This heavy responsibility could not be entrusted to others, so Yao Guangcheng personally took charge.
"Just have a look." Mu Hanyan casually picked up a raw stone and said. After all, she couldn’t tell the good from the bad; she was purely trying her luck and didn’t even bother to look more closely.
"Esteemed customer," said Yao Guangcheng with a chuckle, "I’ve been in this line for most of my life and have some eye power. From what I see, the one you just chose seems like a useless stone. If you trust me, how about I help you choose one?"
"Oh, this Stone Tasting Conference is basically a gambling den. You work here, and you’re helping me. Isn’t that like playing both sides?" Mu Hanyan said offhandedly.
"Heh, you said it yourself—it’s a gambling den. Naturally, there must be wins and losses for others to come. If it were all losses, who would come? You all seem to be here for the first time, so consider it as letting you have some fun and attracting a customer. It’s hardly playing both sides," Yao Guangcheng had his responses ready and smoothly countered.
In fact, in the casinos of Heishi City, there are always such shills. Many people initially come just for fun and don’t take these eager courtesies seriously until they find themselves sinking deeper, so Mu Hanyan didn’t find it odd at all.
"Alright, then you choose for me," Mu Hanyan said casually. Unintentionally, she again let slip the playboy vibe of not treating money as anything important.
"He’s luring you in; be careful," Ling Baobao whispered to Mu Hanyan after noticing her spendthrift manner.
"I know," Mu Hanyan said nonchalantly. It was just a try at luck anyway, so why fuss over it.
"Let’s go with this one then." Yao Guangcheng took out a raw stone that he had pre-selected.
Though it’s difficult to distinguish the quality of meteorite gold, as an alchemist, he could still spot some clues. And he had at least a seventy percent confidence that this meteorite gold ore contained high-quality meteorite gold.
"Okay." Mu Hanyan looked at the price and generously handed over ten thousand taels in a silver note.
"Shall we refine it now?" Yao Guangcheng asked.
Yao Guangcheng took out a porcelain bottle, poured a few drops of liquid onto the raw stone, and then cast several Hand Formations. Soon, a wisp of blue smoke began emerging from the grayish stone. It was apparent that some impurities were being expelled from the surface whereas shiny glimmers were rapidly condensing.
This is called Alchemy Liquid, specially used for identifying meteorite gold ore. This potion is said to be very difficult to concoct, and its formula is held only by various royal families and a few academies, so its price is extremely high.
Of course, if one’s alchemy cultivation was refined enough, it was also possible to refine the raw stones with one’s own power directly, but it was exhausting and demanding. Consider that not even a few genuine meteorite gold pieces could be selected from a hundred raw stones; even a high-level artifact refiner like Pang Dezong would be dead tired after a day without finding many meteorite gold stones.
But using Alchemy Liquid was much easier. Even a beginner apprentice with just a little foundation in alchemy could easily refine a raw stone.
Soon, one corner of the raw stone’s surface was refined, revealing a sunset-red color sparkling with gold.
"Red Cloud Gold, it’s actually Red Cloud Gold," someone exclaimed nearby.
Red Cloud Gold wasn’t considered top-grade meteorite gold, but it was still more valuable than the Red Cloud Stone that young Swordsmen had recently discovered in Exotic Beast Valley. This piece alone could fetch at least ten thousand taels of silver for Mu Hanyan.