Chapter 349: Bad Influence

I'm going to save up my boons and see if they change over time. It's just a shame there aren't many books of interest left in this archive building.

Chu Qiguang was hopeful that the cult eradication campaign he was funding would secure him some more useful scriptures.

After glancing at the sky outside, Chu Qiguang decided it was time to leave, as he still had several meetings to attend over the rest of the day.

***

Meanwhile, in the wolf fiend stronghold in Spirit Province, Chu Youtian and several other wolf fiends were gathered together, all in equally foul moods.

"It's all your fault! I told you the stock price would go back up, but you didn't listen and sold everything! We've lost over a hundred thousand taels of silver now! How are we going to answer to our higher-ups?"

"You're blaming me? You sold your shares too, didn't you? Would you have sold them if you truly believed the price was going to recover?"

Yi Siman was also present, but unlike the other bickering wolf fiends, he was much more composed.

"How much money have you lost, Your Highness?" Chu Youtian asked tentatively.

"None," Yi Siman replied. "I didn't sell my shares."

Everyone turned to him with astonished expressions.

"Before the stock market crash, Master Omniscient told me that I was paying too much attention to the stock price, and merely replacing one fixation with another. I felt that he was right, so I tried to ignore the stock price and forget about it altogether.

"At first, it was very difficult. I could barely resist the urge to check the stock price, and my emotions rose and fell along with it. I was often distracted even during my martial arts cultivation. However, during the board meeting, all trading was suspended, and I took advantage of the opportunity to completely cast the stock price out of my mind."

"No wonder!" Chu Youtian exclaimed. "We couldn't find you at all during those few days. It was like you'd disappeared!"

"I immersed myself completely in my cultivation, and by the time I emerged, the stock price had already risen back up to four taels and six qian," Yi Siman continued calmly, while the other wolf fiends looked at him with envy.

"From this experience, I came to an epiphany," Yi Siman said.

"What's that?" Chu Youtian asked.

"As long as you don't sell your shares, you will never lose," Yi Siman declared. "Stock losses only arise the instant you sell your shares. As long as I don't sell, I will never lose. The stock price will always recover eventually, so the key to successful stock investment is to forget about your investment and simply leave it alone."

Chu Youtian and the others were enlightened, nodding along with sincere expressions.

"Master Omniscient is truly a brilliant man," Yi Siman praised. "His guidance has proven invaluable to me in both my cultivation and my stock investments."

Even though Yi Siman personally hadn't suffered any losses, they group as a whole had lost a significant portion of the funds they had secured from the northern grasslands.

Yi Siman was aware of this, and he declared confidently, "Rest assured, I've already come up with a plan. The stock price is affected by all kinds of news. At the moment, the Cloud Sun Trade Association has yet to follow through on many of its promises, but the confidence inspired by those promises alone has been enough to attract investments and raise the stock price.

"Similarly, as soon as there's any bad news, people begin selling their shares en masse, causing the stock price to fall. Hence, all we have to do is create some bad news, buy when the price is low, and profit once it recovers."

"How do we do that?" Chu Youtian asked.

"It's simple," Yi Siman replied with a smile. "All we have to do is abduct or kill the current head of the Cloud Sun Trade Association, Chu Qiguang. Once we do that, the stock market is sure to crash."

***

On a moonlit hill, Yi Siman was looking at Omniscient with an eager expression as he asked, "What do you think, Senior?"

He had invited Omniscient to meet him here, and at this moment, the latter was staring back at him with a peculiar expression.

"You want to abduct Chu Qiguang?"

"That's right," Yi Siman confirmed with a nod. "Ideally, we'll abduct him. If that doesn't work, then we'll just have to kill him on the spot."

"That won't be easy," Chu Qiguang mused.

"That's why we need your help!" Yi Siman implored.

Chu Qiguang was momentarily rendered speechless by the absurdity of the situation, but after some thought, he decided against trying to dissuade Yi Siman from his plan.

"Chu Qiguang is definitely going to be surrounded by some very powerful bodyguards, so if you want to abduct him, you'll need to be well prepared."

"I understand that," Yi Siman replied with a nod. "No matter how powerful he is, Chu Qiguang is still only a fifth-state martial artist at the end of the day. The people behind him are much more troublesome to deal with. Right now, there are many powerful people relying on him to make money for them, so I'll have to gather the strongest allies I can and strike swiftly before anyone has a chance to react."

***

On his way back from meeting Yi Siman, Chu Qiguang decided that something had to be done.

The stock market has driven people insane! They're trying to manipulate the stock price for their own benefit by any means necessary, even if it means killing or abducting others. I have to make an example out of Yi Siman. Otherwise, this is going to set a terrible precedent, and everyone will start looking for ways to manipulate the stock market through underhanded means.

With that in mind, Chu Qiguang pulled out a list of shareholders and began looking for helpers.

***

Several days later, Jin Haitian was cultivating on the training ground of the Cloud Midst Military Base when a chorus of mocking laughter suddenly distracted him. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

He turned to see who was laughing, only for the crowd to immediately disperse. A look of fury and resentment appeared on his face as the thought of Chu Qiguang resurfaced in his mind.

Lately, rumors had been spreading about the defeat he had suffered at Chu Qiguang's hands, turning him into a complete laughingstock. In light of these rumors, the mere thought of Chu Qiguang was enough to make his blood pressure skyrocket.