Chapter 16: The Crazy Bubble

With Zhao Xuhe's guarantee, Lu Yang smoothly secured a loan of 2, 00 contribution points from the "Sanhe Society" behind him, then went all-in to purchase Death-Substituting Yin Puppets.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Zhao Xuhe paced excitedly within his cave dwelling.

"The news is actually true!"

After receiving the message from his master, he was instantly thrilled: "The Ten Thousand People Pit that the Holy Sect held in Jiangnan has truly been captured by the Yushujiange."

"The one who made the move was the Third Elder of the Yushujiange, that peerless sword cultivator known as 'True Person Dangmo'."

"Retaking it in the short term is impossible."

"With the Ten Thousand People Pit lost, a price surge for Death-Substituting Yin Puppets in the near future is certain; this is a golden opportunity for us to speculate and hoard goods to create a shortage!"

"I'm going to get rich!"

Having managed to secure the position of a Merit Tower steward disciple within the Holy Sect, Zhao Xuhe naturally lacked neither background nor connections, nor did he lack insight or greed; thus, once he confirmed Lu Yang's news was true, he immediately began gathering funds and poured all his liquid assets into buying Death-Substituting Yin Puppets.

And developments unfolded exactly as he had predicted.

As news of the Jiangnan Ten Thousand People Pit incident spread, more and more people who "sensed a business opportunity" began sweeping up goods in the market, purchasing Death-Substituting Yin Puppets at high prices.

Just like all speculative bubbles, those who entered the market first made quite a bit of money.

However, as the situation fermented, everyone realized that the price of Death-Substituting Yin Puppets showed no sign of dropping whatsoever; the price was high when buying, and even higher when selling.

Making money suddenly became easy.

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

Thus, even more people went mad.

More and more people began dipping into their savings to enter the market, hoping to make money, and indeed they did, which further stimulated the market.

Even those who were relatively cautious, upon discovering that fellow disciples they usually looked down upon simply bought items, waited a few days, sold them, and earned more money than themselves, naturally felt unbalanced in their hearts, so they too reasonably joined this wave.

Under such a wave, the price of Death-Substituting Yin Puppets could be described as climbing step by step.

Starting from an initial 200 contribution points, it climbed all the way to 300 contribution points; a fifty percent price increase drove countless speculators into even greater frenzy.

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

It rose today, so it would definitely rise tomorrow; if it rises tomorrow, what reason is there for it not to continue rising the day after? Not buying at this time means losing out!

Thus, more and more people moved at the news.

300, 400, 500; finally, when the price skyrocketed to 500 contribution points, people's rationality somewhat recovered, feeling that perhaps this was enough.

"Time to sell!"

Zhao Xuhe was the first to seize this subtle turning point and began secretly selling off his previously hoarded Death-Substituting Yin Puppets in batches, preparing to cash out and exit the market.

At the same time, the price across the entire Death-Substituting Yin Puppet market began to fall back.

After all, Zhao Xuhe was not the only smart person in this world; others had also keenly spotted the downward trend and began gradually selling off the goods in their hands.

If things continued to develop this way, within a few days the price would completely collapse and then return to normal.

However, just when this wave was about to subside, suddenly, a piece of news from the high echelons of the Chusheng Sect spread throughout the entire sect overnight.

"The Holy Sect is preparing to counterattack!"

"The loss of the Jiangnan Ten Thousand People Pit has enraged a True Person within the sect, who has decided to personally take action, mobilize disciples from the sect to counterattack, and fight a battle against the Yushujiange!"

"A great war is approaching!"

During wartime, the prices of all supplies beneficial to the war effort must rise.

And Death-Substituting Yin Puppets, an item capable of saving one's life at a critical moment, how important would they be in the bloody and cruel orthodox-versus-demonic great war that was about to arrive?

They were no different from a second life!

Undoubtedly, on the very night this news spread, the price of Death-Substituting Yin Puppets, which had already begun to fall, welcomed a second explosive surge!

