The first thing Joe Di did upon returning to his room was to replace all the room's restrictions. The original array formations and barriers he had set were all fourth-grade; now, he removed them and replaced everything with crude first-grade protective barriers, even setting up a rough gathering spirit array. He also changed the restriction on his storage pouch to a crude first-grade barrier.
Soon after finishing, the rough array outside was disturbed by Celia Qi's anxious shout, "David Di..."
Joe Di quickly opened the barrier and saw the expected visitors: Shopkeeper Feng and the Foundation Establishment ninth-layer cultivator. Besides these two, there was also a Golden Core sixth-layer cultivator.
"Steward Ming, that's him! He stole my Soulglass Herb and Celestial Blade Steel!" As soon as Joe Di appeared, Shopkeeper Feng pointed at him and shouted.
"Soulglass Herb and Celestial Blade Steel?" The Golden Core steward was no stranger to rare treasures. He looked at Shopkeeper Feng in surprise—those items were beyond even Soul Ancestors, so how could a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator possess them, much less steal them?
"Yes, those are exactly the items." Shopkeeper Feng was helpless; he knew he had to name the treasures, or he would have no way to hold Joe Di accountable.
The Golden Core steward's heart burned with desire—he coveted both items.
Regardless, the priority now was to confirm the items. His gaze darkened as he looked coldly at Joe Di. "Why did you steal from the shop on board?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Golden Core cultivator unleashed his aura toward Joe Di.
Even Felix Zheng and the others standing nearby were crushed by the pressure, finding it hard to breathe.
Under the pressure of the Golden Core aura, Joe Di's face grew even paler, and his legs began to tremble. Instinctively, he took a step back.
Joe Di seemed to steady himself with effort, then cupped his fists toward the Golden Core steward. "Steward Ming, I'm just a Foundation Establishment cultivator—how could I possibly steal from the shopkeeper? If someone at my level could steal from him, wouldn't all his goods be stolen by now? There are countless cultivators on this ship far stronger than me, aren't there?"
Steward Ming was also puzzled. Joe Di looked at most like a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator; even if he were late-stage, stealing from a shopkeeper seemed unlikely.
Shopkeeper Feng said sternly, "Half an incense stick ago, you entered my shop, suddenly attacked me, and while I was on the ground, you broke the restriction on my storage pouch and took my things from it."
"I did attack you and knocked you down, but the strong cultivator beside you immediately moved against me, and I retreated right away. In such a short time, not even ten breaths, how could I have stolen your things? If I were really that skilled, would I resort to attacking you?"
After finishing, Joe Di turned helplessly to Steward Ming. "Steward, I truly have nothing more to say. We're just passengers on this ship. Earlier, Shopkeeper Feng said my friend damaged one of his Soulglass Herbs and demanded ten thousand top-grade Spirit Stones in compensation. We paid him a piece of material, and only then did he let us go. Now he claims that in less than ten breaths, I opened his storage pouch and stole a Soulglass Herb. If I were that capable, why would I need to share a room with my friends? Ha..."
With a laugh, Joe Di turned to Shopkeeper Feng. "Does your family specialize in growing Soulglass Herbs? You're that impressive?"
Steward Ming also sensed something was off. Obtaining a single Soulglass Herb was possible, but if they kept appearing, the herb would hardly be worth anything.
Though Steward Ming favored Shopkeeper Feng, he couldn't ignore the truth. He stared sternly at Shopkeeper Feng. "Shopkeeper Feng, what do you have to say about this?"
To steal something from Shopkeeper Feng's storage pouch in ten breaths—even he couldn't do it. In fact, no one on this ship could. Moreover, according to the earlier investigation, Shopkeeper Feng claimed two Soulglass Herbs were either damaged or stolen by Joe Di and his group. The whole thing sounded absurd.
Shopkeeper Feng cried out in urgency, "Steward Ming, earlier they damaged my Soulglass Herb and compensated me with a piece of Celestial Blade Steel. It was this man who paid—ask him if you don't believe me."
Steward Ming turned his gaze to Felix Zheng, whom Shopkeeper Feng was pointing at. "Did you really damage one of Shopkeeper Feng's Soulglass Herbs? And did you pay with Celestial Blade Steel?"
Felix Zheng quickly replied, "I didn't know if it was a Soulglass Herb. The shopkeeper broke my leg and locked me up, so I could only give him a Flamecore Crystal. It wasn't Celestial Blade Steel, but it's just as valuable."
