Chapter 772: These Are All Fakes (Part 2)

"What?""Dead?""Could it be... this pill truly isn't a Barrier-Breaking Pill, but poison?""This is terrifying! Spending two high-grade spirit stones for a fake medicine?""The Spirit Material shop is a complete scam; this isn't how you swindle people!"

Seeing the pill-testing beast die on the spot, everyone around was in an uproar.

The purpose of spending a fortune on pills is for advancement. Yet, after consumption, not only did it fail to improve cultivation, but it also caused death by poisoning. This is something no cultivator wishes to see.

Mo Fei kept insisting that this was a genuine, authentic item, but as soon as it appeared, it poisoned the pill-testing beast to death... How could anyone believe him now?

"This..."Mo Fei was also startled, frozen in place.

He had specifically calculated the dosage for the pill-testing beast, ensuring it was absolutely not excessive.

Yet, it was poisoned to death on the spot. Could it be... just as the other person said, this pill was not a Barrier-Breaking Pill, but a discarded, failed concoction?

"Does this count as a fake medicine?"Zhang Xuan chuckled softly.

"This... Alright, for this pill, I admit I was mistaken; it was my oversight!" Seeing the pill-testing beast poisoned to death on the spot, and knowing further explanations were useless, Mo Fei snorted.

"Mistaken? You're more than just mistaken about one thing!"Zhang Xuan casually grabbed the first item he bought, a bronze mace, which appeared in his palm: "According to your appraisal certificate, this item was forged by a Tier 6 artifact master and possesses soul-destroying properties. Even a Soul Oracle would be instantly killed by a single strike!"

"That's right. Although this bronze mace is only a peak mid-grade spiritual artifact, it carries the weight of history and contains the power of thunder, making short work of even Soul Oracles!"Mo Fei snorted.

He had specifically examined and studied this bronze mace for a long time; it couldn't be wrong.

"Since you're so confident, let's test it!" Zhang Xuan calmly looked at the attendant nearby: "You are in the Spirit Unification Realm, and your soul has begun to cultivate. If this weapon truly has soul-destroying properties, you will certainly feel a piercing pain in your soul when it's used on you."He then looked at Mo Fei: "You have no objection to this, do you?"

Weapons with soul-destroying capabilities are extremely harmful to a cultivator's soul. A powerful cultivator in the Spirit Unification Realm, whose soul has just begun cultivating and whose spirit and flesh are not yet fully unified, would be easily injured by such a weapon.

"No objection!" Mo Fei replied.

The onlookers around also nodded.

Soul Oracles have disappeared from history and cannot be found, but there are many powerful cultivators in the Spirit Unification Realm. Using such a person to test this bronze mace poses no problem at all.

"Come on then..." Zhang Xuan smiled gently and handed the bronze mace to Mo Fei.

Mo Fei raised an eyebrow, his true qi surging within him, as he sharply swung it towards the attendant.The test quickly showed that when the bronze mace landed, there was no soul-piercing pain, meaning it had no soul-destroying properties!

"This... How is this possible?"Mo Fei's face turned pale.

This bronze mace had been specifically tested; it contained the power of thunder, which greatly suppressed souls and was highly effective in destroying the souls of Soul Oracles.How could that effect suddenly be gone?

Without that effect, if it was just an ordinary bronze mace, it would be worthless!

"A weapon with soul-destroying properties can deal with souls. Likewise, only a Soul Oracle can remove such an ability, but Soul Oracles have been lost for countless years. Could it be... I really was mistaken before?"His body swayed, and his face was ashen.

The bronze mace had a soul-destroying effect, and only a Soul Oracle could remove this effect; even a Saint could not. Now that the Soul Oracle profession has vanished, if this item has no soul-destroying function, doesn't that mean all his previous appraisals were wrong?

Making one mistake in appraisal might be excusable, but two in a row made him doubt himself and even his own life.

An appraiser is only allowed three mistakes in their lifetime; exceeding that number leads to the revocation of their qualification. Could it be that his lifetime of renown was about to be ruined here?

"Next, this bronze cauldron. Your appraisal certificate states it's a Nine-Bend Cauldron, created by a Tier 6 artifact forging master. Its advantage is its ability to generate Nine-Bend Fire, allowing medicinal ingredients to blend more uniformly during alchemy. However, its drawback is the difficulty in taming its spiritual nature, making it hard to make it recognize a master... Is this correct?"Ignoring the self-doubting Mo Fei, Zhang Xuan continued, shaking his hand, and a cauldron appeared before them.

It was also a treasure from the Spirit Material shop, which had been appraised previously.

"Yes..."Mo Fei nodded. His tone was clearly not as confident as before.

"Although the Nine-Bend Cauldron has a high success rate in alchemy, its nine-bend spiritual nature makes it extremely difficult to be recognized as a master. This is a well-known fact, so there shouldn't be any mistake here!"Mo Fei gritted his teeth.

"This isn't a Nine-Bend Cauldron, nor does it have such complex spiritual properties. I can make it recognize a master in less than a minute!" Zhang Xuan said calmly.

"Less than a minute? How is that possible? If it can truly recognize a master that quickly, I'll admit I was mistaken and that this is a fake!"Mo Fei sneered.

