Yin Qi Overhead

"One wisp of Killing Intent, one wisp of ghostly qi, two wisps of yin qi, one wisp of Blood Baleful Qi, four wisps of killing aura..."

At first, Chen Shaojun had remained rather relaxed.

After yesterday's trial, he could more or less judge that small amounts of yin, baleful, and ghostly qi posed little threat to most appraisal apprentices.

With the Divine Gaze Technique, it was easy to disperse them.

But before long, he discovered that some of the treasures among this batch of "raw materials" contained no small amount of yin and baleful qi.

"One porcelain bottle, seven wisps of yin qi.

One hairpin, nine wisps of Killing Intent.

One fan, ten wisps of Blood Baleful Qi."

Chen Shaojun's expression flickered uncertainly.

The dangers contained within these raw materials were absolutely no trifling matter.

The Eye of the Goshawk he had appraised before, measured by quantity, had likely contained no more than seven wisps.

Another point worth mentioning was that the value of an appraised treasure had nothing to do with the amount of yin, baleful, or ghostly qi it carried.

In other words, even a completely worthless object might have dense yin, ghostly, and baleful qi clinging to it.

That was also why the Eye of the Goshawk might have held seven wisps of arrow-path killing aura, yet contained only four wisps of medicinal spiritual qi.

Suddenly.

Chen Shaojun's expression changed.

His gaze locked onto a tray being held by a menial servant at the very edge.

There were likewise several "raw materials" awaiting appraisal there.

Yet his eyes fell only upon one jade ruyi among them.

Yin qi covered its crown, so dense it had turned black.

And faintly, within that thick yin qi, he could even see a ghastly pale face howling within.

"A ghost is attached to this jade ruyi?"

Chen Shaojun's face went deathly pale. His hairs stood on end, and he instinctively staggered back a step.

Even though he had long known that ghosts existed in this world,

facing such a thing head-on so suddenly still made his scalp tingle.

"Brother Chen, what's wrong?"

At that moment, it happened to be Zhao Hu's turn. He had been about to take a fan Shen Lang handed over, but upon seeing this, he hurriedly caught hold of Chen Shaojun.

"N-Nothing..."

Chen Shaojun shook his head and did not reveal his discovery.

Because he knew that even if he said it, no one would believe him.

Nor did he wish to expose the secret of his Spirit Eye Technique.

"Alright, Chen Shaojun. This is the item you need to appraise."

Shen Lang swept a bland glance over Chen Shaojun, a trace of contempt appearing in his eyes before he handed over a bamboo flute.

The Baleful Intent within this bamboo flute was exceedingly faint. It was one of the few that did not even amount to a single wisp.

"Thank you, Mr. Shen."

After thanking him, Chen Shaojun glanced at the fan in Zhao Hu's hands and discovered that it was precisely the one containing ten wisps of Blood Baleful Qi.

Thinking of Zhao Hu's strength of qi and blood, Chen Shaojun knew he would absolutely struggle to withstand the impact of such surging Blood Baleful Qi. Moreover, he understood that when the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror appraised treasures, the more precious the treasure, the greater the reward obtained.

Thus, after hesitating for a moment, he finally said, "Zhao Hu, let's switch items for appraisal."

"Th-then, alright."

Zhao Hu hesitated slightly, then agreed.

He did not suspect anything. Before an appraisal, after all, no one knew just how great the danger contained within the treasure they were assigned would be.

An appraisal apprentice like Chen Shaojun, one who had mastered the Spirit Eye Technique, could not be found anywhere in all of Shengjing City.

Then the two exchanged appraisal items and each headed to their own appraisal room.

Chen Shaojun was still in Appraisal Room Seven. He opened the fan.

A landscape painting leapt vividly from the paper, with a line of poetry written beside it, seemingly a farewell poem sent to a friend departing on a long journey.

Although Chen Shaojun did not understand calligraphy or painting, he could still tell that the artwork and calligraphy on this fan were quite masterful.

He placed the fan on the table, lit a candle, burned bamboo incense, then closed his eyes to rest his mind.

Using the Spirit Eye Technique earlier had consumed a certain amount of his mental energy.

This was just the right time to rest for a while.

Half an hour later, Chen Shaojun opened his eyes.

The candle had long since gone out, though a short stub remained. Of the three sticks of bamboo incense, one had burned away completely, while the other two remained, one long and one short.

"Sure enough, the Baleful Intent is quite heavy. It can already affect its surroundings.

If one held this fan for a long time and was influenced by the Blood Baleful Qi within it, at best they would become irritable and explosive, stirring up trouble out of nowhere; at worst, they would be beset by illness and suffer a serious sickness."

Chen Shaojun was not surprised by this result.

Under the Spirit Eye Technique, he had long judged the amount of Baleful Intent on the fan.

Lighting candles and burning incense now was merely to verify it.

He calmed his breath and focused his mind.

The Divine Gaze Technique was successfully unleashed.

Carrying Chen Shaojun's mental will, it surged straight into the fan.

At the same time, the Blood Baleful Qi attached to the fan was stirred as well, transforming into a towering blood baleful tide that came pouring down.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

Like mortal enemies locked in a fight to the death, the two forces canceled and wore away at each other.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

Chen Shaojun's qi and blood churned without end, transforming into spiritual power.

Only after a full ten breaths did he suddenly feel his thoughts clear.

The Blood Baleful Qi originally attached to the fan had been completely ground away.

However, his face had also turned slightly pale. The expenditure had been considerable.

"Ten wisps of Blood Baleful Qi is still somewhat beyond my limits.

It was only because the Essence-Nourishing Pill had nourished me and greatly strengthened my essence, qi, and spirit. Otherwise, I absolutely would not have been able to endure it. The Baleful Intent would have entered my body, and I would have ended up like Zhang Wang."

Chen Shaojun let out a breath, feeling that he truly had been somewhat reckless this time.

Even with prior preparations, he should not have taken such a risk so lightly.

Yet he also knew that, given the strength of the blood baleful aura on this fan, Zhao Hu, whose qi and blood were deficient, absolutely could not withstand it.

Once the appraisal began, Zhao Hu's mental will would likely be scattered in an instant. Then the Baleful Intent would enter his body, causing irreparable harm.

After all, they had known each other for some time. Zhao Hu was also one of Chen Shaojun's few friends in the pawnshop. Since it was within his power, he naturally would not stand by and watch him die.

What was more,

he had not gained nothing from this.

The Blood Baleful Qi was ground away.

The Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror immediately burst forth, and the shape of the fan appeared reflected upon it.

At the same time, scenes related to this fan vaguely surfaced in Chen Shaojun's mind.

Before the fan was made, it had actually been rather ordinary. Its materials could not be considered first-rate. However, the person who painted and wrote upon it was no ordinary man—it was the famed calligraphy master Xu Chenchang, a man renowned for his literary talent. Thus, literary qi became attached to it.

At a poetry gathering, Xu Chenchang learned that his friend Zhao Quan was about to travel far away, so he composed a poem and gave it to Zhao Quan.

That was how this fan came into being.

However, none of that was important.

What mattered was that through the fan, Chen Shaojun saw a man with a scar on his face slash Zhao Quan down with a single bloody sword strike, with blood splattering onto the fan.

After that, the authorities appeared, sealed up the fan, and confiscated it into the yamen.

What kind of place was a yamen?

A place where vicious and baleful qi was at its densest.

The fan had literary qi attached to it and was stained by blood. After being steeped for half a year in the yamen's vicious baleful qi, its literary qi was naturally sealed away and transformed into Blood Baleful Qi.