Seeing him come alone for the deal, the four of them were quite surprised, but they quickly composed themselves.
"Where's your money?"
The muscular young man with the saber narrowed his eyes as he spoke.
Su Ti slapped two cases onto the table, popped the latches, and revealed the stacks of cash inside.
There was exactly two million in the two cases. That was enough to buy a life in certain dark industries of the inner world, yet the old man playing with walnuts in the middle suddenly chuckled.
"Young man, that little money won't buy much. Everything you want is premium stuff. A single piece is worth that much."
Su Ti nodded slightly. During this time, he had made many transactions with all kinds of sellers on the dark web. These sellers had displayed the most goods, but they were also the most expensive.
However, after being cheated so many times, Su Ti had learned his lesson. Paying more was fine; what mattered was that the goods were genuine. He did not want them using handicrafts to trick him into making a wasted trip, then trying to rob him afterward. That would leave everyone unhappy.
"Money isn't a problem. This is just a deposit of intent. Let me see what your goods are like first."
The old man's eyes flickered. Bringing two cases of cash alone just to inspect the goods was indeed a show of sincerity. He immediately waved his hand.
"Dongzi, show him the goods."
At that, the machete-wielding man picked up one of the suitcases, placed it on the table, and opened it.
The large suitcase was actually filled entirely with foam padding. At its center sat only a single metal box.
Dongzi carefully removed the metal box, placed it atop the case, and opened it. It was lined with silk, and resting atop the blood-red satin was a thumb-sized jade carving.
The carving was exquisite. It depicted a sword-wielding dancing girl, but that was not the important part. The instant the box opened, Su Ti immediately felt a subtle chill.
If Su Ti had not reached the Inner Refinement Second Layer, with senses far sharper than those of ordinary people, he would never have detected that chill.
And it was precisely the chill he had experienced from the Cursed Antique in Xu Shouyang's home that filled Su Ti with delight!
Finally. More than twenty days after he had last seen a Cursed Antique at Xu Shouyang's home, he had finally encountered another genuine item!
Seeing the delight in Su Ti's eyes, the old man smiled slightly.
"A Sword Dance Girl Jade Sculpture from the Qian Dynasty. It was a royal burial item. Premium enough for you?"
"May I touch it?"
"Please."
The old man raised his hand slightly, indicating that Su Ti could do as he pleased. With so many people watching, he did not think Su Ti would dare try anything.
Su Ti extended a fingertip and touched the Sword Dance Girl Jade Sculpture. Instantly, a massive wave of cold rushed from his fingertip through his entire body!
His completely depleted energy immediately began to surge!
90%
150%!
280%!
380%!
Once his energy reached 380%, the coldness at his fingertip vanished.
The chill spreading through Su Ti's skin also disappeared without a trace.
Suppressing the joy in his heart, Su Ti reluctantly withdrew his finger. At that moment, the old man shook his head.
"What can you possibly verify by inspecting a Cursed Antique like that? Dongzi, teach this young man how to tell whether it's real."
Dongzi grinned and lifted a cloth bundle from beneath the table. He untied the cloth strips, revealing a cage with an adorable hamster inside.
Seeing Su Ti's confusion, Dongzi explained.
"You're an amateur, huh? Why are they called Cursed Antiques? Because they emit a yin magnetic field harmful to humans. Human senses are too weak to detect such a field, of course, but animals are different."
As he spoke, Dongzi picked up the cage and placed it beside the Sword Dance Girl Jade Sculpture.
The hamster stared with its bean-sized eyes and gnawed on a peanut in its paws, utterly unaffected.
"Ah?!" x4
The hamster remained unaffected, and Dongzi and the old man's group all stared wide-eyed at the sight.
Dongzi's mouth fell slightly open, his face full of uncertainty. He lifted the cage, moved it farther away, then brought it close again. The hamster kept eating, showing no reaction whatsoever.
The four exchanged glances. The woman immediately bent down and opened the other case, taking out a metal box and bringing it close to the hamster. Before the box had fully opened—when only a tiny crack was visible—the hamster dropped its peanut, leaped frantically around the cage, and began squealing!
Everyone's expressions changed drastically at the sight. There was nothing wrong with the hamster, and they had checked the item when they brought it here. That meant the only problem was—
"You little bastard, you dare pull a switch?!"
"He swapped the item!"
"Get him!"
They shouted almost simultaneously. The instant the old man yelled for them to attack, Dongzi lunged forward, viciously drew his machete, and brought it down on Su Ti in a powerful overhead chop.
The situation had changed too quickly. Before Su Ti could explain, the blade was already nearly at his face.
The snow-white blade flashed with a chilling gleam, reflected in Su Ti's pupils. Just as it was about to touch his face—
Boom!
A crimson-red arm, twice the size of a normal person's, shot up from behind and clamped down hard around the machete.
King Python Hand!
Dongzi gritted his teeth and exerted all his strength, but the blade could not advance even an inch.
His eyes were filled with horror. He was a Tongli Stage martial artist, yet his full-force strike had actually been caught barehanded.
However, Su Ti had not escaped unscathed.
A thin stream of bright red blood slid from his palm, running down his forearm before dripping onto the floor.
He was injured.
Where his palm had gripped the blade, there was a cut roughly two millimeters deep.
"Even after using the King Python Hand's blood and qi to reinforce my arm, combined with the Copper Skin Skill's ten percent at the beginner level, I still can't withstand a Tongli Stage strike?"
