Chapter 278 – The Value of Alchemy Weapons

“Alchemical weapons? So many?”

Seeing the sudden appearance of numerous alchemical weapons, the Appraiser was astonished.

Not only the Appraiser, but even Manager Yu’s eyes revealed a trace of surprise.

As the manager of Tianfeng City’s largest auction house, Manager Yu was certainly no stranger to alchemical weapons, nor to large quantities of them.

Not to mention the Third Floor of the auction house, even on the first floor, dozens of alchemical weapons were auctioned off daily.

The approximately dozen alchemical weapons Su Ming brought out couldn’t even match the Wanbao Auction House’s daily transaction volume on the first floor.

But numbers couldn’t be calculated that way.

While the Wanbao Auction House auctioned many alchemical weapons, they didn’t come from a single individual.

Those alchemical weapons were either accumulated piece by piece through the auction house’s acquisitions from others, or came from bulk transactions with major organizations.

Situations like Su Ming’s, where one person brought over a dozen alchemical weapons for trade—Manager Yu wouldn’t dare say it never happened, but this was indeed his first time witnessing it.

Or perhaps this gentleman was merely a representative, and this batch of goods was actually sent by a major organization behind him?

But then how to explain his earlier feat of materializing items from thin air?

Manager Yu’s mind was filled with countless thoughts.

Su Ming, however, acted as if he hadn’t noticed any of this, calmly asking with complete composure.

“Please appraise these first.”

Su Ming also appeared quite enthusiastic.

These alchemical weapons included some he had obtained from packages, and others collected from underground the Ruins in Longyao City.

One must remember that during that incident, Su Ming had eliminated many Upper-Rank Professionals of 『Sin』.

Those Upper-Rank Professionals weren’t as impoverished as those in Longyao City—each possessed at least one alchemical weapon, some even two.

After eliminating them, Su Ming naturally didn’t miss the opportunity to claim these easily acquired treasures, directly taking all the alchemical weapons from their bodies.

Now, Su Ming had displayed them together with the alchemical weapons he obtained from packages, wanting to see exactly how many Contribution Points they were worth.

Prompted by Su Ming’s words, the Appraiser immediately snapped back to attention.

“In that case, please allow me to examine them.”

The Appraiser stepped forward solemnly and picked up a sword-type alchemical weapon.

“This sword lacks luster in color, uses somewhat mixed materials, and isn’t the masterpiece of any Great Master. While its performance meets standards—it would be a treasure for lower-rank Professionals—among Upper-Rank Professionals, it’s only suitable for about Four-Star Hunters. Five-Star Hunters would find it somewhat inadequate.”

The old man indeed had sharp eyes—with just a brief inspection, he could basically determine this alchemical weapon’s value.

However, his assessment made Su Ming somewhat embarrassed.

A weapon that could be used by Four-Star Hunters was considered not particularly impressive in this old man’s evaluation. It seemed the Wanbao Auction House’s standards were higher than he had imagined. There was good reason it could become the largest auction house in Tianfeng City—this world’s center, Human Sanctuary, and paradise for Professionals.

While Su Ming was reflecting on this, the Appraiser quoted a price.”The quality of this alchemical weapon is Low Grade. If you wish to sell it directly, we can offer 3,000 Contribution Points. If you prefer to auction it, it qualifies for placement on the Second Floor.”

The Appraiser relayed this information to Manager Yu.

Su Ming was already familiar with the market practices of Wanbao Auction House.

At Wanbao Auction House, the First Floor auctions primarily catered to lower-rank Professionals, featuring items considered treasures by them. Occasionally, Upper-Rank Professionals would also participate, acquiring items to gift to younger family members or to nurture promising juniors.

The Second Floor’s main audience consisted of Upper-Rank Professionals, mostly Four-Star and a smaller number of Five-Star Professionals. The auction items on this floor held significant value for Professionals of these two Ranks.

As for the Third Floor, as previously mentioned, it auctioned the most precious Extraordinary Items—items that could tempt even Six-Star or Seven-Star Professionals. The target audience here consisted of Tianfeng City’s top-tier powerhouses or first-rate and above major organizations.

The Appraiser’s evaluation of this sword-type alchemical weapon was that it was suitable for Four-Star Professionals and barely adequate for Five-Star Professionals. Thus, placing it on the Second Floor for auction aligned perfectly with standard market practices.

As for the meaning of “Low Grade” mentioned by the Appraiser, Su Ming had already gained some understanding after searching through the official Tianfeng City website via his Terminal for relevant information.

