CHAPTER 565: SHORTING THE BLOOD FLOOD PILL ECONOMY

If someone decided to check Han Yu’s purchases, he would appear like a hardworking alchemist dedicated to the local method. He bought the materials, so no one suspected him of using the cheap, abundant, familiar Great Continent recipe.

In reality, all those expensive herbs went straight into storage. He used almost none of them.

The only herbs he consumed were the cheap ones. And they were plentiful. Nobody cared about them. Nobody competed for them. Nobody even bothered bidding for them in bulk.

The Blood Gooseberries grew like weeds in several tributary valleys. The Blood Thorn Nettles were literally considered invasive. The Spirit Fenugreek Seeds were imported occasionally from nearby regions but were common enough to never spike in price.

Because nobody else had thought of the Great Continent recipe. Han Yu was the only one. And so his production cost remained laughably low, while the selling price continued to grow. He also diversified his selling methods.

He sold some to the Alchemy Division and some directly to the disciples. This would not have been possible before, but now that Ju Fan had some reputation as an Alchemist specializing in Blood Flood Pills, the disciples began to come to him.

At first, the Blood Flood Pill sold for fifty merit points. Then sixty. Then sixty five. Then seventy. Then eighty.

Disciples complained about rising costs, but still bought them. Their demand rose after every practice session. After every battle. After every internal conflict where they injured each other. This pill had become a necessity to them.

Han Yu’s steady supply made the disciples reliant and more importantly, it made the demand predictable. This was where Han Yu began his subtle manipulation.

He took note of how many pills were sold daily. He noted the peak hours. He noted the fluctuations. He noted the prices of all the ingredients.

Then he changed his pattern.

Instead of selling twenty pills every day, he began dropping to fifteen.

Just a slight reduction. Not enough to be obvious.

But enough to cause ripple effects.

Only a few disciples noticed at first. They simply assumed the supply was less than usual. Maybe he had a bad day. Maybe he ran out of materials. Maybe he was experimenting with other pills.

The price rose slightly and Han Yu continued selling at the new price.

The next week, he reduced again. Twelve pills. Then ten. Then fifteen. Then thirteen. Then eighteen.

No pattern.

No predictability.

The demand rose higher and the price rose again, which made Disciples complain more loudly.

The price climbed further.

And then the real twist arrived:

The price of the ingredients rose in reply to the demand for the pill.

Suppliers noticed the interest. Traders sensed the shift. Herb gatherers began to focus more on those materials. The entire economy shifted slightly.

All while Han Yu quietly continued buying herbs in massive bulk.

The traders assumed they sect needed them. After all, they were making so many pills.

But Han Yu was not using them. Not even a fraction.

The expensive herbs for the local recipe piled up in his ring. The cheap herbs he truly needed remained abundant and largely ignored.

He had created a false demand and false scarcity while still controlling the flow of pills. This was how Han Yu manipulated the economy. Not loudly. Not brashly. Not recklessly.

Quietly.

Expertly.

Gracefully.

And by the time the price of the herbs reached too high to buy normal, Han Yu did something crazy. He had taken note of all the merchants and traders that supplied these herbs to the sect and where they were located.

Most were located in the cities near to the sect and could be reached relatively easily. As such, Han Yu disguised himself and left the sect for the first time. Which was easier than he had thought.

He found one of the merchants that provided the materials for the pill and sold them the very same herbs he had bought from the sect. But this time he sold them for cheaper. This sudden flood of materials when it reached the sect caused the prices to drop rapidly.

Many other alchemists which were also trying to get a cut of the Blood Flood Pill market, suddenly found themselves making losses. They were forced to sell their pills for cheap, if they wished to save at least a little bit.

But in all that, Han Yu undercut the market, selling his pills for a few merit points cheaper, making him the only person that the others wished to buy from. Even with the lower price, Han Yu still made a major profit.

By the end of the sixth month of his alchemical career in the sect, he had turned himself into the sole reliable provider of Blood Flood Pills. The disciples depended on him. The price was increasingly stable at a high value. His profit margins grew further and further.

He had become an invisible puppeteer.

His cave filled with piles of unused herbs. His jade slip filled with records of market trends. His merit points grew steadily, month after month. He repeated his cycle of raising prices, then flooding the market with cheap materials, to again crash it all.

This rise and fall of prices and materials was finely controlled by Han Yu, making sure that it never went out of hand such that the Elders would put it in scrutiny, neither too low that he’d lose control of the market.

And all the while, he thought of his friends.

Their time in the training hall and their torture. Their suffering and their hopelessness.

And he worked harder.

Because he knew the day would come when he needed to buy them. When he needed to save them. When he needed enough merit points to outbid anyone.

He glanced at his reflection in the polished cauldron.

His eyes were calm. His face was cold. His aura was controlled.

But behind that mask, Han Yu’s resolve had hardened into steel.

One day, he would reach into this pit of cruelty and pull his people out of it.

No matter the cost.