Qian Duoyu fell silent for a moment, clearly considering something, without giving an immediate response.
Wang Lizhou shot a glance at Li Tianyou, and the two of them each discreetly handed over a storage pouch under the table. Qian Duoyu received them with practiced ease. Not long after, a smile appeared on his face.
"These are all urgently needed items in the city. The two of you have truly helped me out of a tight spot," he said with a grin.
"Spirit herbs, spirit rice, Five Elemental Essence, and everything on this list we'll take however much you can provide, no questions asked."
As he spoke, Qian Duoyu handed over a detailed supply list. The page was densely packed with the names of hundreds of items, mainly divided into major categories like spirit herbs, ores, talismans, and other materials.
Song Changsheng took the chance to glance at the list and immediately sensed that something was off.
Since he had previously handled many affairs as acting Grand Elder, he had a clear sense of market prices for basic goods. But this purchase list showed prices for some materials that were significantly above market value, and yet the demand was quite high.
Of course, for suppliers like them, this was excellent news the higher the purchase price, the more profit they could make per trip.
But Song Changsheng couldn't help feeling a hint of unease.
From the perspective of his past life, the items with those suspiciously inflated prices all shared a common trait: they could be classified as "strategic resources."
"Signs of impending war... Could it be that the beasts of the Ten-Thousand Mountains are preparing to move north again?" he thought, deeply concerned.
He had heard rumors in the past that beast tides from the Ten-Thousand Mountains would occasionally charge toward Luoxia City under the command of several powerful demon kings. But for someone like Song Changsheng, those events had always seemed distant and irrelevant.
Now, however, things were different.
He would be staying in Luoxia City for over a year. If war were to break out, there would be no way for him to stay uninvolved.
"Sigh... hopefully the war won't come too soon," he thought to himself.
As this thought ran through his mind, Qian Duoyu's voice suddenly rang out again beside him:
"And this must be the Young Patriarch of the Song Clan, correct? Truly a fine young man. Even from way out here in Luoxia City, I've heard of your accomplishments."
Startled, Song Changsheng quickly snapped out of his thoughts and turned around only to see Qian Duoyu eyeing him with narrowed, appraising eyes full of admiration.
He immediately stood up and replied humbly:
"You flatter me, Steward Qian. I've merely been lucky, nothing more."
Qian Duoyu chuckled but said no more, returning to casual conversation with Song Luhuai and the others.
The meeting finally concluded around sunset. Each family had achieved their goals, and everyone left pleased everyone except for Song Changsheng. He couldn't shake the feeling that the way Qian Duoyu had looked at him was... unusual. It wasn't just admiration.
On the way back to the Wangyue Pavilion, Song Changsheng asked,
"Twelfth Uncle, once the goods are handled over the next few days, are you planning to head back?"
Song Luhuai nodded, "That's right. Liuyun Market is about to go through a rotation. I need to hurry back to assume my post."
"Rotation?" Song Changsheng frowned slightly. How could I forget something so important...
Originally, he had planned for Song Luhuai to escort the Song siblings, Qingxing and Qingxing, to Xuzhou for a visit to the Heavenly Sword Sect after returning. But now, that plan clearly wouldn't work.
The journey from Lingzhou to Xuzhou was already long enough. Factoring in time spent comprehending the Heavenly Sword Monument, it would take at least half a year to a full year. With Song Luhuai committed to overseeing Liuyun Market for a ten-year term, he simply couldn't make the trip.
"Something on your mind?" Song Luhuai noticed the shift in his expression.
Changsheng gave a bitter smile and explained the situation. After hearing it, Song Luhuai also frowned deeply.
"This is truly unfortunate timing. If your Ninth Aunt hadn't had that accident, she would've been perfect for the task."
At the mention of Song Luoyao, a shadow passed through Song Changsheng's eyes. Regret welled up in his heart.
After a long silence, he said softly,
"Then I'll trouble you to explain things to Qingxing and his sister. Once I return from Luoxia City, I'll take them myself."
"Sigh... that's the only option now."
Still not enough manpower, Song Changsheng thought with a sigh.
It was a waste of talent to assign someone of Song Luhuai's rank to manage Liuyun Market. He couldn't help but grow even more resentful of the main branch of the clan after all these years, they still hadn't delivered on their promise of a Foundation Establishment Pill. He was starting to suspect they had no intention of honoring it.
