Ni Yinghong blushed right away, and she glared at him angrily.
Although Ou Yangming had already guessed her identity, and they both had faintly pointed it out, it was completely different from having it revealed with solid proof.
When Ni Yinghong thought about how Ou Yangming would look at her at that moment, she was embarrassed and enraged. Despite that, she was able to control herself and showed only a hint of her emotions.
He Liangce felt rather strange, but he would never have figured out-not even if he was beaten to death-how exactly he had offended the little princess.
Nonetheless, it was not the time to dwell on the matter. He Liangce cupped his hands at Ou Yangming and uttered, “Master Ou, please!”
Ou Yangming twitched his mouth and suppressed the urge of laughing out loud. The fact that Ni Yinghong’s real identity as a lady was revealed in this situation made him want to burst out laughing.
In spite of that, he suddenly felt a chill when his eyes met He Liangce’s.
“This is clearly Ni Yinghong’s first time meeting him, but why was he able to identify it right away?’ Ou Yangming looked deeply at him before he said, “Young Master He, please.”
Almost at the same time, they walked into the bunch of messily arranged raw gemstones. Ou Yangming reached out his hand to casually touch the gemstones next to him. Each time he did, a glimpse of red light was seen on his palm.
It was the sign of his Military Fire burning, but it only lasted for a split second. It could not be seen once Ou Yangming let go of the raw gemstone. Even if people were watching him at that moment, nobody would notice the mysterious happening.
That being said, Ou Yangming put on a full act. He could already tell the result by touching the raw gemstone, but instead of making a decision so easily, he studied them carefully from time to time.
As for the raw gemstones that he especially paid attention to, most of them were actually just for show. If someone paid a lump sum to purchase the stones, that person would make a loss so huge that he would have to give up even his underwear.
On the other side, He Liangce carried out the process differently.
Instead of touching every raw gemstone, he stood on a good spot to scan them, then he began looking and picking only after 15 minutes.
However, by then, everyone could tell that He Liangce picked gemstones that he had already noticed during the observation, and he was doing a targeted search.
In short, Ou Yangming was casting a net to catch every fish regardless of their size; He Liangce targeted those that had better quality before proceeding to select them.
While their methods were absolutely different, one could tell from the crowd’s expression which one was more reliable.
Everyone from He Liangce’s side looked proud as if their victory was already guaranteed.
In comparison, Lin Yichen and the others looked grim, which was clear that they were not confident.
Indeed, Ou Yangming was a gifted person, but he had not been reputable in this trade, after all. Hence, even Li Yichen, who knew Ou Yangming possessed the ability of the integration of Heaven and man, was being ill at ease.
Ou Yangming reached out to casually brush his hand past a precious stone.
He initially wanted to pretend like he was inspecting it, but the instant his Military Fire appeared, he sensed an indescribable blue ocean.
Chapter 148 - The First Choice
A sky blue color instantly occupied Ou Yangming’s mind, and there was a split second when he even thought he had entered the unbelievable space.
Without any hesitation, he conveniently picked the raw gemstone.
Nonetheless, he did not draw anyone’s attention because he had done similar moves earlier. Besides, was it not the most normal thing for a raw gemstone appraiser to study a gemstone in detail on his hand?
Ou Yangming would only attract attention if he could pick good raw gemstones that also contained a gem each without studying them carefully. As Ou Yangming’s Military Fire contacted the raw gemstone, he could sense the enormous energy that it held. He was certain that it was the most valuable gemstone among the others that he had seen, or touched.
Even the faint Military Fire was reminding him not to miss the treasure no matter what.
By browsing the surface of the raw gemstones, Ou Yangming actually had extremely limited knowledge of them. Nevertheless, after observing for a long time, especially when he kept paying attention to He Liangce’s selection process, he had some understanding of the gemstones.
The so-called raw gemstones actually had some differences.
Most of them looked just like normal stones while some had some bumps due to various reasons. Through the corners of those bumps, one could actually notice more things.