Not only did it instantly return to the peak of 500 contribution points, but it continued to climb!

By the next morning, 500 contribution points had become 1, 00 contribution points; compared to the original price of 200 contribution points, it had actually increased fivefold!

"Hahahahaha!"

In the Cangshuge, Wang Bairong stood by his precious rocking chair, excitedly dancing with joy, his old face flushed with excitement and fanaticism.

"Rise! Keep rising for me!"

"No, I must buy a bit more; selling this little now won't earn much money; if I hoard a bit more, I'll have enough contribution points for an entire cave dwelling!"

At this moment, the entire Holy Sect welcomed a carnival for its ordinary disciples.

These ordinary disciples lacked insight, connections, and information channels, so while others were secretly selling off, they were still buying in.

And now, they had struck it rich.

Countless ordinary disciples saw their net worth double overnight, earning money that even exceeded the total assets of some senior disciples with backgrounds and backing.

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

For instance, a certain poor boy, destitute and publicly rejected by his fiancée, after his net worth doubled, angrily divorced his fiancée, leaving behind the words, "Do not bully the young for being poor."

Or take a certain little girl whose father had died and mother remarried, forcing her to live under another's roof; before buying Death-Substituting Yin Puppets, she lived a life where her stepmother beat and scolded her at will every day, and she couldn't even protect her father's inheritance, but now with her net worth doubled, she immediately paid in full to purchase a high-grade cave dwelling.

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

Come buy Death-Substituting Yin Puppets!

This madness, with everyone throwing themselves into it, reached its absolute peak on a certain day when a Qi Refining Great Perfection disciple suddenly broke through and successfully achieved Foundation Establishment.

Because that disciple who successfully established his foundation openly admitted that the reason he could break through was entirely due to earning enough contribution points by trading Death-Substituting Yin Puppets, then paying in full for a Foundation Establishment Pill, so he had to thank the Death-Substituting Yin Puppet; without it, he could never have defied heaven and changed his fate.

Completely insane.

1, 00, 2, 00, 3, 00; the price of Death-Substituting Yin Puppets left everyone else in the dust, and watching the soaring prices, some were happy, while naturally others were sad.

Those who were happy included Lu Yang.

Without further ado, when the price skyrocketed to 2, 00, he decisively chose to sell off.

After all, having bought back 10 units at an original price of 200 contribution points and sold them at 2, 00 contribution points, the round trip yielded a tenfold profit, bringing in 20, 00 contribution points!

Those who were sad included Zhao Xuhe.

When he saw the price rebound, he regretted it until his intestines turned green, especially after seeing Wang Bairong, whom he had previously looked down upon and even planned to swindle.

As far as he knew, Wang Bairong, a mediocre fellow for several decades with one foot already in the grave, had hoarded over 20 Death-Substituting Yin Puppets, all bought at high prices during this period; previously, when Zhao Xuhe had secretly sold off, he had secretly mocked Wang as leeks waiting to be cut.

But now, the damn guy was about to earn nearly 100, 00 contribution points!

If it were just that he himself hadn't made money, that would be one thing.

But when Zhao Xuhe saw Wang Bairong earning so many contribution points, laughing so hard every day that his mouth couldn't close, that feeling was truly worse than suffering a loss himself!

And after seeing the price of Death-Substituting Yin Puppets climb continuously without any sign of stopping, Zhao Xuhe pondered back and forth, hesitating for an entire night.

Finally, he entered the market a second time.

The contribution points he had earned from exiting earlier were thrown back into the Death-Substituting Yin Puppet market by him.

At first, he remained cautious and did not invest all his contribution points, but as he watched the price keep rising, every increase made him feel as though he were losing something.

"Opportunity knocks but once; I've already missed it once, how can I miss it a second time?"

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

There were many others who shared the same thoughts as Zhao Xuhe.

And when this batch of people, who had been the first to cash out and exit, re-entered the market, it further stimulated the rise of Death-Substituting Yin Puppets and further solidified people's confidence.

(End of Chapter)