Li Xun had fallen ill, and Zhou Yashan was as frantic as an ant on a hot pan.
Their capital had been severed. At the city gates, the purchasing merchants were surrounded so tightly that not a drop of water could trickle through.
From time to time, people in the crowd would shout that they were willing to sell at a lower price to get rid of their stock...
To cut their losses in time, a portion of the crowd settled for the next best thing and swarmed toward the Seven Great Forging Workshops with their goods.
Since they couldn't sell them, the simplest way was to exchange these corpses for earth weapons.
Even if they couldn't get the goods immediately, it was better than letting the stock rot in their hands.
The Seven Great Forging Workshops had all received news from the Central Plains.
With the price of ferocious beasts plummeting, the factions behind them were naturally unwilling to pour more massive amounts of capital into this bottomless pit.
Merchants naturally possessed keen instincts. The situation in Demon-Slaying City was now beyond control, and panic had completely erupted.
Even if the Seven Great Forging Workshops gritted their teeth and endured, injecting more capital would merely be a cup of water to put out a burning cart of wood.
Without a leader, the various workshops were no longer a cohesive unit. Instead, each harbored their own ulterior motives, scrambling to cut their losses.
One or two of them were even forcibly taken over by messengers who had rushed in to deliver orders.
The first to stop taking pre-orders was the Wanxian Chamber of Commerce's workshop, led by Zhou Yashan.
The other workshops followed suit, one after another, closing their doors and ceasing to receive customers.
"Everyone!"
"Apologies! Our workshop is temporarily closed today. Please return another day, another day."
A storm of curses immediately erupted in front of the workshops.
"What do you mean by this?"
"Can't afford to play anymore?"
"I only want to place one order, just one!"
"Open the door!!"
On the surface, they were closed for business, but in secret, the seven workshops were racing against time, trying to transport the backlog of ferocious beast corpses back to the Central Plains to sell before the prices completely collapsed...
In this moment, partners became competitors.
The panic was not limited to Demon-Slaying City; it was spreading toward the Central Plains.
The so-called Central Province Alliance completely disintegrated. The price war launched by the Three Sects, Three Schools, and one Chamber of Commerce had thus come to an end.
However...
The commercial war had not ended; it had only just begun.
That night.
Xu Xian was in an excellent mood. He could already foresee that this storm would no longer be limited to the Seven Great Forging Workshops and himself.
Those who had originally planned to sit back and reap the benefits of the conflict would all be affected.
Even the demon hunters would not be spared.
That night.
Liu Qinghui returned, bringing the news with him.
He said that the people from the Seven Great Forging Workshops were already arguing.
Openly, they were fighting over how to distribute the ferocious beast corpses they had purchased over the last few days.
Secretly, they had already begun shipping the corpses they had obtained from Xu Xian a few days prior back to the Central Plains overnight.
In less than two days, these items would all appear on the market.
With spring approaching, the prices were likely to be suppressed to the very bottom.
Xu Xian merely smiled, remarking that everything was within expectations.
Liu Qinghui's admiration for Xu Xian had reached its peak.
He felt that this Little Grand-Uncle shouldn't be cultivating or forging swords; he should be doing business in the Merchant Hall.
He was truly a genius of commerce.
Facing the praise, Xu Xian only said it was a matter of luck.
Time passed unhurriedly. A few days later, more news arrived from the Central Plains.
A massive quantity of fifth-grade ferocious beast corpses had mysteriously flooded the market, and the selling price was already lower than the disposal price the Wendao Sword Sect had set previously.
Because of this.
Those vendors who had previously signed purchase agreements with the Merchant Hall preferred to pay the compensation penalties to Wendao Sword Sect just to cancel their contracts.
The Merchant Hall accepted this gladly. After all, they currently had no stock left in their hands anyway.
Canceling the orders meant they didn't have to supply anything.
They could even gain the compensation penalties for free and earn a good reputation before the world. Why wouldn't they do it?
Not only had the price of ferocious beasts been driven down.
The Merchant Hall's secret acquisition of earth weapons had also, unknowingly, pushed the price of earth weapons to a historic high.
As the raw material for earth weapons, the price of immortal gold naturally rose along with them.
Rising prices for ore, rising prices for earth weapons, and falling prices for fifth-grade ferocious beast corpses—these pieces of news reached Demon-Slaying City one after another.
People were in a state of constant anxiety.
The fifth-grade ferocious beast corpses in Demon-Slaying City were now all stuck in the hands of various individuals.
Before, they were reluctant to sell.
Now, they wanted to sell but couldn't.
They could only lower their prices.
Two thousand five hundred... no one would buy.
Two thousand... still no one.
One thousand five hundred... still no buyers.
In just a short span of ten days, the price had returned to the original level of around one thousand spirit stones from before the price war began.
But even so, no one was purchasing.
Everyone was just watching the show.
The first batch of orders in Xu Xian's hands had reached the one-month mark.
However, not a single person came to cancel their order at his door.
In the entire Demon-Slaying City.
The only ones who could still smile were probably the group who had sought small advantages and pre-ordered earth weapons from the First Slaying Forging Workshop.
The price of ferocious beasts had plummeted.
The orders they held were naturally unaffected, especially after they heard the news of the rising prices for ore and earth weapons.
Every one of them was grinning from ear to ear.
Now, their only concern was whether Xu Xian would take the initiative to cancel the orders; that would be a huge loss for them.
However.
Clearly.
They were overthinking.
Xu Xian not only had no intention of canceling the orders, but a few days later, he even restored his prices to their original state.
Five fifth-grade ferocious beasts for a low-grade earth weapon.
Seven for a mid-grade earth weapon.
High-grade weapons likewise returned to a price of ten ferocious beast corpses.
Furthermore, within a single day, he delivered over a hundred orders in one go.
All of these had been forged by him using spirit ore during his spare time while the price war was raging.
The customers who received their goods were beyond happy.
As for the Seven Great Forging Workshops.
They had essentially no reaction. They did not announce a price hike, nor did they open for business. Every single one of them was deathly silent.
For various reasons.
Many people in Demon-Slaying City once again chose to pre-order earth weapons from Xu Xian, even though the prices had returned to normal.
At the very least, placing an order with Xu Xian meant they wouldn't be swindled.
The price of ferocious beasts continued to trend downward, and with no one stepping up to buy them, spring had arrived. The production of ferocious beasts would gradually increase, and even more demon hunters arrived in the city after the cold winter.
In the days to come.
The number of fifth-grade ferocious beast corpses would only grow.
It was possible that they really would end up being worth only one thousand spirit stones.
At least, at this moment, most people in Demon-Slaying City thought so.
After the first batch of orders was delivered.
Liu Qinghui found Xu Xian again and relayed the information he had obtained.
He told Xu Xian that the prices of earth weapons and spirit ore in the Central Plains had reached new annual highs, with a year-on-year increase of two percent.
This was naturally good news for Xu Xian. He also asked Liu Qinghui to pass on the word to stop the acquisition of earth weapons.
It was enough to keep the price stable.
When Xu Xian took the initiative to ask about the situation of the Seven Great Forging Workshops, Liu Qinghui told him the truth.
There was no movement.
They were likely finished.
He also mentioned that he had learned from a brother in the Shadow Hall that the sects behind them had explicitly abandoned their plans to continue targeting the Wendao Sword Sect in Demon-Slaying City.
Liu Qinghui added, "That group of spirit forgers has been arguing quite a bit lately. They're on the verge of coming to blows."
He then tentatively asked Xu Xian, "Little Grand-Uncle, what do we do next? Should we wait and see and leave them a path to survival, or...?"
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