"You—" Shopkeeper Feng, furious, pointed at Felix Zheng. "You clearly gave me Celestial Blade Steel!"
"Then do you have a Flamecore Crystal in your storage pouch?" Steward Ming asked calmly, looking at Shopkeeper Feng.
"I..." Shopkeeper Feng was instantly speechless. He knew very well there was a Flamecore Crystal in his storage pouch.
Seeing Shopkeeper Feng's expression, Steward Ming realized he did have a Flamecore Crystal in his pouch. His face grew stern. "So both Soulglass Herbs were fake? You called me here just to waste my time?"
Noticing Steward Ming's anger, Shopkeeper Feng panicked, sweat beading on his forehead. Fortunately, he was quick-witted and pointed at Joe Di. "My storage pouch restriction is second-grade. If he were a fifth-grade array master, he could open it in ten breaths and restore the restriction afterward. If he did open it, he'd know exactly what's inside."
Steward Ming was amused by Shopkeeper Feng's logic. Even in an array sect, fifth-grade array masters were rare. In such a sect, a fifth-grade master would be an elder. This Shopkeeper Feng really had a wild imagination.
"Steward Ming, some people are just geniuses. This man is already late-stage Foundation Establishment at such a young age—maybe he's terrifyingly skilled in arrays too." Shopkeeper Feng pointed at Joe Di, knowing that without evidence today, he would lose completely.
Steward Ming frowned. What Shopkeeper Feng described wasn't impossible, but the odds were extremely slim.
"Right, if he's an array master, his room's restriction should be above fourth-grade. Let's check his room and see for ourselves." Shopkeeper Feng thought he'd finally caught Joe Di in a lie.
In such a short time, Joe Di couldn't possibly have anticipated this.
Before Shopkeeper Feng could finish, Steward Ming had already stepped into Joe Di's room.
Steward Ming himself could set up third-grade arrays. Upon seeing the traces of Joe Di's formations, he knew they were crude first-grade protective barriers. Not only that, Joe Di had also set up an extremely rough spirit gathering array.
With a cold snort, Steward Ming said, "Shopkeeper Feng, it seems you really tried to trick people with a fake Soulglass Herb, didn't you?"
At this moment, Shopkeeper Feng also saw the first-grade protective barriers in Joe Di's room. Wiping sweat from his forehead, he said, "Let's check his storage pouch."
Steward Ming said nothing, only staring coldly at Shopkeeper Feng.
Shopkeeper Feng realized he'd made a mistake. This time, he'd run into someone as cunning as a fox. If he wanted his things back, he'd have to get tough. Once off the ship, he'd definitely find a Golden Core expert to deal with Joe Di.
"Steward Ming, I didn't think this through." Shopkeeper Feng no longer dared to argue.
"Let me see your storage pouch." To Shopkeeper Feng's surprise, after giving up on troubling Joe Di, Steward Ming instead wanted to check Joe Di's pouch.
Without hesitation, Joe Di handed his storage pouch to Steward Ming.
Steward Ming scanned it with his divine sense, then returned the pouch to Joe Di and said to Shopkeeper Feng, "Since that's settled, let's drop the matter."
"Yes, yes..." Shopkeeper Feng replied repeatedly.
Joe Di had wanted to ask for the Flamecore Crystal back from Shopkeeper Feng, but swallowed his words. Asking for it now didn't fit the image he'd shown so far.
"Since it was your mistake, return the item to its owner," Steward Mou said, voicing what Joe Di hadn't.
Utterly helpless, Shopkeeper Feng could only hand the Flamecore Crystal to Felix Zheng.
"Brother Simon, you're amazing! I thought we were doomed—the Shopkeeper Feng even called the Golden Core steward!" Sherry Jing looked at Joe Di with admiration, her eyes wide and filled with awe.
Joe Di sighed. He'd always thought Sherry Jing was just aloof and looked down on others, but now he realized he'd overestimated her—she was just a fool.
Joe Di said calmly, "I'm the only one in trouble here—I'm just a rogue cultivator. You all come from major sects; no matter what, they wouldn't dare touch you."
Felix Zheng sighed from the side. "That's not true. This ship isn't from North Domain, but another province. Many shops on board aren't from North Domain either. We're just inner disciples, and even a real Golden Core elder wouldn't be respected here."