"Mr. Mo, forgive this old man's bluntness."
After a long silence, Family Head Qian stroked his beard and asked:
"We stand to gain enormously from this arrangement, but I wonder... what does the trading house gain by doing this?"
"Surely you aren't sacrificing yourselves for the good of others?"
Xu Xuan glanced at him. He knew everyone present was a seasoned merchant, shrewd to the core; they would not believe him on the strength of a few words.
He merely smiled faintly.
"The trading house has its own considerations."
"Pooling your deposits is like gathering streams into a river. It will help our trading house purchase grain from all quarters faster and on a greater scale."
"With sufficient volume, even selling at the agreed price when the time comes will still leave our trading house a modest profit."
"This is mutually beneficial. Each side gets what it needs."
"Besides."
He shifted the conversation again, a trace of irresistible temptation entering his voice.
"Imagine, gentlemen: what if, two months from now, grain prices have risen not by thirty or fifty percent, but doubled-or even multiplied several times over?"
"Would the profits you reap from these agreements amount to a mere thirty percent then?"
Profit stirred men's hearts!
Xu Xuan had long since used Xu Ping and the others to spread all manner of "inside information," some true and some false.
It had left these sharp-nosed Lineage heads itching to act.
They had only held back because they dared not enter the fray lightly, afraid of becoming cannon fodder in a clash between great powers.
Now, they had these seemingly foolproof "futures agreements" as security.
And they had the backing of "Mr. Mo" and the Cloud Arrival Trading House, whose reputation was steadily growing.
Their long-suppressed greed instantly blazed like wildfire.
The Lineage heads exchanged glances, each seeing temptation and resolve in the others' eyes.
After a brief discussion, they rose one after another.
Xu Xuan then signed agreement after agreement.
They produced large sums of spirit stones as deposits on the spot, afraid of falling behind the others.
No wall in the world could keep the wind out.
How could such a "good opportunity" remain secret?
Within a few days, word began circulating through Cloudmist Market.
The Cloud Arrival Trading House was said to have a mysterious "Mr. Mo."
He had introduced a peculiar method called "futures," which could help people profit from grain without risk.
More small and medium-sized Lineages stirred at the news. Afraid of missing this golden opportunity, they came bearing hefty sums and begged to sign agreements.
For a time, the Cloud Arrival Trading House still appeared to be selling talismans and ores out front.
Yet carriages and horses streamed endlessly through the courtyard's side entrance, representatives from every quarter weaving back and forth.
Deposits poured into the trading house's vaults like a tide. Spirit stones piled into glittering mountains.
The total had reached a staggering, terrifying sum.
Xu Xuan directed everything from behind the scenes, turning no one away and accepting every order, his mind as clear as a mirror.
The net had been cast and the bait laid. He needed only to wait for the winds and clouds to surge before drawing it in and claiming those towering profits!
Before the two months were up, grain prices were already soaring wildly like a horse that had slipped its reins.
Refugees from the northern border poured into the heartland of the Kingdom of Wu. Demand for ordinary grain surged, and its price was the first to double.
News of the complete spirit grain crop failure in the Southern Wilds was now firmly established and had spread everywhere.
On top of this, the border conflict between the Azure Wood Sect and the Profound Sword Gate abruptly escalated, with several small-scale clashes.
Though casualties were few, it was like adding oil to a blazing fire: demand for spirit grain, pills, and other supplies increased sharply.
Both great sects formally issued procurement orders.
Their prices were fifty percent higher than those on the market!
Panic immediately spread like a plague.
Hoarders swarmed out, and the grain circulating on the market rapidly dwindled.
Prices changed three times a day, differing between morning and evening, leaving people dumbfounded.
The Lineages that had signed "futures agreements" with the Cloud Arrival Trading House early on were ecstatic as they watched market prices far outstrip the agreed figures. An overwhelming fortune really had fallen from the heavens.
Once the deadline arrived, they could purchase that expensive spirit grain at the previous low price.
Reselling it would bring severalfold profits.
Their Lineages' resurgence was just around the corner!
Yet their joy lasted only a few days before they sensed something was wrong.
The Cloud Arrival Trading House still kept its doors wide open, welcoming customers from every direction.
But whenever anyone mentioned fulfilling the agreements and delivering the spirit grain,
Shopkeeper Fang, who was in charge, would look troubled.
He either claimed that "the goods haven't arrived" or offered the excuse that "shipments are being arranged," endlessly delaying fulfillment.
