Appraisal: Dancing Sword Painting of a Lady

Great Zhou Dynasty, Ascending Cloud County.

Inside the Shen Family Pawnshop.

Shen Bai lay on a chair, a painting in his hands.

Beside him, Zhang Chaofeng, a man over fifty, was tallying the day's accounts, chatting with Shen Bai as he worked.

"Shopkeeper, ever since that penniless scholar pawned this painting, you've been staring at it. I don't see what's so special about it; it's just a bit old."

In the painting, a Dancing Sword Painting of a Lady seemed to leap off the paper.

Shen Bai picked up the teacup beside him, took a sip, and said, "For scholars and refined gentlemen, it's natural to appreciate paintings and recite poetry."

Zhang Chaofeng closed the ledger and placed it on the counter. "You're no scholar or refined gentleman. If you ask me, this painting isn't worth even an ounce of silver; you paid too much for it."

Shen Bai shook his head. "That scholar was off to take the imperial examination; I merely helped him out. The accounts are balanced for today, Old Zhang, you should head home."

Zhang Chaofeng gave a helpless smile, then suddenly remembered something. "Shopkeeper, you shouldn't go out at night recently. I heard that after Old Master Qian passed away a few days ago, for some unknown reason, people often see him wandering around in the kitchen. It's quite eerie."

Shen Bai waved his hand. "Got it."

Zhang Chaofeng tucked his hands into his sleeves, glanced at the Dancing Sword Painting of a Lady, shook his head in disappointment, and without another word, turned and left.

However, before leaving, a question arose in Zhang Chaofeng's mind.

The shopkeeper never makes a bad deal, so why would he suddenly be so charitable?

Once Zhang Chaofeng had left the pawnshop, Shen Bai set down his tea and his gaze swept back to the Dancing Sword Painting of a Lady.

Before his eyes, a wisp of smoke appeared, steadily dissipating.

[Dancing Sword Painting of a Lady]

[Appraisal Progress: 98%]

[A wisp of Malevolent Qi can rapidly appraise]

Having transmigrated for over three months, Shen Bai had his Cheat System, but it had remained inactive.

It wasn't until about a month ago, after Shen Bai acquired this Dancing Sword Painting of a Lady from a penniless scholar, that he suddenly discovered he could appraise things.

So, Shen Bai took the Dancing Sword Painting of a Lady and spent an entire month finally pushing its appraisal progress to 98%.

According to Shen Bai's understanding, there were two methods for appraisal. One was to simply look at it, slowly grinding away the progress bar.

The other was to use Malevolent Qi to speed up the process.

As for what Malevolent Qi was, Shen Bai had no idea.

Before his eyes, the progress was slowly increasing.

Shen Bai stifled a yawn, rubbed his dry eyes, and continued to watch.

Time gradually passed. In the blink of an eye, an hour had gone by.

Under Shen Bai's expectant gaze, the progress finally completed.

Bang!

The smoke-formed text suddenly exploded, continuously condensing in the void, eventually forming new words.

[Appraisal complete, obtained Divine Ability: Sword Dance Technique]

Divine Ability?

Sword Dance Technique?

What in the world was that?

Shen Bai didn't understand, but that didn't stop him from observing the text.

[Sword Dance Technique Lv.1 (Swordsmanship +1): 1/100]

As the new text appeared before Shen Bai, a flood of information poured into his mind.

Shen Bai closed his eyes, feeling as if a lady was continuously dancing with a sword before his mind's eye, each strike faster than the last.

At first, the swordsmanship was gentle, but before long, it transformed from gentle to fierce, each strike imbued with killing intent.

When Shen Bai opened his eyes, a trace of scorching airflow suddenly appeared in his dantian, and he had fully mastered the Sword Dance Technique.

"This sword technique, it seems quite formidable. And those numbers afterwards, they look a lot like the proficiency levels from games I played in my previous life."

Shen Bai pondered for a moment, then got up and searched around the room.

Since it resembled proficiency, Shen Bai decided to test it out.

As a pawnshop owner, he had quite a collection of strange items.

Before long, Shen Bai found a rusty longsword in a wooden box.

This was a dead pawn, an item that couldn't be redeemed. Shen Bai vaguely remembered that a martial artist had pawned it, probably for three copper coins.

Gripping the rusty longsword, Shen Bai began to practice, following the stances of the Sword Dance Technique.

Inside the spacious shop, Shen Bai moved gracefully, each sword stroke imbued with a sense of magnificence.

At the same time, as Shen Bai performed the Sword Dance, the mist that appeared before his eyes once again coalesced into text.

Sword Dance Technique +1

"Just one sword dance added a point. It doesn't seem too hard. And there's 'lv.1' after it. Could that be the level of this Divine Ability?"

"And the 'sword technique' attribute, that should be able to be improved."

Shen Bai thought to himself as he continued to dance with his sword.

Each stroke increased Shen Bai's proficiency by one point, and with the increasing proficiency, Shen Bai's understanding of the Sword Dance Technique also grew.

After about a hundred sword dances, the proficiency displayed before Shen Bai's eyes changed.

Sword Dance Technique lv.2 (Sword Technique +2, Demon Slaying +2): 1/1000

When the Sword Dance Technique reached level two, a flood of information rushed into Shen Bai's mind.

This time, Shen Bai's comprehension of the Sword Dance Technique underwent a qualitative change.

"So that's it. Once it reaches level two, my sword technique improves, and I gain an additional 'Demon Slaying' attribute."

Shen Bai felt a slight increase in the burning sensation in his dantian.

When Shen Bai danced with his sword again, a righteous aura emanated from the rusty longsword.

Demon Slaying signified a unique effect against things with strange attributes.

This information was new to Shen Bai, and he felt like it was a lot to take in.

"Things with strange attributes? What the heck are those?" Shen Bai wondered, gripping his longsword.

He had been here for three months and had never encountered anything strange.

If it weren't for this Cheat System, he would have already been looking for a wife.

Now, this sudden new information left Shen Bai bewildered.

But it wasn't a big problem.

Shen Bai rubbed his chin, deciding to keep grinding.

One thousand proficiency points was just one thousand more sword strokes, it would be quick.

With that thought, Shen Bai intended to continue practicing the Sword Dance Technique.

But just then, a voice suddenly echoed from outside the door.

Shen Bai turned slightly, placing the rusty iron sword at his waist.

Outside the door appeared an old man in a Daoist robe, with long hair and a white beard, exuding an otherworldly, immortal aura.

"Shopkeeper, I've come to redeem something."

The old Daoist held a pawn ticket in his hand and walked in from outside.

Shen Bai returned to the counter, set the rusty longsword aside, took the pawn ticket, and frowned, "A Peachwood Sword?"

The old Daoist nodded, "Shopkeeper, a few days ago, a disobedient disciple from our temple gambled away money in the county town and pawned this sword. This old Daoist has come to retrieve it today."

A bag of silver coins was placed on the table.

"Live pawning" was another rule of pawnshops: an item could be redeemed within a certain period, but if the period expired, it would belong to the pawnshop.

Pawnshops recognized the ticket, not the person.

Shen Bai wasn't particular about it. After confirming there was enough silver, he took out a worn-out Peachwood Sword and placed it on the counter.

The old Daoist took it, inspected it, and then tucked the Peachwood Sword into his waistband, visibly relieved.

Just as he was about to leave, the old Daoist suddenly remembered something and turned to ask, "Shopkeeper, do you know where the Qian Family is located?"

That's right, I'm back again.

After so much recuperation, my condition is stable, it's just that I can't get too emotional.