Chapter 658
Gambling on Antiques
Chapter 658 Gambling on Antiques
These novel things made Gao De pause briefly, but he didn't pay too much attention to them in the end.
Walking and stopping like this, until reaching the corner on the west side of the monks' quarters, the scenery at the alleyway ahead suddenly changed.
Instead of the orderly shops of the sorcerers, there is now a simple wooden plaque half-embedded in the stone wall.
The wooden sign is dark brown with natural wear on the edges.
The words "Gujiao Street" are engraved in gold with the ancient script of the Plantagenet Dynasty.
The characters are vigorous and ancient, carrying a touch of classical Chinese charm. Although the gold foil is somewhat mottled, it still gleams faintly in the sunlight.
Beneath the wooden sign lies a street that winds its way into the depths.
The bluestone path is mottled and even covered with some moss.
On the stone blocks and wooden planks on both sides of the alley entrance, some old objects covered in dust are casually placed:
The metal boiler is covered in copper rust, and the furnace body is engraved with indistinct patterns.
The stone tablet, with its edges chipped and worn, had its inscriptions long since worn away.
The wooden staff handle, wrapped with dried vines, still had clear wood grain, but no magical energy fluctuations remained.
There were also some chipped earthenware bowls and rusty metal ornaments.
At first glance, it looks like an ordinary street stall where people collect and sell junk.
But there were groups of two or three people gathered around the stall, some squatting and some standing. They were all monks in robes, and there were also a few people in fine clothes.
Their fingers gently brushed over the old objects, their movements tender, and they occasionally chatted quietly with the stall owners, creating a peaceful yet lively atmosphere.
"What the hell?" Gao De stopped in his tracks, raised an eyebrow, and a clear look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
He had never seen such a sight before.
In the prime location of the Dharma Master District, there is a street filled with "dismantled" items that has attracted the attention of Dharma Masters.
This is clearly not a genuine junk collecting operation; there must be something more to it.
With this curiosity in mind, he slowly approached, remaining silent and simply observing quietly from the side.
The stall owner, an elderly man with gray hair, was holding a rusty bronze sword and whispering something to a middle-aged mage: "This sword was dug out of the Shadow Swamp in Avalon County. Look at the quality of the patina; it's at least from the Middle Ages. Feel the patterns; they're the standard patterns of military mages back then..."
The middle-aged monk then extended his index finger and gently stroked the blade of the bronze sword.
His fingertips paused briefly at the lines, his brows furrowed slightly, as if he were pondering or making a judgment.
In a short while, Gao De understood about 70-80% of it.
These seemingly worthless "junk" items are actually antiques.
This ancient corner street is a unique antique street in the Mage District of the glorious city.
Antiques are something Gaode is no stranger to; they are simply old objects that have stood the test of time, relying on their historical and collectible value.
In this extraordinary world, all values revolve around the concept of the extraordinary.
Magical plants, extraordinary minerals, extraordinary equipment—aren't they all more precious than these dusty old things?
Logically speaking, something that seems unrelated to the current supernatural powers should have been buried in history. How could it appear in the mage district and form such a large street, attracting mages to come here?
With this question in mind, Gao De slowly walked into the alley and discovered that this ancient corner street was far more magnificent than he had imagined.
The stalls at the alley entrance are just the tip of the iceberg.
As you walk further in, there are antique shops on both sides with various signs. Although the shops are not as exquisite as the potion shops and wand shops outside, they each have their own charm.
The collections in these antique shops are dazzling and diverse, exceeding Gaode's imagination.
The collection includes everything from bronze boilers, swords, and ornaments to iron weapons and silverware.
In addition, there are jade artifacts, wooden artifacts, miscellaneous items, and even some unidentified bone ornaments;
Scrolls, notebooks, and ancient coins are countless.
Yellowed scrolls were piled on the bookshelf, and ancient coins strung together with hemp rope hung on the wall.
Even the side alleys next to the main alley are filled with stalls of all kinds, displaying so-called medieval and modern items collected from all over the mainland.
There are also some rare items brought from isolated islands and remote ancient ruins overseas.
There were more pedestrians coming and going than at the alley entrance, and the monks were still the main force.
There were young apprentices dressed in low-ranking robes, mid-ranking mages who looked clearly extraordinary, and a few collectors and scholars studying history dressed in aristocratic attire.
Some people were carefully selecting items, some were haggling with the vendors, and others were huddled together, quietly discussing the antiques in their hands, occasionally letting out a few exclamations of surprise.
Although the street is not as lively as the outside, it is still quite popular.
Gaode randomly walked into a few antique shops.