After sensing the force behind the blow, Su Ti thought this to himself.
But the matter was far from over.
The very second Su Ti caught Dongzi's blade, everyone except the old man moved as well.
A coldly gleaming entrenching tool swept horizontally toward his neck.
Three Swallow Darts glowing faintly purple flew in a straight line toward the acupoints at his chest, navel, and groin.
A cold glint flashed through Su Ti's eyes.
The Inner Refinement Second Layer was not yet enough for him to ignore numbers and weapons through sheer strength.
None of the three had greater cultivation than him, but with their coordinated killing moves, even he could not block them all.
He was holding the machete with one hand. With the other, he could either catch the entrenching tool or the hidden weapons. Either way, he had to take one attack.
"Then so be it."
At the critical moment, Su Ti's eyes narrowed, and the three hundred and eighty energy points he had just gained began to plummet on his attribute panel!
At the same time, the Copper Skin Skill's proficiency began to soar!
Beginner Level 80%
Minor Mastery 90%
Intermediate Mastery 99%!
Boom!
Major Mastery!
The instant the Copper Skin Skill reached Major Mastery, countless currents of heat erupted from Su Ti's chest and surged toward the surface of his entire body.
The color of Su Ti's skin visibly shifted from pale bronze to deep bronze, before finally becoming a dark antique bronze!
Then, as though it had reached some qualitative transformation, it changed from antique bronze into skin as white as Long Yuanzheng's. Not only was there no color left behind, it was even fairer than an ordinary person's!
After the Copper Skin Skill reached Major Mastery, the wound on Su Ti's palm rapidly closed and stopped bleeding.
Then the muscles throughout his body suddenly writhed, twitching and shifting like little mice beneath his skin.
Scaled Python Armor!
Clang!
The middle-aged man's horizontal strike hit Su Ti's neck. The instant it made contact, the skin at the point of impact turned antique bronze. When the edge of the entrenching tool struck his skin, it actually produced a metallic clang!
Not only that, the muscles writhing across Su Ti's body slammed into the entrenching tool and knocked it away.
Entrenching Tool Man's face filled with shock. It felt as if he had struck a giant brass bell with his entrenching tool!
Not only had he failed to break through Su Ti's defense, the powerful recoil had left both his hands numb!
And it was not over yet!
Faced with the three Swallow Darts shooting toward his vital acupoints, Su Ti made no attempt to dodge. He merely shifted slightly to the side, and the three darts struck his thigh and side waist.
The darts pierced his clothes, but the moment they touched his skin, it visibly turned antique bronze!
Combined with the rebounding force of the Scaled Python Armor, all three darts carrying neurotoxin were directly deflected away!
Then Su Ti spun around and struck Dongzi's chest with a palm, swift as lightning.
Dongzi only saw a blur before that hand pressed against his chest. His vision went black. His nearly two-hundred-pound muscular body became as light as nothing, and his legs left the ground as he flew backward in a C-shape!
Boom!
He flew five or six meters before crashing to the ground, rolling several times, and lying motionless.
Dart Woman, the old man, and Entrenching Tool Man all looked horrified, but they did not stop moving.
Entrenching Tool Man changed from a cutting motion to a smash, swinging the entrenching tool directly at Su Ti's temple.
Dart Woman removed the steel whip from her waist. It became a black blur as she lashed it toward Su Ti.
Yet the most dangerous of them was the old man, who appeared to possess no combat ability at all. He reached into his clothes, pulled out a black pistol, and prepared to fire at Su Ti.
Faced with the three men's combined assault, Su Ti did not panic in the slightest.
His blood and qi surged into both arms, causing his hands to expand to twice their size. The King Python Hand activated at full power, and his hands became two massive hammers as he smashed them down on the table before him!
With the explosive force of the Inner Refinement Second Layer, the office desk—which had sat there for years and was already deeply rotted—exploded with a thunderous crash!
Wood chips flew everywhere. They struck Su Ti's body, but the Major Mastery Copper Skin Skill blocked every last one of them! He was not harmed in the slightest!
But the other three suffered for it. They had no external martial arts protecting them. Faced with such an indiscriminate attack, they could only shrink their pupils, withdraw their attacks, and shield their heads and faces.
Boom!
When Dart Woman and Entrenching Tool Man recovered from the shattered desk's assault, they discovered that the old man had already been seized by the collar by Su Ti, while the black pistol was now in Su Ti's hand as he casually played with it.
"Godfather!"
"Release Xu Lao!"
The two were shocked and furious, but Su Ti merely placed his hand casually on the old man's neck. The two fell silent like ducks with their throats grabbed.
The situation was already perfectly clear. Their leader was under his control, and the other two were wary of harming him and did not dare act rashly.
Besides, even without the hostage, once that pistol was gone, no one present was Su Ti's match.
He had completely taken control of the situation.
Realizing this, Xu Lao, whose neck was held, wore a bitter expression. He had roamed the martial world for years, yet he had unexpectedly capsized here.
Still, he knew when to yield. How could he fail to understand that circumstances had changed? He raised both hands and gave a bitter smile.
"I never expected Your Excellency's martial skill to reach such a level. We were blind and offended you. To show our apology, feel free to take anything here that catches your eye. I, Xu Xianfeng, will not even frown."
"Only one thing: we all came out here just to make money. We should keep out of each other's way. There's no need to make this a matter of life and death."
Before you continue