Chapter 16: The Mad Bubble

With Zhao Xuhe's guarantee, Lu Yang successfully borrowed 2,000 contribution points from the "Sanhe Association" behind him, then went all-in to buy Substitute Death Yin Puppets.

On the other side, Zhao Xuhe was also pacing excitedly in his cave dwelling.

"The news is actually true!"

After receiving the message transmitted by his Sect Master, he immediately became agitated: "The Ten Thousand People Pit in Jiangnan belonging to the Holy Sect has actually been captured by the Yushu Yushu Jiange."

"The one who struck was the Third Elder of the Yushu Yushu Jiange, that peerless sword cultivator known as the 'True Person Who Sweeps Away Demons'."

"Retaking it in the short term is impossible."

"With the Ten Thousand People Pit lost, the price rise of Substitute Death Yin Puppets in the short term is destined; this is our great opportunity to speculate and hoard goods!"

"I'm going to get rich!"

Being able to mix in the Holy Sect to the identity of a disciple-official in the Merit Hall, Zhao Xuhe certainly would not lack background and connections, nor would he lack insight and greed; therefore, once he confirmed Lu Yang's news was true, he immediately started gathering money, then went all-in with all his cash to buy Substitute Death Yin Puppets.

And the development of the matter was exactly as he had predicted.

As the incident of the Jiangnan Ten Thousand People Pit spread, more and more people who "saw the business opportunity" began sweeping the market, buying Substitute Death Yin Puppets at high prices.

Just like all speculative bubbles, the first ones to enter the field made a lot of money.

However, as the incident fermented, everyone discovered that the price of Substitute Death Yin Puppets showed absolutely no trend of dropping; buying was high, and selling was even higher.

Making money suddenly became easy.

As long as you bought in and then sold out, you could easily earn contribution points that previously required completing several, or even dozens, of sect missions to earn.

Thus, even more people went mad.

More and more people began using their savings to enter the field, hoping to make money this way, and indeed they did make money, which further stimulated the market.

Even relatively cautious people, upon discovering that fellow disciples they usually looked down on simply bought things back, waited a few days, and sold them out to earn more money than themselves, naturally felt unbalanced psychologically, so they also naturally joined this wave.

Under such a wave, the price of Substitute Death Yin Puppets could be said to climb step by step.

From the initial 200 contribution points, it climbed all the way to 300 contribution points; a fifty percent price increase made countless speculators even more frantic.

After all, its price had not stagnated; it was still rising.

It is rising today, it will definitely rise tomorrow; if it rises tomorrow, what reason is there for it not to continue rising the day after? Not buying now is a loss!

Thus, more and more people moved upon hearing the wind.

300, 400, 500. Finally, when the price skyrocketed to 500 contribution points, people's sanity somewhat recovered, feeling that it seemed about enough.

"Time to sell!"

Zhao Xuhe was the first to seize this subtle node, began secretly selling off the Substitute Death Yin Puppets he had hoarded in batches, preparing to cash out and leave the field.

At the same time, the price of the entire Substitute Death Yin Puppet market also began to fall back.

After all, there is not only one smart person like Zhao Xuhe in this world; some people also keenly saw the downward trend and began gradually selling off the goods in their hands.

If development continued like this, in just a few days, the price would completely avalanche, then return to normal.

However, just at a time when this wave was about to subside, suddenly, a message from the high levels of the Initial Holy Sect spread throughout the entire sect overnight.

"The Holy Sect is preparing to counterattack!"

"The loss of the Jiangnan Ten Thousand People Pit caused a True Person within the sect to become furious, deciding to personally strike, drawing out sect disciples to counterattack and fight a battle with the Yushu Yushu Jiange!"

"Great war is approaching!"

During wartime, all materials beneficial to the war must rise in price.

And Substitute Death Yin Puppets, an item that can save one's life at a critical moment, how important are they in the bloody and cruel, imminent war between Righteous and Demonic paths?

No different from a second life!

Undoubtedly, on the very night this news spread, the price of Substitute Death Yin Puppets, which had already begun to fall back, welcomed a second explosion!

