Chapter 145: Rumor

Yan Buji stood up, smiling, and said: "If you don't believe me, just wait a while and see. The master said the price of Increase Yuan Pill will surge to eight hundred spiritual stones before suddenly dropping; by then you'll naturally understand what my master means."

As Yan Buji walked away, several pharmacy owners exchanged doubtful glances.

They had no connection to the three major powers; they were cultivators who had started from scratch and opened their own pharmacy here. Although their resources were modest, after so many years in business they had never seen anyone so bold.

"What exactly does this Bu Ji fellow daoist mean?"

"I'm not sure, but since he can casually produce ten thousand spiritual stones for us, it seems his master behind the scenes has long had his eye on the Increase Yuan Pill market."

"But... could the current Increase Yuan Pill market actually be a scheme by those three families, intending to trap those cultivators with a bit of backing? Aren't they afraid of provoking public outrage?"

"Afraid? Who would dare go cause them trouble? Besides, this is just a case of willing hitter and willing receiver—if you still go looking for trouble, not getting killed would already be lucky."

"Then if we intervene, wouldn't we be... snatching their meat?"

"Then why don't you think, seek wealth through risk? If the Increase Yuan Pill price truly drops to fifty spiritual stones per bottle, do you know what that means? Even we small traders could stock up, and if the price really stays that low, would the three families agree? If we store it for a while and then bring it out, we could still profit!"

"I see, then how does Bu Ji and his group make money?"

"You're foolish? He simply resells the Increase Yuan Pill he purchases to us—no problem! At worst we sell at two hundred per bottle, still no loss! The three families set the price of Increase Yuan Pill at three hundred; even if the price later rises, they'd still not lose!"

"Then... are we just waiting for those fifty-one bottles of Increase Yuan Pill?"

"We'll have to invest a bit as well; if that's the case, our earlier investment could be repaid many times over later!"

The few owners quickly realized why the other party had come to them.

Not only does Bu Ji and his master behind the scenes not want to personally clash with the three families, but they also have us—those with no ties to the three families—take action, just to scoop a profit from behind the scenes in this frantic Increase Yuan Pill price surge and then leave, leaving all the benefits to them.

As for whether the three families will later cause trouble?

Just kidding, what's wrong with you eating meat while I drink a sip of soup?

If they couldn't tolerate even small traders like us, there wouldn't be these few owners left.

Moreover, no matter how you calculate it, the three families won't lose.

Who knows how much stock of Increase Yuan Pill they have?

Once their stock exceeds the entire market's demand, those cultivators frantically buying now are the true "leeches"!

When the three families jointly lower the price, they'll know how brutal business can be.

By then, independent cultivators won't want to buy Increase Yuan Pill at high prices, and if they themselves use the large quantities they bought at high cost, it'll be a loss; if they can't sell it, the loss is even greater.

But will it actually drop to fifty spiritual stones per bottle?

No matter how you say it, this price is too outrageous; if you claim fifty spiritual stones per Increase Yuan Pill is slightly high but still normal, then a bottle would be....

After Yan Buji returned to the tavern, he seriously considered his future plans.

First, he confirmed that those few pharmacy owners had no ties to the three families' powers, which took him considerable time to verify—after all, Yan Buji didn't want to just give away spiritual stones for nothing;

Second, wanting the Increase Yuan Pill price to drop below fifty spiritual stones is simply impossible.

Such a thing is unimaginable for either other cultivators or the three families' powers, because the cost of Increase Yuan Pill is set; even if it's just a pill used by Lianqi Phase cultivators, it couldn't be that cheap.

Even if spiritual materials aren't expensive, the fee charged by an alchemist is certainly not low.

"To drive the price down to this point, one still needs to do something."

Yan Buji narrowed his eyes and chuckled.

"How can we make the Increase Yuan Pill price reach fifty-one per bottle?"

"It's simple: just make the supply of Increase Yuan Pill vastly exceed market demand, but will the three families' powers agree to release that much?"

Impossible.

Since they also rely on Increase Yuan Pill to earn spiritual stones, after this storm passes the price will remain unchanged; even if it drops, it won't fall into double digits.

So we only need to leverage some external force, and that will be enough to prompt the three families to release large quantities of Increase Yuan Pill!

After leaving the tavern, Yan Buji directly departed from the Spiritual Ground.

Not long after, a gust of wind carried a sound.

"What? Cultivators from several nearby sects heard that the price of Increase Yuan Pill has risen here and want to come sell it?"

"Yeah, I've seen quite a few cultivators from other sects these days."

"Really? It's not because of the Ascension Immortal Assembly, is it?"

"Those are ultimately just a minority; I've even seen alchemist sect cultivators from Xuan Kun Dao coming over to gather intelligence!"

"Great! If outside forces come to sell Increase Yuan Pill, the price will surely drop!"

"Can the local powers agree? This kind of cross-sect trading is quite taboo, right?"

"Who says they have to come here to sell? If they're secretly selling elsewhere, what can you do about it?"

As rumors spread, the independent cultivators within the Spiritual Ground rushed out to check the situation.

Then, who knows who said they bought Increase Yuan Pill for only four hundred spiritual stones per bottle somewhere, then resold it for eight hundred per bottle, doubling their money!

In short, the spreading rumors left the cultivators in the Spiritual Ground unable to tell truth from falsehood for a while, with rumors of price drops everywhere on the streets and alleys—don't sell here, you'll lose big!

This matter reached the ears of the three families' powers, and those three persons gathered again.

"Who said there are outside forces coming to Gen Dao to sell Increase Yuan Pill?" the Hu family youth frowned and said.

"Yeah, the market price has just peaked, and now this kind of voice is spreading—could it really be someone wanting to wrestle with us?!" the Zhou family elder snorted coldly.

The Qian family middle-aged pondered: "I sent people to investigate everywhere; although it's true that cultivators from other sects have come to Gen Dao, they're also here for the Ascension Immortal Assembly. Those claiming to be secretly selling Increase Yuan Pill at certain places are utterly baseless—probably someone deliberately spreading false information to interfere with our plan!"

"What should we do now?! Just earning this little isn't enough!" the Hu family youth huffed coldly.

The Zhou family elder turned his eyes, sighed: "Those cultivators can't tell truth from falsehood anymore, and the Increase Yuan Pill price shows a downward trend—so we must quickly seize the high point and sell a big batch!"

"Huh? You're doing this—aren't you worried that too much Increase Yuan Pill will flood the market later and affect future prices?"

"Either we take profits now—after all we've already made quite a bit. When those cultivators dump their stock at low prices, we'll buy it back to control the flow. Later, once the price stabilizes, we'll slowly let it rise again; either way, we won't lose." said the Zhou family elder.

The Hu family youth furrowed his brow, pondering for a moment.

"Since we won't lose either way, let's just sell—sell as much as we can. Right now I need spiritual stones, the more the better."

"All right!"