Monopolies Everywhere, and No One Had a Choice

"Fellow Daoists, I've said all that needed to be said. Will you be joining, or...?" Xu Mingsheng's gaze shifted back and forth between the two.

Xu Changqing was quite interested. "I'll join."

Xu Mingsheng immediately broke into a brilliant smile. "Welcome, Fellow Daoist Cai. What about you, Fellow Daoist Lin?"

At once, his and Xu Changqing's gazes fell on the third person.

Lin Mengru furrowed her willow-leaf brows. After pondering it repeatedly, she said, "I'll think about it some more."

"Of course, no problem. Even if we don't cooperate this time, it's nothing." Xu Mingsheng nodded.

Farmer's Heart Society controlled the vast majority of spirit rice and spirit plants.

Even if a small amount flowed into the market, it would have no impact on the overall situation.

But precisely because Lin Mengru had refused,

Xu Mingsheng only spoke with Xu Changqing for most of the journey.

Through that conversation, Xu Changqing also learned quite a bit.

For instance, the five forces represented by the five spiritual roots.

Farmer's Heart Society was headed by wood spiritual root cultivators.

Talisman Masters' Collective was headed by water spiritual root cultivators.

Elixir Alliance was headed by fire spiritual root cultivators.

Spirit Artifact Workshop was headed by metal spiritual root cultivators.

Formation Guild was headed by earth spiritual root cultivators.

All five forces had trading posts in Red Maple Valley.

In fact, one could tell from their names alone.

Farmer's Heart Society monopolized the spirit plant market.

Elixir Alliance monopolized the elixir market.

Talisman Masters' Collective monopolized the spirit talisman market.

Spirit Artifact Workshop monopolized the spirit artifact market.

Formation Guild alone was rather special.

That was because not every disciple with an earth spiritual root could become a formation master.

This profession required extraordinarily high comprehension just to enter.

And it had to be admitted that most people's comprehension was quite ordinary.

Precisely because they were scarce and irreplaceable, their prices were exorbitant.

Yet no one could do without the help of formations; the higher one's realm, the greater the demand.

Of course, that did not mean there were no independent cultivators.

There were, but not many.

Either they were newcomers, unqualified to be recruited.

Or they were powerful enough to look down on a particular faction.

Xu Changqing asked curiously, "Fellow Daoist Xu, doesn't that mean that most spirit farmers in our spirit fields, especially those senior brothers who have reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, belong to Farmer's Heart Society?"

"Correct." Xu Mingsheng confirmed it.

"I remember there's a senior brother in the Foundation Establishment Realm named Zhang Su. Is she part of it?" Xu Changqing asked again.

"Senior Sister Zhang Su is not." However, Xu Mingsheng shook his head.

"Huh?" Xu Changqing was somewhat surprised.

Xu Mingsheng explained, "Senior Sister Zhang Su has some connections with people from Elixir Alliance, so she grows medicinal herbs in her spirit fields."

Xu Changqing suddenly understood.

That explained why she did not grow spirit rice.

"We've arrived at Red Maple Valley." At that moment, Lin Mengru, who had been silent for a long while, spoke up to remind them.

Xu Changqing looked ahead upon hearing this.

He was instantly stunned by the scenery.

No wonder it was called Red Maple Valley.

As far as the eye could see, red maple leaves filled the view.

Gathered together, they resembled a vast ocean of blood.

And in the deepest part stood an incomparably enormous ancient red maple tree.

Its branches were lush and dense, soaring into the clouds.

Its leaves resembled the tender pink palms of human babies.

When the wind blew, a series of "smack, smack, smack" sounds immediately rang out, as though it were clapping to welcome them.

Soon, under Xu Mingsheng's control, the flying paper crane slowly descended, and the three of them landed with it.

Lin Mengru did not say much and walked straight ahead.

Xu Changqing, meanwhile, followed alongside Xu Mingsheng and headed first to Farmer's Heart Society's trading post.

Before long, an antique wooden building came into view.

It had three floors in total.

What lay on the upper two floors was unknown, but the first floor had the most traffic.

People were practically lining up everywhere.

Above the trading windows were today's transaction prices.

Under Xu Mingsheng and the others' deliberate manipulation, the price of spirit rice had risen with the tide.

Although spirit rice produced from second-grade spirit fields varied somewhat in price depending on quality, the difference was not particularly outrageous.

Originally, two catties of premium second-grade spirit rice could be exchanged for one low-grade spirit stone.

Now, it had become 1.5 to 1.

In other words, one and a half catties could be exchanged for one low-grade spirit stone.

