Returning back to a minute earlier.
After four consecutive treasures had leaped off the tree leaves and flown to him, no matter how foolish Zhang Xuan was, it was clear that these artifacts had acknowledged him and wanted to leave with him.
After all, treasures were crafted with a purpose in mind and they craved to display their value.
Being trapped within the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets for a time so long that swords were buried in dust and pearls lost their glow had left these artifacts' spirits indignant.
As such, as soon as they were identified, they immediately submitted to Zhang Xuan.
"I won't hold back then!"
His mouth slowly curled out as he stretched out his hand and swiftly kept the treasures who leaped off the leaves into his storage ring.
Even though Zhang Xuan wasn't very knowledgeable about treasures, he could tell that they were valuable based on their descriptions in the Library of Heaven's Path. In any case, they were definitely worth more than a few hundred spirit stones.
He would be insane to turn down these valuable treasures.
After putting away those objects, while he was waiting for the next artifact to appear, the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets suddenly shook and stopped. The flow of water also abruptly halted.
"Could it be that... this artifact has something wrong with it as well?"
Zhang Xuan frowned.
The Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets was driven by a formation, and logically speaking, its flow shouldn't stop until all ten of the artifacts appeared. Why did it suddenly stop when only four had appeared?
"Let me see if I can fix this!"
Doubtful, Zhang Xuan stretched out his hands and touched the stone pedestal.
The Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets should be similar to the various trials of the master teacher examination. Most likely, it was a Spirit tool used to control the water flow and protect the treasures.
Since it came to an abrupt stop, it probably meant that it was malfunctioning. However, Zhang Xuan wasn't worried at all. After all, he had the Library of Heaven's Path. As long as it was a flaw or loophole, he could easily determine the problem and find a solution to it.
Hu!
A book appeared, and browsing through it, he picked up his brush and started writing some words down.
"The Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets is a Spirit low-tier tool, and it's a part of the Appraiser Hall..."
Right after writing just a few flaws, a buzzing sound echoed and the entire place began to shake, as though expressing its intimacy toward Zhang Xuan.
"This toy can be taken away as well?"
Sensing that the attitude of the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets was similar to that of the artifacts he identified before, Zhang Xuan was astonished.
If he could take the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets away, didn't it mean that he could claim all of the treasures here in one ago?
"Let's give it a try then!"
Chuckling softly, Zhang Xuan issued the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets a command, and as he expected, it didn't try to resist him at all.
'Hu!'
The entire tool was placed inside his storage ring.
"What the heck?! It really worked..."
The edges of Zhang Xuan's lips crept upward. Just as he was about to see if there was anything else of value in the room...
'Jiya!'
The door opened abruptly and Hall Master Sai, Elder Lu, and Elder Chen rushed in.
"Yo-you..."
"You took the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets as well..."
Upon seeing the empty room, the lips of the three 4-star appraisers quivered. They stared at the young man before them as if he was a monster.
Are you sure you're here to challenge the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets and not to sweep away everything within it...
A moment ago, there were still mountains, flowing water, flowers... But all that was left now wa
s an empty room devoid of anything.
You aren't here to challenge the trial but to take away everything of value in the Appraiser Hall!
"Zhang shi, the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets is... property of the Appraiser Hall. It represents our prestige and dignity, I beseech you to leave it behind..."
Holding back the urge to spurt blood, Hall Master Sai uttered with a scarlet face.
It was just a moment ago that he addressed Zhang Xuan as Brother Zhang, but at this moment, he didn't dare to do so anymore.
Not only did the other party manage to claim so many treasures in a single move, he even took away the operating table as well. The other party's mastery of appraisal was definitely way above of his... He was no longer qualified to call the other party brother anymore.
"Leave it behind? But it has willingly chosen to acknowledge me as its master!" Zhang Xuan glared at the other party.
You must be joking! How much do you think these treasures are worth? How can I simply leave them behind?
"That... I know!" Hall Master Sai's face was flushed.
