A Summer Valley disciple, Pan Yilin, had passed off cheap six-ringed bamboo as nine-ringed bamboo and sold it to Da Zhuang. He’d even twisted the facts to claim that Da Zhuang had slandered him. This had angered Da Zhuang so much that he’d nearly tried to kill him.
As for Zhou Donghuang, was he furious?
Of course, he was fuming! If given the chance, he would have killed the two Summer Valley disciples right there and then! But his rationality helped him keep his cool. Killing them would have been easy, but refraining was almost impossible!
“The Lightning Sword Sect’s core elder must be at least an advanced Primordial Soul adept. If I kill those two men, I will probably die by Han Ku’s hand. Even if he does not kill me, he will arrest me, and I’ll be charged in the Lightning Sword Sect’s court and probably executed.”
Because he was well aware of this, Zhou Donghuang had remained extremely calm in the marketplace and had not taken any drastic actions against the Summer Valley’s two disciples.
Nonetheless, he was not one to be taken advantage of. So, he thought, the Summer Valley wants to play? Then I, Zhou Donghuang will play with you! Forgery? Where were you when I was making fake goods? Rather, where were you when I was making fake goods in my past life?
…
Two days later, Da Zhuang handed Zhou Donghuang a piece of paper covered with rows of squiggly words. Some were bigger than others, and the writing was practically illegible. These were the words of Da Zhuang.
“Da Zhuang, did you just learn to write?” Zhou Donghuang asked.
“Mm.” Da Zhuang nodded and laughed sheepishly. “I started to learn how to write two years ago after Sister brought me here. I’m sorry for making you read my poor penmanship.” Da Zhuang rubbed his head in embarrassment.
“I see.” Zhou Donghuang’s attention returned to the paper in his hands. Although Da Zhuang’s writing was ugly, it was clear enough to read. Of course, he had asked Da Zhuang to copy them out word-for-word, so if he copied them incorrectly, there was nothing he could do about it except go to the market himself. Preparing for the worst-case scenario was a habit that Zhou Donghuang had cultivated in his previous life. It had served him well.
“Little Brother, if there is nothing else, then I’ll make the first move.” Seeing Zhou Donghuang so focused on the paper without making a sound, Da Zhuang then said, ” I will return the eleven superior spirit stones I owe you as soon as possible.”
Zhou Donghuang looked up at Da Zhuang and responded, “Let’s not talk about that. Right now, I need you to help me buy some things.”
“Little Brother, you… you still want me to help you to buy things? Aren’t you afraid that I’ll be scammed again?” Da Zhuang’s eyes widened.
“Don’t worry.” Zhou Donghuang smiled calmly. “This time, I just need you to buy some cheap items that only total ten mid-level spirit stones. These things are so cheap that no one would bother faking them.” With that, Zhou Donghuang took out twenty mid-level spirit stones and handed them to Da Zhuang.
It was not that he wasn’t willing to give Da Zhuang more spirit stones. Da Zhuang was just so stubborn that he always refused to accept additional spirit stones from Zhou Donghuang. The first time that Da Zhuang had helped him buy something, he had wanted to give him some errand fees to thank him, but Da Zhuang had flatly refused. When Zhou Donghuang had insisted, Da Zhuang had almost lost his cool, and Zhou Donghuang could do nothing but give in. Da Zhuang was as stubborn as an ox.
“Why don’t you go now?” suggested Zhou Donghuang after handing the spirit stones to Da Zhuang.
“Yes,” answered Da Zhuang as he left. Seeing that Zhou Donghuang was in a hurry to procure the goods, Da Zhuang left the Autumn Valley right away for the market.
Meanwhile, all around the Autumn Valley, people were discussing how Da Zhuang had been tricked by the Summer Valley’s disciples.
“Who in the Autumn Valley does not know Da Zhuang’s personality? He does not lie. That Pan Yilin really went overboard.”
“Too bad that we cannot do anything even if we know that Da Zhuang was cheated. The sect won’t do anything about something like this.”
“When Sister Mengxi returns and finds out about this, she will definitely have a lot to say.”
…
Although there were not many Autumn Valley disciples and small disagreements always arose among them, these disciples nevertheless put aside their differences and stood up for each other when bullied by the inner disciples from the other Valleys. This time, Pan Yilin hadn’t broken any of the sect’s rules. In such circumstances, although they felt angry for Da Zhuang, there was nothing they could do about it.
Huang Long, the Autumn Valley disciple who had taken Zhou Donghuang to see He Mengxi when he had first arrived at the Autumn Valley, declared angrily to some other Autumn Valley disciples, “I curse those bastards of the Summer Valley! May they always buy fake goods in the future!”
