Setting the Price

Rain Seeker had arrived, but he didn't help Zhu Jiusi send out all the goods.

Instead, he sent them out in batches to the people from earlier, giving each person a list and forwarding the piles of goods directly to them.

Even that alone took an extremely long time. By the time they finished, it was already time for Rain Seeker's second Dao Discussion Card.

Zhu Jiusi had taken on a task too, staying up late to send out the goods according to the lists.

No one in the chat zone had gone to sleep. They had no idea how Rain Seeker had arranged the shipping order. There had been no publicity or hype, and yet he had stirred everyone's emotions.

Quite a few people had sent their Gourds and supplies over in advance, waiting for their deliveries.

They were nervous and eager. They feared the big shots had tricked them out of their supplies, yet they were full of anticipation for what was on its way.

All those conflicting emotions made everyone forget that District 66's overall strength had completely surpassed District 33's.

It wasn't until the various couriers reported in one by one in the chat zone.

Monkey Has Iron Rod: "All the rain gear and tents have been shipped."

White Beard's Fist: "Hahaha, all the weapons have been sent out."

He laughed with genuine delight. He was so happy! He'd struck it rich this time, richer than ever before.

He'd traded his own Gourds for a huge pile of food with a long shelf life, then collected more Gourds and sold them for basic supplies.

Hadn't he made at least five or six times his investment? And it wasn't just him; everyone else had made a killing too.

Of course, some people were happy while others were miserable.

Monkey Has Iron Rod looked at the supplies piled high in his vehicle, on the verge of tears.

When business had a steady market and fixed profits, the more capital you put in, the more you got back. The returns multiplied geometrically!

He suspected that if Journey Survival put up another leaderboard right now, he'd leave everyone else in the dust. Even the Cave Masters couldn't keep up.

He wanted to be rich, but when the time came each month to reveal everyone's wealth, he didn't want to be rich anymore...

Holding onto all that money made it hard to sleep! He wasn't like the Cave Masters or Sword Seven, who had fewer worries the more money they had.

At that moment, Zhu Jiusi lowered his pig's head and looked at the three people in front of him.

Strongwoman had been rammed into the river by the Dolphin and swept away.

But the three people traveling with her had been trapped on the shore and hadn't managed to leave.

Everyone else had gone. The goods had all been sent out, and only then had Zhu Jiusi noticed these three tied-up people still here.

Panic showed in their eyes.

The Journey Market had ended, but they hadn't gone back. Their Dao Discussion Cards had ended too, but they still hadn't returned to their own roads.

The three of them were stranded on the road belonging to District 66's top-ranked Path Seeker.

District 66!

They'd only just learned that this was District 66. They were from District 27 Path Seeker Zone. Shouldn't the districts on either side have been 26 and 28?

If they'd known it was District 66, they'd never have come!

Several of the rule summaries since the start of the game had come from District 66. Even an idiot could tell this was a monster zone...

How despairing would the districts merging with District 66 be?

No, the ones who should be despairing were the three of them!

Zhu Jiusi's eyes seemed to smile and not smile. "Which of you three is number one?"

The three stayed silent, but two of them looked at the third at the same time. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then shut it again.

Zhu Jiusi let out a snorting laugh. "You want to pin it on that Strongwoman?"

The man opened his mouth again, then gave a bitter smile. "There's no point."

Anyone who could take first place, even a pig, couldn't be a fool.

"If there were a combat ranking, Sha Ya would be first. But if I tried to pin the overall ranking on her, I'd be found out."

They hadn't spent much time together, but even this pig ought to have realized Sha Ya was genuinely stupid, right?

The man simply looked at Zhu Jiusi and asked, "What does this big shot want us to do?"

Zhu Jiusi snorted. "Just stay put."

There was no point in making them do anything. These three were lost; they'd lost their own roads! They would inevitably die beneath the Heavenly Tribulation by nightfall tomorrow at the latest.

Traveling on Zhu Jiusi's road wouldn't count toward their mileage. With their mileage insufficient, the Heavenly Tribulation would come for them.

Of course, if they were capable of killing Zhu Jiusi and then settling things between themselves to determine the final victor, they could take over his road.

