Chapter 190: 庄家且入局

In his twelfth life, only a small group of people, including He Zhenghao, were the first to learn that the Spirit Mist Grass island had been destroyed and subsequently prepared to capitalize on it. From beginning to end, the impact of the Spirit Mist Grass incident was confined to just a few states.

However, in this life, when the market maker changed from True Monarch Qingmu Huasheng to Jiao Xiuyuan—a figure whose cultivation level was unknown but whose business spanned the entire cultivation world—the situation underwent a dramatic transformation. Countless puppets served as propaganda machines. Through various channels, the news of Spirit Mist Island's destruction was quietly spread throughout the Xuanhuang Realm within half a day.

Even if only one percent of the cultivators who heard the news considered speculation, and only one percent of those who considered it actually acted on it, that would still be an extremely vast number. Moreover, in the Myriad Immortals Alliance, where accumulating contribution points through ordinary means was challenging, such an "obvious" opportunity to make a huge profit was something few cultivators were willing to miss. Therefore, the actual number of cultivators involved in speculating on Spirit Mist Grass far exceeded that figure.

Although most cultivators were not particularly wealthy, they could still afford one or two stalks of Spirit Mist Grass. Adopting the mindset of "every bit helps," a vast number of cultivators rushed back to the Heavenly Profound Mirror as quickly as possible, scrambling to purchase Spirit Mist Grass.

Thus, within half a day after He Zhenghao sent a message to Li Fan, the price of Spirit Mist Grass soared from 22 contribution points per stalk to 35 points. This was 10 points higher than the peak price of 25 points in Li Fan's twelfth life. Moreover, the upward trend showed no signs of ending soon.

He Zhenghao's excited voice kept coming through. "Haha, Fellow Daoist Li Fan, wasn't I right? The price of Spirit Mist Grass is definitely going to rise further! It surged by fifty percent in half a day! I've made back all my previous losses in one go! Fellow Daoist, remember, absolutely do not sell your Spirit Mist Grass now. You wouldn't believe it, the news of the massive reduction in Spirit Mist Grass production has spread like wildfire outside. Countless cultivators are joining the ranks of buyers. The few of us all agree that it's nowhere near time to sell. At the very least, it needs to rise another fifty percent! Hahaha, my Nascent Soul cultivation technique is within reach!"

He Zhenghao was exceptionally agitated. Li Fan replied perfunctorily, offering a few praises. However, his attention was focused on his clone.

"Fellow Daoist Jiao, I see the price has risen quite a bit already. Can we cash out now?" Li Fan asked tentatively, looking at the steadily climbing numbers in the Heavenly Profound Minor Mirror before him.

Jiao Xiuyuan's face showed little excitement. He closed his eyes, sensed for a moment, and shook his head. "No, it's far from time yet. A greater variable has yet to appear. Just wait patiently."

"A greater variable?" Li Fan paced back and forth in the Thousand Li Hall, constantly pondering. "By common sense, the price of this Spirit Mist Grass has already reached an extremely high level. I wonder what this so-called variable could be?"

However, Li Fan knew that with the existence of the Five Elements Grand Cavern Heaven, no matter how high the price of Spirit Mist Grass rose, the ultimate outcome would be a crash into the dust. Even if he didn't manage to sell in time, he would at most lose only ten thousand contribution points. He could easily earn them back, so he was completely unconcerned and quietly observed the unfolding situation.

Many others, like Li Fan, also decided to wait and see. For instance, True Monarch Qingmu Huasheng. He held nearly ten thousand stalks of Spirit Mist Grass cultivated within his own cavern heaven. A few days prior, he had coincidentally heard that the Alliance headquarters had seemingly discovered an extremely large wood-attribute cavern heaven. It contained countless spiritual plants and herbs. He feared that the price of Spirit Mist Grass would soon plummet.

Consequently, he began to systematically sell off his Spirit Mist Grass. Although he had sold it as slowly as possible, keeping the price fluctuations of Spirit Mist Grass within its usual range, the price of Spirit Mist Grass still uncontrollably dropped, from a high range of 21 points to a historic low of 18 points. True Monarch Qingmu Huasheng immediately understood that he was certainly not the only one aware of this news. However, for their own benefit, everyone implicitly agreed to sell slowly to prevent the price from crashing suddenly.

Just as Qingmu had sold off the majority of his ten thousand stalks of Spirit Mist Grass, he suddenly noticed that the price of Spirit Mist Grass had not only stopped its decline but had also begun a massive rebound. Before he could react, the price had already climbed back to its previous level. Any anomaly indicates a hidden cause. Qingmu immediately leveraged his connections and discovered the likely cause of the situation. Spirit Mist Island had been destroyed, and all the Spirit Mist Grass cultivated on it was ruined.

The keenly perceptive Qingmu immediately realized this was a rare opportunity. He decisively switched from selling to buying, repurchasing all the Spirit Mist Grass he had previously sold. Although he incurred significant losses from the round trip, the price of Spirit Mist Grass quickly began a new round of sharp increases. This single move turned his losses into profits. The ferocity of this price surge both surprised and alarmed Qingmu.

Qingmu, who specialized in cultivating various spiritual plants, understood Spirit Mist Grass better than most cultivators in the Myriad Immortals Alliance. A price of 35 points clearly exceeded its intrinsic value. Not to mention the existence of that wood-attribute cavern heaven, the price of Spirit Mist Grass was certainly destined to fall back down eventually.

However, Qingmu, who held over ten thousand stalks of Spirit Mist Grass and had resolved to sell them, hesitated as he watched the seemingly endless rise in the price of Spirit Mist Grass. "Perhaps... I should wait and see?" he thought. "This surge is clearly abnormal. There are traces of many people pushing it from behind. Perhaps it will rise a bit more?"

Once the thought arose, he couldn't let it go. After all, for Qingmu, every point the Spirit Mist Grass price rose meant an additional ten thousand contribution points for him. Even for a True Monarch of the Nascent Soul stage, over ten thousand contribution points were not easily acquired. Normally, to care for these Spirit Mist Grass, he had truly exerted himself and spent considerable effort. All that exhausting work would only earn him tens of thousands of points as a labor fee. But now, in the blink of an eye, all this could be easily gained.

The young True Monarch Qingmu, at this moment, still did not understand the principle that "unrealized gains are not true gains." Faced with the rapidly growing wealth on paper, True Monarch Qingmu lost himself. He decided to wait until the price of Spirit Mist Grass rose a bit more before selling his holdings. "With the news of that wood-attribute cavern heaven's discovery becoming public, the price of spiritual plants will definitely get lower and lower in the future," he reasoned. "It will also become increasingly difficult for me to earn contribution points. Opportunities are rare; if I don't seize this chance for one last big haul, I'll definitely regret it later."

True Monarch Qingmu, watching the price continue to rise, gradually became red-eyed. He easily convinced himself.