Broken Sword

After breakfast, Ye Chen and Ye Hai came together to Antique Street, one of Luocheng City's more famous streets.

The history of Antique Street was nearly as long as that of Luocheng City itself. Its buildings were among the oldest, though the shop owners had changed countless times. Of course, most had inherited the business from their fathers, passing it down generation after generation.

Walking down the street, Ye Chen was dazzled by the goods displayed in the shops on either side.

Ye Hai said from beside him, "Antique Street often comes with opportunities. Someone once bought an unremarkable High-Grade Spirit Stone for just ten taels of silver, then resold it to a Primal Origin Realm martial artist for over two million taels. He never had to worry about food or clothing for the rest of his life."

Ye Chen smiled. He knew of this incident as well. Spirit Stones were divided into four grades: low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and supreme-grade. The gap between each grade was enormous. Under normal circumstances, one Mid-Grade Spirit Stone could be exchanged for fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and one High-Grade Spirit Stone for fifty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones. That meant one High-Grade Spirit Stone was worth two thousand five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones, or two hundred and fifty taels of silver—enough for an ordinary person to live securely for ten lifetimes.

"Come on, let's take a look at Nine Cauldrons Pavilion." Ye Hai pointed at an antique building twenty paces ahead.

Ye Chen nodded. Nine Cauldrons Pavilion was a thousand-year-old shop on Antique Street, with the broadest connections. A Nine-Legged Bronze Cauldron at the center of its main hall was its signature treasure. The Patriarch of the Ye Family had once wanted to buy it, only to be refused. The matter had later faded away. Rumor had it that Nine Cauldrons Pavilion had powerful backing; even the Ye Family would have to think twice before making a move against it.

After crossing the threshold, no one came to receive them. Everyone was busy with their own tasks.

Ye Chen and Ye Hai did not mind and walked straight in.

The first thing they saw was a gigantic bronze cauldron as tall as three men. Its blue-black surface was round and smooth, engraved with countless ancient characters, each different from the next. Nine legs supported its body, making it seem square and steady, as though it could prop up the heavens and anchor the earth. It struck the soul with tremendous force.

Ye Chen drew a deep breath. The last time he had come was four years ago. Back then, he had been too young to understand much, and the Nine-Legged Bronze Cauldron had merely seemed imposing to him. Now, at a single glance, his soul seemed to tremble, while his lively True Qi faintly showed signs of stagnation.

He turned to glance at Ye Hai. Seeing that Ye Hai remained unmoved, Ye Chen found it strange but said nothing.

"Let's go to the second floor. The first floor only has little trinkets." After casually looking around and finding no antiques he liked, Ye Chen made the suggestion.

"Mm. The antiques on the first floor are no different from those in other antique shops."

The two walked side by side to the simple yet elegant second floor.

Compared to the first floor, the second floor had very few people. Including the attendants waiting nearby, there were only fifteen or sixteen people in all, making the place seem especially spacious.

However, everyone who could reach the second floor possessed considerable wealth. Even the most ordinary antique there cost nearly a thousand taels of silver. Whether one profited or lost depended on one's luck.

"Tut, tut, this Stone Figurine must be at least several hundred years old, right?" Ye Hai was drawn to a human-sized Stone Figurine covered in cracks.

Ye Chen lost interest after one glance. Separating from Ye Hai, he headed toward the other side.

At that moment, someone had already chosen an antique he liked, but the item left Ye Chen surprised.

"Attendant, tell your shopkeeper that I want this wooden rack. The price doesn't matter." The speaker was a fat man with a wealthy appearance, dressed in lavishly exaggerated clothes. All ten fingers were covered in rings. He looked like a newly rich merchant who had just struck it big, and he seemed extremely impatient.

The attendant felt miserable. What did he want a wooden rack for displaying antiques? Wasn't he deliberately making things difficult? Still, he smiled and said, "Certainly. I'll go ask. Please wait a moment."

