Chapter 14

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

After fumbling with the use of the needle case for a while, Chen Mobai finally waited for the two hours to end.

There was no need for the Soul Suppressing Spell to sound. He opened the door and walked out.

Only the last unlucky ones remained outside the door.

Chen Mobai did not see any familiar classmates, so he did not have to greet them. He picked up his bag and left the school.

He did not go home immediately. Instead, he used his student card to take public transport to a large and comprehensive raw materials market in the east of the city.

Chen Mobai’s mother worked in the talisman factory. He had been brought there to play for a few years when he was young and was very familiar with the procedures of this small factory.

The boss was a Rank-2 talisman master who ran a talisman store in the city. In order to save money, he opened a talisman accessories factory. The large talisman paper that Chen Mobai cut was bought by his mother at an internal discount.

Although the talisman factory was not large, it had everything. It could produce ink, paper, and inkstones. However, gold powder, a material rarely used in talisman drawing, was purchased from external sources.

If Chen Mobai remembered correctly, the shop that supplied gold powder to the talisman accessories factory was here.

The memories of cultivators were basically very good. Chen Mobai asked three people and accurately found the Wuji Gold Shop in the corner of the trading market.

“Hello, customer. What can I do for you?”

As he walked through the door, a young cultivator behind the counter with a book in his hands immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile.

“Does your shop buy gold?”

Chen Mobai went straight to the point. Before he came, he had already checked the latest price of gold announced on the website of the immortal sect. Since he was here to sell gold, he planned to accept it even if he had to suffer a loss.

However, the young cultivator did not offer a lower price. After taking the gold, he placed it on a specialized artifact to test its parameters. Then, he gave a purchase price of 843 Karma Points according to the market price.

“The quality of your gold is alright. It seems that a cultivator has refined it with spiritual power. Let’s round the price up to 850 Karma Points.”

When Chen Mobai heard this, he felt that this cultivator was easy to deal with. Thus, he immediately nodded.

After the transaction, Chen Mobai suppressed his excitement when he saw the additional 850 Karma Points in his account. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly saw the book that the young cultivator had placed on the counter.

[Predicted Questions for the Rank-2 Treasure Appraiser Examination]

“Could the boss be a treasure appraiser?”

Chen Mobai asked curiously. As everyone knew, the certification and qualification examinations of the immortal sect progressed level by level. Since the boss was looking at the contents of the Rank-2 Treasure Appraiser Examination, he must have passed the Rank-1 Examination.

“The questions the year before were relatively simple. I barely passed.”

The young cultivator spoke modestly before handing over a business card.

[Wu Wan]

[Wuji Gold Shop Manager]

[Immortal Sect-Certified Rank-1 Treasure Appraiser]

After reading the business card, Chen Mobai was filled with respect.

In the immortal sect, most of the certificates for the Hundred Arts of Cultivation were issued by the officials only after strict selection and assessment.

A Rank-1 treasure appraiser meant that they had already grasped most of the knowledge about appraising artifacts below Rank-1. Only then were they allowed to register for the certification examination.

This young-looking boss in front of him could already issue an certification for all Rank-1 Dharma artifacts. Moreover, the results of the certification would be recognized by all the trading markets.

“Master Wu, I happen to have a Dharma artifact that my ancestors obtained during the war. I discovered it during the winter break when I was cleaning the old residence. Due to the passage of time, my family doesn’t have much of an impression of it. Can you help me appraise it?”

Then, Chen Mobai took out the needle case from his bag. Seeing this, Wu Wan’s smile instantly turned serious. He first took a pair of light and disposable gloves from his cabinet and put them on before solemnly taking the needle case.

“Customer, would you like to conduct a preliminary appraisal or an in-depth appraisal of your Dharma artifact?”

Wu Wan’s words confused Chen Mobai. Shouldn’t appraisal be done in one go?

After knowing that he was purely an amateur, Wu Wan explained to him.

It turned out that the appraisal of Dharma artifacts was divided into three levels.

The first level was to look and determine the grade, materials, and refinement method of the artifact.

The second level required the use of professional instruments to determine how long the artifact could still be used and if there were any hidden flaws.

As for the third and final level, it tested the ability of the treasure appraiser the most. They had to create or deduce a technique that could perfectly unleash the power of the Dharma artifact that had been brought for an appraisal, while reflecting the refinement technique of the Dharma artifact.

The fees naturally increased across the three stages of appraisal.

“However, for ordinary artifact appraisal, especially for Rank-1 Dharma artifacts, only the first level of appraisal is needed.”

After Wu Wan explained, Chen Mobai finally understood what was going on.

The price of a Rank-1 Dharma artifact was limited, but the market was the largest and the profits were meager. Other than true premium items, treasure appraisers would basically only conduct the first level of appraisal. Moreover, many shops needed a certificate from a treasure appraiser for the sole purpose of selling the items. Thus, people would not spend a lot of money to appraise such items.

Chen Mobai asked about the price. As Wu Wan was a new treasure appraiser, he did not have many achievements and did not have enough points. Thus, his fees were relatively low.

“This artifact of yours is a middle-grade Rank-1 artifact. I’ll charge you 200 Karma Points.”

After touching it, Wu Wan had a rough idea of the grade of the needle case and gave Chen Mobai a price that made his heart ache.

That was enough to buy six Green Arrow Talismans.

However, when he thought of the image of him controlling the flying needles and the danger of the Eastern Wastelands where the water mansion was located, Chen Mobai gritted his teeth and agreed.

After the price was agreed on, Wu Wan took the needle case and placed it on a workbench in the corner of the shop. Then, he began the appraisal with his professional knowledge.

He first measured the strength of the spiritual power in the needle case and confirmed its grade.

“The refinement method is a little unorthodox, but based on the overall spiritual power fluctuations and materials, it can’t be wrong to determine it as a middle-grade Rank-1 Dharma artifact.”

Wu Wan took out another piece of A4-sized immortal sect standard certification paper. Then, he filled in the “Grade” and “Material” blanks with his judgment.

“The needle case was chiseled out of a whole block of magnetite. If you want to know the exact type of the magnet and its place of origin, a second level of appraisal is required.”

Chen Mobai immediately shook his head. There was no need.

“The flying needles should be made of a mixture of several metals that are very sensitive to magnetic reactions. Even if you want to perform a second level of appraisal, I can’t do anything about it because I need the help of professional instruments.”

“This Dharma artifact is quite ingenious. It doesn’t require much spiritual power.”

“The key to control and manage the flying needles is this needle box. As long as you can skillfully control the magnetic force, you can easily control the flying needles.”

Wu Wan was indeed a professional treasure appraiser. He did not inject any spiritual power into it. He only relied on his knowledge to explain most of the refining methods and tricks of using this needle case.

When Chen Mobai thought about how he had completely overlooked this needle case in the cultivation room at school and only used it as a storage device. He even kept infusing spiritual power into the flying needle. As a result, he couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

No wonder he only controlled it for three minutes before his spiritual power was exhausted. He thought that it was because his cultivation level was insufficient.

It turned out that he used the wrong method. It was no wonder he only achieved half of the results with twice the effort.