Liu Xingzhi had indeed come to see Xu Luoshui for something serious—something to do with perfume.
After casually exchanging a few words, Xiao Wenchuan noticed that the two had private matters to discuss. When he heard it was about perfume, he took the hint and left. He had no real interest in Xu Luoshui's small side business. Making spirit stones was good, sure, but no matter how much she earned, how could it compare to the resources held by the sect leader?
Once he was gone, Liu Xingzhi finally let out the smile he'd been holding back.
"Junior Sister, take a look. This is our latest income."
As he spoke, he pulled out a storage bag. Inside were over two thousand spirit stones.
And where did these spirit stones come from?
That was Xu Luoshui's idea. She knew Liu Xingzhi's family had some influence, even if they lacked strong backing. He wasn't useful for raising her status through conflict, but he could fill in another gap in her plan.
Her bigger scheme was designed to target all the major families, but it left out the mid-sized clans, loose cultivators with decent wealth, and ordinary disciples of the sect. If she was already planning to swallow up the big fish, why not sweep up the smaller ones too?
Since Cheng Qian had entered the Lingyun Sect's territory, Xu Luoshui's presence here could be considered a blessing to them. She figured she might as well take full advantage of it.
So, she introduced Liu Xingzhi to a concept called "direct selling."
Xu Luoshui cleverly reworked the modern idea of multi-level marketing and wrapped it in a spiritual packaging, using perfume sales as a cover to accumulate spirit stones.
She carefully crafted a plan that would draw in loose cultivators while hiding its real purpose, labeling it all under the name of "direct selling."
She developed a high-end perfume called "Lingyun Immortal Fragrance," claiming it was made from rare spiritual herbs, flowers, beast secretions, and thousand-year-old spring essence.
It wasn't just for enhancing one's natural scent. With long-term use, it was said to boost cultivation, calm the mind, and purify the heart.
In reality, it was just essential oil from spiritual flowers mixed into a spiritual liquid base, heavily diluted. She added regular floral oils for fragrance.
She also added a bit more of her usual clarity incense. And to really sell the disguise, she included powdered Spiritflare Pills.
These pills, which she had tested many times, were known for stimulating potential in battle. Basically, they worked like a magical stimulant. When mixed in tiny amounts into the perfume, it gave users the illusion that their cultivation had improved slightly.
It was the perfect addition. The pill itself wasn't expensive. It was a common combat-use item and widely available through the sect.
She even had the perfume examined by a certified alchemist. A second-rank alchemist couldn't tell what was inside. Only a third-rank alchemist, one in the Golden Core realm, could clearly identify the ingredients.
That was good enough for Xu Luoshui.
She then made up a tale about how the recipe came from an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling. Supposedly, it had been created by a senior from ages past who couldn't bear to see loose cultivators and low-tier disciples suffer without enough spirit stones to buy proper pills.
A kind of welfare for the struggling.
Xu Luoshui also drafted a basic tiered membership and profit-sharing structure.
Entry cost: A standard 50 spirit stones per bottle. She kept the price low on purpose. If she hadn't been worried it might clash with the Yu family's' high-end perfume market and mess up her main plan, she would've priced it at just 10 spirit stones to let everyone join her "Immortal Fragrance" project.
First-time buyers had to join the "Immortal Fragrance Pavilion" as members, paying an additional 10 spirit stones as a membership fee. That would unlock future discounts and commissions.
Low-Rank Steward: Recommend a new steward. For each successful referral, the original member would receive 10% of the new steward's first purchase as a reward.
Mid-Rank Steward: After referring 10 new members, one would be promoted to Mid-Rank Steward. In addition to the original rewards, they would earn 5% of every sale made by their directly referred Low-Rank Stewards. This served as a management bonus.
High-Rank Steward: After referring fifty new stewards or reaching a certain team sales target, one would be promoted to High-Rank Steward. This tier came with higher team bonuses and access to exclusive, customized products.
Multi-tier Incentives: Above High-Rank Steward, Xu Luoshui planned to set titles like "Manager" and "Elder." These ranks would be assigned based on team size and performance, with proportionally larger profit-sharing.
Xu Luoshui would control the pace of expansion. She planned to release the perfume in limited quantities, adjusting based on the Yu family's progress. Monthly limited production would create the illusion of high demand.
She would also offer time-limited discounts or gifts on special occasions, such as breakthrough milestones. For example, breaking through to Qi Refining layer three, six, nine, or Foundation Establishment would grant a one-time discount offer.
To add to the mystique, she would publicly claim that some ingredients had to be gathered from secret realms, only accessible at certain times, adding a sense of scarcity and legend to the product.
But more than the structure, the heart of any direct selling model was persuasion. What she was doing with Liu Xingzhi now was exactly that: planting the seed.
She invited him regularly to her cave residence. While he handed over spirit stones, she gave him one-on-one lectures.
The moment Liu Xingzhi started seeing real profits, he would naturally get involved, becoming emotionally invested. He would soon start protecting the business as if it were his own.
Eventually, he'd become the one giving motivational talks to the stewards beneath him.
As things progressed, they'd invite "Senior Stewards" to share their experiences and how "Lingyun Immortal Fragrance" changed their cultivation or lives, reinforcing the product's "magical" effects.
Monthly or quarterly sales champions would be spotlighted as success stories—cultivators who improved their realm or achieved financial freedom through perfume sales—pushing more people to join.
"This time, thirty percent of the profit is yours, Senior Brother Liu. That's six hundred spirit stones."
Xu Luoshui reached into the storage bag, counted out six hundred stones, and pushed the sparkling pile toward him.
Compared to the stunning pair of purple legs he had seen earlier, the shimmering spirit stones were far more thrilling to Liu Xingzhi.
He wasn't new to spirit stones. But to earn six hundred in just a few days, and from a small-scale, test-run sale no less, this pace of earning was almost frightening.
Xu Luoshui had warned him that results wouldn't always be like this. Even so, the number lit a fire in his eyes.
In his spare time, he'd done the math using the sales model. If he kept expanding his downline of stewards, then in just one year, his income would reach an outrageous level. He even dared to dream about attending high-level auctions in major immortal cities to bid for rare materials needed for reaching Golden Core.
If Xu Luoshui knew what was running through his head, she'd probably advise him to slow down and not overthink.
The reason she was giving him such a generous cut was simple—he was meant to be the driving force behind the project.
And as for the spirit stones? They would come back to her eventually. Willingly, even eagerly. People would beg to hand them over.
So, Senior Brother Liu can only dream on.
After being taught a few "sales techniques" and obtaining a fresh batch of goods, Liu Xingzhi left in high spirits.
Once he was gone, Xu Luoshui kicked her legs up on the table, grabbed a tray of spiritual fruits, and dug in without any care for appearances.
She munched freely, lost in thought about the recent monster beast attacks along the borders.
Should her main body flee?
Cheng Qian had been considering the same. In the end, he decided to stay for now. The plans he'd just laid out were running smoothly. It would be a shame to abandon them halfway.
At least two more years, he thought.
After all, his main body was just a minor figure. No one would care if he disappeared.
As for the clone, Xu Luoshui, she needed to steadily grow the different branches of her plan while also looking into potential ways out of the Tianyan domain.
******
Night fell.
Xu Luoshui's meeting with Liu Xingzhi had taken more time than expected.
She didn't bother lighting the night pearls in her cave. Instead, she sat quietly in the dark, going over matters concerning the Yu family.
Her hand unconsciously slid across the silk stockings on her legs, feeling the cool texture of the fine material.