Touch of Despair

Chapter 73 Touch of Despair

The Zhou family of Jiufengling is now considered a well-known cultivation family in Lanzhou.

Because there were many independent cultivators living around Jiufeng Ridge, now there are two to three hundred independent cultivators coming to the Zhou family to cultivate every day.

Therefore, Luo Guangshun was placed inside, inconspicuous at all.

In fact, Luo Guangshun really should be grateful to Zhou Chun.

Because Zhou Daoyi's previous view was also that it was simple and convenient to just kill the witnesses.

It was Zhou Chun's strong recommendation that changed the clan leader Zhou Daoyi's decision, instead ordering Luo Guangshun to be taken to the Zhou family and imprisoned.

In Zhou Chun's view, as long as the antidote from his fourteenth uncle Zhou Jiawei's side is developed quickly, the poison can be put on the market and sold as soon as possible.

Three to five years later, when other cultivators buy related medicines, they will only recognize the Ling Shou Zhai brand, thus recovering the popularity lost in the past.

Once the value of the poison is revealed, the strange fish in the underground river will naturally attract the attention of the Zhou family, who will then invest more resources in its development.

If the Zhou family takes over that place, even if they release Luo Guangshun and let outsiders know the secret of the slime, would the Spirit Beast Manor attack the Zhou family just for a prescription for an inedible poison?

Therefore, there is absolutely no need to kill someone to cover up a secret that is not important a few years from now.

In short, in Zhou Chun's eyes, killing to silence witnesses is not unacceptable, but it should only be used as a last resort when there are absolutely no other options.

If there is a better solution, even if it is more troublesome, the seemingly simple method of killing to silence witnesses should never be used lightly.

The Zhou family isn't even considered a dominant force in Lanzhou, let alone in the entire cultivation world of Jingguo.

It's best to avoid murder to cover up wrongdoing if possible.

Otherwise, if the matter were to leak out and be exploited by someone with ulterior motives, the trouble it would cause would be many times greater than the trouble we are currently putting in to settle Luo Guangshun!

Zhou Chun's long-term vision in this matter was something Zhou Daoyi greatly admired.

He probably didn't think that killing a minor cultivator to silence him would cause any trouble for the Zhou family.

However, he greatly admired Zhou Chun's mindset and vision in considering the long-term development of the family.

This is something that most Zhou family cultivators lack.

The vast majority of cultivators are extremely selfish, and this selfishness often makes them only see immediate benefits and not long-term benefits.

Of course, this isn't because they're not smart enough, but rather due to the environment of the cultivation world.

A rogue cultivator, living a precarious life with no guarantee of safety, can only survive better and longer in the cruel world of cultivation by being extremely selfish.

This is also true for many cultivators from lower-level families and sects.

However, while an individual can be extremely selfish, a clan leader cannot be extremely selfish, and a sect leader certainly cannot be extremely selfish.

If such an extremely selfish person were to become the head of a family or the leader of a sect, it would be a disaster for the family and the sect!

Zhou Daoyi was chosen as the head of the Zhou family because he was fair and upright, meticulous in his work, and had a long-term vision.

Since the Zhou family established a foothold in Jiufengling, he has come to understand one thing even more in the face of various internal and external pressures.

In addition to being fair, just, and thorough, a patriarch of a cultivation family must also have a long-term vision, being able to see not only immediate benefits but also long-term interests.

Unfortunately, he did not see this ability in any of the other Zhou family cultivators besides Zhou Chun.

That's why he values ​​Zhou Chun, this junior, even more. As long as he doesn't see any serious consequences, he usually agrees to Zhou Chun's suggestions.

He needed to use this to cultivate Zhou Chun's self-confidence, so that Zhou Chun would be more enthusiastic about making suggestions and building and developing the family.

In fact, Zhou Daoyi's approach did have an effect.

After Zhou Chun's suggestions were repeatedly adopted by the clan leader Zhou Daoyi, and after feeling the clan leader Zhou Daoyi's trust and care for him, his sense of belonging to the Zhou family increased significantly, and he wholeheartedly wanted the Zhou family to become better!

Time flies, and three months have passed in the blink of an eye.

During these three months, Zhou Chun made two more trips to the underground river, delivering more than ten strange fish carcasses to his fourteenth uncle, Zhou Jiawei, for research.

After numerous experiments, Zhou Jiawei finally concocted the antidote for the poison, which he named "Touch of Despair."

"Touch of Despair," just like its name suggests, instills despair upon touching it.

