Immortal Road.

The old Taoist priest Jinchi looked worried, no longer blindly trusting Lin Shan as he had a few days ago. Clearly, after gathering and summarizing a lot of information, he realized that the situation was not optimistic.

"There are three favorites to win this year's treasure appraisal competition, and the top ten or even top twenty spots have already been reserved. They are all renowned appraisers in Yunzhou. You're probably in trouble this time."

"Oh? The most popular predictions are already outside the top twenty?"

Lin Shan found it unbelievable; what were they basing their predictions on?

Everyone here is at the Void Refinement stage and a Rank 7 Appraiser, so why are those people the favorites to win? What makes them so strong?

"Let me tell you about the top three favorites to win the championship."

Jinchi, the old Taoist priest, was parched and swallowed hard. He subtly gestured with his eyes, not daring to point with his hand for fear of being discovered.

"See that person standing by the railing over there? That's the Chief Judge of the Heavenly Observation Bureau of Xiaorong City, a personal disciple of the Immortal Yuanjian. It's said that he has imparted all his knowledge to me, and I already possess nearly 70% of his expertise. I can easily appraise immortal-grade spiritual items!"

Lin Shan turned his head and saw a blue-haired youth chatting and laughing with someone. His long, flowing hair swayed in the wind over his shoulders, and he exuded a powerful aura of friendliness that made people want to get close to him even from a distance.

The disciple of the Chief of the Heavenly Appraisal Bureau, who received the true teachings of a Celestial Appraiser!

"what is his name?"

"Qiuyi Bai is said to have attracted the attention of important figures in the distant Heavenly Court. He is attending this meeting only to obtain the title of Immortal Appraiser and then enter the court to serve in the Heavenly Court's Appraisal Division."

The old Taoist priest Jinchi's throat trembled as he spoke these words.

You don't know until you ask, and once you do, you realize that the treasure appraisal event was also a pre-arranged competition.

Didn't you say there were two other favorites to win the championship?

"Oh right, there's also Wenlingzi from the Brocade Immortal Sect. This girl is the youngest disciple of the True Immortal Brocade Ancestor. It's said that she was born with double pupils, which allow her to decipher and analyze the internal secrets of all things in the world, thus accurately revealing their structure and purpose."

Double pupils?

Lin Shan's eyes widened. He had only heard of such things in novels before, but they actually existed in real life!
Born with innate pupil techniques and the ability to dissect the structure of objects, this is almost in line with the laws of nature, isn't it?

"That's right, everyone is now guessing that she has the inherent power of judgment in her eyes and was born with the potential to become a true immortal!"

The laws are the foundation of everything in the world. They are not limited to the realms of earth, water, fire, and wind, but also have countless derivatives. There is nothing you can't do if you can't imagine it!

The 'Identification Rules' are the preferred rules for many appraisers of immortal items.

Don't think that this law can only be used for identification. In fact, it is very useful. It can help you see through the essence to break through the opponent's supernatural powers, spells, formations and restrictions, giving you a huge advantage in battle!

Appraisers are not powerless civil officials; otherwise, they wouldn't hold a place in the Heavenly Court and have a position on par with the Golden Palace.

Lin Shan's eyes widened. Even his own enhancement panel didn't possess such miraculous power; he could only identify it by touch. A sense of unease immediately arose in his mind.

"If there are natural rules for identification, then isn't this woman a definite celestial appraiser?"

"Yes, so it's just a formality, to get some experience so that when you go out into the wider world, you can have the honor of winning first place in the Cloud Wind Immortal Realm Treasure Appraisal Competition, adding some good luck to your early career."

This is similar to having received an award as a child; it adds a line to your resume when you're in the workplace.

Following his guidance, Lin Shan saw that while the six True Immortals on the stage were chatting, a female immortal was obediently leaning against a woman in a golden dress. Her eyes were bright and auspicious, and her senses were exceptionally sharp. In an instant, she turned her gaze to the two of them!

"!!!"

The two of them immediately lowered their heads, their hearts pounding wildly.

"Peak of the Void Realm? You mean this Wenlingzi is just one step away from becoming an immortal?"

Lin Shan was shocked. The Immortal Realm was indeed full of talented people. He was no good at coming here.

"Yeah, so how do you compete with them?"

Jinchi the Taoist realized he had bet on the wrong horse, but what could he do now that the die was cast? He could only hope that Jinchi would get a good ranking.

"What about the other favorite to win the championship?"

Lin Shan was eager to know the situation of his opponent, but little did he know that there was another expert among them!

"See that aloof female cultivator in white robes standing alone on the right? That's the legitimate daughter of the owner of the Yibaolou Pavilion of the Yunzhou Chamber of Commerce, and she currently works at the Jiantian Division."

