Black Thumb Ring

The sound had come from the appraisal room next to Chen Shaojun's—Appraisal Room No. 58.

Chen Shaojun remembered him. He was a young man who looked to be in his twenties, though Chen Shaojun guessed his actual age was somewhat younger.

As pawnbrokers, they spent every day cleansing Killing Intent and appraising treasures, damaging their bodies and exhausting their minds. They generally looked older than they were. It was perfectly normal for a teenager to look twenty or thirty.

Within this Treasure Hall, Chen Shaojun had even seen a pawnbroker apprentice with a head full of white hair and two rings of wrinkles on his forehead. After asking around, he had discovered—good heavens—that the fellow was only eighteen.

The young man next door was thin and withered, with an ordinary face. Apart from his somewhat large eyes, there was nothing eye-catching about him.

Chen Shaojun had not expected that the other man would make a breakthrough while appraising his very first treasure at the Treasure Fair, raising his Divine Gaze Technique from the proficient level to minor accomplishment and truly advancing into a formal pawnbroker.

"I was still thinking of whether I should wait another couple of days..."

Chen Shaojun muttered, unable to resist stepping outside. At once, he saw the young man next door cheering excitedly, while the surrounding pawnbroker apprentices came out to watch with curiosity.

"That's Wen Zhenchuan from the Abundant Treasure Abode. If I remember correctly, this should be his fourth time participating in the Treasure Fair. Actually, during his third time, he had already cultivated the Divine Gaze Technique to the peak of the proficient level.

"Unfortunately, he had never managed to break through. He had truly been stuck there for a whole year.

"I never expected that he would break through right at the start of this Treasure Fair and become a formal pawnbroker.

"His status and standing are now worlds apart.

"I reckon that when we see him in the future, we'll have to call him Master Wen."

Yan Dingchen moved closer and spoke with a face full of envy.

"This should count as thick accumulation bursting forth. After accumulating for a year, and now being in this once-a-year Treasure Fair, it's perfectly normal for him to break through amid such tension and excitement.

"I just wonder when I'll be able to break through as well and become a formal pawnbroker."

Ayong also spoke up, his face full of emotion.

Before long, Manager Sun from the Appraisal Hall came over. After verifying matters, he confirmed that Wen Zhenchuan possessed the strength of a formal pawnbroker. Wen Zhenchuan's compensation and benefits were immediately upgraded, and his room was moved to a Grade B room.

Seeing this, the other pawnbroker apprentices discussed it heatedly before gradually returning to their own appraisal rooms.

However, every one of them had been deeply stirred. Secretly gritting their teeth, they too wanted to become formal pawnbrokers as soon as possible, just like Wen Zhenchuan.

In truth, among the more than three hundred pawnbroker apprentices in the Grade C rooms, there were quite a few like Wen Zhenchuan who had participated in the Treasure Fair three or four times. Some had even attended five or six times and had already raised their Divine Gaze Technique to the limit of the proficient level years ago.

Unfortunately, minor accomplishment was a hurdle. One either relied on thick accumulation bursting forth, grinding away with water-wearing-stone persistence until one broke through, or, like Wen Zhenchuan, attained sudden enlightenment—once one understood it thoroughly, one broke through.

Of course, the various auspicious treasures within the Treasure Fair were another method.

But that truly depended on luck alone.

When luck arrived, nourished by Auspicious Aura and irrigated by spiritual essence... one could soar forward by leaps and bounds.

Of course, if luck did not come, and one encountered a treasure covered by Killing Intent with sinister ghosts coiled within it, then...

"Ah..."

A miserable scream rang out.

Everyone's expression changed.

Very quickly, someone announced, "Pawnbroker apprentice in Grade C Room No. 73: Killing Intent entered the body. Dead!"

Hiss!

The many apprentices, whose hearts had been burning with fervor, were like people doused with a basin of cold water in winter. They drew sharp breaths.

How long had it been?

Someone beside them had already died?

Chen Shaojun frowned as he listened, feeling equally moved.

Some rose to heaven along with their chickens and dogs, while others descended into hell. Pawnbroker treasure appraisal truly was a profession filled with the unknown—and even more filled with danger.

The moment one decided to remain in this line of work, one should have prepared oneself for that.

Many people might have entered it out of helplessness, but there were also those who had long since positioned themselves properly and regarded it as a ladder for climbing upward.

For someone from a poor family who had not studied and could not practice martial arts, wanting to become a person above others was simply too difficult.

Pawnbrokers in pawnshops had a high mortality rate, but once one became a formal pawnbroker, the honor of that status truly made countless people envious.

Of course, Chen Shaojun had only one reason, and one reason alone, for persisting in this profession.

That was the appraisal rewards from the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror.

He flipped the sign outside the door, notifying the Appraisal Hall to send someone over to collect the appraised treasure. Just then, he saw two guards carrying a stiff corpse out of Grade C Room No. 73 on a bamboo stretcher.

Killing Intent had entered that corpse's body. Its face had already turned blackish-purple, its eyes bulged wide as though it had seen something unimaginably terrifying, and a faint chill radiated from its body, leaving even the two guards looking tense.

Before long, an attendant came in, took away the treasure he had finished appraising, and delivered the second item.

For the following appraisals, Chen Shaojun decided to skip the steps of lighting candles and burning incense, instead directly using the Spirit Eye Technique to investigate.

Although it consumed a certain amount of Arcane Power, it could save him some time.

With a sweep of the Spirit Eye Technique, the density of Killing Intent within the treasure became clear at a glance.

Fifteen strands of Killing Intent.

He unleashed the Divine Gaze Technique, and the Killing Intent was instantly cleansed away.

Now, when appraising treasures with such low amounts of Killing Intent, he was truly incredibly fast.

The Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror judged its grade and rank.

Mortal Grade, Upper Rank.

A reward appeared: a Spirit-Nurturing Pill.

"Not bad. At least it's countless times better than the Energy Pills given by the Appraisal Hall."

Chen Shaojun had taken Spirit-Nurturing Pills before, so he knew the effects of this spiritual medicine.

It restored one's energy and nourished one's spirit.

One pill could not only directly restore his completely depleted spiritual power, but also nourish his spirit and improve it beyond its original foundation.

Though the effect would diminish if he took too many, the first pill had raised it by thirty percent, while the second had increased it by more than fifteen percent. By the time they ceased to have any effect, they should at least be able to double his spiritual power from its original level.

"Continue!"

Chen Shaojun flipped the sign outside the door again.

There were quite a few attendants throughout the Appraisal Hall, and as time passed, more and more people at the Treasure Fair entrusted the treasures they had bought to the Appraisal Hall for the pawnbrokers to appraise.

Thus, not long after Chen Shaojun flipped the sign, someone came over to collect the treasure and deliver another item for appraisal.

This time, it was a thumb ring.

The black thumb ring looked as though it were made of metal, yet its weight was wrong—it was exceptionally light. Resting in his hand, it felt weightless, as if there were nothing there at all.

After examining it carefully, Chen Shaojun could not make out anything unusual. He did not dwell on it and activated the Spirit Eye Technique.

Surging Killing Intent shot skyward, nearly blinding him.

It took him quite a while to recover.

Then, when he looked again and gradually adjusted to it, he discovered something different.

While crimson Killing Intent coiled within it, beneath that Killing Intent was another transparent substance that completely enveloped the black thumb ring.