45: Chapter 45 Tell me, do I have any wisdom or not?

Pan Yu looked at the small hill made of gray gravel before her, adjusted her glasses, and her gaze beneath the lenses was as sharp as a knife.

She didn't pay much attention to the sand itself, but turned to Chen You and asked the crucial question.

"You bought all the spirit essence sand on the market?"

"Mm." Chen You nodded, telling the truth, "Everything that could be bought at the auction house is right here."

Pan Yu took a deep breath, a trace of imperceptible solemnity in her tone.

"Your actions just now have completely detonated the economy of Zhao City, and even the entire Beginner Area (Newbie Area)."

"What do you mean?" Chen You was slightly stunned.

"In your view, you were 'stocking up.' But in the eyes of other players, a super tycoon who casually posts a 10 Gold Coin bounty suddenly clears out a material widely regarded as trash."

"That action itself is the most valuable piece of intelligence."

Pan Yu's speech was extremely fast, her logic crystal clear.

"I dare to assert that from the moment you logged off, the price of 'spirit essence sand' has already begun to skyrocket."

"All players, whether solo or guild members, will swarm to every location that produces this sand."

"An unprecedented gold rush has likely been ignited by you."

She paused, looking toward Director Li Guoan.

"Director, this means that if we want to acquire spirit essence sand in large quantities later, the cost will be ten, or even a hundred times what it is now."

From Pan Yu's perspective, acquiring spirit essence sand in large, long-term quantities shouldn't involve such a crude method of clearing out all the stock.

Director Li Guoan said 'the more the better,' and Chen You buying everything hadn't technically done anything wrong.

She only felt a bit self-reproachful that she hadn't foreseen this situation earlier and offered advice.

However, she didn't know that the energy density of this material was sufficient to camouflage a brand-new fighter jet with just one unit!

Director Li Guoan's expression remained unchanged, and he casually waved his hand: "This is enough."

What Qian Zhonghua had implied over the phone was that a few hundred units would suffice. This haul of over five thousand units was more than enough, even if they threw one away after each use.

Even if they had to buy more, a hundredfold price wasn't an astronomical figure.

His gaze shifted to Chen You, his voice steady and powerful.

"Little Chen, the matter of the materials is temporarily concluded. Now, you have only one core task—level up!"

"Follow the original plan and reach Level 10 as soon as possible to unlock the dungeon function!"

"Understood." Chen You, thinking he had messed up again, snapped back to attention and quickly nodded.

He glanced at the time and estimated, "I will stay in the Supreme Training Room until Level 10."

"It took less than half an hour to go from Level 5 to 6 previously. It took nearly two hours from Level 6 to 7. The time required to level up will double from here on out."

"Conservatively estimated, it might require over twenty hours of continuous combat."

Hearing this number, even Director Li Guoan frowned slightly.

"Can your body handle it? Come out and rest if you get tired; don't push yourself."

Chen You smiled faintly, feeling the ceaseless flow of spiritual energy within his body.

"Director, rest assured," he said.

"If it were before, let alone twenty hours, even ten hours of high-intensity gaming would wreck a person. But it's different now."

The physique of a Cultivator had long surpassed the limits of mortals.

Moreover, his monster-grinding loop in the training room was a perfect combination of combat consumption and cultivation practice, which was itself a form of 'work and rest integration.'

"I'm heading in now."

Chen You didn't linger any longer. After nodding to everyone in greeting, he re-entered the game.

...

Source Realm, Zhao City.

The headquarters of the [Moon Gods Radiance] guild.

It was an elegant courtyard where streams murmured, and exotic flowers and grass emitted faint fluorescence everywhere.

Yue Ying, clad in a magnificent moon-white robe, stood beneath an ancient tree covered in blue blossoms.

However, her eyes, resembling blue sapphires, rarely held a trace of irritation.

The indifferent gaze of that Level 7 human player echoed repeatedly in her mind, along with the system prompts of being rejected and having her friend requests deleted time and again.

Humiliation.

Since childhood, as a favored prodigy of the Elf God Clan, where did she ever go without being the center of attention?

When had she ever suffered such cold treatment?

She told herself not to think about that rude fellow anymore, but his image lingered like a curse, impossible to shake off.

It felt like taking a perfect piece of art that she was determined to possess, only to have a passing barbarian casually toss it into a mud pit—that feeling drove her mad.

"Steward."

An equally beautiful elven archer hurried into the courtyard and bowed respectfully.

"Speak," Yue Ying didn't turn around, her voice cold.

"The Chen You you asked us to monitor has appeared again."

Yue Ying's fingers paused slightly.

"He went to the auction house," the elven subordinate reported.

"And then... and then he cleared out all the 'spirit essence sand' in the auction house, not leaving a single piece."

"spirit essence sand?" Yue Ying finally turned around, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"That trash material that's only good for taking up inventory slots?"

"Yes." The elven subordinate nodded, confusion also etched on his face.

"According to our statistics, he purchased nearly six thousand units at once, costing... possibly less than eight Gold Coins."

"But his actions have driven all the players in Zhao City insane. The price of spirit essence sand has already been hyped up to 50 Silver Coins per unit, and it's still rising."

"Everyone has left the city to farm it."

The courtyard fell into a brief silence.

In Yue Ying's azure eyes, the previous irritation and anger were slowly receding, replaced by a sharp glint known as 'contemplation.'

Her 'wise' head began to spin rapidly.

Bountying ten Gold Coins just for a verbal insult.

Spending a huge amount of Gold Coins to enter the Supreme Training Room, which offered extremely low cost-effectiveness for low-level players.

Now, clearing out a universally recognized trash material in such an overbearing manner, triggering market frenzy.

Behind this lavish spending wasn't stupidity, nor was it showing off...

It was an absolute self-confidence and clear sense of purpose that she couldn't comprehend for the moment!

This man was not some nouveau riche at all.

Every step he took was like placing a chess piece on the board. It seemed casual, yet it stirred up the entire game.

Yue Ying suddenly smiled.

The smile was like the first thaw of ice and snow, carrying a hint of fox-like cunning.

"Interesting."

"You think just because you have money, you can ignore all the rules?"

"You rejected me, wanting to play by yourself?"

"Very well."

"You like solving problems with money, don't you? Then I'll show you that in this world, some things cannot be bought with money alone."

She looked at her subordinate, her voice regaining its usual coldness and authority.

"Relay my orders."

"First, all online members of [Moon Gods Radiance] within the Zhao City area are to immediately abandon their current quests and head to all areas that produce spirit essence sand, such as the Black Stone Mine and Rocky Slope—clear the area, book the entire site!"

"Second, issue a guild acquisition announcement. We will buy spirit essence sand without limit, and the price... let's set it at 1 Gold Coin per unit."

The elven subordinate suddenly looked up, his face filled with shock.

"Guild... Steward! 1 Gold Coin per unit? Then, then we..."

This was sheer madness!

Using a sky-high price to acquire trash!

The guild's funds...

"Do as I say," Yue Ying's tone admitted no argument.

"I want everyone to know that from now on, [Moon Gods Radiance] dictates the price of spirit essence sand."

"Yes!" The elven subordinate dared not ask further and immediately left to carry out the order.

Yue Ying slowly raised her hand, her gaze directed toward the Supreme Tower, a faint curve playing on her lips.

"You want to play? I'll play with you."

"You want this sand? Fine."

"Come and beg me."