On the other hand, Ni Yinghong curled her lips into a beautiful smile and looked at Ou Yangming in admiration.
Chapter 82 - Appraisal Art’s Secret
Appraiser Zheng Ziwen was using the most traditional appraisal art.
Those who could use appraisal art were qualified to be appraisers.
Ou Yangming had witnessed the execution of appraisal art once but had zero knowledge of the art back then. Although he watched the whole process, it was not helpful for him at all.
This time, he was extremely focused on Zheng Ziwen.
Ou Yangming quietly sensed every change while he quickly recalled the previous conversation between Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen in the carriage. As he sensed Zheng Ziwen’s aura, everything that was brought up during the conversation suddenly came to life, and he was enlightened.
‘Appraisal art, so this is the so-called appraisal art.
‘Mental power…’
Ou Yangming’s heart lit up. It was as though a pair of hands had drawn chiffon curtains in front of his eyes, allowing him to get a clear view of the real outside world.
Even though he might not necessarily have the ability to depict the world through a certain method, there was a huge difference between seeing and not seeing it.
Besides, he managed to find out appraisal art’s biggest secret.
It was mental power.
The so-called appraisal art was actually a miraculous effect caused by the release of mental power in a certain way.
It was no wonder there were only very few real appraisers, whose ability to perform appraisal art every day was also strictly limited. The source of everything turned out to be mental power.
Zheng Ziwen curbed the Appraisal Light after a brief moment, and the luster in Ou Yangming’s eyes disappeared at that instant as if nothing ever happened.
“Master Zheng, so what is it?” Ni Yinghong asked after smiling with narrowed eyes at Ou Yangming.
Ou Yangming was taken aback, and a thought crossed his mind, ‘Did she see through my perception?’
Zheng Ziwen sighed and answered, “Master Ou has a great perception indeed. If I’m not mistaken, this is a damaged magic tool.”
“Magic tool?” Ou Yangming’s eyebrows twitched. He had heard of the term from Old Craftsman and knew that magic tools were greater than ordinary tools, but the old man had never smithed such a tool in his life.
“Only a treasure that’s also a magic tool can retain the quality of Fine Grade Rank Five even after being terribly ruined, and…” Zheng Ziwen nodded and explained, then looked at Ou Yangming in admiration. “We could only tell that this round shield is attached with a Power attribute, but couldn’t tell that it’s actually layered with Power attributes. Master Ou, I’m truly floored by your remarkable vision.”
Ou Yangming chuckled. “Master Zheng, you’re being too humble. I only have some understanding of Layering Art because I’m able to perform it, your appraisal art is the one that deserves praise!”
Zheng Ziwen shook his head. As an appraiser, he knew better than the others how difficult it was to perceive what Ou Yangming had perceived.
They exchanged courtesies for a while before Ni Yinghong suggested impatiently, “Since appraisal art was already used on this equipment, let’s set the final result.”
“Okay.” Neither Ou Yangming nor Zheng Ziwen objected to it.
They retrieved a piece of paper, then Zheng Ziwen noted down its attributes and his deduction. Though the piece of equipment was at the peak of Fine Grade, it had actually declined from being a magic tool and was layered with Power attributes. Therefore, it could almost be considered the best equipment in this basement in every aspect.
Ni Yinghong grinned at the others. “All three of us have the right to pick a piece of equipment, who wants this?”
Ou Yangming shook his head and replied to her, “I’ll still go with the waist sash, I’ll leave this to you.”
Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen were stunned. They glanced at the waist sash again, and could not understand why Ou Yangming was so insistent.
Nonetheless, everyone had the freedom to pick whichever equipment they wanted, thus they could not force Ou Yangming, but was slightly curious about the waist sash.
Finding a piece of high-level equipment was naturally a delightful thing. For the next few days, they took turns to go through every piece of equipment. Most of the time when they opened the small packet tied to an item, the appraisal results were quite similar.
Of course, some pieces of equipment were more complicated as they were damaged or had deteriorated due to different reasons.
If such an item was encountered, their standard in appraisal art would be put to test.
