Chapter 132: The Appraisal Results

With that, he had no choice but to limit his appraisal to the Tarot cards. He had originally intended to appraise both the Tarot cards and the phantom scroll, but due to a price hike, he no longer had enough gold coins to cover the scroll as well.

Fortunately, the scroll Kong Zhe had obtained required the user to be at least level fifteen to activate, so even if he had appraised it, he wouldn’t have been able to use it anyway. He would just have to find another appraiser later; in any case, he was still a long way from level fifteen, so there was no rush.

Kong Zhe extended his hand. With a surge of magic, his palm began to emit a colorful radiance, and moments later, a deck of cards materialized.

The Raccoon-folk stared at the deck, slightly stunned, and cast a look of surprise at Kong Zhe. No wonder he had said the item’s rank was unknown—it was a card-type equipment. Such gear was extremely rare and almost always of an exceptionally high tier.

The Raccoon-folk took the deck and placed it in the palm of its right hand. Holding the cards up with one hand, it pressed the fingers of the other onto the top of the deck. A faint glow emanated from its fingertips as it began the appraisal.

A moment later, the Raccoon-folk’s eyes snapped open, looking at the cards with astonishment. After that entire effort, it hadn't managed to identify a single thing! Since it had officially become an appraiser, it had never encountered anything so bizarre. However, it then noticed the young man opposite staring at it with burning eyes.

The Raccoon-folk gave a hurried cough, wiped the surprise from its face, placed its hand back over the cards, and focused its concentration to try again. But very quickly, it opened its eyes in shock. It had just put forth its full strength, yet it still couldn't identify what the object was! It couldn't determine its attributes, nor even its name.

This left the Raccoon-folk deeply perplexed. It considered itself a fairly competent appraiser; it was confident it could clearly identify even a stone without a shred of magic, yet this object was clearly magical, and it couldn't discern a single property? It even made the Raccoon-folk doubt its own life and whether what it had learned previously was all fake.

"Say, are you unable to appraise it?"

Just as the Raccoon-folk was lost in doubt, it heard the voice of the young man across from it. Turning, it saw him shaking his head with a sigh. "Sigh, I really am unlucky. I spent so many gold coins, only to run into a hack appraiser! Sigh, it’s over, it’s all over. My entire fortune was staked on this!"

The young man sighed, leaning his head on his hand, then seemed to notice the Raccoon-folk watching him. As if realizing he had let something slip, he hurriedly waved his hands. "Oh, please don't mind me. I'm just talking. I know the rules of this trade. If you can't identify it, that's my bad luck; I certainly won't ask for compensation... Oh, and I won't go around spreading rumors that the appraiser at Gold City University is a hack. You don't need to worry."

"You!"

The Raccoon-folk’s mouth twitched. While the man claimed he wouldn't spread rumors, the smirk on his face made it clear he was threatening it. The implication was obvious: if you can't identify this today, just wait for your reputation to be dragged through the mud across the New World.

The Raccoon-folk gritted its teeth. Its kind didn't care much for gold, but they held their reputation in the highest regard. Even though it knew Kong Zhe was threatening it, it felt helpless. If it didn't succeed today, its professional reputation would be shattered, and it would never be able to hold its head high in front of its kin again.

With a final resolve, the Raccoon-folk reached into its robe and pulled out a golden scroll. Kong Zhe’s eyes lit up the moment he saw it; if he wasn't mistaken, that was a secret appraisal scroll of the Raccoon-folk, a gold-tier item. Possessing such a scroll gave even an ordinary person a chance to appraise a gold-tier item, though it could only be used once.

Such scrolls were rarely circulated in the market and were generally internal supplies for appraisers to assist in analyzing complex items, significantly boosting the success rate. Kong Zhe had only heard of them in his past life and had never seen one. He hadn't expected the Raccoon-folk to go this far just to appraise his Tarot cards. It seemed his cards were truly not easy to appraise. Even if nothing else, the value of this single scroll already made the six hundred gold coins worth it.

The Raccoon-folk gritted its teeth and crushed the scroll. Amidst swirling multicolored light, it maintained a grave expression, tapping its fingers lightly on the cards.

Dozens of seconds later, the Raccoon-folk opened its eyes again, feeling as if it were about to vomit blood from frustration. It had used a precious appraisal scroll, which already meant it was taking a loss on this deal, yet even with the scroll's amplification, it still hadn't identified anything!

