Chapter 19

Old Mr. Ban's long beard flapped in the wind, and the intricately patterned small hammer with three stars on its back rose again.

"Don't..." Tang Zheng saw the situation was not good and hurriedly tried to flatter, "Old Mr. Ban, Old Mr. Ban, don't get angry, or you'll get sick and no one will take care of you..."

"Looking for death!" The old man reined in his star power, flipped out from behind the counter, and kicked toward Tang Zheng.

Tang Zheng narrowed his eyes.

The moment Old Mr. Ban flipped out from behind the counter, Tang Zheng quickly flipped back in. Before the old man could turn his head, his kick naturally hit a pile of air.

Old Mr. Ban was clearly surprised, then did another backflip, throwing himself back into the counter.

But the moment he entered the counter, Tang Zheng agilely flipped out again.

This went on for over ten times, and Old Mr. Ban's foot never touched Tang Zheng once.

Old Mr. Ban, who sat in the shop every day tinkering with things, clearly lacked exercise. After flipping over a dozen times, he was already panting: "If you were my grandson, I'd beat you to death."

Tang Zheng wasn't the kind of person who didn't learn from experience. He knew that with the old man's three-star combat power, once his star power surged, a single finger could finish him off.

Old Mr. Ban, with his flaring beard and glaring eyes, couldn't catch Tang Zheng, but he did take a closer look at him.

Because, at Tang Zheng's age, not having a single life palace lit was considered quite late.

However, he had far exceeded the age-appropriate footwork and combat reactions.

The gap between cultivation and actual combat was so large that even Old Mr. Ban couldn't figure out what was going on.

After the old rascal and the little joker were both tired, they sat down again.

Old Mr. Ban asked irritably, "You said you came to find me, Old Mr. Ban, for a big business deal?"

"Heh, that's because... I don't have an identity plate, right? A friend introduced me to the Treasure Pavilion to solve this."

"Is this a big business deal? Three gold and fifty silver!" Old Mr. Ban snorted and extended his hand.

"You really know how to treat people differently." Tang Zheng had no choice but to hand over the pile of copper coins he had just received from Old Mr. Ban back to his claws.

Old Mr. Ban didn't even look at them, just threw them behind him. They clanged and clanged, forming a line in the air, and each one accurately landed in a small box behind the counter.

After collecting the money, Old Mr. Ban took out a paper box from under the counter.

Tang Zheng leaned over to look. The paper box was full of various small plates, some as large as a playing card, some as small as a pull tab on a can, rectangular, square, round, of all colors and shapes.

Tang Zheng, in a daze, felt as if he was seeing those roadside key-cutting stalls from his previous life...

"Identity plate... hmm, here." Old Mr. Ban's gaze became serious as he flipped out a metal card only half the size of a playing card, "There, that's it."

He took out over twenty pens of different thicknesses. His star power swirled, the three stars gradually shining, his right hand as steady as a rock, grinding ink and writing in one smooth motion.

Various patterns were continuously drawn on the blank identity plate.

The originally silver background was quickly covered with various colors.

After drawing the base pattern, Old Mr. Ban looked up at Tang Zheng and asked, "Name?"

"Tang Zheng. Tang from Tang Family Castle, and Zheng meaning upright and honest."

"..." Old Mr. Ban glanced at him, "What a waste of such a good name."

"..." Tang Zheng was speechless.

"Gender?" Old Mr. Ban continued to ask.

"..." Tang Zheng was even more speechless.

Old Mr. Ban waved his hand and asked, "Which family's territory are you from?"

Tang Zheng shrugged, "Which family is farthest from Wulong Town?"

"Liu Yun Family."

"Then Liu Yun Family it is."

Old Mr. Ban didn't ask further, "Birth date?"

"I'm twenty-two today, my birthday is on the ninth day of the tenth month, the rest... you can just make it up."

Old Mr. Ban buried his head and continued to draw, then covered it with some kind of paper. After a while, the patterns and characters on the silver identity plate were completely dry.

Old Mr. Ban took out his own identity plate and placed it next to the newly made one, "This one is real, this one is fake, take a look."

Old Mr. Ban's craftsmanship was truly impeccable.

Tang Zheng, who had the eye for detail to pass each level of "Find the Difference" in an average of ten seconds, couldn't find any difference between the real and fake plates, even after comparing them several times.

"How about it? Not bad, right!" Old Mr. Ban asked.

"Um, exactly the same..." Tang Zheng's eyes darted around, and he lowered his head, his smile deepening, "But, Old Mr. Ban, I heard the Treasure Pavilion has a good reputation, that's why I came..."

"The reputation of the Treasure Pavilion is guaranteed by the Purple Gold City!" Old Mr. Ban mentioned the Purple Gold City with great reverence, and when he mentioned the Treasure Pavilion's reputation, his face was full of pride!

"But, this one is also fake! Both are fake!"

"How is that possible?!" Old Mr. Ban's beard flew up, but he quickly became embarrassed, "Damn, I picked the wrong one."

Tang Zheng, seeing his beard flaring, quickly took two steps back.

Old Mr. Ban looked at him again, took out another identity plate, and asked in surprise, "No, both are fake, I picked the wrong one. But... how did you figure it out?"