"Go quickly and come back quickly." The fat merchant waved his hand, his eyes fixed tightly on the wooden rack as though afraid it would run away.

Ye Chen found it amusing, but his usually calm mind made him reconsider. One should not judge people by appearances. Perhaps the wooden rack truly held some hidden mystery.

With that thought, he focused intently on the wooden rack and released his Soul Force.

Buzz!

An invisible ripple seemed to bloom in the air, slowly seeping into the wooden rack and searching it with meticulous care. So long as there was anything unusual, Ye Chen would be able to sense it.

Hm?

"There is actually a Spirit Stone hidden inside this wooden rack. The Origin Energy within it is dozens of times richer than that of a Low-Grade Spirit Stone. It must be a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone, worth fifty thousand taels of silver. But how did this fat man notice it? Or did he simply take a liking to the rack itself, with no other intentions?" Ye Chen was uncertain. Still, a mere fifty thousand taels of silver was not enough to move him. With his current strength, earning money was easy. Of course, spending it was even easier.

The shopkeeper of Nine Cauldrons Pavilion hurried over and smiled at the fat merchant. "Sir, are you certain you want this wooden rack?"

The fat merchant rolled his eyes. "Name your price!"

The shopkeeper raised one finger. "Ten thousand taels."

"Fine, that's very cheap. My father-in-law should like this old wooden rack very much." The fat merchant did not even furrow his brow as he took out a banknote worth one thousand taels from his Storage Spirit Ring.

"As long as he likes it. Little Li, hurry and help our guest clean up the wooden rack." The shopkeeper accepted the banknotes and instructed the attendant beside him.

Ye Chen was speechless. If the fat merchant was telling the truth, then he truly had not noticed anything special about the wooden rack and only wanted it to please his father-in-law. As for the shopkeeper, he had no idea where the rack had come from and had simply used it as a decoration on the second floor, so he was hardly losing out either.

It seemed that in Nine Cauldrons Pavilion, there were too many strange things for any of them to seem strange anymore.

Shaking his head, Ye Chen passed by them.

There were too many antiques on the second floor: half a bronze mirror covered in verdigris, black vases, cloth of some unknown age, and even more damaged armor and weapons, such as chain mail, steel armor, Seven-Orifice Exquisite Armor, long sabers, broken spears, Broken Swords, bent iron rods, meteor hammers missing their chains, and so on.

Releasing his Soul Force, Ye Chen examined them one by one, his eyes calm as water.

In the end, the only item that caught his eye was that meteor hammer. If it could be restored to its original state, its value would not be lower than the treasure saber in Ye Chen's Storage Spirit Ring; it might even surpass it.

Unfortunately, the damaged meteor hammer had lost its sharp aura, and after the erosion of countless centuries, all its spiritual energy had vanished. If he brought it back, it could only serve as an ornament or antique. There was no way to use it, and Ye Chen could not accept that.

Setting down the meteor hammer, Ye Chen was about to leave.

Suddenly, his gaze fixed on a Broken Sword wedged in the gap between a wooden rack and the wall. This Broken Sword consisted only of a hilt and a small Broken Sword Section. Its surface was dull and lusterless, utterly inconspicuous. No one knew how many years it had lain hidden there, obscure and silent.

Ye Chen reached out and picked up the Broken Sword. After examining it briefly, he urged his Soul Force into it.

"Hahahahahahahahaha..."

A vast, desolate burst of laughter crashed straight into Ye Chen's mind. In an instant, Ye Chen seemed to arrive in ancient times, where heaven and earth were a chaotic blur, and only that laughter rang in his ears.

"What is going on?" Ye Chen cut off his Soul Force, cold sweat breaking out across his forehead.

Ye Chen had only discovered the ability to inspect objects with Soul Force not long ago. Unlike mental force, Soul Force could probe more deeply rather than being confined to the surface. Otherwise, he would never have detected the Mid-Grade Spirit Stone hidden within the wooden rack.