Chapter 110: Chapter 106: Behind the Scenes

Time passed quickly, and half an hour was nearly insufficient for so many questions.

Besides the questions, there were also ten items needing their appraisal!

These ten items were carefully selected by the Pavilion, either replicas or materials with unknown origins, making them extremely difficult to discern, which truly tested their eyesight.

Moreover, each person’s test paper and items to be identified were different.

There would be different emphases.

For instance, Li An chose the main categories of the Pill and Talisman, so his test paper and items to be identified were mostly focused on these, while other knowledge such as Artifact Refining was only looked at briefly.

Many of the potential candidates nurtured by the Treasure Pavilion since childhood were now anxiously tense.

This “examination” was extremely important. Once successful, they could be recognized as a “Quasi-Treasure Appraiser,” and after two to three years of learning under the old Artifact Evaluators in the Pavilion, they could truly become Appraisers.

Whether the carp could leap over the dragon gate depended entirely on this time.

“Time’s up, put down your pens—”

In a blink, the half-hour was over.

The lady responsible for distributing the papers glanced around, and everyone in the hall stopped writing.

She collected the test papers one by one and said, “The Pavilion will immediately evaluate the papers. You may choose to leave or wait for the results.”

Everyone naturally stayed in the examination hall to wait for the results.

…

At this moment.

In a room of the Treasure Pavilion.

Three old men were already sitting calmly.

They were the Appraisers of the Treasure Pavilion, responsible for evaluating this time’s papers.

Test papers were brought forth one by one.

The three of them cross-examined quickly.

“Indeed, Lu Hua really lives up to being the descendant of a renowned family, so young yet so knowledgeable…”

One of the Appraisers smiled, “He only left two questions unanswered on his paper, and among the identification questions, only one mistake; he’s very likely to succeed—”

This Appraiser was named Gao Feng.

The other slim Appraiser, Hua Ming, said, “Hmm, Zheng Xiaoxiao is also quite good, seemingly even a bit stronger than Lu Hua. She got only one question wrong in the theoretical part and only one mistake in the identification portion. Both of them should be able to…”

They each deliberately named someone!

It’s no other reason but that this year they are examiners, but in two or three years, they will have to step down, and given the current situation in the Pavilion, the likely future examiners will be the elders of Lu Hua and Zheng Xiaoxiao!

Opening the door for others now means others might open doors for them later.

Actually, Song Mingzhang also had influence within the Pavilion and was also on good terms with them.

But unfortunately, Song Mingzhang could not hold out anymore; his time was ending, and he could not help them in the future.

“But this test paper…”

At this moment, the third old man beside them raised an eyebrow, “Not a single mistake on this paper…”

Hua Ming and Gao Feng were both shocked, somewhat incredulous, not a single mistake?

They quickly took it to take a closer look.

Sure enough, these questions…

All correct!

Both of them were quite stunned.

The given questions this time were graded by difficulty, and even the last one or two questions, including the items, were challenging enough that even a genuine Artifact Evaluator could have mistakes and misidentify.

Yet, someone got them all correct…

“Zuo Wen!”

Gao Feng furrowed his brow, “Who is this person?”

Hua Ming said, “Seems like someone brought by Old Song…”

The two exchanged glances with a look of mutual understanding.

They saw the same two words in each other’s eyes: Trouble!

…

In the examination hall.

Li An appeared calm but paid close attention to everyone’s expressions in the room.

Lu Hua and Zheng Xiaoxiao caught his attention.

It was simple, they were too composed.

Everyone else was nervous and uneasy.

Only those two seemed full of confidence, chatting and laughing.

This composure and calmness seemed very unusual to Li An.

When answering the papers just now, those two also did so extremely quickly.

There are a few possibilities—

One is that the two didn’t care about this assessment at all, maintaining a good mindset—but this is almost impossible.

The second is the two knew that there was no risk for them in this assessment, they would successfully “land”—a very likely possibility.

On what basis could they be so confident in passing?

One was their particularly strong capability.

The second was…

Moreover, so much time had passed now, evaluating the paper should not take this long.

Unless, the evaluators encountered a problem?

He calmly stood up and left the examination room.

The assessment was over, so he could leave freely without obstruction.

After asking for directions, Li An found his way to the Artifact Evaluating room where Song Mingzhang was.

“You’re here,”

Song Mingzhang felt very pleased seeing Li An, “Have the results come out yet?”

He had a lot of confidence in Li An!

Simply because, in the Pavilion, whether it be the direct descendants of other Appraisers or the candidates nurtured since childhood, he roughly had a sense that no one was as excellent as Li An!

Li An closed the door and saluted, “Senior, I have some concerns and would like to seek your assistance…”

…

“So you’re saying the references were wrong? Zuo Wen’s paper wasn’t entirely correct?”

The elder who discovered Li An’s paper looked at Gao Feng and Hua Ming.

Gao Feng said calmly, “Exactly, among the ten items he had, there should be two with issues.”

Gao Feng himself was an Appraiser specializing in Pills, and for all candidates choosing Pill as their main identification path, he set the questions and arranged the items for identification.

Saying this, Hua Ming also echoed, “Then it seems the items were misplaced, probably a mistake by the people below… let’s postpone the evaluation today, not release results yet, confirm after we’ve investigated, okay?”

The emergence of the dark horse Li An took them by surprise.

They could only use a delaying tactic first.

And then think of a way slowly.

The third Appraiser, named Jin Taoyuan, naturally sensed something was wrong, but if he spoke against them, he’d have to offend four Appraisers!

Though he had a good relationship with Old Song, Song was near his end and couldn’t offer any help in the future…

So, he had no choice but to nod.

But at that moment, there came a sudden knock on the door—

In walked a graceful and charming woman, followed closely by two attendants.

“Greetings to Deputy Mo!”

The three rose rapidly to salute her.

The countenances of Gao Feng and Hua Ming slightly changed, why did she come here?

Deputy Mo, named Mo Rong.

She was the “Deputy Artifact Evaluator” in the Treasure Pavilion.

Appraisers were classified into three kinds:

Ordinary Appraisers like Hua Ming, Gao Feng, and Song Mingzhang, totaling ten, each with their own specialty.

Deputy Appraisers like Mo Rong, Zhou Ying, Xu Changkong, totaling three.

And one Chief Appraiser!

Positions and status were different.

Generally, in the assessment phase, Deputy Appraisers wouldn’t interfere. Only when one becomes a Quasi-Treasure Appraiser under training, the Deputy Appraisers would come out to guide, etc.

“With some free time, I thought I’d see if there were any geniuses among this round of examinees?”

Mo Rong smiled gently, her face beautiful and elegant, carrying a composed and confident aura, “May I look at the test papers?”

Hua Ming and Gao Feng both had a fleeting fear in their eyes, but couldn’t refuse.

Mo Rong immediately sat down, browsed through several test papers, and then picked up Li An’s exam paper.

“Huh? Fully correct…”

She couldn’t help but smile.

…

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