That was what Journey Survival called seizing another's body.

Zhu Jiusi had only ever heard of people losing their way and ending up on someone else's Great Dao in his previous life. This was the first time he'd seen it happen.

And yet, Zhu Jiusi couldn't kill them just yet.

Path Seekers carried the aura of their own Great Dao. They had come to discuss the Dao, and if they were killed, their aura would naturally disappear along with the collapse of their own road.

But these three were lost. They had no road. Killing them here would contaminate Zhu Jiusi's Great Dao.

Who knew what kind of trouble that might cause?

If they stayed until tomorrow, the Heavenly Tribulation would take care of them. Beneath the Heavenly Tribulation, everything would be reduced to ashes!

Zhu Jiusi set down his nest, crawled inside, and found a comfortable position. Then he opened his Scroll and inventory to check what he'd earned today.

He hadn't taken any of the Rain Canopies or tents. In the end, he'd traded most of the goods for basic supplies.

Metal ×17343, wood ×18187, stone ×17194

This wasn't merely a windfall. It was like hitting the jackpot!

He hadn't dared touch the basic supplies he'd received from the earlier leaderboard. He'd been afraid he might get his hands on some special materials but not have enough to upgrade his nest.

Now he could spend without restraint!

He'd even gathered enough materials to upgrade Mountain Master to Tier Two, assuming he had no other expenses!

Unfortunately, the Small Market had no special materials for upgrading vehicles. It only had cultivation resources and basic supplies.

No matter how you looked at it, taking first place had paid off!

No wonder the big shots in his previous life had fought with everything they had for a place on the leaderboard. Even Water Monarch had been no exception.

Something called ambition quietly took root in Zhu Jiusi's heart.

What was a one-time fortune compared to getting rich again and again?

As he calculated, light flickered across the Scroll. The moon had appeared again.

"Well, well! What are you all busy with?" The moon let out a silvery laugh like Wang Xifeng's.

"Congratulations on making a fortune from tonight's trading!" The moon clasped its tiny hands in a theatrical salute, scattering petals across the Scroll.

"Given how frequently you've been trading, the sales feature is now officially open in our District 66 Path Seeker Zone. You can do business directly with Journey Survival! No fraud, no exploitation, clear prices, fair to all!"

"Here's a little tip: only one-ninth of the Path Seeker Zones qualified to open sales zones today. You've all done splendidly, so... sleep tight!"

It spoke with its hands on its hips, laughed loudly, then vanished.

A shopping-cart icon had appeared in the Scroll's top-right corner, next to the comparison of the two Path Seeker Zones' overall strength.

He focused his mind and opened it.

Basic supplies could be purchased there, but each person could buy only two bundles of each type per day, at ten copper coins per bundle.

There was also a button for selling. Unwanted things could be sold directly there too. One wooden Gourd fetched one copper coin.

For now, only basic resources and Gourds could be traded.

Path Seekers eagerly opened the sales counter, but after one look, they jumped up and cursed.

What a rip-off!

Just now, the Cave Masters and the others had refused to trade one Gourd for four basic supplies.

Yet Journey Survival wanted two Gourds for just one basic supply?

Their resentment toward Zhu Jiusi and the others immediately faded.

"@Master of Cloud Stack Cave, boss, are you still buying Gourds? At the final price, two basic supplies for one Gourd."

This was someone who hadn't made a move until the very end. He'd thought Zhu Jiusi and the others had discovered some tremendous opportunity, so he wanted to save his Gourds until his own opportunity came along, then make a fortune.

But Journey Survival had stabbed him in the back.

So Gourds were that cheap after all!

Before Zhu Jiusi could reply, a private message from Rain Seeker arrived. It contained just one sentence: "I'll buy them. One basic supply for one Gourd, fixed price forever."

Zhu Jiusi readily agreed and posted the price in the chat zone.

Then he froze.

He'd suddenly realized he'd become Zhou Bapi. In his previous life, Gourds had been worth the same, and he'd cursed those skinflints every day too.

What a curious cycle. After all that, the price had returned to rock bottom.

Only this time, he was the one who set it.