Joe Di waved his hand, "Alright, Egghead Jiao, tell me—what exactly happened here?"
Joe Di deliberately called him 'Egghead Jiao.' After all, this guy wanted to destroy his shop without knowing right from wrong—how could Joe Di possibly be happy about that?
Fortunately, Jaden Jiao was targeting the Ethereal Pavilion of the Demon Clan. If he were dealing with another pill pavilion, Joe Di wouldn't have wasted words—he would have simply acted.
Egghead Jiao suspected Joe Di wasn’t mispronouncing his name—he was intentionally calling him 'Egghead Jiao.' Still, he didn’t dare start another fight with Joe Di; Joe Di reminded him of Ye Mo from back in the day.
If there was one person Jaden Jiao truly feared, it was Ye Mo—no doubt about it. As a Hunyuan Saint Emperor, he’d never seen anyone but Ye Mo suppress a Daoyuan cultivator.
Back then, Ye Mo was at the Daoyuan Realm, yet could suppress him into silence. Now, Jaden Jiao had finally met a second Daoyuan Realm cultivator who could stand up to him. People like this—he really didn’t want to cross them. He was sure Joe Di wasn’t at Hunyuan yet, just like Ye Mo back then; neither of them were easy to mess with.
"That Ethereal Pavilion is shameless—always scheming against newcomers, especially human cultivators. My disciple had a Nine-Star Bamboo, and that despicable pavilion swindled it away. If my disciple hadn’t had some tricks up his sleeve, he’d probably have been killed by them already..." Jaden Jiao said angrily.
Joe Di’s heart stirred—he remembered Lance Wen and Jade Lin. Those two had also been swindled out of a Prime Yuan Fruit. Joe Di had thought that after showing his strength, Lance Wen would tell him who the culprit was. Unexpectedly, Lance Wen never asked for his help, and with everything else going on—the Dao Fruit Tower token, setting up his shop—Joe Di had let it slip his mind.
Could it be that the pavilion that swindled Lance Wen and his wife was this one? If so, it made sense that Lance Wen hadn’t told him. Joe Di seemed to have a good relationship with Franklin Young of the Demon Clan, and he’d even carved out a territory from their pavilion. Lance Wen must have worried about putting him in a tough spot, which was why he kept quiet.
If that was really the case, Lance Wen had made a serious mistake this time. If Joe Di had known the Ethereal Pavilion had swindled Lance Wen out of his Prime Yuan Fruit, he wouldn’t have bothered negotiating with Franklin Young—he’d have destroyed the Ethereal Pavilion and claimed the place for himself.
"Senior, our Ethereal Pavilion really hasn't done anything like that..." The Daoyuan cultivator thrown to the ground by Jaden Jiao hurriedly cried out.
Kuang He chimed in from the side, "That's right, seniors, our Ethereal Pavilion would never do such a thing. Besides, treasures like the Nine-Star Bamboo—I’ve only heard of them, never even seen one myself."
Jaden Jiao laughed heartily and declared, "Good disciple, come out and see for yourself—is this the trashy pill shop?"
As soon as Jaden Jiao finished speaking, a black-haired young man appeared before everyone. Clearly, he had just emerged from Jaden Jiao's True Spirit World.
The youth pointed at the Daoyuan cultivator and said, "He was the one who tricked me, along with a woman. She isn’t here right now."
The Daoyuan cultivator’s heart skipped a beat, just as he was about to protest further, the black-haired youth produced a crystal sphere and said, "Master, I was worried they’d try something, so I recorded everything in this crystal."
The crystal’s recording was clear: the black-haired youth had brought a Nine-Star Bamboo to refine Dao Star Pills.
Jaden Jiao snorted, grabbing the Daoyuan cultivator by the neck again. "Still trying to deny it? You dared to swindle my disciple—what nerve! Even Zhuge Zhichen didn’t dare trick me back in the day, and yet you have the guts."
"Jiao Daoist, don’t kill him..."
Joe Di had just spoken when Jaden Jiao frowned, glaring at him with obvious displeasure. "What, now that everything’s clear, you still want to help this trash? Don’t tell me you really are colluding with the Demon Clan?"
Joe Di was quite annoyed by Egghead Jiao’s brashness. He said coolly, "Who I choose to associate with is none of your business, Egghead Jiao. I just want to ask this guy one thing."
