Chapter 753: Lost

The elders of the Great Sinful Sect hurried to Sect Master He Yun's secluded cultivation ground, each of their faces grave.

"Sect Master, something terrible has happened!" an elder knelt on the ground, voice trembling, "The Underworld cultivators we trade with have suddenly vanished, leaving only a note saying they are being hunted by the Starlight Sect and can no longer supply spiritual materials."

He Yun slowly opened his eyes, a flicker of doubt crossing his gaze. He did not speak immediately, but listened quietly to the elders' report.

After a moment, he asked lightly, "You mean the Underworld cultivators of the Youming Jie have stopped trading with us because they are trying to evade pursuit?"

Another elder quickly replied, "Exactly, and not only that—someone has been buying up Youming Jie spiritual materials on the market in large quantities while spreading rumors to disparage the quality of ours. Their moves are swift, clearly premeditated."

He Yun furrowed his brows: "It seems someone is determined to be our enemy."

"Sect Master, how should we respond?" the elders asked anxiously.

He Yun rose to his feet, hands clasped behind his back, eyes blazing: "How did this come about?"

"Sect Master, could it be that someone covets the many spiritual stones our Great Sinful Sect has earned over the years, and therefore..."

"No, that's not right—our Great Sinful Sect is full of talent and even has our founding ancestor overseeing things. It seems some people simply want to seize the market for Youming Jie spiritual materials from us."

"That's exactly what I wanted to say!"

"But this is merely a business tactic; if it involves covert assassinations, threats, and coercion, how can we continue doing business in the future?"

Indeed, not solving the problem, but eliminating the person who caused it, is also a good approach; however, considering the sect's overall reputation, if the Great Sinful Sect were to act as recklessly as in ancient times, it would not be able to rebuild smoothly today.

This is also the founding ancestor's intention—by following the rules of the Zhong Tian Zhi Yu, even if they are ancient demonic cultivators, they can be completely cleansed and restored to legitimacy.

If we resort to drawing blades and firing guns just because someone is stealing our business, then even in the future hardly anyone would be willing to cooperate with them.

Although He Yun is the sect master, he has actually been in secluded cultivation for many years; though he once wandered the cultivation world, his knowledge in this area is quite lacking, and he has learned many basics from Yan Buji.

Obviously, the current problem leaves He Yun's experience insufficient to cope; we must resolve this issue.

"First, we still need to find a way to locate the Underworld cultivators—how could they suddenly be hunted down?"

"We aren't entirely clear on that either."

"The Youming Jie has always been chaotic; adding to that, after the previous unification war in the Youming Jie, the Underworld suffered defeat and fled into hiding, which is how we got our opportunity."

"Or perhaps we let the Underworld's opponents expose them, sigh."

"Then we certainly can't go down to help the Underworld cultivators get through their crisis, can we?"

Everyone looked at He Yun.

He Yun pondered carefully, then shook his head: "The Underworld shouldn't be that fragile; in other words, if a couple of pursuits could topple such a vast Underworld, the Youming Jie would have changed hands long ago."

"Sect Master, you mean we shouldn't intervene?"

"Right now, all elders should quickly inventory the storehouses in each region to see how much Youming Jie spiritual material remains. Ideally, we find a way to cultivate it; we must urgently restore market supply."

"This..."

The elders were obviously hesitant; never mind how to cultivate Youming Jie spiritual materials—even if we could actually cultivate them, they would need time to grow. By then, the Great Sinful Sect's market share would have already been snatched away, and they would completely lose this profit route.

"Let's first see how things develop, and meanwhile inform Yan Buji in Luohuang Zhou. He previously oversaw this matter, so he might have a solution."

"Yes."

Accompanying the Great Sinful Sect's passive response, the Merchant Guild's white glove fully seized the market; in less than half a month, the sect's once ubiquitous shops are now deserted, and business is bleak.

Overnight, the Great Sinful Sect seemed as if it had never existed.

When Yan Buji received the news and heard the intelligence from the Heavenly Spirit Realm, he slapped his thigh in frustration: "Too late! How can the sect master merely react passively to this?!"

"Huh?!" Ye Lin beside him looked at Yan Buji, puzzled.

Yan Buji hastily wrote several letters back to the sect, hoping to still salvage the situation.

At this moment, Yan Buji was a guest at the Luohuang Zhou outpost of the Paolong Sacred Land; he had originally wanted to ask Ye Lin about some rare demonic spiritual materials, but upon receiving this news he felt both shocked and helpless.

The Underworld cultivators are being hunted by the Starlight Sect—this is an insoluble problem.

Unless the Great Sinful Sect can establish a trade partnership with the Starlight Sect, but Yan Buji does not want any involvement with them.

Furthermore, with the market occupied by others, to turn the situation around in a short time we must muster resolve and massively purchase Youming Jie spiritual materials on the market to regain dominance.

But Yan Buji believes the forces that have seized the market will not give the Great Sinful Sect this opportunity, and likewise they could not gather enough in a short time to satisfy the entire Zhong Tian Zhi Yu's reserves.

"Sigh." Yan Buji let out a long sigh.

"Hall Master Yan, what's happened?"

"Our sect's Youming Jie spiritual material market is gone." Yan Buji shook his head helplessly.

"Huh?" Ye Lin widened her eyes: "How is that possible?"

Yan Buji gave a brief explanation, and Ye Lin understood: "That's how it is.... But if even you can't buy Youming Jie spiritual materials, where does the force now occupying the market get theirs?"

Yan Buji hesitated, then said: "Perhaps they have reached an agreement with other forces in the Youming Jie, thereby obtaining a large amount of spiritual materials. But regardless, having lost the market, wanting to regain it is no simple matter."

It is obvious that those who have retaken the market are using the same old tricks Yan Buji once employed—first scattering alchemical formulas and charts to pique curiosity, then quickly putting their spiritual materials up for sale, thereby seizing the market.

Moreover, they have earnestly followed Yan Buji's old path to learn how to 'counterfeit-bust,' with the result that the Great Sinful Sect's share of the Youming Jie market was completely stripped away in just a short month.

For Yan Buji, naturally he does not want to see such a situation.

But the sect likely has little liquid funds now, and with the development in Luohuang Zhou, trying to win back the market is basically a pipe dream.

Although Ye Lin doesn't fully understand, she still comforted: "Hall Master Yan, you needn't be so distressed; since things have already happened, if we can't turn them around, all we can do is try to avoid further losses."

"Mm, you're right."

Yan Buji nodded; among his suggestions was the idea of having the sect master shut down the various shops, aiming to save some expenses.

However....

As long as the Precious Light Ore is successfully mined and sent back to the sect, the loss from losing the Youming Jie market can be made up.