Taking Sides and Antiques

Under the influence of the Gayn family matriarch, the Gayn family's estate was filled with a strong Eastern flavor.

Aside from the lotus ornaments on the windows, the bagua mirrors on the doors, and the landscape paintings on the walls, the most distinctive Eastern touch was the Gayn family's habit of eating and talking at the same time—a custom unique in the Hundred Flowers Kingdom.

Over the course of a single meal, thanks to Tia's flattery and Alice's occasional assists, the three of them grew much closer.

As far as Liu Tian was concerned, Tia and Alice had already surpassed Eileen in his estimation. If they asked him for help with something minor that he could easily take care of, he would do it.

Although Tia found a man who leaned toward isolation, didn't like hiding his thoughts, and spoke plainly easy enough to understand, rushing things would only backfire.

Since Liu Tian had saved her younger sister and shown an intense interest in Lost Empire antiques, they had plenty of time ahead of them. All they needed to do was keep in touch and maintain their good relationship.

The Hundred Flowers Kingdom seemed calm on the surface, but beneath it, the tides were already turning. The elderly Tulip Queen favored passing over a generation and making Rose Princess Lilia von Ein—the only daughter of the eldest prince, who had died in the World War—her successor. Under the circumstances, a coup in the struggle for the throne could break out at any moment.

The Gayn family didn't want to get involved in such a major affair. They didn't want to choose between the Second Prince, who controlled the military, the Third Prince, who had the support of most of the nobles, and the Rose Princess.

But once you were caught up in the world, you couldn't always do as you pleased. With such a major event unfolding, how could a family with an earl's title avoid taking sides, even if they kept their distance?

They could dodge it for a while, but not forever. In a situation like this, every friend was another source of support, another path to retreat.

They needed to maintain a good relationship—and, ideally, help Alice and Liu Tian become more than friends.

If something unfortunate happened, then, for Liu Tian's sake, Tian Dao might at least protect Alice.

That was why, aside from testing Liu Tian's character a little, Tia not only didn't discourage Alice's obvious interest but actively encouraged it.

Otherwise, the favor of saving her life alone wouldn't have been enough to make the Gayn family go to such lengths.

And if they hadn't gone all out—paying a considerable price they otherwise wouldn't have—how could the Gayn family have gathered so many Lost Empire antiques in just three days?

Anything connected to the Lost Empire was a treasure, no matter where you went.

"Thank you for your generous hospitality." After eating and drinking his fill, Liu Tian hadn't forgotten the real reason he'd come. "May I ask where the antiques are? I can hardly wait."

"I'm delighted if they meet your expectations." Tia smiled and stood up, giving Alice beside her a meaningful look. "The antiques we've gathered recently are in the storeroom on the fifth floor. We may slowly bring over another batch later. Alice, why don't you take Liu Tian there?"

"I have some other things to attend to, so I'll leave you two to it."

"Okay!" Alice clearly understood what her sister meant. A blush crept onto her face, but she answered without hesitation.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Alice."

On the fifth floor, a storeroom that had taken considerable effort to prepare—and whose temperature and humidity were kept almost perfectly constant—received two visitors.

Alice and Liu Tian.

When the heavily secured storeroom doors opened, Liu Tian's eyes lit up. The room, nearly several hundred square meters in size, was filled with rows of glass display cases. Each held one precious antique after another, with elegant labels describing the objects.

The displays stretched from one side of the room to the other, all the way to the entrance, like an exhibition of human civilization.

From the Hundred Flowers Kingdom to the Crimson Cloud Empire, from the Morning Star Alliance to the Lost Empire...

Nearly every country Liu Tian could name had one or two artifacts represented here.

By his rough estimate, there were at least a thousand Lost Empire artifacts alone. Including the rest, the total came close to five thousand.

Almost every display case held its own collection of antiques.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the antiques in this room were worth at least as much as all the combined assets of an entire earl's family.

The Gayn family couldn't possibly have collected all this by itself. To put the collection together, Tia Gayn had spent the past few days drawing on her social skills, traveling throughout White Sea City and the surrounding areas.

Fortunately, the Gayn family had always enjoyed collecting antiques and had a long history. Most nobles also held them in some regard. Only then had they managed to piece together such a magnificent exhibition.

"No wonder Sister's been even busier than usual these past few days..." Alice was stunned, too. The family's own collection hadn't even been a tenth of this.

"It's magnificent. If I'd known you'd gone to such lengths, I should've thanked Miss Tia properly just now."

Tia Gayn really was a woman worth knowing—a rich woman.

"So where should we start?" After her brief shock, Alice tilted her head and asked.

"Let's start with the Lost Empire ones." Liu Tian rubbed his chin, already looking forward to the coming harvest.

It would take more than a day or two to examine all these antiques. As time passed, Liu Tian kept running his hands over one artifact after another. Watching his smile appear now and then, Alice propped her head up and struck up a conversation. "Brother Tian, do you like Lost Empire antiques that much?"

"It's not the antiques I like. It's the Lost Empire. I want to learn more about it." Liu Tian had known that openly showing his interest in Lost Empire artifacts would eventually make people ask him about it. As he stroked a strange, skull-like antique in his hand, he answered as he'd planned. "Do you know how I felt when I learned that such a mysterious country existed six thousand years ago?"

"Hmm..." Alice handed him an antique he hadn't touched yet and replied, "Curious?"

"Excited." Having absorbed another bit of Origin Point, Liu Tian genuinely felt like a farmer enjoying a bountiful harvest. "Six thousand years ago, before humanity had even begun properly recording its history and civilization, there was a vast, powerful, great, and wondrous country."

"What was their system of government? What did they eat? How did they travel? And how did they disappear?"

"So many questions, so many ideas, all crowding into my mind."

"That's why I want to see more. I want to know more. I want to piece together that era, that mysterious age, bit by bit, using the relics they left behind."

Without telling many lies, Liu Tian spoke his mind. He knew he wasn't good at lying. Rather than struggle to invent a lie full of holes, it was better to conceal just a little of the truth.

"If I can, I want to go to the New Continent after graduation and look for more information about the Lost Empire."

That was the unvarnished truth. Once the antiques elsewhere had all been collected, he'd have no choice but to rely on himself. Of course, that was assuming he'd already seized the Prism Pillar that Blue Dream Company definitely possessed.

Liu Tian was confident. Though it seemed the upper limit of an individual's power in this world was no more than the strength of a regiment, with enough effort, becoming a one-man army and invincible under heaven wasn't impossible for him.

Even Tian Dao, the Celestial Martial Artists, the Demonic Martial Artists, and Bai Cinan would eventually be left behind.

So although Blue Dream Company seemed like an unshakable behemoth right now, Liu Tian wasn't worried that he couldn't match it if he had enough time.

"That sounds so romantic." Alice's eyes seemed to sparkle. "Exploring one ruin after another, following the traces of an ancient empire, uncovering the truth of history."

"Could you take me with you when the time comes?"

"Then you'll have to get stronger." Unaware of the little thoughts behind her question, Liu Tian replied, "If you're too weak, you won't be able to explore the ruins..."