The stone-cracking master made no fuss at the request, and after bringing out his stone-cracking blades, he then agilely chipped away at the raw gemstone as if the blades had a life of their own.
Only half a minute had passed when suddenly, the stone-cracking master’s blades came to an abrupt stop.
Shao Hongyi and the others were thinking to themselves, ‘Ou Yangming couldn’t be this lucky, right? There’s no way that his fourth stone would end up being a gem, right?”
The stone-cracking master inspected the gemstone, and a moment later, he raised his head and excitedly stated, “Congratulations! You’ve got a gem!”
Although the crowd’s opinion on the matter was divided, everyone still cheered for Ou Yangming’s success.
Bai Shixue turned around to gaze at Ou Yangming, but to her surprise, he had shown no reaction, as if he had already expected it. She could not help but wonder, ‘Isn’t he too
quiet?’
Slowly, but surely, a bright crimson glow entered the sights of the crowd, and upon noticing this, the stone-cracking master’s eyes lit up. As he continued to eye the unusually crimson gem, his heart began to thump with excitement. It had seemed that the gem was exponentially better than what he had initially imagined.
Initially, the crowd could still be heard whispering to one another. However, as the gemstone gradually chipped open, and as the crimson glow filtered past their eyelids, their expressions changed drastically.
Aside from Bai Shixue and her escorts, those who visited the Hall of Gems were more or less people who had studied gems extensively.
As such, the shock they experienced when they saw the glow was indescribable through words alone.
A strong wave of curiosity burst forth from deep within their hearts, as there was a high chance that it would end up being a gem of never-before-seen quality.
Before they even knew it, the crowd had already gone silent, and they were watching the stone-cracking master’s delicate work with much anticipation.
Despite the growing size of the crowd, the area they were in had remained eerily quiet.
Finally, after an agonizing hour had gone by, the stone-cracking master was finished with his work. After rinsing the tiny gem in his hand with water, he then lifted it high up and declared ecstatically, “Congratulations! This is an extremely high-grade gem that’s difficult to come across!”
As Ou Yangming had already predicted this, he was not particularly surprised. Instead, he asked, “You say it’s high-grade, but exactly what grade are we talking about?”
The stone-cracking master froze, and a moment later, he hesitantly stated, “As I am not an appraiser, and as such, I cannot give an accurate assessment. However, at the very least, this gem is high-grade, and it might very well be a Super Flame Gem!”
The moment he spoke those words, the crowd was immediately stirred into an uproar. They could no longer suppress their inner thoughts.
From its name itself, one could infer that the Flame Gem was a gem that naturally contained the fire attribute.
Although these Flame Gems were rather common, things were completely different when it was revealed to be of a Super Grade.
A middle-aged man walked out from the crowd, and with a faint brush of his hands, his Appraisal Light scanned through the gem. The color drained from his face, and a moment later, he enviously looked at Bai Shixue and said, “Lady Luck smiles upon you, young pavilion master. This is indeed a Super Flame Gem! It is a precious jewel that appears only once in a blue moon!”
Meanwhile, the onlookers’ eyes were, for the most part, filled with delight. After all, the fact that they could lay eyes on a Super Gem itself was already a treat on its own.
Nevertheless, a small fraction of them looked absolutely horrid.
The Myriad Treasure Meet was essentially a competition of reputation, in which every major faction would fight tooth and nail to make it to the top. As such, the Yi Pavilion’s discovery of such a precious jewel had no doubt meant that they were now heads and shoulders above everyone else.
Nevertheless, no matter how bitter they felt, there was nothing they could do. They could only sigh in exasperation as they cursed the Yi Pavilion at their god-like luck…
Other than that, the appraisers from the Secret Realm were also enraged. They cursed Ma Feizhang for being so worthless, and had they known that the fight would have ended that way, they would have sent a Yang Grade powerhouse to the fight instead.
Bai Shixue toyed with the gem, and out of nowhere, she suddenly stated, “Master Ou, I meant what I said earlier. This gem belongs to you.”
