Lin Ye, suppressing his inner excitement, strode forward and picked it up, then walked towards the gathering point with it in his hand.
Zhao Qi saw that Lin Ye's backpack was full and smiled brightly at Lin Ye.
"When we get out, you definitely have to treat me to a meal."
Lin Ye nodded with a smile, "Of course."
Zhao Yong led everyone back to the exit of the ruins, "Please share half of your gains now; it'll be too conspicuous to do it after we leave the ruins."
The entrance to the ruins had already been exposed, and he was afraid that someone might be waiting outside.
Lin Ye picked out a year's worth of Water Frost Leaf from his backpack, and to avoid drawing attention, he added a few more high-year ones.
The process of leaving the ruins went smoothly, and they encountered no trouble on the way back.
On the way back to the city, Lin Ye noticed that he couldn't see the hints for the plants outside, but the text annotations for the Water Frost Leaf in his backpack were still there.
Later, he slowly confirmed that only items from the ruins had annotations.
Zhao Qi took Lin Ye to a shop and mysteriously told Lin Ye.
"This shop was recommended to me by my cousin. The owner here won't ask about the source of the traded items, and the prices are slightly higher than official ones."
"They also sell the Qi and Blood Soup Medicine we need here. If we buy at least six portions together, the owner will give us a discount."
What Lin Ye was anxious about right now wasn't the Qi and Blood Soup Medicine, but rather wanting to know if his guess was correct.
If he really failed to bind the System, but could still see the item annotations in the ruins, wouldn't finding treasures in the ruins from now on be like having a cheat code enabled!
He recognized treasures that others didn't, and he could distinguish the years of Spirit Medicine that others couldn't.
This time, he even managed to pick up a piece of Iron Essence.
Lin Ye placed the Iron Essence at the very bottom of his backpack, followed Zhao Qi into the private room, and took out the Spirit Medicine from his backpack, placing it on the table.
The shop owner was a composed-looking middle-aged man, who was using professional equipment to test the years of the Spirit Medicine.
"Through official channels, a one-year-old Water Frost Leaf is three thousand per plant, but here it's three thousand three hundred per plant. A two-year-old is six thousand, and here it's six thousand six hundred."
"A three-year-old is relatively rare. The official price is ten thousand, and here it's eleven thousand."
No sooner had the owner said that three-year-old Water Frost Leaf was rare, than the testing equipment in his hand suddenly beeped.
"Three-year-old Water Frost Leaf, premium quality."
Almost all of the Water Frost Leaf in Zhao Qi's half-filled backpack were one-year-old, with only a few two-year-old ones, and not a single three-year-old.
On Lin Ye's side, the first Water Frost Leaf tested was a three-year-old.
The shop owner glanced at Lin Ye, "Your luck is pretty good, kid; you actually have a three-year-old Water Frost Leaf."
No sooner had the shop owner finished speaking, than the testing device in his hand rang again.
"Four-year-old Water Frost Leaf, premium quality."
Zhao Qi gasped beside him, wondering if the shop owner's testing device was broken.
The shop owner also had his doubts and went to get a new testing device.
"Four-year-old Water Frost Leaf, premium quality."
"Three-year-old Water Frost Leaf, premium quality."
"Two-year-old Water Frost Leaf, good quality."
...
The broadcast from the testing device kept going, and Zhao Qi's and the shop owner's eyes widened more and more.
Zhao Qi's eyes were as wide as saucers, staring intently at Lin Ye.
"Good heavens, this is incredible! How is your luck so Heaven-Defying? There are only a few two-year-olds, and all the rest are three- and four-year-olds, not a single one-year-old."
"If we hadn't been together, I'd suspect you were cheating."
Lin Ye deliberately showed a surprised expression, then hesitated before speaking.
"Maybe I have some talent in distinguishing Spirit Medicine. The aura of these Spirit Medicine feels very comfortable to me, so I prioritized picking them."
The shop owner's eyes lit up upon hearing this. He brought back some Spirit Medicine from outside and arranged them one by one in front of Lin Ye.
"This student, your talent is truly a bit Heaven-Defying. First, take a look at these Spirit Medicine. Can you pick out the ones whose aura feels comfortable to you?"
Lin Ye knew there had to be an explanation; otherwise, the consistently high quality of the Spirit Medicine would eventually attract attention.
He thought that instead of letting others notice, it was better to expose it himself.
There were all sorts of talents on the internet; his talent for distinguishing Spirit Medicine aura was nothing special.
Lin Ye also had his own plans. He knew that the shop owner cooperated with Martial Artists who explored the ruins.
If his talent for distinguishing Spirit Medicine aura could be utilized, he might be invited to enter the ruins with them.
The Spirit Medicine the shop owner brought out were all from the ruins. The difference between low-year and high-year ones was almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
Lin Ye pretended to pick up the Spirit Medicine, sniffed it, and then picked out the high-year ones.
The shop owner tested them with the detection device, and not a single one was low-year.
Chen An's eyes were full of light as he looked at Lin Ye, smiling as he stepped forward and patted Lin Ye's shoulder.
"I am the owner of this shop. My name is Chen An; you can call me Uncle Chen."
"Your talent must not be wasted. Are you interested in joining a ruin exploration mercenary group?"
Chen An was a Martial Artist who had retired due to injury. He used to be a mercenary and knew the importance of having someone in a group who could distinguish the years of Spirit Medicine.
Due to the special nature of the ruins, all technological products malfunctioned upon entering them.
Lin Ye excitedly called Chen An "Uncle," "Of course I'm interested, but I'm just an ordinary person. Can a mercenary group recruit me?"
Chen An had a look that implied Lin Ye didn't need to worry, "Although you are an ordinary person and don't meet the recruitment criteria for mercenaries, your talent is special, so you can enter the group through the special talent route."
"Don't worry, I'll help you with the arrangements. Every time you enter the mercenary group, you will receive one percent of the profits."
"Don't think that one percent of the profits is low; you should know that a mercenary group's profits from entering the ruins start at millions each time."
"They will be responsible for your safety; you won't need to deal with danger."
"All of this will be written into the agreement then."
Lin Ye hadn't made a decision yet, but Zhao Qi, who was beside him, was very anxious, pulling on Lin Ye's sleeve, eagerly wanting to agree on Lin Ye's behalf.
That was a mercenary group, a mercenary group full of Martial Artists!
Big figures that ordinary people could never come into contact with in their lifetime, and now Lin Ye actually had the qualification to join.
Zhao Qi's face was almost split with a smile. It was he who had taken Lin Ye to the ruins, which allowed Lin Ye to discover his talent. Lin Ye would remember his kindness.
Based on his understanding of Lin Ye, if Lin Ye became successful in the future, he definitely wouldn't forget to pull him up.
Entering the ruins was originally Lin Ye's goal, so he seriously agreed to Chen An.
Chen An also wanted to understand Lin Ye's talent for distinguishing Spirit Medicine more deeply, so he took Lin Ye and Zhao Qi to the storeroom.
Finally, Chen An summarized one point.
"Your talent can only distinguish Spirit Medicine within the ruins. Spirit Medicine cultivated outside might have a more mixed aura, which is why you can't distinguish them."
Lin Ye did not tell Chen An that besides Spirit Medicine, he could also identify Materials.
Lin Ye had decided from the beginning that the talent he exposed would only be for distinguishing the years of Spirit Medicine in the ruins.
If others knew that he could identify the extraordinary nature of unfamiliar items, then in the future, if he casually picked up a stone, someone would think it was a treasure.