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Chapter 1213: Unintentional Gain

After Yun Yao left, Yang Haoran wandered around his Jingran Pharmacy. Although he was busy restocking, no matter how pressing the task, he had to wait until Gu Yi finished with the remaining customers.

The first floor of Jingran Pharmacy was used for buying and selling various medicinal products: Dānyào, elixirs, powders, and so on. The second floor was for buying and selling various spiritual herbs.

The layout of the first floor was no different from his last visit, the only distinction being that all the medicines for sale had long since sold out, leaving the shelves bare.

Beyond that, if there was any other change to the first floor, it was that the bookshelf behind Gu Yi was now packed to the brim with all sorts of books, so densely that not even a single sheet of paper could be squeezed in.

The situation on the second floor was also vastly different from his last visit, and it formed a stark contrast with the first.

While the first-floor shelves were empty, devoid of any medicines, the second floor was quite the opposite: various spiritual herbs filled the shelves. These spiritual herbs were protected by restrictive barriers, preventing the loss of spiritual energy while also deterring anyone from pilfering them.

Judging by the state of the second floor, it seemed that in recent times, they had received far more spiritual herbs than they had sold, otherwise there wouldn't be so many spiritual herbs on the second floor.

Yang Haoran, after strolling around and gaining a preliminary understanding of the pharmacy's current situation, returned to the counter to watch Gu Yi appraise items for other customers. This not only helped pass the time but also broadened his horizons, learning from Gu Yi herself.

Gu Yi possessed a powerful learning ability and an eidetic memory; a single read-through of a book was enough for her to recite it backward and forward. In Yang Haoran's opinion, Gu Yi must have read an immense number of books after he left, memorizing all their contents. With her vast knowledge, she naturally took up appraisal.

As for the circumstances under which Gu Yi embarked on this path of appraisal, Yang Haoran couldn't guess that.

However, he felt his conjecture should be accurate; if Gu Yi hadn't read a vast number of books, how could she possibly know so much?

While marveling at Gu Yi's incredible memory, Yang Haoran also felt fortunate. Thankfully, Gu Yi had cursed the Ghost Official responsible for her in the Underworld, leading to her being retained there to "contribute. " Otherwise, if Gu Yi had followed the normal path of reincarnation, he would have missed out on such a treasure.

After some time, Gu Yi appraised the items brought by several people one by one. These were all strange and peculiar artifacts, none of which Yang Haoran recognized. Gu Yi, however, knew their origins like the back of her hand, a fact that made him, the boss, feel somewhat embarrassed.

Still, not all the items brought for appraisal were treasures. There were two rather good ones, but they paled significantly in comparison to the Deep Sea Snow Jade that Yun Yao had brought. As for the other items, although rare, they held little practical value and therefore couldn't really be considered treasures.

Of course, whether something was a treasure or not depended on the individual. In Yang Haoran's eyes, those few items were certainly worthless, but in the eyes of some collectors, these impractical pieces were undoubtedly rare treasures, simply because of their scarcity.

After seeing off the last customer, Ban Kui closed the door of Jingran Pharmacy at Yang Haoran's instruction, and the three of them gathered together.

As the acting manager, Gu Yi first provided Yang Haoran with a detailed work report, allowing him to gain a comprehensive understanding of the pharmacy's situation.

According to Gu Yi's report, after Yang Haoran left Jingran Pharmacy last time, there was little business for a while. With nothing else to do, Gu Yi managed to acquire a large number of books of all kinds, burying herself in a sea of literature all day long.

Gradually, the pharmacy started to get some business, but it wasn't good. The location was simply too remote, and few people found their way there. So, Gu Yi continued to read while managing the shop.

When she ran out of books, she borrowed what she could, rented what she could, and only purchased books that were truly necessary.

Some time passed in this manner, and Gu Yi no longer knew how many books she had read. In any case, she had gone through all the books in the few shops in the Underworld that offered books for loan or rent, and the "ink in her belly" grew ever more abundant.

However, the pharmacy's business had never truly picked up, until one day a customer came to buy medicine and inadvertently mentioned an item he possessed that was causing him immense headaches. The reason for his distress was that he knew the item held a secret, but he couldn't unlock it.

He had sought out many appraisal agencies, hoping to uncover the hidden secret of the item, but all the appraisers had deemed it ordinary, claiming there was no secret to be found.

Upon hearing this, Gu Yi asked the customer to take out the item so she could examine it.

At the time, the customer hadn't truly expected Gu Yi to be able to resolve the matter. He merely thought Gu Yi was beautiful, and since they conversed well, he took out the item, purely intending to just show it to her.

But, to his utter astonishment, Gu Yi genuinely knew the item's secret. She proceeded to tell the customer everything: its origin, its function, and even its method of use.

Naturally, the customer didn't believe her. He thought Gu Yi was joking with him; after all, how could an employee of a small pharmacy like Gu Yi manage something that all the major appraisal agencies in the Underworld couldn't figure out?

Gu Yi sensed the customer's disbelief, so she told him that if he didn't believe her, he could try the method she suggested.

At the time, even though Gu Yi's face was brimming with confidence as she spoke, her heart was still extremely anxious. After all, her understanding of the item came entirely from written records; she had never actually seen it in reality. She couldn't be certain if the book's descriptions were accurate or if there were any hidden issues, so her apprehension was unavoidable.

However, she was merely asking the customer to try the method she provided. Even if it ultimately failed, the customer wouldn't suffer any loss, nor would she. At most, it would just be a slight loss of Face.

She was just a girl, and merely a ghost; there were countless minor figures like her in the Underworld. She didn't believe her "face" was worth much; losing it was no big deal.

The customer's thoughts at the time were quite similar to Gu Yi's: trying it wouldn't cost anything, and even if it didn't succeed, he wouldn't lose anything. Conversely, if it did work, he would gain an incredible treasure!

So, the customer decided to try the method Gu Yi provided. For safety, Gu Yi didn't allow the customer to perform the activation inside the shop but asked him to try it outside. If the shop were to be destroyed, she would have no way to explain it to her boss.

The customer's item was a rusty iron sword that emitted no power fluctuations whatsoever, and its appearance was utterly common, the kind one could find anywhere. However, the customer knew that this iron sword in his hand was not as simple as it appeared, because the process of acquiring it had been far from simple. He had just been unable to discover its secret, which was why he had sought appraisers everywhere, hoping to unlock the mystery hidden within the sword.

As the customer injected power according to the method Gu Yi provided, the iron sword in his hand immediately transformed. The sword, which had never responded no matter how he tried to activate it, suddenly not only erupted with terrifying power fluctuations but also shed all the rust from its blade, transforming into a gleaming, cold treasure sword!

Instantly, outside Jingran Pharmacy, dazzling sword light shone brightly, dense sword qi crisscrossed and surged through the air, and one streak of sword qi shot straight into the sky, illuminating the entire dim and eerie Underworld.

Such a massive commotion naturally attracted the attention of countless individuals. Immediately, many people rushed towards Jingran Pharmacy's location, including quite a few experts.

Because of this incident, Jingran Pharmacy became incredibly popular at that moment.

The next day, as the news spread throughout the Underworld, Gu Yi, who had been responsible for appraising the iron sword for the customer, also became well-known. Although she couldn't be described as extremely famous, she was certainly a figure of minor renown in the Underworld, and as a result, some people came seeking her out to appraise various items.