Not to criticize you, but

Those words were like a string of slaps, nearly swelling Liao Feijun's face beyond recognition.

Not to mention everyone else—even among Liao Feijun's drinking buddies, someone could not help laughing aloud.

Liao Feijun flew into a rage. "You arrogant brat! With no evidence, you can make up whatever nonsense you want? This is clearly a Flood Dragon Eye!"

"Flood Dragon Eyes and Demon Dragon Eyes really are difficult to distinguish unless a destructive test is carried out," Meng Chao said. "Any kind of Demon Dragon Eye contains slight toxicity. If we drill a hole, scrape out a little powder, and put it into a toxin reagent, there should be a reaction."

"After all that, your fox tail has finally shown itself, huh? Drilling into the crystal core would ruin the material. You know perfectly well we can't carry out such a test, so you're just spouting nonsense without restraint, aren't you?" Liao Feijun laughed in extreme anger and shook his head repeatedly, as though regretting that he had lowered himself by arguing with such a person.

"If we don't perform a destructive test now, are we supposed to wait until this 'Young Master Nie' turns the Demon Dragon Eye into Gene Serum, consumes it to break into a higher realm, suffers a Cultivation Deviation, bleeds from all seven orifices, or even dies on the spot before you admit it?" Meng Chao said solemnly.

As he spoke, he looked at Young Master Nie with deep sympathy.

Young Master Nie's expression changed.

"Nie Lao Si, you don't trust me?" Liao Feijun was driven mad with rage. "You trust a high school student living in public housing?"

"That's not what I mean." Young Master Nie frowned, thinking, Damn it, I'm not the one eating it, so of course you don't care. What if you really did misjudge it?

They were merely drinking and feasting friends. Their trust had not reached the point of entrusting one another with their lives.

"Eight million!"

At that moment, Ning Shewo strode onto the stage, his voice ringing like a great bell. "Little Nie, give this old man some face. I'll pay eight million to buy that unknown material from you. We'll appraise it on the spot—whether it's poisonous or not, whether it's a Flood Dragon Eye or a Demon Dragon Eye, one look will tell!"

"Whoa!"

When everyone saw Ning Shewo take the stage to back Meng Chao, they all cried out in surprise.

This trading fair truly twisted and turned, with one wave rising after another.

"No need. I don't care about a few million. Since Old Ning has stepped forward, let's appraise it right now and see what this thing really is!" Young Master Nie brought out the unknown material.

Liao Feijun's expression turned incomparably ugly, but he was riding a tiger and could not dismount. He could only force himself to say, "Then appraise it! Hmph, ruining several million worth of material over some fool kid's idiotic words!"

"That's right. Though Demon Dragon Eyes are poisonous, if prepared with a different formula, they can instead stimulate the human body's potential, with results even better than Flood Dragon Eyes. Unfortunately, once a destructive test is done, its quality will drop sharply. At least several million will be lost." Meng Chao shook his head, his face full of regret.

Things had reached this point, and there was no way to settle them peacefully. The trading fair already had all kinds of appraisal instruments and testing reagents. Ning Shewo personally got to work, quickly securing the unknown material. He lightly drilled a hair-thin hole into its surface with an ultra-micro drill, then inserted a probe as fine as an ox hair.

The instant the drill penetrated the material, seven-colored radiance burst forth, and fragrance instantly filled the room.

Everyone sighed in succession, knowing that the Spiritual Energy sealed within the crystal core had leaked out. This crystal core was ruined.

Yet several Senior Harvesters changed expression, their faces filling with suspicion and surprise.

From the overly intense fragrance, they had already smelled signs of something.

Usually, only poisonous materials had such cloyingly sweet scents.

Sure enough.

Not long after the powder scraped from the core of the unknown material was placed into the toxin reagent, pink bubbles rose from the reagent, churning as though it were boiling.

Poisonous!

The toxicity was very mild, but it was enough to prove that this was not a Flood Dragon Eye!

This was a Demon Dragon Eye that no one had ever seen, or even heard of—one that only Meng Chao knew about!

"This..."

At once, all the Harvesters, buyers, and sellers wore complicated expressions. As they looked at Meng Chao, their gazes held three parts awe and seven parts confusion.

Liao Feijun stood dumbfounded, cold sweat pouring down his face in an instant.

The Zhao Surname Strongman from the Blood Wolf Squad took the admiration he had just directed at Liao Feijun, amplified it fivefold, and turned it upon Meng Chao.

Young Master Nie, who had nearly refined poisonous material into medicine and swallowed it, looked livid as he shot Liao Feijun a deeply displeased glare.

Ning Shewo let out a breath of relief, his eyes full of appreciation as he looked at Meng Chao.

Ning Xueshi covered her mouth, laughter slipping through her fingers.

Then new information appeared in Meng Chao's vision:

Elite Citizen Ning Shewo received your guidance and learned of an entirely new material. His knowledge increased. Contribution Points +18

Ordinary Citizen Ning Xueshi received your guidance and learned of an entirely new material. Her knowledge increased. Contribution Points +9

Ordinary Citizen Liao Feijun received your guidance and learned of an entirely new material. His knowledge increased. Contribution Points +11

Elite Citizen...

Ordinary Citizen...

Dozens of messages appeared. Nearly everyone had received Meng Chao's guidance, and their knowledge had increased. Meng Chao, meanwhile, harvested more than five hundred Contribution Points in one go.

"Ah, this works!"

Meng Chao's eyes lit up.

It seemed he had developed another way to harvest Contribution Points.

Liao Feijun gritted his teeth fiercely and was about to hurry off the stage when Meng Chao suddenly called out to him.

