Treasure Appraisal

The fastest update to Seeking the Dao in the Mortal World!

Cheng Cheng peeled a lemon and popped it straight into her mouth, leaving the shopkeeper staring in disbelief. "S-Senior..."

Cheng Cheng puffed out her cheeks and looked up at him, her big eyes seeming to speak volumes, "What's wrong?"

The shopkeeper swallowed hard, feeling his mouth water just watching her eat. This senior's cultivation was indeed superb; she wasn't afraid of sourness at all?

"We don't usually eat this fruit like this." The innkeeper carefully poured a glass of wine for each of the four people, then sliced a lemon and soaked one slice in each of them. "This wine is called Azure Sea Clear Wave, clear and refreshing, with a pleasant and soothing atmosphere. If you soak it with this Spiritual Qi lemon, it will be even more refreshing and pleasant, relieving restlessness and cleansing the lungs."

Cheng Cheng chewed, her cheeks twitching with curiosity. "Does that work for other drinks too?"

"Yes, there are." The shopkeeper looked at her cheeks and still felt a pang of toothache.

Cheng Cheng casually spat out a few fruit pits, wrapped them in her Law Power, and stuffed them into her ring.

Shopkeeper: "..."

Are you going to take this back and plant it? Are you sure your cave abode's soil and water are suitable? It's not even anything valuable, is it really worth it...?

Chu Jiantian sighed and said he would treat these two "benefactors" to drinks, but it took them so long to finally pour the drinks. Judging from their expressions, they didn't seem to want to drink at all.

He, however, wanted to drink.

My junior sister really has Husband, sob sob sob...

Chu Jiantian sniffed, fished the lemon slice out of the wine, and chewed it with smacking sounds.

Shopkeeper: "..."

No wonder he's a celestial being from Penglai; his actions are beyond the comprehension of ordinary people like us.

The two were eating lemons, Qin Yi and Li Qingjun lowered their heads to sip their wine, and the four of them fell silent for a moment.

This constant noise isn't good. This is a public place, not a private room. It's really embarrassing.

On another note, this wine is quite good, and the craftsmanship is also quite impressive. I can take some to give to Yin Yizhong and the others... Damn it, only now do I realize that I originally planned to find out the inside story of this competition. How did it turn out like this? It's gone completely off track.

However, Li Qingjun probably doesn't know about these things; she's been focusing on her cultivation. This matter should probably be asked of Li Duanxuan.

As he was pondering this, a person emerged from behind the booth in front of him, cupped his hands in greeting, and said with a smile, "I'm late, I'm late, I've kept everyone waiting."

When Qin Yi came to his senses, he realized that the dozen or so square tables were already full, and the so-called Treasure Appraisal Conference about to begin.

This Treasure Appraisal Conference event seems to be a rather casual exhibition, not an auction. It's just a place for interested people to come and see some novelties, and if they want to buy something, they can discuss it later. That's the gist of it.

"Today, we are honored to have the presence of a celestial being from Penglai. Our Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion is truly Humble Abode Shines." The man on the stage laughed and said, "I am Lin Donghai, the owner of this place. I am taking the liberty of presiding over the appraisal. I hope that the celestial being will offer some guidance, for our mortal eyes will always obscure the true gems."

This is actually quite insidious. It's a compliment, implying that they want you to be their appraiser for free. They think that since you're a noble immortal, you shouldn't be competing with us mortals and Rogue Cultivator for bargains.

Chu Jiantian, seemingly unsure whether he understood, calmly sipped his wine and said, "No problem."

"Enough of the small talk, let's look at the first item." Lin Donghai took out a broken conch shell. "This conch shell seems to have no Spiritual Qi at first glance; it's just an ordinary conch shell. But upon closer inspection, its patterns have a hint of Demon Mark, though they are broken and irregular. I wonder if it was naturally like this, or if it truly is a damaged treasure?"

Then someone asked, "What about the texture?"

"Ordinary, just rather old-fashioned."

The crowd whispered among themselves, but ultimately no one showed any interest.

Lin Donghai looked at Chu Jiantian with some anticipation.

Chu Jiantian said calmly, "This is a horn used by the sea Demon Race to summon their kind within a certain range. We have many similar substitutes, which are not very valuable... For us, it is at most a collectible, because it is indeed very ancient."

Qin Yi was impressed; this guy actually had some knowledge.

"If that's what the Immortal of Penglai says, then it must be correct." Lin Donghai sighed with some regret and handed the bag to the shopkeeper beside him, "Make sure to label it and put it on the counter."

He then took out another broken stone fragment. "This stone fragment is quite tough, but I don't know what kind of stone it is. It also has some peculiar patterns carved on it, which are man-made. Unfortunately, it's only half there, so I can't identify its purpose."

