Immortal Path to Heaven
chapter-85

Ou Yangming and Ni Yinghong instantly focused on the ore, and even the servants, who were initially watching quietly on one side, craned their necks to look with anticipation.

Earlier when Zheng Ziwen began the stone-cracking process, he had failed time after time. The rest of them eventually lost interest, and they looked at him disdainfully.

For someone with such terrible luck, he would have been kicked away long ago if the owner of the ores was someone else. Ou Yangming, an amateur in this, was the only person who could tolerate Zheng Ziwen such that he still trusted Zheng Ziwen with the eleventh ore.

Something like that would never be allowed to happen in the prefecture’s gambling city. Normally, if a person could not find something shiny and colorful after opening five ores in a row, that person would never be trusted anymore.

In actual fact, everyone knew that if a raw gemstone did not contain a gem, the outcome would be the same even if someone else had cut it instead.

However, knowing was one thing, and understanding was another because it was not easy for people to be sensible.

Fortunately, Zheng Ziwen did not let Ou Yangming down this time. He finally found something great in the eleventh ore.

Although nobody knew what gem had been found, it was good news because there was luster.

Zheng Ziwen’s face instantly took on a grave expression, so much so that he was more serious than when he appraised a piece of equipment. Judging from the way Zheng Ziwen was staring at the ore without blinking, Ou Yangming doubted the master would respond if he called out to him at that moment.

Nonetheless, one could only carry out a task perfectly by being that attentive.

Zheng Ziwen was extremely grateful for Ou Yangming’s trust, hence he put his utmost effort into the task as soon as he noticed the luster. He began working more carefully and rubbed the ore’s surface lightly as he was afraid of ruining it.

Ou Yangming felt very helpless, so he asked softly, “Master Ni, will the process be sped up if the Military Fire is used?”

Ni Yinghong replied to him snappily, “Of course it’ll be faster if the Military Fire is used, but a lot of energy has to be consumed. Do you think anyone can withstand the process?”

Ou Yangming wanted to tell her that he could but decided after some thought to just keep quiet.

Soon enough, Lin Yichen arrived as well. He was the boss of this place, thus he would certainly find out if something happened.

When Lin Yichen saw Zheng Ziwen who was working hard, as well as the vague light that shone from the ore, he could not help but look surprised.

“Master Ou, you’re quite lucky. Based on the luster, if nothing goes wrong, you should be able to earn your cost.”

Ou Yangming smiled and asked, “Head Shopkeeper Lin, is a gem worth so much?”

Lin Yichen laughed and responded, “A normal gem’s value is quite average, which is 20 to 30 taels of gold, so it’s enough to cover a raw gemstone’s cost. However, one that’s better in quality is worth at least 100 taels of gold, and the better the quality, the higher its value.”

Ni Yinghong was somewhat excited when she looked at the luster that seemed to be growing brighter. Though she knew that the gem would belong to Ou Yangming anyway, she seemed to be happier than if she was the one who would have the gem instead.

She took a step forward and added, “Sometimes, we’re able to find an Attribute Gem from a raw gemstone, and a gem like that is extremely precious!”

Ou Yangming was slightly moved. He asked, “What will its value be?”

Ni Yinghong pondered seriously and answered, “It’ll be a priceless treasure!”

Even though it sounded exaggerated, Ou Yangming figured that natural Attribute Gems were more valuable than he had imagined.

Lin Yichen chuckled. “Master Ou, an Attribute Gem is very expensive indeed, which isn’t usually traded with silver or gold. That said, it also depends on the attribute that it carries because not all attributes can be treated the same.”

As they conversed, Zheng Ziwen had finally completed the final procedure. Everyone’s eyes lit up when an earthy yellow gem appeared. After getting a full view of the gem, both Lin Yichen and Ni Yinghong reacted greatly.

A normal gem would definitely not be as bright as this, so they were almost sure that the gem was truly an Attribute Gem.

“Master Zheng, what is this gem?” Lin Yichen quickly moved forward to ask. He looked more impatient than Ou Yangming.

“Please wait for a while,” Zheng Ziwen hesitated for a while before he answered. Subsequently, he released the Appraisal Light.

Zheng Ziwen was exhausted from yesterday and was still not in his best condition even after resting for a day, hence he should not be using appraisal art. Despite that, Ou Yangming had shown Zheng Ziwen respect earlier, and he would be ridiculed if he was being defensive, so he decided to use the art.

His eyes glowed after a brief moment. “Head Shopkeeper, this is a Physique Gem that can highly improve one’s physique! The increase is greater than the increase from a piece of normal equipment!”

Lin Yichen’s face changed, but he quickly calmed down and looked at Ou Yangming. “Master Ou, congratulations. Ah, this gem alone costs more than 200 taels of gold.”