Undisguised disbelief and envy clouded the onlookers’ eyes as they mentally shouted, ‘Why doesn’t this ever happen to me!’
Unexpectedly, after taking a glance at her, he then casually stated, “I appreciate the young pavilion master’s kindness, but there’s no need for you to do so.” He clasped his fists together as a show of respect, and with that, he left the Hall of Gems and headed down the building complex.
The smile on Bai Shixue’s face remained unchanged. It was as if she did not mind Ou Yangming’s blatant disrespect towards her.
With a wave of her hand, she too had left the Hall of Gems, along with her escorts.
On the other hand, Shao Hongyi and the others had remained rooted to the spot. It took them a while, but in the end, they heaved a long sigh and continued searching within the hall. Once the folks in the Myriad Treasure Meet had heard the news of a Super Grade gem being discovered within the Hall of Gems, more people had begun to swarm the hall, in the hopes that they too, could end up getting lucky as well.
Upon her return to the lounge, Bai Shixue fiddled with the crimson gem, and her mesmerizing eyes wandered about, as if she had something on her mind.
“Young Lady Bai, that Ou Yangming was way too rude towards you!”
“Indeed, had he adhered to my wishes, this gem would’ve already belonged to him!”
“Ah, yeah, err…” The little servant girl paused for a moment before she continued, “Umm, forget it then! If that’s how he wants to act, then so be it!”
Bai Shixue was so amused by the little servant that she broke out in laughter. She brushed her finger across the little servant girl’s nose and stated, “You really are a money-grubber, you know that?!”
Bai Shixue then nodded and continued, “We were pretty lucky today, but I hope that he could bring us even more luck in the future.”
“Huh? Can Ou Yangming really do that?”
Bai Shixue hesitantly stated, “Not only is Master Ou an appraiser, but he’s also a blacksmith that even Jin Shengjie and Wu Hongxi had sung praises of!” With her eyes closed, she then whispered to herself, “Ou Yangming, hurry up and show off your talent. Don’t leave me waiting for too long…”
Chapter 293 - Special Task
Ou Yangming left the Hall of Gems and walked down as he followed the crowd.
A distinguished guest with only one skill could only stay at one place to fight for reputation and prestige with the other people, but for someone like Ou Yangming, he would not restrict himself to one place. There were many buildings here, but only two of them were extremely lively.
They were the Hall of Equipment and the Hall of Spiritual Pills.
Cultivators would pay attention to things that could improve their strengths. Correspondingly, equipment and pills were unquestionably the most down to earth approaches. Therefore, the largest buildings here were halls for equipment and spiritual pills.
Ou Yangming walked leisurely toward the Hall of Equipment. Although he passed by the Hall of Spiritual Pills along the way, he held himself back from entering the building.
Since he had a superficial knowledge of spiritual pills, he figured that he might as well not embarrass himself.
The Hall of Equipment and the Hall of Gems were different because four guards stood outside the building. Everyone who wanted to enter the Hall of Equipment had to show their gold and pearls, where those who were not wea
lthy would be denied entry.
It was true that the Myriad Treasure Meet welcomes powerhouses from all over the country, but the necessary limitations were implemented at some popular halls.
Ou Yangming made his way to the hall’s entrance.
A guard furrowed his eyebrows and asked, “Do you have an access badge?”.
He naturally treated Ou Yangming lightly because of the fellow’s young age. Nonetheless, he would not judge a book by its cover. After all, there were many hidden talents in the Myriad Treasure Meet, and he dared not take the risk since he did not know the young fellow’s background.
Nevertheless, before Ou Yangming could reply to the guard, another guard’s eyes lit up, and he said, “Isn’t this Master Ou? Quickly come in!”
He gave the first guard a signal and immediately made way for Ou Yangming. Ou Yangming stared at the guard and was certain that he did not know him, but he nodded with a smile and entered the Hall of Equipment. “This Brother, who’s that master?” The guard who stopped Ou Yangming asked softly, “He looks very young. Is he an official blacksmith?”