Once this sticky ointment touches the skin, it will cause a strong tingling and itching sensation in both humans and monsters within a dozen breaths, making people wish they could dig out the flesh and blood from that area and throw it away!

Without an antidote, this tingling and itching effect will last for a very long time, and no amount of washing will provide much relief.

It has been verified in experiments that as long as a monster comes into contact with this poison, its combat power will decrease significantly.

That tingling, itchy sensation greatly distracts it, making it impossible for it to concentrate on fighting the person anymore.

After witnessing the effects of "Touch of Despair" firsthand, Zhou Chun immediately asked Zhou Jiawei for thirty portions of poison and ten portions of antidote to take back to the market, and instructed him to continue producing this poison in large quantities using the available materials.

Then they quickly launched this new product and enthusiastically recommended it to the monks who came to the store to shop.

The result was exactly as he expected.

Every cultivator who has used "Touch of Despair" praises this poison highly, with a 100% repurchase rate!

In addition, Zhou Chun specially spent spirit coins to find some rogue cultivators to fight all over the market. In less than two months, the reputation of "Touch of Despair" became famous.

A large number of cultivators who came from far and wide came to buy it, and the stock of this poison was sold out in one go. As a result, the sales of other animal repellents and insect repellents in the store also increased significantly.

This is the purpose behind Zhou Chun's long-standing desire to develop new products.

He knew very well that the prices of similar products from Ling Shou Zhai and Ling Shou Ge were about the same.

The reason why Ling Shou Zhai's turnover dropped sharply after Ling Shou Ge opened was entirely because Ling Shou Ge attracted customers with its special products.

As a customer, since the prices of similar products are about the same in both stores, I'll just buy whichever store I'm in if I need it.

Since you can buy things at the Spirit Beast Pavilion and, if you're lucky, you might even find special products that the Spirit Beast Shop doesn't have, you should naturally prioritize going to the Spirit Beast Pavilion.

Now, with the appearance of "Touch of Despair," a large number of customers are coming to the Spirit Beast Shop, and the situation has naturally changed.

At the same time, when Zhou Daoyi learned that the shop's sales had increased significantly due to the "Touch of Despair," he quickly decided to support Zhou Jiawei in expanding production.

So Elder Zhou Daoquan personally took Zhou Jiahui to the underground river and captured more than twenty strange fish, bringing them back to the Zhou family. They kept them in several ponds within the family to see if they could be successfully bred in captivity.

At the same time, Zhou Jiahui was often sent to the underground river to catch strange fish and obtain their slime.

While Zhou Jiasheng and Zhou Chun were overjoyed by the significant rebound in their shop's revenue, the manager of their rival, Ling Shou Ge, was furious and alarmed by the sudden drop in his shop's revenue.

"Uncle-Master Yu, you are wise. This month, our shop's revenue has decreased by almost 20% compared to last month. You probably already know the reason: the Spirit Beast Shop launched new products, which led to a significant drop in the number of customers!"

"And this is just the beginning. If we can't find a way to change this situation, or increase the amount of special spiritual items like spiritual honey and spiritual milk we use, the shop's revenue will likely decline further!"

Inside the Spirit Beast Pavilion, facing Yu Deguang, a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had come to collect the store's revenue for the month, the shopkeeper Lu Yunsheng also complained bitterly with a worried expression.

"I have indeed heard about the new product from the Spirit Beast Pavilion. Zhou Jiawei is quite capable; he managed to develop such a miraculous medicine on his own after Zhou Mingshan's death!"

"However, it is impossible for you to increase the amount of spiritual honey and spiritual milk you mentioned. In fact, the amount of these things will only decrease in the future."

"After all, these things are important resources that our sect uses to exchange for certain special resources with other forces. Using them to exchange for spirit coins would be a complete waste of their value!"

Seeing the deepening bitterness on Lu Yunsheng's face, Yu Deguang immediately changed the subject and continued:

"However, Junior Nephew Lu, you don't need to worry too much. Zhou Jiawei's mediocre skills are no match for Senior Brother Du. It won't be long before Senior Brother Du is able to analyze and find out the formula for his poison powder, and then make a copy."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yunsheng's bitter expression immediately faded, and he exclaimed with delight, "Then my nephew, you can rest assured! If we can also sell that kind of poison, we'll definitely be able to win back our customers!"

Seeing this, Yu Deguang nodded with satisfaction and said, "So, Junior Nephew Lu, you can continue to manage the shop with peace of mind. The sect will never forget your contributions."

(End of this chapter)