Chapter 289 Hall Of Gems

Despite the building complex’s gargantuan structure, there was still a surprising abundance of empty space. At its very center, laid a plaza that was by no means small, and within the plaza, ten fighting rings could be seen alongside two towering platforms. All it took was a single glance at the arrangement of platforms for Ou Yangming to realize that he was looking at the venue of the Martial Arts Battles.

Alas, as the Myriad Treasure Meet had only just started, there was no one present on the rings just yet.

There was ample space between each building block, and at that moment, most of the corners of the buildings were occupied with people who had set up stalls. A variety of rare and weird items could be found piled up on top of these stalls.

The moment a person enters the building complex, their fight for supremacy, be it in the light of day or the dead of night, would instantly begin.

The stall owners were all independent cultivators who came from various regions, and usually, the products they sold were items that they had personally collected over the years. Moreover, the stalls were also the best place for the appraisers to show people what they were made of, as they would be instantly thrust into the limelight should they procure any rare items from these stalls.

Naturally, carrying out covert deals was strictly not allowed, and if anyone were to be caught performing such deeds, the imperial family’s powerhouses would unleash their full wrath on them.

Ou Yangming continued wandering around the building complex. He had not entered the building just yet, and instead, he was looking through the stalls that had been set up.

Ou Yangming internally understood that the chances of him locating a rare item within the stalls were not high. However, the fact that this was his first time participating in such an event had inspired a great deal of curiosity within him. Nevertheless, his excitement was misplaced, as he was left disappointed after wandering around for a while. Although he had learned appraisal art, as he was not a true appraiser, he was unable to discern the items’ true worth without holding the items in hand.

In this regard, there was indeed a large gap between Ou Yangming and the traditional appraisers.

Suddenly, he halted his steps and looked towards a certain direction.

In front of that stall, stood to middle-aged men glaring down at one another. It was clear that they had gotten themselves into an argument, and worse still, from the way they acted, it appeared as if tensions were rising.

Ou Yangming’s curiosity was piqued, and since their argument had taken place right before a stall, he was certain that it was related to the items on sale in one way or another.

In a flash, Ou Yangming had appeared before the stall.

Some herbs and minerals had been put on display. Since Ou Yangming was not too familiar with herbs, he was unable to tell their value from a glance. Minerals, on the other hand, were his strong suit. Despite that, even after giving them a rough glance, he was unable to detect anything special from them.

In truth, there were all sorts of minerals to be found in the world, but not all of them were valued highly.

On the other hand, while some minerals were scarce, in the eyes of a blacksmith, those minerals could hold limitless potential.

After listening to some of the words they exchanged, Ou Yangming had soon gotten a gist of the duo’s argument.

Turns out, they had both laid eyes on the same herb at the same time, and they were arguing on who had priority over the other.

Despite sounding comical, obtaining priority for the transaction was actually a major deal. According to the rules, so long as a person was viewing the goods and haggling prices with the stall owner, no bystander was allowed to interrupt them. In other words, obtaining the viewing priority was akin to obtaining the initiative over the transaction. As such, they were fighting tooth and nail for the viewing priority, and neither side was willing to relent.

The stall owner had a helpless expression on his face. When the surrounding people had asked him regarding the matter, he could only shrug his shoulders as he was clueless as well.

After all, the two of them had appeared at nearly the same time and had chosen the herb simultaneously. Although situations like this were rare, they were not completely unheard of.

The two began to raise voices at one another, and before long, they had attracted the attention of an imperial guard. The imperial guard was a large and burly man, and when he heard of the men’s quarrel, he furrowed his brows and stated, “I see. In that case, you two should follow the rules and participate in a Martial Arts Battle. Whichever one of you who wins the match should obtain the viewing priority.” After a brief pause, he then continued, “In the case that none of you are skilled in martial arts, you are allowed to recruit someone to fight in your stead. Please meet up at one of the rings within the next two hours.”

The two men nodded and left, whereas the imperial guard confiscated the herb and left a receipt behind.

The crowd had treated the situation as if it were a common occurrence, and even the stall owner had taken it in stride.

On the other hand, Ou Yangming was amazed at what he had seen. ‘So, this is another function of the Martial Arts Battle, huh!’

His ears twitched, and he had picked up on the conversation of one of the bystanders.

“Brother Zhang, the Hall of Gems has opened! Let’s go and take a look!”

“Alright, if we’re lucky enough to obtain a gem from it, this trip would’ve been worthwhile.”

As the Myriad Treasure Meet was a public event, it was only natural that the major powers would dominate the event. Despite that, most of the participants were unaffiliated with any of the major forces, and instead, they had hailed from all sorts of places.

Upon hearing their words, Ou Yangming immediately turned around and quietly followed them.

Since there was nothing interesting in the stalls around, Ou Yangming would rather head to somewhere else where he could display his talents.

Before long, the two men that Ou Yangming was following had reached a tall building. After taking a quick glance at it, he then proceeded onward without an ounce of hesitation.

The three huge glittering golden words, “Hall of Gems” could be seen on top of the building.

As expected, the establishment was filled with gems and raw gemstones of all shapes and sizes, and naturally, the number of raw gemstones had far surpassed that of the gems, with a ratio of around hundred to one. This was especially true at the entrance, as there were three boulders located there that had weighed up to half-a-tonne each, and they were the main attraction for visitors.

Despite that, Ou Yangming had only taken a quick glimpse at the rocks before abandoning them and heading inside.

The fact that the owner had placed those rocks there had meant that they were items that were specially picked out. Moreover, at those sizes, there was a high chance that those boulders had contained gems within them, and as such, he would rather not waste his time there.

