The Crazy Bubble

With Zhao Xuhe's guarantee, Lu Yang successfully borrowed 2,000 Contribution Points from the Three Rivers Society behind him, then used every last point to buy Death Substitute Puppets.

Meanwhile, Zhao Xuhe paced excitedly around his cave dwelling.

"The news was actually true!"

After receiving the message from his master, he was beside himself with excitement. "The Sacred Sect's Ten Thousand Man Pit in Jiangnan was really taken by the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion."

"The one who acted was the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion's Third Elder, that peerless Sword Cultivator known as True Person Demon-Sweeping."

"It's impossible to take it back anytime soon."

"With the Ten Thousand Man Pit lost, the price of Death Substitute Puppets is destined to rise in the short term. This is the perfect chance for us to speculate and hoard goods!"

"I'm going to be rich!"

Having risen to become a deacon disciple of the Merit Building in the Sacred Sect, Zhao Xuhe naturally lacked neither background nor connections, and certainly lacked neither discernment nor greed. The moment he confirmed Lu Yang's news was true, he immediately began scraping together money, then used all the cash in hand to heavily buy Death Substitute Puppets.

And events unfolded exactly as he had expected.

As news of the Jiangnan Ten Thousand Man Pit spread, more and more people who had "spotted a business opportunity" began sweeping up stock on the market, buying Death Substitute Puppets at high prices.

Like every speculative bubble, those who entered first made a great deal of money.

Yet as the matter continued to ferment, everyone discovered that the price of Death Substitute Puppets showed no sign whatsoever of falling. They bought high and sold even higher.

Making money suddenly became easy.

All they had to do was buy them, then sell them, and they could easily earn the Contribution Points that had once required completing several, even dozens of sect missions.

And so, more people went mad.

More and more people began taking out their savings to enter the market, hoping to make money this way. And they really did make money, further fueling the market.

Even the more cautious ones felt their hearts grow unbalanced when they saw fellow disciples they normally looked down on simply buy the items, wait a few days, then sell them for more money than they themselves earned. Naturally, they too joined this tidal wave.

Under such a tide, the price of Death Substitute Puppets rose step by step.

From the initial 200 Contribution Points, it climbed all the way to 300. That fifty-percent increase drove countless speculators even more frenzied.

After all, its price had not stopped—it was still rising.

It was rising today, so it would definitely rise tomorrow. If it rose tomorrow, what reason was there for it not to keep rising the day after? Not buying now meant taking a loss!

Thus, more and more people sprang into action at the mere scent of the news.

300, 400, 500. Finally, when the price soared to 500 Contribution Points, people recovered a little of their reason and felt that it was about enough.

"It's time to sell!"

Zhao Xuhe was the first to seize this subtle moment. He began secretly selling off the Death Substitute Puppets he had hoarded in batches, preparing to cash out and leave the market.

At the same time, prices across the Death Substitute Puppet market began to fall.

After all, Zhao Xuhe was not the only clever person in the world. Others also sharply spotted the downward trend and began gradually selling off the goods in their hands.

If things continued this way, the price would completely collapse within days, then return to normal.

Yet just as this wave was about to subside, a piece of news suddenly spread from the upper ranks of the First Saint Sect throughout the entire sect overnight.

"The Sacred Sect is preparing to counterattack!"

"The loss of the Jiangnan Ten Thousand Man Pit has enraged one of the sect's True Persons. He has decided to act personally, mobilizing sect disciples to launch a counteroffensive and fight the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion!"

"A great battle is imminent!"

In times of war, all supplies useful for war rose in price.

And how important would Death Substitute Puppets—items that could save a life at a critical moment—be in the bloody, brutal Righteous-Demonic War that was about to arrive?

They were no different from a second life!

Without a doubt, on the very night that news spread, the price of Death Substitute Puppets, which had already begun falling, experienced its second explosive surge!

Not only did it instantly return to its peak of 500 Contribution Points, it continued climbing!

