The siblings were frequent buyers of rare spiritual materials at the exchange, so the various races were familiar with them.
"And Di Tian of the Zhan clan, along with Hua Mancang of the Ling clan."
"For the grand finale of the treasure gamble, please bear witness." Teng Linger shouted, then gave her companions, four Earth Spirit Masters beside her, a look. They immediately began to hawk loudly.
The several dozen people nearby, knowing that Wu Tao and Teng Linger were gambling for treasure, all gathered around.
The treasure gambling was a best-of-seven matches, first to win four.
This exchange was a mix of the genuine and the fake. While many good items were hawked, they weren't as guaranteed to be real as those at auctions.
Many heavenly treasures were much cheaper than at auctions, but whether they had been tampered with depended on one's discerning eye.
There were simply too many tampered treasures, and even spiritual materials that could pass for the genuine article.
Wu Tao squatted down and approached a stall manned by a Nascent Soul cultivator of the Human race, meticulously sifting through the items.
There were many box-like jade containers on the stall. Several of them looked as though they had been dug out of tombs, with a lingering trace of Yin energy clinging to them.
With a sweep of his eyes, Wu Tao judged based on his experience that most of the treasures on this stall were unearthed from large tombs.
The true identity of this stall owner was self-evident.
"Treasures like these, buried as accompaniments, are quite tricky. Success or failure hinges entirely on luck. If you bet right, you'll earn a thousand-fold. But if you fail, you'll lose your entire investment..."
However, the more such stalls there were, the greater the chance of finding something truly valuable.
After careful consideration, Wu Tao put down a piece of ore he had high hopes for and picked up a bronze-colored stone. He tapped it, and it produced a resonant, heavy sound.
The Nascent Soul cultivator of the Human race stall owner raised a hand to stop him, indicating that Wu Tao couldn't tap it anymore. If he continued, the stall owner would have no business to conduct!
Within the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, Wu Tao had selected several boxes of treasures he deemed promising. He then stared at these boxes, a frown creasing his brow.
"Fei Wen Immortal Mark Stone, Nine Yin Cold Water, Hua Xing Jade. Which of these three treasures is the real one? Damn it, it's truly a damn puzzle."
"Fei Wen Immortal Mark Stone is one of the best materials for refining flying magical treasures. Its authenticity is determined by observing its patterns and texture."
"Nine Yin Cold Water is a common spiritual water of heaven and earth. Stimulated by Yin energy, it transforms into a more advanced Yin energy spiritual water."
"Ghost cultivators can refine their ghost bodies by consuming it, and with the aid of various Yin-attribute materials, they can forge a Yin-attribute divine ability."
"Hua Xing Jade is the most wondrous. It is formed from the fusion of supremely pure water and the turbid energy from the earth's depths. It is an indispensable material for refining shapeshifting magical treasures, its value immeasurable."
Wu Tao pondered for a moment, then secretly asked You Meng. He then chose the Fei Wen Immortal Mark Stone, which had the least value among the three but the greatest certainty of authenticity, and bought it from the Human Nascent Soul cultivator stall owner.
The stall owner's expression sharpened, thinking that this person had an extremely sharp eye.
The provenance of these three spiritual boxes was no simple matter. It was not easy to pick them out.
It was precisely because he himself could not ascertain their authenticity that he had placed them on the stall.
On the other side.
Teng Linger, now serious, activated her Myriad Law Immortal Spirit Eye and carefully selected divine ability pills from a stall belonging to a fellow Earth Spirit Master of her race.
After all, if she lost, it would be her own reputation on the line!
...
Among the Human race, alchemists held the most esteemed position in the hundred arts of cultivation, capable of accumulating immense spirit stones.
However, among the Ling race, the most prestigious skill was not that of an alchemist, but that of a Divine Ability Craftsman.
A Divine Ability Craftsman, as the name suggested, was skilled in forging, inheriting, and even creating divine abilities.
For instance, the corpse of a demonic beast at the Core Formation stage, when captured, would become raw material for pills or magical treasures in the hands of an alchemist or artifact refiner. But in the hands of a Divine Ability Craftsman, it would become a divine ability that could be inherited without needing to be learned.
Divine Ability Craftsmen could, through various means, extract divine abilities from the corpses of cultivators comparable to the Core Formation stage of various races.
However, the process was extremely complex, requiring the cooperation of a large number of precious materials. Even to forge the most common divine ability, at least dozens of materials were needed.
For example, to forge a fifth-grade divine ability, in addition to a complete corpse, at least twenty to thirty materials were required for a certain chance of success.
The result of success was a Divine Ability Light.
The forging of divine abilities not only stripped away the inheritance and usage of the divine ability but also the cultivator's lifetime of comprehension.
Once consumed and refined, it was equivalent to having spent decades cultivating that divine ability. Its price was extremely high, and it circulated only within the Ling race, rarely appearing among other races.
Any Divine Ability Light forged was at least a ninth-grade divine ability, each one worth ten thousand spirit stones.
Tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, were not uncommon.
All these factors contributed to the unparalleled status of Divine Ability Craftsmen.