The reputation of the Treasure Pavilion was indeed impeccable. Reputation was the foundation of the Treasure Pavilion, and it was something they valued more than life.

So, Old Mr. Ban was embarrassed; he didn't want Tang Zheng to misunderstand that he had intentionally given him a fake one for comparison.

But on the other hand, he was also curious how Tang Zheng had figured it out.

The identity plates that came out of the Treasure Pavilion were absolutely impossible to distinguish by the naked eye!

"Look, here." Tang Zheng pointed to the same pattern on both fake identity plates, then pointed to a painting hanging behind Old Mr. Ban, "The brush stroke! The same brush stroke is in the lower right corner of the painting behind you, so I determined that both you gave me are fake!"

Old Mr. Ban's gaze toward Tang Zheng truly changed.

Earlier, when he had taken the wrong plate for comparison, it was indeed an accident, but without this accident, how could he have recognized such an extraordinary person?

When Tang Zheng first entered the shop, they had a bit of a verbal sparring match, and he only found the person interesting. But in his lifetime, he had met many interesting people.

After Tang Zheng bought Yao Mo, the huge difference between his cultivation and actual combat, due to the name misunderstanding, made him realize that this person might have secrets. But after living in Wulong Town for so long, he, Ban Yilou, wasn't the kind to meddle in others' affairs. What did it matter to him?

But now...

Old Mr. Ban couldn't help but be moved!

Tang Zheng could see the same brush stroke habit in three different things!

How shallow must that stroke be?

How fine must that hook be?

What kind of person would have such keen eyesight?

"What's your real name?" Old Mr. Ban couldn't help but ask.

This kind of question was actually taboo in Wulong Town.

Old Mr. Ban would never ask anyone in Wulong Town such a question.

"I'm just called Tang Zheng!" Tang Zheng scratched his ear, "Speaking of which, this identity plate should have a record in the Hundred Refinements Workshop, right?"

"What are you thinking?" Old Mr. Ban was once again irritated, "This is a fake plate! Fake, do you know how to write 'fake'?"

"So... there's no record to check?"

"You can go anywhere in Wulong Town with this identity plate because the Hundred Refinements Workshop in Wulong Town doesn't have the 'Red Dust Register,' so they can't check your background."

Tang Zheng nodded.

In other words, this fake identity plate should be enough to deal with Tang Family Castle.

But he always felt it wasn't enough...

If he wasn't more greedy, no, more ambitious than others, he would have chosen reincarnation rather than transmigration!

"I want one with a record." Tang Zheng shook his head, insisting.

"Impossible!" Old Mr. Ban was also very firm, as this wasn't just a technical issue.

"How much?"

"This isn't about money!"

An identity plate with a record wasn't just a plate!

A real identity plate must be crafted by a Seven-Star or higher blacksmith from the Hundred Refinements Workshop, and then a Five-Star or higher array master must personally draw the array. Each real identity plate, when inserted into the "Red Dust Register," can reveal the holder's life information through the special array of the register.

"This is about money," Tang Zheng raised a finger, "One hundred taels, pure gold?"

"You brat, are you drunk? One hundred taels of pure gold could buy half of Tang Family Castle!" Old Mr. Ban almost hit Tang Zheng on the head with a nut.

But one hundred taels of pure gold was just a small piece of the mountain of gold bricks for Tang Zheng.

And the identity plate...

The sooner it was done, the fewer the hidden dangers! As long as he could get it as soon as possible, even if it cost ten thousand taels of purple gold, it would be worth it!

"Not enough?" Tang Zheng extended two fingers, "Two hundred taels? Pure gold!"

"You're crazy, absolutely crazy."

"Still not enough? Three hundred taels? Um, I only have pure gold..."

"Only pure..." Old Mr. Ban re-evaluated Tang Zheng, "You're so open, aren't you afraid I'll have bad intentions? You should know, this is Wulong Town!"

"But this is the Treasure Pavilion!" Tang Zheng's eyes met Old Mr. Ban's deepest pride, but his next words immediately revealed his true nature, "Is this a big business deal?"

"..." No matter how much he thought about it, Old Mr. Ban couldn't understand why someone who could come up with several hundred taels of pure gold would insist on an identity plate with a record.

A new identity plate represented a complete break from the past and a fresh start...

"Or, five hundred taels..."

"Pure gold! Deal!" Before Old Mr. Ban could finish, Tang Zheng grabbed the fake identity plate, "How long for the real one?"

"You brat, I said five hundred taels! You're not going to haggle?"

"How long for the real one?" Tang Zheng stubbornly asked his question first. He was most concerned about the time, not the money!

The fake identity plate should be enough to deal with Tang Family Castle.

But the real one was definitely better sooner.

"Minimum three months..."

"I'll send one hundred taels as a deposit in a month."

"You..." Old Mr. Ban realized he wasn't joking, "You really want an identity plate with a record?"

"Really. Let's agree on this." Tang Zheng was decisive, turned, and left.

It took a long time for Old Mr. Ban to come to his senses, "Damn! What did I agree to with him!"

A real identity plate, with its base and array engraving, must go through the Hundred Refinements Workshop, and there was no way around it!

In other words, if Old Mr. Ban didn't use his connections, he couldn't do it alone!

...

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