Master Zheng was stunned and doubtful.
A normal warrior would have yelled at Ou Yangming by now, but appraisers were a group of exceptionally careful people, hence they would not take even a bit of suspicion lightly.
As such, Master Zheng walked around the armor carefully to evaluate it again.
Shopkeeper Lin and a few of his colleagues on the second floor held their breaths at that moment as they were afraid that even a bit of noise would distract the master.
After some time, Master Zheng suddenly said, “Gentlemen, please forgive me for the impoliteness.”
Following that, he nodded and shut his eyes, then a wave-like momentum gushed out from his body.
Ou Yangming could not help but take a step back. It was then when he knew that Master Zheng was a hidden martial artist, and he could tell based on the master’s aura that he was not inferior to Squad Leader Yan at all.
At the spur of the moment, Master Zheng opened his eyes and scanned the armor with bright lights from his eyes.
Even though it all happened in a flash, Ou Yangming had goosebumps as if something dangerous was right beside him.
When Master Zheng closed his eyes again, his face turned slightly pale. It was evident that the consumption of what he did earlier was beyond Ou Yangming’s imagination.
“Master Zheng, you…” Shopkeeper Lin spoke carefully as he took a step forward.
“Thank you, Master Ou.” Master Ou waved his hand, and his eyes were already back to normal when he opened them. Subsequently, he kowtowed at Ou Yangming.
Shopkeeper Lin and a few apprentices at the store were stupefied. As things turned out this way, even a fool would know who was right and who was wrong.
“Master Ou, thank you.” With that, Shopkeeper Lin bowed at Ou Yangming too.
It was Ou Yangming’s first time seeing this response. Back when Kang Weibo and the others flattered him, they only gave him banknotes in secret, which was not exaggerating at all.
“Shopkeeper Lin, Master Zheng, you don’t have to do this!” Ou Yangming was at a loss.
Master Zheng sighed. “I’m Zheng Ziwen, and I’ve been an appraiser for thirty years, yet I’m not as capable as you. I feel guilty!”
Shopkeeper Lin cleared his throat. “Master Ou, you identified the flaws of the equipment in our store, which is equivalent to preserving the shop’s reputation. I’m very thankful for that.”
Ou Yangming laughed. He felt great looking at them, especially Zheng Ziwen who changed from being arrogant to being humble.
Apart from having a profound background, reputation was very important for one to open an equipment store. If someone bought equipment unworthy of its name, and other people found out, it would cause suspicions, which would be terrible for the store’s business.
After all, the items sold in the store were much more expensive than the ones sold at the stalls outside. If the store failed in quality assurance and practiced fraud, who would still buy from them?
“You’re being too polite, it was just as easy as lifting a finger.” Ou Yangming waved his hand, then looked at Zheng Ziwen curiously. “Master Zheng, what power were you using earlier?”
“Master Ou, I dare not call myself a master in front of you…” Zheng Ziwen quickly responded. Though Ou Yangming was much younger than him, so much so that the young fellow could be his son, he was being unusually respectful. “I used the appraisal art.”
“Oh, does that consume a lot of mental power?”
“It wasn’t just consumed, it was basically squeezed out from me.” Zheng Ziwen smiled bitterly, then put three fingers up. “Based on my ability, I can use it thrice a day, and I’ll be so exhausted after that that I need to sleep.”
Ou Yangming came to a sudden realization that Zheng Ziwen did not use the appraisal art at first as the secret technique had a huge restraint.
In comparison, his Military Fire’s accessory abilities were quite awesome.
“Master Ou, I have a request to make. Can you appraise every other piece of equipment in the store?” Shopkeeper Lin asked all of a sudden, then said in a serious tone, “If you allow me to, I’ll make the decision to let you pick something from the equipment, the pills, or anything else.”
Ou Yangming was startled as he was slightly moved.
It was true that the pieces of equipment here were great, but he could smith them himself too. That being said, every person had his shortcomings and merits, so it would be beneficial if he took a piece of unique equipment back to practice.
One could only improve by taking from the long to supplement the short. Ou Yangming remembered what Old Craftsman told him.
Therefore, he nodded and began walking around the store under Shopkeeper Lin and Zheng Ziwen’s companion.
Zheng Ziwen would do anything he could to stay in the store at that moment even if someone tried to get rid of him.
Chapter 43
The store’s second floor was much smaller as compared to the first, but it stored Fine Grade equipment, and the rest were at least of High Grade. On top of that, Ou Yangming also came across over ten pieces of Attribute Equipment. Of course, they were only of Good Grade, but even then, their value was way above a White Slate Equipment of High Grade.
Ou Yangming appraised more than a hundred pieces of equipment on the second floor, and he really found about ten that did not match Shopkeeper Lin’s description.
Needless to say, the differences were not big, by which the gaps were only one or at most two ranks, so none of them had a difference of three ranks apart. Even so, Shopkeeper Lin had a ghastly expression on his face.
‘A tenth, it turns out that the real attributes of a tenth of the equipment in the store are wrong.’
‘Luckily, this isn’t spread to the public yet, or the store will be doomed,’ he thought to himself.
