Wu Wan

Wu Wan fumbled around a while longer with how to use the Needle Box, and Chen Mobai finally waited out the end of the two hours.

Without waiting for the Soul-Subduing Spell to sound, he opened the main doors and walked straight out.

Outside the doors, only the last batch of unlucky bastards remained.

Chen Mobai did not see any familiar classmates, which saved him the trouble of saying hello, so he shouldered his backpack and left the school directly.

He did not go home right away. Instead, he used his Student Card to take public transport to a large comprehensive raw materials trading market in the east of the city.

Chen Mobai's mother worked at a talisman paper factory. When he was little, she had taken him there to play for a few years, so he was very familiar with the workflow of this small factory.

The boss was a Second-Grade talisman master who ran a Talisman Shop in the city. To save costs, he had opened his own Talisman Paper Accessories Factory. The large sheets of talisman paper Chen Mobai cut up had been bought by his mother at an internal discount price.

Although the talisman paper factory was not large, a sparrow may be small but still had all its organs; brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones could all be made there. However, a material like Gold Powder, rarely used in drawing talismans, was purchased from outside.

If Chen Mobai remembered correctly, the shop that supplied Gold Powder to the Talisman Paper Accessories Factory was here.

Cultivators' memories were basically all very good. Chen Mobai asked three people, and in a corner of the trading market, accurately found Wu's Gold Shop.

"Hello, customer. What do you need?"

The moment he walked through the door, a young cultivator holding a book behind the counter immediately stood up and came over to greet him with a smile.

"Does your shop buy gold?"

Chen Mobai went straight in with a single blade thrust. Before coming, he had already checked the latest unit price of gold announced on the Immortal Sect Network. Even if he lost a little by selling here, he planned to accept it.

But the young cultivator did not force the price down. After taking the gold, he placed it on a professional magic artifact and tested its parameters, then offered a purchase price of 843 Merit Points according to the market price.

"The quality of this gold of yours is all right. It seems to have been refined with spiritual power by a cultivator. Let's round it up. 850."

When Chen Mobai heard this, he felt that this boss was someone worth dealing with, and immediately nodded.

After the transaction, when he saw the extra 850 Merit Points in his account, Chen Mobai suppressed the excitement in his heart and was just about to leave when he suddenly saw the book the young cultivator had placed on the counter.

"Second-Grade Appraiser Exam Prep"

"Could it be that the boss is also an appraiser?"

Chen Mobai asked out of curiosity. As everyone knew, the qualification certificate exams of the Immortal Sect all advanced grade by grade in order. Since he was reading content for a Second-Grade appraiser, then he definitely had already passed Grade 1.

"The exam questions the year before last were relatively simple. I only barely passed."

The young cultivator said this humbly, then handed over a business card.

Wu Wan

Shopkeeper of Wu's Gold Shop

Immortal Sect Certified Grade 1 Appraiser

After Chen Mobai finished reading it, respect welled up in him.

Most of the Immortal Sect's Hundred Arts professional certificates were only officially issued after strict selection and assessment.

A Grade 1 Appraiser represented that one had already mastered most of the knowledge for appraising magic treasures and tools below Second Grade before being allowed to register for certification.

This small boss before him, who looked so young, could already issue certificates of authentication for all First-Grade Magic Artifacts, and the results of his certification would be recognized by all trading markets.

"Master Wu, I happen to have a magic artifact in my hands that my ancestors obtained during the World Opening War. I found it while cleaning the old residence over winter break. Because so much time has passed, no one in the family has any impression of it. Could you help appraise it?"

Chen Mobai took the Needle Box out of his backpack. When Wu Wan saw it, the smile on his face instantly turned serious. First, he took a pair of disposable thin gloves from his cabinet and put them on, then he solemnly accepted it.

"Customer, for this magic artifact of yours, do you want a preliminary appraisal, or an in-depth appraisal?"

Wu Wan's words left Chen Mobai at a loss. Shouldn't appraisal be done in one step? After realizing that he was a complete outsider, Wu Wan explained it to him.

It turned out that the appraisal of a magic artifact was divided into three levels in total.

The first level was looking. Determining the artifact's grade, materials, and refining method.

The second level required the use of professional instruments to measure how many years the artifact could still be used, as well as whether it had any hidden defects.

As for the final third level, it tested the appraiser's ability the most. It required reverse-engineering the artifact's sacrificial refining method, creating or deducing a set of art formulas for the artifact sent in for appraisal that could perfectly unleash the artifact's power.

For the three stages of appraisal, the fees naturally increased step by step.

"However, for ordinary magic artifact appraisals, especially First-Grade Magic Artifacts, only the first level of appraisal is needed."

Only after Wu Wan explained it clearly did Chen Mobai finally understand the trick within.

The price of First-Grade Magic Artifacts was limited, but the market was also the largest, and the profit margins were thin. Aside from true fine goods, basically only first-level appraisal would be carried out. Moreover, many shops only needed an appraiser's certificate purely for selling; they would not spend big money on an in-depth appraisal at all.

Chen Mobai asked about the price. Because Wu Wan was a newly advanced appraiser, he did not have much performance record, and his Points were not enough, so his fees were on the lower side.

"This magic artifact of yours is Grade 1 Middle Rank, so I'll charge you 200 Merit Points."

After handling it for a moment, Wu Wan already had a general idea of the Needle Box's grade, and gave a price that made Chen Mobai's heart ache.

That was enough to buy six Green Arrow Talismans.

But when he thought of the stiff scene of himself controlling the flying needles, as well as the danger of the Eastern Wasteland where the Water Mansion was located, Chen Mobai gritted his teeth and agreed.

After the price was settled, Wu Wan took the Needle Box and placed it on a workbench in the corner of the shop, then began the appraisal using his professional knowledge.

First, he tested the spiritual power intensity and confirmed the grade.

"The refining method is a little unorthodox, but judging by the overall spiritual power fluctuations and materials, there's no mistake in classifying it as a Grade 1 Middle Rank magic artifact."

Wu Wan then took out an A4-sized standard Immortal Sect certification card and filled in the blank spaces for grade and materials with the results of his judgment.

"The Needle Box was carved out of a whole piece of magnetite. If you want to know the specific magnetite model and place of production, that would require a second-level appraisal."

When Chen Mobai heard this, he immediately shook his head. There was no need for that.

"The flying needles should be made from a mixture of several metals that react very intensely to magnetism. As for this, even if you wanted a second-level appraisal, I wouldn't be able to do it on my end, because it requires the assistance of professional instruments."

"This magic artifact can also be considered cleverly conceived. It doesn't require much spiritual power."

"The key to controlling and wielding it lies in this Needle Box. As long as you can skillfully control the magnetic force, you can easily wield the flying needles."

Wu Wan was worthy of being a professional appraiser. He had not infused it with spiritual power, yet merely relying on his own store of knowledge, he explained the refining method of this Needle Box, as well as the knack to using it, seventy to eighty percent of the way through.

When Chen Mobai thought of how, in the school's Cultivation Room, he had completely ignored this Needle Box, treating it only as storage and constantly pouring spiritual power into the flying needles, he could not help but feel a wave of shame.

No wonder he had only controlled them for three minutes before his spiritual power ran dry. He had thought it was because his cultivation was insufficient.

So it turned out the method had been wrong. No wonder he had been doing twice the work for half the result.