The shopkeepers were all knowledgeable people. Seeing his calm demeanor, they didn't try to sell him anything, but only occasionally struck up a conversation.
Taking advantage of the casual conversation, he chatted with the shop owners, discussing everything from the age and place of origin of the antiques to their value and how to appreciate them.
In just half an hour, Gaode Maps had a clear understanding of the ins and outs of this ancient corner street.
This is not an ordinary secondhand goods transaction, but an antique culture unique to the Golden Flower Dynasty, a unique and extraordinary business model on the Nolan Continent.
Yes, it's about antique culture.
This thing may exist in other places or countries to varying degrees, but it is by no means large enough to be called a culture.
The root of everything lies in the long and unbroken history of the Plantagenet dynasty.
The civilization of the continent of Nolan has undergone many changes, with numerous dynasties rising and falling.
Only the Plantagenet Dynasty, as the first human nation, has been passed down to this day without interruption, accumulating a vast amount of historical relics.
These objects, referred to as "antiques," are not merely old items, but historical witnesses that bear the weight of time.
Over the long course of time, they have long been endowed with unique and extraordinary value.
This value is mostly unrelated to direct combat power, but it has irreplaceable significance in magical research, historical exploration, and tracing the origin of power.
This is also the core reason why antiques can gain a foothold in the Mage District and even form a unique culture.
First of all, antiques possess the magical aura of time.
An antique that has survived for thousands of years will, through the natural influence of magic, develop a unique and magical existence, carrying with it historical stories and the traces of time.
When a sorcerer casts spells that allow them to glimpse the past, such as those granting knowledge of legends, rewinding scenes, or granting historical perspectives, using genuine antique artifacts as a medium allows them to directly pinpoint historical moments. This significantly increases the spell's success rate, makes the rewounded images clearer and more detailed, and can even reveal secrets that the spell itself cannot access.
For mages who study lost spells, explore ancient secrets, and investigate the history of different planes, a suitable antique is far more valuable than several pieces of extraordinary equipment.
Secondly, antiques may very well contain lost techniques and knowledge.
Since the Middle Ages, the mage civilization has experienced several magical revolutions, golden ages, periods of decline, and the rise and fall of various extraordinary crafts.
Much of the precious knowledge of that time has disappeared for various reasons, but it is often preserved in hidden ways in those seemingly ordinary antiques.
A medieval mage's travelogue, its blank spaces perhaps inscribed with ancient spells that have been lost to time, using invisible ink made of stardust.
An ancient bronze ring, the patterns on its inner side may be a low-level enchantment array that has long been lost.
Even a seemingly ordinary ancient pottery shard may have patterns that correspond to ancient celestial phenomena and magical activation methods.
This is enough to save monks engaged in related research from taking detours for decades or even centuries.
Finally, some antiques are extraordinary objects that have been preserved by time.
In the field of alchemy, there is a high-level technique that has long been lost: the Time-Sealing Technique.
Ancient alchemists often used this technique to conceal the power of extraordinary items within ordinary objects, allowing them to slowly settle and transform over time.
Once the sealing period is over, or when a suitable person is encountered to unseal it, it can unleash power far exceeding its original strength.
Over tens of thousands of years, these sealed extraordinary items, intertwined with the magical aura of time, have become seemingly ordinary antiques devoid of any magical fluctuations.
These kinds of antiques are even more impossible to detect with conventional detection magic and appraisal techniques.
It's not that these spells are ineffective, but rather that the complex time magic accumulated over tens of thousands of years by the antiques will, like a thick fog, firmly conceal their original extraordinary power.
Even with advanced appraisal techniques, when faced with these kinds of antiques, one can often only obtain rudimentary and useless information such as "containing a faint magic of time" or "carrying ancient information."
Only by finding the key to unlock the secrets of time, or by encountering a trigger that resonates with the item, can the dormant extraordinary power within be awakened and brought back to the light of day.
This is why antique appraisal has become a profound and niche interdisciplinary field in the Nolan Continent.
It is not simply about distinguishing truth from falsehood and determining the era; rather, it requires the monk to possess both solid and extensive knowledge.
One must understand history and be familiar with the dynastic changes of the Golden Flower Dynasty and even the continent of Nolan, as well as the forms and styles of artifacts from different eras.
To understand dimensional studies, one must be familiar with the remnants of dimensional communication from different eras and be able to distinguish the characteristics of dimensional artifacts.
To be proficient in alchemy and enchanting, one must be familiar with ancient forging, crafting, and enchanting techniques, and be able to identify traces of craftsmanship on antiques.
Only by combining on-site analysis of the object's material, texture, patina, and wear can a relatively accurate judgment be made.
