Chapter 84 - Stone-cutting (1/2)

“Offset them with ores?” Lin Yichen was stunned. He remarked, “Master Ou, I’m afraid that it’s inappropriate, isn’t it?”

Ou Yangming stared at him and asked, “Why is it inappropriate?”

Lin Yicheng explained with a bitter smile, “Master Ou, I’ll be honest with you. These ores are of exceptional conditions, so they’re going to be sent to the prefecture along with the pieces of equipment. That said, I’m not having too high an opinion of the ores because I’m reluctant to sell them to you, but because the ores’ path isn’t simple at all. Before stone-cutting is carried out, even a deity can’t confirm if they actually carry gems!”

Ni Yinghong was still pale at the moment, but she advised as well, “Master Ou, Head Shopkeeper Lin is right. There’s no harm in taking a few of these raw gemstones for fun, but if you insist to gamble on them, you’ll be putting the non-essentials before the essentials. Even if one has hundreds of millions to spend, one shouldn’t misuse money like that!”

“Thank you for your kindness, but it’s my first time encountering raw gemstones, so I’d like to try it,” Ou Yangming replied to them after some thought, and added after a pause, “Head Shopkeeper Lin, please fulfill my wish.”

“Master Ou, if you’d like to try stone-cutting, you should go to the prefecture in the future, there are raw gemstones of better grades there!” Zheng Ziwen shook his head and commented. He sounded as though he made little of the ores in the bas.e.m.e.nt.

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming also shook his head and insisted. “I’ll go to the prefecture next time, but I’m already thrilled upon seeing these stones, so I’m really eager to try now.”

Lin Yichen responded helplessly, “Okay, if you insist… Please choose thirteen raw gemstones.”

Based on Ou Yangming’s current rewards, he could actually obtain only ten raw gemstones, but since Lin Yichen had said that he would give Ou Yangming three stones as gifts, it would be disrespectful of Ou Yangming to reject the offer.

Ou Yangming nodded slightly, then proceeded to pick from the pile of ores.

On the other hand, Lin Yichen brought the exhausted Zheng Ziwen and Ni Yinghong out of the bas.e.m.e.nt to rest. They knew that Ou Yangming would take more than just an hour or two to be satisfied with his selection.

Ou Yangming naturally hoped that n.o.body would watch him from the side, so he quickly started choosing once they left.

When other people inspected raw gemstones, they would carefully observe a stone’s surface, veined patterns, as well as its shape. In fact, they even gave top priority to stones that had blemishes. Therefore, a considerable amount of time was required to identify a raw gemstone’s quality, and even then, n.o.body could guarantee that the process would be effective.

It was very likely that a bunch of old masters had their eyes set on a certain raw gemstone and had a good feeling about it, but realized after stone-cutting was done that it was just a worthless ore.

On the contrary, an ore that did not catch anyone’s attention at all was the one that contained a stunning and wonderful gem.

Hence, though experiences were important in picking an ore, the most important aspect was luck — unbeatable good luck.

Nevertheless, none of those were Ou Yangming’s concern.

His way of identifying a raw gemstone was extremely simple. He could easily find out the truth by touching one and using his Military Fire.

Ou Yangming used an hour to scan every stone in the bas.e.m.e.nt.

It was worth noting that the people from the Yi Pavilion had good vision because Ou Yangming found quite a number of bright ones after checking everything. In terms of the ratio, basically one in every eight or nine ores contained a gem.

Of course, the gems’ quality remained unknown.

Ou Yangming pondered for a while, then picked two ores that gave him a deep impression.

One of them was full of energy, whereas the other one was like a deep black hole as though it could not be filled no matter how much energy was inserted.

He had never stumbled upon anything like them before, so he decided to choose them.

Later, he randomly took ordinary ores to make up the number.

While Ou Yangming had the ability to pick eleven impressive ores, if he actually did that, even a fool would know that something was wrong with him.

On the other hand, it would not seem suspicious if he achieved a two-in-thirteen success rate as he would only be considered lucky.

Once Ou Yangming was done with his selections, he pulled the calling bell, and a servant came down to carry the ores upstairs.

Following that, he had a good rest thanks to Lin Yichen’s arrangements. The next morning when he awakened, he felt refreshed as his body had recovered to the best state.

When Ni Yinghong and Zheng Ziwen showed up, they seemed to be in a much better condition too. At the very least, they had a good complexion.

Zheng Ziwen smiled when he noticed the ores picked by Ou Yangming. “Master Ou, do you want to carry out the stone-cutting process here? If you’d like to, let us join the fun! I believe that you’ll gain something!”

Ou Yangming agreed without any hesitation. “Okay, I’ll count on that.”

Since they were Lin Yichen’s guests, someone brought the stone-cutting tools once the order was given.

The ores were not ordinary items, which was why they could not be handled with rough means. If ores that actually contained a gem were hammered, the consequence would be unbearable.

There were different types of stone-cutting tools, and one who was familiar with them could unleash different effects using different tools.

Zheng Ziwen rubbed his hand and volunteered. “Master Ou, how about I help you with it?”