Chapter 456: 456. Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets

Three thousand spirit stones should be sufficient for you to take down the Soulless Metal Humanoid. To borrow so much money... Does that mean that you don't even have a single spirit stone on you...

A dark line streaked across Zhao Feiwu and Jin Conghai's foreheads.

It was no wonder why this fellow offered gold coins each time he tried to buy something. They thought that it was an eccentric quirk of an expert... But to think that there would be such a practical reason to it!

To think of buying the Soulless Metal Humanoid without any money on hand...

Just the thought of it left them faint-headed.

"Cough cough!" Sai Xiaoyu coughed. He nearly choked to death on the other party's words. "Brother Zhang Xuan, this... Do you not have even a single spirit stone on you?"

"That's right!" Without any hesitation, Zhang Xuan nodded his head.

He had only started with a total of ten or so spirit stones, and he had used it all in the midst of the journey. As such, his pockets were completely empty at the moment.

Even though he had almost a hundred million gold coins in his storage ring, gold coins weren't really in use here. In a sense, it wasn't wrong to say that Zhang Xuan didn't have even a single cent on him.

"This..."

Not expecting the other party to reply so candidly, Sai Xiaoyu's face turned so red that it nearly oozed blood.

In truth, it was only out of politeness that he offered to lend the other party money. After all, given the other party's capability, he was indeed a person worth befriending. Yet, the other party took it for real and asked for three thousand at a single go...

The heck!

Even though he was the head of the Appraiser Hall, he didn't have that much money on him either. Furthermore, he had just spent two thousand spirit stones and given away a stalk of Spirit Calming Grass...

Even if you wanted to exploit the rich, you should at least show some restraint!

"You don't have that much money? Never mind then. Is there any way to earn money swiftly in the Appraiser Hall?"

Seeing the other party's expression, Zhang Xuan immediately knew that the other party was surely unable to fork out this sum, and he shook his head in disappointment.

In truth, he was only giving it a try. He didn't really think that the other party would be able to loan him this massive sum of money.

Besides, the both of them had only just met. It would be bizarre if one was willing to lend such a huge sum to a stranger.

"A way to earn money swiftly? You wish to earn sufficient money now to join the auction two hours later to buy the Soulless Metal Humanoid?" Sai Xiaoyu and the crowd nearly spurted blood.

That fellow sure knew how to dream!

If it was that easy to earn spirit stones, he, as the head of the Appraiser Hall, wouldn't have to come over here to browse through the various artifacts in hopes of earning a profit.

If there was truly such an easy way to earn spirit stones, he would have surely done it himself already. There was no reason to leave it for someone else.

"Un, I have to earn three thousand spirit stones before the auction!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

If he didn't earn this sum of money within the next two hours, he would be unable to buy the Soulless Metal Humanoid and thus miss the opportunity to wake Lu Chong up.

"There's truly no way around it. You also know it yourself, three thousand spirit stones is a huge sum..."

Seeing that the other party was serious, Sai Xiaoyu shook his head helplessly.

Appraisers mainly earned their money through the price difference from buying and selling treasures. Even for Sai Xiaoyu, it would take several years before he could save three thousand spirit stones. Furthermore, it was assuming that he was lucky enough to stumble by cheap treasures and find suitable buyers.

Without meeting these two conditions, it would be impossible for him to earn money. In fact, it was often that he wasn't able to find any suitable buyers for the treasure that he bought.

To earn three thousand spirit stones in two hours... No one would dare to even dream of it!

"Teacher..."

But halfway through his words, Liu Chang abruptly interjected.

Turning around, he saw his student looking at him hesitantly, "I think that maybe 'that'... can earn one that much money within two hours!"

"That? Do you mean... [Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets]?"

Sai Xiaoyu's body jolted, but he eventually simply shook his head with a bitter smile on his face, "It's impossible for anyone to succeed in it! It has been many years since the establishment of the Appraiser Hall, but there hasn't been a single person who passed it yet..."

"But that's the only way for one to earn three thousand spirit stones within two hours. I don't think that there's any other plausible way other than that!" Liu Chang shook his head.

Even though being an appraiser was a lucrative occupation, spirit stones still weren't that easy to earn.

Usually, they would earn a commission determined by the value of the item. However, putting aside how there were very few valuable treasures to be appraised, there weren't many customers in the first place. After all, no one would be willing to spend their spirit stones if they could avoid it.

Thus, even if Zhang Xuan were to offer his service as an appraiser at this moment, it was impossible for him to gather three thousand spirit stones in just two hours.

"This..."

Sai Xiaoyu hesitated.

He knew that what his student said was true.

"Why? Do you have an idea in mind? What does Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets mean?" Zhang Xuan asked, having heard the conversation of the duo.

"Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets is actually a trial for the 5-star appraiser examination. Once one passes the examination, one will be entitled to a massive reward accumulated within the Appraiser Hall over a long period of time. If I'm not wrong, it's worth... around five thousand spirit stones now..."

Since the other party asked about it, Sai Xiaoyu could only explain the matter.

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"Trial?" Zhang Xuan was bewildered. "There are rewards to taking high-tiered appraiser examinations?"

He had taken on the master teacher examination, beast tamer examination, painter examination, physician examination... But he had never heard of one earning rewards from taking on the examination.

If that was true, then he should indeed try taking on the appraiser examination.

