"Price reduction tactics? Isn't that what I used to do with Cangyan Medicine Pavilion?"
Upon hearing the information transmitted by the first natal spiritual puppet, Li Qi's expression remained unchanged.
It was just business competition; if they wanted to lower prices, that was their prerogative.
However, Li Qi couldn't help but smile shortly after.
"Yet, a shop from the outside has lowered its prices three times in a row, just to sell medicinal pills at a lower price than ours? Are they trying to force out this old medicinal pill pavilion of mine first?"
Thinking this, Li Qi's smile deepened.
If that was their intention, then it could only be described as laughable.
Li Qi dared not claim to know much about other things.
But when it came to the cost of medicinal pills, he was confident that for pills with similar effects and efficacy.
His self-researched imitation pills, formerly of Cangyan Medicine Pavilion, were likely among the cheapest in terms of cost for similar effects.
After all, the research for these imitation pills had taken him decades, perhaps even longer, and he had even utilized the system's analysis of medicinal pills to achieve this.
"Does this shop from the outside have any other methods besides this?"
Li Qi asked the first natal spiritual puppet again.
The first natal spiritual puppet replied, "Not really. However, with the Qin Yang Merchant Association continuously lowering prices like this, if we want to continue selling our medicinal pills, we might also be forced to reduce our prices. Otherwise, other cultivators might not be willing to buy them."
"That is to say, the cost of our imitation medicinal pills is indeed very low, so even if we lower the prices further, there are still considerable profits to be made. Compared to some other shops, like Jingqi Pavilion which refines spiritual artifacts, their various spiritual artifacts are nearing their cost price as prices drop. They seem to be struggling to withstand such competitive tactics from the Qin Yang Merchant Association?"
Li Qi was somewhat surprised upon hearing this, "Oh? Jingqi Pavilion is almost at its limit? How much have their spiritual artifact prices dropped?"
The first natal spiritual puppet replied, "At least thirty percent? Our medicinal pills have dropped even more than theirs, by fifty percent. However, our various costs are lower, so we can still hold on for now?"
"Cough cough cough, fifty percent? Is the manager of this Qin Yang Merchant Association from the outside crazy? Are they trying to provoke us?"
He hadn't realized the severity of the situation before, but hearing the specific prices from the first natal spiritual puppet this time, even Li Qi's eyes widened.
He had initially thought the price reduction would be at most twenty to thirty percent.
His medicinal pills had dropped by fifty percent. A medicinal pill that originally sold for an exorbitant price of one million spirit stones now sold for only five hundred thousand spirit stones, and this still incurred significant labor costs.
It was only because their Penguin Medicine Pavilion's high-priced medicinal pills were refined by the first natal spiritual puppet, who worked tirelessly without demanding wages, that they could manage.
Therefore, the costs to consider were primarily the expenses of various rare materials for refining medicinal pills, with other costs being close to zero.
But if it were other shops like Jingqi Pavilion.
They needed money for the rare materials to refine spiritual artifacts, right? The artifact refiners also needed remuneration, didn't they? When all these were added up, the costs were significantly higher than what his Penguin Medicine Pavilion incurred.
"It appears that the newly arrived Qin Yang Merchant Association intends to establish a firm foothold in this area through such methods."
Li Qi's eyes flickered slightly as he continued to inquire.
"However, with such actions by the Qin Yang Merchant Association, do Jingqi Pavilion and the other shops have no response? Or is the Qin Yang Merchant Association backed by a strong power?"
To establish a merchant association in the Void Black Market without attracting covetous eyes, in addition to having good products, the most important factor was strength.
Although Li Qi rarely ventured out, he was aware of this.
The headquarters of Jingqi Pavilion and many other shops had numerous powerhouses in their main branches.
The strength of many of the powerful individuals behind them was no less than that of the former Cangyan Medicine Pavilion.
For example, Li Qi had heard that the strongest individual in the Jingqi Pavilion headquarters was a cultivator at the peak of the seventh level of Tribulation Transcendence.
In this small region, it was difficult to find even a cultivator at the ninth level of Tribulation Transcendence. A peak seventh or eighth level of Tribulation Transcendence was considered the pinnacle of combat power.
It was a pity that during an incident involving the争夺道陨碎片 (competition for the Dao Fall Fragment), the strongest individual behind Jingqi Pavilion had not appeared. Otherwise, Li Qi might have had the chance to meet that powerful individual then.
In response to Li Qi's conjecture.
The first natal spiritual puppet quickly provided a reply.
The Qin Yang Merchant Association, coming from outside, was indeed not a mere fledgling.
As the first natal spiritual puppet had mentioned earlier, the origin of the Qin Yang Merchant Association seemed to be from the prosperous regions of the adjacent upper realms.
Although many local forces had not yet investigated the true backing of the Qin Yang Merchant Association.
However, upon their arrival in their Void Black Market, the Qin Yang Merchant Association had directly revealed a powerhouse at the ninth level of Tribulation Transcendence.
It was precisely because of the appearance of this ninth-level Tribulation Transcendence powerhouse that the Qin Yang Merchant Association was able to establish a firm foothold in their Void Black Market in such a short period.
Otherwise, if they had a lower cultivation base, it would have been difficult to so easily carve out a position in a place where the power divisions were already largely established.
However, it was fortunate that the strongest individual revealed by the Qin Yang Merchant Association so far was only at the ninth level of Tribulation Transcendence.
If there were several more like them, the local merchant associations would not even dare to compete with them.
After all, if there was only one cultivator at the ninth level of Tribulation Transcendence, there were many local merchant associations, and their interests had been intertwined for an unknown number of years.
If these outside cultivators truly intended to overturn things by force.
The peak powerhouses behind these local merchant associations, acting in unison, would not be overly fearful of a single ninth-level Tribulation Transcendence expert.
However, since the ninth-level Tribulation Transcendence cultivator behind the Qin Yang Merchant Association did not make any moves, the local merchant associations also refrained from any major actions, as dealing with such a powerful cultivator was not easy.
Without dire necessity, none of the peak powerhouses behind these local merchant associations were willing to engage with such a formidable individual.
It was precisely because of this.
The current war between the Qin Yang Merchant Association and their local merchant associations was confined solely to the commercial arena.
However, looking at the current situation, apart from his Penguin Medicine Pavilion.
Many local merchant associations were likely on the verge of collapse under the Qin Yang Merchant Association's price-cutting tactics.