Chapter 175 The Price of Herbs

Once the price of herbs entered a rising channel, a situation arose where sellers became reluctant. They hoarded their supplies, waiting for prices to rise further before selling. Speculators also followed in Nie Yan's wake, buying up herbs and sitting on them, expecting the price to rise. The price of herbs was pushed higher and higher, so Nie Yan didn't need to invest more capital.

When the herb market showed signs of abnormality, Qin Han immediately noticed the problem. In an attempt to thwart the Niu Ren Tribe, he mobilized the major guilds under the Monee Financial Group, collecting herbs everywhere. He dumped all their inventory on the market. His actions did cause some trouble for Nie Yan, causing the price of herbs on the market to temporarily fall back to its original level. However, after spending nearly eight or nine million gold coins, Nie Yan managed to hold on, pushing the price back up. Seeing the trend of soaring herb prices, a group of speculators on the market also intervened, taking the opportunity to buy some.

Seeing that he couldn't hold on, Qin Han had no choice but to switch from selling herbs to buying them. The price of herbs entered a very crazy state, and players started a nationwide frenzy. The more the price soared, the more players chose to buy. Basically, herbs were rarely seen on the market, and the herbs that were for sale were very expensive.

Unexpectedly, such a situation would occur. All the major pharmacies except for Starry Night Pharmacy were dumbfounded. They couldn't do business. The price of herbs on the market was ridiculously high, while the potions sold by Starry Night Pharmacy were basically the same price as the raw materials on the market, or even lower. If they continued to buy herbs from the market, make potions, and sell them, they would either not make money or lose money. Before, their inventory had been almost exhausted, and the warehouses were empty. The pharmacy counters were sold out, but they couldn't replenish them. As a result, business at major pharmacies suddenly became deserted.

Nie Yan's funds had been waiting on the sidelines. As soon as the price of herbs on the market fell, he immediately bought them, maintaining the price of herbs at a very high level. Such acquisitions were very expensive. Five or six million funds couldn't support it at all, but Nie Yan's funds became more and more abundant, quickly breaking through ten million.

Nie Yan took a look. In a short period of time, Starry Night Pharmacy's operating income had soared crazily. In just one day, it sold six or seven million gold coins, with a profit margin of 70%. In the past, a profit of 20% was already the limit, but 70% was a very terrifying number. The reason for this result was very simple. Currently, all the major pharmacies on the market, except for Starry Night Pharmacy, had no potions to sell. Only Starry Night Pharmacy was shipping goods. Whether it was those high-level players or large clients like guilds, they needed a lot of potions to level up or go to dungeons. Without potions, it was impossible to move an inch, so they could only go to Starry Night Pharmacy to buy potions.

Currently, the intermediate and advanced potions on the market were too expensive. Many players could only drastically reduce their usage, but some essential places still had to use them. There were also some richer players who didn't care about the money. Even if the price was very high, they would still buy them. So, Starry Night Pharmacy's business not only didn't shrink, but it was also unusually booming.

At this time, everyone could see that everything was done by the Niu Ren Tribe. There had been precedents for a commodity being hyped up. Scrolls, gems, equipment, and all kinds of items had been hyped up. Prices had soared several times or even dozens of times. This was the market. Although this hype was led by the Niu Ren Tribe, almost everyone had a hand in it. When everyone was speculating, no one could blame the instigator of this incident.

The Niu Ren Tribe's pharmacists turned all the herbs they had previously acquired into potions. The shelves and warehouses of Starry Night Pharmacy were filled. Nie Yan initially estimated that in the near future, Starry Night Pharmacy's daily operating income could reach at least six or seven million gold coins, and the accumulated potions were enough for him to sell for a full half month. That was nearly one hundred million gold coins, which meant that Nie Yan had tripled more than thirty million gold coins in half a month!

After giving a portion of the money earned back to the Niu Ren Tribe and the major branches, a large amount of the remaining money would be used to stabilize the price of herbs, keeping them at a high level. The other part would be accumulated to cope with emergencies.

It was estimated that in less than half a month, those pharmacies would not be able to hold on. On the one hand, they had no business, and on the other hand, they had to pay a lot of wages to their subordinate pharmacists. Moreover, they couldn't see the dawn, because they didn't know when the price of herbs would fall back. As long as Nie Yan was willing, his strong financial resources could stabilize the price of herbs.

Not being able to produce potions meant that those pharmacists had lost their jobs. Nie Yan timely released some news that Starry Night Pharmacy began to greatly increase the salaries of all pharmacists. The salaries of most pharmacists had soared by more than 50%, far higher than the market level. At the same time, they also began to recruit pharmacists on a large scale, and the salaries were frighteningly high.