Needless to say, Ou Yangming was an exception because none of the attributes of any piece of equipment could be hidden from him if he used the Military Fire.
On the opposite, the other two masters did not have a secret weapon. Hence, compromises and deadlocked disputes kept happening between them in the next few days.
“Master Ni, it’s a fact this equipment’s quality has declined because it has aged. It’s good enough to say that it’s of High Grade Rank Three, it’s impossible that it’s of High Grade Rank Four!” Zheng Ziwen condemned with reason.
However, Ni Yinghong rebuked him as she was not willing to show a weak impression, “Master Zheng, that’s not right. It’s true that the equipment has aged, but it’s perfectly maintained, and its quality is still great, so how can it only be of High Grade Rank Three? You must’ve inspected wrongly!”
“I’ve inspected wrongly? How can I be wrong…” Zheng Ziwen said helplessly, “Master Ou, what do you think?”
Ou Yangming pondered for a while. Just as Zheng Ziwen thought that he would support either one of them, Ou Yangming answered, “Master Zheng, if I’m also unsure, how are you going to handle it?”
Zheng Ziwen responded without hesitation, “If we’re unable to reach a consensus, the simplest way is to judge using appraisal art.”
Ou Yangming’s eyes glowed. Although Zheng Ziwen had employed appraisal art earlier, which allowed Ou Yangming to confirm bits of knowledge in his memory, the process was so short that he could not probe it thoroughly.
‘If I can watch the process once more… No, the more, the better!’
He cleared his throat. “Master Zheng, you have a point. The equipment’s quality is great, but it has really aged, so perhaps it’s damaged from the inside.”
Zheng Ziwen sighed a breath of relief and wondered, ‘I’m glad that Master Ou’s mind is clear, or we’ll quarrel again because of this equipment.’
“Oh?” Ni Yinghong had a faint smile on her face. “Master Ou actually thinks that way, I must be wrong then.”
Ou Yangming quickly shook his head and said, “That’s not the case. Master Ni, you have a good point too. The equipment has really aged, but its quality is great, so it’s possible that it isn’t damaged from the inside, and is perfect instead.”
Ni Yinghong showed a triumphant smile as if she had guessed that Ou Yangming would reply that way.
On the other hand, Zheng Ziwen widened his eyes to stare at Ou Yangming. If he could, he would yell his thought at that moment, ‘What the hell are you talking about!’
Ou Yangming said completely different things to the two of them. In conclusion, he had flattered the two masters, but neither of the words he said actually expressed his real thought.
Zheng Ziwen suppressed the raging fire that was about to explode inside him. “Master Ou, please take a closer look and tell us your opinion!”
Ou Yangming blinked and responded with an innocent face, “Master Ou, you’re both amazing appraisers, whereas I don’t have a solid foundation, so I can’t compare with you. Since you have opposing views, why not just use the appraisal art?”
Zheng Ziwen’s face twitched as he thought, ‘What do you think appraisal art is? Do you think it can be performed so easily!’
“Master Ou is right.
Head Shopkeeper Lin has entrusted this task to us, and allows us to pick any piece of equipment we want, so we must do our best and not embarrass ourselves.” Ni Yinghong clapped her hands, then said, “I’ll perform appraisal art this time.”
After taking a step forward, she rubbed her small hands to execute appraisal art.
Ou Yangming’s eyelid twitched. He comprehended the art better after witnessing the process again. His fingers trembled a little, and while outsiders could not notice anything, he was actually imitating the method. If the other two masters were not present, Ou Yangming would even imitate the dispatch of mental power to carry out appraisal art.
Ni Yinghong stopped using appraisal art after some time, and said wearily, “Master Zheng, you’re right.”
Zheng Ziwen nodded but was not elated at all because he vaguely felt that the appraisals this time were far more difficult than he had imagined.
Sure enough, before long, another intense debate was heard.
“Master Ni, you must’ve inspected wrongly!” Zheng Ziwen was exasperated. “How can a piece of Fine Grade Rank One equipment be identified as Fine Grade Rank Two?”