"What kind of place is Yi Bao Lou? It's one of the largest merchant guilds in Yunfeng Immortal Domain. What kind of treasures hasn't it handled? Its owner's daughter has seen all the world's treasures since she was a child. Her experience and knowledge far surpass those of others. There's almost nothing she doesn't recognize."

"It is said that in the past few years at the Observatory, not a single treasure he has handled has been misjudged. Remember, not a single one!"

Even Lin Shan was moved at this point.

Over the course of several years, the identification process has never been wrong, which is statistically impossible and unbelievable.

But it just so happens to appear on one person. If it's not due to some kind of cheat, then it means that the person's knowledge reserves are too rich, and they already have an appraisal level far beyond their current level!
"You should know that the first place winner is awarded the title of Immortal Appraiser, which inherently means that one must have the ability to appraise immortal treasures. It's almost certain that there will be many immortal spiritual items at this treasure appraisal event, and you are only a seventh-grade appraiser."

That's already made very clear.

In the eyes of the old Taoist Jinchi, although Lin Shan's origins were unknown, he was only at the Void Transformation stage and could not possibly have come into contact with a large number of immortal spiritual objects for training. He probably wouldn't recognize any of them and would be trampled underfoot by a group of geniuses.

Those three were all peerless geniuses who possessed the ability to appraise immortal items even at the Void Realm stage!
Whom do you look down on?

Lin Shan glanced at the old man and said, "I'm a self-taught practitioner, but even self-taught practitioners have their own unique skills."

We'll see how things unfold in the end!
In the end, Master Jinchi was quite dutiful and introduced all the top ten most popular names to him again.

They are all senior appraisers of the seventh rank with thousands of years of experience!
What does thousands of years mean?
As time passed and years went by, he became accustomed to most of the treasures produced in Yunzhou, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him an omniscient person.

No matter what you do, practice makes perfect, let alone delving into a field to the extreme.

You can imagine how much pressure it must be to compete against such an opponent!
"okay, I get it."

Lin Shan's casual remark left the old Taoist Jinchi stunned, watching him squeeze through the crowd and walk off the stage.

Officials from the Tianjian Division had already begun gathering the participating cultivators, introducing the rules and precautions. The main competition was not far off.

In the center of the huge square, the first two rounds of the Nascent Soul and Divine Spirit competitions have reached a fever pitch! The treasure appraisal event consists of three groups, divided into small, medium, and high-level categories.

The Nascent Soul stage is like seed excavation, finding promising seedlings and seeing who has the potential to be molded into a useful talent. It is mostly the elders who bring the younger generation to show their talents.

At the Nascent Soul stage, one can already be considered a backbone of the appraisal industry. Having cultivated the field for many years, one seeks to advance further at the appraisal conference, find a patron to take one in, and pave the way for becoming a supreme master in the future.

The Void Transformation stage seeks higher levels of resources and status, and the differences are most pronounced at this level!
The top ten most popular predictions are basically either prodigies from wealthy families or established powerhouses, and most of them have capital backing them.

As an unknown nobody, Lin Shan was not given much attention by others, who simply assumed he was there to join in the fun.

He mingled in the crowd and watched from the sidelines. After a long time, nearly a thousand people in the Nascent Soul and Divine Spirit groups finished their competitions.

Throughout the competition, it was quite intense, with tens of thousands of spiritual items being presented in turn, and each person had to complete the appraisal and submission within a very short fixed time.

The name of the spirit is not important, because it has different names in different places. The judges will score the participants based on whether they can fully describe its characteristics, effects, and uses.

The highest scorer advances all the way to the finals, where the strongest players clash in a final showdown!

Some of them, despite being only Nascent Soul or Divine Spirit cultivators, possessed such sharp insight that others were in awe of them. They identified many special effects of spiritual objects that were unknown to others, even to veteran Void Realm cultivators!
The final winner not only received generous rewards, but was also recognized for his potential by many sects, families, and business associations, who extended invitations and promised to provide resources for his dedicated training.

It's a win-win situation!

Finally, the main event was the Void Realm group, which consisted entirely of renowned and unparalleled appraisal masters, excluding those like Lin Shan who had unorthodox methods.

There were a total of seventy-five contestants!

The Cloud Wind Immortal Realm is vast and boundless, with countless talents from all corners of the world. This is only after the talent pool has been diluted and distributed among the various immortal cities in the Cloud Continent Gorge. Other immortal cities also hold treasure appraisal conferences, and the intensity of competition may not be any less than that of Xiao Rong City.

Holding the number 43 token, Lin Shan arrived at his designated platform. In the center of the platform was a miniature teleportation array that could transport various treasures to each person in turn.

If you have a jade slip at hand, after verifying that the identification is correct, record the identification result in the jade slip. The content will be simultaneously sent to the six True Immortals on the high platform in front for review!
Everything is open and transparent. In addition, the six True Immortals come from different forces, so there is no need for them to collude and engage in any insider dealings.

