Chapter 14: Wu Wan

After fumbling with the needle box for a while longer, Chen Mobai finally reached the end of the two-hour period. Without waiting for the Soul-Tranquilizing Charm to sound, he opened the main gate and walked straight out.

Outside the gate, only the last batch of "unlucky ones" remained. Chen Mobai didn't see any familiar classmates, which conveniently saved him from having to greet anyone. He simply slung his backpack over his shoulder and left the school.

Instead of heading straight home, 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, and he had spent a few years playing there when he was young, making him very familiar with the small factory's processes.

The owner was a second-tier talisman master who ran a talisman shop in the city. To save costs, he had opened his own factory for talisman paper components. The large talisman paper Chen Mobai had cut out was purchased by his mother at an internal discount price. Although the talisman paper factory was not large, it was fully equipped and capable of producing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. However, materials like gold powder, rarely used in drawing talismans, were procured externally.

If Chen Mobai remembered correctly, the shop that supplied gold powder to the talisman paper components factory was located here. Cultivators generally had excellent memories. Chen Mobai asked three people and accurately located Wu's Gold Shop in a corner of the trading market.

"Hello, customer, how can I help you?"

As he walked in, a young cultivator behind the counter, holding a book, immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile.

"Do you buy gold here?"

Chen Mobai got straight to the point. Before coming, he had already checked the latest gold prices posted on the Immortal Sect's network, and he was prepared to accept a slight loss if he sold it here. However, the young cultivator did not try to lower the price. After receiving the gold, he placed it on a professional magic artifact to measure its parameters, then offered a purchase price of 843 points of Merit based on the market rate.

"This gold of yours is quite good quality; it seems to have been refined by a cultivator using spiritual power. Let's round it up to 850."

Hearing this, Chen Mobai felt the owner was reasonable and immediately nodded. After the transaction, seeing the additional 850 points of Merit in his account, Chen Mobai suppressed his excitement and was about to leave when he suddenly noticed the book the young cultivator had placed on the counter.

Second-tier Artifact Appraiser Exam Practice Questions

"Is the owner perhaps also an artifact appraiser?" Chen Mobai asked out of curiosity. It was well-known that the Immortal Sect's qualification exams progressed incrementally, tier by tier. Since the young man was studying second-tier appraiser content, he must have already passed the first-tier exam.

"The exam questions from the year before last were relatively easy; I just barely passed," the young cultivator said modestly, then handed over a business card.

Wu WanManager, Wu's Gold ShopImmortal Sect Certified First-Tier Artifact Appraiser

After reading it, Chen Mobai was filled with respect. Most of the Immortal Sect's hundred arts professional certificates were officially issued only after rigorous selection and assessment. A first-tier artifact appraiser meant that one had mastered most of the knowledge required to appraise artifacts and tools below the second tier, and only then were they granted registration and certification. This young-looking owner could already issue certification for all first-tier magic artifacts, and the results of his appraisals were recognized by all trading markets.

"Master Wu, I happen to have an artifact that my ancestor obtained during the Age of Pioneering. I discovered it while cleaning the old family home during the winter break. As it's very old, no one in the family remembers much about it. Could you please help me appraise it?"

Chen Mobai took the needle box out of his backpack. Seeing this, Wu Wan's smiling face instantly turned serious. He first took out a pair of disposable thin gloves from his cabinet, put them on, and then solemnly accepted the item.

"Customer, for this artifact of yours, would you like a preliminary appraisal or an in-depth appraisal?"

Wu Wan's words left Chen Mobai bewildered. Shouldn't artifact appraisal be a single, straightforward process? Realizing Chen Mobai was completely new to this, Wu Wan explained. It turned out that the appraisal of an artifact was divided into three levels.

The first level involved visual inspection to determine the artifact's tier, materials, and crafting technique. The second level required the use of specialized instruments to determine the artifact's remaining usable lifespan and whether it had any hidden flaws. The final, third level was the most demanding on the appraiser's abilities. It required reverse-engineering the artifact's tempering method and creating or deducing a cultivation technique that could perfectly unleash its power for the appraised item.

Naturally, the appraisal fees for the three stages increased progressively.

"However, for most artifact appraisals, especially for first-tier artifacts, only the first level of appraisal is usually needed." Only after Wu Wan's explanation did Chen Mobai finally understand the intricacies involved. First-tier artifacts had limited prices, yet they commanded the largest market share with thin profit margins. Except for true masterpieces, most only underwent the first level of appraisal. Moreover, many shops only needed an appraiser's certification purely for selling purposes and wouldn't spend a large sum on an in-depth appraisal.

Chen Mobai inquired about the price. As Wu Wan was a newly certified appraiser with limited achievements and insufficient points, his fees were on the lower side.

"This artifact of yours is a first-tier mid-grade item, so I'll charge you 200 points of Merit."

After handling it briefly, Wu Wan already had a good idea of the needle box's tier and quoted a price that made Chen Mobai's heart ache. That was enough to buy six Blue Arrow Talismans. But recalling his awkward attempts to control the flying needles and the dangers of the Eastern Wilderness where the Water Manor was located, Chen Mobai gritted his teeth and agreed.

After the price was settled, Wu Wan took the needle box to a workbench in the corner of the shop and began his appraisal using his professional knowledge. He first measured its spiritual power intensity to confirm its tier.

"The refining technique is a bit unconventional, but judging by the overall spiritual energy fluctuations and materials, categorizing it as a first-tier mid-grade artifact is accurate." Wu Wan then took out an A4-sized, standard Immortal Sect certification card and filled in his appraisal results in the blank spaces for tier and materials.

"The needle box is carved from a single piece of lodestone. If you want to know the specific type of lodestone and its origin, you'd need a second-level appraisal."

Chen Mobai immediately shook his head; there was no need for that.

"The flying needles appear to be made from a mixture of several metals that react strongly to magnetism. Even if you wanted a second-level appraisal for these, I couldn't do it here because it requires specialized instruments."

"This artifact is quite ingenious; it doesn't require much spiritual energy."

"The key to controlling and manipulating it lies within the needle box itself. As long as you can skillfully control magnetism, you can easily maneuver the flying needles."

Wu Wan was indeed a professional appraiser. Without even injecting spiritual energy, he managed to explain most of the needle box's refining technique and its operational secrets based solely on his extensive knowledge. Chen Mobai couldn't help but feel a flush of shame when he realized that he had completely overlooked the needle box in the school's cultivation room, treating it only as storage and constantly pouring spiritual energy into the flying needles themselves. No wonder his spiritual energy was depleted after only three minutes of manipulation; he had thought it was due to his insufficient cultivation. It turned out his method was wrong. No wonder he achieved half the results with twice the effort.