Chapter 16
Chapter 16
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Frenzied Bubble
-----------------------------------------------------------------
With Zhao Xuhe's guarantee, Lu Yang successfully borrowed 2,000 Contribution Points from the Three Rivers Association behind him, then went all-in on the Death-Substituting Yin Puppets.
Meanwhile, Zhao Xuhe was pacing excitedly in his own abode.
"The news was actually true!"
After receiving the message from his master, he was overcome with excitement. "The Saint Sect's Ten Thousand Men Pit in the south was really taken by the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion."
"The one who acted was the Third Elder of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion, that peerless sword cultivator known as 'Perfected Being Demon-Quelling.'"
"It will be impossible to reclaim it in the short term."
"With the Ten Thousand Men Pit lost, a short-term price hike for Death-Substituting Yin Puppets is inevitable. This is the perfect opportunity for us to speculate and hoard for profit!"
"I'm going to be rich!"
To have secured the position of a deacon disciple in the Meritorious Deeds Tower within the Saint Sect, Zhao Xuhe was certainly not lacking in background, connections, foresight, or greed. Thus, the moment he confirmed Lu Yang's information was true, he immediately started gathering funds and invested heavily with all his available cash into Death-Substituting Yin Puppets.
And events unfolded just as he had anticipated.
As news of the incident at the Ten Thousand Men Pit spread, more and more people who "sensed a business opportunity" began to sweep the market, buying up Death-Substituting Yin Puppets at high prices.
Just like in any speculative bubble, those who got in first made a considerable profit.
However, as the situation developed, everyone discovered that the price of the puppets showed no signs of dropping. The buying price was high, and the selling price was even higher.
Suddenly, making money became easy.
All one had to do was buy and then sell to easily earn an amount of Contribution Points that would have previously required completing several, or even dozens, of sect missions.
And so, the frenzy grew.
More and more people began to pour their savings into the market, hoping to profit. And they did profit, which stimulated the market even further.
Even the more cautious individuals, upon discovering that fellow disciples they usually looked down on were earning more than them simply by buying something, waiting a few days, and selling it, naturally felt a sense of imbalance. And so, they too inevitably joined the wave.
Amidst such a tide, the price of Death-Substituting Yin Puppets skyrocketed.
From the initial 200 Contribution Points, it climbed all the way to 300. A fifty percent increase drove countless speculators into a greater frenzy.
After all, its price hadn't stalled; it was still rising.
It's rising today, so it will definitely rise tomorrow. If it rises tomorrow, what reason is there for it not to keep rising the day after? Not buying now is practically losing money!
Thus, more and more people flocked to the market upon hearing the news.
300, 400, 500... Finally, when the price shot up to 500 Contribution Points, people's reason began to return, and they felt that was about enough.
"Time to sell!"
Zhao Xuhe was the first to seize this subtle turning point. He began to secretly offload his previously hoarded Death-Substituting Yin Puppets in batches, preparing to cash out and exit the market.
At the same time, the price of Death-Substituting Yin Puppets across the entire market began to fall.
After all, Zhao Xuhe wasn't the only clever person in the world. Others had also keenly spotted the downward trend and started to gradually sell off their stock.
If things continued this way, the price would completely crash within a few days and then return to normal.
However, just as this wave was about to subside, a piece of news suddenly spread from the upper echelons of the Primal Saint Sect, reaching every corner of the sect overnight.
"The Saint Sect is preparing to counterattack!"
"The loss of the Ten Thousand Men Pit has enraged a Perfected Being within the sect, who has decided to personally take action, dispatching disciples for a counteroffensive to fight the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion!"
"A great war is coming!"
In times of war, the prices of all materials beneficial to the war effort are bound to increase.
And the Death-Substituting Yin Puppet, an item that could save a life at a critical moment—how important would it be in the bloody, brutal, and impending war between the righteous and demonic sects?
It was no different from a second life!
Without a doubt, on the very night this news spread, the price of the Death-Substituting Yin Puppet, which had already begun to fall, experienced a second surge!