"And this Ling race stall owner's stall, with its many sealed boxes of Divine Ability Light, was unearthed from an ancient Ling race ruin!"
Due to the passage of time, the Divine Ability Light in many of the boxes had disappeared.
Therefore, being able to select boxes that still contained Divine Ability Light from these sealed containers was also a test of one's keen eyesight.
"It's all a gamble now. Come on, I, Teng Linger, am the best!" Teng Linger encouraged herself.
The Teng family was the strongest family among the Ling race, one of the twelve royal clans.
The twelve royal clans of Teng, Miao, Hua, Fang, Yu, Liu, Wu, Meng, Huang, Yin, Shao, and Qi ruled the Ling race.
As the foremost of the twelve royal clans, the Teng family had produced six Spirit Kings comparable to the Violet Mansion stage.
Therefore, Teng Linger's abilities were extraordinary.
After careful selection, Teng Linger chose a box with mysterious patterns.
...
After Wu Tao and Teng Linger had both selected their treasures, they invited the surrounding crowd to appraise them.
After the appraisal by the crowd, Wu Tao's selected Fei Wen Immortal Mark Stone was confirmed to be genuine.
As the best material for refining flying magical treasures, the Fei Wen Immortal Mark Stone was worth eight thousand spirit stones.
On Teng Linger's side, the box she chose, containing a Divine Ability Light, was also genuine. Da Feng Novel Network.
The Divine Ability Light inside the box was the sixth-grade divine ability, Thunder Light Purple Electric Slash.
It was forged from various thunder-attribute materials, extracting a divine ability from a corpse comparable to the Core Formation stage and sealing it into a Divine Ability Light.
Once this Divine Ability Light was swallowed, it could be refined into one's own divine ability.
"Therefore, this Divine Ability Light is a rare complete preservation!"
"This sixth-grade divine ability, Thunder Light Purple Electric Slash, is sufficient for a Core Formation cultivator for daily self-protection!"
"Furthermore, thunder-attribute divine abilities are inherently more powerful than ordinary divine abilities. Thus, its value is higher than Wu Tao's selected Fei Wen Immortal Mark Stone!"
In the first round of the treasure gamble, Teng Linger won, and Wu Tao lost.
...
"Big brother, you must have a divine ability similar to an eye, right? To find the genuine article among a pile of fakes is truly impressive. Unfortunately, you encountered me. My Myriad Law Immortal Spirit Eye can also see through deception."
"Moreover, I have practiced similar secret techniques. Your eye divine ability is no match for me and can only surrender."
Wu Tao's face darkened like a pot lid. He replied word by word, "So it's the Myriad Law Immortal Spirit Eye, no wonder..."
"However, little sister, you've only won one match. Isn't it a bit too arrogant to draw conclusions so early?"
On the other side, the newly arrived onlookers inquired from others about the cause, process, and outcome of this treasure gamble.
"It is said that these two are in conflict over a peculiar cat. The Ling race girl is forcefully trying to take it away, and the Human cultivator is unwilling to sell, hence the conflict."
"They have already competed once. One selected the Fei Wen Immortal Mark Stone, and the other selected a Divine Ability Light!"
"Fei Wen Immortal Mark Stone, Divine Ability Light..." someone exclaimed in shock.
Here.
Wu Tao, having lost a match, said to You Meng, "It seems we've really met our match today. We've already lost one round, so the way we gamble for treasure needs to change. We can't play it safe anymore..."
"Now we can only bet on the highest value items. The winner is decided by winning four out of seven matches. The loser not only has to give up all the treasures they've uncovered but also compensate you. If that's the case, we'll be at too much of a disadvantage!"
"The stall owner, Wen Shi, has a batch of treasures found in a ruin. This information is very accurate, and I obtained it at a great cost."
"The original owner of the ruin was a powerful cultivator at the Violet Mansion stage, so these treasures might contain top-tier immortal items!"
"Only then can I win back a round."
"Meow meow, you call that? Don't think too highly of things. Have you considered that if you can think of it, how could others not?"
"If this is true, why would they sell these treasures? Wouldn't it be better for them to appraise them themselves..."
You Meng rolled her eyes at Wu Tao and spoke, her words intended to dampen his enthusiasm.
Wu Tao sneered and replied, "They dare not. Because it is an order from the City Lord of Tongguan City. In Tongguan City, no one dares to disobey the City Lord's command unless they wish to die."
It turned out that because the exchange auction was about to begin, the City Lord of Tongguan City had ordered the factions who had previously obtained treasures from ruins to release some of them to liven up the auction atmosphere.
...
Wen Shi's stall contained a wide variety of wondrous treasures.
Some were shaped like lotuses, some like ginseng, and some were even like fruits. Of course, there were also ordinary-looking treasures that resembled stones...
Wu Tao's eyes immediately fell on the treasure that resembled ginseng. Unlike those of other races,
Among the Human race, it was generally accepted that the human form was the closest to the Great Dao. Therefore, he paid more attention to those wondrous treasures that resembled human forms.