“But this is of Fine Grade Rank Two indeed, I couldn’t have made a mistake!”
“You must’ve gotten it wrong!” Zheng Ziwen felt thirsty, and he kept complaining about her in his head.
“Okay, okay, since the two of you are sticking to your own view, I suggest you use appraisal art,” Ou Yangming advised them happily as he was looking forward to it.
“Alright, I did it the last time, so it’s your turn now.”
Zheng Ziwen was speechless.
The next day, another conflict arose in the basement.
“This equipment is supposed to be… Are we going to use appraisal art again?” Zheng Ziwen cried.
Ni Yinghong looked at him without saying a word.
Ou Yangming let out a dry cough. “What do you think?”
As Appraisal Lights kept appearing in the basement, more and more pieces of equipment were evaluated.
On the seventh day.
“Master Ni, this is definitely a High Grade Rank Three. You don’t have to say anything, but I’m telling you if appraisal art needs to be carried out, I’m out of energy!”
“Hmph, it’s clearly a High Grade Rank Four, why must you insist that it’s only in Rank Three? Even if you’re being considerate toward the customers, you mustn’t sell out the host’s benefits!”
Zheng Ziwen almost vomited blood. If he were to lose his reputation, he could probably hang himself.
“Okay, I’ll do it!”
After some time, Zheng Ziwen fell butt first to the ground and was so low in energy that he could almost not lift his fingers.
Chapter 83 - Exchange For Raw Gemstones
After a week of hard work, Ou Yangming, Ni Yinghong, and Zheng Ziwen finally completed the appraisals.
The process was mostly smooth as they were unanimous in the appraisal of most of the equipment.
Of course, there were times where they faced troubles and differences in opinions, hence a few small disputes were inevitable.
At times, they were able to reach a consensus after friendly discussions, and eventually confirmed a piece of equipment’s specific grade and rank. However, there were also times where they quarreled endlessly. If they insisted on their own views without wanting to take a step back, the only way was to use appraisal art.
Throughout the days, Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen performed appraisal art several times, and each time was a golden opportunity for Ou Yangming to watch and learn.
Ou Yangming also noticed that Ni Yinghong either chimed in to support him or stood firm to her view during crucial moments, so appraisal art was used many times.
Had Ni Yinghong not made things difficult, they would not have used appraisal more than five times during the week. As she stirred up more trouble, Zheng Ziwen was forced to execute appraisal art more than ten times even though he was unwilling to. As a result, the two appraisers had used appraisal art for a total of more than twenty times, and Ou Yangming benefited unexpectedly.
Once the three masters approved the last piece of equipment, Zheng Ziwen was almost going to collapse to the ground.
Mental power and essential Qi were different. Once the former was greatly consumed, it would be extremely difficult to recover it. Although Zheng Ziwen was gifted with mental power, similar to Ou Yangming in the past, he could not put the power to use. Zheng Ziwen could only perform appraisal art through a mysterious method, so a huge consumption was required each time he performed the art. After using the art for more than ten times in consecutive days, he had reached his limit.
When Ou Yangming saw that Zheng Ziwen’s face was as white as a sheet, he made an evil guess that Ni Yinghong would probably not have ended the appraisals so quickly if Zheng Ziwen still had energy left.
Needless to say, Ni Yinghong was not feeling well too. She had executed appraisal art only one time less than Zheng Ziwen, hence she was also clearly pale. Nonetheless, if that was not the case, Zheng Ziwen would not have put in so much effort.
They delivered the message once they confirmed the task was done, and Lin Yichen arrived not long after. He thanked everyone with a smile but gasped when he noticed Zheng Ziwen’s face. “Master Zheng, are you not feeling well?”
Zheng Ziwen smiled bitterly. “I’m fine, I just performed appraisal art too many times in the last few days. I’ll recover after resting for a few days.”
Lin Yichen was dumbfounded. “Were the equipment appraisals this time very tough?”