What on earth was this thing?

It wanted to give up, but as soon as it looked up, it was met with the young man’s strange gaze. The mocking expression on his face made the Raccoon-folk want to curse. *You’re the one who trapped me, you brat!*

The Raccoon-folk thought angrily, but it was backed into a corner. It had already used an appraisal scroll; if it still failed, its reputation as a hack would be set in stone. In a state of anxious distress, it used trembling fingers to pull one last appraisal scroll from its bag. This was its final one. Even among their own kin, they weren't granted many such scrolls per year.

Watching with a pained heart as the scroll dissolved into a rain of colorful light, the Raccoon-folk took a deep breath. There was no room for hesitation now; it had to identify this cursed thing before the magic faded. Otherwise, it would truly be the biggest loss of its life.

This appraisal took significantly longer. Five full minutes passed before the colorful light surrounding them finally faded. Sitting there, the Raccoon-folk held not only the deck of Tarot cards but also a rolled-up piece of parchment.

Looking at the parchment, the Raccoon-folk let out a long, relieved sigh. It wasn't a perfect result, but it had finally managed to identify something, and it could now give the young man an answer. It exhaled and handed over the parchment, but then, it suddenly realized something and its eyes widened.

*This... this... how did my proficiency jump by over five hundred points?*

Just appraising an item, even a gold-tier one, usually only granted about fifty points of proficiency at most! What exactly had it just appraised? Could it be something even higher than an artifact?

Unlike other professions, appraisers knew that equipment existed beyond the gold tier. However, such items were extremely rare; the total number in the world could be counted on one hand. Even the grandmaster appraisers of its own clan had basically never seen such gear. According to legends of the few lucky appraisers who had, their proficiency would skyrocket upon completion, sometimes jumping several levels at once.

Watching its proficiency points soar, the Raccoon-folk was ecstatic. It couldn't be wrong; it must have encountered one of those legendary items. The only regret was that its own level was limited, and it had only managed to identify less than one-tenth of this divine object, which was why it only received a fraction of the potential proficiency.

Thinking of this, the Raccoon-folk let out a deep sigh. If only it had more appraisal scrolls on hand—no matter how many it consumed, as long as it could uncover even a little more, the proficiency gained would guarantee its level would soar. The benefits would far outweigh the value of a few scrolls. It looked up at Kong Zhe in shock, unable to believe that this young man possessed such an item.

Seeing the parchment handed over, Kong Zhe felt a surge of joy and hurriedly began to read. But as soon as he opened it, he couldn't help but frown. *Why is there so little here?*

He had appraised items in his past life, and although they weren't high-level, the results were usually at least hundreds or thousands of words, densely packed on the parchment. Now, there were only a few lines, clearly indicating an incomplete appraisal.

However, Kong Zhe soon shook his head. He couldn't blame the appraiser; after all, it had used two scrolls. If it could have identified more, it surely would have. That it only resulted in this could only mean his Tarot cards were of too high a grade, making them too difficult to appraise.

Calming himself, Kong Zhe began to read the contents of the parchment:

1. Tarot of the Gods: The fourth item in the Super-Artifact sequence. A powerful piece of equipment possessing the power of deities, but one must bear its curse to wield it.

2. There are forty-eight cards in total. The status of the cards is divided into four types: Normal, Lit, Cooling, and Destroyed. Only "Lit" cards can be used. Forcing the use of an unlit card will cause it to enter a "Cooling" state. Cooled cards turn black and can only be restored through special methods. "Destroyed" is different from "Cooling"; permanently destroying a card can unleash power dozens of times greater than its original effect, but that card will be lost forever.

3. Each card individually has only weak abilities, but when combined, they can produce various magical effects. Some combinations can even unleash power comparable to forbidden spells.

4. Basic card combinations:
One Fire card + one Life card: Fire Immunity Shield.
Fire + Water: Mist-type magic.
Two Time cards + two Space cards: Forced Chanting. Can forcibly interfere with an enemy's magic, changing the target or direction of the spell.
Saint Cup card "Revelation of the Meteor" + any two elemental cards: Minor Prophecy Array. Provides a hint regarding the future.

...

Kong Zhe stared blankly at the contents of the parchment, then suddenly slapped his thigh.

"So that’s how you use the Tarot cards!"