Even premium first-grade spirit rice had gone from ten to one to seven to one.

As for top-grade spirit rice, people were fighting over it like mad.

It could not be helped. Many people wanted to make a name for themselves in the Formal Disciple Grand Competition.

With a bit of luck, perhaps an "immortal elder" would take notice of them, allowing them to become core disciples.

"Hiss." Seeing this, Xu Changqing could not help sucking in a cold breath.

Xu Mingsheng said rather smugly, "Fellow Daoist Cai, now you know how wise your choice was, don't you?"

"Then how should I trade?" Xu Changqing quickly calmed down.

Xu Mingsheng smiled. "You haven't completed three years yet, so you can't fully join Farmer's Heart Society. But with my recommendation, 1.8 catties of premium second-grade spirit rice can be exchanged for one low-grade spirit stone."

"1.8 to 1..." Xu Changqing fell into thought.

This was higher than the market rate.

Which was 1.5 to 1.

Clearly, he was taking a loss.

"To tell you the truth, since Fellow Daoist Lin refused to join just now, our people will deliberately target her. When she comes later, it will be 1.9 to 1, even higher than yours." With matters having come this far, Xu Mingsheng no longer bothered to hide it. His gaze turned fierce.

After so many years, the market had long since been monopolized by Farmer's Heart Society.

Even if there were a few fish that slipped through the net, they could not stir up any waves.

"Fine." Xu Changqing could find no reason to refuse.

Even if he went outside to sell it himself, he would be targeted.

He did not even know how long it would take to sell everything.

And the ratio would certainly be even higher than it was now.

He might as well cooperate with Farmer's Heart Society.

It looked like a loss, but that was not actually the case.

The market prices themselves were controlled by them.

Without Farmer's Heart Society, even two catties of premium second-grade spirit rice would only sell for one low-grade spirit stone.

Therefore, even at 1.8 to 1, he still stood to profit.

If he wanted to escape this situation, he could only switch to different spirit plants.

The higher the quality, the more expensive the price would naturally be.

Or, like Zhang Su, he could grow various medicinal herbs that were expensive to begin with.

Xu Mingsheng said seriously, "Fellow Daoist Cai, you will never regret today's decision."

Xu Changqing directly took out three hundred catties of top-grade spirit rice produced from second-grade spirit fields.

It was a preliminary test.

"Top-grade spirit rice!" Xu Mingsheng could not help viewing this fellow disciple in a new light.

He had thought premium quality would already have been impressive enough.

Now that it was top-grade spirit rice, the exchange rate was naturally different.

Premium was 1.8.

Top-grade was 1.6.

Without hesitation, he readily handed over 187 low-grade spirit stones.

Now, after subtracting the ten catties lent to Zhao Ziyao,

And adding the three hundred catties he had just sold,

Xu Changqing still had seven hundred and ninety catties of top-grade spirit rice from second-grade spirit fields on him.

"This is my communication talisman. You can contact me anytime." Xu Mingsheng took out a spirit talisman.

"Alright." Xu Changqing tossed everything into his small storage pouch, then left the trading post.

Once outside, he quickly spotted Lin Mengru in a corner.

She was the female disciple with a wood spiritual root who had arrived at the Red Maple Valley market with them earlier.

Sure enough, she had chosen to sell her premium second-grade spirit rice herself.

Her rate was 1.6 to 1, slightly higher than the market price.

But just then, a wood spiritual root disciple suddenly appeared beside her.

He also began setting up a stall, and his rate was even higher than Lin Mengru's.

Lin Mengru's was 1.6 to 1.

His was 1.7 to 1.

No matter how Lin Mengru raised her rate, his would be higher.

At one point, it even returned to 2 to 1.

That meant two catties of second-grade spirit rice for one low-grade spirit stone.

Lin Mengru lost every single customer, and people even cursed her as a "profiteer."

Xu Changqing watched silently and discovered that no matter how many places she changed,

The moment she set up a stall, someone immediately emerged.

In the end, with no other choice, she could only obediently head toward Farmer's Heart Society's trading post.

"Fellow Daoist Lin seems not to trust Farmer's Heart Society?" Xu Changqing pondered.

Because he had experience from his previous life, he had agreed to Xu Mingsheng's offer.

If he refused, he would not merely offend this man, but Farmer's Heart Society.

What could a mere little spirit farmer use to fight against a colossal beast that monopolized the market?

But for now, Farmer's Heart Society stood on the spirit farmers' side.

As long as the rate did not return to 2 to 1, they would never suffer a loss.

It was only a matter of earning more or earning less!