Chapter 368: Functional Spirit Treasure
"Papa, are we going to that crowded place again for a shopping spree?" Mengmeng asked while resting on the back seat.
"Yes, a shopping spree. That 'crowded place' is called Antique Street, and we can find something made in ancient times or something weird and beautiful there," Zhang Han explained.
"What's something made in ancient times'?" Mengmeng asked curiously.
"Something that was made a long time ago and handed down," Zhang Han replied with a smile.
"Why don't we buy a new one?"
"Er... We will just browse and buy what we like."
"But all those things are not, not beautiful. There are no bears, no toys, no..." Mengmeng mumbled in the rear of the car.
The last time she had gone there with Papa, she had found nothing interesting.
They had four destinations that day.
The first one was on the North Ring-Road. After browsing through the whole street quickly with Mengmeng and paying special attention to several shops he had missed last time, Zhang Han left the street empty-handed.
Considering that the first destination was quite small, Zhang Han drove all the way north and arrived at Lezhong Street in Jiansha District. As the second largest antique street in Hong Kong, Lezhong Street was the main collecting and distributing center of ancient relics of the Hua nation.
However, Zhang Han once more found nothing except three small ornaments that caught Mengmeng's eye.
It was almost noon when they left the second destination. Then, they had special Wonton Noodles and Dace Balls for lunch.
After a short rest, they went to Luoshang Street and got a Mickey Mouse and a Barbie doll.
Zhang Han sighed in disappointment.
He was not as lucky as last time. Though there were still quite a lot of authentic antiques in these three places, he hadn't found any complete spirit treasures, except for five defective ones, which he gave up after a rough identification.
"Last destination."
Zhang Han drove towards an ancient street in Hong Kong. Beginning at the central zone of the North, the long, winding street extended to the Upper Ring-Road and West Ring-Road, with over 100 antique shops selling high-quality antiques of the Hua nation.
They sold ceramics, jade ware, stone sculptures, ivory carvings, bronze ware, silver ware, lacquer ware, furniture, screens, calligraphy work, paintings, ancient books, and even rare ancient wedding dresses. Almost all categories of antiques could be found there.
In addition, one could find ancient fans and phonographs from the Western world and jewelry, silver ware and antiques from Japan and South Asia. Antique collectors and enthusiasts from all over the world were busy searching through the dazzling and endless array of artifacts there, including ceramics, sculptures and furniture.
Treasure seekers with different occupations and social backgrounds came and left in an endless stream, their true identity and purpose unknown. It was possible that a well-dressed person was actually the power-holder of a certain force, or that an obscure elder was a collector with a strong background.
"Papa, I see lots of dolls over there." Mengmeng was resting in Zhang Han's arms and looking left and right with her big sparkly eyes before being attracted by several rows of dolls on the right front stall.
"Let's go and have a look," Zhang Han replied in a pleased tone before he walked towards the stall.
The shop owner, who was in his thirties and hoary, greeted the two customers with a smile.
"Lovely little girl, see if there's anything you like and I'll give you a 30% discount."
Zhang Han smiled lightly and did not answer.
Usually, antique shopkeepers would set their own prices and then charge new buyers a lot of money, so a discount meant nothing.
"I like those two dolls." Mengmeng pointed at two palm-sized porcelain dolls on the side.
The two dolls were a little boy and a little girl. They both looked lovely and had big heads and small bodies. The little boy was wearing a black hat, a yellow scarf, and a shirt with a little bear pattern, and the little girl was wearing a white hat, a pink scarf, and a dress with a rabbit pattern.
"1,000 yuan in total. Just give me 700 yuan." The old man kept smiling.
"Wow, that one is pretty too." Mengmeng pointed at two porcelain dolls with a similar appearance.
"I want them all," Zhang Han said casually.
"Okay, I'll pack them." The old man nodded and pulled a box from the side, ready to pack the dolls.
However, Mengmeng pouted and spoke a little crossly.
"Not two, just one. No, not four, just two. They look alike, so I only want two."
"Let's buy them all since you like them." Zhang Han pinched the girl's cheeks with a smile.
"Mama said that I couldn't ask for too many similar toys. Four are too many, so two are enough."
"Ha ha ha!" The old man burst out laughing. "So which two do you want?"
"Well..." Mengmeng was in a dilemma. Her big eyes blinked and finally settled upon the first two porcelain dolls. "Those two."
"Okay, I'll pack them for you."
While speaking, the old man packed the four dolls and put the boxes in two separate bags. "This is what you bought." He gave one bag to Mengmeng. "This is a gift."
"Huh?" Mengmeng, who was a little surprised, looked at Zhang Han, her eyes lighting up in delight.
While giving the old man a smile, Zhang Han asked Mengmeng, "What are you supposed to say now?"
"Thank you, grandpa." Mengmeng thanked the old man very happily.
