Chapter 211 - 204: He’s a Talent, Maybe He Can Unify the Demonic Tao
However, the higher echelons of the Shadow Puppet Sect generally could not accept Jiang Cheng’s starting price of fifty million.
Fifty million low-grade Spirit Stones were not something the Shadow Puppet Sect couldn’t produce, they simply didn’t want to cough it up.
After all, they were a Demon Sect, and they were accustomed to acquiring things through plunder.
Faced with no alternatives, they were now willing to purchase the Perception Transmission Talisman from Jiang Cheng.
If they paid up honestly, could they still call themselves a Demon Sect?
“Fifty million is too much. We can only offer thirty million,” Fan Yue cut the price by nearly half in one go.
He was currently waiting for Jiang Cheng to counteroffer, after which he planned to keep cutting it down.
According to the Shadow Puppet Sect’s internal estimates, the final deal should be around forty million.
But to his surprise, Jiang Cheng immediately agreed: “Alright, thirty million it is.”
Fan Yue’s mentality of making a small profit exploded in an instant.
Damn it, I cut too much!
How could he agree to a straight sale for thirty million?
“Cough. This thirty million, we’ll pay it in three installments, ten million per installment.”
“Okay,” Jiang Cheng still agreed very decisively.
Fan Yue secretly gloated and suggested, “Then let’s sign the contract.”
The two immediately signed the transfer contract for the Perception Transmission Talisman.
The reason Fan Yue chose to pay in three installments was because the Shadow Puppet Sect had no intention of making the full payment!
They planned to pay the first installment, deceive Jiang Cheng into producing the talismans, then learn the method of drawing talismans by sticking close to him, and finally, when the time was right, they would dispose of Jiang Cheng, seizing the talismans and their ten million for themselves!
Jiang Cheng’s reason for agreeing to the Shadow Puppet Sect’s payment in installments was also simple.
The Shadow Puppet Sect had so many industries in the Capital that he wasn’t worried about them running off.
Firstly, according to Jiang Cheng’s prediction, the Shadow Puppet Sect wouldn’t last long enough to reach the time of the second installment payment. Moreover, under the laws of the Liang Kingdom, creditors rights supersede shareholders rights. So if the Shadow Puppet Sect went under, their assets would be sold off, and the cash flow obtained would prioritize settling their debts, like the money owed to Jiang Cheng.
In the signing ceremony, which both the Shadow Puppet Sect and Jiang Cheng were very satisfied with, the production of the Perception Transmission Talisman was officially scheduled!
Since the Perception Transmission Talisman was not protected by the Immortal Sect Association, the Shadow Puppet Sect was extremely cautious about its production.
They specially recruited several Talisman Masters into the Shadow Puppet Sect to follow Jiang Cheng closely in the production of talismans, rather than rashly outsourcing the task of drawing talismans.
With the Talisman Masters working overtime, the first batch of Perception Transmission Talismans was quickly produced.
“Deputy Sect Master, what price do you think we should set for these talismans?” an Elder asked.
After thinking, Fan Yue said, “Chen Jiang suggested I sell them at a higher price. What do you think about three hundred Spirit Stones each?”
Three hundred Spirit Stones?
The Elders were stunned.
Three hundred Spirit Stones for a low-level talisman was indeed not cheap.
“Three hundred Spirit Stones is a bit expensive,” said Elder Er.
Elder San disagreed, “It’s not expensive. We spent tens of millions of Spirit Stones to buy the talismans, selling them for only three hundred Spirit Stones each is not expensive at all.”
Elder Er also had his own opinion, “That’s not the right way to think about it. The group of people using talismans is strongly related to the price. If we set it too high, only high-income cultivators will buy them. Our market will naturally lose a large segment. Although we could gain a higher profit per talisman, the overall income may not be as high as it would be selling them for thin profit but high turnover.”
“I disagree. The Perception Transmission Talisman isn’t exactly a mainstream talisman to begin with; how could we sell them on a large scale? It’s better to raise the unit price and quickly recoup the money we spent on purchasing the talismans.”