"Dragonblood Ginseng... I must find an active one as soon as possible. Once the clan can stand on its own, we won't have to keep bowing to those people."
Back at Wangyue Pavilion, the first person Song Changsheng spotted was none other than Chief Appraiser Sun.
He was currently seated at the counter, carefully examining a slightly worn bronze artifact.
Everyone in the shop from Song Xian'tu to the clerks was unusually quiet. Even footsteps were muffled as if they feared disturbing the old man.
After a long time, Sun Chuanming finally set down the artifact and said to the customer:
"This bronze piece was originally a low-grade Tier-Two item, but it has completely lost its spiritual essence and contains twelve structural fractures. It's now of little practical use only suitable to be melted down as crafting material."
The customer's face darkened.
"But I paid over five hundred low-grade spirit stones for it! If I melt it down, how much can I recover?"
Sun Chuanming raised three fingers.
"At most, three hundred. Possibly even less, given the complete loss of spiritual essence."
"Ugh... What a loss. Thank you anyway, Master Sun." The man left, disappointed, after placing a few spirit stones on the counter.
Song Changsheng couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. He had just used his spiritual sense to examine that bronze artifact in detail, and his conclusion wasn't much different from Sun Chuanming's except for one key point.
Sun Chuanming had claimed there were twelve points of damage, while Song Changsheng had only found six a difference of half.
There were only two possible reasons for this discrepancy:
His perception was lacking, and he had failed to identify the other six.
Sun Chuanming had exaggerated that the twelve points of damage were simply fabricated.
Given Sun Chuanming's status as the chief appraiser of the clan, Song Changsheng naturally ruled out the second possibility. That left only one conclusion: Sun Chuanming's perceptiveness far exceeded his own.
This realization left Song Changsheng momentarily stunned. After all, his spiritual sense was dozens of times stronger than Sun Chuanming's!
Not to mention, he was a second-tier, low-grade artifact refiner, someone who worked with magical tools regularly. And yet, even he had only managed to identify six damaged spots.
Could appraisers truly possess such incredible eyesight?
Song Changsheng found himself questioning this, but he didn't jump to conclusions. Instead, he found a quiet spot in the store where he wouldn't disturb anyone and sat down to quietly observe.
It was clear that Master Sun's reputation wasn't undeserved. A steady stream of cultivators came to him to have magical tools, ores, and even cultivation manuals appraised, and every single time, he gave a clear and precise answer without hesitation.
The most challenging case came when someone brought in a set of identical keys eight in total, with seven fakes and one genuine. The owner himself had created the duplicates to confuse others but had ended up confusing even himself. Unable to tell them apart, he had no choice but to ask Master Sun for help.
Based on his own experience, Song Changsheng could tell this was likely someone trying to make trouble. After all, by the man's own account, the real and fake keys were completely identical, down to the tiniest detail.
If that's the case… does it even matter which one's real?
It was an obvious trap. And yet, Sun Chuanming had taken the job and what's more, within fifteen minutes, he had correctly picked out the real key.
Even the cultivator who had tried to stump him was left stunned. As for Song Changsheng, waves of awe surged in his heart.
He had also observed the keys with his spiritual sense for a full fifteen minutes, and while he had sensed subtle differences between them, he simply could not tell the real one apart.
His respect for Sun Chuanming deepened.
By the time night fell and the shop hung up its "Closed" sign, Sun Chuanming finally took a break.
He had appraised several dozen items that day and earned nearly a hundred low-grade spirit stones even Song Changsheng was a little taken aback.
"Didn't they say this shop doesn't make much profit? But Master Sun alone earns this much in a day. How could they possibly not be profitable?
Could they be… pocketing some of it?"
The thought flashed through his mind but was quickly dismissed. He couldn't bring himself to suspect these loyal, long-serving elders of the clan.
After a moment of contemplation, Song Changsheng stood up and approached Sun Chuanming with a smile.
"Master Sun's appraisal skills are truly extraordinary. In just a day, you've earned nearly a hundred spirit stones this junior can't help but admire you."
Sun Chuanming glanced at him and replied plainly,
"There aren't that many items to appraise every day. I only come here to man the booth once a week. What you saw today was my entire week's worth of work."
