Chapter 82 - Appraisal Arts Secret (1/2)

Appraiser Zheng Ziwen was using the most traditional appraisal art.

Those who could use appraisal art were qualified to be appraisers.

Ou Yangming had witnessed the execution of appraisal art once but had zero knowledge of the art back then. Although he watched the whole process, it was not helpful for him at all.

This time, he was extremely focused on Zheng Ziwen.

Ou Yangming quietly sensed every change while he quickly recalled the previous conversation between Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen in the carriage. As he sensed Zheng Ziwen’s aura, everything that was brought up during the conversation suddenly came to life, and he was enlightened.

‘Appraisal art, so this is the so-called appraisal art.

‘Mental power…’

Ou Yangming’s heart lit up. It was as though a pair of hands had drawn chiffon curtains in front of his eyes, allowing him to get a clear view of the real outside world.

Even though he might not necessarily have the ability to depict the world through a certain method, there was a huge difference between seeing and not seeing it.

Besides, he managed to find out appraisal art’s biggest secret.

It was mental power.

The so-called appraisal art was actually a miraculous effect caused by the release of mental power in a certain way.

It was no wonder there were only very few real appraisers, whose ability to perform appraisal art every day was also strictly limited. The source of everything turned out to be mental power.

Zheng Ziwen curbed the Appraisal Light after a brief moment, and the l.u.s.ter in Ou Yangming’s eyes disappeared at that instant as if nothing ever happened.

“Master Zheng, so what is it?” Ni Yinghong asked after smiling with narrowed eyes at Ou Yangming.

Ou Yangming was taken aback, and a thought crossed his mind, ‘Did she see through my perception?’

Zheng Ziwen sighed and answered, “Master Ou has a great perception indeed. If I’m not mistaken, this is a damaged magic tool.”

“Magic tool?” Ou Yangming’s eyebrows twitched. He had heard of the term from Old Craftsman and knew that magic tools were greater than ordinary tools, but the old man had never smithed such a tool in his life.

“Only a treasure that’s also a magic tool can retain the quality of Fine Grade Rank Five even after being terribly ruined, and…” Zheng Ziwen nodded and explained, then looked at Ou Yangming in admiration. “We could only tell that this round s.h.i.+eld is attached with a Power attribute, but couldn’t tell that it’s actually layered with Power attributes. Master Ou, I’m truly floored by your remarkable vision.”

Ou Yangming chuckled. “Master Zheng, you’re being too humble. I only have some understanding of Layering Art because I’m able to perform it, your appraisal art is the one that deserves praise!”

Zheng Ziwen shook his head. As an appraiser, he knew better than the others how difficult it was to perceive what Ou Yangming had perceived.

They exchanged courtesies for a while before Ni Yinghong suggested impatiently, “Since appraisal art was already used on this equipment, let’s set the final result.”

“Okay.” Neither Ou Yangming nor Zheng Ziwen objected to it.

They retrieved a piece of paper, then Zheng Ziwen noted down its attributes and his deduction. Though the piece of equipment was at the peak of Fine Grade, it had actually declined from being a magic tool and was layered with Power attributes. Therefore, it could almost be considered the best equipment in this bas.e.m.e.nt in every aspect.

Ni Yinghong grinned at the others. “All three of us have the right to pick a piece of equipment, who wants this?”

Ou Yangming shook his head and replied to her, “I’ll still go with the waist sash, I’ll leave this to you.”

Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen were stunned. They glanced at the waist sash again, and could not understand why Ou Yangming was so insistent.

Nonetheless, everyone had the freedom to pick whichever equipment they wanted, thus they could not force Ou Yangming, but was slightly curious about the waist sash.

Finding a piece of high-level equipment was naturally a delightful thing. For the next few days, they took turns to go through every piece of equipment. Most of the time when they opened the small packet tied to an item, the appraisal results were quite similar.

Of course, some pieces of equipment were more complicated as they were damaged or had deteriorated due to different reasons.

If such an item was encountered, their standard in appraisal art would be put to test.

Needless to say, Ou Yangming was an exception because none of the attributes of any piece of equipment could be hidden from him if he used the Military Fire.

On the opposite, the other two masters did not have a secret weapon. Hence, compromises and deadlocked disputes kept happening between them in the next few days.

“Master Ni, it’s a fact this equipment’s quality has declined because it has aged. It’s good enough to say that it’s of High Grade Rank Three, it’s impossible that it’s of High Grade Rank Four!” Zheng Ziwen condemned with reason.

However, Ni Yinghong rebuked him as she was not willing to show a weak impression, “Master Zheng, that’s not right. It’s true that the equipment has aged, but it’s perfectly maintained, and its quality is still great, so how can it only be of High Grade Rank Three? You must’ve inspected wrongly!”

“I’ve inspected wrongly? How can I be wrong…” Zheng Ziwen said helplessly, “Master Ou, what do you think?”

Ou Yangming pondered for a while. Just as Zheng Ziwen thought that he would support either one of them, Ou Yangming answered, “Master Zheng, if I’m also unsure, how are you going to handle it?”