“Hehe, what official blacksmith? He’s an Advanced Blacksmith!”
“Advanced… Ah, I know who he is!”
The four guards exchanged glances and were relieved because it was a close call.
This was the Hall of Equipment, so they would definitely become a laughing stock if the people who attended the meet knew they stopped an Advanced Blacksmith from entering. Ou Yangming would not be affected, but the four guards would suffer miserably.
Fortunately, the guards’ third brother attended the Blacksmith Assessment, hence he recognized Master Ou.
Ou Yangming did not bother about their psychological changes. He was instantly attracted by the four huge blackboards in the main hall as soon as he entered the Hall of Equipment.
Numerous requests were listed on the blackboards. Needless to say, most of them were normal purchase requests where every listing was made with a note of the requirements and the price.
Ou Yangming was an excellent blacksmith, thus he had a good understanding of the prices of different pieces of equipment. He concluded after looking at the list for some time that there was a significant appreciation in the prices.
Even so, he would not care about them.
Apart from that, there were also some special-colored words on the blackboard. They were bolded because the requests were odd, so much so that someone even asked for a magic tool… Even though the person offered a high price, everyone knew nobody would accept the task.
Ou Yangming stared at the listing with bright eyes. If he accepted those tasks as the Yi Pavilion’s blacksmith, each time he smithed the corresponding equipment and made a successful deal, the pavilion’s prestige would be increased.
Of course, the harder the smithing task, the greater the reputation.
If he simply smithed a magic tool, he might even become the Myriad Treasure Meet’s victor right away.
“Master Ou, hello!”
“Master Ou, you finally showed up!” When Ou Yangming stood quietly in front of the blackboards, several people walked toward him and greeted him with smiles.
Ou Yangming sighed. He did not want to socialize, but he could not ignore them like that. The people who greeted him were familiar faces because they were present during the Blacksmith Assessment. Moreover, those who spoke to him were Advanced Blacksmiths. As for the Intermediate and Rudimentary Blacksmiths, they dared not greet him though they were eager to try.
The young fellow flashed a smile at the people and responded to them one by one. He later asked, “Why are you so free? Don’t you want to show your skills?”
“Master Ou, we know you’re representing the Yi Pavilion, and you have to gain some reputation for them, but…” Feng Guangyuan laughed cheerfully. “We don’t represent anyone, so we’re only here to join the fun. If we happen to be interested in certain requests, we’ll accept them.”
Ou Yangming was envious of them. “I see, you’re unrestrained, Master Feng.”
“Master Ou, don’t trust that fella.” Yi Yucheng rolled his eyes and sneered. “He either thinks the appreciations aren’t high enough or isn’t confident because some of the listings have many requests, so he dares not smith anything.”
Feng Guangyuan glared at Yi Yucheng. “Brother Yi, are you trying to expose me?”
Yi Yucheng chuckled. “I won’t let you act presumptuously in front of Master Ou.”
“It’s my greatest misfortune to have a terrible friend like you,” Feng Guangyuan expressed helplessly while he poked Yi Yucheng a few times. Ou Yangming could not help but laugh when he heard their conversation.
The two masters seemed steady and sophisticated during the assessment, but they seemed to have transformed into different people at the moment.
Perhaps this was their true nature. They were likely more relaxed since there were no examiners and spectators around, and they were talking to Ou Yangming, who was on par with them in smithing art.
Feng Guangyuan later ignored Yi Yucheng and asked, “Master Ou, did anything catch your attention?”
Ou Yangming laughed. “As said by Master Yi, it’s either the appreciations aren’t high enough or I’m not confident because there are too many requests.” He understood after he studied the blackboards that the normal remarks were from wealthy customers who wanted to try to make a listing. They would be delighted if masters who needed some popularity accepted their tasks, but they would not lose anything if nobody did.