It was how He Liangce chose the gemstones. He was not bothered about raw gemstones that had an extremely normal appearance, so much so that he would not spare a look at them at all; he focused on those with bumps.
Although it seemed like an opportunistic method, Ou Yangming knew it was unquestionably the most appropriate way.
People like He Liangce did not have the Military Fire as Ou Yangming did, hence they could not identify the truth of those raw gemstones. Even if they were truly skilled enough to make guesses through the different appearances, they could not arrive at a conclusion by just touching them.
It was undoubtedly impossible for a normal person to appraise with close attention all 10,000 raw gemstones in an hour.
Given the limited time, the best method was to invest it in gemstones that could be easily judged.
Ou Yangming was holding a flawless normal raw gemstone at the moment.
He put it down after some thought, then continued picking up the next stone.
Zheng Ziwen rubbed his hands. If he did not know appraisal art was ineffective toward raw gemstones, he would have gone over to appraise them.
Seeing as Ou Yangming checked every gemstone despite the outcome, Zheng Ziwen could not help but stomp his foot and remarked softly, “Ah, it’s not good that Brother Ou’s doing this…”
Ni Yunhong hesitated before he responded with a soft voice too, “Brother Ou learned smithing art in the military camp, and he hasn’t come across raw gemstones before this, so he naturally doesn’t know much.”
“Elder Brother, have you forgotten that he previously brought a gem back from the Yi Pavilion?” Ni Yinghong pouted her red lips. “Hehe…” Ni Yunhong chuckled. “Didn’t he just succeed once? What can it mean? When luck comes, nobody can stop it.” None of them could refute what he said because if they were to ask themselves honestly, even Ni Yinghong did not think Ou Yangming could actually perceive the raw gemstones.
The integration of Heaven and man was the most mysterious gain in the comprehension of nature, but it was unheard of for someone who possessed the state to have the ability to see through raw gemstones too.
“Uhm… Should we remind him to focus on those with openings?” Zheng Ziwen asked carefully.
The difficulty of appraising raw gemstones without an opening was ten times harder than appraising those with an opening, and the probability of making a mistake was also higher.
In official challenges, those who had inside information would know how to choose.
However, Lin Yichen waved his hand after he pondered. “Master Zheng, since we’ve chosen Master Ou, we should trust him. Perhaps he’ll surprise us.”
Zheng Ziwen was startled, so he asked, ‘Head Shopkeeper, do you really trust his ability?” “I don’t.” Lin Yichen shook his head without any hesitation.
“If you don’t, why…” Zheng Ziwen was red with anger.
“I don’t trust Master Ou’s skills, but…” Lin Yichen kept a straight face as he explained, “I trust his luck!”
The other people looked at each other because they finally understood why Lin Yichen decided to let Ou Yangming take up the challenge.
“A-aren’t you trifling with the matter?” Ni Yunhong f
rowned as he was displeased.
Lin Yichen sighed and explained, “Old Tributary Shen’s ability in this is the best in the prefecture, but he’s bed-ridden now, and nobody else is his match. If that’s the case, I can only choose to believe in luck…”
He sounded extremely helpless, thus Ni Yunhong was speechless after hearing what he had to say.
Yes. They could not compete in terms of ability with the He family’s eldest young master, who had been victorious in challenging seventeen different cities in a row. Therefore, getting a lucky person to fill in the spot might actually yield an unexpected result.
Of course, it was only doable because it was a unique situation-stone gambling. If it was for a challenge that tested one’s real skills, Lin Yichen would never have allowed Ou Yangming to do it even if he was not in the right mind.
An hour sounded like a long time, but the selection process passed in the blink of an eye.
In the beginning, Ou Yangming was still holding back as he did not want to be too obvious. He soon realized that even though his appraisal speed surpassed He Liangce, it was impossible for him to touch all 10,000 raw gemstones in the backyard.
