Mythical Scroll Artist: Starting with the God of Wealth, Zhao Gongming

Chapter 8 Picture Scroll Loan

"As for the materials, Tiaotiao is studying them diligently. Just have her send you a copy," Tang Zhenghong said after a moment's thought. "I'll also pay you two million spirit coins. I wonder if that will satisfy you, young friend."

"Of course," Wu Xian replied without hesitation.

Compared to the two million, he was more concerned with the basic knowledge of mechanical engineering.

Of course, I would also really like a huge sum of two million.

A moment later, Tang Tiaotiao sent the information to Wu Xian's phone while laughing and joking, followed by a transfer of two million.

The moment the money arrived, Wu Xian could even feel the surge of wealth from the God of Wealth in the scroll, and even the painting spirit's level was raised to two and a half stars.

After seeing Tang Tiaotiao and his family off, Wu Xian's heart remained unsettled for a long time.

"Is this what it feels like to suddenly become rich?"

The old man was still in a daze, stunned by the two million.

That's two million! You couldn't earn that much even if you collected scraps your whole life.

"Grandpa, please listen to my advice, let's not go pick up trash anymore, okay?"

The old man was silent for a moment, then said, "We should still pick them up; consider it a good way to stretch our muscles."

"..."

Meanwhile, on the other side, the three members of the Tang family had already left by car.

"How about it, girl? Is it alright now?" Tang Zhenghong said irritably.

Tang Tiaotiao nodded smugly in satisfaction, "I can't mistreat my own little brother, Xiao Xianzi is my chosen future follower."

"You haven't even become a scroll painter yet, and you're already thinking about followers?" Tang Beng couldn't help but complain.

"I call that having a long-term vision," Tang Tiaotiao pouted.

"Two million is enough for him to buy a decent battle scroll on the market," Tang Zhenghong said as he drove.

Tang Beng nodded in agreement, "The young man has a good character and should be able to become an excellent spirit master, but he is too obsessed with becoming a scroll painter."

“You’re young and ambitious, and you’re not content with mediocrity, that’s understandable,” Tang Zhenghong said with a smile. “When you run into obstacles later, you’ll naturally give up.”

Tang Beng chuckled and agreed.

"If he can thoroughly understand the principles of mechanical scroll drawing, we could consider arranging for him to work at our company."

"Let him figure it out first," Tang Beng shook his head and smiled. "But speaking of which, the idea for the Jade Rabbit pounding medicine scroll is indeed excellent. Do you think he might have other ideas that could be turned into a scroll?"

Tang Zhenghong scoffed and shook his head: "Do you think the idea for a scroll painting is as easy as cabbage?"

“That makes sense.” Tang Beng was speechless.

In their view, Wu Xian's idea for this scroll was like an ordinary person winning the lottery—pure luck, a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.

It should be understood that for a scroll painter, being able to conceive a few feasible scroll designs in a lifetime is enough to make a name for oneself in history.

"Is it difficult to conceive a picture scroll?" Tang Tiaotiao asked curiously.

“It’s more than just difficult,” Tang Beng joked. “You’ll gradually understand once you enroll in the art studio.”

Just then, Tang Zhenghong's phone rang.

"Hello, who is this...?"

Tang Zhenghong answered the phone instinctively, his expression first showing surprise, then turning to astonishment and excitement.

After the phone call ended, the brother and sister couldn't help but ask questions out of curiosity.

"What happened? Has something happened to the company?"

"Hahaha, we actually won the military's bid this year!" Tang Zhenghong laughed loudly, still somewhat incredulous. "Let's go, let's go back to the company!"

"What?" Tang Beng was both surprised and delighted. "Really?"

“It’s true, of course,” Tang Zhenghong said, feeling like he was dreaming. “Logically, it shouldn’t be our turn. Could it be that something happened to the other companies?”

……

Sanzaigang, North Street District.

With two million in hand, Wu Xian experienced the city's prosperity for the first time in a "real" way.

