Anti-fraud manual for the cultivation world

A cold smile appeared on Tie Tangzhu's lips, and several of his black-clad gang members placed their hands on their weapons.

Kailong placed his hand on the iron ruler as well. Zhang Yi tensed up, biting his lower lip, thinking: Damn it, Jiangzhou City is even more dangerous than Flower Valley. I escaped Flower Valley to save my life, but I never expected to die even faster.

Seeing that the two sides were about to clash, Li Gu suddenly spoke up: "It's so simple! Hand the murderer over to the Golden Bamboo Gang, you can finish him off until he's on his last breath and hand him over to the authorities, then we can drag him to the market and behead him. Wouldn't that be a win-win situation? Why bother with all this?"

"No!"

Kailong and Tie Tangzhu objected almost simultaneously: "Then everyone will know that the government has joined forces with the Golden Bamboo Gang."

"Our Golden Bamboo Gang will never join forces with the imperial court's lackeys."

"How can the imperial court join forces with gangs and lose its dignity?"

The two men were speaking at the same time, each saying their own thing. Li Gu's ears picked up two different sentences simultaneously, causing some confusion. He couldn't help but complain, "Don't try to distance yourselves just because there are newcomers here. The fact that we're chatting peacefully without starting a fight the moment we meet shows that the imperial court and the Golden Bamboo Gang have already reached a compromise. Otherwise, why would the gang members have brought us here after Uncle Kai gave his name?"

Chiron: "..."

Master Tie: "..."

Li Gu pulled Zhang Yi behind him: "We're not hot-blooded youths full of a sense of justice. We know that the world of martial arts has a gray area in addition to black and white."

Both Tie Tangzhu and Kailong removed their weapons, and smiles returned to their faces.

Kailong quickly said, "Don't kill him. Leave him alive so I can behead him at the market."

Tie Tangzhu quickly added, "If I cause chaos when I arrest someone, you'll have to cover for me."

Chiron whispered, "How chaotic will it get?"

The Iron Hall Master whispered, "The murderer has reached the Foundation Establishment stage."

Just hearing the words "Foundation Building" was enough for Chiron to understand!

Reaching the Foundation Establishment stage signifies officially stepping into the realm of cultivation, resulting in a complete qualitative change in physical body, spiritual consciousness, and abilities. Lifespan extends to between 200 and 250 years, eliminating the need for desperately seeking longevity elixirs like Qi Refining cultivators. The physical body is greatly strengthened, undergoing marrow cleansing and meridian purification, with skin, flesh, and bones far surpassing those of Qi Refining cultivators. Ordinary swords and mortal weapons cannot harm the body; one is impervious to ordinary heat and cold, poisonous insects, and miasma. Furthermore, Foundation Establishment cultivators can continuously soar through the air on flying swords, flying boats, and various magical artifacts, and can remotely control multiple magical artifacts for simultaneous combat using spiritual energy. Flying swords, shields, and offensive magical artifacts can be deployed separately…

Simply put, a cultivator in the Qi Refining stage is about as strong as a character in a "wuxia novel".

However, cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage have officially entered the "Cultivation Path" and are considered characters in "Xianxia Novels".

With the strength of the Golden Bamboo Gang, dealing with a Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn't be a problem.

However, when the fighting begins, the two sides will inevitably enter the "aerial combat" phase. At that time, the cultivators from both sides will fly back and forth in the sky, exchanging blows with their weapons, while the mortals on the ground and the Bull Demon King will come out to see God. The commotion will not be small.

Chiron frowned...

Li Gu said in a low voice, "Uncle Kai, even if we don't let the Golden Bamboo Gang take action, if our imperial court takes action itself to arrest Foundation Establishment cultivators, it will still cause chaos, and we will still have to cover up the mess. In that case, there's nothing we can't agree to regarding the Golden Bamboo Gang's request."

Chiron thought about it and realized, "Isn't that right?"

He nodded and patted Li Gu on the shoulder: "You've got potential, kid. I'm optimistic about you."