In Tianfeng City, due to the abundance of resources and the constant emergence of various Extraordinary Items, a quality classification system was established for weapons, potions, and tools to facilitate evaluation and estimation.

For example, alchemical weapons were broadly categorized into five grades based on their performance and power: Low Grade, High Grade, Fine Grade, Supreme Grade, and Divine Grade.

The same applied to alchemical potions, which were similarly divided into Low Grade, High Grade, Fine Grade, Supreme Grade, and Divine Grade based on their effects and uses.

Even alchemical tools followed this grading system.

This classification allowed people to conceptualize the value of various Extraordinary Items, understanding their rarity and worth through their grades.

However, this was only a general concept—a convenience for categorization—rather than a rigid, principle-based system. Thus, it couldn’t be universally applied across different types of Extraordinary Items.

For instance, the value of a Low Grade alchemical weapon did not equate to that of a Low Grade alchemical potion.

The grading system only applied to items of the same type; values differed across categories.

Alchemical weapons were generally more valuable than alchemical potions. Even the lowest-grade alchemical weapon could rival a Fine Grade alchemical potion in value, or even some Supreme Grade potions.

In summary, the value of various Extraordinary Items was currently distinguished only within the same category. Comparing values across different types of items remained subjective and varied case by case.

Nevertheless, for items of the same type, this value concept was sufficient.

At the very least, Su Ming now understood that this sword-type alchemical weapon was only Low Grade, essentially ranking at the bottom among all alchemical weapons.

He didn’t feel regretful, as this sword was one of the alchemical weapons looted from the bodies of those Underground Professionals. Regardless of its poor quality, it had nothing to do with him—all that mattered was fetching a good price.”3,000 Contribution Points?”

Su Ming pondered silently.

Although they were practically priceless, the official exchange rate between Contribution Points and currency in Tianfeng City was still 1:1,000.

3,000 Contribution Points would be equivalent to 3 million.

A single low-tier alchemical weapon could sell for millions?

This seemed like a great deal to Su Ming.

Of course, in a place like Longyao City where alchemical weapons were in high demand, if one could be bought for just a few million, countless Professionals would go crazy trying to get one, even borrowing money if necessary.

So, a few million couldn’t actually buy an alchemical weapon, but Contribution Points equivalent to a few million could—this was the importance of Contribution Points.

In Tianfeng City, you could be without money, but you couldn’t be without Contribution Points.

“No wonder Xu Xiayan emphasized the importance of Contribution Points so strongly, even mentioning it alongside team matters.”

Su Ming quietly thought to himself.

During this time, the Appraiser continued identifying the alchemical weapons one by one.

“Sickle-type alchemical weapon, average color, materials not particularly rare, Low Grade, can be placed in the second-tier auction, acquisition price: 4,000.”

“Greatsword-type alchemical weapon, transparent color, contains one rare material, Low Grade, can be placed in the second-tier auction, acquisition price: 7,000.”

“Warhammer-type alchemical weapon, performance meets standards, Low Grade, can be placed in the second-tier auction, acquisition price: 5,500.”

“Spear-type alchemical weapon, still Low Grade, but with exceptionally outstanding performance, materials temporarily undetermined, can serve as the finale for the second-tier auction, acquisition price: 9,900.”

“…”

Thus, the alchemical weapons were identified one after another, each with a clear price tag, allowing Su Ming to understand their value in the most direct way.

Some had relatively excellent performance, but they were still Low Grade, so their acquisition prices all remained below 10,000.

For Low Grade alchemical weapons in Tianfeng City, unless they were top-tier performers barely missing the Medium Grade rating, this was the maximum price—they couldn’t break 10,000 Contribution Points.

This made Su Ming complain internally.

“Wow, so most of the alchemical weapons I have are just Low Grade? Not even a single Medium Grade one?”

Remembering how excited he used to get whenever he unpacked an alchemical weapon from his bundles, Su Ming suddenly felt foolish and naive.

Back then he thought he’d finally gotten lucky, but now it seemed he was still cursed with bad luck.

Fortunately, he had also obtained good items like the Blue Demon Ceasefire Ring and Sky Illusion Mask, otherwise he’d really have to question his luck.

Those Underground Professionals were all dirt poor too, using nothing but Low Grade alchemical weapons, yet they had the nerve to look down on Professionals from Longyao City. How shameless.

While Su Ming was mentally complaining, the Appraiser finally finished evaluating all the alchemical weapons.

