Chapter8- Surprise! A Priceless Treasure?

Benjamin Taylor stopped at a stall.

The stall owner was an old man who dressed and looked like a construction worker.

On the stall were seven or eight items, all covered in dirt, as if they were recently dug up from the ground.

Benjamin Taylor squatted down, picked up a jade bead and examined it.

He said, "Daniel, check out the quality of this item."

Daniel took the bead and looked it over a few times.

He didn't know how to judge it and was just putting on a show.

However, in his mind, all the information about the jade bead had already appeared.

[Item]: Glass Bead

[Age]: Modern

[Quality]: New

[Details]: Bead made of glass

[Evaluation]: Worthless!

[Market Price]: 0.1 Stellar Coin

[Buyback Price]: 0.01

Glancing at the information about the bead, Daniel scoffed.

Anyone with a little bit of knowledge wouldn't buy this.

He casually responded, "The quality is very good, it's a modern piece made of glass. It has no value at all."

Benjamin Taylor chuckled in response, "I didn't expect your judgement to be this sharp."

He wanted to test Daniel's appraisal skills.

After all, the treasure that Daniel found yesterday was an antique painting and calligraphy.

A fake Night Pearl belongs to jewelry antiques, a completely different category, and the appraisal methods are different as well.

It seemed that this young man did know some general knowledge about jewelry appraisal.

Unaware of Benjamin Taylor's thoughts, Daniel asked the stall owner, "How much for this piece?"

The old man squinted his eyes, smiling cheerfully, "Sir, you have a good eye."

"This bead is the Night Pearl loved by Queen Elizabeth in the 15th century, the most valuable item I have. I didn't plan on selling it, but seeing as you really want it, I'll let it go for three million."

A Night Pearl from the 15th century?

Three million?

I'll give you three slaps, how about that?

Daniel widened his eyes, the corner of his mouth twitching in disbelief.

The old man seemed to have taken him for a fool.

In the live stream, some viewers with appraisal backgrounds commented.

"This Night Pearl is in excellent condition, well preserved, truly a miracle. It looks like it could indeed be from the 15th century."

"It's reasonable to sell the favorite jewelry of the 15th-century Queen for three million."

"Good thing our streamer made fifty million yesterday. Buy it, keep it as a family heirloom."

Daniel returned the glass bead to its original place and sighed at the camera, "You guys are too young too naive."

"What do you mean, it's fake?"

"How could it be? The comment just now made sense. This thing looks real."

Daniel didn't know how to explain to them, given that he didn't have the skills to appraise such things.

So, he picked up the glass bead again and casually asked, "Give me your lowest price if you're really interested in selling."

The owner chuckled, "Two million eight hundred thousand."

Daniel glared at him, then said, "One coin, I'll take it if you're selling."

"One coin??"

Now it was the old man who was staring.

He had never seen anyone haggle this hard.

"Friend, you better leave. I could get more than that selling it as junk."

Daniel, not bothering to reply, simply got up and started to walk away.

Just as he was turning around, he heard the old man call out, "Friend, you're really leaving just because I told you to?"

"Since you really want it, how about you raise the price a bit?"

Daniel said, "Three coins, I'll take it if you're selling, if not, forget it."

Seeing that Daniel showed no emotion on his face, the old man knew this was the most Daniel would offer.

So, with a sigh, he gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and handed the glass bead to Daniel.

"Take it! Give me three coins!"

At this moment, the viewers in the live stream were astounded.

"Holy crap! From three million to three coins?!"

"This is absolutely brutal!"

"I really thought it was genuine just now. If it were me, I would've probably bought it for three million."

"These people here really ask for the sky, such rip-offs."

"But why did the streamer buy it?"

"Could it be... the streamer is about to repeat yesterday's awesome move?!"

This comment brought the live stream's atmosphere to a climax.

At this moment, everyone thought the Night Pearl was genuine, otherwise, Daniel wouldn't have bought it.

Unfortunately, things didn't turn out the way they expected.

Daniel bought this fake Night Pearl simply to allow the system to Buyback it.

