“Master Ou, we’re here to appraise them, so it’s best not to ask what we’re not supposed to know.” Ni Yinghong looked plainly at Ou Yangming instead. She hesitated for a while before she added, “This is a default rule among appraisers, and it’s also a way to protect ourselves.”
Ou Yangming was stunned. He pondered for a while and responded sincerely, “I understand, thank you, Master Ni.”
Appraisers were more likely to encounter unimaginable treasures as compared to ordinary people, and these treasures were usually associated with secrets. If an appraiser was too curious, it would only mean bad things because it could very well be the source of misfortune.
Zheng Ziwen sighed a breath of relief. He was really afraid that Ou Yangming, the rash young fellow, was going to get to the bottom of the matter. If that was really the case, even if it was to protect himself, he would not be willing to stay with Ou Yangming.
However, since Ou Yangming could understand an appraiser’s hardship, it would be the best.
After taking a look around the basement, Zheng Ziwen gestured with his hand while suggesting, “Let’s follow these boundaries and appraise the equipment in our own sections. We’ll attach our evaluations on the respective piece of equipment, then exchange sections and continue with the next round of appraisal. What do you think?”
Ni Yinghong and Ou Yangming naturally did not object to the suggestion. At the end of the day, Master Zheng Ziwen was the Yi Pavilion’s appraiser, whereas they were only there to help. It was a matter of course to obey the host’s arrangements.
Ou Yangming retrieved a writing brush, papers, and red strings, then proceeded to his section. Just as he was about to begin, Ni Yinghong called out to him, “Master Ou, if you happen to fancy any equipment here, you don’t need to leave an appraisal note.”
“What?” Ou Yangming was dumbfounded, so he asked in shock, “Why?”
Zheng Ziwen chuckled and explained, “Master Ou, according to the rule, if an appraiser is invited to appraise many items at once, the appraiser has the right to pick one of the treasures in the end. Hehe, but it’ll be up to one’s luck what kind of treasure is chosen.”
Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows and said, “Head Shopkeeper Lin told me that, but won’t the host suffer a loss?”
“Master Ou, while it looks like the host will suffer a loss, we as appraisers have to take responsibility for the other items. If someone finds a mistake in the appraisal in the future, our reputation will be ruined,” Zheng Ziwen answered seriously, then continued after a pause, “Besides, even if there’s really something valuable, the host wouldn’t have shown it to us.”
Ou Yangming came to a sudden realization that the pieces of equipment and treasures here were the ones that could not be identified by the host. Furthermore, incidents like the discovery of top-grade items in a bunch of items had only happened in legends. Since they were in the real world, it was best for one to not have one’s head in the clouds.
After thanking the other masters for their pointers, Ou Yangming focused on the pieces of equipment.
Every piece would need to be appraised by three appraisers in rotation. When Ou Yangming stole glances at Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen, he noticed that they were carefully inspecting a piece of equipment each. Even though they were not using the appraisal art, they were fully concentrated.
It was evident that they were judging based on their knowledge and experience. The only flaw with the method was that errors were inevitable, so each equipment had to be appraised by three appraisers before the final grade and rank were determined.
Ou Yangming casually picked up a longsword and scanned it for some time. Nevertheless, it was not the grade and rank that he was identifying, but the longsword’s pattern and features.
The only weapon that he had used so far in the military was the military saber, which was tough, but different from a longsword. Ou Yangming was observing the differences.
After some time, his ears twitched as he heard a slight noise.
When Ou Yangming turned to look, he noticed that Ni Yinghong had put down the piece of equipment in her hands. She scribbled a few words on a paper, then placed it into a small red packet before tying it to the equipment.
In order to avoid an appraiser’s judgment being affected by another appraiser, after an appraisal was done, the appraiser would put the result into a red packet instead of writing it straight on the piece of equipment. With that, an appraiser’s assessment would be solely based on one’s individual ability, and there would be no cases of an appraiser using someone else’s judgment as a reference.
Seeing as Ni Yinghong was done with the appraisal, a red light flashed in Ou Yangming’s palm.
His Military Fire appeared for a split second, but even in that short span of time, he had identified the equipment’s properties.
[Item: Outstanding longsword]
[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, High Grade Rank One]
[Attributes: Sharpness +11, Toughness +10, Durability 8]
Though Ou Yangming had inspected the longsword for some time, it was neither a divine weapon nor a sharp tool. It was merely a normal piece of White Slate Equipment.
Of course, the longsword was considered outstanding to have achieved High Grade, but its Durability dropped as it had been used for a long time.
Ou Yangming pondered, then picked up his brush to write on a paper.
‘High Grade Rank One longsword, slightly flawed, low durability.’
Afterward, Ou Yangming put the paper into a small packet. Unless all three appraisers were done appraising, the paper must not be taken out after it was inserted into the packet. Needless to say, it was just a rule, and nothing could actually be done if someone had secretly taken a look at the other papers.
That being said, at the very least, Ou Yangming and the two other appraisers would not do something that would cause them to lose their dignity.
Only when Ou Yangming was done putting the packet away, did Zheng Ziwen complete his appraisal and note down his remark.
