Chapter 146: Harvest Day

With the explosive start of the Zengyuan Pill market, rumors now swirling, three factions wildly shipping, and wandering cultivators noticing something was off when the Qian family's convoy brimming with Spiritual Material returned, this frantic and bloody feast has finally come to its end.

"Selling Zengyuan Pills, only five hundred Spiritual Stones per bottle!"

"I sell at four hundred; four hundred is enough!"

"Three hundred!!"

Many cultivators set up stalls by the road; these cultivators have some background. Either they are scions of a faction or they have considerable family wealth, and they seized the sudden boom in the Zengyuan Pill market to stockpile.

Unfortunately, they have no channel to sell.

Even if some among them are not greedy and don't choose to sell at the peak, the channel issue remains unsolvable.

Which cultivator with some strength would be foolish enough to spend seven or eight hundred Spiritual Stones for a bottle of Zengyuan Pill?

Do you really think our Lianqi Phase cultivators are all fools?

As for cultivators at the higher Foundation Establishment Stage and Core Formation Stage, they completely disregard this farce.

Everyone understands buying low and selling high, but the methods depend entirely on one's own insight and strength.

This explains why having a foothold is so important to cultivators.

Among these cultivators, those with deep backgrounds might not mind this loss, treating it as paying for a lesson.

But there are many cultivators who only have a modest amount of Spiritual Stones, who stockpiled a bit but cannot sell.

These people are the chaff that the three factions and Yan Buji see as ripe for harvesting.

Each day, the price of Zengyuan Pill plummets.

Three hundred!

Two hundred!

Until finally one hundred!

It seems the price has stabilized at this bottom line of one hundred.

But the three factions, upon seeing Zengyuan Pill at such a low price, naturally purchase them to control circulation and continue to push the price down!

"What? Thirty‑one bottles? Not even one should be at this price, right?!"

"Then don't sell, I'm not forcing you to sell."

"I! Sell! If it weren't for the qualification to enter the Treasure Dragon Realm, I… " The cultivator gritted his teeth and sold all the Zengyuan Pills he held.

The three factions' price‑pressing tactics are much like Yan Buji's thoughts; they don't merely drop the price that low, but also employ other methods.

These cultivators spent a great many Spiritual Stones stockpiling, now desperate to sell, so perhaps they might keep some for themselves, right?

I spent so many Spiritual Stones, even mortgaged everything I owned to buy Zengyuan Pills; why should I now sell them at such a cheap price?

During the discussion, a place called "Treasure Dragon Realm" was mentioned; this is the trump card the three factions wield to suppress prices.

Yan Buji sat in a tavern, sipping wine contentedly: "Treasure Dragon Realm… I've heard it's a secret realm that lets cultivators temper their mortal bodies, laying a foundation for later breaking through the Foundation Establishment Stage. I didn't expect the three factions to actually offer slots, making another profit. Hahaha… If I had those resources, I'd do it even better than they do."

This Treasure Dragon Realm will, from now on, have a limited ten‑day window for purchasing slot qualifications; after a month, there will be no more slots.

Moreover, the price isn't low; it requires a thousand Spiritual Stones to enter for a brief three‑day period, yet countless cultivators are scrambling to sign up!

Even Yan Buji grew curious, bought a slot, and plans to go take a look.

Now Yan Buji no longer lacks Spiritual Stones; the ten thousand Spiritual Stones he had earlier have become forty thousand, redeeming his items and earning thirty thousand!

The negotiation method: Yan Buji's ten thousand Spiritual Stones are used to purchase the cheapest Zengyuan Pills at a price of fifty; otherwise he couldn't outbid the three factions.

Originally those bosses wanted to buy back Yan Buji's Zengyuan Pills at a price of one hundred Spiritual Stones, but Yan Buji immediately said it was impossible. He then discussed with them how to sell without attracting the three factions' attention.

After clarifying the stakes, Yan Buji subtly remarked that he and his "master" are not cultivators of the Gendo Territory, and that the price of Zengyuan Pills elsewhere would only be higher, so why sell here?

