31: Destiny Child pricing

Danyang City was as bustling as ever.

Traffic flowed like water, and voices rose in a clamor.

Lu Yuan blended into the endless stream of people.

He wore the most ordinary gray Daoist robe, his face one destined to be forgotten.

This was an investment of ten Spirit Stones; being ordinary was the best hedge against risk.

The bronze token in his Pregnant had long since fallen silent.

Yet, the message from the Azure Bird, like an invisible options contract, was deeply etched into his Divine Sense, awaiting execution.

Ye Chen.

Lu Yuan silently repeated the name in his mind.

There was no killing intent, no apprehension.

Just a brand new “underlying asset” that had just appeared on the market, waiting to be valued.

He did not linger in the city but passed straight through it.

About ten miles outside the city, in a remote mountain forest, he found a long-abandoned, secluded Immortal Cave.

It was dark, damp, and permeated with the constant scent of earth and humus.

He casually set up a few basic concealment and warning Formations.

His movements were fluid, precise, like a trading process repeated thousands of times.

He sat down cross-legged.

Closing his eyes.

His mind sank into his Sea of Consciousness.

That familiar, cold, and vast trading screen appeared in response to his thoughts.

After being promoted to a “Major Client Seat,” the entire trading interface had been restructured.

Next to the original “Physical Asset” section, a new option, shimmering with golden light, had appeared.

【Event Asset Trading】

Lu Yuan’s Divine Sense lightly touched it.

A search box popped up.

With a thought, he silently entered those two characters.

Ye Chen.

Buzz.

The entire screen vibrated violently.

The next moment, hundreds of golden entries poured down like a waterfall.

【Tradable Asset: Ye Chen obtains an Ancient Sword Cultivator’s Legacy in the ‘Myriad Beast Mountain Range’ within three months.】

【Call Option Price: 1800 karma points.】

【Tradable Asset: Ye Chen’s cultivation Breakthroughs to Golden Core Early Stage within half a year.】

【Call Option Price: 3500 karma points.】

【Tradable Asset: Ye Chen wins the affection of ‘Chen Yuyan,’ the daughter of Danyang City Lord, within one year.】

【Call Option Price: 950 karma points.】

...Each entry represented a glorious future.

Each entry shimmered with dazzling golden light, priced astonishingly high.

These were the so-called Fates.

In the eyes of the Great Dao Options Exchange, they were clearly quantified, explicitly priced, and awaiting the market’s judgment.

Lu Yuan’s gaze swept over these high-premium call options, then turned to the other side.

There, representing “failure,” were the put options.

【‘Ye Chen obtains an Ancient Sword Cultivator’s Legacy within three months’ fails.】

【Put Option Price: 3.5 karma points.】

The price was unbelievably low, full of deadly temptation.

However, next to these words, a series of shocking crimson warnings flashed wildly.

【High Karma Backlash Warning!】

【High Karma Backlash Warning!】

【High Karma Backlash Warning!】

Lu Yuan fell silent.

The logic behind this was simple and cruel.

Going long on a son of destiny was in line with the rules, buying a high-probability event, hence the expensive premium.

But shorting a son of destiny was reversing the rules, attempting to defy the Heavenly Dao’s favoritism with one’s individual power.

Risk and reward were calculated clearly.

Directly shorting was akin to a retail investor attempting to use their entire fortune to fight the central bank’s monetary policy.

There was only one outcome.

Forced liquidation, total loss.

Lu Yuan was not tempted by the low price.

He abandoned the idea of direct trading.

With a light tap of his finger, he found a never-before-used function in the service list.

【In-depth Deduction Report】

【Please enter the asset and time range you wish to deduce.】

“Target: Ye Chen.”

“Range: The most crucial Opportunity within the next month.”

【This deduction requires 50 karma points. Do you confirm?】

“Confirm.”

Without the slightest hesitation.

For a trader, information is always the most valuable commodity.

Fifty karma points for a precise piece of intelligence—the risk-reward ratio of this trade was extremely high.

As the karma points were deducted, a complex stream of information rushed into Lu Yuan’s Sea of Consciousness.

He “saw” all of Ye Chen’s objectives for this trip.

His secret meeting with City Lord Chen Changqing was merely a superficial social activity.

His true goal was the annual “Danyang Grand Auction,” to be held in Danyang City three days later.

At the auction, there was a rare treasure called “dragon saliva jade.”

This jade could perfectly activate an extremely rare special Physique.

And Ye Chen happened to be the owner of that Physique.

This was an “interest-free loan” tailor-made for him, almost without risk.

At the end of the information stream, there was an additional note that made Lu Yuan’s pupils suddenly contract.

【Long-term Goal: nine revolutions soul returning grass.】

So that was it.

All the clues, at this moment, finally converged, pointing to a single delivery point.

On the path to the nine revolutions soul returning grass, stood a “favored son” of the Heavenly Dao.

Lu Yuan slowly opened his eyes; the chill in the Immortal Cave seemed unable to cool the coldness in his gaze.

He did not fear competition.

In his eyes, the so-called “son of destiny” was merely a top-tier cash cow holding a large amount of quality assets, with zero risk control awareness.

All he needed was a sufficiently sharp scalpel and a precise entry point.

Now, that entry point had appeared.

“dragon saliva jade.”

Lu Yuan murmured softly, a ruthless calculation flashing in his eyes.

I’ll use you to test the transaction cost of shorting destiny.

Let me see what price I have to pay to snatch food from the Heavenly Dao’s plate.

He picked up the bronze token again, his Divine Sense sinking into it, and sent a very brief message to the Azure Bird on the other end.

The message contained only one sentence.

“The maintenance records of the security Formation in the Danyang Grand Auction’s backstage storeroom, what’s the price?”