Subsequently, Ou Yangming continued to observe the other pieces of equipment leisurely. The process was different for him because he did not need to find clues to deduce the equipment’s equivalent rank. By having the Military Fire, he could easily identify every equipment’s properties without a miss.
Compared to Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen, his working speed was so fast that it could only be described as unbelievable.
Despite that, Ou Yangming was not so dumb as to fully display his ability. He planned it so that he was always a step behind Ni Yinghong, and also pretended that he was evaluating the pieces of equipment.
Although he was faster than Zheng Ziwen, he acted like he was inferior to Ni Yinghong.
Unquestionably, the biggest advantage of doing that was he would not draw their attention.
However, Ou Yangming had no idea that even though he was trying his best not to stand out, it was truly shocking that a new appraiser could maintain such speed.
Zheng Ziwen did not find it strange because he had witnessed Ou Yangming’s ability in the past, but Ni Yinghong reacted as if she had just discovered something huge. She glanced at Ou Yangming from time to time, and secretly sped up.
She was actually feeling quite worried, and wondered what she could do if Ou Yangming actually became faster than her.
Ou Yangming casually reached out for a waist sash among the other pieces of equipment.
It was his first time encountering this type of equipment, and he was immediately stunned when he used the Military Fire on it. A thought crossed Ou Yangming’s head as he lowered his head to look at the waist sash in his hands.
‘Did a pie actually fall from the sky, and it actually fell on my head?’
Chapter 81 - Blood Flight Waist Sash
Once a flash of red light appeared on Ou Yangming’s palms, his eyes lit up.
The full properties of the waist sash appeared in his mind, and it was those properties that stunn
ed him to a great extent.
[Item: Outstanding Waist Sash (Red)]
[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, Good Grade, Rank Three]
[Attribute: Toughness +8]
[Skill: Blood Flight (Activation Condition: Abundant Qi and blood)]
‘Skill. There’s actually a skill property on this waist sash.’
Before this, Ou Yangming only had one skill encounter, which was the explosive arrow. Once essential Qi was channeled into the arrow, which was then shot to hit another object, a huge explosion would be caused, resulting in fatal injuries.
Was a half-spirit beast powerful? A captain had led a group of well-trained soldiers to encircle one, but they ended up badly defeated and even lost a few lives.
However, once explosive arrows—coated with some poison—were used, even the half-spirit beast could not withstand it. It fell to the ground and died.
This was the mightiness of skill, and it gave Ou Yangming a deep impression.
Nonetheless, other than the explosive arrows, which he had created using his mental power and the Military Fire, he did not encounter another skill-carrying equipment.
The waist sash was the first piece of Skill Equipment he came across, but according to the skill’s description, Ou Yangming vaguely felt that it was not a skill that could be used by anybody.
Perhaps that was the reason the waist sash was among the other pieces of equipment here.
After some thought, Ou Yangming looked up to glance at Zheng Ziwen and Ni Yinghong. They were still immersed in their task and did not notice his abnormal behavior. In actual fact, even if they did notice something out of the ordinary, they would not suspect anything, and would instead think that Ou Yangming had stumbled on an item that he was not confident about.
This was because the other two masters would have the same expression on their faces if they could not distinguish a piece of equipment.
Ou Yangming inhaled deeply, then slowly put down the waist sash. He placed it in the first row among other pieces of equipment and did not tie any note to it.
Afterward, he picked up his speed.
It was impossible to know how much time had passed as they were working in the basement. After each of them appraised roughly ten pieces of equipment, a person, who was dressed as a servant, came downstairs. He neither spoke nor did any gesture, and only stood quietly while waiting for them.
Some moments later, Ni Yinghong put down the piece of equipment in her hand, and she looked quite weary. After taking a glance at that person, she sat down somewhere to take a break from appraising.
Ou Yangming was slightly startled. He idled for a while on purpose and wrote another appraisal result before he stopped as well.
Lastly, Zheng Ziwen finished his task and sighed. He looked more exhausted than Ni Yinghong. “I haven’t done appraisal with so much focus for a long time. Ah, I’m getting older, and I’m becoming useless…”
It was then when the servant asked respectfully, “Masters, may I ask when you’d like to have your meal?”
“Now that you’ve asked, I do feel quite hungry.” Zheng Ziwen chuckled while touching his belly, then turned to ask the others, “Shall we… Hey, Master Ou, have you decided already?”
When he turned to look, he instantly noticed the waist sash that was intentionally placed in the front row by Ou Yangming. It would mean nothing if it was just a waist sash, but it was eye-catching because nothing was tied to it.
Ni Yinghong opened her eyes, she had closed her eyes earlier to rest her mind, so she did not notice the waist sash. After seeing it, she could not help but furrow her eyebrows and said, “Master Ou, there are quite a number of good equipment here, and you have plenty of choices left, so you can decide later.”
“Thank you for your good intentions. I only want to study that equipment because I’ve never seen anything like that before, as for the other pieces of equipment…” Ou Yangming chuckled. He then pouted his lips and expressed proudly, “As long as I have time, I’ll definitely be able to smith something as great.”
Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen looked at each other and felt somewhat frustrated.