If Zhou Donghuang had heard this, he would have definitely given him a thumbs-up—great prophecy!
Zhou Donghuang had just asked Da Zhuang to buy the materials he intended to use for making forgeries.
In his past life, when he’d left Earth before entering the same sect as He Mengxi, he had seriously lacked in spirit stones. Not only did practice require spirit stones, but they were also a form of currency to buy the things that he needed. In his previous circumstances, he had desperately needed to earn some spirit stones.
When he was most desperate for spirit stones and was about to enter the demon forest to hunt demons in exchange for stones, he’d happened to witness a battle between an ultimate Dharma adept and a Dharma demon in the forest.
The Dharma demon was killed. The ultimate Dharma adept was also about to take his last breath. Zhou Donghuang had tried to save the man but failed. However, the Dharma adept, seeing that Zhou Donghuang had not taken this opportunity to kill him and rob him of his space ring and had even tried to save him, had whispered the location of the hiding place of his treasures to Zhou Donghuang before he’d died. He’d even told Zhou Donghuang that the most valuable of all was an old book that recorded many methods for forging various treasures. These methods were so refined that the forged items could fool anyone. Even deities found it difficult to tell fake items from real ones. The replicas recorded in the book all looked identical to the real deal on the surface and during initial inspection. Of course, they were still fakes and could not be substituted for the genuine artifacts. Even so, using the forgery methods recorded in that book, Zhou Donghuang had managed to earn a large fortune of spirit stones in his last life.
Of course, he did not cheat just anyone. He only cheated evil, cruel, or heartless people and had never cheated a good person. Even though he’d never considered himself a ‘good man,’ he had some morals and was determined to stick to them. If one did not have any conscience, how did one live? Although he’d never thought of himself as a ‘good man,’ he’d never considered abandoning his principles.
“Summer Valley disciples like fake goods, don’t they? You even pin Third Sister’s saviors to the ground, pretending I don’t exist! Since you want to play, I will grant you your wish!”
…
Ten days later…
Zhou Donghuang did not tell Da Zhuang when he left Autumn Valley and headed to the market. This time, Zhou Donghuang was discreet.
In a corner of the market, he opened a small mat and laid on it a few times. Then, he sat behind the mat, closed his eyes, and began practicing leisurely.
Half an hour later, a loud voice asked Zhou Donghuang, “Brother, how much are you selling this for?”
The excitement in the man’s voice was barely masked. The other party was deliberately suppressing agitated emotions.
“Someone took the bait.” In a flash, Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes and looked at the man standing in front of the mat.
The middle-aged man was clearly a disciple of the Winter Valley. This could be determined from the cherry blossom insignia hanging in front of his chest.
“Which one?” Zhou Donghuang blinked lazily as he asked.
“This one.” The man pointed at a block of jade on the mat. Inside, there were traces of red blood. On closer inspection, the blood seemed to be flowing through the stone. This was the hallmark of Frozen-blood Jade.
“This is the Frozen-blood Jade, and it can be used to forge spirit weapons or make elixirs,” answered Zhou Donghuang casually. “I will not ask for too much—a mere twenty superior spirit stones.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. This man knew Frozen-blood Jade? Since he knew what it was, did he not know that a Summer Valley disciple had just put up a bid one month ago to buy this jade for fifty superior spirit stones?
Most likely, he has not checked the auction board recently, the man thought to himself excitedly. Looks like I am in luck today!
“Done! I’ll take it for twenty superior spirit stones.” The man did not try to bargain, took out the spirit stones from his space ring, and handed them over to Zhou Donghuang.
Zhou Donghuang accepted the stones and reminded him, “Test it for yourself. Once you take it away, you can’t bring it back and argue.”
“No need.” The man picked up the Frozen-blood Jade and shook his head as he said, “Only Frozen-blood Jade is as special as this. I’ve never heard of anyone being able to forge it.” With that, he took the jade and looked again at the mat on the ground.
“Brother, how about this?” This time, there was an unmistakable glint of joy in the depths of the man’s eyes. Was it a coincidence? Here was another item that a Summer Valley disciple had bid on!
“This is Thousand-year Red Wood,” replied Zhou Donghuang. “I never intended to sell it. A specimen as large and well-preserved as this is rare. But since I am in need of spirit stones, I have no other choice.”
Hearing Zhou Donghuang correctly identify the item that he had just pointed to, the man thought to himself that there was no chance of buying it cheaply.
“Brother, how much do you intend to sell it for?” asked the man.
