Although Xiao Yan quickly came up with a countermeasure, the other factions targeting the Endless Fire Domain moved just as fast. When his buyers first purchased medicinal herbs at twice the usual price, they returned for their next purchase only to discover that someone else had already bought everything at an even higher price. After several days of this, medicinal herbs in the Southern Region had become so expensive that even ten times the usual price could not secure any.
Qingtan had been wearing a worried frown these past few days because of this. When Xiao Yan first told her to buy medicinal herbs at ten times the usual price, she had thought they would be taking far too great a loss. She never expected that now, even that price would not buy them any medicinal herbs at all. Yet Xiao Yan showed no concern over any of this. His calm demeanor reassured Qingtan and the others considerably, though many problems plainly could not be weathered through breezy composure alone.
"We've found out who's behind it. The Heaven-Covering Gate, the Purple Yin Sect, and the Azure Origin Palace are leading the charge, with more than a dozen smaller factions joining in." Qingtan's brows knitted tightly as she said, "No wonder they can outbid us no matter how high we go. There's such an enormous force behind them..."
The Heaven-Covering Gate, the Purple Yin Sect, and the Azure Origin Palace were all dominant powers in the Southern Region. In terms of scale, they were scarcely inferior to the Saint Demon Palace at its peak. The other factions were only considered small by the Southern Region's standards. Had they been in the Northern Realm, they would certainly have been no weaker than a faction like the Divine Pavilion.
Xiao Yan's original plan