Things suddenly took a turn for the better.
After the self-important members of the student council appraised the sealed Xuan Yang Cauldron within the Qi-Containing Orb, what was once a coveted item instantly became the butt of jokes.
The sallow-faced youth's expression soured further, desperate to cut his losses.
The price plummeted from eight hundred thousand Good Deeds.
Six hundred thousand.
Three hundred thousand.
One hundred thousand.
Finally, it dropped to fifty thousand Good Deeds, yet still, no one showed interest.
"Alright, it's my turn to make a move." Ming Yihua's eyes lit up at the scene, ready to step forward and purchase the Qi-Containing Orb, now deemed a scam by the student council.
"Wait a bit longer, let's first check out what Senior Mi found." Chen Mobai held him back, Mi Yudao was slightly taken aback but quickly caught on, nodding with a smile.
***
The trio left the plaza, riding the Crimson Dawn Cloud Mist, descending eight hundred meters, and flew into a tunnel about two meters in diameter. They traversed another five to six hundred meters, the narrowest part allowing only one person to fly through horizontally, finally arriving at the Fire Spirit Tree.
The scorching aura hit them full on. Chen Mobai eyed the dark red spirit tree rooted in fiery red rubble, activating his Bright Mirror Law Eyes.
The Qi-Containing Orb hidden among the roots and rubble instantly lost its obscurity, clearly entering his sight.
The living seals within the Qi-Containing Orb were almost impossible to hide from his Bright Mirror Law Eyes.
However, upon closer inspection, he spotted another Qi-Containing Orb sealed within the Fire Spirit Tree, and to his surprise, he couldn't see through its seal.
"It's an array."
Chen Mobai, wearing black-framed glasses, kept his slight emotional fluctuation hidden from his companions.
After appraising the Qi-Containing Orb found by Mi Yudao, he used a drawing app on his phone to sketch out the talisman he saw through the seal in his black-and-white vision.
"Thanks, I'll find a few more and come to you at the end of next year for a one-time appraisal."
Mi Yudao admired Chen Mobai's drawing of the talisman sent to him, impressed by his excellent drawing skills.
"Old Chen is the top student in our Talisman Department, his drawing ability is almost on par with mine." While saying this, Ming Yihua also took the opportunity to praise himself.
But his words were true; a Refining Master also needs excellent blueprint design skills.
Before learning mechanical drawing, one must master hand drawing.
Ming Yihua's realistic style and Chen Mobai's elegant simplicity, though different, were both emulated by their classmates and juniors, each exceptional in their own right.
After examining the Qi-Containing Orb, the trio returned to the plaza.
By then, only thirty or forty people remained.
The Qi-Containing Orb containing the Xuan Yang Cauldron still hadn't sold.
Chen Mobai and his friends feigned surprise and inquired about the price.
"Twenty thousand Good Deeds, want it?"
The sallow-faced youth, who had previously refused to budge from eight hundred thousand, now listlessly called out a price.
He figured as long as he could sell it, he would then focus on seclusion and no longer waste time searching for Qi-Containing Orbs.
"Alright, pay by scan or transfer?"
Ming Yihua didn't mock any further and took out his phone to make the payment.
The sallow-faced youth was stunned, having had little hope of a sale.
After all, a single piece of equipment required a hundred credits to exchange, and everyone was extremely cautious when opening orbs.
His Qi-Containing Orb, already deemed ordinary by the student council, was basically unsellable.
He had already decided that if it didn't sell by the next morning, he would just throw the orb into any tunnel.
Now, any amount he could sell for was pure profit.
Without hesitation, he added Ming Yihua as a friend and received the transfer.
"Good luck." After handing over the Qi-Containing Orb to Ming Yihua, the sallow-faced youth left those words behind and turned to leave the place.
But as he left the plaza and was about to cross the dark current, he felt a pang of unwillingness.
However, what could he do with his unwillingness when the item was already sold?
With a sigh, he disappeared at the end of the tunnel.
***
On the other side, Ming Yihua looked at the white jade orb with a faintly visible cauldron shape, unable to put it down.
"I wonder when I'll get my piece of equipment."
If he had a piece of equipment now, Ming Yihua would want to open the Qi-Containing Orb right away.
"Oh, you trust me that much."
Chen Mobai chuckled when he heard Ming Yihua's muttering.
After all, that was worth a hundred credits, and although Chen Mobai had cultivated the Bright Mirror Law Eyes, his cultivation time was still short, and logically, his expertise in this area should definitely not surpass Ming Yu, the student council's vice president.