He clasped his hands in a fist salute to Master Tie, then turned and left.

Tie Tangzhu waved his hand from behind: "Hey, Constable Kai, next time you catch my gang members strolling in the street, remember to secretly release a few."

Chiron said irritably, "What nonsense! I didn't benefit from this cooperation, I don't owe you anything."

Tie Tangzhu turned to Li Gu: "Hey, little constable! You'll release my men, won't you?"

Li Gu turned around and spread his hands: "I am of lowly status and my words carry no weight."

Master Tie chuckled and said, "I bet you'll be back on your feet soon."

Li Gu laughed: "Then I'll ask for a favor in advance, Master Tie. Where in Jiangzhou City are there the most swindlers? Especially those places that sell fake medicine."

Master Tie asked in surprise, "Oh? Planning to catch some swindlers to impress your superiors?"

Li Gu, of course, wouldn't reveal his true purpose, and smiled, "Yes, who doesn't want to climb the ladder?"

Master Tie chuckled: "The Chuqimen sect has the most fake medicine sellers. Go there and take a look; you're sure to find something."

Li Gu smiled and clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Thank you!"

Chiron turned around ahead, laughing and scolding, "What's the point of catching a few fake drug dealers?"

Li Gu didn't explain, he just smiled.

Zhang Yi quickly followed behind the two men. After a few steps, he suddenly sighed in a low voice, "So this is how constables handle cases? My father... was he like this before?"

In my childhood memories, my father was a great man, a man of integrity who spent his life arresting criminals and upholding justice. But now I realize that it might not be like that at all. Perhaps my father also frequently made deals with gangs.

He couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

The three returned to the yamen, and Kailong quickly went to mobilize manpower to prepare for the chaos. Zhang Yi also went to help.

Li Gu, under the pretext of taking a rest, secretly slipped out of the Six Doors, put on a cloak over his constable clothes to make himself look like an ordinary江湖汉 (jianghu man, a person from the martial arts world), and swaggered towards Chu Qimen, who was selling fake medicine.

Chuqimen, one of the seventeen gates of Jiangzhou, is located in the southeast of the city, facing a natural deep-water dock. This is the first distribution center for medicinal herbs in the southwest of the Divine Continent. Medicinal ships from the south and north would stop and transfer here, especially those from the Southern Barbarian region, which often carried many rare and precious medicines that were scarce in the Central Plains. Many cultivators came here to search for spiritual herbs to aid their cultivation.

The street leading into the city from Chuqi Gate is lined with pharmacies on both sides, offering the most raw materials: angelica, astragalus, codonopsis, fritillaria, gastrodia, musk... truly a dazzling array of products, both wholesale and retail, with so many pharmacies that it's impossible to take it all in.

There are fewer shops selling traditional Chinese medicine, but they are not hard to find. There are so many kinds of medicines, such as Qi Gathering Pill, Yellow Dragon Pill, Golden Marrow Pill, Yuan Strengthening Pill, and Spirit Gathering Pill, that you can't take your eyes off them all. However, the prices of these traditional Chinese medicines are often exorbitant. The cheapest ones are worth several low-grade spirit stones, while the most expensive ones are worth more than ten top-grade spirit stones.

Walking down this street, you can deeply feel the sentiment: "What kind of immortality can you cultivate if you don't have money?"

Li Gu was penniless and couldn't afford anything.

He was single-mindedly searching for the swindler.

Soon, a short-haired boy of about fourteen or fifteen years old caught his attention at the street corner ahead.

The boy had a head of messy curly hair, and his face was dark and grimy, as if he hadn't washed it in ages. He was thin and frail, as if a gust of wind could knock him over.

He squatted by the roadside, looking listless, but whenever someone walked past him, he would quickly say something. Passersby usually ignored him and walked right past him, but occasionally someone would stop, listen to him for a few words, and then shake their head and walk away.

Li Gu immediately understood: this person was selling something.

I quickly went over there.