Those bosses didn't doubt him, since Yan Buji was spot on; to obtain more Zengyuan Pill reserves, after some negotiation Yan Buji raised the price to two hundred and fifty.

Yan Buji kept forty bottles of Zengyuan Pill, and sold the remaining one hundred sixty bottles to them, earning forty thousand.

It was a transaction that satisfied both sides; no one was dissatisfied.

However, since he snatched a piece of meat from the three factions, Yan Buji walked away with Spiritual Stones; whether those bosses can withstand the three factions depends on whether they follow his advice.

In fact, Yan Buji isn't worried, because the three factions ultimately reclaim Zengyuan Pills to control their circulation, and those bosses will only hoard and sell after prices rise, which won't affect the three factions' normal operations.

Thus, for the three factions, the small‑shop bosses, and Yan Buji, no one loses; everyone profits!

The losers are those profit‑driven cultivators who seek speculation.

And a cultivator's greatest weakness is strength.

Without that strength, they are only spun around by deceivers.

Why do they earn Spiritual Stones?

Isn't it for cultivation?

The three factions, with just a three‑day qualification to the Treasure Dragon Realm, can toy with these hoarding cultivators, because they are greedy yet clueless about how to be greedy.

They want everything, yet cannot part with anything.

And a Zengyuan Pill isn't something you can take daily; each one requires seclusion and refinement before consumption.

The more you eat, the weaker the effect; hoarding many does nothing for those profit‑driven cultivators.

Sell it to swap for a qualification, and the loss remains; the Treasure Dragon Realm isn't always accessible.

Thus, even knowing the three factions are cutting them like chaff, they still beg to enter the Treasure Dragon Realm for cultivation.

Yan Buji now also has enough Spiritual Stones for his second layer of Lianqi Phase nine‑turn cultivation; after disguising himself to purchase a Spirit‑Gathering Array, he settled his mind and began to cultivate slowly.

The outside world's storms mean nothing to him.

Now he dares not go out lightly; if anyone discovers he covertly used a few pharmacy owners to manipulate and earn so many Spiritual Stones, it would be trouble.

Even collaborating with those bosses, pawnshops exchanging Spiritual Stones carry some risk.

The three factions may not mind, but those bosses might still be probing his background.

Moreover, he fanned the flames, forcing the three factions to flood the market with Zengyuan Pills to quickly amass wealth; Yan Buji's rumor‑spreading was intended to make them aware of this.

The audience of the rumors isn't the three factions, but those cultivators who have gone bankrupt stocking massive amounts of Zengyuan Pills.

Anyone who hears this rumor will surely panic and sell off Increasing Yuan Pills, and it will also force the Three Powers to, just as Yan Buji envisioned, release even more Increasing Yuan Pills, making the market's total circulation of Increasing Yuan Pills excessively bloated!

So, the price of Increasing Yuan Pills will therefore plummet to one hundred!

Furthermore, the Three Powers also want to suppress the price, by taking out the cultivation quotas from Treasure Dragon Land to force those hoarding cultivators to sell their Increasing Yuan Pills in exchange for Spiritual Stones to gain purchasing qualifications. The Three Powers then buy back the Increasing Yuan Pills to guarantee the market is no longer bloated and returns to its original state, and moreover they can make another profit!

This is Yan Buji's method in the marketplace; although it's not exactly brilliant and can even be said to be full of loopholes, why did he succeed?

It's simply daring to think and daring to act; opportunities always go to those who are prepared.

But most people cannot stay clear-headed; they are immersed in the clamor and unable to seize opportunities.

"With the Increasing Yuan Pill, it should be enough for me to complete the second level nine turns of Qi Refining; breaking through to the third level of Qi Refining is also imminent. But still, I should first go see what the situation with Treasure Dragon Land actually is. Foundation Establishment.... Foundation Establishment.... I don't know when I will be able to reach this pass."

Yan Buji has never been someone who only looks at the immediate future, but whenever he thinks about the hardships of cultivation, he also feels a bit sorrowful.