Mortal Grade, Mid-Tier

Chen Shaojun's eyes flickered, filled with deep longing.

Naturally, he hoped to become one of those powerful figures capable of slaying demons and vanquishing evil.

There was no helping it.

For someone like him, who had been bombarded with all manner of wuxia novels and films since childhood, this stuff was simply far too alluring. It was no different from an ethereal beauty standing before you, gazing at you with tender affection—you would find it hard not to ask, "Do we know each other?"

And if one wished to cultivate the Dao or train in martial arts, there truly were avenues available in this world.

The Dao Academy.

Martial arts schools.

Both were places where ordinary people could learn Daoist and martial methods.

"Only.

I hear the tuition fees are extremely expensive.

And whether it is a martial arts school or the Dao Academy, they have requirements regarding a student's background.

At the very least, one must have a clean family background."

Chen Shaojun frowned.

Never mind that the tuition was beyond what he could afford now.

The requirement of a clean background alone shut him out.

Having signed a contract of sale, with life and death no longer in his own hands, could hardly count as having a clean background.

"So, when all is said and done, I still need to regain my freedom as soon as possible."

Chen Shaojun sighed.

The debts left behind by the previous owner of this body would ultimately have to be borne by him.

It was not as though he had not considered relying on the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror.

But the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror had only appeared once. Afterward, he searched his entire body yet could not find where it was hidden. He used every method he could think of to call for it, but could not summon it forth. He feared it had merely flashed past like a startled swan, never to leave another trace, and so a faint unease always lingered in his heart.

"Fortunately, there is not no way to shed the slave status.

There are three official appraisers in the Lin Family Pawnshop. The highest-ranking one, Chief Appraiser Qin, generally does not show himself. The second appraiser, Dai Ming, wears a cold face all day and is difficult to approach.

Only the third appraiser, Zhang Gao, talks a little more.

According to him, once an appraiser apprentice advances to become an official appraiser, the Lin family grants rewards and bestows honors.

Removing one's slave status and returning to freedom is merely one of those rewards.

He himself relied on that back then to shed his slave status, and his identity and standing became entirely different."

Chen Shaojun steadied himself, knowing this was actually a method used by the pawnshop to win people's hearts.

But it had to be said that this was indeed one of the reasons why the previous owner of this body—and even most appraiser apprentices—did not flee after learning how dangerous this profession was.

Becoming an official appraiser was difficult.

Among apprentices like them, probably very few could hold out until that day.

But at least there was hope.

Especially after they had stayed here for half a year and their Divine Gaze Technique had grown increasingly profound, the hope of becoming an official appraiser was practically visible to the naked eye.

Everyone harbored a fluke mentality, believing they would not fall before success...

What was laughable was this.

The current Chen Shaojun thought the same way.

The next day.

Appraisal Room Number Seven.

Chen Shaojun was assigned another pawned item.

This time, it was a small bead mottled with colors. It was oval-shaped, somewhat like a jade button, yet also different.

Since an incident had occurred only yesterday, one of the official appraisers showed himself today.

It was Dai Ming, the second of the three great appraisers of the Lin Family Pawnshop, and nominally their master as well.

He specifically reminded them that if they wished to guard against potential danger while appraising treasures, they could try lighting a candle in the southeast corner. If the candle went out, they were not to entertain any other thought and were to immediately stop the appraisal.

If the candlelight flickered uncertainly and swayed up and down, then they also needed to proceed with caution.

In truth, Chen Shaojun and the other appraiser apprentices had known this method long ago.

Besides lighting candles, burning incense to ward off taboos was another method.

It was said that the older generation of appraisers had distilled these methods from countless treasure-appraisal experiences.

But a candle cost three copper coins, while even the cheapest bamboo incense cost one copper coin per stick. The expense was considerable and had to be borne entirely by themselves, so appraiser apprentices gradually abandoned the practice.

After all, whatever could be saved should be saved.

But now, no one dared be careless.

Thus, this time Chen Shaojun also lit a candle in the southeast corner.

And he took three sticks of incense, lighting them one after another.

No harm ever came from being careful.

Chen Shaojun would never joke around with his own life.

Only after seeing that the candle flame burned brightly and the bamboo incense had nearly burned out did he truly begin his work.

But he did not notice that when both the candle and bamboo incense went out, they left behind a thin layer that had not fully burned away.

Calming his breath and focusing his mind, one look, then two gazes.

The Divine Gaze Technique was successfully deployed.

A pair of divine lights shone forth as though they possessed substance, clearly illuminating the bead.

At the same time, the aura was drawn forth.

In a daze, Chen Shaojun saw an arrow shooting toward his eyes like lightning.

"This is... Arrow-Path Killing Intent."

His expression changed drastically. His eyes suddenly ached, and his head felt as though it had been smashed by a massive boulder, leaving him dizzy and muddled.

This was the danger appraisers had to face head-on when using the Divine Gaze Technique to appraise treasures.

Appraising treasures through Divine Gaze was a clash of minds.

Under the stimulation of spiritual force, every change in the treasure's aura—yin energy, Killing Intent, ghostly energy, murderous aura...—would be drawn out and triggered, then immediately rush toward the appraiser.

Either the appraiser would be injured by the various auras, or the auras would be ground away, allowing the treasure to bloom with its original brilliance and exert its true effect.

Only after a good while did he come back to himself, his expression somewhat ugly.

He had never expected this bead to contain a strand of Arrow-Path Killing Intent.

If he had not swallowed the Essence-Nourishing Pill yesterday and undergone a cleansing of marrow and sinews, greatly strengthening his essence, energy, and spirit, he likely would have been unable to endure it and ended up like Zhang Wang.

Before he could even feel lingering fear, the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror had already emerged, its image of the bead clearly recorded within.

The Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror appraised the treasure, tracing its origins.

In a daze, Chen Shaojun felt his thoughts being dragged through countless years. He clearly "saw" the bead's form undergo a change.

It actually transformed into an eyeball, and the owner of that eye was an eagle.

The eagle soared through the skies, crossing mountains and seas, taking in the wondrous sights of heaven and earth, free and unrestrained.

Of course, it had also encountered natural enemies and witnessed strange beasts far larger and countless times stronger than itself.

One day, as it passed over a village, swooping low as it prepared to prey upon several tame domestic fowls, an arrow suddenly tore through the sky.

With a puff, it pierced the eagle's eye.

Then the eyeball fell into a courtyard. Weathered by the years and tainted by lingering auras, it transformed into a round bead, until it was eventually picked up by a youth.

The youth polished it with sand every day, and the eyeball gradually became smooth and round. Yet the youth's health worsened day by day, and he was often jolted awake by nightmares.

At last, the youth's father discovered it.

The youth's father was a traveling merchant with some knowledge of such matters, so he hurriedly sent the bead to the pawnshop.

The images vanished, and the bead's entire origin, its changes over time, and all those who had handled it surfaced in Chen Shaojun's mind.

At the same time, the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror also gave its appraisal and evaluation.

Goshawk's Eye, Mortal Grade, Mid-Tier. Dissolve it in water from a spirit spring, and it could brighten the eyes, sharpen vision, and treat eye ailments.

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