When he arrived at the materials store where the shipment had been made yesterday, the owner recognized him immediately. "Oh, young man, you still have stock to sell?"

"No, no," Wu Xian quickly waved his hand, "I came today to look for some high-quality material."

"What materials are needed?"

"Bird monster materials, preferably chicken-shaped, and tiger monster materials as well," Wu Xian said with a clear goal in mind.

"Yes, yes, yes," the boss smiled knowingly and quickly selected suitable materials. "We have all kinds of species and grades, with clearly marked prices."

Wu Xian stared at the list of materials on the tablet, utterly bewildered. "Is it really this comprehensive?"

"What are you saying? We're a legitimate chain store, with supplies sourced all over the country," the owner said with pride and confidence.

Wu Xian nodded slightly, and after browsing through the materials, he acquired a set of Tier 2 A-grade materials for the Elf-type monster [Crimson Flame Chicken] and a set of Tier 2 A-grade materials for the Elf-type monster [Velociraptor].

The so-called Grade A materials refer to the most valuable parts of the otherworldly monsters, which have the purest spiritual characteristics and the fewest impurities.

Additionally, because Sunrise City does not have the dimensional calamity of the [Pokémon World], the price of Pokémon-type materials is relatively high.

The two sets of materials cost a total of 5780 spirit coins, which isn't too expensive.

After all, it's just material from a second-tier monster.

"By the way, do you have any high-end items with lightning attributes?" Wu Xian suddenly asked.

"Yes," the shopkeeper blurted out without hesitation, "What level do you want?"

Wu Xian initially wanted to say that the higher the level, the better, but after thinking about it again, he decided to buy some third and fourth-level materials instead, as that would be safer.

In the end, I spent 38955 and also acquired several sets of high-quality lightning-attribute materials.

After finishing, I went to the picture scroll shop next door for a stroll.

My original intention was to learn about the current picture scroll market, but I was quickly surrounded by salespeople. "Sir, are you looking to buy a picture scroll? Our store has a full range of picture scrolls, and over there is a display case featuring works by renowned masters. We also offer private customization services!"

"This is the dungeon area. There's also a main dungeon area, but the prices are a bit higher."

"Take a look at this one, the recently best-selling masterpiece by Master Feng, [Echoing Flames], a three-star skill scroll with a copper axis, it's definitely a killer weapon against the Zerg monsters."

"Or you could consider this [Soul-Suppressing Beast], a classic scroll painting that has been a bestseller for over a century. It was personally reproduced by Master Feng, the scroll painter specially commissioned by our store. With this scroll in hand, you're guaranteed to have unimpeded passage through the eerie abyss!"

Wu Xian was somewhat bewildered by the barrage of sales pitches.

"Excuse me, let me take a look first..."

"Okay, dear," the saleswoman smiled. "If you think it's too expensive, handsome, you can consider our products, which are specially designed for beginner spirit masters and have a full range of options."

"..." Wu Xian was speechless with embarrassment.

"All products in our store support installment payments," the saleswoman said, showing no sign of stopping. "If this is your first time purchasing in installments, you can also enjoy the lowest interest rate."

In addition, university students can enjoy certain interest-free benefits by presenting their student ID.

Hey~ handsome guy, don't go! Don't miss this opportunity!

They hurriedly fled the scroll shop, turning their backs and running away without looking back.

Because he knew that if he dared to turn around, the saleswoman would chase after him.

I'm suffocating, it's so suffocating!
If the scroll painting market is this turbulent, then the scroll painting artist industry must be quite turbulent as well.

Even the best wine needs advertising; without a reputation and word-of-mouth, no one may buy your paintings.

Even though he's already a millionaire, he still can't resist rummaging through the trash cans when he passes by.

Unfortunately, there was nothing to be found; it had obviously already been visited by other junk collectors.

"Maybe we could talk to those garbage collectors?"

I definitely won't have time to pick up trash anymore, but the scraps and leftover paint from the North Street area are still quite useful.

