The Miraculous Use of Puxian True Leaf

What followed was entirely predictable. In the stampede of cultivators scrambling for their lives, the price of Puxian True Leaf plummeted off a cliff. No sooner had it crossed the thousand-point threshold than it took a cascading nosedive like a waterfall. This spectacular sight drew repeated gasps of amazement even from Jiao Xiuyuan. "Your divination art is truly uncanny, Daoist friend!" "Had you not warned me, I might very well have met the same fate as the rest of them." "I can already envision the scene of countless cultivators' Dao hearts shattering to pieces!" Jiao Xiuyuan gloated. Tianshu Province. Tantai Can and his cohort, who had just concluded the trade and were still secretly congratulating themselves on their good fortune, saw their expressions turn utterly magnificent the moment they heard the announcement from the Heavenly Profound Mirror. Then, with their own eyes, they watched the Puxian True Leaf they had just bought back at the exorbitant price of 1,300 collapse in an instant avalanche. Quite a few among them simply could not bear such a blow, coughing up mouthfuls of blood and fainting on the spot. "Fellow Daoist Tantai!" Those cultivators who remained conscious glared at Tantai Can in grief and indignation, hoping that this leader of the Tantai family could find some way out. At this moment, Tantai Can's face had also turned ashen. From the very beginning, this entire affair felt as though an invisible giant hand had been pulling the strings from the shadows, every twist and turn catching him completely unprepared. Subconsciously, he even began to suspect that the entire debacle had been a conspiracy targeted specifically at the Tantai family from start to finish. That Jiao Xiuyuan and whatever Heavenly Mechanism Sect cultivator named Li Fan might just be the mastermind's smoke and mirrors. As one potential culprit after another flashed through his mind, Tantai Can actively racked his brain for a remedy. With this round trip, the losses were simply too staggering. Even though his position within the clan had grown increasingly secure over the years, he would hardly escape punishment. Perhaps his brothers would even seize on this pretext to launch vicious attacks against him. 'No, I must recoup at least some of the losses.' Tantai Can gritted his teeth as an idea sprang to mind. "Spread the word about our recent discovery!" he commanded in a deep voice. "What?" "You can't! Brother Tantai, calm down!" "We haven't even reported this matter to the Alliance yet..." Hearing this, the others were all startled out of their wits and hurriedly tried to dissuade him. Yet Tantai Can's mind was made up, and he had claimed the lion's share of the credit for uncovering this secret in the first place. They had no choice but to comply. Employing their respective channels, they dispersed the news throughout the market. Consequently, Li Fan and Jiao Xiuyuan, who were in the middle of taking inventory of their windfall on Wanxian Island, suddenly noticed that the downward momentum of Puxian True Leaf was gradually slowing. Although the price continued to drift downward at a sluggish pace, the freefall collapse was beginning to subside. "Hmm? What is going on? The price of Puxian True Leaf is holding up far better than expected," Li Fan remarked, glancing at Jiao Xiuyuan. Jiao Xiuyuan was stunned for a moment, then spoke with a peculiar expression. "Word has spread from who knows where that crafting a dharma artifact from large quantities of Puxian True Leaf can reduce the amount of lifespan devoured within the Essence-Devouring White Mist..." "On top of that, it can even point the way through the vast white mist of the Lost Domains." Jiao Xiuyuan narrowed his eyes slightly; clearly, this was news to him as well. Li Fan was taken aback. "Is it true or false?" "Judging by the market's reaction, it shouldn't be baseless," Jiao Xiuyuan said somberly. "It seems Tantai Can leaked this confidential secret just to cut his losses. Who would have thought that Puxian True Leaf had such a use? Being able to resist the Essence-Devouring White Mist is something that could alter the very landscape of the Xuanhuang Realm," Jiao Xiuyuan muttered under his breath, appearing to already be quietly buying back Puxian True Leaf. 'So that was why its price steadily rose in my previous life,' Li Fan realized with sudden clarity. Having spent several years in the Chizha Abyss, Li Fan was naturally all too familiar with the horrors of the Essence-Devouring White Mist. Had he known about the miraculous use of Puxian True Leaf back then, constructing the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation within the mist would not have been nearly so grueling. 'With this, one could even explore deeper into the Lost Domains...' 'And in my previous life, Tantai Can never leaked the slightest whisper about this, right up until I transformed my body into matter and the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation was fully completed...' This revelation was far too staggering. For a time, both Li Fan and Jiao Xiuyuan sank into deep thought, and silence fell over Thousand Li Hall. "The Tantai family is quite something—uncovering intelligence of this magnitude and actually failing to report it promptly," Jiao Xiuyuan said after a while, breaking the quiet. "Just what sort of background does this Tantai family have?" Li Fan followed up, asking. "The clan head, Tantai Liruo, is a Dao Integration Immortal Venerable, and one of the three executive magnates of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' Administration Hall headquarters." "Because he keeps a low profile, the Tantai family has never been widely known to outsiders." "Only upon reaching a certain level does one learn just how formidable the Tantai family is," Jiao Xiuyuan explained to Li Fan. "Even so, the Administration Hall isn't the Tantai family's private domain. With such a massive blunder on their hands, he will surely have to account for it." Jiao Xiuyuan's tone suddenly turned a little odd. "From what I've seen, Tantai Can isn't a fool. Why did he make one disastrous move after another this time?" "Logically speaking, the sheer significance of this discovery could have helped the Tantai family cement an even firmer foothold." "Who would have thought he'd toss it away just for some petty profit?" Li Fan pondered for a moment before offering his analysis. "Perhaps he truly isn't that foolish." "After all, the Tantai family is the Tantai family, and Tantai Can is Tantai Can." Though the words sounded somewhat cryptic, Jiao Xiuyuan grew thoughtful upon hearing them. After that, the two chatted for a while longer, agreeing to collaborate again when the opportunity arose. Taking a secret passage within Thousand Li Hall, Li Fan slipped past the dense crowd of cultivators outside clamoring for an explanation and quietly returned to the Heavenly Profound Mirror. Calming his thoughts, Li Fan began to tally his gains from this operation. He had acquired the Puxian True Leaves at around three to four hundred points and sold most of them to Tantai Can at roughly thirteen hundred points. A small portion had also been sold off along the way. All told, his investment had roughly quadrupled. Deducting the unexpected loss from his earlier purchase of Spirit Mist Grass, Li Fan's net worth had surged from just over five million contribution points to the astronomical figure of 18.6 million. Yet the Li Fan of today was no longer the wet-behind-the-ears novice who had just stepped into the cultivation world. Facing such an enormous sum of contribution points, he remained calm and unruffled, his expression not shifting in the slightest. He simply brought up the Heavenly Profound Mirror's purchase list with practiced familiarity. Beyond buying in bulk the goods required for trading with the Empire, he continuously picked out items that might prove useful for his future cultivation. Unfortunately, his current authority level was still insufficient, prompting Li Fan to lament that he sat upon a mountain of treasures yet could not spend his wealth freely. The blissful days of wanton spending did not last long. Soon enough, just as Li Fan had anticipated, a voice resounded from within the Heavenly Profound Mirror. He was ordered to report immediately to the Martial Practice Hall for investigation. Regarding whether he had engaged in malicious market manipulation and disrupted the stability of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.