Zong Shou examined it closely, a strange look flashing in his eyes.

The sell-off notifications on the light screen were still increasing frantically, and the prices continued to slide rapidly.

At a glance, there were countless offers to purchase various elixirs, spiritual artifacts, and various resources, all exclusively using beast cores and spirit stones as trade—they occupied almost the entire light screen.

At the most extreme, compared to four days ago, the difference was already fourfold.

The same ten thousand catties of food that could be bought for one first-tier beast core before now required four.

However, a hint of surprise, a flicker of astonishment, appeared in Zong Shou's eyes.

In his memory, this storm of falling value for beast cores and spirit stones shouldn't have been this exaggerated, and the timing should have been six days later, with a drop of only a little more than double.

Yet now, not only had it plunged nearly fourfold, but there was still no sign of it stopping. "My Lord, this is strange. Even if the spiritual tide might be increasing, the value of these beast cores shouldn't plummet this drastically in this moment!"

Tan Tao frowned, looking at the crowded hall with a peculiar expression, his face flushed with a touch of excitement. It wasn't just the plummeting prices of beast cores and spirit stones; the prices of low-grade elixirs, especially the Suyan Dan, were also soaring crazily. Although the amount of beast cores mobilized by Profound Mountain City—twenty thousand fourth-tier beast cores—wasn't as staggering as Zong Shou's hoard, it was still immense. Seeing a potential return of over six times in the blink of an eye, even he couldn't suppress his surging emotions. With this wealth, they could easily train at least ten thousand more elites like the Profound Armored Wind Dragon Riders. Led by Commander Xuanyuan Tong, they could easily wipe out most of the hidden sects below the Spirit Prefecture level!

But more confusion filled Tan Tao's eyes: "I had always thought that even if they were to fall, it should be a gradual decline over the next decade, not this rapid! Young City Lord, could you enlighten me on this?"

Zong Shou couldn't help but roll his eyes. What on earth was happening? Even he was confused now and had no way to explain it.

However, at this moment, it wasn't just Tan Tao; Hu Zhongyuan and Chu Xue Ruoshui were also looking over with the curiosity of babies. He didn't care about the first two and couldn't be bothered to entertain them, but he couldn't ignore the gaze of the latter two. Especially Chu Xue’s twinkling, pitiful, and large watery eyes, whose lethal charm instantly felled him.

After a moment of thought, Zong Shou chuckled mysteriously, "You all underestimate the stock of beast cores and spirit stones held by those Sacred Lands and Spirit Prefectures. They stored them previously to weather the Spiritual Decline Period, whose duration was unknown. But now that the Spiritual Tide has erupted, what use is keeping those beast cores and spirit stones locked away in the vaults?"

In his memory, over the past two decades, the few Sacred Lands that had confirmed the impending outbreak of the Spiritual Tide were all striving with all their might to silently exchange their stockpiled beast cores and spirit stones for various spiritual materials.

It wasn't until several days later that this was noticed by more people. The sell-off of beast cores and spirit stones first spread to the Nineteen Spirit Prefectures, then to the remaining hidden sects and aristocratic families, and finally, the forces across the Five Continents and Twelve Islands began selling off their stockpiles with all their might. Subsequently, within just a few years, the price of beast cores plummeted a full sixteenfold, and spirit stones followed suit. It wasn't until ten years later that the prices recovered slightly. However, the drop in his memory was orchestrated behind the scenes, completed orderly within a few years.

But as he pondered this, a clue sparked in Zong Shou's mind.

Could it be triggered by his own purchases of low-grade elixirs? He had always heard scholars in his past life mention that a martial artist throwing a punch or two in his own courtyard could, through a chain reaction, stir up a storm a thousand li away.

He had always thought it sounded unreliable before, but now he wholeheartedly agreed. It seemed history was not immutable after all.

Tan Tao pondered thoughtfully, but Hu Zhongyuan and Chu Xue didn't concern themselves with the details; knowing the general reason was enough, as they were currently profiting immensely. They were incredibly excited and triumphant, almost jumping for joy, desperately needing to vent.

Zong Shou glanced at the light screen again. In just this short time, the price had dropped sixfold. It was clearly chaotic, indicating countless more people had joined the sell-off, and they were anxious.

Zong Shou’s lips curled upward. In such a situation, even if the leaders of the Sacred Lands and Sects jointly intervened, it would likely be useless.

He had struggled in the commercial arena in his past life. He knew that when such massive psychological panic formed, it was extremely difficult to reverse, unless those Sacred Lands brought out large quantities of their own resources to force the prices back up. But was that likely?

The only uncertainty was the final depth of the fall: would it be ten times, or fifteen times?

While he was mentally debating this, Zong Shou’s gaze suddenly caught sight of an unusually desolate figure not far away, which seemed vaguely familiar. Looking closely, wasn't that Fang Chen, the outer disciple supervisor of the Pill Spirit Sect? Zong Shou immediately grinned mischievously and raised his hand: "Oh! Isn't this Big Idiot Fang? I wonder how your Pill Spirit Sect's business is doing today?"