Not only did it instantly return to the peak of 500 contribution points, but it was still climbing!

By the next morning, 500 contribution points had become 1,000 contribution points; compared to the original price of 200 contribution points, it had actually doubled five times!

"Hahahaha!"

In the Library Pavilion, Wang Bairong was seen standing on his beloved rocking chair, dancing with excitement, his old face filled with agitated blood color and fanaticism.

"Rise! Keep rising for me!"

"No, I must buy more; selling this little bit now won't earn much money; hoard some more, and the contribution points of a whole cave dwelling will be there!"

At this moment, the entire Holy Sect welcomed the carnival of ordinary disciples.

These ordinary disciples had little insight, nor did they have connections or information channels, so when others were secretly selling, they were still buying.

And now, they have struck it rich.

Who knows how many ordinary disciples doubled their net worth overnight, earning money that even exceeded the total assets of some senior disciples with background and backing.

In an instant, countless stories of the Arabian Nights spread throughout the Holy Sect.

For example, some destitute young man whose fiancée publicly broke off the engagement, after his net worth doubled, angrily divorced his fiancée, leaving behind the words "Do not bully the poor youth."

For another example, some little girl whose father died and mother remarried, forced to live under another's roof, before buying Substitute Death Yin Puppets was living a life where she was beaten and scolded arbitrarily by her stepmother every day, unable to even protect her father's inheritance; now with her net worth doubled, she immediately bought a high-level cave dwelling with full payment.

Do you have a dream? Do you want to realize your dream?

Come buy Substitute Death Yin Puppets!

This madness, in which everyone invested, reached its peak on a certain day when a disciple at the peak of Qi Refining suddenly broke through and successfully established a Foundation.

Because that disciple who successfully established a Foundation openly stated that the reason he could break through was entirely because he earned enough contribution points by buying and selling Substitute Death Yin Puppets, then bought a Foundation Establishment Pill with full payment, so he wanted to thank the Substitute Death Yin Puppet; if not for it, he could not have changed his fate against heaven.

Completely gone mad.

1,000, 2,000, 3,000. The price of Substitute Death Yin Puppets soared far ahead, and watching the skyrocketing price, some were happy, while naturally, some were sad.

The happy ones, such as Lu Yang.

He didn't talk; when the price skyrocketed to 2,000, he decisively chose to sell.

After all, buying back 10 at the original price of 200 contribution points and selling them out at 2,000 contribution points meant a tenfold profit in one round trip, resulting in 20,000 contribution points coming in!

The sad ones, such as Zhao Xuhe.

When he saw the price rise again, he regretted it so deeply his intestines turned green, especially after seeing Wang Bairong, the man he had once looked down upon and even planned to cheat.

As far as he knew, Wang Bairong, that mediocrity who had wasted decades and was half-buried in the ground, had hoarded over twenty Substitute Death Yin Puppets, all bought at high prices during this period; when he had secretly sold off his own earlier, he had secretly mocked him as a leek waiting to be harvested.

But now, he was about to earn 100,000 Contribution Points!

If it were just that he himself hadn't made a profit, that would have been fine.

But when Zhao Xuhe saw Wang Bairong earn so many Contribution Points, smiling so widely his mouth wouldn't close every day, the feeling was truly worse than losing money himself!

And after seeing the price of Substitute Death Yin Puppets rise continuously without stopping, Zhao Xuhe thought back and forth, hesitating for a whole night.

Finally, he re-entered the market.

The Contribution Points he had earned from his earlier exit were thrown back into the Substitute Death Yin Puppet market.

At first, he remained cautious and did not invest all his Contribution Points, but as the price kept rising, every small increase made him feel like he was losing a little more.

"Opportunity knocks but once; I have already missed one chance, how can I miss the second?"

"It will rise again; buying now is better than buying later."

There were many others who thought the same as Zhao Xuri.

And when this group of people, who had been the first to cash out and leave, returned to the market, they once again stimulated the rise of Substitute Death Yin Puppets and further strengthened people's confidence.

(End of this chapter)