On the contrary, Zheng Ziwen was not affected upon seeing the situation as if he was already used to it.
Once all the pieces of equipment were appraised, Shopkeeper Lin thanked Ou Yangming sincerely. “Master Ou, thank you for your effort.”
Ou Yangming chuckled. “Shopkeeper Lin, I’ve fulfilled my promise, so…”
“Master Ou, take anything you like, it’s a reward for you from the store,” Shopkeeper Lin quickly mentioned.
“Thank you.” Ou Yangming was elated, but he added, “If I don’t want a piece of equipment, can I pick something from the gems or jewelry?”
After looking around the second floor earlier, he noticed that the store sold pills and jewelry other than equipment.
He could not differentiate the pills, but the jewelry attracted his attention.
Shopkeeper Lin laughed. “I told you, you can pick anything from the second floor.”
With that, Ou Yangming began looking at the jewelry. Plenty of gem jewelry was displayed, such as earrings, headwear, necklaces, thumb rings, rings, bracelets, anklets, and so on.
Ou Yangming pointed at a necklace after glancing around. “Show me this.”
The necklace was smithed delicately, and he liked it very much.
Shopkeeper Lin giggled. “Master Ou, you have good eyesight. If you give this to your girlfriend, she’ll definitely be pleased.”
A fifteen or sixteen-year-old person was at the age of having increasing hormone levels, thus it was not strange for him to find friends of the opposite sex at all.
Ou Yangming blushed as he knew that he picked a women’s necklace. He wanted to pick something else but felt guilty since the others were watching, so he gritted his teeth and decided on the necklace. “I made my decision, I’ll take this!”
When Shopkeeper Lin and Zheng Ziwen sent him off at the door, Shopkeeper Lin told him softly, “Master Ou, about today, it’s best…”
“Don’t worry, I’m not a talkative person,” Ou Yangming quickly replied as he was considerate.
Shopkeeper Lin smiled brightly. ‘This young fella’s a sensible person.’
On the other hand, Zheng Ziwen approa
ched him to ask, “Master Ou, if you still have time today, can you make another visit?”
Ou Yangming was surprised. “What’s the matter?”
“We’re going to escort a batch of products to the prefecture lately, but there are some pieces of equipment that I can’t appraise accurately, so I’d like to ask for your help.” Zheng Ziwen grinned, then said to him seriously, “Don’t worry, we’ll reward you generously.”
Ou Yangming paused for a while before he replied, “Okay, I’ll definitely come if I’m free.”
Once he left, Shopkeeper Lin and Zheng Ziwen returned to the private room on the second floor. The shopkeeper then gathered the pieces of equipment picked out by Ou Yangming, and asked, “Master Zheng, is it true that these were appraised wrongly?”
“I think so,” Zheng Ziwen answered without hesitation.
“Master Zheng, this…” Shopkeeper Lin was delighted.
“Did you notice that even though there are errors in the appraisal, the differences were only two ranks apart, and most of them only had a one-rank gap?” Zheng Ziwen sighed.
Shopkeeper Lin was stunned, so he muttered, “If I may ask, why is that so?”
Zheng Ziwen exhaled. “You saw the price I had to pay to use the appraisal art, right?”
The shopkeeper began wondering with a serious face.
“Honestly, the pieces of equipment were not assessed using appraisal art. They were evaluated by three extremely experienced old masters separately, and conclusions are made once the masters have the same opinion,” Zheng Ziwen explained, then shook his head before continuing, “The three old masters might’ve made some mistakes, but they’re able to keep the differences within two ranks due to their rich experience. Hence, we won’t use our appraisal art unless the debate is huge or if the piece of equipment is extremely valuable.”
Shopkeeper Lin pondered for some time, then finally sighed.
There were more than a thousand pieces of equipment being transported in the world, but there were only very few appraisers. Nobody in the world could use the appraisal art on every piece of equipment, let alone the appraiser of a store.
Therefore, three appraisers were able to determine an equipment’s quality by looking at it, and even if there was a slight difference, it would not be noticed.
Perhaps this was already the regulation followed by everyone in the equipment industry.
At the very least, that was what Shopkeeper Lin understood as he rarely encountered disputes about this matter throughout his years at the store.
After thinking for a short while, he cast that question aside, and asked something else instead, “Master Zheng, why was Master Ou able to evaluate by just looking at it once?”
Zheng Ziwen smiled bitterly. “Some people are born with the ability. It’s considered a natural gift, and it can’t be learned by others.”
Shopkeeper Lin was envious and jealous, but he knew that he would never become someone like that.
Subsequently, Zheng Ziwen asked, “When is Head Shopkeeper Fang coming back?”
Shopkeeper Lin quickly curbed his thoughts. “Head Shopkeeper went to check some goods, so he’ll only return tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Zheng Ziwen responded, “Once he’s back, tell him what happened today. I’d like to invite Master Ou to inspect this batch of goods, and I need his permission.”
“Yes.” Shopkeeper Lin agreed and kept it in mind.
It was an important matter for the store, so it must not be neglected.
※※※※
Ou Yangming returned to the military camp after he left the shop as he was not interested in walking around anymore.
