In his twelfth life, although Li Fan's total net worth had once exceeded a million contribution points, that had been earned through years of diligent, painstaking technique transmission at Mingyue Palace.
Even if one couldn't quite say it was earned with blood and sweat, it was certainly hard-earned.
It was nothing like now, where he had paid almost nothing. Merely seizing an opportunity to fuel the speculation, he had pocketed six hundred and fifty thousand contribution points in the blink of an eye.
This windfall had come so easily that it gave Li Fan an utterly surreal illusion.
Collecting himself slightly, Li Fan looked at He Zhenghao and Jiao Xiuyuan, who remained mired in feverish greed, and both his true self and his clone could not resist speaking out to urge them to stop.
"Stop while you're ahead, Daoist He!"
"Stop while you're ahead, Daoist Jiao!"
"We've already made enough. There's still time to walk away!"
Though the two were in different locations, their reactions were strikingly identical.
"Stop now? How could that be?! This surge in Spirit Mist Grass has only just begun!"
"The destruction of those plantations means the real heavyweights are entering the game! Three hundred contribution points isn't the finish line at all—it's the starting line! Daoist friend, do not be your own undoing!" He Zhenghao analyzed meticulously, utterly dismissive of Li Fan's advice.
"Not enough, not enough, still not enough! The business opportunity hasn't run dry yet—wait a little longer!" Though Jiao Xiuyuan was slightly more rational, greed still gripped his heart, urging him to rake in even more.
Seeing the state the two were in, Li Fan knew deep down that they were incapable of heeding anyone's counsel right now.
"Good counsel cannot dissuade a ghost bound for the grave.
"I wonder how many deranged cultivators will end up bankrupt and shatter their Dao hearts after this," Li Fan sighed inwardly.
The bursting of the Spirit Mist Grass price bubble came even faster than Li Fan had imagined.
It also caught the vast majority of manic cultivators completely off guard.
Just as the price of Spirit Mist Grass was surging triumphantly ahead, smashing past the 350-point mark and seemingly poised to break 400—
In the minds of every cultivator scrambling in front of the Heavenly Profound Mirror to buy Spirit Mist Grass,
the slightly mechanical, frigid voice of the Heavenly Profound Mirror suddenly resonated in unison.
"Due to substantial, abnormal price fluctuations in Spirit Mist Grass over recent days, and in order to ensure the stable and harmonious development of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, the following announcement is hereby made:
"Three months ago, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals discovered a sealed grotto-heaven. This grotto-heaven is vast in scale, possessing exceptionally dense wood-attribute spiritual energy and an immense abundance of diverse spiritual plants and herbs.
"According to rough estimates, the annual yield of Spirit Mist Grass alone in this grotto-heaven is approximately ten million stalks.
"It can completely satisfy all production and consumption needs across the Alliance."
...
The cultivators no longer cared about whatever the Heavenly Profound Mirror said after that.
The moment they heard the annual yield of Spirit Mist Grass reached ten million stalks, the expressions on their faces froze.
Immediately afterward, endless terror descended in an instant, overtaking their souls.
Although rumors had circulated earlier claiming how staggering the output of that wood-attribute grotto-heaven was, amidst the mad surge of Spirit Mist Grass, no one had been willing to believe it.
They preferred to believe it was a ruse concocted by people with ulterior motives to disrupt the market, rather than accept its veracity.
Now, however, everything was different.
Because the one announcing this news was the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
As the bedrock of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the platform upon which all resources were exchanged, no one doubted the words of the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Thus, the moment the Heavenly Profound Mirror's announcement went out, every cultivator felt as if struck by five bolts of thunder.
Only a single thought remained in their heads:
Run.
Run as fast as possible.
Minimize losses as much as possible.
Yet...
every cultivator knew that the price of Spirit Mist Grass had completely crashed.
Everyone wanted to sell off the Spirit Mist Grass in their hands.
And not a soul was willing to buy anymore.
The final straw that broke the camel's back was that the Heavenly Profound Mirror gave an exact, uniform buyback price:
Four contribution points per stalk.
Cultivators sought to activate their privileges to sell to the Heavenly Profound Mirror at market price, only to discover that the Heavenly Profound Mirror refused the buyback.
And so, Li Fan witnessed a scene he would find difficult to forget.
The price of Spirit Mist Grass plunged like a waterfall.
The numbers shifted frantically, dropping from three digits to two, and from two digits to one.
In just a dozen breaths, the price of Spirit Mist Grass plummeted from nearly four hundred points down to four points.
Ninety-nine percent wiped out in an instant.
In Thousand Li Hall, Jiao Xiuyuan's face went blank, the manic grimace frozen on his features.
"I, Jiao Xiuyuan, have never made a losing busi—"
After squeezing out those few words with great difficulty, cracks spread across his body, and the aura of life rapidly drained from him.
In a flash, Jiao Xiuyuan transformed from a living, breathing man into a withered, dilapidated piece of scrap wood.
It crashed to the floor with a thud, splintering into several pieces.
"Daoist Jiao!" Li Fan could not help "gasping" in shock, stepping forward to check on him.
"I'm... fi... ne."
Gritted teeth sounded from beneath Thousand Li Hall's counter.
Another fully intact Jiao Xiuyuan crawled out from a heap of clutter beneath the counter. A smile uglier than crying formed on his dark face.
"The opportunity clearly hadn't run dry, yet a single proclamation from the Heavenly Profound Mirror cut it dead...
"This time, I took a catastrophic beating."
Li Fan also feigned a dazed, crestfallen look. "I urged you to pull out earlier, Daoist friend, but you wouldn't listen.
"Now my thirty-percent share has gone up in smoke as well.
"If we had cashed out at three hundred points—no, even at two hundred points—it would have been an unimaginable fortune..."
Crack!
Countless cracks surfaced across this newly emerged Jiao Xiuyuan's face.
In an instant, it exploded into countless fragments.
"Don't... say another word.
"Let me catch my breath..."
Yet another Jiao Xiuyuan slowly crawled out from the clutter, looking agonized, as if his heart were dripping blood.
Seeing this, Li Fan seemed to come back to his senses. His gaze shifted back and forth between the wooden splinters littering the floor and Jiao Xiuyuan, his face portraying utter horror. "Daoist Jiao, are you even human?"
Changing the subject seemed to suit Jiao Xiuyuan just fine.
He coughed and waved a hand. "There is no need for alarm, Daoist friend. Of course I am human. I merely cultivate the Dao of Myriad Puppets."
"The Dao of Myriad Puppets?" Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Could it be... could it be that all the Thousand Li Halls throughout the cultivation world are staffed entirely by your puppets?" Li Fan asked, feigning ignorance.
"Heh, exactly. Business is hard, so naturally one must handle everything oneself. Every extra person you hire is another layer of cost. Sometimes, spreading oneself too thin isn't necessarily a good thing!" Jiao Xiuyuan rolled over and lay down, speaking weakly.
"Just like this time. Just blowing up so many puppets alone will cost..."
Before he could finish his sentence, this puppet blew apart with a bang as well.
"Daoist friend, don't talk anymore. Let me have some peace and quiet first."
Jiao Xiuyuan's feeble voice came from beneath the pile of clutter.
A communication talisman flew in front of Li Fan.
"We'll talk later..."
Li Fan's clone tossed the communication talisman in his hand and quietly walked out of Thousand Li Hall.
Jiao Xiuyuan was far from the only one who had suffered a crushing blow.
Chapter 192