Ou Yangming chuckled. “I owe it all to Master Zheng Ziwen’s blessing!”

Zheng Ziwen stuck his chest out as he felt really proud this time.

He had failed to obtain anything from the ten ores before this, but the eleventh ore had really opened his eyes.

Zheng Ziwen finally felt that he was worthy of Ou Yangming’s trust and his ardent expectations.

Following that, Lin Yichen cleared his throat and offered. “Master Ou, are you willing to sell this gem? The Yi Pavilion is willing to purchase it for 10,000 taels of gold.”

Ou Yangming had only spent 20 taels of gold on these ores, but Lin Yichen actually offered him 10,000 taels of gold to repurchase the gem. The profit gained from it was simply unbelievable.

“That’s inappropriate,” Ni Yinghong said before Ou Yangming could make a decision. She looked at Ou Yangming while pointing at his waist sash. “Master Ou, an Attribute Gem that’s embedded in a piece of equipment can greatly improve its properties if directly acquired from a raw gemstone. Isn’t your equipment the best home for the gem?”

Ou Yangming was stirred. In actual fact, he had completely given up the idea of selling it the moment he heard the word ‘physique’. This was because physique was unquestionably his weakest quality at the moment.

It was such a rare event for him to gain a Physique Gem, so how could he give it up so easily?

Lin Yichen smiled bitterly and thought, ‘This young lady is obviously biased.’

Nevertheless, he knew that it was almost impossible to get the gem from Ou Yangming anymore.

Zheng Ziwen was eager to cut the two remaining ores, but he said, “Master Ou, I’m quite tired now, and I’m afraid that I’ll ruin the gems if I force myself to cut the remaining stones, so…”

Lin Yichen quickly responded, “It’s okay, I can arrange someone else to do it.”

Ou Yangming grinned. “Thank you for your kind offer, Head Shopkeeper Lin, but I only wanted to witness the process. I plan to keep the two remaining ores as a collection.”

“A collection?” Lin Yichen was stunned, and he could not help but laugh. “Okay, I’ll send them over to you.”

He did not suspect anything because the probability of finding a top-grade gem among more than ten raw gemstones was very low, after all. Nonetheless, it had happened before. In any case, Lin Yichen did not think that remarkable gems could still be found from the remaining ores.

On the other hand, Ou Yangming knew very well that they would be shocked if another gem was found from the remaining ores.

Judging from Li Yichen’s reluctance to part with the Attribute Gem, one could imagine how he would react if another gem of such quality was found.

Ou Yangming went on the carriage with his gem and headed back to the military camp.

In the carriage, Ou Yangming nodded lightly at Ni Yinghong and said, “Master Ni, thank you.”

He was incredibly grateful for her help these days whether they were done openly or covertly. It was not a spontaneous feeling, but something that was accumulated after many days, thus Ou Yangming thanked her seriously.

Ni Yinghong smiled, revealing two cute dimples on her face.

Ou Yangming wondered, ‘Not only does this fella look like a lady, but his behavior is also quite ladylike. Could he be…’

He was already suspicious the first time he met Ni Yinghong but stopped thinking that way because the appraiser showed up in the military camp, which was a place that disallowed females from entering.

That being said, Ou Yangming noticed many small clues after spending more than a week together. Now that they were the only ones in the carriage, he was even more suspicious.

Ni Yinghong sensed Ou Yangming looking at her unusually, so she blushed and said, “Master Ou, I didn’t help you with anything!”

Ou Yangming curbed his thought and replied to her, “Master Ni, I won’t say much, but please let me know if you need my help in the future.”

“Okay, come to the prefecture then, I’ll show you around,” Ni Yinghong responded sweetly.

“The prefecture…” Ou Yangming was hesitant as he was stunned.

Being locally born and raised, although he had roamed around for years, he had only stayed around the town and had never gone to the prefecture.

Ni Yinghong feared that Ou Yangming would reject her, so she quickly said, “Don’t you want to learn the Suit Skill and appraisal art? If you come to the prefecture, you’ll definitely have the opportunity to!”

Ou Yangming was obviously moved by the idea as his eyes slowly lit up.

“Didn’t you acquire a Physique Gem and a waist sash with grooves? As long as you promise me, I’ll teach you how to embed the gem in the sash. What do you think?” Ni Yinghong’s eyes wandered for a while before she proposed.

With that, the final line of defense in Ou Yangming’s heart was taken down.

Even though he knew that there must be a reason Ni Yinghong was being so friendly and even invited him to the prefecture, whatever the reason was, he was willing to take the risk since Ni Yinghong had paid such a huge price.