By the next morning, 500 Contribution Points had become 1,000 Contribution Points. Compared with the original price of 200 Contribution Points, it had risen a full fivefold!

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

In the Library Pavilion, Wang Borong stood atop his treasured rocking chair, dancing with excitement. His aged face was flushed red with exhilaration and fanaticism.

"Rise! Keep rising for me!"

"No, I need to buy more. Selling this little now won't make me much money. I'll hoard some more, and I'll have enough Contribution Points for a cave dwelling!"

At that moment, the entire Sacred Sect welcomed a carnival for ordinary disciples.

These ordinary disciples had neither much discernment nor many connections or information channels, so while others were secretly selling, they were still buying.

And now, they had struck it rich.

No one knew how many ordinary disciples doubled their fortunes overnight, earning more than the total assets of some veteran disciples with backgrounds and patrons.

For a time, countless stories as fantastical as tales from the heavens spread throughout the Sacred Sect.

For example, there was some destitute poor boy whose fiancée publicly broke off their engagement. After his fortune doubled, he angrily cast her aside, leaving behind the words: "Do not bully the poor youth."

Then there was a little girl whose father had died and whose mother had remarried, forcing her to live under another's roof. Before buying Death Substitute Puppets, she had been beaten and cursed at by her stepmother every day, unable even to hold onto her father's inheritance. Now that her fortune had doubled, she immediately paid in full for an upscale cave dwelling.

Do you have dreams? Do you want to fulfill them?

Come buy Death Substitute Puppets!

This madness, with everyone throwing themselves into it, reached its peak one day when a Qi Refining Completion disciple suddenly broke through and successfully achieved Foundation Establishment.

Because that disciple, having successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, openly admitted that he had broken through entirely because he earned enough Contribution Points by buying and selling Death Substitute Puppets, then paid in full for a Foundation Establishment Pill. Thus, he wanted to thank the Death Substitute Puppets. Without them, he could never have defied Heaven and changed his fate.

Everyone had completely gone mad.

1,000, 2,000, 3,000. The price of Death Substitute Puppets surged ahead like a lone rider leaving all others in the dust. And as they watched the soaring prices, some rejoiced while others naturally grieved.

Among those rejoicing was Lu Yang.

Without a word, when the price soared to 2,000, he decisively chose to sell.

He had bought ten at the original price of 200 Contribution Points each and sold them for 2,000 each. Going out and coming back meant a tenfold profit—20,000 Contribution Points in hand!

Among those grieving was Zhao Xuhe.

When he saw prices rise again, his regret turned his intestines green, especially after he saw Wang Borong, whom he had once looked down upon and had even planned to swindle.

As far as he knew, Wang Borong—that mediocre old fellow who had muddled along for decades and was already half buried in the grave—had hoarded more than twenty Death Substitute Puppets, all bought at high prices during this period. When Zhao Xuhe had secretly sold off his own stock earlier, he had even privately mocked him as a leek waiting to be harvested.

But now, that bastard was about to earn nearly 100,000 Contribution Points!

If he himself had merely failed to make money, that would have been one thing.

But when Zhao Xuhe saw Wang Borong earn so many Contribution Points and grin from ear to ear every day, the feeling was truly worse than taking a loss himself!

And when he saw the price of Death Substitute Puppets rise all the way without showing the slightest sign of stopping, Zhao Xuhe thought it over and over, hesitating for an entire night.

In the end, he entered the market a second time.

He threw the Contribution Points he had earned from leaving the market earlier back into the Death Substitute Puppet market.

At first, he remained cautious and did not invest all his Contribution Points. But as he watched the price keep rising, every bit it rose made him feel as if he had lost that much.

"An opportunity must not be missed; once missed, it will never come again. I've already missed it once—how can I miss it a second time?"

"It'll keep rising. Buying now is better than buying later."

Many others thought the same way as Zhao Xuri.

And when this group of people who had cashed out and left the market earliest returned once more, they stimulated the rise of Death Substitute Puppets again and further strengthened everyone's confidence.