The ownership of artifacts usually hinged on a single word — affinity.
All of these artifacts had acknowledged Zhang Xuan as their master, and this showed that he had affinity with them all. As an appraiser, Sai Xiaoyu should be more than aware of this. If he were to force the other party to hand it over, that would be no different from stealing.
But... the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets was one of the most valuable treasures of their Appraiser Hall so they couldn't afford to lose it. Otherwise, even before the headquarters dismissed him, he would probably have to resign from his seat for the discontentment of the other appraisers in the hall.
It was just like someone claiming and taking away the Spirit tool used to operate the various tests in the Master Teacher Pavilion.
If word were to spread out, the Master Teacher Pavilion would surely become a laughingstock.
After a moment of hesitation, Hall Master Sai said, "How about this, as long as Zhang shi is willing to leave the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets behind, the Appraiser Hall is willing to... compensate your losses!"
"Compensate? You wish to pay me spirit stones? I'm fine with it!"
Zhang Xuan started counting on his fingers, "The Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets contains ten artifacts. I won't demand too much so I'll go by the estimate of five thousand spirit stones for each of them. Totaling them up, it's only fifty thousand spirit stones! As for this operating platform... I'll take it to be ten thousand then! Thus, as long as the Appraiser Hall pays me sixty thousand spirit stones, I'll return everything back to you!"
"Sixty thousand spirit stones..."
The three appraisers trembled and their eyes turned red.
They were the Appraiser Hall, not a bank... Besides, even if they were the bank, they wouldn't be able to fork out so many spirit stones either.
"This... We truly aren't able to take out so many spirit stones at the moment..." Hall Master Sai felt so embarrassed that he wished that there was a hole in the floor that he could dive into at this very moment.
What the heck was this.
When no one was able to clear the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets, he wished that some challenger could simply overcome it. Yet, now that someone had succeeded, he found himself on the verge of tears, wishing that it was just a dream...
"You can't take it out? Alright then. If you all can take out the following items, I'm willing to fork out the items in return!"
Seeing the tearful faces of the three great 4-star appraisers, Zhang Xuan knew that it was impossible for them to fork out so many spirit stones. Thus, after a moment of hesitation, he proposed, "Firstly, help me find as many Transcendent Mortal cultivation techniques and battle techniques as possible, the more the better. Other than that, I want the Soulless Metal Humanoid and all books related to soul oracles. Similarly, the more there are, the better it is!"
Actually, Zhang Xuan didn't really need the treasures within the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets.
If he really wanted to earn spirit stones, there were various means for him to do so.
There were only two priorities for him at the moment. The first was to find a way to wake up Lu Chong's dormant soul and bring him out of his coma, and the second was to raise his cultivation and advance through the master teacher ranks so that he could become a 9-star master teacher before reaching thirty.
Treasures and spirit stones were just means to these ends.
"This..."
He thought that the other party would say something overboard, and upon hearing that he only needed these few items, Hall Master Sai was taken aback.
Even though they were the Appraiser Hall, they still had quite a decent collection of Transcendent Mortal cultivation techniques and battle techniques.
And as for books on soul oracle, even though this occupation no longer existed and there were many contentions regarding its existence, the Appraiser Hall still had a few books on the occupation... Just that, it was hard to gauge whether the information was true or not.
Honestly speaking, these items... weren't worth much. There was no comparison between them and those treasures in the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets.
Having witnessed the greed of the other party for himself, he thought that the other party would be willing to stoop to even unscrupulous means to earn spirit stones. Since he had earned the upper hand this time, he thought that the other party would raise some outrageous request that would cause the Appraiser Hall's bankruptcy. Yet, to think that... it would be just these few items.
This... Was there a problem somewhere?
Seeing the bewildered faces before him, Zhang Xuan asked, "What, can't you do it?"