If another appraiser had said the same thing, they would have mocked and derided that appraiser, but they did not refute Ou Yangming at all.
They had just witnessed an intense smithing challenge yesterday, and they admired Ou Yangming’s talent, as well as his level of attainment in smithing art. As mentioned by Ou Yangming, it was true that none of the equipment that he had or would be appraising in the basement was out of his smithing capabilities.
Since that was the case, would a piece of equipment that he had never come across not be a perfect choice?
Zheng Ziwen sighed and was suddenly in low spirits. “Let’s go, it’s time to eat.”
He cursed to himself, ‘If Ou Yangming is so gifted in smithing art, he should just stick to that path, why must he be so outstanding in appraisal art too?
‘It’s really hard to feel happy when I’m working with a freak.’
Normally, roughly 15 minutes were needed to appraise a piece of equipment. That said, additional methods might be employed if one was unsure about a piece of equipment’s properties, but even without using appraisal art, one could possibly spend half an hour.
Therefore, although the appraisal of roughly ten pieces of equipment in the morning was not considered fast, it was certainly not slow too.
Nevertheless, according to that speed, the three masters would spend about five days to appraise all the equipment in the basement.
There were no problems on the first day, but on the second day, Ni Yinghong suddenly exclaimed and called out to the others halfway through an appraisal, “Master Ou, Master Zheng, please come over here for a while.”
Ou Yangming and Zheng Ziwen stopped what they were doing and went over to her.
While the three of them were still appraising separately, if one of them found a piece of unique equipment, or was really unsure about something, one could naturally seek help from the others.
Ni Yinghong was holding a small round shield at that moment. The round shield actually had an extremely frightening cut on it, and it was clear from the slash mark that the shield’s value had dropped drastically.
Zheng Ziwen frowned and asked, “Master Ni, what’s so special about this shield?”
Ni Yinghong handed him the shield instead of replying. Sometimes, the equipment itself was the best explanation and nothing else needed to be said.
Zheng Ziwen observed the shield for a brief moment before he looked surprised. “This is strange, why can’t I identify its equivalent rank?”
Ou Yangming was immediately curious too. After spending time together for two days, he knew that the other two masters were appraisers with genuine skills. Thus, the shield had to be unordinary if they were troubled by it.
Once he took the shield, a flame flashed on the palm of his hand that was holding it.
Next, Ou Yangming’s face changed.
[Item: Extraordinary shield (Red)]
[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, Fine Grade, Rank Five]
[Attributes: Toughness +20. Power +2]
Ou Yangming was instantly amazed. As he looked at the obvious cut on the shield, he could not figure out how a damaged item like that was an extraordinary item of Fine Grade Rank Five.
Even if he used steel to smith a piece of equipment, the highest equivalent rank that could be achieved was High Grade Rank Five. He had not smithed a piece of Fine Grade equipment to date.
However, the shield had already achieved Fine Grade Rank Five.
What was more unbelievable was the equipment was already ruined.
It was a piece of damaged equipment that was in Fine Grade Rank Five, and was attached with 2 points of layered Power attributes…
Ou Yangming suddenly wondered, ‘If this shield isn’t ruined and is perfect, what will its equivalent rank be?
‘Am I able to smith something like this?’
“Did yo
u sense it?” Ni Yinghong asked in a deep voice.
Ou Yangming hesitated for a while and nodded. “This equipment is very powerful, it’s the most powerful one among the other pieces of equipment.”
“Yes.” Ni Yinghong’s eyes glowed as she said, “The equipment is damaged, but it’s still so powerful and is attached with power. It’s unbelievable.”
Ou Yangming hesitated again but decided to reveal it. “Layered.”
“What?” Ni Yinghong asked in confusion.
Ou Yangming explained slowly, “If I’m not mistaken, the round shield has layered attributes.”
“Impossible,” Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen uttered almost at the same time.
It was already very rare that a piece of damaged equipment had a Unique Attribute. If it actually retained layered attributes, it would be considered a nature-defying item.
Besides, it was worth noting that Unique Attributes were hard to come by, and they would not necessarily remain constant after being bound to a piece of equipment.
Even though Layering Art could enhance Unique Attributes, the attributes could be lost if the piece of equipment was damaged.
The mark on the shield was so obvious that it simply extended across the surface. Hence, even if it originally contained Unique Attributes, they should have been gone by now. If Zheng Ziwen and Ni Yinghong had not probed it with their essential Qi, perhaps they would think that Ou Yangming was lying to their faces.
Ou Yangming said unhappily, “Whether it has layered attributes or not, you’ll find out after using appraisal art.”
Zheng Ziwen gritted his teeth and agreed. “Okay, I’ll use it once.”
Appraisal art was unusually precious toward every appraiser because one could only use it for a limited number of times in a day.
Though the frequency would increase according to a person’s strength, every opportunity was precious.
A cold light appeared in Zheng Ziwen’s hands as he rubbed them together and it shone on the round shield.
Ou Yangming’s eyes sparkled right away. He observed Zheng Ziwen’s moves attentively, as well as the master’s breathing and his surging mental power.
Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725 Page 48