1 The "Introduction"

Antique Treasure Shop chapter 1

Waking up with a System in another world would be, to many people an exciting event. Maria Todd however, felt at odds with her situation.

Maria had lived a fulfilling life on Earth, she had married, had children and died of age just a couple years after her husband.

She was content with that.

But here she was, alone in a small, crowded shop in a world of cultivation and magic. What's more, unlike in the books her grandchildren had talked about, she had not become youthful once more.

In fact, although she could stand and walk now, her appearance was very close to that of when she had died back on Earth.

Maria sighed and looked around the shop; she had already been introduced to the System.

It was an antique exchange shop and not just any, it was the exact same shop she and her husband had owned and run for the best part of 40 years.

Walking about, she saw that the shelves and cases were filled. Incredibly, all the items were the same ones from Earth.

Yet instead of being useless trinkets in a modern world, Maria could tell that these antiques of Earth's history were far more useful in this world.

The System had explained very little about the world of cultivation she was now stuck in. But the gist was that she could not cultivate as others would, instead she would gain eXP points based on transactions in the shop, thus allowing her to become more powerful.

'I'm currently at the Pinnacle Foundation Stage, which means i'm stronger than the average human, but still far weaker than many in this world...'

What did she need to do? Make money of course! Sighing once more, Maria walked to the front windows and opened the blinds for the first time.

Light poured in and she could see a busy street filled with people wearing the most diverse assortment of clothing she could imagine:

People in armor, carrying swords and shields, Taoist priests in long cloaks, Wizards in robes...

After she stood gaping for several moments, she only then realized that the people she saw weren't actually so formidable.

The highest of those she saw were at Basic Foundation, whereas she was at the Pinnacle Foundation.

Although Maria had no combat experience or skills, her cultivation alone was enough to stop the majority of people from causing trouble.

Shaking her head Maria placed the 'Open' sign on the window sill before retreating back to the cash register.

Less than 5 minutes had passed when, much to her surprise the door was opened. A rugged middle aged man entered, followed by a more gentle looking girl.

The two peered around the shop with caution, "Why are there no guards?" the girl asked no one in particular.

"Welcome," Maria said, startling the two as they had yet to notice the elderly woman sitting nearby. "Feel free to look around, if you have any questions, I'm right here."

"Uh... ok." was the man's slightly confused response, the woman's voice seemed a bit too warm and inviting.

The man, Dirk had been through many battles and dangers in his time. Although he was quite experienced, his cultivation was too low and thus could not enter a Guild.

Recently Dirk and his companion Tia had entered an abandoned forest temple nearby and found several scrolls. They were in a strange language and without the skill [Translate], they had no clue what the

scrolls contained.

Coming to this small town to rest before going to larger city wasn't necessary... but who could've guessed there was a Trading Post here?