"Wait. It is impolite to come and not return the favor. You gave me a few words just now, so let me give you a few in return?"

Meng Chao pondered for a moment. He was not merely seeking to avenge himself in kind.

He genuinely wanted to offer Liao Feijun a few pointers and see whether he could harvest some more Contribution Points.

"Old Ning and I are friends despite the difference in our ages. He belongs to your grandfather's generation, so by seniority, I ought to be your grandfather as well."

Meng Chao said sincerely, "But we're about the same age, so taking such a huge advantage of you would not be very appropriate. Since you keep calling me 'martial uncle,' I might as well lower myself by a generation and barely count as one of your uncles. Worthy Nephew Liao, now Uncle Meng will teach you some principles of being a Harvester.

"To know is to know, and not to know is not to know. With the Mist's treacherous unpredictability, the Otherworld's boundless vastness, mutated ferocious beasts and even demons and monsters emerging one after another, and rare materials beyond counting, how could we possibly identify every material under heaven?

"No matter how formidable a Harvester is, what does it matter if he admits he knows nothing about a certain material? If you don't know, then learn. There's nothing shameful about that.

"What is frightening is knowing only half of it, pretending to understand, and mistaking a Demon Dragon Eye for a Flood Dragon Eye. You may have shown off, but if someone else eats it, they'll die!"

Liao Feijun was rendered speechless. His face shifted between green and red, and the corners of his mouth twitched nonstop, as if he would have an epileptic fit the next second.

"Being a Harvester is like this. Being a person is the same, including Dragon City's external strategy."

Meng Chao spoke from the bottom of his heart. "Right now, we know nothing about the world beyond the Mist, yet we speak grandly of an 'Iron Torrent, charging ahead at full speed, sweeping across the Otherworld.' That is truly too arrogant. As the saying goes, 'Civilization is not destroyed by weakness, but by arrogance.' Worthy Nephew Liao, not to criticize you, but I think you've been rather arrogant lately."

Liao Feijun was so furious he nearly jumped up.

Yet Young Master Nie, who had a similar background and had nearly been harmed by Liao Feijun, laughed aloud without giving him any face at all.

Meng Chao blinked. He had spoken with painstaking sincerity, yet not even half a Contribution Point had been added.

Was this Liao Feijun really so impervious to oil and salt?

After pondering for a moment, he felt that Liao Feijun had misunderstood him.

"Don't misunderstand me, Worthy Nephew Liao. I have no interest in slapping your face. I sincerely want to teach you some principles of how to conduct yourself and handle affairs. Calm down, go home, and think carefully about what I said."

Meng Chao said with utmost sincerity, "The world ahead, including your life, may undergo earth-shaking changes. If you continue being so arrogant, be careful that one day you may die without even a burial place."

"You—" Liao Feijun was enraged. "You dare threaten me?"

Meng Chao felt utterly wronged. Why could this man not understand human speech? "No, no, no, this is absolutely not a threat. Uncle Meng is doing this for your own good. Even if you don't understand now, that's fine. Put Uncle Meng's words in your belly, and together with what happened today, take them out and toss them around whenever you have time, think them over carefully, strive to change your life, and become a better Liao Feijun. One day, you'll thank—"

Before Meng Chao could finish, Ning Shewo and Ning Xueshi—one grabbing his arm, the other covering her mouth—pulled him off the stage.

"Sorry, everyone. This friend of mine from a different generation is... is a technical nerd. He has a good heart, but a clumsy mouth, and he doesn't really know how to deal with people." Ning Shewo tried to smooth things over for him.

"Ning Shewo!" Liao Feijun was driven mad with rage. "You dare indulge such a Mad Dog and let him bite people? Have you no regard for my grandfather?"

"Liao Feijun, is my name something you can call?"

Those words completely enraged Ning Shewo, who had been prepared to let the matter rest. His expression changed instantly, and he said sternly, "Little Friend Meng was absolutely right. Your grandfather only taught you the Harvesting Technique; he never taught you the principles of being a person!

"Little Friend Meng came here with me. Whoever refuses to give him face today refuses to give face to me, the White-Haired Ghost Hand! If a junior like you refuses to give this old man face, I can't be bothered arguing with you. I'll go directly to Liao Santong and settle the score!"

When White Hair became enraged, the entire hall fell silent as crows and sparrows.

Liao Feijun gritted his teeth. "What do you want?"

"Liao Santong and I have fought for decades. When he farts, I know what color it is. Hmph, he wants to step on my head while I'm poisoned? Then let him have his wish!"

Ning Shewo said proudly, "One month from now, 'Ghost Hand' and 'Poison Hand' will have a public contest and settle today's conflict. Does Liao Santong dare?"

"Good, good, wonderful!"

This was exactly what Liao Feijun had been waiting for. He glared fiercely at Meng Chao. "Then it's settled. Everyone present will bear witness. One month from now, 'Ghost Hand' challenges 'Poison Hand.' We'll see who truly inherited the Jade Testing Method. When the time comes, don't say my grandfather bullied you, a cripple whose hands tremble!"

"To deal with Liao Santong—" Ning Shewo narrowed his eyes, his beard and hair trembling. "Even crippled, I am more than enough!"

When the White-Haired Ghost Hand made his move, it immediately stirred up a huge uproar.

"Ghost Hand actually challenged Poison Hand!"

"Could Ning Ghost Hand's injuries have healed? That makes no sense. In his current state, he can't possibly defeat Liao Poison Hand."

"Who exactly is this young man? His knowledge is so profound, and Ning Ghost Hand protects him so fiercely. Ning Ghost Hand isn't his master, so what kind of figure with hands and eyes reaching the heavens is his master?"

"Meng Chao? I'll remember that name!"