Equipment appraisal was a very serious matter but was sometimes associated with luck. One would have a hard time if one encountered many pieces of equipment that were especially difficult to be identified.
Zheng Ziwen made stuttering sounds and had no choice but to remain silent.
Though there was a considerable amount of equipment this time, which increased the difficulty, the appraisals would not have been that hard if the three of them could work together to mediate the disputes.
However, they stumbled upon a little devil.
When Zheng Ziwen thought about the errors that occurred while working together with Ni Yinghong, as well as Ou Yangming who chose to keep quiet or added fuel to flames during crucial moments, he suffered a splitting headache.
Despite that, he knew very well of Ni Yinghong’s background and Ou Yangming’s potential, thus he dared not reprimand them.
Nevertheless, Zheng Ziwen decided to never work with them anymore.
Li Yichen somewhat understood the situation after seeing his expression, so he said with a bitter smile, “Master Zheng, thank you for your hard work, I’ll give you a huge gift once you return.”
Following that, he looked at them and said, “You’ve worked hard these days, so you may pick a piece of equipment for your own. Please!”
Ou Yangming naturally took the waist sash whereas Ni Yinghong picked a piece of jewelry instead of the small round shield, so Zheng Ziwen kept the shield inside his bag right away.
Lin Yichen looked at their chosen items, then finally fixed his gaze on Ou Yangming and asked, “Master Ou, do you not want to choose something else?”
In actual fact, the three pieces of equipment chosen were marked, where their features and their equivalent rank were recorded.
The small round shield was originally a piece of top-notch equipment, and while Ni Yinghong had chosen the jewelry spontaneously, it was not inferior to the shield in terms of their value.
On the opposite, the waist sash chosen by Ou Yangming was stated to be a piece of Good Grade equipment.
Of course, the three grooves on the waist sash were eye-catching, but that feature alone was not enough for the sash to be mentioned on equal terms with Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen’s picks.
Ou Yangming smiled. “Thank you, Head Shopkeeper Lin, but I’m quite fond of this waist sash as it’s my first time encountering this type of equipment, so I decided to choose
it.”
Lin Yichen’s eyes lit up. He quickly glanced at Zheng Ziwen, who shook his head to tell him that there was nothing unique about the waist sash.
While feeling puzzled, Lin Yichen laughed and responded, “Okay, since you’re so polite, I’ll compensate you with another 200 taels of gold.”
Ou Yangming smiled brightly and said, “Thank you, Head Shopkeeper Lin.”
It was an unexpected joy, and he would never think that any amount of gold or silver was too little.
Subsequently, Ou Yangming turned to look at a corner in the basement. Over there, more than a hundred ores of different sizes were piled up, which was quite unsightly.
Lin Yichen noticed his look, so he said with a smile, “Master Ou, those are raw gemstones that were gathered from the forest. If you’re interested, how about you pick a few for fun?”
“Raw gemstones?” Ou Yangming came to a sudden realization. “So these are raw gemstones!”
The gem that Ou Yangming used to store the Qi Return attribute was actually retrieved from a raw gemstone, but he had no idea before this as he had never seen one before.
“Yes, these are raw gemstones with better conditions, so we preserved them,” Lin Yichen replied to him with a smile, then added after a pause, “It’s possible to obtain Attribute Gems from these raw gemstones.”
Ni Yinghong suddenly flashed a smile. “Master Ou, there’s no harm in buying a few for fun. If you really manage to acquire Attribute Gems, I’ll teach you the way to embed them in a sash. What do you think?”
Ou Yangming was extremely moved when he looked at the three grooves on his waist sash.
“Head Shopkeeper Lin, how much are you offering the raw gemstones for?”
Lin Yichen instantly smiled like a fox that had just captured a rooster. He put up a finger and answered with narrowed eyes, “They’re not expensive, each of them cost 20 taels of gold.”
“20 taels of gold?” Ou Yangming immediately widened his eyes as he was in disbelief.
Yes, please forgive him. Ever since he grasped smithing art, he had somewhat benefited and gained an accumulated wealth of a few hundred taels of gold.
Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725 Page 49
