234 Good Intentions

"You..."

Just now, Fang Baiwei had merely intended to scare Zhou Donghuang. He had not anticipated that not only would Zhou Donghuang be immune to his threats but even return the taunt and challenge him. Fang Baiwei was momentarily so enraged that his entire face swelled red, and his essential core was revealed, gathering around him in the form of a three-meter tall Dharma figure.

Although he had revealed his Dharma power, Fang Baiwei did not have the courage to take any concrete action.

The punishment that the Lightning Sword Sect meted out to those who took action against innocent fellow disciples was truly too severe to take a gamble on.

Furthermore, if he took action, it would seem like he was a bully and that he was using his powers to bully someone weaker. Under such circumstances, the potential consequences he would face would be even more severe.

In any case, he was already 40 years old while the young man dressed in white before him could only be about 20.

He was a mid Dharma adept while the young man had not even entered the Dharma stage yet.

"Zhou Donghuang."

As Fang Baiwei stood before Zhou Donghuang and displayed his Dharma power, Zhong Yin glanced at Zhou Donghuang with a gaze as piercing as lightning and asked in a low voice, "Did you carry out this elaborate scheme all for the sake of revenge on behalf of your fellow disciple of the Autumn Valle, Da Zhuang?"

The other disciples and elders of the Summer Valley now all cast their gaze and focus on Zhou Donghuang as well.

"You could say that."

Zhou Donghuang glanced casually at Zhong Yin. "There's something else that you may not be aware of... Previously, when Da Zhuang had purchased the fake nine-ringed bamboo from your Summer Valley people, it was me who had asked him to make the purchase on my behalf.

"The spirit stone veins that were lost, belonged to me."

As he spoke, the corners of Zhou Donghuang's mouth turned up slightly. It seemed as though he was amused at something, and not really affected by the loss of his spirit stone veins previously.

In reality, he truly did not care about the loss of his spirit stone veins at all.

Even if he did, he had already earned it all back from the people of the Summer Valley as of yesterday.

"You decided to throw caution to the wind and deign to offend so many people of the Summer Valley over such a trivial event?" Zhong Yin asked in a dark, grave tone.

"Offend?"

Zhou Donghuang glanced at Zhong Yin with a look of surprise. "Do make yourself clear."

"You purposely sold so many fake items to others, who then sold them to the nine of us... Did you not think we would be offended by this matter?" Zhong Yin's voice became even lower as he replied.

"This is considered an offense?"

This person was no ordinary man. He was a Lightning Peak elder, Han Ku.

"Although I've only entered the Lightning Sword Sect for a short period of time, don't think that I am not aware of the sect rules... In this trade center, I am aware that even if one, unfortunately, purchases fake goods, they can only blame themselves for their own foolishness.

"Within the sect, swallowing one's pride may be a wise thing to do, lest you ruin your own reputation and embarrass yourself.

"You could also say that... Even if those items were fake and even if I indirectly managed to sell them to you, as long as you finalized the purchase and transaction, you can only mourn your own misfortune.

"Furthermore, those items were not even sold by me to you.

"You all bought these items from various sellers, and yet you are here to find trouble. Isn't this going a little overboard?" Zhou Donghuang replied in a casual way.

"Are you trying to talk your way out of this mess?"

Out of the two elders of the Summer Valley, one glared murderously at Zhou Donghuang.

"Young man, you are well aware of how this whole matter came about. Don't even try to deny it!

"Do you really think that you can manipulate the sect rules to your favor and get away scot-free after playing tricks on nine people from the Summer Valley?

"Unless... you intend to stay within the sect for the rest of your life and never step out of it?"

As he spoke to this point, this elder of the Summer Valley suddenly smiled in a mocking fashion.

With his words, there was no denying the underlying threat that was implied.

"Ah?"

Zhou Donghuang glanced at the smug look on this elder's face and said, "Do you mean to say... whenever I choose to leave the sect, you people of the Summer Valley will then come forward to exact your revenge?"

