After working for both the righteous and demonic factions, I became a big shot.

Mo Wuyai unfolded two sheets of paper and first read out Xue Wuhen's answer: "Broken sword, fifty spirit stones; bronze mirror, thirty spirit stones; two old tokens, fifteen spirit stones each; three pieces of broken jade, twenty spirit stones in total; iron lump, two hundred spirit stones, for a total of three hundred and thirty spirit stones."

Someone in the audience whispered, "I think this estimate is pretty accurate; that lump of iron probably really has something inside."

Mo Wuyai unfolded Shen An's paper again and read aloud: "Broken sword, forty spirit stones; bronze mirror, twenty spirit stones; two old tokens, one for ten spirit stones and the other for thirty spirit stones; three pieces of broken jade, a total of fifteen spirit stones; iron lump, three hundred and fifty spirit stones. Total: four hundred and sixty-five spirit stones."

Xue Wuhen raised an eyebrow slightly.

Mo Wuyai didn't say much. He bent down, picked up the rusty broken sword, and scanned it with his divine sense: "The material is average. It contains a small amount of black iron, but it is severely corroded. It is worth about forty spirit stones."

Shen An guessed correctly.

The bronze mirror was similar; Shen An guessed twenty, Xue Wuhen guessed thirty, and Mo Wuyai judged Shen An to be more accurate.

After examining the two old tokens for a while, Mo Wuyai said, "This one is an ordinary outer sect token, not worth much, about ten spirit stones. The other one has some old patterns on it, it should be a clan token from a small family a hundred years ago, it has a higher collection value, about thirty spirit stones."

Three pieces of broken jade. Mo Wuyai shook his head: "The quality is too poor, they're basically worthless, about ten spirit stones in total."

Mo Wuyai picked up the last piece of iron, weighed it in his hand, and then used his divine sense to examine it for a moment before putting it down and saying, "The outer layer is iron, and inside is a small piece of red copper essence. It's in good condition and worth about three hundred and ninety spirit stones."

The entire room fell silent once again.

No one questioned the fairness of the match, since the judge was Elder Mo Wuyai, a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator, whose reputation was quite good.

Of course, even if Mo Wuyai subtly favored Shen An, no one would know.

Xue Wuhen stood there, looking at his own paper filled with numbers, then at Shen An's almost entirely correct answers, and remained silent for a long time before suddenly laughing:

"I've only just realized that there's always someone better, Junior Brother Shen. You're amazing. I've lost."

Shen An didn't explain much, but simply folded the paper with the answer written on it and put it into his sleeve: "Junior brother was just a little lucky. Senior brother, as we said before, I admit defeat. Thank you for your guidance, senior brother."

Shen An naturally knew his true skill level. The recycling price that the system displayed every time he picked up an item was the most accurate valuation. All he had to do was write that number down on paper.

So he honestly jumped off the ring, which earned him another round of praise.

Although he didn't make it into the top eight, in everyone's eyes, Shen An had actually made it into the top eight.

...........

Three more days passed before the thrilling inner sect competition finally ended, and Shen An naturally became the new star of the Divine Demon Sect.

Today is the day of the awards ceremony, and Shen An received an invitation early on. He was given a seat on the stage.

You should know that this is a place where only the top eight can get to, but this time there are nine people, and Shen An is also considered to be among the top eight.

The awards ceremony was held on the main arena in the very center of Yanwu Peak, making it even more grand than the day the Inner Sect Grand Competition officially began.

Flags from various peaks were planted around the platform, and disciples stood on both sides of the steps, holding trays covered with red silk, making it look quite like a grand sect ceremony.

Shen An saw from afar that Fairy Lanyue was sitting at the very edge of the elders' seat, cracking a spirit melon seed in her hand. When she saw him looking over, she even raised her chin at him, as if to say, "Don't be a coward while standing still."

Shen An was led to the stage by the disciple in charge and placed in the seat furthest to the side.

The eight people in front of him, some standing and some sitting, were all powerful individuals at the late Golden Core stage or even half-step Nascent Soul stage. Their expressions varied when they saw Shen An come up.

Some people nodded slightly as a greeting, some glanced at him and then looked away, while others looked at him a few more times with a hint of curiosity in their expressions. Xue Wuhen was the most enthusiastic one.

Shen An didn't mind, stood in his assigned spot, and waited for the ceremony to begin.

The Grand Elder was the last to take the stage.

He walked to the center of the stage, glanced around, and without much small talk, steered the conversation directly to the upcoming inner sect competition, especially emphasizing the unexpected surprise that had occurred.

Shen An, a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, made it all the way to the top eight. Although he didn't actually make it into the top eight, his performance on the field and his handling of situations off the field were impeccable. It is hoped that the disciples of the sect can learn from him.

A few scattered claps of applause rang out from the audience.

Shen An stood at the very edge, a polite and humble smile on his face, silently thinking about his goals for the day.

The rewards are selected in descending order of importance. After the first eight people have received their rewards, the remaining ones will naturally be his.

The first prize was quickly brought out: a long sword entirely crimson, with faint fire patterns flowing across its blade.

Someone in the audience gasped; they were clearly knowledgeable.

The Grand Elder looked at the half-step Nascent Soul Saint Son candidate, who was also the champion of this competition: "Zhou Xuan, you choose first."

Without much hesitation, Zhou Xuan stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "This disciple chooses this sword."

After Zhou Xuan, it was Liu Wuxiang's turn. He chose the second item, a bottle of pills sealed in a jade box.

The third round, the fourth round...

Shen An stood quietly at the back, watching the people in front of her take away one good item after another, her expression remaining calm throughout.

Until only two prizes remain.

One item was a pill, of a decent grade, but noticeably inferior to the previous items.

The other item was a yellowed parchment scroll, tied with a dark red silk thread, the edges of which were already somewhat worn.

The Grand Elder glanced at the parchment scroll and added, "This scroll contains a fragment of an ancient sword manual. Its origin is unknown. The sect had it appraised and confirmed that it is a fragment of a sword cultivation technique, but its grade is unclear and its content is incomplete, so it was not included in the list of rare items."

"But an elder skilled in sword cultivation has already examined it and concluded that this item is extraordinary and can lead directly to the Sword Immortal realm."

That parchment scroll is the incomplete sword manual that Feng Qingyu wanted!

Shen An's heart skipped a beat for a moment, but her expression remained unchanged.

The senior brother in the late Golden Core stage pointed to the bottle of pills without hesitation: "This disciple chooses this one."

After the elixir was taken away, only one prize remained on the stage: a dusty, yellowed parchment scroll with worn edges.

"If you don't want it, I can give you another item." The elder was not one to bully people. He had brought out this scroll more to entice people to make a move, but he didn't expect that the person he was waiting for would not make a move.

All eyes were on Shen An.

Shen An stood on the stage in silence for three breaths before saying, "Everything has its own destiny, so I will choose this one."

The elder thought for a moment, looked around, but still no one made a move.

"Why don't you choose another one?"

He still wanted to use this for fishing.

But Shen An wore an expression that said, "This disciple wishes to comprehend this."

The elder reluctantly agreed, "Fine, since we didn't succeed in fishing, let's just leave it at that."

He was very well prepared this time.

There was a moment of silence in the audience, then someone whispered, "Why did he choose that one?"

"Didn't they say it could be exchanged?"

Shen An stepped forward and picked up the parchment scroll from the tray.

It feels light and flimsy, with some slightly yellowed areas, so it doesn't look like anything valuable.

He put it into his storage bag very naturally, without looking at it for long or lingering, as if he had just casually put in something no one wanted.

What he didn't know was that Feng Qingyu had already learned about his actions.

........