"There's indeed a reward, but it is actually... prize money accumulated over time." Seeing through Zhang Xuan's thoughts, Sai Xiaoyu shook his head helplessly.

"Prize money?" Zhang Xuan blinked his eyes in confusion.

Zhao Feiwu had read many books, but even she was unaware of the internal rules within the Appraiser Hall.

"Un, there are many appraisers in the Appraiser Hall, but... there's a limit to the knowledge an individual can wield. As such, appraisers often stumble by treasures that they were unable to be identified. Some of these treasures had been discussed by innumerable appraisers throughout generations, but no one was able to accurately identify what they were.

"Thus, in order to dispel their doubts, some of our predecessors chose to offer monetary incentives out of their own pocket to attract others to come forward, examine, and identify these treasures, as well as to encourage their juniors to study hard and solve these mysteries. However... even until date, no one has succeeded yet. As time passed, the reward grew larger and larger, and to date, it has already reached five thousand spirit stones!" Sai Xiaoyu said.

While the reward was indeed tempting... but how could be easy to identify the treasures that countless predecessors had failed to successfully appraise!

"There's such a matter?" Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in shock.

This seemed somewhat similar to the Wall of Dilemma of the Physician Guild. No matter how impressive a guild was, there would always be problems that would stump them.

"Indeed! It has been long since the founding of the Appraiser Hall, and many talented appraisers have given it a try. However, no one had yet to succeed!" Sai Xiaoyu shook his head.

The reason why he didn't bring it up was simply because it was way too hard. He was the most impressive appraiser in the Myriad Kingdom Alliance, but even he was helpless before it, needless to say, a youngster like Zhang Xuan.

"Yet to succeed? But since no one knows what those treasures are, how do you ascertain whether someone has succeeded or not?" Zhang Xuan asked in puzzlement.

Since even the predecessors were unable to identify those treasures, then who could confirm if one's answer was right or not? After all, if no one could identify those treasures, no one could say for sure whether one's evaluation was right or not.

"When a treasure reaches Sprit rank, it'll gain wisdom. As long as there's no mistake in one's description, one will be acknowledged by the treasure. Besides, we're all official appraisers. Even though we might not be able to identify the treasure, we're still more than capable of assessing and testing whether one's answer is correct or not!" Sai Xiaoyu explained helplessly.

These were basic facts that an appraiser should know, yet this fellow didn't even know about it at all? Was this fellow truly an appraiser who was more than capable than him?

"That's true..." Zhang Xuan came to a realization.

Even if a formidable appraiser was unable to identify the specifics of a treasure, they should still have a way to determine whether a person's evaluation was correct or not.

If they didn't even have this much skill, they would be unqualified as an appraiser.

"Alright, bring me over to take a look. I would like to give it a try!" Knowing that this method could bring him easy money, Zhang Xuan swiftly made up his mind.

"Brother Zhang, hold it for a moment. Allow me to finish my words first before you make your decision!" Seeing the other party deciding on the matter recklessly, Sai Xiaoyu hurriedly stopped him.

"Un!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Even though there's a reward for this trial, there's actually stake involved. Every challenge requires one to put a hundred spirit stones as deposit! But of course, I can pay the deposit for you, so there's no need for you to worry about it." Sai Xiaoyu said.

"A hundred spirit stones?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

It seemed like there was no free lunch in the world.

He thought that he could join for free, but that didn't seem like it was the case.

But thinking about it, it was to be expected. Without this restriction, all appraisers would be rushing to give it a try whenever they had the time, and the Appraiser Hall wouldn't be able to function normally anymore.

"Not only so, there's also a strict time limit to the challenge!"

Sai Xiaoyu continued, "Just as the name, Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets, suggests, the treasures will be sent down to one via water, and one will be given ten breaths to assess and identify it at a river bend. After which, one'll have to point out the name and origin of the treasure immediately!"

"Point out the name and origin of the treasure within ten breaths? How is that possible?" Before Zhang Xuan could say anything, Zhao Feiwu had already exclaimed in shock.

To identify something, an appraiser usually had to do all kinds of assessment on the artifact, such as using a magnifying crystal, studying the patterns on it, and knocking on it to determine its constituents.

The identification of any treasure was a lengthy and troublesome process; even if one was familiar with the item, one would have to confirm it multiple times before coming to an evaluation.

Yet, to have to offer a correct answer in just ten breaths, that was outright impossible!

On top of that, one was supposed to identify a treasure that even the predecessors were unable to identify?

"Before the identification process, is there any tip or information available to one?" Zhao Feiwu asked.

If there was some information, one could at least prepare oneself and focus on the key points of the treasure immediately.

"There isn't! The main reason why we're reluctant to give out prior information is so as to not mislead the challengers!" Sai Xiaoyu said.

If anyone knew what the treasure was for sure, they would have long passed the trial. Since no one was able to identify the treasure, the information was bound to be incomplete. If so, there was a high chance it could influence the challenger's evaluation and impede them from coming up with the correct answer.

"That's true..."

Zhao Feiwu frowned deeply.

While the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets sounded like easy money, it was simply way too difficult. Putting aside 4-star appraisers, even 5-star appraisers would probably be stumped by it.

Just as Zhao Feiwu was about to turn to Zhang Xuan and advise him against it, the latter smiled lightly and replied, "Alright then, I wish to challenge this Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets. I'll borrow a hundred spirit stones from you first, and after I'm done with it, I'll return you the sum multiple folds!"

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