Those intermediate and advanced pharmacists who were about to lose their jobs because of the herb hype had two choices: one was to be poor and destitute, and the other was to join Starry Night Pharmacy. The salary offered by Starry Night Pharmacy was a huge temptation. Starry Night Pharmacy's salary was already 20% higher than those pharmacists on the market, and now they were adding 50%. Not only that, they also provided unlimited herbs, allowing them to constantly make potions. If the pharmacist's level reached the master or grandmaster level, the treatment would be even more outrageous.

Under the lure of high salaries, idle pharmacists on the market began to flow to Starry Night Pharmacy. Every day, a large number of pharmacists signed employment contracts with Starry Night Pharmacy. This time, the major guilds also realized the seriousness of the problem, and they took various measures to attract pharmacists to join with various favorable conditions.

They did absorb some pharmacists, but an even more serious problem appeared. They gave the new pharmacists very generous treatment, and they had to give the old pharmacists a raise, right? If they all followed the salary treatment given by Starry Night Pharmacy, they simply couldn't afford such a large expenditure. After all, their pharmacist team was not market-oriented. Like Angel Corps, in order to retain the pharmacists, they had to spend two or three hundred thousand more gold coins every day, and their guild's daily net profit could only reach more than half of the Niu Ren Tribe, which was six or seven hundred thousand gold coins. The expenditure on potions reduced their daily net profit by a third, which was simply unbearable.

They watched helplessly as Nie Yan's commercial empire, with Starry Night Pharmacy as its core, was slowly taking shape, but they were powerless, because their financial resources were not on the same level as Nie Yan's at all. Although Angel Corps was very rich, and the entire guild's fixed assets had exceeded two hundred million gold coins, their liquid assets were only a little over one million gold coins, and they couldn't do anything at all. At this time, Nie Yan's liquid assets reached an astonishing ten million, and his daily income from all aspects could reach seven or eight million gold coins. With such terrifying financial resources, no matter what Nie Yan did in the market, it could form a huge wave. If they used their little money to confront Nie Yan in the market, they would be in danger of being swallowed up at any time.

Nie Yan's commercial empire was gradually taking shape. As long as Starry Night Pharmacy was there, he would have endless money!

Nie Yan glanced at his backpack. The numbers displayed on it were dazzling. He showed a smile. Now he could go to the Abernathy Great Plains and start building his territory.

As long as there was continuous monetary investment, building a powerful NPC army was just around the corner! This was different from Nie Yan, as the Great Prophet, mobilizing the armies of major cities. The NPC army in Nie Yan's territory was completely his own. Nie Yan could command them to attack any guild or any fortress. Nie Yan's idea was to use a huge amount of money to build a territory, recruit an army, and then use the territory to promote commercial development, earn more money, and constantly expand the army. Would there ever be a day when he could lead a mixed force composed of NPCs and players to kill all the enemies in front of him?

As this plan was implemented here, Nie Yan felt that realizing this wish was not a distant dream.

At the headquarters of the Zhu Shen Zhi Jian guild (Guild of the Godslayer Sword), Qin Han discovered that only Nie Yan's Starry Night Pharmacy was still selling potions on the market. He cursed in frustration. All of this had become an established fact and could not be changed. Before, in order to thwart the Niu Ren Tribe, he had sold a large number of herbs he held, all of which were bought by Nie Yan. If calculated according to the current market price, they had lost a full three or four million gold coins, which was a heavy blow to the Monee Financial Group.

"Qin Han, our Zhu Shen Zhi Jian's potions can no longer be supplied. In addition, news came from the Light and Dark Empire and the Holy Guardians that they also have no potions available," Shen Jian Wu Shuang (Godsword Unparalleled) looked at Qin Han cautiously.

Qin Han looked gloomy. Before, he had sold the herbs stored by several guilds. Although he had bought some later, he currently had less than 10% of the original stock left, which could not meet the needs of the entire guild at all. If this continued, they would have to purchase potions from Starry Night Pharmacy. They would be buying expensive potions, and they would have to buy them carefully and secretly. If Nie Yan found out, he might simply not sell them to them. The most depressing thing in life was this.

Seeing that Qin Han didn't answer for a long time, Shen Jian Wu Shuang wanted to retreat several times, but he couldn't help but ask, "Qin Han, are we going to purchase potions from Starry Night Pharmacy? There is only one store selling potions on the market now..."

"Go buy them, but don't let anyone know," Qin Han said. It was impossible not to buy potions, but if people knew that the Monee Financial Group was purchasing potions from Starry Night Pharmacy, he couldn't afford to lose face!