"You could say that."

The elder of the Summer Valley smiled coldly.

In the next instant, this elder's facial expression changed dramatically as he glanced in the direction that Zhou Donghuang was gazing at and saw what was in the skies.

"Elder Han Ku, you've heard it all? Well, I am not going against any of the sect rules. However, these people of the Summer Valley are threatening me, and they mentioned that they will take their revenge on me after I leave the Lightning Sword Sect."

These were the original words spoken by Zhou Donghuang towards the Lightning Peak elder, Han Ku, who had arrived at the scene.

"Elder Li."

At this instant, Han Ku had on an extremely cold expression, and he spoke directly to the elder of the Summer Valley while staring at him. "Will, you willingly head down to the Law Enforcement Hall yourself to receive your punishment or shall I make a report to them and let the officers of the Law Enforcement Hall take you away?"

"Elder Han."

The elder of the Summer Valley, Li Dahu, glanced at Han Ku with a pained expression on his face. "I... I was merely joking around."

"Save your words for the officers of the Law Enforcement Hall."

Han Ku cast a cold, sweeping glance at Li Dahu and said, "You should be clear of the difference in punishments between you willingly turning yourself in to the Law Enforcement Hall and me reporting you to them before the officers come to bring you to the Law Enforcement Hall."

Li Dahu's facial expression changed again, and he turned to glare at Zhou Donghuang with an extremely cold and murderous expression before unwillingly forcing himself to leave the scene and head for the Law Enforcement Hall.

In an instant, the entire trade center had fallen silent, and it was deadly quiet.

An elder of the Summer Valley and an inner elder of the Lightning Sword Sect at that had been sent to the Law Enforcement Hall simply due to two or three sentences by a mere disciple of the Autumn Valley.

Even if the elder did not face death in the Law Enforcement Hall, he would still bear a heavy punishment.

"What are you all gathered here for?"

Han Ku glanced lightly at the remaining eight people of the Summer Valley who were surrounding Zhou Donghuang and asked.

"Elder Han."

The remaining elder of the Summer Valley glanced wearily at Han Ku. "We are here not because we intend to take any action towards Zhou Donghuang... Granted, what he did was indeed well within the rules of the sect."

"However, when the sect made the rule that one could sell fake goods without implications in the trade center, they did not consider that someone would be able to create several fakes of precious ingredients and manufacture goods that look almost authentic!

"Yesterday, nine of us from the Summer Valley spent a total of almost 2000 high-quality spirit stone veins just to buy the fake goods that came from Zhou Donghuang."

As the elder of the Summer Valley said these words, his tone reviewed much of his annoyance and frustration.

Of course, those 2000 high-quality spirit stone veins had all ended up in the hands of the resellers, who had originally bought the fake goods from Zhou Donghuang at the start.

In any case, Zhou Donghuang did not care much about those spirit stone veins.

If he had done all these for the spirit stone veins, he would not have wasted time to recreate fakes of the items that the people of the Summer Valley had requested for on the bounty list.

"We are here today just to demand an explanation from Zhou Donghuang for his deeds."

Due to Han Ku's presence as well as the fact that another fellow elder had already been "invited" to the Law Enforcement Hall by Han Ku, the remaining elder of the Summer Valley appeared to be more deferent and upright. "Of course, even if Zhou Donghuang doesn't offer an explanation, we will not take any action against him. After all, what he has done does not break any of our sect rules.

"We also guessed that he may not give us an explanation for his actions.

"Nevertheless, we are still here to try to ask for one.

"We aren't here for ourselves but for everyone else living within the Lightning Sword Sect... In any case, anyone here could possibly be cheated by Zhou Donghuang and his fake goods in the future as well.

"For sect disciples, under normal circumstances, they can only take one high-quality spirit stone from the sect. Even the core disciples can only obtain ten high-quality spirit stones per month from the sect. If they were cheated even once by the fake goods of Zhou Donghuang, they may lose a few months' or even a few years' worth of allowance by the sect."