Hence, after half an hour, he simply gave up pretending and began checking at the speed of light.
Ou Yangming weighed each raw gemstone in his hand, then he tossed them aside and picked up another one.
The crowd would have an unconventional misunderstanding of him by judging from his action alone.
They would think he was weighing the gemstones instead of inspecting them.
The raw gemstones that Ou Yangming examined were all-inclusive. Apart from the three huge ones, which were put aside on purpose, he had touched the other gemstones regardless of their size. In fact, he also looked at the ones that He Liangce had specially marked.
Needless to say, it was not against the rules because both of them could appraisal any raw gemstone before the time ended.
That said, the other people lamented when they saw what he was doing.
In particular, the high-level shopkeepers in the Yi Pavilion were fuming with anger, and they cast unfriendly looks at Lin Yichen.
Lin Yichen was not the prefecture’s head shopkeeper before this; he was only a head shopkeeper in the Immense Forest Town. For some reason, he was suddenly promoted to be the prefecture’s branch’s head shopkeeper.
The sudden leap caused many other people to be jealous of him.
As such, those who deemed themselves qualified to replace Lin Yichen secretly drafted a complaint in their head at that moment.
Once the challenge ended, they would report the matter to the headquarter to accuse Lin Yichen of being ignorant and arbitrary.
It was not only humiliating that the Yi Pavilion found an obvious amateur to challenge the famous He family’s young master, but their reputation would also be ruined if news spread. Even if it was just for the sake of their store, they must not let Lin Yichen stay. Lin Yichen could naturally sense the unfriendly looks from the people behind him. Honestly, he was dismayed after seeing Ou Yangming’s performance, but he had chosen the path and decided on the candidate himself, so he must persevere even if he had to suffer in silence.
At last, a loud sound was heard coming from the gong.
Lin Yichen inhaled deeply because the difficult moment was finally over.
No matter the outcome… Uhm, he was actually feeling hopeless already, but at least the unbearable moment was over. “Gentlemen, the time is up, please come out.”
He Liangce immediately stood up and smiled as he walked out.
On the other hand, Ou Yangming put down the last raw gemstone, and he clapped his hands to get rid of the stone powder before he walked out.
The only thing he lamented about at that instant was the lack of time…
Even though he could sense the truth in the raw gemstones through the Military Fire, he needed to appraise. The better Ou Yangming felt about the gemstone, the more valuable it was. However, other than the unique raw gemstone that gave him a feeling of a blue ocean, while the other stones gave him notable and unremarkable feelings, he needed more time to identify them.
Ou Yangming had sped up the process, but he still failed to appraise everything.
Nonetheless, he believed that he would not lose the challenge.
He Liangce still had a warm smile on his face. He had noticed Ou Yangming’s performance, but he neither looked nor treated the amateur with disdain.
Based on his morals alone, he could subdue most people.
“Master Ou, this is your home ground, so you may start choosing first,” He Liangce said gently.
Before Ou Yangming could even let a word out, an elder, who was next to He Liangce, scoffed. “Young Master, he knows nothing about appraising raw gemstones, why should you treat him with such respect?”.
“It’s fine.” He Liangce frowned and turned to smile at Ou Yangming. “Brother Ou, my clan’s tributary has a prejudice against you, please forgive him.”
The fact that he addressed the matter on the spot made it hard for anyone to be mad at him. Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. “Since you’re giving me the opportunity to choose first, I’ll go ahead.”
He walked into the pile of raw gemstones again and picked up one of the stones.
After seeing what Ou Yangming did, the eyes of Lin Yichen and the rest glowed, whereas people from He Liangce’s side rebuked him.
“Despicable!”
“Shameless!”
Chapter 149 - Fine Grade Gem
The first raw gemstone that was chosen by Ou Yangming was unexpected.
It was not a full stone without a cut, but one that had a notch on one corner. Of course, most importantly, Ou Yangming was obviously thoughtless when he touched the stone, whereas He Liangce was the one who had actually paid attention to it.