“Eighteen alchemical weapons total, all Low Grade, total value: 108,500 Contribution Points.”

After completing the appraisal, the Appraiser looked toward Manager Yu again.

Manager Yu nodded and turned to Su Ming.

“Might I ask if Your Excellency wishes to sell this batch of alchemical weapons directly to us? Or would you prefer to have us auction them?”If sold directly to Wanbao Auction House, the price would be as mentioned earlier—a total of 108,500 Contribution Points.

If consigned to Wanbao Auction House for auction, they would charge 5% of the final transaction price as a fee, with the remainder going entirely to Su Ming.

Both methods were clearly and explicitly stated on the Terminal.

Thinking this, Su Ming made a straightforward decision.

“I’ll sell it to you directly at this price.”

Su Ming waved his hand, acting as if he couldn’t be bothered to haggle over such a trivial matter.

However…

“For this next item, I hope you’ll put some effort into auctioning it off.”

As he spoke, Su Ming flipped his hand and produced an alchemical weapon.

It was a broadsword.

A broadsword whose quality was clearly on a completely different level compared to the previous alchemical weapons.

“This… this is…!?”

Upon seeing the broadsword, before Manager Yu could even react, the Appraiser trembled with excitement, their face lighting up with astonishment.

“This quality… this luster… this material… Could it be a divine weapon from the Weapon Ranking…!?”

The Appraiser’s words made Manager Yu’s eyes gleam brightly beside them.

“A divine weapon from the Weapon Ranking?”

This was truly a treasure!

“You’ve got a good eye.” Su Ming grinned and said, “That’s right. This is a renowned alchemical weapon from the Weapon Ranking, ranked ninety-ninth.”

The Appraiser was indeed knowledgeable. With just a single hint from Su Ming, they had recognized the true identity of the broadsword.

“Ranked ninety-ninth? That must be Xiong Ren, then?” the Appraiser said with anticipation. “May I take a closer look?”

Su Ming gestured for them to proceed.

The Appraiser wiped their hands carefully and solemnly took Xiong Ren.

They stroked the blade over and over, their eyes scrutinizing it intently, as if verifying the sword’s material, quality, and other attributes.

This appraisal took much longer than any of the previous ones.

Only after a considerable while did the Appraiser confirm.

“Indeed, this is Xiong Ren, ranked ninety-ninth on the Weapon Ranking. Its quality is at least premium-grade, and among premium-grade weapons, it stands out as exceptional!”

The Appraiser’s voice was noticeably louder than before, tinged with a hint of excitement.

It couldn’t be helped.

“A treasure of this caliber must be auctioned on the Third Floor.”

With these words, the Appraiser conveyed to Su Ming just how valuable an alchemical weapon from the Weapon Ranking truly was.

Being eligible for auction on the Third Floor meant it would attract even major Families and top-tier experts—a fitting tribute to this renowned alchemical weapon.

Even without the Appraiser’s reminder, Manager Yu had already decided to place it on the Third Floor for auction the moment he learned it was a divine weapon from the Weapon Ranking.

Though it was only ranked ninety-ninth, the mere fact that it had a place on the Weapon Ranking added significant extra value to Xiong Ren. It wouldn’t be surprising if it sold for a price far exceeding its intrinsic quality.

The same item, with or without a renowned name, carried entirely different connotations.

Items with famous names often sold for prices higher than their actual worth—a social phenomenon observable everywhere.

Manager Yu withdrew his gaze from Xiong Ren and turned to Su Ming.”In that case, we shall proceed with auctioning this Fierce Blade.”

I believe it will undoubtedly attract numerous powerful experts.

“Mm.” Su Ming nodded and said, “While you’re at it, prepare a seat for me. I’d like to see what kind of treasures are truly offered in the Third Floor auction of Wanbao Auction House.”

“Of course.” Manager Yu agreed without hesitation.

The Third Floor was originally reserved for top-tier factions and supreme experts.

Although Su Ming couldn’t quite be called a supreme expert yet, it was highly probable he had backing from a top-tier power.

Even if he didn’t, the mere fact that Su Ming had brought such substantial business to their doorstep meant Wanbao Auction House would never turn him away.

After all, once this transaction was completed, this young master’s assets would amount to at least several hundred thousand. Having him spend some Contribution Points here was something Manager Yu would be pleased to see.

Thus, Su Ming remained at Wanbao Auction House.

It wasn’t until afternoon that he proceeded to the Third Floor auction hall to participate in the upcoming auction.

(End of Chapter)