"You are all the elites of my Cloudwind Immortal Realm. Today is the once-in-a-millennium Cloud Prefecture Gathering. If you can excel and achieve a ranking, the generous rewards will go without saying. In the future, it will be recorded in your resume, and you will be treated differently by any force. After all, this is an honor belonging to the Immortal Realm."

After a lengthy opening speech by Immortal Yuanjian, followed by some irrelevant and pointless remarks, the treasure appraisal event officially began!
Suddenly, a blue light flashed on the platform in front of Lin Shan, and a piece of iron ore with a network of blood vessels appeared out of thin air.

He remained calm, picked it up with his hand, and pretended to examine it from all angles. The enhancement panel already provided an introduction:

【Cracked Crystal Nuclei】

Quality: Rank 7 Spirit Material

Introduction: A natural crystal born at the intersection of spatial rifts, containing pure spatial energy. It is the key core for refining Xuan Tian Cave Heaven Treasures and large teleportation arrays. It can be directly absorbed to enhance the speed of comprehension of spatial movement and spatial cutting supernatural powers.

Enhancement required: 512 points

He paused deliberately for a moment before typing the information into the jade slip next to him and handing in his paper. Looking around, he noticed that many people had already handed in their papers long ago. Clearly, the initial questions were not difficult and were just appetizers for everyone. Each person's paper on the table was different.

After ten breaths, all items were removed, shuffled at the back, and then retransmitted to each person's table.

This time it was a silver-gray metallic ore, its surface covered with orderly golden lines. These lines would change along with a faintly translucent spiritual net. The ore had a peculiar texture and would emit a crisp internal sound at regular intervals.

This time, Lin Shan skipped the installation and simply covered it with his hand. The enhanced panel provided the following information:
【Magic Sound Network Stone】

Quality: Rank 7 Spirit Material

Description: The ore in the Demon Cave is eroded by demonic winds over the years and contains bewitching demonic sounds. It can be used to refine sonic magical treasures. If you break open the net stone, there is a chance to randomly obtain a demonic sonic divine power.

Enhancement required: 512 points

Without hesitation, he inscribed the jade slip, only to discover that someone else was even faster. Almost the instant he received the item, he wrote down the answer and handed it in, as if he had seen it before, without even having to think about it.

The items on each stage were constantly being randomly generated, and the items identified by the seventy-five people were not duplicated and given to others. The organizers had prepared ample materials for this competition.

After ten rounds, the six immortals on the stage announced the results.

According to the point system, one point is awarded for a successful appraisal and no points are awarded for a failed appraisal. A full half of the participants received ten points!

"Those who score less than five points will have to leave with regret. Go back and reflect for another thousand years, and come back for the next treasure appraisal conference."

Three cultivators were immediately escorted away by the Golden Orchid Guards. Having lost face in front of so many people, the three felt utterly humiliated and wished they could disappear into the ground.

Their strength is obvious at a glance!
The second round of qualifying matches then began.

Various seventh-tier spiritual objects took turns on stage, and everyone focused intently on their own platform. They had to identify the results and record them in the jade slip within ten breaths, otherwise the result would be invalid.

Lin Shan answered all the questions with ease thanks to his enhanced panel. Knowing that there were many talented people on the field, he had no need to hide his strength, so he simply copied and wrote down everything without reservation.

The second round involved ten more spiritual items, leading to the points settlement phase.

More than half of the participants still answered all the questions correctly, bringing their score to 20 points, while those who made more than half of their mistakes were eliminated again.

The spectators on the stage and the cultivators who had gathered around to watch were all amazed and exclaimed how impressive it was!

Those who dare to compete here are basically the best among the seventh-grade appraisers. They are absolutely confident in themselves, can make appraisal results in a short time and get full marks. They are definitely top-notch in the industry anywhere!
Then in the third round,
The fourth round,
The fifth round.

Until the tenth round is over!

Each person handled a total of 100 spiritual items. In accordance with the rules of the competition that no items were repeated, the organizers provided 7,500 seventh-tier spiritual items for the participants to appraise at once, a truly astonishing amount of money.

But after ten rounds of elimination, half of the players are still alive.

In other words, out of 75 appraisers, 37 received full marks!

Being able to correctly identify a hundred random spiritual objects in a short time, almost all the viewers believed that these people had reached the peak level of seventh-grade appraisers, and nothing below the Void Realm could stump them!
"Hahaha, Brother Yuanjian, it seems that our appraisers this year are quite skilled. We probably won't be able to select the top ten without going all out."

The judges in the stands were laughing and joking when Immortal Yuanjian gave the order.

"Next, remove the existing spiritual items and replace them with rare and precious celestial treasures!" (End of Chapter)