After all, under normal circumstances, they could not get Advanced Blacksmiths to smith pieces of equipment for them.
On the other hand, the listings that were written in special fonts were different. They had strict requests, and they might not be completed by even Advanced Blacksmiths like Yi Yucheng. Seeing as Ou Yangming fixed his gaze on the special tasks, Feng Guangyuan and Yi Yucheng could not help but look at each other. Master Feng noted softly, “Master Ou, these special tasks are extremely difficult, and less than ten of them were completed at every Myriad Treasure Meet in the past. If you’re not confident, you can accept some normal tasks, and you’ll earn decent fame too.”
Ou Yangming nodded and understood the logic very well.
He would be highly rewarded if he chose a special task and succeeded, but if he failed it, not only would he waste time, but he would also suffer negative impacts. Hence, instead of accepting an uncertain task, it would be better to take on a normal task conscientiously.
It would seem uninteresting, but if he bore the hardship throughout the meet, he would benefit more than he would if he smithed one of two pieces of unique equipment.
Nonetheless, Ou Yangming was unwilling to follow the order although he understood the theory.
This was because he found something interesting among the special tasks.
He went closer to the blackboard and pointed at a task, which was written in red. “I’m taking up this task!”
Special tasks like this would be listed for a long time, but there were very few people who had the guts to accept them.
Everyone in the main hall fell silent when they heard Ou Yangming.
Feng Guangyuan and Yi Yucheng looked at each other and smiled bitterly. Despite that, they knew from Ou Yangming’s performance at the assessment that he was not an obedient person. If he did not create a few miracles, how was he going to let other people treat him with different respect?
That said, their faces changed when they looked at the task.
It was a simple request. A martial artist provided a weapon, which was attached with a Unique Attribute. As his strength kept improving, the weapon could not match him anymore.
However, the Unique Attribute on the weapon was a great match for the technique that he was cultivating, and his ability would inevitably diminish without the attribute
Thus, he wanted a blacksmith to enhance the weapon to upgrade it.
Having said that, the most important request was the Un
ique Attribute must be retained during the process.
Every blacksmith sneered when the request was made because everyone thought it was simply unfeasible.
A weapon must be melted again to upgrade its basic attributes, and nobody knew what would happen during the process. The Unique Attribute could be retained if one was lucky, but the probability was low because the attribute would likely be affected after the weapon was smithed again.
Not to mention an Advanced Blacksmith, even a Superior Blacksmith could not be fully confident.
For that reason, nobody accepted the task though it had been listed since before the Myriad Treasure Meet. In fact, everyone thought nobody would undertake it.
Despite that, Ou Yangming had just pointed out that he wanted to accept the task, so everyone felt that it was strange. ‘Is this young fella, who has been creating miracles, going to shock everyone again?’
Chapter 294 - Betting On Prestige
Chapter 294 Betting On Prestige
“Master Ou, are you… Sure you want to choose this?”
The people who were in charge of the statistics and maintained the order were blacksmiths too, but they were mostly Intermediate Blacksmiths, so they were far from Advanced Blacksmiths like Ou Yangming. Therefore, they dared not delay the matter once they recognized Ou Yangming because they were aware of his background and status.
Nonetheless, the Intermediate Blacksmiths had good visions and experiences, hence they naturally understood how difficult the task would be. As such, they could not help but question Ou Yangming. “Yes, I’d like to take up this task,” Ou Yangming answered with a smile. He looked at everyone and asked, “Do you have any objections?”
“We dare not, we dare not. Master Ou, please wait for a while, I’ll notify the person who listed it, immediately,” the head Intermediate Blacksmith of the hall quickly responded, then he bowed at Ou Yangming and hurried away.
Feng Guangyuan furrowed his eyebrows. He would have just sneered and stood by if it was someone else, but Ou Yangming was deeply valued by Master Jin Shengjie, and he assessed the young fellow during the Advanced Blacksmith Assessment too.
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