Chapter 19

Walking into the auction house, one could see a hall of astonishing size.

On both sides of the hall, there were wooden doors, with people occasionally entering and exiting.

Lin Yiming had just entered the auction house when a person dressed as a clerk bent over and ran over to him.

"Welcome, esteemed guest. May I ask if you have a treasure you wish us to auction, or are you here to select a treasure?"

"No, I'm here to find someone," Lin Yiming waved his hand and said, "Does your auction house have someone named Zhao Yongli?"

The clerk's demeanor was initially very polite, but upon hearing the name Zhao Yongli, he immediately became even more respectful: "You are looking for Master Zhao? Unfortunately, Master Zhao has been out for two days and is not currently at the auction house."

"Not at the auction house?" Lin Yiming shook his head. It seemed he would have to come another time. However, given Zhao Yongli's reputation and the scale of the auction house, he didn't think Zhao Yongli would cheat him out of his appraisal fee.

Lin Yiming sighed inwardly and turned to leave. But just as he had taken a few steps, a commotion arose. In the hall, four or five servants,簇拥着一个面色极其倨傲的年轻男子，非常张扬地走向了旁边的一个房间。

As they walked, they shouted loudly, as if they were afraid others wouldn't hear them.

"Master, today is the day of the appraiser's examination. This time, you will definitely become an appraiser!"

"Rubbish, how could Master fail? In our entire town, the only person who can become an appraiser before the age of thirty is our Master. No one else can do it."

"Once Master becomes an appraiser, Master's name will surely resound throughout the entire town."

The group of people shouted as they entered a room.

Lin Yiming, hearing their words, looked up curiously. Instantly, three large characters on the door of the room they entered caught his eye.

Appraiser Alliance.

Lin Yiming's heart stirred. Although he was an appraiser, he did not have the appraiser certification issued by the Appraiser Alliance.

In the past, when he went to the village to appraise items, many people did not pay him. But if he had the appraiser certification issued by the Appraiser Alliance, they would not dare to bully him and refuse to pay. If they did not pay, it would be a slight to the Appraiser Alliance, and they would be subject to the Appraiser Alliance's sanctions.

The Appraiser Alliance exists to protect the interests of appraisers. Even for the smallest matters, as long as they involve the interests of appraisers, the Appraiser Alliance will take action.

Of course, the matter must be related to appraising. For issues unrelated to appraising, the Appraiser Alliance will not intervene.

No matter how one looks at it, joining the Appraiser Alliance has many benefits. The only cost is the annual fee paid to the Appraiser Alliance to cover its daily expenses. Compared to the protection one receives from joining the Appraiser Alliance, these fees are negligible.

Since today is the day of the Appraiser Alliance's examination, why not participate?

Lin Yiming turned around and walked into the room of the Appraiser Alliance. Upon entering, he realized that although the rooms looked unremarkable from the outside, they were much larger inside than he had imagined.

There were not many people in the room. Apart from the young master Liu and his servants, as well as the people from the Appraiser Alliance, there were only two others. No one greeted Lin Yiming as he entered the room.

His eyes scanned the room, and Lin Yiming walked towards a man sitting behind a black wooden table.

Hearing someone enter, the man did not even look up. He casually threw a wooden token and pointed to the side, saying, "Here for the appraiser's examination? Go and queue up."

Saying this, the man lowered his head and continued to lean on the table.

Lin Yiming was not bothered by this and walked to the side to wait.

As he waited, five more people came to take the appraiser's examination.

After waiting for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the door to the room opened again, but this time it was the inner door.

A man in his sixties, accompanied by two men in their fifties, walked into the room. Behind them were a few people holding a transparent sphere, about the size of a soccer ball.

With the old man's appearance, the man who had been lying on the table struggled to his feet and stood to the side.

The old man took the sphere from the people behind him, placed it on the table, and looked at the man, saying, "You must have been tired yesterday. Leave the rest to us. Go back and rest."

The old man then turned his gaze to the group and said in a deep voice, "Since you are here for the appraiser's examination, you should know the rules. If you don't, leave. Now, the examination begins."

As the old man finished speaking, everyone stepped forward and each chose a sphere.

Lifting their hands to touch the transparent sphere, it immediately lit up, the bottom turning a light blue.

The only standard for the appraiser's examination is the amount of mental energy. The sphere in front of them is a tool to test mental energy. As long as one inputs their mental energy into it, the sphere will light up.

Lin Yiming had not communicated with other appraisers and did not know their strength. After standing still, he looked around.

He immediately noticed that for most people, the sphere only lit up a little, indicating that their mental energy was limited.

Lin Yiming pondered this to himself, but a few people around him spoke up directly.

"Coming for the examination with such little mental energy, how embarrassing."

"This person might just be here to entertain us, ha ha."

"Entertain us, but don't waste our time here."

The servants who had come with the young master Liu shouted loudly without any restraint, their faces full of mockery as they looked at the people being tested.

Lin Yiming glanced at them and then at the person in charge of the test. He noticed that the old man did not reprimand the young men. At this moment, he suddenly remembered a book he had read before, which contained notes on appraisers.

Some appraisers, when conducting examinations, never manage the order of the examination site. In their view, the standards for the appraiser's examination are somewhat low. However, if one can still pass the examination despite the influence of others, they barely qualify as an appraiser.

It seemed that this time, he had encountered such an appraiser.

There were nine people taking the examination this time. Those who came here to take the examination were clearly confident in themselves, but most of them could only light up about half of the sphere, which clearly did not meet the standards of an appraiser.