Chapter 36: Small businesses
Not many people paid attention to what was happening to Chu Yuan. Of course, they have noticed him getting beaten by Shen Yue's followers, but it was not the first fight in this expedition. Some people went to ask Shen Yue about the reason for the fight. But most didn't care. They just assumed they must have fought over some treasure.
Nie Li and his group also noticed the fight. They too wondered about the reason for conflict but not as much as to ask about it. Nie Li considered the possibility of it being connected to him talking with Huyan Lanruo but couldn't find any logical reason why Shen Yue would order his followers to beat up that guy.
He also didn't care enough to ask about it. So he shrugged his shoulders and returned to the conversation with the girls. Surprisingly Huyan Lanruo was a great storyteller who excitedly recounted her adventures.
After some time the treasure chamber was empty. Some people chose some treasures personally, but the rest was gathered in collective storage. And records were kept by Chen Linjian. When the treasures will be sold everyone will get their share.
When everything was finished Chen Linjian called a meeting. He wanted to discuss further plans. The expedition was planned to last for a month. But they hadn't expected to find such a great haul in the first days after coming to the Ruins. So was there any reason to continue? This was the question he asked others.
Everyone turned towards Nie Li as if expecting him to point them to another treasure. He rolled his eyes. Everyone here got tens of millions of spirit coins worth of treasures depending on their share already. Now they want even more?
"Let's not forget that these ruins are very dangerous and we have lost three people already." Nie Li reminded them. "There are surely other dangerous demon beasts here. And we are not the only ones exploring these ruins. If someone learns that we had found such a treasure here, it may become even dangerous for us."
"So I advise returning to Glory City as soon as possible. And if someone wants to lead another expedition here I recommend them to bring a couple of gold rank guards at least," he said.
"I agree with you," stated Chen Linjian "Okay, let's vote. Who wants to stay here to explore the ruins and who wants to return to the city immediately?"
In the end, most voted for returning to Glory City. They already had a big haul and the ruins turned out to be more dangerous than they expected.
And they set off right away. The group was more experienced this time so their return trip went more smoothly. Nie Li continued with his nightly cultivation and daily talks with girls. He also improved his connections with other noble kids in the group. He had become friends with most of them.
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Five days later they were in Glory City. And quickly the news about them began to spread. Everyone in the City heard about Chen Linjian and his group's harvest in the Ancient Orchid City Ruins. Many people decided to travel to the ruins to try their luck.
And Nie Li returned to the academy. Now that he had gotten the Shadow Devil Demon Spirit he must reach the Silver rank as quickly as possible. He was already close to the 5-star so it should not a big problem.
When he returned to his dorm his friends visited him. They talked about his adventures during the expedition. His friends expressed their regrets that they weren't able to go. And Nie Li in turn reminded them about the deaths among the expedition members. That shut them up.
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The next day after classes he called a meeting with his clansmen that worked for him. He wanted to know how things were going. Before leaving he ordered them to buy some specific materials and space-time attributed demon crystals.
They met again in the Ice Phoenix restaurant. Nie Liked the restaurant so booked a private room there. When everyone gathered Nie Li immediately felt the difference from their first meeting. Most of them had better clothes and they were in a better mood as well.
"Good day to everyone. How was your two-week-long vacation?" Nie Li began.
"What vacation? We have been working on buying the things you have ordered," some of them complained. But Nie Li knew better. He had only left them 50 thousand so it wouldn't have lasted long for them.
"It was a joke," Nie Li reassured them, "So how did it go?" he asked Nie Wen.
"We have bought the things you ordered. Here's the list," he handed him a piece of paper.
"Thank you" Nie Li took the list and quickly looked through it. It was not bad. They have bought many space-time attributed demon crystals. It was not easy to find them. Because demon beasts with space-time attributes were extremely rare even in the Draconic Ruins Realm.
It was almost impossible to find demon crystals or demon spirits with major space-time attributes. So Nie Li asked them to buy demon crystals and demon spirits with a minor space-time attribute. Those attributes were so minor that nobody cared about them. So one has to buy demon crystals with other attributes where the space-time attribute was secondary or tertiary. It took time to find enough of them to be useful.
And Nie Li needed them to grow dimensional stones and crystals. So he asked his clansmen to look for such kinds of resources everywhere.
"Brother Nie Li great news! The cost of Purple Haze Grass has dramatically risen since you left. Now it is 25 demon crystals a kilogram," excitedly stated one of his clansmen. If Nie Li wasn't mistaken he was one of the Nie Ruogang's followers.
"Oh," said Nie Li noncommitedly. This guy couldn't really make a connection between him buying it and the prices rising?
"Yes, A couple of days after you left, rumors spread about the new uses of Purple Haze Grass. And its prices rose quickly. You were wise to buy all of it early. Now you can sell it at a new price."
Oh, he wanted just to suck up to him. Nie Li never liked this kind of people. Play dumber than they're to suck up to someone. But Nie Li didn't say anything to him and looked at his other clansmen.
"I see you have been doing your own small businesses," he said looking at them knowingly. Under his stare they became uncomfortable. Even Nie Wen was averting his eyes. Of course, they knew that it has something to do with Nie Li that the prices of Purple Haze Grass rose so quickly. Or he had found about it earlier and decided to buy out all of the Grass in the market, or he was the one who spread those rumors.
Nie Wen thought it was the latter. Most likely Nie Li found information about it in some ancient books and decided to make money out of it. But how will Nie Li take that they have earned money out of his idea behind his back? Will he consider it a betrayal? He cursed the idiot ZhenKang for his mouth. If you want to suck up don't throw everyone under the carriage. Each of them made at least a couple of hundred spirit coins out of it. It was a pocket change for Nie Li but the fact they have done it behind his back may make things difficult.
"Relax, if I wanted you not to make money out of my idea I would have told you." Nie Li said. He actually would have been a bit disappointed in them if they hadn't used the opportunity. It was also to Nie Li's benefit. He had bought almost all available Purple Haze grass. Scarce remains of it, that he couldn't get his hands on, must have been used up by now. That would make it more expensive when he releases information about the other uses of Purple Haze Grass.
"Yeah, we only made a couple of hundred spirit coins out of it. That's not a big amount of money for brother Nie Li," said one of his clansmen relaxing. "And brother Nie Li, if you want to sell it you should do it slowly or the price would drop. Right now there's almost no Purple Haze Grass left. Everything is sold out."
Nie Li looked at them amusedly and said, "No I have no plans to sell it right now. Also if you have bought demon crystals and other resources for yourself you can sell them to me. Because their prices aren't going to rise. I am buying them for my personal use." Some of his clansmen again averted their eyes. They were so predictable.
"Okay this is a new plan for purchases," Nie Li gave Nie Wen a list and money. Nie Wen in turn gave him the materials they had bought on his previous orders.
"Thank you, everyone. Until next time," His clansmen stayed at the restaurant discussing his new orders. But he had other meetings today.
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CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
DaoistDlL6M5
DaoistDlL6M5 Current cultivation:
Nie Li: 466 (In canon: around 170-180)
Xiao Ning'er: 346
Ye Ziyun: 310
Du Ze: 208
Lu Piao: 143
Nie Wen: 383
Nie Zexi: 325
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone