Jiao Xiuyuan said with a touch of excitement, "You mean when the time comes, no matter how ridiculous a price someone charges for Puxian True Leaf, they'll have to hold their noses and buy it just to fulfill the return agreement?"
"And if we corner most of the market share of Puxian True Leaf in advance and force their hand..."
"Wouldn't we easily make several times our investment?!"
"Brilliant!" Having grasped the crux of it, Jiao Xiuyuan slapped his thigh and couldn't help exclaiming.
"Daoist Jiao is indeed a natural genius at business!" Li Fan nodded, praising him.
Paying no heed to Li Fan's flattery, Jiao Xiuyuan's expression shifted as he furrowed his brows and pondered carefully for a moment.
The excited look on his face slowly faded, and he shook his head. "Your idea is indeed marvelous, Daoist friend, but it seems a bit too idealistic."
"What if the covenant they signed when borrowing the Puxian True Leaf contains a clause allowing them to return equivalent contribution points instead?"
"What if they would rather endure the backlash of breaching the covenant than buy back the Puxian True Leaf?"
"There are too many uncontrollable factors, and the risk is too high."
Li Fan replied nonchalantly, "Is there any business in this world without risk? Compared to the profit we stand to gain, I believe it's well worth a try."
Jiao Xiuyuan's expression shifted slightly. Just as he was about to respond, Li Fan continued, "Besides, I believe that even if they give up wrestling with us and withdraw voluntarily, the massive hoard of Puxian True Leaf we buy will still yield far more gain than loss."
"Why do you say that?" Jiao Xiuyuan raised an eyebrow, asking with skepticism.
A faint smile appeared at the corners of Li Fan's mouth. He extended his right index finger.
An instant later, a translucent regular icosahedral die materialized out of thin air above it.
As it spun rapidly, it reflected numerous fractured images.
Stunned for a moment, Jiao Xiuyuan recognized the treasure in Li Fan's hand and cried out, "The Heaven and Earth Qiankun Die?!"
Just as he leaned in to scrutinize the images on the die, Li Fan promptly put it away.
"Having divined this matter, I can say it's practically certain," Li Fan said solemnly.
Seeing Li Fan's absolute confidence, Jiao Xiuyuan couldn't help but waver.
"Let me look into this further." With that, the puppet before Li Fan went entirely silent, as if it had lost its controlling consciousness.
Li Fan was in no hurry either. He stood quietly to one side and waited patiently.
This wait lasted a full day and night.
Once vitality returned to Jiao Xiuyuan's body, he suddenly opened his eyes, joy written across his face. "There's a real shot!"
"Oh? What did you find out, Daoist friend?" Li Fan asked with great interest.
Jiao Xiuyuan leaned closer and lowered his voice. "According to reliable sources, the ones manipulating the price of Puxian True Leaf from behind the scenes are several Soul Formation cultivators led by Tantai Can of Tianshu."
"Their backgrounds are all connected to the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals headquarters to varying degrees."
"And the Sagacious Truth-Discerning Talismans used throughout the territories are basically monopolized by them."
*Tantai Can...* This surname was so distinctive that Li Fan couldn't help recalling Tantai Tao, the array genius who had suffered an untimely death in his previous life.
*Could they be from the same clan?* Li Fan thought to himself. Keeping his composure, he continued to listen.
Jiao Xiuyuan went on without pause: "The truth differs somewhat from what we guessed. Because they control the production line of the Sagacious Truth-Discerning Talismans, these people have accumulated a massive backlog of Puxian True Leaf."
"The number of Sagacious Truth-Discerning Talismans collected each year by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals is limited, making profits come in too slowly. So, this group hatched a crooked scheme."
"Some of them put up part of their stockpiled Puxian True Leaf as collateral to borrow an immense amount of contribution points from Azure Wind Hall."
"Meanwhile, the rest turned around and borrowed Puxian True Leaf on credit from Azure Wind Hall."
"Back and forth it went: the Puxian True Leaf ended up right back in their own hands, while they successfully arbitraged an equivalent value in contribution points."
Hearing this, Li Fan frowned slightly and cut Jiao Xiuyuan off. "If I remember correctly, Azure Wind Hall's interest rates aren't low, right? How much profit could they possibly make doing that? Furthermore, once they had the contribution points, why would they go through the trouble of borrowing the Puxian True Leaf back out?"
Jiao Xiuyuan smiled and said, "That is precisely why an opportunity presents itself."
"Because in official terms, this Puxian True Leaf is actually property belonging to the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals."
"The Sagacious Truth-Discerning Talisman touches upon secrets of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, so control measures are naturally imposed."
"Tantai Can and his clique merely obtained their positions overseeing talisman production due to their respective backgrounds."
"Every so often, headquarters sends people down for routine inspections."
"Even though they have insider connections and can get advance warning, appearances must still be maintained. At the very least, the books cannot show a glaring deficit."
Jiao Xiuyuan scoffed, a flicker of disdain flashing in his eyes. "Even though the graft from this post is already staggering, they still weren't satisfied."
"They embezzled and pledged it without authorization to secure massive sums of contribution points, applying leverage to stir up trouble across the market."
"Backed by influential patrons, this bunch is exceptionally well-informed. Consequently, they've been invincible and made handsome returns everywhere. Whatever petty interest Azure Wind Hall charges is entirely beneath their concern."
"Setting other things aside, nearly the Alliance's entire inventory of Puxian True Leaf sits in their hands. Manipulating its price is as easy as turning over a hand. Reaping clueless cultivators is child's play."
Li Fan nodded slowly, understanding the methods of Tantai Can's clique.
In short, it amounted to misappropriating the Alliance's strategic materials to obtain contribution points.
Then, using insider information, they bought low and sold high to pocket the spread for their personal gain.
"Such a crime is hardly trivial. For Daoist Jiao to investigate this so thoroughly, your capabilities truly border on reaching the heavens!" Recovering his thoughts, Li Fan clicked his tongue in admiration.
Jiao Xiuyuan waved his hand. "It's also because these bastards are simply too arrogant! Far from keeping it strictly confidential, they actually bragged about it during casual conversation. That's how I managed to find out."
"Otherwise, how could I ever have learned of such a closely guarded matter?"
Li Fan chuckled. Not lingering on the subject, he turned to discussing with Jiao Xiuyuan the feasibility of ambushing Tantai Can's syndicate.
"This eliminates my previous concerns," Jiao Xiuyuan said. "No matter what, they are bound to buy back the Puxian True Leaf. Even if it bankrupts them, they have no other choice."
"Otherwise, once the truth comes to light, not even the patrons backing them will be able to shield them."
"At that point, bankruptcy will be the least of their worries. Suffering bodily death and the eradication of their Dao would be a mercy."
A cold glint shone in Jiao Xiuyuan's eyes as he spoke with resolute firmness.
"Excellent!" Li Fan clapped, approval written across his face.
"My only concern is that with just the two of us, our strength is limited; we might not be a match for them."
"If we fail to crush them in a single blow and give them time to react, our scheme might just come to nothing,"
Jiao Xiuyuan suddenly added.
Chapter 456