Lin Qian’s new ability was very straightforward: as long as he willed it, everything his eyes saw could be transmitted to the Huaxia Empire.
At the same time, any data observed with his Soul Power could also be sent to the Huaxia Empire.
Of course, this data transmission was one-way; it only happened when Lin Qian wished it to.
Hence, when Lin Qian had observed the damaged Pill Furnace in Zhang Zide’s hands, he had conveyed what he saw to a small sub-department of the Heavenly Art Department in the Huaxia Empire.
For an affair of this level, even a minor department could comprehensively identify it. So it was not that Lin Qian had an exceptionally keen eye; after all, he wasn’t omnipotent. But behind him, he had the full support of an entire Empire that belonged to him.
With this method, Lin Qian could certainly be considered a master appraiser! Although Zhang Zide had made a loss again, with his disposition, he didn’t mind. Instead, he looked at Lin Qian excitedly, "Brother Lin, since you have such discernment, why not join me on a treasure hunt?"
Seeing Zhang Zide’s excited demeanor, Lin Qian nodded and then asked curiously, "Logically speaking, Brother Zhang, you treasure hunt for fun, not caring about profit or loss, right? If I help you, where would the fun be for you?"
Li Yunfeng, who was nearby, revealed a look of astonishment upon hearing Zhang Zide’s invitation.
The Carefree Sect had always been steadfast allies with the Eight-Armed Sea Clan, and as such, Zhang Zide and Li Yunfeng knew each other from childhood and understood one another very well.
Just like how Zhang Zide disliked others helping him with treasure hunting since it was his interest, purely for the enjoyment of the process.
Now to have Lin Qian help was extremely rare, almost inconceivable.
Suddenly, Li Yunfeng seemed to think of something and turned to look at Zhang Zide, "Hey, it’s not the Gambling Treasure Conference, is it?"
Hearing Li Yunfeng’s query, Zhang Zide nodded with a smile, "Yes, it’s the Gambling Treasure Conference."
"So, that’s why you’ve changed your approach, letting Brother Lin assist in appraising treasures. It turns out you’re preparing for the Gambling Treasure Conference indeed. It’s not really a place for mere play," Li Yunfeng said with a smile as Zhang Zide confirmed.
Gambling Treasure Conference — Lin Qian, listening to the conversation between Zhang Zide and Li Yunfeng, didn’t know what the Gambling Treasure Conference was.
But now, the Huaxia Empire had acquired so many texts; among them, there must be records about it.
Lin Qian turned his head, and a golden system panel appeared in front of him. He sent an instruction to the Heavenly Art Department to compile information about the Gambling Treasure Conference.
In just a moment, lines of text appeared before Lin Qian, displaying content about the Gambling Treasure Conference.
On the Soul Martial Continent, the gathering that attracted many forces to compete to purchase items was naturally an auction.
Whether large or small, auctions were about flaunting one’s financial power, a genuine clash of wealth.
In contrast, the Gambling Treasure Conference was all about luck and whether one’s eyes were sharp enough.
Unlike in auctions, the items for sale at the Gambling Treasure Conference were all damaged relics that had seen a certain number of years, making it hard for people to discern their true value.
If you took a fancy to an item, you could offer a purchase price.
Perhaps after it was restored, it would be worth far more than the buying price, earning you a fortune.
Conversely, it could be worthless after restoration, resulting in a massive loss.
Therefore, whether one would profit or not was entirely a matter of luck and judgement.
The Gambling Treasure Conference could potentially bankrupt someone overnight or make one incredibly rich!
That was the nature of the Gambling Treasure Conference.
Treasure hunting on Houhai Street with Zhang Zide’s wealth wouldn’t hurt too much even with some losses, so he could afford to play and indulge in his interests.
However, the Gambling Treasure Conference was different — losses there could be substantial.
Moreover, the vendors on Houhai Street were mostly young members of the Eight-Armed Sea Clan and the Human Clan.
But at the Gambling Treasure Conference, many significant figures would attend. The genius participants from various Clan competitions might also join in for the excitement and to try their luck.
Before that, Zhang Zide wanted to see just how accurate Lin Qian’s eyes were.
Thus, Zhang Zide took Lin Qian to Houhai Street as a trial ground to see how much they could earn from treasure hunting.
But Zhang Zide could never have anticipated that with each stall Lin Qian visited, he would scan the items with his eyes, transmitting the images of each object to the Huaxia Empire.
Inside the Huaxia Empire, in a small subdivision of the Heavenly Art Department, a thousand scholars had begun analyzing the items captured in the images.
They then promptly sent their analytical results to their Emperor.
With the results in hand, Lin Qian would naturally buy the items discreetly, haggling the price along the way.
If there were items that the scholars of the Heavenly Art Department couldn’t verify from the images alone, Lin Qian would handle them and caress them with a trace of Soul Power, sending the information to the Huaxia Empire for confirmation.
In this manner, Lin Qian and his companions continued until late at night when Houhai Street closed, leaving with one hundred and sixty-three treasures.
After leaving Houhai Street, Zhang Zide and Li Yunfeng led Lin Qian to the northern part of Coral Island, entering a mansion there.
This mansion was a temporary warehouse annex of the Eight-Armed Sea Clan, where points earned from Clan competitions were exchanged for items.
You could exchange in advance here or after the Clan competition in Saint City.
Some participants would exchange their points for Pills to cultivate and increase their strength after a few victories, hoping to go further in the competition.
Others, confident in their prowess, would accumulate their points and wait till the end of the competition to exchange for something of higher value all at once.
Zhang Zide did not bring him here to exchange points but to have the treasures they had found appraised and sold by the managing elder, converting them into Soul Crystals to participate in the Gambling Treasure Conference.
The elder in charge had a particularly discerning eye. He could naturally make out the true value of the items from Houhai Street.
But the valuation he presented left Zhang Zide dumbfounded.
"Thirty-six million top-grade Soul Crystals, are you sure?" Zhang Zide looked at the storage ring in his hand, then incredulously asked the elder in front of him.
The appraising elder confirmed with a nod, saying to Zhang Zide, "How could I possibly be mistaken? You should know this too, young Clan Leader Zhang."
After repeatedly confirming he wasn’t dreaming, Zhang Zide’s hand holding the storage ring trembled.
Because those items had cost him slightly over a million mid-grade Soul Crystals in total, meaning just over ten thousand top-grade Soul Crystals.
Thinking about this, Zhang Zide couldn’t help but turn to look at Lin Qian, his eyes shining.
With Brother Lin on his side, this time’s Gambling Treasure Conference was going to be a windfall!