Chu Jiantian, "These are inscriptions from ancient mortal tribe records. The patterns represent some kind of ritual. They are useful for mortals to use for archaeological research and historical evidence, but useless to you and me."

"I see." Lin Donghai was actually quite pleased. "This item is very valuable."

It has no value to cultivators, but to mortals it's an archaeological treasure, and it is indeed of high value.

Qin Yi shook his head slightly. As expected, this was a mortal "treasure appraisal" session. Everyone's value system and expectations were different.

However, judging from this pattern, if one were to visit a similar place frequented by cultivators, one might actually find some good things. It's something worth considering sometime.

After all, many things cannot be perceived at a glance from their Spiritual Qi; they might just be a component, a fragment of a record, or a special item like Cheng Cheng's Heart-Questioning Mirror, effective on all levels. There are also items of such high quality that they are reduced to their original, unadorned state, like Wolf Tooth Club, which everyone perceives as merely a relatively hard weapon, and so far, no one has been able to discern its true value.

That's why we need appraisal services; many things have different values in the eyes of knowledgeable people.

If you have Liusu, it would be foolish not to try this kind of interaction.

Just as I was thinking this, I saw Lin Donghai take out a small round ball.

"This small sphere faintly exudes a Spiritual Qi, but we can't discern it," Lin Donghai said. "We've also tested its texture, but it's indestructible by our means. Aside from that, it has nothing special about it, and even probing it with our Divine Sense yields nothing."

Chu Jiantian shut his mouth; he couldn't keep up the act anymore, as he didn't recognize what it was for.

But the very thing he couldn't recognize ignited the crowd's enthusiasm, and bidding began on the spot. The fact that Penglai Sword Pavilion couldn't identify it meant there was a chance it was a super treasure, even if it was completely useless—it was worth the gamble.

As a result, Lin Donghai smiled and hid the stone, deciding not to sell it.

"Master Lin, that's not fair!" A chorus of complaints and disdain rang out. Lin Donghai cupped his hands and returned the greeting with a smile, "You flatter me, you flatter me. If the Immortal of Penglai can't recognize something, of course there's something special about it."

A sneer came from a corner, "Penglai Sword Pavilion, nothing special."

Li Qingjun and Chu Jiantian suddenly turned their heads, glaring angrily at the source of the voice.

A Black-Robed Man sat in the corner; he appeared to be a mere Phoenix Cultivator. Seeing the two glaring at him, he didn't seem to care and sneered, "What's wrong? This is Treasure Appraisal Conference. We speak with our judgment and knowledge. Do you two want to hit me?"

Chu Jiantian angrily retorted, "Then tell me, what's this for?"

The man said leisurely, "It's a mechanism component. Putting it in will activate the mechanism, that's all."

Chu Jiantian's face flushed red, but he couldn't say anything. After this person's prompting, many others also realized it was indeed a mechanical component. Appraisal is based on knowledge, and the Penglai Sword Pavilion had no grounds for complaint after being thoroughly humiliated.

Li Qingjun suddenly said, "Who said we don't recognize Penglai Sword Pavilion?"

"Hmm?" The Black-Robed Man sneered, "I've already said everything. It's not smart of you, Fairy, to just parrot what others have said."

Li Qingjun coldly asked, "Do you know what kind of mechanism it is?"

The Black-Robed Man shook his head. "We're not real gods, how could we possibly know?"

"But I know," Li Qingjun said. "This is Beast Mouth Holding Pearl, used for embedding. The most likely purpose is to activate some kind of restriction."

The Black-Robed Man paused for a moment, pondered for a while, then cupped his hands and said, "It is indeed possible."

"I'll take this." Li Qingjun turned to Lin Donghai: "These parts, which are restricted from who-knows-where, are useless to you, Master. I'm rather interested in collecting these things, so why don't you sell them to me?"

That's true. The world is vast, and who knows what restrictions a pearl found by chance in the sea might correspond to? To ordinary people, it's practically useless, and keeping it is pointless. Lin Donghai smiled and said, "In that case, I'll give it to the Fairy."

The Black-Robed Man also bowed. "The Penglai Sword Pavilion truly lives up to its Penglai Sword Pavilion; your insight is indeed superior. I apologize for my rudeness just now."

Chu Jiantian was very pleased. His junior sister had upheld the honor of the Sword Pavilion. As expected of his junior sister... But why did his junior sister know these things? It didn't make sense...

Then Li Qingjun took the bead, handed it to Qin Yi, and said in a low voice, "Thank you for your guidance in secret, senior, for protecting the reputation of my sect."

Chu Jiantian's eyes widened, and he looked at Cheng Cheng for help, "Your dao companion is openly flirting with my junior sister, did you see that?"

Cheng Cheng said expressionlessly, "You go ahead with your work, I'm going to eat lemons."