Young Qilin Artifact Forger! Please Follow! Please Fern!

At the Mite'er Auction House, the relaxed Mr. Yao brought Jiang Lin, who carried a Sword Box on his back, to find a staff member. After explaining their purpose, a middle-aged man arrived in the reception hall with an elderly man in blue robes.

The middle-aged staff member introduced them to Mr. Yao and Jiang Lin. "This is Master Guni, our auction house's Tier 2 Alchemist."

Master Guni was a Three-Star Da Dou Shi. His realm was not particularly high, but his status as a Tier 2 Alchemist was exceedingly valuable.

"Mr. Yao, the Yellow-grade low-tier Battle Weapons you mentioned are rare even in our auction house. Although Master Guni is an Alchemist, he also possesses astonishing discernment when it comes to Dou Artifacts. If you wish to sell the Dou Artifacts in your possession, please allow Master Guni to inspect their quality," the middle-aged man explained.

Artifact Forgers were not some shameful or scarce profession. They simply were not as famous as Alchemists. The highest-ranked Profound Grade High-Level Artifact Forgers held status no less than Tier 5 and Tier 6 Alchemists. The Miteer Clan had encountered quite a few Artifact Forgers and had even trained Yellow-grade intermediate and low-tier Artifact Forgers within the clan. However, the upper limit for Artifact Forgers in this world was only Profound Grade High-Level, so those with ability and ambition all wanted to study alchemy.

(Artifact Forgers and Alchemists both played with fire. The difference was that their ideal talents were Fire-Gold and Fire-Wood, respectively.)

"Greetings, Master Guni." Mr. Yao nodded slightly to the elderly man in blue, then took a small sheathed knife from his wide sleeve and handed it to Gu Ni. "Yellow-grade low-tier Battle Weapon—Fire Pattern Blade. When activated with Dou Qi, it can condense a flame blade along its body."

Master Guni nodded faintly at this, then took the Fire Pattern Blade and carefully examined it before his eyes.

The Fire Pattern Blade was pitch-black throughout, but its surface was covered in exquisitely beautiful flowing flame patterns. A tiny red crystal sat at the hilt, and in an inconspicuous spot was the signature, "Young Qilin."

Whoosh!

A faint red Dou Qi appeared in Gu Ni's hand. In an instant, the Fire Pattern Blade, which had looked rather petite, condensed a flame blade and returned to the length a normal sword should have.

Surprise flashed through Gu Ni's eyes. "The texture is precise, the workmanship excellent, and the flow of Dou Qi smooth. If not for the limitations of its materials, this Dou Artifact could have reached the Yellow-grade intermediate level! As for its attached ability, condensing fire into a blade, the flame blade is illusory and cannot clash with ordinary swords, as it disperses upon contact. Yet at certain times, this flame blade can produce the miraculous effect of a one-hit kill. Among Yellow-grade low-tier weapons, it is truly an exceptionally rare masterpiece!"

Both Mr. Yao and the Mite'er staff member were shocked that Gu Ni had given such high praise to this small, ordinary-looking knife.

To them, the Fire Pattern Blade looked like an exquisitely crafted toy?

Of course, even if it was a toy, it was a premium toy—the kind with immense collectible value.

Gu Ni then looked again at the little dog-shaped mark in an inconspicuous spot on the Fire Pattern Blade's hilt and smiled. "A very small number of Artifact Forgers who have sufficient confidence in their craftsmanship like to leave their own seal upon their creations. I have seen several Dou Artifacts with 'signatures' in my lifetime, but one so... fresh and unconventional is rare indeed."

Jiang Lin: ...

Jiang Lin's expression became somewhat complicated beside Mr. Yao. For some reason, he had noticed that everyone who saw his Young Qilin seal would praise it as... cute???

Mr. Yao immediately came to his rescue. "Master Guni, the Artifact Forger who entrusted these Dou Artifacts to us said that this pattern is called Young Qilin, a clever and lively little animal."

Gu Ni nodded upon hearing this, sheathed the Fire Pattern Blade again, then said to Mr. Yao, "Artifact Forger Young Qilin? Understood. This Dou Artifact is sufficiently refined and a rare masterpiece. Ordinary Yellow-grade low-tier Dou Artifacts sell for one thousand to three thousand Gold Coins, but yours is of exceptional quality, uses a Magic Core as its energy source, and displays superb craftsmanship. I can offer four thousand Gold Coins."

"If you truly have ten Dou Artifacts of this quality, then we are willing to purchase all of them at four thousand five hundred Gold Coins each."

"Of course, Mr. Yao may also choose to go through the auction process. In that case, the Mite'er Auction House will only take a ten percent commission."

After all, this batch of Dou Artifacts was too low in grade and too numerous. At auction, they would fetch at most around five thousand each. Gu Ni's offer was already extremely generous.

Mr. Yao's initial valuation of Jiang Lin's Dou Artifacts had clearly been influenced by the environment of Qingshan Town itself. If not for the industrial sense of order and beauty in Jiang Lin's Dou Artifacts, which differed from this world's, and for the fact that he had used energy crystals that traditional Artifact Forgers would only use on Yellow-grade advanced Dou Artifacts and above, they would only have been worth two or three thousand. (Magic Cores were one type of energy crystal. At present, Jiang Lin could only obtain Magic Cores.)

"Lin'er, do you want to watch the auction?" Mr. Yao thought for a moment, then asked Jiang Lin.

Jiang Lin understood almost instantly. "Teacher Young Qilin said that if we encountered any good materials, we could buy them and bring them back. Mr. Yao, why don't we go take a look? This is my first time attending an auction!"

Mr. Yao had been asking Jiang Lin whether they should simply leave like this. Jiang Lin's reply was that they could see whether the auction had anything good.

Jiang Lin speaking up undoubtedly drew Gu Ni's attention. He was somewhat surprised by the way Jiang Lin addressed Artifact Forger Young Qilin. In Gu Ni's mind, Artifact Forger Young Qilin was at least a Yellow-grade intermediate Artifact Forger, with status already no lower than his own.

"Then you are in luck. This afternoon's auction has quite a few good items, and there may be some weapon-refining materials that you need," Gu Ni said.

Mr. Yao considered it, then removed the Sword Box from Jiang Lin's back and solemnly handed it to Gu Ni.

Gu Ni seemed to realize something. His gaze grew somewhat heated, but he suppressed the excitement in his heart as he took Mr. Yao's Sword Box and carefully opened it. Resting within the brocade was a long sword, steady and balanced, archaic in form, its blade shimmering with a faint violet-red glow!

"Sell those ten Yellow-grade low-tier Dou Artifacts directly to you. No need to auction them. But since we are already here, we should have some sense of participation. This Yellow-grade intermediate Dou Artifact—the Purple Cloud Sword—shall be entrusted to Master Guni for appraisal, then put up for auction."

Jiang Lin could even forge an interlocking Yellow-grade advanced mechanical greatsword. A one-piece Yellow-grade intermediate Dou Artifact was somewhat troublesome for him, but far from impossible.

If Yellow-grade low-tier Dou Artifacts were like Tier 1 medicinal pills, still belonging to the realm of toys in the hands of Dou Zhes, then Yellow-grade intermediate Dou Artifacts were the butcher knives in the hands of Dou Masters.

With a suitable "butcher knife," a Dou Master could chop opponents of the same realm until they yelped like dogs.

Dou Master Armed: What the hell are you barking about?!

Dou Master Dou Qi Gauze: You're cheating! I—!