In other words, the first stone that was chosen by Ou Yangming was actually the one that He Liangce had paid the most attention to earlier. No wonder He Liangce’s people could not help but denounce Ou Yangming, whereas Zheng Ziwen and the rest looked rather embarrassed.
“Head Shopkeeper Lin, it’s inappropriate of you to do this!” The white-haired elder, who had spoken earlier, remarked with anger.
The thick-faced Lin Yichen cleared his throat and was about to fool him with his words.
Right then, He Liangce laughed and waved his hand. “Don’t shout blindly. When was there a rule in precious stone appraisal that one’s not supposed to choose something that was appraised by the other person? Master Ou has inspected most of the raw gemstones here, so according to what you said, does it mean that I’m left with no options?”.
The people behind him exchanged glances and were forced to keep quiet.
Yes, Ou Yangming had been randomly looking through the raw gemstones earlier. Although he seemed to have searched cluelessly like a blindfolded fly, he had gone through many raw gemstones. If their logic was adopted, the challenge could not go on anymore because the stones that were appraised by their young master had also been touched by Ou Yangming. In that case, it meant that their young master would lose the challenge by default. Ou Yangming grinned. No matter what, He Liangce’s bearing was deeply convincing.
“Young Master He, how about we both pick one each?” He took a step back and said, “Please.”
“Alright, I’ll show my inadequacy then.” He Liangce hesitated for a while before he agreed. He was a straightforward person, so he walked into the bunch of raw gemstones and glanced for only a brief moment before he picked one
up.
He Liangce had gone with his own order as he picked one of the raw gemstones that he had carefully appraised earlier. Ou Yangming secretly sighed a breath of relief when he realized that he had guessed it right; He Liangce only chose those that had inspected earlier.
Following that, Ou Yangming went to another corner without a sound and took another raw gemstone.
The crowd could not help but express their surprise when he
picked up the gemstone. Everyone thought he would play the same trick by choosing one that He Liangce had paid attention to. Within the hour earlier, even though He Liangce could not check all 10,000 raw gemstones in the backyard, he had expressed extreme interest in roughly 50 of them.
If Ou Yangming picked from those raw gemstones, he would likely get something good.
Nonetheless, Ou Yangming’s second choice was not from the bunch of stones, hence the crowd felt that it was strange.
The white-haired elder even guessed, ‘Did my mocking and Young Master’s generosity influence the b*stard so that he dares not openly steal Young Master’s achievements anymore?’
On the other hand, He Liangce calmly took his second piece as though he was not surprised by Ou Yangming’s choice. They had locked onto their respective targets, so they chose their raw gemstones without any hesitation in a short span of time.
Ou Yangming seemed like he had only scanned the raw gemstones briefly earlier, but he remembered well the ones that gave him a unique feeling.
It was worth noting that He Liangce’s vision and judgment in raw gemstones were top-notch and could not be compared by ordinary people.
Among the 50 half-naked raw gemstones that he attached importance to, roughly 20 of them actually gave Ou Yangming a unique feeling. In other words, He Liangce had a 50% success rate in obtaining precious gems among the 50 stones.
Such a probability was shocking even for half-naked raw gemstones like that.
The first one that Ou Yangming had chosen happened to be the one that gave him the best feeling among the bunch of half-naked raw gemstones. Therefore, he quickly beat He Liangce to it and picked it.
Needless to say, among the remaining raw gemstones, apart from the sky blue one, there were also three that were not inferior to it at all. That said, Ou Yangming did not pick all of them at once.
It was incredibly difficult to pick a gem of such a grade among half-naked raw gemstones and ordinary ones. If he were to find three or even four of them at once… The other people would likely associate his luck with something else.
Once the twenty raw gemstones were placed on two different sides on the ground, Lin Yichen inhaled deeply and asked, “Ladies and gentlemen, the stone-cracking process begins now, who should we begin with?”
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