226 Fake Nine-Ringed Bamboo

"Da Zhuang, this 'nine-ringed bamboo,' who sold it to you?" Zhou Donghuang picked out an herb that looked like a bamboo shoot from the pile of medicines that Da Zhuang had helped him buy. Its stalk was almost as long as two fingers, and it had nine intricately carved rings on its side that made it look extremely special.

The nine-ringed bamboo was the most valuable of the herbs which Zhou Donghuang had asked Da Zhuang to help him purchase. It was the main ingredient for the elixir he was producing. It was also the most expensive.

Of course, its price could fluctuate by around one hundred mid-level spirit stones. One hundred mid-level spirit stones was equivalent to ten superior-level spirit stones. The Lightning Sword Sect's core disciples received ten superior-level spirit stones from the sect each month. As for inner disciples, they needed ten months to collect ten superior-level spirit stones, because the sect only issued them one superior-level spirit stone per month. As for outer disciples, the number was even lower, and they only received three mid-level spirit stones each month.

"It was the Summer Valley disciple, Pan Yilin." Da Zhuang immediately recognized the bamboo shoot that Zhou Donghuang had picked out from the pile. After thinking about it for a moment, he remembered where he had bought the herb.

"How many spirit stones did he sell it to you for?" asked Zhou Donghuang again.

"A hundred and ten mid-level spirit stones," answered Da Zhuang.

"He did not sell it cheap." Zhou Donghuang's eyes narrowed as a murderous glint flashed across his eyes.

"Why?" Although Da Zhuang looked slow, he still knew how to read facial expressions. Seeing Zhou Donghuang act this way, he sensed that something was not right. "This nine-ringed bamboo...is there something wrong with it?"

"This is not nine-ringed bamboo." Zhou Donghuang's eyes flashed open as he shook his head, saying, "It's six-ringed bamboo. The other three rings were added. Although the nine rings look identical, they are not aligned perfectly. A proper stalk of nine-ringed bamboo has the same equal distance between each ring. Look at this. Without these three rings, the other six are all arranged the same distance apart. But with these three added rings, the order of the rings' arrangement is broken, and now it looks almost disorderly." As Zhou Donghuang spoke, he raised the nine-ringed bamboo to Da Zhuang's eyes and pointed out the three rings that had been drawn on.

The nine-ringed bamboo's unique characteristics were rarely well-understood, except by core-forging masters. In Zhou Donghuang's past life, he had seen many people tricked by six-ringed bamboo that had been made to look like nine-ringed bamboo. However, those who had been scammed were either unacquainted or core-forging masters of poor ability. Highly-skilled core-forging masters could distinguish nine-ringed bamboo by its minute characteristics, even if they did not know how to differentiate it based on the intervals between the rings. These minute characteristics were present in all herbs above a certain age, and nine-ringed bamboo was no exception.

"Trick...tricked?!" Hearing Zhou Donghuang's words, Da Zhuang's face ballooned. His eyes widened with anger as he muttered, "That Pan Yilin, he scammed me? He dared to trick me? No way! I'll find him now! I will find him right now!" Da Zhuang's eyes turned bloodshot, as if he had transformed into a beast from hell, eager for human flesh.

"Little Brother, I will definitely make this up to you!" Da Zhuang declared angrily as he snatched the nine-ringed bamboo from Zhou Donghuang's hands. With that, he turned and left.

"Summer Valley disciple, Pan Yilin?" Not long after Da Zhuang left, Zhou Donghuang stood up and followed him.

In the Lightning Sword Sect, a market was set up specially for the sect's members to trade. No matter if someone were from the top of the hierarchy or a lowly disciple, anyone could carry out any form of trade in the market. The only rule was this: once something was sold, and money and goods had exchanged hands, the goods could not be returned. Of course, if someone sold something and then realized that it had been sold for too cheap, they would not be able to get it back unless the buyer agreed.

The Lightning Sword Sect's market was governed by the sect and renowned for its fairness.

"Senior Lian, I sold that fake nine-ringed bamboo to Da Zhuang of Autumn Valley. This will definitely anger Senior He Mengxi. Senior He Mengxi is the only daughter of the leader of Autumn Valley. If she comes to take revenge, you must protect me, and not leave me to die, please." In one corner of the market, a young man in a green shirt was talking to another young man in a golden robe. The former had a medium build and ordinary features that would be inconspicuous in a crowd. On the other hand, the latter had a burly figure and handsome features. His beguiling smile revealed a mysterious air about him.

"Furthermore, you were the one who made me do this." The young man in green said nervously.

"Junior Pan, don't you trust me?" The young man in gold glanced at the other man as he asked seriously. "Are you afraid that I will sacrifice you to get into Sister Mengxi's good books?"

