Why? Not a single barbarian would pass up such a good deal, so why had it fallen to him specifically?
"Because I don't know anyone else." Yang Kai shrugged and smiled. "Besides, I've got leverage, so I'm not worried about you skimming my profits."
Butterfly's mouth twitched slightly. He had a point — as long as this Shaman Bull still had something on her, she would never dare act against his interests.
But with a ten percent cut, none of that mattered.
After sending Butterfly away, Yang Kai immediately headed into Frost Snow City and found the shop he'd been eyeing earlier. He spent a large sum of Green Coins on a haul of Inner Cores.
The wealth he'd accumulated over this period was finally enough to purchase Inner Cores to sustain his own Cultivation. That was precisely why he needed someone to handle the sales — peddling potions ate into valuable training time.
Back inside his tree hollow, Yang Kai held an Inner Core the size of a dragon's eye between his fingers and exhaled softly.
The snowball had already been set in motion. From now on, he simply needed to buy and refine a few Inner Cores each day, and by the time winter passed, he would surely advance to Shaman Lord. He was absolutely certain of that.
He swallowed the Inner Core and circulated his Cultivation technique. A low rumble of thunder echoed from his abdomen almost immediately, and his aura swelled at a visible rate.
By afternoon, Butterfly returned from selling potions and obediently handed over ninety percent of the proceeds. She collected a new batch of potions from Yang Kai and prepared to sell them the next day. But after just half a day apart, Butterfly noticed with some surprise that this Shaman Warrior had already broken through to mid-grade!
That morning he'd clearly been low-grade — how had he advanced to mid-grade in half a day?
Even so, despite her suspicions, Butterfly didn't press the matter. Everyone had their secrets, and digging too deeply was never wise — especially when her own little secret was in Yang Kai's hands.
The two settled into a smooth rhythm.
Yang Kai spent a portion of each day refining potions and purchasing Inner Cores, while Butterfly handled the sales and brought back materials.
A month flew by.
Over that month, Yang Kai broke through yet again. Refining over a dozen Inner Cores daily allowed his strength to grow rapidly. He was now a high-grade Shaman Warrior! As long as he had a steady supply of Inner Cores, he would reach Shaman Lord in no time and possess his own Divine Sense.
That would put an end to all his current troubles.
But beautiful plans never run smoothly.
This day, Butterfly didn't return from selling potions until evening. She stepped into Yang Kai's tree hollow and set the stone jar in her hands before him.
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. "You didn't sell everything?"
Previously, every batch of potions he'd crafted had sold out completely. This was the first time any were left over.
Butterfly slumped. "I think everyone who wanted to buy already has. Haven't you noticed I've been coming back later and later each day?"
Yang Kai paused. He thought about it carefully and realized she was right.
He'd been so deep in Cultivation lately, focused entirely on advancing his shaman rank, that he'd barely paid attention to Butterfly's situation. Now that she mentioned it, it was obvious. In the beginning, she could sell out his entire stock in half a day. As time went on, it took longer and longer.
Today, she hadn't returned until evening — and there were still healing potions left unsold.
"The market's saturated, huh..." Yang Kai stroked his chin and murmured.
Frost Snow City was sizable, and the barbarian warriors were plentiful, but over a month of continuous sales had caused this particular market to shrink. The barbarians didn't earn Green Coins easily, after all. While they could afford a ten-Green-Coin healing potion without too much trouble, they had no reason to keep buying indefinitely.
Under normal circumstances, people would keep one on hand for emergencies and only purchase a replacement once it was used up.
The longer it went on, the less purchasing power Frost Snow City's barbarians had left.
Having worked this out, Yang Kai nodded. "Get some rest. Try again tomorrow."
Butterfly had no objections. Over a month of working together had made her far more comfortable around Yang Kai — the wariness and apprehension she'd once felt were long gone. She turned and left.
Inside the tree hollow, Yang Kai frowned deeply. If the market was saturated, his healing potions would become increasingly difficult to sell. If the potions couldn't move, he wouldn't have enough Green Coins for Inner Cores, which would throw his entire Cultivation plan into disarray.
But no matter how he turned the problem over in his mind, he couldn't see a way to improve the situation — not unless another city comparable to Frost Snow City appeared for him to work. But in the depths of winter, where else in the entire barbarian lands could he find a second Frost Snow City?
Sure enough, as Yang Kai had predicted, the healing potions became increasingly difficult to move in the days that followed. Of the stock he crafted each day, Butterfly could barely sell a third in an entire day, and even that fraction kept shrinking.
The number of Inner Cores he could buy dwindled in turn. Shaman Lord was tantalizingly close, yet without enough Inner Cores to fuel his advance, he could only stare longingly at a shore he couldn't reach.
For now, there was nothing to do but take it one step at a time. He would burn through the Inner Cores he had on hand first and figure out the rest when the time came.