Although the Great Elder had a significant standing within the sect, he knew nothing about product marketing and at this moment found it inappropriate to offer an opinion.
“Deputy Sect Master Fan, how much do you think we should sell the Perception Transmission Talisman for?”
Fan Yue originally wanted to sell for three hundred Spirit Stones, but looking at the situation now, if he just threw out a random number and the sales weren’t good, he would have to take the blame.
“What do I think? Chen Jiang? Yes, why not ask for Chen Jiang’s opinion. Let’s see how the Dayan Sect people handle this.”
The members of the Shadow Puppet Sect arrived at the Talisman production workshop and found the workshop director, Jiang Cheng.
“Talisman pricing? The more expensive, the better, of course,” Jiang Cheng said.
Seeing that Jiang Cheng supported his view, Elder San was overjoyed, “What do you think, how much should a Perception Transmission Talisman sell for?”
“I think five thousand pieces each sounds about right,” Jiang Cheng said.
“Goodness! Five thousand a piece?”
The members of the Shadow Puppet Sect all wore expressions of shock.
While they were still discussing the pricing of Talismans at the hundred-yuan level, debating whether they were expensive or cheap, Dayan Sect’s expert Chen Jiang casually set the Talisman price at the five thousand-yuan level.
Looking at his expression, it seemed as if he thought buying a first-order talisman for five thousand was a very common affair.
Even Elder San, who supported a high pricing, became unsettled with the five thousand-yuan price point.
“Chen my friend, won’t five thousand be too expensive? At such a price, not many from the Hehuan Sect, even the wealthy, will be able to afford it.”
“Yes, with such a high price, it’s not conducive to promoting the Talisman.”
“Five thousand a piece, isn’t this playing a joke?”
Jiang Cheng said without concern, “The price of a product is not determined by the rank of the Talisman, but by the supply and demand. The Hehuan Sect has a large demand, we have fewer Talismans, so the price naturally goes up. If we don’t make the five thousand, scalpers will, so why should we let others benefit?”
Elder Er raised a doubt, “But with such an expensive price, the Hehuan Sect won’t buy at all! If they don’t buy, where’s the demand for Talismans?”
Jiang Cheng chuckled lightly, “Gentlemen, don’t rush. Five thousand is the final price, not the initial price. What we need to do initially is sell the Perception Transmission Talismans at an extremely low price, even giving them away is fine. Once the market has developed the habit of using Talismans, we can gradually raise the price. By then, we won’t have to worry about not having buyers.”
Perception Transmission Talismans not only enhance the Hehuan Sect’s cultivation techniques but also have substantial addictiveness.
Once one starts using Perception Transmission Talismans, it’s very hard to go back to not using them.
This point, the members of the Shadow Puppet Sect had no doubt about.
The reason they unanimously agreed to buy Talismans from Jiang Cheng was precisely because they saw the potential addictiveness of Talismans.
However, the members of the Shadow Puppet Sect never imagined there would be an operation of “giving away Talismans initially to cultivate user habits, then directly raising the price later on.”
With this combination attack, wouldn’t the Shadow Puppet Sect have the Hehuan Sect completely at their mercy?
“What’s with the expressions, everyone?”
Jiang Cheng looked at the Elders of the Shadow Puppet Sect, puzzled.
Elder Er and Elder San showed embarrassed faces.
The Great Elder felt particularly ashamed.
They wanted to apologize for originally doubting Jiang Cheng was an Immortal Sect spy.
Damn, this kid casually thought up a Talisman pricing strategy and dug a meteor-size crater for the Hehuan Sect.
One that the entire Hehuan Sect couldn’t climb out of.
He had reached a certain level of craftiness and cunning!
Setting traps without even blinking an eye.
Clearly, he felt absolutely no moral burden.
Obviously, a Cultivator of the Demonic Tao without any moral qualms.
How could he possibly be with the Immortal Sect?
This kid is a talent; why not absorb him into the Shadow Puppet Sect, nurture him with care for a few years, and he might even become a Sect Master in the future!
Even uniting the Demonic Tao of the Liang Kingdom is not impossible!