"No, no." Although he had indeed had such thoughts, he did not dare say so out loud. The man before him was none other than the son of Summer Valley's leader, the renowned favorite in that Valley. If he offended him, he would definitely face much hardship in the Summer Valley. Once he was kicked out of the Summer Valley, none of the other three Valleys would accept him. If he wanted to remain in the Lightning Sword Sect, he would have to join an outer sect, unless he managed to become a core disciple of the Lightning Sword sect. However, it was a widely known fact that to become a core disciple of the Lightning Sword sect, one had to pass extremely stringent criteria.

"Pan Yilin!!" Just as the young man in green was stammering in front of the man in the golden robe, a loud roar echoed in the skies above the market. The sound was filled with inner Yuan and was so strong that it could cause deafness.

In an instant, all eyes turned up to the skies and landed on a massive figure floating in the air above the market. This massive teenager was more than three meters tall. He was so huge that he did not seem human.

Many people recognized him. "It's Da Zhuang! The Autumn Valley disciple!"

"What is Da Zhuang trying to do?"

"I heard that this rascal was raised by a bunch of apes. Did he pick up their belligerence?"

"Who angered him?"

...

From the skies, Autumn Valley's massive disciple, Da Zhuang, attracted everybody in the market's attention.

The young man in green, who had been acting nervously in front of the man in gold, now appeared extremely confident and arrogant in front of Da Zhuang. He looked up at Da Zhuang in the sky and asked flippantly, "Da Zhuang, what are you trying to do?" This young man was obviously Pan Yilin, the Summer Valley disciple whom Da Zhuang was looking for.

Da Zhuang glided down in front of Pan Yilin. Because Pan Yilin stood at just 1.7 meters, Da Zhuang looked down at Pan Yilin as he declared seriously, "Pan Yilin, you sold me a fake nine-ringed bamboo!"

"Fake nine-ringed bamboo?" Pan Yilin raised his eyebrow. "Da Zhuang, you can eat whatever you want, but you cannot say anything you wish. The nine-ringed bamboo I sold you cannot be fake."

"Not fake?" Da Zhuang angrily pulled out the nine-ringed bamboo that he had bought from Pan Yilin and showed it to the crowd that had gathered to watch the commotion. "My Little Brother told me that this nine-ringed bamboo is fake. The intervals between the rings are not uniform, so it is clearly only a six-ringed bamboo. A six-ringed bamboo is only worth ten mid-level spirit stones, but you took a hundred and ten mid-level spirit stones from me! Do you really think you can bully me?"

Da Zhuang glared at Pan Yilin and lowered his voice. The golden inner Yuan the unknowingly seeping out of his body seemed to be able to attack Pan Yilin at any moment.

"That is nine-ringed bamboo?"

"It really seems like it is not nine-ringed bamboo. Nine-ringed bamboo's pattern should not be like this."

"This is a fake nine-ringed bamboo made from six-ringed bamboo. Pan Yilin sold fake nine-ringed bamboo to Da Zhuang for a hundred and ten mid-level spirit stones? That isn't ethical!"

"Most people do not know nine-ringed bamboo well and can easily be tricked by fake nine-ringed bamboo."

"This Pan Yilin is really daring. In the Lightning Sword Sect, we all know that Da Zhuang is backed by the only daughter of the Autumn Valley chief, He Mengxi. By doing this, although it does not go against the rules of the market since both buyer and seller were willing, isn't he afraid that He Mengxi will cause trouble for him?"

...

Among the crowd that had gathered, many had realized that the nine-ringed bamboo in Da Zhuang's hands was fake, but even more were surprised that Pan Yilin was so daring. Here was a Summer Valley disciple who had not even attained the Dharma stage, so where did he get the bravery to try to scam Da Zhuang, someone who was protected by the only daughter of the Autumn Valley's leader? Was he not afraid of death?

"Da Zhuang!" Faced with the crowd's chatter, Pan Yilin's face darkened. "How can you prove that this is the nine-ringed bamboo I sold you? The nine-ringed bamboo I sold you was not this stalk. You took the real nine-ringed bamboo, which you bought from me, then found a fake one to slander me!"

Hearing Pan Yilin's accusation, Da Zhuang was so furious that his face turned red. He screamed in anger, "Pan Yilin, you are lying through your teeth. I'll kill you!" With that, the golden Yuan that surrounded his body exploded toward Pan Yilin.

However, just as the golden Yuan around Pan Yilin rose, someone else acted even faster. With a quick flick of his hand, a giant palm print Dharma ten meters tall appeared and pressed Da Zhuang to the ground, trapping him. This was the work of none other than the young man in gold beside Pan Yilin.

"Da Zhuang, the rules of the market forbid disciples from internal conflict," the young man said coldly.

"It's Lian Can of the Summer Valley!"

"Lian Can is the son of Summer Valley's chief who entered the Dharma stage at just 26. Among this new generation of Summer Valley disciples, he is the most likely to become a core disciple."

...

All eyes now landed on the young man in the golden robe.