"You are welcome." The old man waved his hand casually.
He liked the lovely little girl very much, so giving her a gift made him feel good.
When Zhang Han picked up the bag, took out his wallet and prepared to pay for it, something unusual triggered his treasure-sniffing nose and brought his movements to a sudden halt. He looked to the right, searched carefully, and finally fixed his eyes on a black metal box.
The box was giving off a spirit treasure-specific fragrance.
"Show me that box." Zhang Han took two steps to the right and pointed to the black box with his left finger.
The metal box was a cube that was about 13 inches in length, width and height. From the outside, it looked pure black, but its long history had left some marks on it.
"You got quite a discerning eye." The old man went over and gently picked up the box, putting it on the front. "This black metal box is a genuine antique made in the Song Dynasty with a complete set of certificates," the old man explained, "It costs 3.8 million yuan. This is the collection box of the ancient officials and nobles, so there are specially-designed square grooves in it. Unfortunately, the original contents are no longer inside, so I put in a set of my own metal cards that fit the groove well. The two antiques are sold together at a total price of 3.98 million yuan."
The old man opened the box to show its internal structure, which was not very different from an ordinary box. However, there were 18 small grooves on the bottom, each containing a black-golden card.
Zhang Han sniffed the box again and then picked up a card for more details. His eyes lit up.
There were some blurred patterns on these cards, such as the white-tiger pattern on the one in his hand. However, he could only guess the original shape of the remaining lines. There were also some patterns on the other cards, but they were very vague and none of them was complete.
"Very good."
Zhang Han marveled.
He hadn't expected to find such a spirit treasure here. Based on his appraisal, this set of poker-like cards was actually a set of weapons and a first-stage spirit treasure.
It was classified as a spirit treasure because of its high-quality material.
Xuan Void Gold was a widely-used advanced mental that most people would turn into weapons. Being born a second-stage spirit treasure, Xuan Void Gold was a memory material, so weapons made from it could be repaired by themselves when damaged as long as they were given enough energy. Among its other functions, the most practical one was that it could hold energy like a transfer station and absorb or release energy under artificial control.
Some people liked to seal up a lot of energy beforehand with weapons made from Xuan Void Gold, such as the power of thunderstorm. When needed, they could release lightning at will as long as they excited the weapons.
Besides, Xuan Void Gold had a strong upgrading ability. Weapons made from Xuan Void Gold could be fused with other rare objects for further refinement. During this process, Xuan Void Gold acted like a jack of all trades.
Therefore, in Zhang Han's opinion, this set of cards was a broken spirit treasure.
An animal soul had been sealed in the pattern of each card. For example, the soul of a white tiger might have been sealed in the blurry white-tiger pattern.
Once the seal was removed, the holder of the card could release the killing power of the white tiger. Then, the card would increase the combat effectiveness of the holder by 20 percent, and this number would increase by about 50 percent again thanks to the spirit of the white tiger, so that the strength of the holder would be greatly enhanced during a fight.
Zhang Han could tell that this set of cards must have been a third-stage weapon. As for its user, if he or she had been able to seal the animal soul in the card, his or her cultivation must have been at least in the middle stage of the Building Base or the late stage of the Grand Master if converted into the rank of the martial arts world.
If the weapon could be found and sold here, it must have been a long time since the cards' glorious period and their original owner might have died in battle.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for such a weapon to be damaged and reduced to the first stage, not that different from scrap metal. Fortunately, it was made from Xuan Void Gold and could recover by itself.
"What a pity that its former owner chose a wrong way and misunderstood Xuan Void Gold."
Zhang Han sighed silently.
There were patterns on all the 18 cards, so it must have taken many years for the former owner to seal them. However, judging by the shape of the patterns, the strength of the sealed souls was uneven, and most of them were not strong, except for the spirit of the white tiger. Therefore, the former owner might have tried to build a set of functional weapons.
Although that was a good idea, choosing to use such an interesting spirit treasure to seal souls had been foolish right from the beginning.
The best use of this weapon would be to refine other substances at will, while the so-called seal soul would be used to borrow the power of soul. Users themselves might be hurt once the power was out of control.
Zhang Han was pleased with this set of cards. After all, he had found a spirit treasure, so he wouldn't be returning empty-handed.
"I'll take this one."
To the old shopkeeper's astonishment, Zhang Han paid for the cards and the box without hesitation.
Although he was confused, the old man couldn't help noticing Zhang Han. "Well, lad, you... Have you always been so casual when it comes to shopping?"
"Yes." Zhang Han nodded.
"You'd better be careful here." The old man's mouth trembled for a moment before he said so.
At the same time, he was thinking...
No wonder he often saw news on the Internet about people getting cheated out of a lot of money. This buyer's sense of fraud prevention had to make cheaters like him very much.