The building was split into separate areas based on the raw gemstones that it contained, and usually, the larger the raw gemstones contained within the area, the more people it would attract. Naturally, those who wandered around in those areas were usually either people of status, outstanding lone travelers, or appraisers with huge financial backing.

After all, they needed capital to purchase the raw gemstones.

In contrast, the more average lone travelers would head to the area with small raw gemstones instead, and usually, they would have stern and grumpy expressions on their faces as they sifted through the raw gemstones.

With a smirk on his face, Ou Yangming then headed into the area with small raw gemstones.

All the raw gemstones had been laid out on several square tables for the customers to select. Ou Yangming made his way to one of the empty tables and immediately set off to touch the raw gemstones on the table. He acted swiftly, and a mere instant later, he had already touched all the raw gemstones in his proximity. His palm pulsed with a red light as he did so, but no one had noticed it.

Despite that, he shook his head and gave away his spot a moment later.

The raw gemstones were small, and though two of the raw gemstones had given off a nice sensation, compared to the rare gemstones he had come across in the past, their difference was like Heaven and Earth.

As Ou Yangming’s tastes had already grown refined, normal gemstones could no longer pique his interest.

He shifted his attention elsewhere and passed the time by wandering about the area. Once there was an open spot, he would immediately take the spot and inspect the raw gemstones.

A little over an hour later, Ou Yangming had three more raw gemstones in hand as compared to when he first entered.

Out of the three raw gemstones that he had obtained, only one had given a nice feeling, whereas one was average, and the last one was completely dull.

Ou Yangming shook his head slightly and heaved a mental sigh. It was common for people to only pick raw gemstones that had high chances of containing gems, but in Ou Yangming’s case, he wanted to mislead the public, and as such, he had chosen some average raw gemstones among his selections.

An uneasy feeling welled up within his gut, and out of nowhere, Ou Yangming could feel someone’s eyes trained on him. He turned around to meet the person’s gaze, and when he saw who the person was, he immediately frowned. The world was truly a small place.

Standing there was Shao Hongyi, and much to Ou Yangming’s chagrin, the young man who hailed from Huangsha County had come to the Hall of Gems as well.

Upon noticing Ou Yangming, Shao Hongyi feigned a smile at him and greeted, “So this is what you’ve been up to, Brother Ou.”

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Although Ou Yangming would rather not deal with people of his type, he was no longer the ignorant young fool that he once was. Although he was certainly still young, he was much more sophisticated than before, and as a result, he calmly replied, “I accidentally wandered here as I was visiting the stalls. May I know what you’re doing…”

Shao Hongyi snorted arrogantly, “I am an appraiser of Huangsha County, and as such, I’ve come here to test my luck. However, I never expected that you were in the same profession as me, Brother Ou.” Ou Yangming mentally snapped, ‘Ptui, there’s no way that I’m in the same profession as you!’ However, Ou Yangming

ned a neutral expression in front of Shao Hongyi, and he did not refute his statement.

Shao Hongyi shifted his attention to the three raw gemstones that Ou Yangming was holding in his hand. Upon noticing them, he snickered. “Brother Ou, you ARE aware that we’re representing the Yi Pavilion, right? Our battlefield does not lie here, but there!” He pointed his finger to the area with medium to large-sized raw gemstones before continuing, “There’s a greater chance of obtaining high-quality raw gemstones there, and as participants under the banner of the Yi Pavilion, we shouldn’t be wasting our time toiling away in this area!”

Ou Yangming furrowed his brows and retorted, “Really? How long have you been here, Brother Shao? Did you manage to locate any good raw gemstones?”

Shao Hongyi smirked and answered, “As a matter of fact, I’ve already purchased a piece. Fancy a look, Brother Ou?”

Ou Yangming responded in a solemn tone, “Sure, why not?”

Ou Yangming followed Shao Hongyi’s lead into the area with medium to large-sized gemstones. Once there, Shao Hongyi pointed to one of the raw gemstones and said, “The one with the marking is mine. I’ve already made the payment, and I’m free to break it open whenever I want.”

The raw gemstone before him was as thick an adult’s thighs, and it was half as tall as an adult. Compared to the rest of the other raw gemstones, it did not look particularly special.

Ou Yangming took a glance at Shao Hongyi and noticed that he had a hint of excitement on his face. After hesitating for a moment, Ou Yangming then placed his hand on top of the raw gemstone.

A red glow enveloped his palm, and Ou Yangming had instantly detected the trace of light coming from within the raw gemstone. Alas, the light was not too bright, and on paper, it was not much different than the best piece of raw gemstone he had on hand.

Worse still, in terms of size and value, the raw gemstone that Shao Hongyi had picked out was worth at least twenty, no, thirty of the miniature raw gemstones Ou Yangming had on hand.

“Brother Ou, I’m planning to crack this raw gemstone open right now.” Shao Hongyi then raised his voice and declared, “The only way to attribute my accomplishments to the Yi Pavilion is by cracking this raw gemstone open now!” Ou Yangming nodded and stated in a neutral expression, “I wish you the best, Brother Shao. I hope you’ll get a gemstone.”

Shao Hongyi’s gaze was fixed on the three raw gemstones that Ou Yangming was carrying. In a snarky tone, he stated, “Brother Ou, it takes two to tango, so why don’t we crack open our raw gemstones at the same time?”

Ou Yangming paused, but after scrutinizing Shao Hongyi, he then smiled and said, “Sure! Since it’s Brother Shao’s request, it would be rude for me to decline.”

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