"That's for sure, not to boast, but in the same grade, I'm definitely better than Ming Yu." Ming Yihua's words made Chen Mobai laugh lightly, and then he handed over a piece of equipment to the former.
"Old Chen, what do you mean by this?"
"Just use it for now, and return your piece to me later."
Chen Mobai's words made Ming Yihua pause, and he couldn't help but ask.
"What if you find something you like, won't it delay your plans?"
"It's fine, I haven't found anything I like."
"Alright then, I won't be polite. At most, when school starts next year, I'll ask Teacher Yan to take me to the depths of Wanbao Cave to return the piece to you."
Ming Yihua's timing for Foundation Establishment was unfortunate, coinciding with the end of the semester. Otherwise, given his status in the Refining Department, with Taoist Master Shaoyang in seclusion, the department head Taoist Master Yan would definitely be willing to make the effort.
With that said, Ming Yihua accepted Chen Mobai's piece of equipment.
Then, he opened the Qi-Containing Orb on the spot.
A streak of crimson brilliance, like a swift dragon, stripped the white jade orb of its shell in an instant, revealing its true form.
Indeed, it was a three-legged, two-eared, dark green cauldron.
The treasure's light was restrained, but at the moment of sight, one could feel a sense of weight and heat.
"It really is the Xuan Yang Cauldron." Mi Yudao, standing by, couldn't help but marvel at the sight of the cauldron.
The scene of opening the Qi-Containing Orb also attracted the attention of the remaining thirty or forty people.
Soon, the news that they had opened a second-tier superior artifact spread to everyone.
Inside the student council's second-floor meeting room, Yuan Jinjun was thanking Ming Yu profusely.
"If it weren't for you, those three cunning juniors would have tricked me out of eight hundred thousand Good Deeds."
"Hmph, they dare to play tricks on us at the student council. The juniors these days lack the awe they should have for their seniors."
"Alright, alright, if you weren't greedy, such tricks wouldn't work on you."
Hua Zijing frowned slightly, her beautiful face showing a hint of disdain.
Yuan Jinjun, upon hearing this, had a sheepish expression and dared not retort.
Instead, Ming Yu frowned and was about to retort.
A crimson brilliance lit up outside the window.
"Someone else has opened one."
The sight of the Fire Element Divine Light had been seen more than twenty times today. Lu Tian, sitting on the side, took the opportunity to change the subject to prevent the two vice presidents from arguing.
"Go find out what they opened."
Ming Yu instructed Yuan Jinjun, who immediately obeyed and left.
A quarter of an hour later, he returned with a mixed expression of green and red, looking at Ming Yu strangely.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Ming Yu, who had always been respected by Yuan Jinjun, now saw a look of doubt, anger, and questioning in his eyes, and couldn't help but frown.
"It's the Qi-Containing Orb you appraised that was opened."
Yuan Jinjun said, and Ming Yu hadn't reacted yet.
Hua Zijing and Lu Tian, on the other hand, showed shocked expressions, exchanged glances, and thought of something.
"The orb was opened by those two new Foundation Establishment students, and the artifact inside is the Xuan Yang Cauldron!"
"That's impossible!"
As soon as Yuan Jinjun finished speaking, Ming Yu stood up and shouted in shock.
He even forgot his usual composure and flew out the window, turning into a yellow light, landing in front of Chen Mobai and the others.
Seeing the dark green cauldron that Ming Yihua was holding dearly, Ming Yu was dumbfounded.
After seeing it with his own eyes, no matter how much he denied it, the truth was in front of everyone.
Chen Mobai's Bright Mirror Law Eyes were indeed superior to his.
How could a fifth-year Foundation Establishment student possibly!?
Ming Yihua then noticed the gazes around him.
The news that he had appraised the eight hundred thousand Qi-Containing Orb had spread throughout the half-day.
Earlier, he had confidently assured that with his Bright Mirror Law Eyes, he couldn't confirm the cauldron patterns, so no one could be sure that the artifact inside was a second-tier superior Xuan Yang Cauldron.
Also, because they believed his judgment, the orb, which had been hyped up and soared to a sky-high price, was already ignored by evening and was sold by the sallow-faced youth for nearly a throwaway price of twenty thousand Good Deeds to Ming Yihua.
The doubtful gazes around him made the usually arrogant Ming Yu flush with anger.
"Damn student council, did you deliberately collaborate with these two guys to trick me out of the Qi-Containing Orb I painstakingly retrieved from the magma?"
