Chapter 143: Market Changes

Yan Buji made a few inquiries; the Spirit Gathering Formation differs from ordinary formations, because it must be adjusted according to the local spiritual aura density or a cultivator's own needs, so even the most basic Spirit Gathering Formation costs several thousand Spiritual Stones or more!

This is also for convenience of future modifications, but for Yan Buji he doesn't need the Spirit Gathering Formation to have so many functions; as long as it helps reduce his consumption rate when absorbing spiritual aura from Spiritual Stones, that's enough.

He couldn't immediately find a suitable spiritual land for cultivation, so it would be more convenient to just use Spiritual Stones.

Following the directions given by those loose cultivators, Yan Buji walked along and finally saw a place called the Formation Equipment Pavilion.

Few cultivators come here; on the bustling street it actually appears rather quiet.

Yan Buji entered, saw the shop assistant inside, and asked, "Fellow Daoist, do you sell Spirit Gathering Formations here?"

"We do sell them, but...." The shop assistant glanced at Yan Buji; the meaning was obvious.

"Can someone at Lianqi Phase second level afford it? Would buying it be useful for you?"

Yan Buji chuckled: "I don't want the kind that can be changed at any time; I want a Spirit Gathering Formation that reduces the loss rate when absorbing spiritual aura from Spiritual Stones."

"How many Spiritual Stones do you have on you? Even this trimmed-down version of the Spirit Gathering Formation costs around a thousand Spiritual Stones; do you have that much?" the shop assistant asked strangely.

"That expensive?" Yan Buji's expression was complex; he hadn't expected even the trimmed-down Spirit Gathering Formation to be so costly.

Although he still had plenty of Spiritual Stones on him, they were reserved for his own use; one couldn't say they must be bought just because they're needed, and with such a high price he also had to consider whether it was actually practical.

"Well then, sorry to bother you."

Yan Buji sighed and left this place.

Indeed, he still needed to figure out how to make money first.

Yan Buji stroked his chin, took out his notebook, and wrote a bit after walking for a while.

After several days passed in a row.

Yan Buji frowned: "Spiritual medicines and pills that help cultivators advance their mana are very valuable, but most of these channels are controlled by those cultivation powers; as an outsider with no connections, I can't get involved. Secondly, various cultivation techniques and skill methods are also highly sought after, but they still require huge capital investment, which doesn't suit my current situation. To make a quick profit, I can only engage in speculation and resale."

Yan Buji thought it over; here one can find almost everything cultivators need, whether Accumulation Devices, technique classics, or spiritual pills and marvelous medicines; at present the only thing he can do is buy low and sell high.

But this requires having a very clear grasp of the market's direction here, with the prices of all kinds of goods needing to be tracked daily, to see how they change.

Coincidentally, Yan Buji discovered that over the past few days the price of Yuan-Increasing Pills had suddenly shown an upward trend!

"Yuan-Increasing Pills are originally the spiritual pills that Lianqi Phase cultivators need to advance their mana; coincidentally, this is also the time of the Ascension Immortal Convention, so a price rise is naturally not a big deal, but the key lies in this timing."

Yan Buji glanced at the upward trend chart of Yuan-Increasing Pill prices; since the day he arrived here, he had been inquiring about news of Yuan-Increasing Pills. However, at that time a bottle of twelve Yuan-Increasing Pills sold for between three hundred and five hundred Spiritual Stones, which was very expensive. For ordinary loose cultivators, this price was hard to bear.

Therefore the main customers for Yuan-Increasing Pills are not loose cultivators, but those cultivators who have backing.

This is also why Yan Buji has never used this good thing up to now—it's because its cost-performance ratio doesn't match his consumption philosophy.

Moreover, he indeed couldn't spend all his Spiritual Stones on buying Yuan-Increasing Pills; aside from the fact that he himself cultivates the Nine Turn Technique, even now Yan Buji couldn't reach Lianqi Phase tenth level just by popping pills—this is completely unrealistic.

The increase in Yuan-Increasing Pill price has gone from the start to now, reaching between four hundred and six hundred Spiritual Stones; anyone can see this is those pill masters raising the price to make money.

But in Yan Buji's view, the main sales channels for Yuan-Increasing Pills are only the few large pill shops here that have sufficient stock; most cultivators buy from these few large shops, while other small vendors lack the qualifications to dare raise prices.

"So the key is how high the Yuan-Increasing Pill price increase will go; if I invest early, when should I pull back... No, if I purchase a large quantity of Yuan-Increasing Pills, the problem will only be that selling them off will be extremely difficult. Should any of those few large shops in the city take a cut from the bottom, I would end up losing my entire investment."

Yan Buji thought carefully.

At present, relying on Yuan-Increasing Pills to earn Spiritual Stones, quite a few sharp-eyed cultivators have already started; Yan Buji is not the only smart one—most cultivators with some background can see that the Yuan-Increasing Pill business is very profitable, and during this ongoing price increase, as long as there is sufficient supply they need not worry about failing to make a big profit.

But the problem is, if this is a little trick played by those few large pill shops, they raise prices on one hand while releasing large quantities of Yuan-Increasing Pills into the market on the other.

As the sales channels for Yuan-Increasing Pills multiply, naturally those cultivators who obtain the goods will rush to sell off in order to grab business; if this situation occurs when the large pill shops suddenly cut prices, after thoroughly disrupting the market it will become even more frenzied!

Because the supply and price are both controlled by those major powers, using this method to swindle greedy cultivators is not impossible.

Yan Buji has a keen sense for business; from the earlier Yuan-Increasing Pill price increase to now seeing many cultivators daily entering and exiting those few large pill shops, he can roughly see the ins and outs.

But if he wants to earn Spiritual Stones, he can't take the route of purchasing goods and then scattering them himself; that risk is considerable.

Of course, wanting to snag a slice of the Yuan-Increasing Pill market is not that difficult either.

Yan Buji chuckled: "The opportunity lies in a single moment; if you don't seize it now, it will be gone later."

His idea is actually simple: the major powers want to use this method to reap retail investors on one hand while consolidating their market position on the other; relying solely on Yan Buji's personal strength, there's no way to deal with those major powers.

Moreover, the risk factor is too high; if they happen to take notice of him, it will be troublesome.

So I must first prepare a reserve of ten thousand Spiritual Stones before I can intervene and get a share of the broth.

Thinking this, Yan Buji entered a pawnshop and pawned everything he could take out from his person.

"Are you sure you want to pawn the Accumulation Device?"

"I lack Spiritual Stones; is that not allowed?"

"Well, that's not impossible, hehe."

Yan Buji pawned the small knife he had previously obtained, plus the three third-turn spiritual materials and assorted miscellaneous items from the Wang family cultivator's Storage Accumulation Device, altogether mortgaging them, and exactly exchanged them for ten thousand Spiritual Stones.

"This is your pawn ticket; please keep it safe."

"I will come back to redeem it as soon as possible." Yan Buji said calmly.

"Hehe, we at Grasp Treasure Pavilion operate with integrity; as long as you come to redeem it before the pawn ticket's deadline, your items will naturally be kept intact." The shop assistant of Grasp Treasure Pavilion laughed.

"Then thank you."

Yan Buji chuckled and walked out the door.