This torrent of words was blurted forth by the elder of the Summer Valley. He said it all in a passionate rush and was full of energy, earning him the support and acknowledgment of the crowd of Lightning Sword Sect disciples.

Within an instant, many of the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect began to look at Zhou Donghuang in an unfriendly manner as they digested the words of the elder.

"You people of the Summer Valley need not worry."

Zhou Donghuang smiled casually and although his volume was average, his words managed to be clearly heard by all who were present. "As long as the buyers are people outside of the Summer Valley and they do not sell fake goods to those in the Autumn Valley... I can promise to those outside of the Summer Valley that I will never sell any fake goods to you in the trade center.

"Of course, other than those of the Summer Valley, if you accidentally sell fake goods to us people of the Autumn Valley, as long as you are sincerely apologetic afterward and settle the issue in an amicable manner, I can choose not to pursue it further as well."

After Zhou Donghuang spoke, it was clear that he was directly addressing the previous issue with the people of the Summer Valley and targeting them.

Zhou Donghuang's words caused the gazes of the surrounding crowd to change as they stared on uncomfortably. As for the people of the Summer Valley, their faces all changed as well.

As for Han Ku, who was the main Lightning Peak elder who maintained law and order in the trade center, when he next glanced at Zhou Donghuang, it was with a gaze of slight frustration and... admiration.

This one man dared to challenge the entire Summer Valley!

He did not even care for the potential consequences of such an action.

From the present, it was clear that this young man's level of bravery was definitely admirable.

"Zhou Donghuang, just to make it clear... You are waging war against all of the Summer Valley?"

Zhong Yin's face darkened, and he asked in a cold voice.

"I have no intention of becoming enemies with the Summer Valley," Zhou Donghuang said lightly.

"I'm doing all this just because I believe in tit for tat, an eye for an eye... If you want to trace the origins of this matter, it was a disciple of the Summer Valley who first sold fake goods to me.

"Well, regardless of whether that matter was legitimate or not... Even if it were true, after this exchange, you haven't sustained any losses."

The elder of the Summer Valley said, "Shall we end this matter now? How does that sound?"

"End things here?"

Zhou Donghuang smiled. "You wish to end this matter here? It can be done. However, I wish for that disciple of the Summer Valley who had sold fake goods to me and Da Zhuang as well as the other disciple who had used his Dharma power to suppress Da Zhuang to both come before us and kneel on the floor in apology.

"If you people of the Summer Valley are agreeable to that; I will not continue to target the Summer Valley."

Once Zhou Donghuang had said these words, the entire trade center fell silent again.

"I remember that the disciple of the Summer Valley who had sold the fake goods was Pan Yilin. As for the other disciple of the Summer Valley who had suppressed Da Zhuang with his Dharma power... He was Lian Can, the direct disciple of the Summer Valley's Head!"

"Well, the people of the Summer Valley would probably object to having Pan Yilin kneel to the ground in apology, after all, that is a huge blow to his face and reputation... Let's not even talk about Lian Can doing the same thing!"

"The terms listed by Zhou Donghuang are really too severe!"

...

No one expected that the people of the Summer Valley would agree to these terms.

"That's impossible!"

Just as the crowd had predicted, once the elder of the Summer Valley had regained his senses, he did not hesitate to reject the terms listed out by Zhou Donghuang.

"In that case, I think we are done here," Zhou Donghuang shrugged indifferently and replied in a casual tone.

"In that case, you people of the Summer Valley should be more careful when making purchases at the trade center... You may end up buying fake goods again.

"Actually, in doing so, I am also testing your people's ability to differentiate between real and fake goods. I'm actually doing you all a favor. One day, if your people leave the sect and get cheated by outsiders, at that point, not only would you be cheated of your wealth, you would also throw away the face of the sect!

"I suddenly find myself to be extremely magnanimous... For you people of the Summer Valley, I really am putting in quite a lot of effort..."