[Detected Fake Night Pearl]

[Buyback?]

Daniel thought, "Yes."

The next second, the Night Pearl he put in his pocket disappeared without a trace.

Even Daniel only felt it when he reached into his pocket to check.

Almost at the same time, Daniel received two notifications.

Gained [Gem Appraisal]!

He was secretly delighted.

He had gained another new skill!

The other was a bank SMS reminder.

"Your bank account ending in '0926' has received 0.01 StellarCoin..."

Although he didn't know how the system did it, the money deposited had a legitimate source and he wasn't afraid it would be flagged by the bank.

Benjamin Taylor stood aside, quietly watching Daniel haggle from the start.

Daniel's clean and efficient haggling technique surprised him.

In the antique town, it was the first time anyone had bargained so hard.

"Let's go, keep looking around," Benjamin Taylor suggested.

Daniel nodded.

As he was about to stand up, he heard a commotion not far away.

"I ain't gonna give you a price until I check the item," one voice argued loudly.

"If you wanna see the stuff, you gotta pay first. Are you gonna buy or not? If not, scram and don't waste my time," retorted another.

Daniel turned towards the noise.

A man in his thirties, disheveled and grimy, was being surrounded by a few people at a nearby stall.

His greasy hair looked like it could fry food, and his clothes were visibly filthy.

In his hand, he held an old, yellowing book.

Daniel focused and the details of the book immediately appeared in his mind.

[Item]: Qi Origin

[Age]: 1850s

[Condition]: Worn

[Details]: Ancient manuscript containing profound mysteries.

[Rating]: Invaluable!

[Market Price]: XXXXX

[Buyback Price]: XXXXX

What?!

Daniel's eyes filled with disbelief at the sight of the data.

This was the first time something like this had happened.

Even the system couldn't estimate the price.

Just what was the story behind this book?

Daniel decided to investigate further.

As he stood up slowly and walked towards the man, the latter was just about to leave after failing to get a satisfactory price.

"Hey, buddy!" Daniel called out to him. "Where'd you get this book?"

The man looked at Daniel and extended his dirty hand.

Caught off guard, Daniel then realized what the man wanted.

He pulled a stack of bills from his pocket and gave him a 10 StellarCoin note.

The man seemed satisfied after receiving the money.

"Inherited it from my ancestors," he said.

"And what did your ancestors do?" Daniel asked.

Again, the man extended his hand.

After receiving more money, he said, "They practiced martial arts in the mountains."

"Can I take a look at the book? If it's good, I'll buy it," Daniel asked.

This time, the man extended two fingers.

Daniel gave him two 10 StellarCoin notes, but the man shook his head.

Daniel gave him two more, but the man still shook his head.

It wasn't until Daniel handed over 200 StellarCoins that the man finally threw the book to Daniel.

Daniel caught the book and took a look.

It gave off a musty smell, showing its age.

He opened it and furrowed his brow.

The pages were filled with indecipherable text that resembled the ancient script from Serenalia.

"This is…"

Benjamin Taylor appeared beside Daniel.

He too looked at the text and furrowed his brow.

"Is it pictographic text?" he guessed.

Daniel shook his head. "Pictographic text evolved from pictorial scripts and looks like drawings. Although I can't understand this text, it is neat and orderly."

Seeing the two men in deep thought, the man impatiently asked, "Are you gonna buy it or not? If you want to study it, buy it and take it home to study."

Finally remembering the man, Daniel asked, "How much do you want for it?"

The man thought for a moment, looking at the money in his hand, and held up a palm.

"Five grand," he said.

Without a second thought, Daniel pulled out five grand in StellarCoin from his pocket and handed it to the man.

The man snatched the money, turned around, and left without saying a word.

Benjamin Taylor looked at Daniel in surprise. "Are you sure this book is worth five grand?"

Worth five grand?

This was a priceless treasure!

Feeling quite pleased inside, Daniel kept a straight face and said nonchalantly, "It's just five grand. Think of it as buying a little trinket to satisfy my curiosity. It's not like I can't afford it."

Benjamin Taylor nodded, "Fair point."