He ran back instead of finding the cart driver because he was so thrilled that he could not wait to return to the camp.
Yan Chengcai and his brother would have a night battle with the others tomorrow night, thus he needed to make preparations in advance. Nevertheless, what made him really excited was the necklace.
Finally, Ou Yangming hurried back to his courtyard the moment he was back at the military camp.
It was extremely quiet since he rarely had visitors, hence he was able to do whatever he wanted quietly.
Ou Yangming removed the necklace to put it on his palm. Although he never really paid attention to accessories, it was human nature to be attracted to beautiful things.
The necklace was very pretty, and the gem embedded in the center was even more appealing.
Though he did not know its price, he knew that it was certainly valuable, and Shopkeeper Lin only gave it to him without hesitation to shut his mouth.
Nonetheless, Ou Yangming was never going to mention what happened at the store to anyone else as he was not a talkative person.
When he placed his other hand on top of the necklace, he began thinking.
‘The mysterious Military Fire can smith armaments, but can it be used on accessories too?
‘If I’m not careful, this necklace is probably going to be ruined.’
Ou Yangming put his concern aside very quickly. He needed to focus on increasing his power at the moment because only by having powerful abilities could he face murderous schemes.
In order to achieve that, he was willing to destroy ten or a hundred accessories, let alone just one.
He began the process as soon as he made the decision.
As such, his Military Fire danced on his palm, and the purple light in his mind flickered at the same time, which split his consciousness into two.
Consequently, he became like an outsider who watched from above his body.
When the Military Fire burned around the necklace, it made the necklace look strange and mysterious, which caused it to be more attractive.
However, it was just bright and clear from the outsider’s point of view. Ou Yangming was as calm as an iceberg and was not distracted at all.
Eventually when the fire enveloped the necklace completely, the words that Ou Yangming had been expecting appeared in his mind.
[Upgradable composition found, upgrade?]
Ou Yangming made a firm choice. ‘Upgrade.’
As a result, the various purple lights that were hidden in his mind emerged slowly.
Since he was not upgrading an armament, he controlled the process carefully, and only picked an attribute out of the many.
Following that, the purple light entered the necklace at a speed a few times slower than usual.
Perhaps he was already very adept in controlling the Military Fire, he did not have any trouble although it was his first time attaching an attribute into a piece of jewelry.
The process was slightly slower than usual, but Ou Yangming was satisfied.
As compared to its original state, the necklace on his palm did not change very much, but for some reason, there was a peculiar, unexplainable luster on it. The luster seemed to be able to penetrate one’s heart and was able to draw one’s attention even more.
Despite that, what really exhilarated Ou Yangming was the fact that the necklace became a piece of equipment through the Military Fire.
[Item: Necklace (Red)]
[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, Fine Grade, Rank One]
[Attribute: Qi Return +1]
Chapter 44
Fine Grade.
The small necklace was actually a piece of Fine Grade equipment.
Ou Yangming widened his eyes in disbelief.
There was no reaction when his Military Fire first touched the necklace, which meant that the necklace was just an ordinary accessory, not a piece of equipment. However, as the fire burned and the Qi Return attribute was added, the necklace actually became a piece of Fine Grade equipment.
The Qi Return attribute, which was the only attribute in the necklace, made it into a piece of Fine Grade Attribute Equipment, which surpassed High Grade.
Ou Yangming could not understand the sudden twist.
Similar to how Shopkeeper Lin and Zheng Ziwen could not understand how Ou Yangming could identify equipment rankings so e
asily, he also had no idea how an Attribute Necklace had such a high rating.
After hesitating for a while, Ou Yangming put the necklace on.
Though it was a women’s necklace, nobody would notice if he wore it inside his shirt.
Once he released a little essential Qi into the necklace, there was a mysterious resonance between him and it, which was an effect caused by the stimulation of the Unique Attribute.
Subsequently, Ou Yangming sensed a peculiar power spread inside his body. The power was extremely strange as it did not give him extra power and speed, and did not cause any change to his body.
At the next instant, his face suddenly changed.
It was because he realized the essential Qi that was consumed earlier was slowly being recovered.
Ou Yangming’s essential Qi would always be used first when he used the Military Fire; he cultivated martial arts. After all, essential Qi was more durable than physical power as it could last longer. Moreover, essential Qi recovered much faster than physical power.
Nonetheless, there was a limit to its recovery speed because it was still an extremely slow recovery that could not be felt at all.
It was at this moment when he clearly felt his essential Qi being recovered quickly. Although the recovery was not completed in a flash, the current speed and the speed before were Heaven and Earth apart.
Ou Yangming’s eyes glowed right away as he finally understood the wonderful function of the Qi Return attribute. It turned out to be an amazing ability that allowed one to recover essential Qi quickly.
No wonder the attribute alone was able to make a worthless necklace reach a Fine Grade rank.
The Qi Return ability was too powerful. It would be extremely useful during a fight against someone else, or when he smithed using the Military Fire. Besides, the longer the time consumed during the process, the more the Qi Return’s function was amplified.
Ou Yangming took a deep breath and smiled brightly.
Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725 Page 26