What a joke! The most difficult thing about a Nine-Bend Cauldron is making it recognize a master; everyone knows that. To do it in less than a minute?Dream on!Even a Saint Realm expert couldn't do that.

"You admitted it!"With a laugh, Zhang Xuan took two steps towards the cauldron, casually patted it a few times with his palm, and then stood still: "Still not recognizing your master!"As soon as he finished speaking, the cauldron, which had been standing motionless, suddenly let out a long chime, as if excitedly greeting its master.

"What?"Mo Fei's body swayed, almost spitting blood.He clearly recognized the sound of a cauldron recognizing its master; there was no mistaking it.

A true Nine-Bend Cauldron has dispersed spiritual energy, making it difficult to be recognized as a master even after ten years. Yet this one completely succeeded in less than half a minute... Could he have been mistaken again?Was this item also a fake?What was going on?

"This red sandalwood bead, when worn, is supposed to calm the mind, soothe the nerves, and nourish one's temperament. However, it's cursed by a Soul Oracle. Wearing it won't just fail to calm you; it could lead to qi deviation, putting your life beyond your control!""This bottle of medicinal liquid, you analyzed it as a blend of dozens of poisons beneficial for body tempering. But I just checked, and the toxicity hasn't been neutralized at all. If consumed, it will quickly poison someone to death!""This ore is claimed to enhance a weapon by one grade when integrated, but it's fundamentally unforgeable. Forget integrating it into a weapon; it's difficult even to polish...""This one..."

After pointing out three errors and personally demonstrating them, Zhang Xuan wasted no more words. He picked up the numerous treasures the attendant had brought earlier, and with each item, he would pat it a few times to clean off any dust, then list them one by one.

With each item mentioned, Mo Fei's body swayed. After listing dozens of items, his face was as dark as a pot bottom; he was on the verge of madness.

There was not a single error in what the other party pointed out. Whether someone else tested it or he experienced it himself, the results were identical.

He had previously inspected all these treasures, and they conformed to the tested characteristics. How could they all have changed in the blink of an eye?

Especially the several longswords he tested—not only were they difficult to tame, but they also contained malevolent spirits that could harm people at will. If these items were truly sold, they wouldn't be life-saving but rather life-taking!

"So many fakes?""I've always trusted the treasures from the Spirit Material shop. How can there be so many fakes now?""With so many fakes, how can we trust anything in the future?""It seems we can't buy things here anymore. With so many fakes, no matter how cheap, it's not worth it..."

The onlookers, seeing all this, felt a chill in their hearts.

This was no longer a question of price.If something was expensive but genuine, it was acceptable. But no matter how cheap, no one would want to buy a fake!

Leaving aside everything else, just consider that pill: buying a fake wouldn't just fail to help a breakthrough; it would also poison someone to death... Who would pay money to seek their own demise?

Before, everyone knew that the items from the Spirit Material shop had dubious origins, yet they still came. Firstly, because they were cheap. Secondly, because the quality of the items was guaranteed. Now that even the quality cannot be guaranteed, who would dare to buy anything?

"...Therefore, this item is also fake, meaning... all of these are fakes!"Zhang Xuan calmly looked at the attendant and Mo Fei nearby: "You sold me these goods for 237 high-grade spirit stones. For every fake item, you owe ten times its value. Now that so many are fake... just compensate me with 2,370 high-grade spirit stones!"

"Compensate over two thousand high-grade spirit stones?""One fake item means ten times compensation. He bought so many, and they've all been identified as fakes, so compensation is natural!""Crazy... With so many high-grade spirit stones, even if they sold off everything at the Spirit Material shop, they couldn't afford it!""Whether they can afford it or not is one thing, but who told you to loudly proclaim 'ten times compensation for fakes'? Now that so many fakes have been discovered, no one can do anything about it..."

Hearing the young man's words, everyone was startled.

With so many fakes, if they truly had to pay ten times compensation, 2,000-plus high-grade spirit stones would be an astronomical sum. Not to mention the Spirit Material shop couldn't produce it, even the imperial family of the Hongyuan Empire would struggle to afford it!However, if so many fakes were discovered in front of so many people and no compensation was made, the Spirit Material shop's reputation would be severely damaged, making it impossible to continue operating in the future.

"Amazing..."Sun Qiang's eyes gleamed.

Earlier, when he said he wanted to cause trouble, Sun Qiang had no idea how and feared being thrown out on the spot. Only now did he understand his young master's terrifying capabilities!

If they had simply resorted to violence upon arrival, they would have had no justification, and the other party could have done whatever they pleased. But now, after exposing so many fakes and with the 'ten times compensation for fakes' promise... everything was proceeding by the rules.Let's see how you resolve this!

Even if this matter went to the Master Teacher Pavilion, the other party would still be in the wrong!

They certainly couldn't afford the compensation, and even if they could, the Spirit Material shop would be utterly ruined. If they didn't compensate, their reputation would be severely damaged, and with so many fakes exposed, it's unlikely anyone would dare to buy anything from them again.

"You... Who exactly are you? What do you want?"The attendant also understood and was close to tears.

He had thought this was a major client, ensuring a life of comfort and security. Now, it seemed like a disaster, and he might even lose his job.

"Who am I? I'm just here to buy things. You sold me so many fake items; don't you have to compensate me?"Zhang Xuan lifted an eyelid, smiling very amiably.