In his twelfth life, only a tiny handful of people—including He Zhenghao—had been the first to learn that the island growing Spirit Mist Grass had been destroyed, and subsequently sought to speculate on it.
From beginning to end, the turbulence surrounding Spirit Mist Grass had remained confined to only a few provinces.
In this life, however, when the market maker shifted from True Sovereign Qingmu Huasheng to Jiao Xiuyuan—a man whose cultivation level was unknown, but whose business spanned the entire cultivation world—the situation changed drastically.
Countless puppets acted as a propaganda machine.
Through various channels, the news of Lingwu Island's destruction was quietly spread across the Xuanhuang Realm in less than half a day.
Even if only one percent of the cultivators who heard the news considered speculating, and only one percent of those would-be speculators actually followed through, it was still an astronomical number.
What was more, in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, where accumulating contribution points through ordinary means was notoriously difficult, very few cultivators were willing to pass up an opportunity so "obviously" poised for a massive windfall.
Thus, the actual number of cultivators participating in the speculation over Spirit Mist Grass far exceeded that figure.
Although the vast majority of cultivators were not particularly wealthy, almost anyone could afford a stalk or two.
Guided by the mindset of making whatever profit they could, an endless sea of cultivators rushed back to the Heavenly Profound Mirror at top speed, scrambling over one another to buy up Spirit Mist Grass.
Consequently, less than half a day after He Zhenghao sent Li Fan the message, the price of Spirit Mist Grass climbed steadily from twenty-two contribution points per stalk all the way to thirty-five.
That was ten points higher than its peak of twenty-five in Li Fan's twelfth life.
Furthermore, the upward momentum showed no signs of stopping.
He Zhenghao's excited voice kept buzzing in Li Fan's ears.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Li Fan, didn't I tell you? The price of Spirit Mist Grass was bound to rise again!
"It jumped fifty percent in just half a day, making back all my previous losses in one fell swoop!
"Mark my words, Fellow Daoist—whatever you do, do not sell the Spirit Mist Grass in your hands right now. You have no idea how wildly the news of this massive production cut is spreading outside. Countless cultivators are rushing to buy in!
"The few of us are in complete agreement: it's far from time to cash out. At the very least, it will rise another fifty percent!
"Hahaha, there is hope for my Nascent Soul technique after all!"
He Zhenghao was beside himself with excitement.
Li Fan replied perfunctorily with a few flippant compliments, his attention focused entirely on his clone.
"Fellow Daoist Jiao, the price has risen considerably now. Can we cash out?" Li Fan asked tentatively, looking at the numbers steadily climbing in the Lesser Heavenly Profound Mirror before him.
Jiao Xiuyuan's face bore little trace of excitement.
He closed his eyes to sense the market for a moment, then shook his head. "No, it is still far too early.
"A greater variable has yet to arrive. Just wait patiently."
"A greater variable?" Li Fan paced back and forth in Thousand Li Hall, turning the thought over in his mind.
*By all ordinary logic, the price of Spirit Mist Grass has already reached an extreme high. What could this so-called variable be?*
Still, Li Fan knew that with the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven waiting in the wings, no matter how high the price soared, it was destined to crash into the dirt in the end.
Even if he failed to cash out in time, he would only lose ten thousand contribution points at most.
He could easily earn that back, so he wasn't flustered in the slightest, content to watch events unfold.
Li Fan was not the only one who decided to wait and see.
True Sovereign Qingmu Huasheng had made the same choice.
He held nearly ten thousand stalks of Spirit Mist Grass grown in his own grotto-heaven.
Days earlier, he had caught wind of a rumor that the Alliance headquarters had recently discovered a super-massive wood-attribute grotto-heaven brimming with countless spirit herbs.
He had feared the price of Spirit Mist Grass would plummet as a result.
So he had begun methodically dumping his stock. Though he unloaded his inventory as slowly as possible to keep price fluctuations within their normal range, the price of Spirit Mist Grass had still slid uncontrollably downward, dropping from a high of twenty-one points to a historic low of eighteen.
True Sovereign Qingmu Huasheng had realized at once that he was definitely not the only one privy to the news.
Yet for their own interests, everyone had tacitly chosen to sell slowly, preventing the price from collapsing all at once.
Just when Qingmu had sold off more than half of his ten thousand stalks, he suddenly noticed that the price had not only halted its decline, but had begun a massive rebound.
Before he could even react, the price had already surged back to its previous level.
*When things behave abnormally, something uncanny is at work.*
Qingmu had immediately leveraged his connections and uncovered the likely cause: Lingwu Island was destroyed, and all the Spirit Mist Grass cultivated there had been wiped out.
With his keen nose for business, Qingmu instantly recognized this as a rare opportunity.
He decisively pivoted from dumping to panic-buying, repurchasing all the Spirit Mist Grass he had just sold.
Though he lost quite a bit in the round-trip, the herb soon entered a new round of skyrocketing growth, turning his loss into a profit in one stroke.
The sheer ferocity of this rally brought Qingmu both delight and a creeping sense of dread.
Having dedicated himself to cultivating all manner of spirit plants, Qingmu understood Spirit Mist Grass better than the vast majority of cultivators in the Alliance.
A price of thirty-five points clearly exceeded its intrinsic value.
Not to mention that with the wood-attribute grotto-heaven looming, Spirit Mist Grass would inevitably crash back down.
Yet, holding over ten thousand stalks and having resolved to dump his stock, Qingmu hesitated as he watched the seemingly endless climb.
*Should I... wait and see a little longer?*
*This surge is clearly abnormal. There are obvious traces of many hands fanning the flames behind the scenes.*
*Perhaps it could rise just a bit more?*
Once such a thought took root, he could no longer let it go.
After all, for Qingmu, every single point the price rose meant another ten thousand contribution points in his pocket.
Even for a Nascent Soul True Monarch, ten thousand contribution points were not so easily obtained.
Under normal circumstances, tending to these stalks required agonizing care and immense effort. After working himself to the bone, he would only earn a few tens of thousands of points for his labor.
Yet now, in the blink of an eye, it all came with effortless ease.
The young True Monarch Qingmu did not yet understand the truth that unrealized gains were not real profits.
Faced with the madly ballooning wealth on his ledger, True Monarch Qingmu lost his bearings.
He decided to wait until the price rose just a little higher before parting with his stock.
*Once the discovery of that wood-attribute grotto-heaven is made public, the price of spirit herbs will only drop lower and lower.*
*Earning contribution points will become harder and harder for me.*
*Opportunities like this are rare. If I don't seize this chance to make one last killing, I will definitely regret it later.*
Watching the price climb relentlessly, True Monarch Qingmu's eyes gradually grew bloodshot with greed.
He easily convinced himself.
Chapter 190