The representatives sent by the various Lineages to press the matter
were all politely fobbed off by Shopkeeper Fang's assurances: "Mr. Mo is doing everything he can outside to secure supplies. He certainly won't miss your deadlines."
Meanwhile, through Xu An, Xu Xuan
took the vast quantities of spirit grain stockpiled in Hundred Fragrance Valley and several secret bases in the Southern Wilds, together with the immense stores of ordinary grain purchased cheaply early on,
and quietly released them onto the market under the Cloud Arrival Trading House's banner, in numerous small batches.
The prices were slightly below the frenzied market rates, yet remained astronomical.
Often, the moment a batch appeared, it was snapped up.
This recovered some funds for Xu Xuan, but against the current market frenzy, it was merely a cup of water against a cartload of burning firewood.
The sight of buyers scrambling for grain from every quarter even further fueled the market's panic.
Harvesting in autumn and selling in winter, hoarding scarce goods to command a price-these were methods every Lineage commonly employed.
Yet this grain crisis carried a strange air.
Five days before the deadline, grain prices had soared to ten times their usual level!
The Lineages that had signed agreements clutched their soon-to-expire contracts.
Watching market prices fly sky-high while unable to obtain their goods, they were as frantic as ants on a hot pan.
They began applying pressure together, even bringing in figures connected to the Azure Wood Sect to intercede.
For a time, undercurrents surged through Cloudmist Market, and rumors flew everywhere.
Everyone said that "Mr. Mo" and the Cloud Arrival Trading House had forgotten righteousness at the sight of profit and wanted to tear up the agreements to swallow those enormous gains themselves!
Public outrage mounted, its spearhead aimed directly at the trading house's seemingly tranquil rear courtyard.
They looked ready to overturn the place at the slightest disagreement.
On the very day before the agreements came due,
just as everyone thought the Cloud Arrival Trading House would inevitably default and a storm could no longer be avoided,
astonishing news suddenly emerged from the Azure Wood Sect's Steward Hall, exploding above Cloudmist Market like thunder from a clear sky.
It turned out that Wang Tong, the steward of the outer sect's medicinal garden, had painstakingly studied the art of cultivating spirit plants.
He had successfully improved the low-grade spirit grain known as "Jade Marrow Rice."
The new rice strain resisted drought and insects, had a growth cycle thirty percent shorter, and yielded twice as much!
The sect had decided to promote it vigorously.
Large quantities of the new seed and its cultivation methods could be allocated immediately and distributed to affiliated Lineages and friendly forces.
This would relieve the grain shortage!
The news struck like thunder from a clear sky, instantly stunning everyone hoarding grain to sell.
A new rice strain?
Double the yield?
A shorter growth cycle?
What did that mean?
It meant the supply of spirit grain would soon recover, and even far exceed what it had been!
With the sect stepping forward to endorse and verify it, the news could not be false.
Panic selling instantly broke out in the major markets.
The hoarded spirit grain had become a scalding-hot potato!
Grain prices plummeted in response.
Like an avalanche, the collapse became unstoppable.
What had been unobtainable for ten thousand gold the day before was being dumped like dirt in the blink of an eye.
Prices plunged relentlessly, even faster and more terrifyingly than they had risen.
The next day was the delivery date stipulated in those "futures agreements."
The Cloud Arrival Trading House's doors stood wide open. Holding a thick stack of agreements, Shopkeeper Fang stood at the front of the hall, his expression calm.
Below him, the representatives of the various Lineages who had rushed over upon hearing the news all wore ashen faces, their eyes filled with despair.
Shopkeeper Fang swept his gaze across them and declared in a ringing voice that shook the roof tiles:
"Gentlemen, according to these agreements, today is the delivery date."
"However, the current market price is already far below the price stipulated in the agreements."
"Under the agreed terms, you have the right to forfeit the thirty-percent deposits you previously paid. These agreements will then become void, with neither party owing the other anything."
Forfeit their deposits?!
Hearing this, the Lineage representatives felt their vision go black and nearly fainted.
The original thirty-percent deposits would not have hurt them to the bone.
But as they watched grain prices soar, they had subsequently made additional agreements with the trading house.
They had even smashed their pots and sold their iron, going so far as to borrow money to scrape together enormous deposits.
If they forfeited them now, their Lineages' holdings would suffer a devastating blow in an instant, and might even face bankruptcy.