Not only did it instantly return to its peak of 500 Contribution Points, but it continued to climb!
By the next morning, 500 Contribution Points had become 1,000. Compared to the original price of 200, it had multiplied a full five times!
"Hahahahaha!"
In the Scripture Repository Pavilion, Wang Bairong stood atop his precious rocking chair, gesticulating wildly with excitement, his old face flushed with a fervent, crimson glow.
"Rise! Keep rising for me!"
"No, I have to buy more. Selling what I have now won't make much. If I hoard a bit more, I'll have enough for an entire abode!"
At this moment, a carnival for the common disciples erupted throughout the Saint Sect.
These ordinary disciples had little foresight, no connections, and no channels for information, so while others were secretly selling, they were still buying.
And now, they had struck it rich.
An unknown number of ordinary disciples saw their wealth double overnight, earning more money than the total assets of some senior disciples with powerful backgrounds and backing.
For a time, countless unbelievable tales spread throughout the Saint Sect.
For instance, a destitute young man, publicly shamed when his fiancée broke off their engagement, furiously annulled the engagement himself after his wealth doubled, leaving behind the words, "Don't look down on a poor young man..."
Or a little girl forced to live under someone else's roof after her father's death and her mother's remarriage. Before buying the puppets, she lived a life where she was beaten and scolded by her stepmother daily and couldn't even protect her father's inheritance. Now, with her wealth doubled, she immediately bought a high-grade abode in full...
Do you have a dream? Do you want to realize that dream?
Then come buy Death-Substituting Yin Puppets!
This all-consuming madness reached its absolute peak one day when a disciple at the peak of the Qi Refining Realm suddenly broke through and successfully achieved Foundation Establishment.
Because that disciple publicly confessed that the only reason he could break through was that he had earned enough Contribution Points by trading Death-Substituting Yin Puppets to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill in full. He had the puppets to thank; without them, he could never have defied the heavens and changed his fate...
Completely insane.
1,000, 2,000, 3,000... The price of the Death-Substituting Yin Puppet shot up, leaving everything else in the dust. And watching the soaring prices, some were happy, while others were naturally heartbroken.
Among the happy, for example, was Lu Yang.
He, for his part, decisively chose to sell when the price shot up to 2,000.
After all, he had bought 10 puppets at the original price of 200 Contribution Points each and sold them for 2,000. That was a tenfold profit, a cool twenty thousand Contribution Points in his pocket!
Among the heartbroken, for example, was Zhao Xuhe.
When he saw the price recover, he was kicking himself. This was especially true after seeing Wang Bairong, a man he had previously looked down on and even planned to swindle.
As far as he knew, Wang Bairong—that mediocre fellow who had wasted away for decades and already had one foot in the grave—had hoarded more than 20 Death-Substituting Yin Puppets, all bought at high prices during this period. When Zhao Xuhe had been secretly selling off his own stock, he had inwardly sneered at Wang Bairong, seeing him as a sucker waiting to be fleeced.
But now, the bastard was about to make 100,000 Contribution Points!
If it were only that he himself hadn't earned it, that would have been one thing.
But when Zhao Xuhe saw Wang Bairong earn so many Contribution Points, grinning from ear to ear every day, it felt even worse than losing the money himself!
And after seeing the price of the puppets continue to rise without any sign of stopping, Zhao Xuhe agonized over it, hesitating for an entire night.
Finally, he re-entered the market.
He threw the Contribution Points he had earned from exiting earlier back into the Death-Substituting Yin Puppet market.
At first, he remained cautious and didn't invest all his points. But as he watched the price keep rising, every little increase felt like a personal loss.
"Opportunity knocks but once. I've already missed out once, how can I miss out a second time?"
"It's going to keep rising. It's better to buy now than later..."
There were many others who thought the same as Zhao Xuhe.
And when this group of people—the very ones who had cashed out earliest—re-entered the market, it stimulated another rise in the puppet's price and further solidified everyone's confidence.