Even experts in antique appraisal can sometimes be fooled when faced with antiques that have endured thousands of years and whose luster has been deeply obscured by time.
One might mistake a bronze mirror containing a lost array for an ordinary ritual object, or one might buy a flawlessly forged counterfeit as the real thing at a high price.
Clearly, the antique culture of this world is much more interesting than the old objects that Gaode (a Chinese online forum) imagines, which rely solely on collections and historical endorsements. It can even be said to be so hardcore that it subverts common sense.
Its value will not fluctuate drastically with external factors such as dynastic changes or the spread of war, nor will its essence change due to the status of its holder.
Here, the value of antiques is not dependent on the aesthetics of others or the dust of history, but rather stems from their own inherent, extraordinary attributes that have been refined over time.
It's interesting as it may be, but Gao De is very clear in his mind that he knows absolutely nothing about this.
History, ancient tribal scripts, alchemy... he had no knowledge of most of the broad fields of knowledge required for appraising antiques.
The areas I've touched upon are only superficial, not even close to the basics.
If you were to actually participate, it would be no different from blindly trying to win a prize; it would be a complete waste of your Gold Flower coins.
So he just sighed a few times in his heart, didn't put much thought into it, and turned around and left the antique shop full of ironware and crystalware.
As soon as I stepped out of the shop, a burst of noisy voices came from across a small alley paved with bluestone slabs, breaking the usual tranquility of Gujiao Street.
The sounds were a mix of amazement, skepticism, and excited discussion; the bustling atmosphere clashed sharply with the tranquility of the surrounding shops.
Out of curiosity, Gao De followed the sound.
He turned the corner and saw a stall ahead completely surrounded by a crowd.
He pushed through the crowd to stand on the outer edge, his eyes immediately drawn to the center of the stall.
This is a stall displaying all sorts of miscellaneous items.
A rough wooden table was covered with a badly worn dark brown linen cloth, on which were scattered rusty meteorite ornaments and obsidian plaques with blurred patterns.
The stall owner, a middle-aged man, placed a palm-sized object on a wooden stand in the center of his stall.
It was a boiler-shaped metal object, dark gray in color, covered with thick black rust and dirt, with obvious chipping marks on the edges.
The top has a rusted interface, and the bottom is engraved with several blurry lines. It looks like scrap metal picked up from ruins, with nothing remarkable about it.
"Look carefully, everyone!" The stall owner's voice was as loud as a bell, drowning out the murmurs of the crowd.
"This object was unearthed from the foundation of an abandoned adamantite furnace in Morrison County. Preliminary estimates suggest it's a relic from the late Middle Ages. Feel it; the texture is infused with adamantite!"
As he spoke, he tapped the surface of the object with his finger, producing a dull, heavy echo: "Minimum price: two hundred Golden Bird Coins! Touch only, no spells allowed. If you see something you like, just place your bid. Whether you make a profit or a loss depends entirely on your eyesight!"
As soon as the stall owner finished speaking, the crowd stirred and rushed forward to line up, each person consciously putting on the thin leather gloves that the stall owner handed them.
This is an unwritten rule to prevent the sweat on your hands and the faint magic from corroding the timeless aura of antiques.
People took turns gently stroking the boiler-shaped object with their fingers.
Some people used the brass magnifying glass provided by the stall owner to carefully observe the texture and rust on the surface.
Someone tapped the object lightly, listening to the dull echo.
Another monk repeatedly rubbed the patterns at the bottom with his fingertips, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he were deep in thought.
"This thing looks like a piece of scrap metal. So what if it has some refined gold content? Without the magic fluctuations, what's the difference between it and a slightly more expensive piece of iron?" Someone in the crowd whispered, their tone skeptical.
"It's hard to say. What kind of place is Morrison County? It's the birthplace of the rise of our Plantagenet dynasty's artisan culture. During its peak in the late Middle Ages, there were master craftsmen everywhere."
“Three years ago, someone opened an ancient fire elemental enchantment array plate from one of the blind boxes there and sold it for 30,000 gold coin!” a mage who was clearly older retorted.
"Then why don't you buy it? Two hundred gold coin is no small sum. If you get ripped off, you'll have nowhere to turn for help," another middle-aged monk smacked his lips.
The old monk's expression stiffened for a moment, but he eventually shook his head and turned his gaze back to the object, his eyes full of hesitation, clearly not daring to place a bet easily.
"It's an antique gambling operation, no wonder it's so lively," Gao De, who already had some understanding of antique culture, thought to himself as he watched the scene unfold.
The uncertainty of antique appraisal has led to a unique way of playing the antique field: gambling on antiques.
(End of this chapter)