From his leather belt pouch, Tie Shan drew a single, heavy copper coin. A worn, circular washer stamped with the character for Ten from the outer melted rock waste foundries.
The coin was worth less than a bowl of weak tea on the streets of the Heavenly River metropolis.
Lin Tao placed the copper coin upon the velvet lining of his green jade spatial ring. It slid the ring into the circular indentation of Node Alpha on the left side of the dark rock stone stand.
Then, from his pocket, Lin Tao drew a plain, unranked brass ring—a crude, five-liter storage ring requisitioned from an outer sect blacksmith—and placed it into Node Beta on the right side of the table.
Guild Master Jin watched this bizarre setup with an expression of open, derisive contempt.
“A melted rock waste-pit copper washer?” Jin sneered, crossing his sable-clad arms over his chest. “You invoke the power of the Grand Punishment Trial, flash the White Jade Key of Root Entry, and demand an official audit of our central locked deposit matrix... To transfer a single copper coin between two beggar’s rings?”
“Every audit begins with a baseline test, Guild Master Jin,” Lin Tao replied calmly. He stepped up to the stone stand. “if a bridge can’t carry an ant, you don’t drive an elephant across it.”