Song Changsheng suddenly understood. He had made a false assumption seeing so many customers today, he'd thought this was a daily occurrence. But in fact, this was all the business of a whole week.
Now, instead of thinking it was a lot, he felt it was too little.
Before he could say more, Sun Chuanming asked,
"Young Patriarch, you've been observing for quite some time. Do you perhaps have some feedback or advice?"
Instead of answering directly, Song Changsheng asked in return,
"Master Sun, regarding that bronze artifact from earlier this junior only found six damaged areas, while you identified twelve. May I ask which ones I may have missed?"
"Which six did you notice?" Sun Chuanming asked.
Song Changsheng then listed each point he had observed.
After listening, Sun Chuanming stroked his beard and said,
"To have noticed these points already places your perception far above the average."
Although it sounded like praise, Song Changsheng couldn't help but feel like it was a bit of self-flattery after all, the man had found twice as many flaws.
Sun Chuanming, unaware of Song Changsheng's internal thoughts, continued,
"I wonder if the Young Patriarch noticed these additional spots: here, here, and here…"
"These flaws are far less obvious. They look entirely normal to the untrained eye…"
"But the damage," Sun Chuanming continued, "isn't on the surface it's internal. There's no hope of repair left, which is why I suggested he melt it down and use it as refining material. Better to cut his losses early after all, it's not easy to find another sucker willing to overpay for scrap."
Hearing this, Song Changsheng carefully recalled the spots Sun had pointed out. Sure enough, they did ring a bell he had sensed something off at the time, but since he couldn't see anything unusual on the surface, he'd dismissed it. He hadn't expected the real issues to be internal.
He couldn't help but be awed by Sun Chuanming's perceptiveness.
Curious now, Song Changsheng asked about a few other items, and Sun patiently answered each one. But when he got to the set of identical keys, Sun Chuanming let out a cold chuckle and said, "Actually, I couldn't tell which key was real either."
"What? Then how did you manage to convince that man?" Song Changsheng was genuinely shocked. He'd seen it with his own eyes that the troublemaking cultivator had left stunned and speechless, obediently paying up before slipping away with his tail between his legs.
With a confident glint in his eyes, Sun Chuanming smiled and said, "He brought a riddle to stump me, which means he must know the correct answer. Now, not to brag, but if even I can't tell them apart, he sure as hell can't either unless he left some kind of hidden marker on the real one, just waiting for me to pick the wrong one so he could expose me."
"That marker could've been something like position or a subtle clue on the object itself. So, I scrambled the keys where he couldn't see, and when he didn't react, I knew the mark wasn't based on placement. It had to be something on the key."
"But I examined those keys carefully too," Song Changsheng said, still puzzled. "The materials and appearance were the same. I couldn't find any markings at all."
Sun Chuanming chuckled again. "If they were truly identical, he wouldn't have bothered bringing them. I could've picked anyone at random and claimed it was the real one. So logically, one of them had to be different in some way."
"This guy was clever the marker he left behind was extremely well-hidden. But it still didn't escape my nose."
"My nose?" Song Changsheng blinked. "What does your nose have to do with this?"
"My nose," Sun said calmly, "picked up a faint scent from the keys. Every cultivator carries a unique trace of their own scent. One of the keys had a noticeably stronger trace it had been handled more often, touched more frequently. That was the real one."
Song Changsheng was left completely speechless. He never would've guessed that the truth had come down to something as simple as… smell. He'd expected some profound, mysterious technique certainly not this.
Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Sun Chuanming let out a snort. "The method may sound simple, but it's not something just anyone can do. Without training in the right secret art, you wouldn't even notice the scent."
"You're saying every person has a unique smell?" Song Changsheng asked skeptically. He was familiar with differences in spiritual aura, but this idea of "scent" was totally new to him.
Sun Chuanming stroked his beard proudly and nodded. "Indeed. Each person's scent is different, though most can't detect it. The technique I used isn't even related to appraising it's part of a proper tracking art. Once mastered, as long as you know someone's scent and they're within a certain range, you can always find them."
Song Changsheng's expression turned strange. This technique… isn't a "dog nose" skill?
Unaware of Song's internal reaction, Sun Chuanming's eyes gleamed as he said, "If you're interested in learning, I can teach you."
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