"Learn to imagine?" Upon hearing Lin Qian’s words, the appraiser was stunned, apparently not understanding Lin Qian’s intention.
Lin Qian took the broken sword from the appraiser’s hands and, pointing to the break in the blade, said, "Master, please look, right in the center of the sword blade, there is a tiny hole."
"From the perspective of an artifact refiner, this hole was formed by a small attack piercing from the tip of the sword, creating this pattern on the center of the blade. The blade also shattered accordingly. I suppose that’s what you were thinking, Master?"
After Lin Qian finished speaking, the appraiser slightly nodded. Some artifact refiners in the crowd also nodded softly, viewing the small hole on the blade in the same way.
Artifact refiners certainly understand soul devices. Seeing the tiny hole and comparing the fragmented traces on the blade, it wasn’t difficult to infer that the force tearing the blade had burst from inside out.
Zhang Keren, who was watching from not far away, sneered twice upon hearing Lin Qian’s words.
This broken sword was what he had brought to sell at the Gambling Treasure Conference. The top artifact refiners and appraisers in his clan had already inspected it, and they had seen and judged the small hole in the same way.
Therefore, Zhang Keren also believed their judgement and, without repairing the broken sword, brought it to the Gambling Treasure Conference in its original unearthed state.
According to the rules of the Gambling Treasure Conference, anything meant for display must be presented in its original unearthed condition without any cleaning with spiritual liquid or repairs.
"What if this tiny hole is inherent to the sword itself?" Just then, Lin Qian suddenly asked the appraiser in front of him.
Lin Qian’s question left the appraiser standing stunned, staring blankly at him, unable to speak for a moment.
Not only the appraiser but also the artifact refiners in the crowd were frozen in place.
Find exclusive stories on NovelHub.Côm
Because Lin Qian’s question was something they had never considered before.
But if this tiny hole was originally part of the sword, then what was its purpose?
"The Path Within!" Just then, an artifact refiner from the Eight-Armed Sea Clan exclaimed in the crowd.
Hearing the artifact refiner’s exclamation, the term "The Path Within" began to form in the minds of the other refiners, as well as the appraiser facing Lin Qian.
"The Path Within" is a technique in artifact refining, where some soul devices’ materials inherently contain powerful forces.
To better utilize these forces, tiny pathways are created inside the soul device, allowing the force to have a direction and space to flow.
"The Path Within" is a stringent technique requiring specific materials and is not something ordinary artifact refiners can master.
At least, none of the artifact refiners present knew how to implement "The Path Within"; they simply knew of such a technique.
"If the tiny hole in this sword indeed forms an internal path made by ’The Path Within’ technique, then there must be powerful forces flowing through it. It’s likely that the sword shattered during a battle when it was subjected to an overly intense attack, causing the internal forces to burst out chaotically," the appraiser said, seemingly enlightened as if he had understood something.
While Lin Qian was talking, he reached for a jade bottle on the appraiser’s desk, "Exactly, hence, in this sword, there must be powerful forces embedded within the materials, in conjunction with ’The Path Within’."
Upon saying that, Lin Qian poured all the Dust Removal Water from the jade bottle onto the broken blade.
The Dust Removal Water flowed out of the jade bottle, as if disregarding the surrounding seawater, still streaming down, drenching the sword.
Washed by the Dust Removal Water, the ancient dirt on the broken sword was thoroughly rinsed away, and the traces of time lingering above were completely dispersed.
Just after the Dust Removal Water had cleansed the blade, the essence that had been concealed by the traces of time burst forth violently; powerful spatial fluctuations transmitted from the body of the sword, clearly felt by everyone.
Even the broken sword in Lin Qian’s hand caused the surrounding seawater to start collapsing and contracting, and occasionally, to expand.
At that moment, Lin Qian’s right hand condensed Soul Power into a chisel that broke through the water current, and he ferociously smashed it onto the translucent crystal at the base of the sword hilt.
Instantly, the point on the half-transparent crystal hit by Lin Qian’s Soul Power-formed chisel began to shatter, cracks gradually spreading until they covered the entire translucent crystal.
With a crisp breaking sound, the half-transparent crystal completely shattered, and a soft white light flickered; a fist-sized, crystal-clear crystal sprang forth.
Securely catching the fist-sized crystal, Lin Qian quietly held it, nodding satisfactorily: "Just as I thought, this crystal at the base of the sword hilt is simply a storage container used to hold the Space Stone. And this sword, utilizing the power of space, was crafted by an Artifact Refiner of remarkable skill."
Seeing the fist-sized Space Stone in Lin Qian’s hand, the gathering members of the Eight-Armed Sea Clan all inhaled seawater sharply, utterly shocked.
Fewer members of the Human Clan also looked eagerly at the transparent crystal in Lin Qian’s hand.
But one person’s face looked as terrible as if he had eaten excrement—that was Zhang Keren.
A Space Stone, a fist-sized Space Stone!
Such a large Space Stone, incredibly valuable, could surely sustain the entire Eight-Armed Sea Clan for a thousand years.
"Those relics originally yielded quite a bounty of treasures, how could the items extracted from them be of little value?" Thinking this, Zhang Keren’s heart bled.
Originally cooperating with the Bloodthirsty Hall to scheme against Lin Qian, it ended up backfiring miserably on himself.
Now, having thought he had successfully trapped the other party, he realized the person he truly trapped was himself.
Zhang Keren now understood why Lin Qian looked at him as if he were an idiot.
"If I were to sell this Space Stone to the Eight-Armed Sea Clan, how much would it fetch?" Meanwhile, Lin Qian held the Space Stone in front of the Appraiser, shook it slightly, and asked.
"Are you really going to sell?" Seeing Lin Qian actually intending to sell this fist-sized Space Stone entirely to their Eight-Armed Sea Clan, the Appraiser looked at him in surprise.
The Space Stone was indeed valuable, but Lin Qian wasn’t exactly in need of it; within the Huaxia Empire, there were quite a few Space Crystals of much better quality.
However, the Space Crystals were of too high quality, and Lin Qian wouldn’t sell them; such excellent materials were naturally reserved for his own use.
As for this Space Stone...
"Of course I’m selling it, after all, it was kindly given to me by someone else. Exchanging it for Soul Crystals is fine, and I won’t feel heartbroken, right, Clan Leader Zhang?" Saying this, Lin Qian revealed a benevolent smile, addressing Zhang Keren.