Chapter 306 - 295: Marketplace Trading

Chapter 306: Chapter 295: Marketplace Trading

After the Li family’s channels completely collapsed, the supply gap that opened up in the market was larger than it appeared on the surface.

The Li family operated more than just a few shops; they managed an entire network behind those storefronts.

Seeds, auxiliary materials, low-tier alchemy ingredients, and talisman paper blanks—these items required a network of buyers and sellers.

After the Li family’s fall, the Wang family took over the majority of their business. However, the Wang family’s network operated differently from the Li family’s, leaving gaps where many product categories failed to connect.

Li Yuan saw this as his opportunity.

He had stock on hand. Having been on good terms with the Li family before, he had accumulated a substantial inventory. He was in a position to both buy and sell.

The Li family’s network was gone, but the gap in the market wouldn’t stay open for long.

Furthermore, with his status as the Pavilion Master, the sales and transactions of every shop in the market, large or small, could not escape his notice.

After spending a day establishing several new supply relationships, Li Yuan reconnected his supply lines for Spirit Field seeds and talisman paper, which had been disrupted by the Li family’s collapse.

Not only had he reconnected them, but he had also established several new channels, costing him fewer Spirit Stones than when the Li family was in charge.

The main reason was that Li Yuan possessed many rare items, like Purple Evil Stones and the life-extending auxiliary materials he had previously stockpiled.

At the same time, news from the front lines continued to pour in.

The fighting between the Qi Shui Sect and the Evil Slaying Sect grew increasingly fierce.

Discussions among the Yunzhou Loose Cultivators in the market grew more frequent and tense. Li Yuan overheard bits and pieces from several Loose Cultivators who frequented the market.

The fighting seemed to be growing fiercer.

After hearing this news, Li Yuan made another trip to the market that very day.

’Whenever a war escalates, the first things to spike in price are always the same: various medicinal herbs, Healing Elixirs, combat-oriented Talismans, and all kinds of Magical Artifacts.’

’I can perform Alchemy to create Healing Elixirs, so I have no shortage of those. I can also craft combat Talismans, so that’s not a major issue either.’

’But there are a few wartime consumables that will get expensive if I don’t stock up now.’

The core ingredient for Replenishing Talismans, Rejuvenating Grass, was still in stock at the market. Li Yuan bought up several dozen stalks at once.

There wasn’t much stock left of the auxiliary ingredient for Breaking Charms, Purple Profound Stone Powder, so Li Yuan bought out the entire remaining supply from three different shops.

There was also an Array Material called Gathering Essence Sand, an indispensable component for laying large-scale Defense Arrays. If the war spread to the borders of Liangzhou, the demand for Defense Arrays would surge. Li Yuan had already found a supplier in the Yunyang market and placed an advance order for a batch.

After making these purchases, Li Yuan’s stash of Spirit Stones had shrunk considerably, but what he received in return were all solid, valuable commodities.

’These items won’t depreciate in value. As long as the war continues, their prices will only climb.’

By the time he returned to his stone house, night had fallen.

Li Yuan’s three Divine Sense Lines continued to operate steadily. The Spirit Vein Monitoring Line relayed normal feedback from the mineral vein, his general awareness line covered the area around the stone house, and the third line was inspecting the results of his Alchemy.

His mastery over the multi-tasking Divine Split technique was steadily increasing.

Li Yuan sat at his desk for a moment, mentally reviewing the day’s trades and purchases. His gaze then fell upon the transaction logs he had brought back from the administration office.

’The Dark Abyss Association’s recent activities are definitely off.’

Previously, the Dark Abyss Association had a very clear pattern of publicly buying up goods in bulk at the market.

Several outside Loose Cultivators would enter the market every few days to buy up large quantities of life-extending medicinal herbs and Array Materials. They drove prices up and bought in significant volumes.

But over the past couple of days, the frequency of this public bulk buying had noticeably decreased.

Before, members of the Dark Abyss Association could be seen hanging around the market shops almost daily. Now, they had only appeared once in the last three days, and they bought far less.

Li Yuan flipped through the transaction records from the past three days and, just as he suspected, found a change.

The number of small transactions made by the mole had increased over the last three days.

It went from three transactions every two or three days to four or five per day. The transactions were still spread across various shops and Loose Cultivators, with each amount being small. Individually, each transaction looked completely normal.

’But the increase in frequency is a signal in itself.’

He bought a batch of Array Materials from a couple of shops. They weren’t items he needed for himself, but rather the specific types the Dark Abyss Association had been collecting.

After acquiring them, Li Yuan didn’t keep the materials. Instead, he divided them into two batches and placed them on consignment at two different shops.

The consignment price was set five percent below market value. The quantity was also small—just enough to be tempting without being too conspicuous.

The crucial part was that the two batches of materials were being sold through different channels.

One batch was sent to an alchemy supplies shop on the east side of the market, which was primarily frequented by Loose Cultivators from Yunzhou.

The other batch went to a general goods store on the west side, whose clientele consisted mostly of local Cultivators and itinerant Loose Cultivators running errands.

The two channels were independent and did not intersect.

’If someone from the Dark Abyss Association comes to collect these materials, the flow of goods will be crystal clear. Which shop they were sold from, who bought them, and who they were passed to afterward—I’ll be able to track every step.’

With his trap set, Li Yuan returned to his stone house, sat cross-legged on his meditation cushion, and began to cultivate.

Before he knew it, he had spent several more hours advancing his mastery of the multi-tasking Divine Split.

Li Yuan closed his eyes and continued to channel his power.