Wuji Market.

At Lu Xian’s home.

Inside the house, Qin Lu and Lu Xian sat on opposite sides of a table, engaged in quiet conversation.

After chatting for a while about recent events and exchanging pleasantries, Qin Lu finally brought up the main topic.

“Old Lu, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the price of Spirit Rice in the market has been rising steadily lately. It doubled in the first half of the month, and today it’s actually selling for one Spirit Stone per jin. Do you know what’s going on?”

“Ah?” Lu Xian’s smile faded, replaced by a look of slight surprise. “Wait, Brother Qin, you’re only hearing about this now? This matter has caused such a stir recently; I thought you would have caught wind of it much earlier…”

Qin Lu was taken aback for a moment before showing a troubled expression.

“I’ve been secluded at home recently, focusing entirely on my cultivation and paying no attention to outside affairs. It was only when I went out to buy rice today that I discovered the drastic price change. So… what exactly is happening?”

“Well, your information is indeed a bit behind.”

Lu Xian teased lightly before continuing, his voice dropping low. “The whole story is quite clear. Simply put, half a month ago, someone robbed the Wuji Sect’s grain transport team!”

“Robbed the transport team?!” Qin Lu’s expression changed instantly.

Having spent over half a year here, he had naturally heard about the transport teams.

Since there were no suitable spiritual fields around Wuji Market capable of cultivating Spirit Rice, all the Spirit Rice in the market had to be transported from outside.

The Wuji Sect’s rice shops held about eighty percent of the market share, so they usually had the largest grain shipments.

However, despite the large quantity of grain, the escort personnel were not numerous.

This was because the grain was transported using [Storage Bags]. Typically, only five or six people escorted it, led by one Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“With a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Wuji Sect escorting it, it could still be robbed?” Qin Lu found it hard to believe.

“Of course it could, because the one who did it was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator. It’s said he brought along quite a few desperadoes. They ambushed the team halfway. As soon as they saw them coming, they immediately attacked and killed everyone to silence them!”

“This… Did everyone in the transport team die?”

“No. Fortunately, that Foundation Establishment cultivator had a life-saving magical artifact and managed to escape with his life. But he was already severely injured and is currently recuperating.”

Qin Lu’s expression turned serious as he spoke slowly. “I never imagined something like this happened. So this is why the Spirit Rice price increased…”

“No, no…” Lu Xian suddenly interrupted. “That’s only part of the reason. Actually, there’s a deeper cause that drove the Spirit Rice price to its current level…”

“What else happened?” Qin Lu asked curiously.

“After having their Spirit Rice stolen, the Wuji Sect was furious and immediately sent people to investigate but found nothing. However, they couldn’t delay supplying Spirit Rice to Wuji Market, either. So the Wuji Sect arranged for another batch of Spirit Rice to be transported… and then…”

At this point, Lu Xian paused and shook his head with a helpless expression.

“Could it be…” Qin Lu guessed slowly. “It was robbed again?”

Seeing this, Lu Xian nodded gently in confirmation. “Yes. The Wuji Sect never expected that the culprit they were searching for was hiding right under their noses. The incident happened so suddenly they couldn’t react in time. In the blink of an eye, that batch of Spirit Rice was also robbed on its way.”

“Then… these people are truly audacious…”

“Exactly! They actually dared to play hide-and-seek with the Wuji Sect…”

Lu Xian let out a long sigh. “Ah… I don’t know which Foundation Establishment cultivator is so desperate for money that they’d rob something as hot as Spirit Rice. The profit from Spirit Rice isn’t high, and it’s troublesome to move. I don’t know why they’d rob this stuff…”

Qin Lu nodded slightly in agreement with Lu Xian’s view.

The profit from Spirit Rice wasn’t substantial. And since they robbed the Wuji Sect’s rice, they certainly wouldn’t dare sell it within Wuji Sect territory; they’d have to go to another sect’s area to offload it.

Going back and forth like that would make the profit even lower.

To provoke a Golden Core sect for just a few Spirit Stones… it didn’t seem worth it.

If Patriarch Zhang Zhenyuan of the Wuji Sect tracked them down following the clues, that Foundation Establishment cultivation base would probably vanish on the spot.

“But wait,” Qin Lu quickly asked another question. “With such a major incident happening and the market now severely lacking Spirit Rice, as the stationed Immortal Master, doesn’t Li Qingdu have any way to handle this?”

“He does. It’s said that two days ago he organized a meeting with Foundation Establishment cultivators from the four major powers. Now all their leaders have left the market.”

“They all left? Where did they go?”

“To find food supplies. The four of them formed a secure grain-purchasing team and have already gone to neighboring markets intending to buy some Spirit Rice back as an emergency measure.”

“Emergency measure? I suspect this is more of a money-making opportunity…” Qin Lu guessed softly.

Originally, the Spirit Rice business was almost monopolized by the Wuji Sect; none of the four major powers could get involved.

But now, a business opportunity had arisen.

As long as they successfully opened Spirit Rice shops in the market this time and established themselves firmly here—if later on, the Wuji Sect wanted to dismantle their shops and monopolize the share again—they likely wouldn’t have a legitimate reason anymore.

Lu Xian picked up his teacup and took a small sip before speaking calmly.

“You and I shouldn’t try to guess what those important figures are thinking. Now that both batches of Wuji Sect’s Spirit Rice have been robbed and their purchasing team won’t be back anytime soon… there probably won’t be any more Spirit Rice in our market for quite some time…”

“And Brother Qin,” he continued meaningfully, looking him directly in the eye. “Since you received this news so late… I assume your household doesn’t have any stored grain yet? I advise you to hurry up now while it is still possible—go buy some more immediately! Otherwise, things might get difficult later…”

“You’re right! Then I’ll take my leave first!”

Without hesitation or delay, Qin Lu stood up decisively, bidding farewell immediately after hearing the warning.

After receiving guidance from Lu Xian, Qin Lu hurriedly rushed toward the downtown area within the marketplace, planning to visit the local rice shop to purchase some stored grain.

However, upon arriving at the rice shop, he discovered the place was already packed. It was a chaotic scene, the front door extremely disorderly as various noisy voices constantly rose over the din.

“I’ve been waiting in line for so damn long—you’re telling me now there isn’t any left?!”

“Little brother, little brother, please sell me some Spirit Rice, please! Even just one or two jin will do!”

“Dammit! Forget buying, then—as a dignified cultivator, am I afraid of starving to death? There are plenty of animals in the wild to feed me!”

“Yeah, right! Even if I starve to death outside or jump off a mountain cliff, I won’t ever buy your damn Spirit Rice again!”

Apart from the shouts of Loose Cultivators, mixed among them were the hoarse yells of the shop assistants working inside the Spirit Rice store.

“Sold out today! Sold out today! Stop fucking crowding over here! No more rice left whatsoever!”

Seeing this scene, Qin Lu didn’t hesitate anymore. He immediately got moving, heading toward other rice shops within the marketplace.

But after making the rounds, he found the situation in front of each shop roughly similar. Everywhere, bustling crowds were scrambling for food.

This meant that even having money couldn’t buy Spirit Rice.

He visited seven or eight Spirit Rice shops and eventually managed to grab only about twenty-plus jin from a small-scale shop. Aside from that, nothing else was gained.

He even went to the marketplace pill shops intending to purchase some demon beast meat or [Fasting Pills] to serve as backup food supplies. Unfortunately, these backup provisions were also sold completely clean.

Finally, he could only carry his meager twenty-plus jin of Spirit Rice, walking back in the direction of home.

In the coming days, he would likely need to tighten his belt to live through this.