Chapter 4

Chen Shaojun's eyes sparkled, revealing a deep longing.

Naturally, he hoped to become a powerful person with the ability to slay demons and eliminate evil.

There was no way around it.

For someone who had been bombarded with various martial arts novels and movies since childhood, the allure was simply too strong. It was like a fairy-like beauty standing in front of you, looking at you with affection; it would be hard not to ask, "Do we know each other?"

And in this world, there were indeed channels to cultivate and practice martial arts.

The Daoist Academy.

Martial Arts Schools.

These were places where ordinary people could learn Daoist and martial techniques.

"However,

it is said that the tuition fees are very expensive.

Moreover, both martial arts schools and the Daoist Academy have requirements for their students.

At the very least, one must have a clean background."

Chen Shaojun frowned.

Not to mention the tuition fees, which he could not afford at the moment.

Just the requirement of a clean background alone was enough to keep him out.

Signing a contract of servitude, where life and death were not in one's own hands, certainly did not count as having a clean background.

"So, in the end, I need to regain my freedom as soon as possible."

Chen Shaojun sighed.

Ultimately, he had to bear the consequences of his predecessor's actions.

He had thought about relying on the Spirit Mirror.

However, the Spirit Mirror had only appeared once, and after that, he searched his entire body but could not find where it was hidden. Despite using all means to summon it, he failed, fearing that it might have vanished like a fleeting glimpse, never to be seen again. This left him somewhat uneasy.

"Fortunately, there are ways to remove one's servitude status.

In the Lin Family Pawnshop, there are three official appraisers. The highest-ranking one, Qin Dachao, rarely appears. The second appraiser, Dai Ming, has a cold face and is hard to approach.

Only the third appraiser, Zhang Gao, is more talkative.

According to him, once an apprentice appraiser advances to an official appraiser, the Lin family will reward them with a grant.

Removing servitude status and regaining freedom is just one of the rewards.

His predecessor also used this method to remove his servitude status, significantly changing his identity and status."

Chen Shaojun calmed himself, knowing that this was actually a means for the pawnshop to win people's hearts.

However, it was also one of the reasons why his predecessor, and even most apprentice appraisers, did not flee after learning about the dangers of the profession.

Becoming an official appraiser is very difficult.

Among these apprentice appraisers, few are likely to persist until that point.

But at least there was hope.

Especially after they had been there for half a year and their Divine Gaze technique had become more profound, the hope of becoming an official appraiser was clearly visible.

Everyone harbored a侥幸心理, believing they would not fall before success...

Ironically,

Chen Shaojun also thought this way now.

...

The next day.

Room 7 for Appraisal.

Chen Shaojun was assigned another item to appraise.

This time, it was a small, color-streaked bead, oval-shaped, somewhat like a jade button but different.

Due to the incident the previous day, one of the official appraisers appeared today.

It was Dai Ming, the second appraiser among the three in the Lin Family Pawnshop, who was also their nominal master.

He specifically advised that during the appraisal, if one wanted to guard against possible dangers, they could try lighting a candle in the southeast corner. If the candle went out, they should immediately stop the appraisal without hesitation.

If the candle flickered or moved up and down, they should handle it with caution.

In fact, Chen Shaojun and the other apprentice appraisers had known this method before.

In addition to lighting a candle, burning incense to ward off evil was also a method.

It was said that this method was summarized by the older generation of appraisers based on countless appraisal experiences.

However, a candle cost three coins, and the cheapest bamboo incense cost one coin each, which was quite expensive and had to be borne by themselves, so the apprentice appraisers gradually abandoned this practice.

After all, they tried to save where they could.

But now, no one dared to be careless.

So this time, Chen Shaojun also lit a candle in the southeast corner.

He also took three sticks of incense and lit them one by one.

Better safe than sorry.

Chen Shaojun never joked with his life.

Seeing the candle flame bright and the bamboo incense burning, he finally began his work.

However, he did not notice that both the candle and the bamboo incense left a thin layer unburned when they went out.

He calmed his mind and focused, looking and observing.

The Divine Gaze technique was smoothly cast.

A pair of divine lights, as if substantial, clearly illuminated the bead.

At the same time, the aura was drawn in.

In a daze, Chen Shaojun saw an arrow, swift as lightning, piercing towards his eyes.

"This is the killing aura of archery."

His face changed drastically, and he suddenly felt a pain in his eyes, as if his head had been struck by a boulder, leaving him dazed.

This was the danger that appraisers faced when using the Divine Gaze technique to appraise items.

The Divine Gaze appraisal was a mental battle.

Under mental stimulation, all the aura changes, yin energy, sha energy, ghost energy, and killing aura within the item would be triggered and immediately rush towards the appraiser.

Either the appraiser would be injured by the various auras, or the auras would be extinguished, and the item would reveal its true brilliance and function.

After a while, he came to his senses, his face somewhat pale.

He never expected that the bead contained a killing aura of archery.

If it weren't for the Essence Nourishing Pill he had taken the previous day, which had refined his essence and spirit, he might not have been able to withstand it and would have ended up like Zhang Wang.

Before he could feel relieved, the Spirit Mirror appeared, and the bead's image was clearly recorded.

The Spirit Mirror traced the source.

In a daze, Chen Shaojun felt his thoughts being pulled through countless times, clearly "seeing" the bead transform.

It turned into an eye, and the owner of the eye was an eagle.

The eagle soared through the sky, over mountains and seas, enjoying the wonders of the world, free and easy.

Of course, it also encountered predators and saw creatures much larger and stronger than itself.

One day, while flying low over a village, it was about to catch some gentle poultry when an arrow suddenly shot through the sky.

With a "pu" sound, it pierced the eagle's eye.

Subsequently, the eye fell and landed in a courtyard, where it was weathered by time and infused with aura, transforming into a bead, which was eventually picked up by a young boy.

The boy polished the bead daily, making it smoother, but his health gradually deteriorated, and he often woke up from nightmares.

Finally, his father discovered it.

The boy's father was a traveling merchant with some knowledge, and he quickly sent the bead to the pawnshop.

...

The image disappeared, and the entire history of the bead, its transformations, and the people who handled it, all appeared in Chen Shaojun's mind.

At the same time, the Spirit Mirror provided the appraisal and evaluation.

Eagle's Eye, Ordinary Grade, can be used with spirit spring water to improve vision, sharpen the eyes, and treat eye diseases.