Cave Refuge-Chapter 168 - 167: Show Off _1

Ye Liuyun’s words left Dong Tianyu deep in thought. Young cultivators with potential went into closed-door cultivation, while older cultivators with exhausted potential came out to do tasks and earn cultivation resources.

That pattern was somehow familiar to him. Although he couldn’t precisely point out where he had seen it, it felt like he had seen it countless times before.

Suddenly, Dong Tianyu realized that this was a common strategy used by cultivator clans in many novels during the initial revival of the Spirit Energy.

They encouraged the clan members with potential to cultivate as much as possible to increase their cultivation level, while those with exhausted potential were tasked to earn resources for the clan.

Although it made sense, the current situation rendered this strategy ineffective as there were no cultivation resources in the wild. Therefore, both young and old martial artists could comfortably stay and cultivate at the base.

But, what could be the purpose of the older martial artists taking up jobs from the Officials? Surely they weren’t doing it out of charity.

After pondering for a long time, Dong Tianyu realized there might be information he wasn’t aware of, but guessing now was pointless. Eventually, the truth would become clear.

But why hadn’t he heard anything about the emergence of martial artists in his previous life until his death?

Caught in a daze, he glanced at Ye Liuyun who was getting up for more drinks once again. It occurred to him that he had been nothing more a common survivor back then, who had already died during the perpetual night period.

Back then, news regarding martial artists may not have been widespread, so it was normal that he didn’t know.

Although he had kept a low profile in this life, the trajectory of the Dong family had already changed. No matter what, the Dongs still had some influence in West City District, albeit not much.

"Little Ye, do you have any other news? Stop holding back," Dong Tianyu asked.

Hearing Dong Tianyu’s shameless words, Ye Liuyun didn’t indulge him and retorted, "Little Dong, I indeed have some other information, but you know I’m a businessman. I can’t just give it to you for free, getting something in return is only reasonable. You understand that, right?"

"Understood, understood. You don’t want to go away empty-handed. What’s there to not understand?" Dong Tianyu replied.

Although Dong Tianyu’s disdainful remarks were harsh, Ye Liuyun didn’t care. After all, he was still getting something tangible in return, and had nothing to lose if Dong Tianyu had some cheap words.

Seeing Ye Liuyun’s stubborn demeanor, Dong Tianyu could only sigh, "Go on, what do you want?"

"I won’t ask for too much, just a few bottles of drinks will suffice."

Dong Tianyu found it strange that Ye Liuyun was asking for so little this time because he knew that information was often as valuable as tangible items.

"How many bottles?"

"I’m not greedy, one case will do". Well, now he knew why Ye Liuyun had been waiting for him.

Although the beverages had passed their sell-by dates (Ye Liuyun was not aware that items in Shadow Space existed in a state of time suspension, he simply estimated based on the expiration dates indicated on the packaging).

But now, beverages were exceedingly precious, far more so than before the catastrophe. Alcoholic drinks and beverages had indeed become a luxurious item.

There is a difference between catastrophes and the end of the world. During catastrophic events, survivors don’t starve; although living conditions may not be good, they can barely survive.

As long as they have enough to eat and drink, the prices of non-essential items will skyrocket.

Take antiques for example, stripping away the historical value that people assign to them, they are actually items that you can’t eat or drink, and are not usable.

Some people say that the value of these items is high, but if they were in the middle of a desert, severely dehydrated, with a choice between a cheap bottle of mineral water or a priceless antique, most people would unhesitantly choose the mineral water.

Even a second’s hesitation is disrespect towards their own life.

On the other hand, if they had just entered the desert with sufficient supplies, given the same choices, no one would choose the bottled water, not even if the alternative was a chunk of pure silver the same size as the water bottle.

This principle applies to the current situation as well. Although the living conditions are tough for the survivors, none of them will starve to death given the support from the Officials.

During this time, merchandise like cigarettes, alcohol and beverages, once daily consumables, became a luxury because they were extremely difficult to produce. They replaced bags, watches and other pre-catastrophe luxuries and became the new preference among survivors. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The new generation of survivors, born during the catastrophe, might not have an interest in cigarettes, alcohol and beverages, but now, those survivors who had tasted them before yearn for them incessantly.

This intensified the already high prices of cigarettes, alcohol and beverages. Even though many of them were past their expiration dates, what mattered was that these non-perishable items wouldn’t rot or go bad as long as they were unopened.

Ye Liuyun’s demand of a case of drinks, though seemingly modest, was worth the equivalent of gold by the current market rate.

Even if one met a desperate buyer, a two-to-one exchange rate wouldn’t be impossible.

Some people might find this exaggerated. In these times, people knew that gold was valuable. But gold couldn’t be eaten or drunk. If it weren’t for the age-old belief instilled in us since ancient times...

In fact, gold is just as useless to ordinary people as a random stone on the road, except for its ability to be exchanged for money.

"One case is too much, at most I’ll give you one bottle."

Hearing that Dong Tianyu would only give one bottle instead of a case, Ye Liuyun sighed, "You might as well keep it for yourself, forget about this matter."

Seeing Ye Liuyun’s reaction, Dong Tianyu didn’t indulge in him either, "Fine, forget about it. After all, I don’t know what it is."

Ye Liuyun had originally planned to take a step back to move forward, but he didn’t expect Dong Tianyu not to take the bait. Hence, he had no choice but to negotiate again, "Don’t we know each other better than that? Any information I get, I’ll definitely share with you. But you giving only one bottle is really too stingy. Are you trying to starve me? It won’t even be enough to wet my mouth."

Upon hearing Ye Liuyun’s words, Dong Tianyu immediately responded, "Sure, fine. I don’t need to hear your news anymore. You don’t have enough to wet your mouth, right? Here’s a proposal, I’ll get a fresh bottle right now. You down that one, then I’ll give you another when you’re done. We’ll see how many bottles it takes for you to get your fill."

Hearing Dong Tianyu’s words, Ye Liuyun immediately took back his words, "You’re just being mean. What’s wrong with making a joke?"