Fang Chen, who had been pale and distraught, froze for a long moment upon hearing Zong Shou's voice, realizing that "Big Idiot Fang" was referring to him. He suddenly turned around, looking at Zong Shou with a mixture of indignation and grief. He yearned to tear the other person to shreds, but moments later, he realized he was utterly helpless against him.

After a pause, a voice squeezed out from between his teeth: "A petty man triumphant!"

Zong Shou chuckled. Yes, he was a petty man triumphant. He was never a gentleman, and concepts like magnanimity had nothing to do with him. When he was winning, he should stomp back. If he was constantly called trash, must he just endure it? If it weren't for Yi Ren’s sake, one day he would storm the Pill Spring Sect.

However, upon reflection, he decided it was better to conquer with virtue. Zong Shou blinked: "Forget it, you are Yi Ren's senior martial brother after all. I won't call you an idiot. Although you truly are quite dim. How about this: I expect the beast cores might drop below ten times their current value soon. Yesterday you traded five hundred million low-grade elixirs to me for ten seventh-tier beast cores. Now you can buy them back for eighty cores. I wonder, Supervisor Fang, do you dare to buy? This opportunity won't come again."

Fang Chen clearly hesitated for a moment, then snorted and strode away, ignoring him completely.

Zong Shou shook his head slightly. He had shown a rare bit of kindness because of Yi Ren, only to have it wasted by the other party. What an utter fool. Zong Shou's group watched quietly. Everyone else in the hall was flustered and anxious, while Zong Shou and his companions looked flushed and smug, appearing exceptionally jarring. Countless gazes filled with burning, bloodshot resentment were directed toward them. Especially the dozens who had previously traded with Zong Shou, they wished they could swallow him whole.

Zong Shou didn't really care, but Tan Tao and Hu Zhongyuan sensed trouble brewing. They forcefully dragged Zong Shou out of the hall.

As they walked along the adjacent corridor toward their private room, they saw two figures approaching together.

Zong Shou smiled again upon seeing them; these were two more fools. Speaking of which, these two were always inseparable; perhaps there was some shared sentiment. He was about to proactively extend a greeting when he saw the burly Xiong Kui suddenly stop, blocking the path of their group. His imposing figure obscured nearly half the corridor, and he stared coldly at Zong Shou: "If you have any sense, Zong Shou, return those elixirs yourself! I can forget about this incident and not pursue the matter with you..."

Zong Shou was stunned, realizing these two had come to extort him.

Feng Yu also wore a grim expression, his eyes blazing like venomous fire as he looked over: "No one who cheats my Cloud Scar Mountain has ever survived! If you don't want to die, handle it yourself."

Zong Shou let out a soft laugh, splitting his lips to reveal teeth as white as jade, with an innocent air: "Tan Tao, I'm a little scared. If I return those elixirs... will these two let us go in the future?"

Tan Tao was momentarily speechless. After seriously contemplating for a moment, he also shook his head: "Young City Lord, these two are fiends, the kind that devour people without spitting out the bones. I think it's better not to return them. If the Young City Lord needs it, Profound Mountain City can dispatch troops here at any time!" This young lord was good in every way, but his temperament was truly peculiar.

Hu Zhongyuan simply spat, "Bah! Our Profound Heaven Mountain conquers the world; our sharp edge has never known defeat. That Cloud Scar Mountain and Blazing Flame Mountain have only gotten a little bold in the last half year. What's there to be so proud of?"

Xiong Kui and Feng Yu trembled with rage, their faces dark as water, "So we don't need to be afraid."

Zong Shou narrowed his eyes and looked back: "Threats are useless, what now? Why don't you beg me? Perhaps I, Zong Shou, might be kind enough to return the elixirs to you?"

Those two gazes had turned into blades, slicing up and down, causing a faint stinging pain. Zong Shou remained unconcerned and shook his head slightly: "Why aren't you speaking? If there's nothing else, please step aside, yes? Haven't you heard that a good dog doesn't block the road? Are you two truly imbeciles?"

Fire erupted in Xiong Kui's eyes. He stared fixedly at Zong Shou for a long moment, then gave a cold laugh: "Very well!"

Saying this, he turned and left without another word. Feng Yu’s eyes also concealed a brewing storm: "I didn't originally intend to kill you! But now, I truly wish to devour your flesh and blood. I hope my room won't have an extra chamber pot in the future."

He also turned and strode away, followed by a group of subordinates whose eyes also showed fierce malice. In the blink of an eye, they vanished.

Tan Tao, however, frowned. While he didn't agree with returning those beast cores and spirit stones, it didn't mean he wasn't worried.

"Young City Lord, I think we should be cautious! I heard that Cloud Scar Mountain and Blazing Flame Mountain have recently gathered at least three hundred thousand troops toward the Vast Sea Mountain Range. Should we ask the City Lord to dispatch more forces? Or perhaps take the Cloud Sea route? This time, it might truly be perilous..."

Zong Shou smiled and shook his head, but a bit of seriousness returned to his eyes. If he didn't understand the severity of the situation, he wouldn't be vying for the Demon King position of Profound Heaven Mountain.

This time, if not handled carefully, it would indeed be troublesome.