A voice full of anger rang out, and everyone turned to look. It was the sallow-faced youth.
He had already left, but the news that Ming Yihua had opened the Xuan Yang Cauldron was passed on to him by people on the plaza who recognized him.
Feeling as if his heart had been gouged out, he rushed back in a hurry, and upon seeing Ming Yu and Chen Mobai standing together, he naturally assumed that the student council's scoundrels had specifically found two new faces to trick him out of his treasure.
"Watch your words, slandering the fair student council, do you want to be publicly criticized by the whole school?" Ming Yu was already upset, and now being slandered by the sallow-faced youth, he couldn't take it anymore and shouted back with a dark expression.
"Dog thing, you really think your student council is the Academic Affairs Office?" The sallow-faced youth's anger had been building up. After being appraised by Ming Yu at noon, his Qi-Containing Orb, which could have sold for a high price, ended up being sold at a loss and even endured the ridicule of many fellow students on the plaza.
But at that time, he thought his Qi-Containing Orb was indeed just losing its nurturing spirit liquid, and the artifact inside was just average, so he endured it.
After all, asking for eight hundred thousand Good Deeds for an ordinary second-tier artifact was indeed a bit excessive.
But now that the misunderstanding was cleared up, the artifact inside was indeed a very good one, and it was the versatile second-tier superior Xuan Yang Cauldron, with a market price of at least tens of millions of Good Deeds. All his anger surged up, and the sallow-faced youth ignored Chen Mobai and the other two minor characters, clenched his fists, and charged at Ming Yu.
"How dare you!" A burst of yellow light erupted, and the clothes Ming Yu wore turned out to be a second-tier artifact, which directly repelled the youth.
But someone actually dared to attack him, the vice president of the student council, which made the usually self-important Ming Yu flush with anger.
He took out a golden wooden stick and couldn't help but smash it down at the sallow-faced youth who charged at him again.
This golden stick was also a second-tier artifact, a proud creation he had opened with his Bright Mirror Law Eyes, a second-tier superior Nine Fierce Wood.
The artifact's brilliance bloomed, and the youth's protective spirit light dissipated upon contact.
Just as he was about to be hit by the Nine Fierce Wood on the top of his head, a green sword light burst through the air, striking the side of the Nine Fierce Wood just right, deflecting the artifact.
Bang!
The Nine Fierce Wood hit the ground, creating a sizable crater.
Ming Yihua turned his head and glared at Chen Mobai, who had just wielded the Divine Wood Sword, and a thought flashed through his mind that could clear his name.
"I see now, your targets were actually me, not Yuan Jinjun. You used this orb, whose outcome you already knew, to trap me, just to tarnish my reputation. Hmph, with such a mindset, it must be that bitch, but in the end, I saw through it…"
Just as Ming Yu was halfway through speaking, Chen Mobai could no longer listen. He simply couldn't stand it.
Moreover, he felt a bit guilty towards the sallow-faced youth. Although taking advantage of the situation was his own skill, the feeling of being taken advantage of was definitely terrible. Seeing that the latter was a bit mentally collapsed, as a fellow student of the Daoist Academy, he still couldn't bear to see him suffer further physical harm.
"Angry because I exposed and hit the nail on the head? I'll suppress you few first, then ask the teachers of the Academic Affairs Office to come and investigate the truth, to clear my name." as Ming Yu spoke, he sneered at Chen Mobai and the others.
He had already used the Bright Mirror Law Eyes to check their cultivation, all at the first layer of Foundation Establishment.
Even if it was one against three, he could easily win.
Thinking this way, he gripped the Nine Fierce Wood in his hand, subconsciously ignoring the scene where the second-tier inferior Divine Wood Sword easily deflected his second-tier superior artifact, thinking it was because he wasn't serious.
"Enough babbling."
Chen Mobai's words were still polite; if it were Ming Yihua, he probably would have said: "Why are you barking?"
Five red and yellow halos emerged at the top of the wooden stick, turning into ripples that swept up the fire spirit energy above the plaza, forming a fast-moving bright yellow vortex ripple, creating a domain that made one's body feel heavy.
"Foundation Establishment fifth layer."
Since Ming Yu had first used the Bright Mirror Law Eyes to probe his cultivation, Chen Mobai didn't hesitate to use his Bright Mirror Law Eyes to see through the former's realm in a glance.
"Hmph, you still have time to surrender."
Ming Yu didn't bother to hide his intentions, blatantly unleashing his "powerful" cultivation.
Proofreader & Editor:Peter Pan