart down without any issues while in front of him, Kol placed herself in front of the crate and slowly slid down the ramp.
It was a heavy labor for both of them. Or so, Trilok will claim forever.
---
Fourth Level.
"Come here! You have stars in your fortune and Serpents who will reach heaven! Buy this talisman and you will remain impervious to any attack under the level of Spiritual Enhancer!" A greasy-haired middle-aged man hollered at Jeli, who shivered and stuck close to her group.
The Trade Ship, usually, is like any other community ship. But right now, everybody had an ingratiating smile on their faces to please their customers with their products and attitudes.
A group consisting of three boys and two girls, including Vayu and Jeli, walked closely with each other. Unlike the adults of their community who already seemed to have made friends with a few shop owners and some teenagers who were fiercely haggling with various shopkeepers for multiple things.
This level contained all the products from the upper two levels and even more, including various spiritual skills.
'Ah... being poor is such a pity!' Vayu groaned internally. For the trade festival, Trilok had given the boy a total of 500 coins. Of course, this wasn't low in any way. But compared to goods placed in the stores, the group of kids really felt out of place.
After all, none of the adults were going to give their 12-year-old thousands of coins so that they can spend it on anything that meets their interests.
"What should we do?" Vayu mumbled unconsciously.
"Ah! Did you hear that story about wise woman?" Jeli suddenly exclaimed, attaining everyone's interest.
Soon, the group huddled near a corner as Jeli began.
"Once, an extremely affluent cultivator wished to find a suitable partner and he sent out to invite the three most popular women of his locale. Since this cultivator was a young hero, the ladies naturally came over with giddy hearts but they were faced with a test!"
Jeli raised her finger, "The cultivator said: I have ventured the deepest trenches and realized the value of the coin. Now, I will give the three of you 1000 coral coins. You may use it as you wish. In one month, return and tell me how you utilized your coin."
The group nodded eagerly.
"Jeli, what happened next?" the other pig-tailed girl of the group inquired.
With a wide smile, Jeli continued, "The three women naturally spent their money and returned in one month. When they were asked how they utilized their money, the most beautiful of them replied: I used the coin to purchase elixirs that enhance my beauty. A young hero like you needs a beautiful partner the most."
"The most caring of the three said: I purchased this defensive talisman for you. A life of Cultivation is dangerous and I deeply care about you— Hearing this, the young hero was touched. But he still looked towards the most ordinary of the three. The third woman was not extremely beautiful or caring. However, she replied without hesitation: I invested the coins into the market and have earned almost five times the amount. The more I invest, the more coin I will make for you and you will be able to purchase defensive treasures for yourself, and high-grade elixirs to enhance my beauty."
The group fell stunned. But the only fatty of the group suddenly exclaimed.
"I see! We should use our money to find a young hero! When we find him, he will help us get a wife as wise as his!" His words made Vayu and the other boy nod unconsciously but the girl stuck her tongue out.
"Bleh! Jeli obviously means that we should use all of our coins to buy one good thing, and sell it at a profit. Then, we use the money to buy a better thing, and then sell it again. We keep doing it until we can have money enough to buy everything we want right now!"
"Exactly!" Jeli clapped her hands.
---
"Hah? A red shroom crab for 28 coins? Did you get your ass clamped by its pincers? No more than 23 coins!" Kol hissed.
Not far away from her, in the third level still, another voice boomed.
"A single stalk of red-vein weed for 70 coins? Are you out of your goddamn mind you dumb fuck or did you snort something addictive? I won't even pay 2 coins for this ridiculous quality of herb but you're lucky, this Daddy made a fortune! 47 coins, money is no issue for me right now!"
"A slab of Puffer Pork for 723 coins? Look at my size! I can swallow this meat in one bite! Hah? You just called a lady fat?! You'll die alone! You're married? Oh, you have a kid? Stupid, idiot! Go check right now. Your wife's making kids with your rival and I can see the green on your hat from hundreds of meters apart! Hey, come see, this— ah, fine... 650, no more. Good!" Kol sighed in relief.
"Hoho, ripping a customer off? Brothers, let's leave this shop. Heck, I saw eleven ground bamboo sections in the other store. Heck, even if that fellow asks for more money, I sure as hell won't buy anything from— oh, fine. I'm truly reluctant, but... 230 coins for five sections, no more," Trilok grunted.
Unlike the selling policies, the purchases in Trade ship weren't always subjected to taxes. For instance, many sellers on the trade ship would sell their products without issuing a receipt and keep all the profits for themselves. In this manner, they would also charge less from the customer since the product is non-taxable. Of course, they can only do this in moderation. After all, the stores have their stocks checked by the management periodically and if they sell everything without receipts, it would mean that their stock, at least, in the records, is still full.
Any astute businessman knew how to balance the black and white sales.
What Kol and Trilok targetted were these sellers. While finding appropriate customers to sell their products to, in the beginning, the two were also keeping an eye for the corrupt store owners who had their profits as the greatest priority.
Needless to say, the shopping spree and their aggressive haggling techniques had caused quite a ruckus in the third level. This is where the two shone the most because all they knew about was alchemy and eating. The second level had weapons and talismans, something the two had nothing to do with at all and while the fourth level did have a few alchemical products, it was mostly known for spiritual techniques. The quality of the spiritual pills on the third floor was way greater than the one on the fourth floor.
Of course, Trilok could not afford a single pill for even the basic ones usable to Spiritual Enhancers were priced for more than 6000!
It was a complete rip-off!
Instead, Trilok memorized as many ingredients as he could and began purchasing them from the ship. He would now begin the experiment on creating another alchemical product privy to his store.
In such a haven, Kol and Trilok stayed for hours. Each of them holding a bag as big as themselves! But it was way lighter than the crate.
Trilok's peace, however, was broken by a slightly rattled Noland.
"Your brother screwed the pooch! Not only him, Jeli, Ron, Kira, and Mitz are in great trouble! Follow me quickly!" He exclaimed.
Kol and Trilok looked at each other, their eyes flickering with hesitation.
"But we have such a big package," Trilok sighed, making Noland speechless. If Vayu was Trilok's younger brother than Noland's retainer, an orphan Noland actually nurtured from a young age himself, Ron, might hold equal sentiments in Noland's heart.
"Just," Noland touched both of their bags and it disappeared suddenly, "move already. I'll give out the package later."
Spatial Ring. The greatest and the most classic way of tax evasion! Every cultivator has the right to keep his spiritual ring off-limits.
If Trilok and Kol took their packages to the exit with a clear lack of an appropriate number of receipts, they would have to bribe the guards to let them through. Now, a great cose was saved!