Sensing Joe Di’s displeasure, Jaden Jiao forcibly suppressed his anger. If Joe Di were a Hunyuan Saint Emperor, he wouldn’t be afraid. But the fact that Joe Di was only a Daoyuan Saint Emperor made him all the more terrifying.
Joe Di fixed his gaze on the Daoyuan cultivator Egghead Jiao was choking and said coldly, "Earlier, my friends Lance Wen and Jade Lin came to the Void Market with a Prime Yuan Fruit..."
As he asked, Joe Di clearly sensed a slight fluctuation in the rules around the Daoyuan cultivator.
Joe Di laughed, "Looks like I don’t need to ask any further—my friends Lance Wen and Jade Lin really were swindled out of their Prime Yuan Fruit by this piece of trash."
The Daoyuan cultivator, realizing he couldn't escape, pleaded anxiously, "Senior, I wasn’t the one who did it—the Prime Yuan Fruit was taken by Jing Huishan..."
Jaden Jiao’s disciple shouted angrily, "Jing Huishan is your disciple—no one would believe she acted without your orders!"
With a flick of his hand, Joe Di had already taken the ring from the Daoyuan cultivator’s finger—even as Jaden Jiao was still gripping his neck.
Jaden Jiao was startled—such a technique...
"Haha, Brother Joe, Brother Jiao... Sorry I’m late—eh, what’s going on here?" Franklin Young had already walked over, his gaze landing on the Daoyuan cultivator Jaden Jiao was gripping, as if he hadn’t come for this matter at all.
Jaden Jiao said grimly, "Franklin Young, don’t try to cozy up to me. Your Demon Clan’s Daoyuan Saint Emperor swindled my disciple’s Nine-Star Bamboo—and also tricked Daoist Joe out of his Prime Yuan Fruit."
He didn’t dare casually call Franklin Young ‘Old Grandpa’ like he did with others.
Franklin Young fixed his cold gaze on the Daoyuan cultivator. "Fron, you’ve got some nerve. The Demon Clan has always had a good reputation in the Void Market, yet you use dirty tricks to ruin our name? Do you think being a Dao Transformation Pill Saint lets you do as you please?"
Joe Di took out a jade box and handed it to Jaden Jiao. "Daoist Jiao, I’ve already found the Nine-Star Bamboo—here you go. As for the rest, I won’t be polite."
Joe Di discovered Fron's ring contained a large number of spiritual herbs, and the quality was quite good. Since he’d soon need plenty of herbs for pill refinement, he had no intention of returning the ring.
Franklin Young naturally knew how many treasures were in Fron's ring. He was about to speak, but Joe Di cut him off, "Daoist Franklin, you’re really not being very fair."
"Ah..." Franklin Young hadn’t expected Joe Di to accuse him first—what was going on here?
Joe Di pointed at the ruined shop and said, "Earlier, I said I’d help you look after your shop. Then Daoist Egghead Jiao came and destroyed your Ethereal Pavilion, and I was so furious I nearly fought him to the death. But what happened? It turns out your pavilion’s alchemists are completely out of line. Not only did they swindle Daoist Egghead Jiao’s disciple out of the Nine-Star Bamboo, they even cheated my friends out of a Prime Yuan Fruit. And to think I was helping you—what a slap in the face! I, Joe Di, have some dignity; if word of this gets out, how could I ever face my fellow human cultivators?"
Jaden Jiao had originally planned to split the ring’s contents with Joe Di, but hearing Joe Di pronounce his name correctly, he was pleased and decided not to ask for anything—for now.
Franklin Young knew Joe Di would never fight Jaden Jiao over his shop, but he hadn’t expected Fron to have cheated Joe Di’s friends. Wait—Prime Yuan Fruit? That sounded familiar...
The Demon Clan wasn’t as strong as before. Now that Joe Di and Jaden Jiao were united, Franklin Young wouldn’t dare provoke them, no matter how upset he was. He could only glare furiously at Fron, "Fron, you really have a death wish."
Fron didn’t dare say a word; he knew exactly how dire his situation was. Franklin Young wouldn’t dare offend Joe Di and Jaden Jiao—otherwise, he’d be cursing him, not just scolding. Fron had been cheating new human cultivators out of their treasures in the Void Market for a long time, and no one knew how many he’d secretly killed.
Franklin Young had never cared before; now he was only intervening out of fear.
Joe Di waved his hand, "Forget it. For the sake of our friendship, I won’t kill him."
He’d already made up his mind—if Jaden Jiao killed Fron, all the better. If not, Joe Di would finish the job himself once they left.