Chapter 340: The Divine Sword Qingming?

After circling deep within the Divine Dragon Ridge, Kai Xin led a group of Jinyiwei to the territory of several long-armed blood apes before quickly escaping using his swift movement skills.
Returning from the Divine Dragon Ridge to Baokang, it would likely take no less than two hours for those Jinyiwei to catch up.
Once back in Baokang County, Kai Xin didn’t head straight to the Dragon God Tavern but instead went to a pawnshop to post an acquisition notice.
With the agreement of the Five Factions Alliance in place, the resources of the second layer of the Divine Dragon Ridge would surely require a long period of steady exploitation. There was a high chance of finding top-quality minerals there, so maximizing extraction speed would be highly beneficial for the future development and growth of the Mu family.
However!
Entering the second layer required “Colorful Minerals,” and the more people there were, the greater the demand…
In the early stages, various gangs hesitated to sell their minerals to gather enough of the 8 Colorful Minerals. In the middle stages, they feared investing millions at once in Colorful Minerals would attract hostility from the three major gangs, so they remained cautious. Now that the five factions monopolized the resources of the second layer, it was time to sell those Colorful Minerals.
Moreover…
It was also time for the price of Colorful Minerals to return to normal levels. Thanks to the understanding among the five major gangs, their prices could no longer soar.
Kai Xin posted a notice offering to buy large quantities of Colorful Minerals at a temporary price of 150,000 taels of silver per unit—still slightly above the regular market price, which was usually under 100,000 taels.
“One Colorful Mineral acquired!”
“Three Colorful Minerals acquired!”
“Four Colorful Minerals acquired!”
“Seven Colorful Minerals acquired!”
Not long after the notice was posted, as Kai Xin browsed other useful information at the pawnshop, a series of system alerts indicating successful transactions rang out frantically.
In less than ten minutes!
The 3 million taels of silver he had set aside was gone. The pawnshop removed the acquisition notice and transferred 20 “Colorful Minerals” to Kai Xin’s account.
Even a few notices quickly appeared prominently on the first page of the pawnshop:
“Selling Colorful Minerals at 150,000 taels of silver each. Those with high demand can contact me for a better price. I’m ‘Conscientious Tycoon’.”
“…”
Kai Xin stood frozen for a long time. Then he suddenly realized he had done something foolish.
Merchants!!
Although the price of Colorful Minerals in Baokang County was extremely high, it didn’t mean it was the same elsewhere. Where there was demand, there was a market. During the early stages when everyone was competing for Colorful Minerals, some must have seen an opportunity to hoard them. It was just that the Colorful Robes Sect hadn’t considered obtaining these precious minerals through a pawnshop at that time.

However, merchants can easily determine the true value of Colorful Ore based on its output and demand. One hundred and fifty thousand is clearly a very good price, so several competitive offers appeared in the pawnshop, leaving Happy with a bitter smile. He contacted a few people… There was silence on the other end for a long time! “Happy?” The homing pigeon returned, carrying a note with an uncertain tone. Happy was speechless. Another homing pigeon arrived soon: “Boss Happy, what if we sell it for twelve ten thousand silver pieces each? How much do you want?” After reviewing these messages, Happy didn’t reply further, as he had made it clear when sending messages to these people that this was the lowest price for Colorful Ore, and he wouldn’t respond to lower offers… “Happy! It’s actually Happy!” “Damn it!” A strange laugh came from a shop in a certain city, quickly turning into an annoyed mutter: “Damn, I didn’t even send a counteroffer. Will I get blacklisted? No, twelve ten thousand… Forget it. It’s an idol-level figure; let’s lower it further—ten thousand?” “Ten thousand? Boss, that’s the purchase price.” A colleague reminded him. The man glared at him: “You know nothing.” The homing pigeon flew away for half a day with no response. The young merchant was stunned… He checked the information from the pawnshop and suddenly found that many messages had changed their titles: “Selling large quantities of Colorful Ore for ten thousand silver pieces—only to Happy!” “Boss Happy, nine ten thousand silver pieces each. I have thirty pieces; hoping for a chance to cooperate!” “Boss Happy, seven ten thousand silver pieces—seeking cooperation opportunities. As much Colorful Ore as you want…” The messages in the pawnshop became increasingly aggressive. “…” The young merchant was completely speechless. Seven ten thousand… This must be some merchant who organized his own miners; otherwise, just the cost of purchasing Colorful Ore could bankrupt an average merchant, forcing them to cooperate at a loss. The colleague beside him also stared blankly for a long time before finally swallowing hard: “I really don’t understand.” …Happy also noticed that extremely aggressive message in the pawnshop that overshadowed all the other offers! Seven ten thousand… The lowest price for Colorful Ore had never reached this level. But Happy chose this person not solely because of the price, but rather because of the statement “As much as you want,” which piqued his curiosity. Colorful Ore was something that appeared very rarely.

Even in a monopoly situation, it takes a long time for prices to gradually rise. He was somewhat skeptical about whether the claim of “whatever you want, we can provide it” was true.
“How much colorful ore do you have?”
The homing pigeon flew out of the pawnshop and disappeared into the sky.
The Conscience Tycoon replied quickly: “We currently have over 200 units in stock. How much do you want, Boss Happy?”
“…”
Happy was indeed shocked.
However, at this time, the market price of colorful ore was 100,000. With such a steep discount, it was obvious the other party wanted to cooperate with him. After some thought, Happy replied, “70,000 silver per piece. Whatever price you set, that’s what I’ll pay. What do you want from me?”
“Great!” said the Conscience Tycoon. “I hope Boss Happy will sell all your loot to me. Based on your harvest from the Royal Tomb once, how about a deal of at least 50 rare artifacts per month?”
“50 rare artifacts? Your figures are quite accurate,” Happy laughed. “But you should know that few people dare to venture to the second floor of the Royal Tomb, and even fewer survive. Places with such a high death rate are rare.”
“I have confidence in you, Boss Happy,” replied the Conscience Tycoon. “Moreover, on the second floor, you once encountered the King of Endurance—and you’re the only one who escaped his pursuit unharmed.”
“Can we change the terms?”
“Yes, but you can first take a look at something I’ve sent to the pawnshop.”
“What?”
Happy frowned and scanned the pawnshop’s inventory list. Suddenly, a shocking red message appeared on the screen:
“Top-tier sword of the third grade—not for sale!!”
At those six words, Happy’s heart clenched violently. When he checked its attributes, his astonishment grew even more…
A sword surrounded by purple, red, and blue auras lay quietly in the pawnshop’s inventory list, its brilliance shining brightly. The aura it emitted far surpassed even some of the current divine artifacts!
Qingming Sword: Tier 2 rare artifact, number of forges: 3!
Increases attack power by 1,000 points…