"I can find a few of the others, but regarding the Soulless Metal Humanoid... As it doesn't belong to the Appraiser Hall - someone is just keeping it with us at the moment for the auction - I can't say for sure how it'll be auctioned and how much it'll be auctioned for!" Hall Master Sai said.
The figure he had given for the Soulless Metal Humanoid before was just a rough estimate. Even if the Appraiser Hall were to speak on Zhang Xuan's behalf, it was hard to tell whether the seller would be willing to sell it to him. Thus, they couldn't give their word on this matter.
But of course, this was just a conservative way of putting it. In comparison to other powers in the region, the influence of the Appraiser Hall was immense. On top of that, the item was to be auctioned on their territory. If even the Appraiser Hall couldn't get it, it would be even more unlikely for others to lay their hands on it.
After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Xuan said, "There's no problem about that. Didn't you say that the clearing the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets would entitle me to a reward of five thousand spirit stones? I'll bid for it myself! You just have to gather the other things that I asked for. The quantity for each of those books mustn't be any less than a thousand!"
"A thousand books?"
Hall Master Sai's face went pale.
He thought that the other party was just asking for a few dozen books. To ask for a thousand of them in one go, what did he wish to do with them?
He thought that the other party was letting the Appraiser Hall go by not insisting on the sixty thousand spirit stones, but it seemed like things weren't as easy as he thought.
"Books on soul oracles are rare even when considering the entire Myriad Kingdom Alliance. At best, we'll just only be able to find... a few dozen of them. As for Transcendent Mortal cultivation technique manuals, if it's only Transcendent Mortal 1-dan Prolonged Longevity realm manuals, I think we'll still be able to find above a thousand of it."
"But for 2-dan Origin Energy realm, the quantity is significantly lower. My estimate is that we'll only be able to find around five hundred of them. As for 3-dan Yin-Yang realm, while there are a lot of them in the Myriad Kingdom City, in Honghai City... it'll already be great if we can gather a hundred of them!"
Doing a rough estimate, Hall Master Sai explained the circumstances for each of the items.
Even though the Honghai City was a massive city in the Myriad Kingdom Alliance, it was still inferior as compared to that of the Myriad Kingdom City. As such, it wasn't as easy to gather over a thousand manuals here.
This was especially so for Transcendent Mortal 3-dan cultivation technique manuals. Even if one were to search through all of the powerful clans in the city, it would be hard to find a hundred of them. On top of that, every single clan valued their manual as their greatest treasure and they didn't allow it to go out into the public. Even if the Appraiser Hall were to exert its influence, it would be hard to gather them.
"That's fine as well. I'll take whatever that's available, so go ahead and look for them!"
Knowing that he was limited by the geographic boundaries and that it was already great if he could gather this much here, Zhang Xuan nodded and agreed to it. Then, flicking his wrist, he took out the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblets.
He was willing to return this to the other party, but as for the other four artifacts that had already acknowledged him, they shouldn't even think about it.
"Thank you Zhang shi!"
Hall Master Sai heaved a sigh of relief and clasped his fist.
"Don't worry about it. Alright, I would like to get the five thousand spirit stones from clearing the trial now!"
Zhang Xuan waved his hands.
"Un, I'll go get it for you now!" Hall Master Sai walked out. Not too long later, he returned, and with a flick of his wrist, a bunch of spirit stones appeared in front of him. The spiritual energy in the surroundings immediately rippled, forming a mini tornado.
Scanning through it and confirming that there were around five thousand spirit stones in the pile, Zhang Xuan chuckled and put it all away in his storage ring.
After keeping the items away, Zhang Xuan was about to say something when Sun Qiang walked up and said, "Young master, this Elder Chen has just lost to us in a bet and he owes us six thousand spirit stones!"
"Bet? Six thousand spirit stones?"
Taken aback, Zhang Xuan turned to the elder and exclaimed, "To offer six thousand spirit stones in a single go, Elder Chen, you are indeed much more generous than Hall Master Sai!"
"Generous?" Elder Chen cried.
How was this generosity? How did it feel more like suicide...