Anti-fraud manual for the cultivation world

Chapter 108 Top-Grade Low-Rank Flying Sword

Li Gu landed on the ground three or four miles away from Longshui Town and walked there on foot, not wanting to attract too much attention.

Upon arriving at the town, one is immediately greeted by a bustling and prosperous scene. Numerous horse-drawn carriages are parked at the town gate, with many being loaded and unloaded.

The unloading crew was usually unloading materials. Li Gu immediately spotted common materials like copper and iron, while the better materials were wrapped in various packages and could not be identified by the naked eye.

The ones loading goods were various pre-made tools and equipment.

The most common items were kitchen knives, hoes, and wood-chopping knives used by ordinary people, which were transported out by the truckload.

Cultivators also have their own supplies. Li Gu immediately spotted a carriage bearing the banner of the Thirteen Gangs. A group of gang members dressed in green were carefully loading a large alchemy furnace onto the carriage, as if afraid of bumping or damaging it.

Li Gu was afraid of being recognized by the Thirteen Gang members, so he quickly lowered his head and passed by.

Just a few steps inside, they saw the Black Blade Sect members again. They had ordered a whole cartload of black longswords, which were piled up on the cart like junk. It was obvious without even thinking that these black swords were all made of ordinary iron and had not been forged into magical artifacts. They were probably meant for the lower-ranking members of the Black Blade Sect.

Li Gu only glanced at him a couple of times before the Black Knife Sect members noticed him. Several of them turned around, but instead of being hostile, they smiled and waved at him: "Young hero, you can deposit your money in our Black Knife Sect's bank. It's a reputable institution with a thousand-year history, and we accept deposits and withdrawals all over the world. It's safe and secure."

Li Gu then realized that he was dressed like a rich second-generation, and that people who ran money shops liked people like him the most.

He continued walking into the town, and saw that both sides of the town street were lined with blacksmith shops, mostly selling ordinary iron, with a dazzling array of ironware hanging in front of the shops. Occasionally, there was a shop run by a weapon refiner, with no display items at the door, only a cloth curtain with the words "Custom-made Magical Items" written on it.

Many vendors on the street were soliciting customers, some targeting ordinary people, and others specifically targeting cultivators.

Li Gu had a long sword hanging at his waist, which was unacceptable to mortals, but peddlers targeting cultivators often passed by him, laughing and shouting: "Young hero, would you like to order a magic weapon? Our shop's weapon refiner can customize any kind of magic weapon, especially flying swords—judging by your demeanor, you must be a powerful young hero. You can never have too many flying swords for self-defense."

Li Gu knew that the lowest-grade magic weapon cost 400 low-grade spirit stones to be custom-made within the imperial court, so the price for a custom-made one in this commercial street would be at least 800 low-grade spirit stones. His 600 low-grade spirit stones were simply not enough to make a custom-made one.

And he doesn't want to order a custom-made one!

Li Gu smiled and said, "I want ready-made goods, not custom-made ones."

Those shops that specialized in custom-made items had no choice but to close down.

But as soon as Li Gu uttered those words, he naturally attracted the attention of those who only dealt in spot goods, and they quickly surrounded him.

"Young hero, take a look at the magical artifacts in our shop. They're all in stock, but it's inconvenient to display them on the street as they're easily stolen. Why don't you come to our..."

Let's look inside the shop.

"Young hero, the flying sword in my hand is a mid-grade magic weapon. It's on special offer, only 20 mid-grade spirit stones."

The iron ruler on Li Gu's body was a low-grade magic weapon. Now that he saw a mid-grade flying sword, he really wanted it, but he couldn't afford it. He had to find a swindler to transfer some money first, so he had to put it aside for the time being.

After weaving through a large group of vendors, he had a general understanding of the prices, and only then did he turn towards the alleyway beside him.

Sure enough, as soon as you deliberately go astray, the scam shop will appear.

Li Gu walked into a small shop tucked away in a corner, which looked a bit odd at first glance, and greeted the shop assistant.

The shopkeeper immediately perked up: "Young hero! Want to buy a magical artifact? I have some right here!"

After examining Li Gu's appearance, he immediately took out a sword and showed it to Li Gu: "This is the best mid-grade flying sword. The purity of the material is much higher than that of the low-grade ones, so it can hold more spiritual power. It will be easy for you to wield and you can use it with peace of mind."

[The Cultivation World Anti-Fraud Handbook Lv.1 reminds you: Wang Mazi's statement just now, "This is the best mid-grade flying sword," is a lie. Do you want to force the lie to become true? Yes/No.]

Li Gu didn't choose anything for the time being, but asked the price first: "How much?"

The shopkeeper chuckled, "Fifteen mid-grade spirit stones!"

His price was 25% lower than the previous one. If an experienced swindler heard it, he would immediately know it was a bit fake. The swindler deliberately quoted such a price because he thought Li Gu was not an experienced swindler. So, he quoted a price like eighteen coins to deceive an experienced swindler, but it was not easy to deceive a novice, because the novice would think that the price was not much cheaper and lacked appeal.

He quotes an incredibly low price, far below the genuine price, and is most likely to rip off naive girls and fools who are greedy for small gains. Anyone who tries to haggle after hearing this price is the easiest to trick into handing over their underwear.

Li Gu chuckled inwardly: It seems I've successfully played the foolish rich second-generation heir; such a stupid offer is coming straight to my face.

Unfortunately, he only had six mid-grade spirit stones, which he couldn't afford to buy fake ones, so he could only resort to tricks.

He immediately showed interest, glancing at the sword in the vendor's hand a few more times, then feigning a "pig-headed" look: "It's quite cheap, I'm tempted, but I'm afraid you're selling a fake. Maybe you're selling me a low-grade magic weapon as a mid-grade one, taking advantage of my low cultivation level, that my spiritual energy isn't high enough to fill even a low-grade magic weapon, so naturally I can't measure how much spiritual energy this thing can actually hold."

The waiter chuckled inwardly: What a fool! You've exposed your low cultivation level; aren't you just asking for trouble?

Li Gu said, "How about this? I'll buy a low-grade magic weapon from you first and see if it's easy to use. If it is, and I trust you, then I'll come back to buy a mid-grade one."

The waiter laughed, "Of course, no problem. I also have the lower-grade ones."

He turned and went into the house, and came out with a different sword in his hand: "This is a low-grade flying sword magic weapon. Although it is low-grade, it is the highest quality among low-grade swords, and it is already close to the level of a mid-grade flying sword."

Actually, it's a defective product, the worst among low-grade magic artifacts. It's basically beyond repair, as it can only hold a small amount of spiritual energy and its quality is substandard. If more spiritual energy is added, it will easily break.

A reputable weapon refiner would usually destroy such a crafted item to prevent it from reaching the market. However, the weapon refiner behind this fellow was unscrupulous. Instead of destroying the defective product, he had his fellow refiner sell it to recoup some money. After all, the shop was rented, and ordinary people could rent it for a month for just a few coins. Once a magical artifact was sold, they would quickly move to another location.

The shopkeeper boasted, "I guarantee that with this low-grade flying sword, you can perform like a mid-grade flying sword, really! You'll know once you buy it and try it out. Look, my shop is right here, I can't just leave, I would never cheat you. I want to be a repeat customer, so once you've used it and are satisfied, you can come back to buy a mid-grade flying sword from me."