Seeing Xie Yuchen give him a strange look,
Gu Cheng hurriedly shifted the blame.
"Don't get the wrong idea!"
"I heard all this from my grandfather."
"My grandfather used to roam the jianghu too. After he retired, he told me all sorts of stories about that world, including your Old Nine Gates. I heard it all from him."
Xie Yuchen pondered for a moment, then smiled.
"I didn't expect anyone still remembered the Old Nine Gates."
"But a word of advice: outsiders know very little about the Old Nine Gates. You'd better not spread stories around, or you might invite unnecessary trouble."
"You don't have to worry about that!"
Gu Cheng promised, "I'm very good at keeping secrets."
I know more secrets than I can count. What's one more about your Old Nine Gates?
Xie Yuchen pointed at the Pixiu. "Name your price?"
Gu Cheng shook his head. "That's my dad's pride and joy. I can't sell it."
"I'd like that jade pendant of yours, though. How about it? Would you sell?"
Xie Yuchen chuckled. "Do you think I'm short of money? What I'm short of is treasures!"
Gu Cheng's eyes darted around. Then he sat beside Xie Yuchen, leaned closer, and asked, "Hey, tell me about that jade pendant of yours. What's the story?"
Xie Yuchen said, "Didn't you already figure it out?"
Gu Cheng said, "I mean, why does your jade pendant seem to have some kind of miraculous effect? It doesn't seem like ordinary antique jade."
Xie Yuchen hesitated for a moment.
"Oh, well. Since you noticed, I'll explain. It's not really a secret anyway."
"First, let me ask you: what is an antique?"
Gu Cheng answered, "Antiques are objects from ancient times, cultural heritage left behind by our predecessors. They're rare and precious objects that preserve the history, culture, and all sorts of information about ancient people, so they're extremely valu-"
Xie Yuchen cut him off.
"You're just reciting a textbook. That's all stuff from books."
"Books are written by people. What's in them is what someone else wants to drill into your head."
"You need to learn to think for yourself!"
"Let me put it another way."
"Do you think it makes sense for a five-hundred-cash double-flag copper coin to be worth hundreds of thousands?"
"Uh..."
"Do you think it makes sense for a piece of Ru ware to be worth tens of millions, or even over a hundred million?"
"Uh..."
Gu Cheng was at a loss for words.
In fact, since transmigrating and getting involved in this trade, he had wondered about that many times.
Was the antiques trade just making people pay for being gullible?
It was like those designer bags and shoes.
They easily cost tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands or millions. Any fool knew they weren't worth that much.
He really couldn't understand what people who bought and sold antiques were after.
"But..."
Xie Yuchen suddenly continued, "Suppose that copper coin or piece of porcelain had an incredible, miraculous effect, just like my jade pendant. Would you think they were worth it then?"
Without even thinking, Gu Cheng blurted out, "Holy shit! Of course they would be!"
Then his expression froze as realization struck him. "You mean..."
Xie Yuchen continued, "Legends of divine artifacts have existed since ancient times."
"The origins of divine artifacts can't be traced. No one knows how they came into being."
"Many legendary divine weapons, treasure basins, night-shining pearls, magical treasures and immortal artifacts from tales of ghosts and gods-even the legendary elixirs of immortality that prolong life-may actually be real."
"Many divine artifacts have vanished over the course of history, but many others have been passed down."
Gu Cheng's mouth hung open. It felt as though Xie Yuchen were telling him a story.
But this story
had opened an entirely new door for him.
"Because divine artifacts are so old, people gradually began treating them as ordinary ancient objects and trading them."
"But the legends surrounding divine artifacts never died out. They continued to circulate."
"In modern times, sharing information became easier, and gradually, more and more people learned about divine artifacts."
"But divine artifacts are mixed in with ordinary antiques, making them extremely difficult to distinguish."
"Take my jade pendant, for example. Very few people can recognize what's special about it. To most, it's just an ordinary jade pendant from the Song dynasty."
"So many people buy antiques, take them home, and study them at their leisure."
"Little by little, divine artifacts began to be discovered."
"That drove the wealthy and powerful into an even greater frenzy."
"Others followed their lead, making the antiques trade increasingly prosperous."
Gu Cheng was completely dumbstruck.
Suddenly, he asked, "Then how do you distinguish divine artifacts from ordinary antiques? You seem to be able to tell them apart pretty easily."
Xie Yuchen looked at him and smiled. "That's something I can't tell you."
He stood and straightened his clothes. "The resources and knowledge of the Old Nine Gates go far beyond anything you can imagine."
With that,
he turned and headed outside. "I'm off. Until we meet again."
Gu Cheng didn't try to keep him.
After watching Xie Yuchen leave, he returned to the counter, picked up the Pixiu, and concentrated again.
It took more than ten seconds for the text to become clear and stable.
He immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
He had been afraid his cheat ability had come from the jade pendant and would disappear once he was away from it.
"Looks like I was right."
"It has nothing to do with the jade pendant. It's an innate ability of my own."
"I never discovered it before because my mind wasn't focused enough and I couldn't concentrate properly."
"This time, the jade pendant helped focus my essence, energy, and spirit, sharpening my concentration and activating it."
"So now I can use it even without the jade pendant."
"It just takes a little longer-more than ten seconds each time. With the jade pendant in hand, it would take two or three seconds at most."
"Looks like I need to find some divine artifacts that boost my mental power and improve my concentration."
At that thought,
he could hardly wait.
After all, he had suddenly gained an innate ability akin to an "Appraisal" skill.
Anyone would want to go out and give it a try.
He told the shop assistant to keep an eye on the store.
Then he headed out to "hunt for treasure."