The scrap materials are comprehensive, perfect for honing pigment mixing skills, while the residual pigments can serve as a reference. Crucially, they are inexpensive, saving you a lot of money.

If you use high-quality materials to refine the pigments, the cost will increase at least several times.

In short: save where you can and be thrifty in managing your household!

Garbage collectors are easy to find, and it wasn't long before we found the scarred man and his gang in an alleyway area.

However, these people seemed to have run into trouble, looking nervous and hesitant to approach the garbage dump.

Over there at the garbage dump, something seemed to be causing trouble.

"Damn it, so many monsters have been leaking lately. A couple of days ago it was the Strange Monster, and today it's a Zerg monster." The blond guy complained speechlessly, "Are we even allowed to live like this?"

"Why don't we report it to the defense force and let the officers there handle it?" another thin subordinate suggested in a low voice.

"Are you stupid?" the blond-haired guy said irritably. "If the defense team comes, do you think we'll get any of the materials from those bugs?"

"But……"

"What a load of rubbish! Have you even earned enough for your kid's formula next month?" Yellow Hair snorted. "You know our situation. The boss has spent so much money on treatment these past few days, and the brothers are almost starving."

The scarred man stared intently at the insectoid monster in the garbage heap, his mind in turmoil.

We can definitely take it, the key is whether it's worth it. If we only get a few injuries, that's fine, but if there are casualties, it would be a huge loss.

"Second-tier predatory insectoids, everyone take it easy and cooperate well, there shouldn't be any problems."

After much deliberation, the scarred man decided to take the risk.

There's nothing we can do; too many things have happened lately, and the brothers are almost starving.

"Don't worry, boss," the blond-haired henchman glared fiercely at the insect monster, a scroll appearing in his hand at some point, which transformed into a heavy machine gun to everyone's astonishment. "I brought a weapon this time!"

"Wow, an ice spray?!" Several people nearby exclaimed in surprise and envy. "Ergou, when did you buy it?"

"It was taken out with a loan," Huang Mao said through gritted teeth. "It was originally intended to deal with Zhang Mazi's gang and to vent the boss's anger. We just wanted to test the waters with that bug first."

The scarred man was inexplicably moved. "How long is the loan? Can you afford to pay it back?"

"I've calculated it. As long as we can drive away Zhang Mazi's gang, we can definitely pay it back."

Upon hearing this, the scarred man and his gang were greatly encouraged and launched an attack on the insect monster in the garbage heap.

boom!
The blond-haired man unleashed a powerful burst of frost energy from his ice spray.

The predatory insectoid, struck by the attack, slammed heavily against the wall, its body covered in frost, and its movements became noticeably slower.

The insect monster opened its ferocious mouthparts, let out a piercing roar, and furiously attacked the group.

"Prepare to die—!"

The scarred man leaped into the air, wielding the Demon-Slaying Blade, and slashed at the insect monster. Although he failed to cleave through the monster's hard keratinous shell, he successfully repelled it.

The remaining henchmen quickly surrounded them, using psionic amplification and ordinary weapons to fight back.

"Oh no, there's another one?!"

The blond-haired man wielding an ice spray to suppress them shouted a warning, and the scarred man and his men, who had been full of confidence just a second ago, instantly froze.

The pile of garbage suddenly trembled, and a slightly bloated insect-like monster with a fleshy belly emerged from it. It was an insect-like monster that was metamorphosing into a mother insect.

This scene startled Wu Xian, who was watching from afar.

As is well known, the Zerg revere the Queen, as only the Queen has the ability to reproduce.

However, when some Zerg monsters lose contact with the hive and find a suitable environment to survive, there is a certain probability that a new queen will be born from an ordinary Zerg individual.

Just like a group of hens that haven't been exposed to roosters for a long time, some of them will start to masculinize.

　This book updates one chapter every day at 12 noon and another at 5 pm. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it's basically as reliable as a rock.

　　During the book's release period, I hope everyone will try their best to read it, especially on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as this is very important for the book's future development.

　　Keep it up, respect!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)