Chapter 3

In the distance, there was the tomb of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang. When Zhang Tianyuan was a child, he had visited it. Back then, he was quite naive and had even stepped onto the peak of the Qin Tomb, arrogantly claiming that he had trampled the First Emperor under his feet. Now, thinking about it, he felt ashamed and was deeply embarrassed by his ignorance.

Zhang Tianyuan had once heard someone say that the dragon vein is a place where the earth's energy is concentrated. That was why Qin Shi Huang chose to build his tomb there.

He didn't know if this was true, but it didn't stop him from trying to absorb the earth's energy. The method was relatively simple. At this point, he could already sense the earth's energy. All he needed to do was to draw this energy into his body and then integrate it into his dantian.

Inside his dantian, everything was gray and hazy, with only a few scattered wisps of earth's energy floating around. There was very little, perhaps enough to repair a glass cup, but nothing more sophisticated. Therefore, the earth's energy needed to be strengthened, and he was well aware of this.

In fact, the earth's energy now was the same as the mana in the game, just in a different form. In the game, mana was obtained by leveling up or taking potions, but in reality, it could only be drawn from nature.

He didn't know if the nine levels of mana, which formed in the dantian after being condensed in the game, still existed in reality.

This was one of the reasons he wanted to try.

With his mind, he focused his thoughts, and the earth's energy in his body quickly merged with the earth's energy of nature, then slowly flowed into Zhang Tianyuan's body.

The process was slow but comfortable. He could feel the changes happening in his dantian. The gray haze gradually took shape, resembling a faint, almost invisible dragon.

Suddenly, the earth's energy triggered the dragon vein of the Qin Tomb, and a terrifying surge of earth's energy rushed into Zhang Tianyuan's body. He spat out blood and almost fainted, feeling as if his body was about to explode.

He quickly stopped absorbing the earth's energy and began to refine the energy already in his body using the methods from the game.

He didn't know if it would work, but he had to try. Otherwise, he might die on the road today.

Xu Gang noticed Zhang Tianyuan's condition and quickly stopped the car by the roadside. "Are you okay, Tianyuan?"

Zhang Tianyuan didn't dare to speak; he just shook his head, signaling Xu Gang to drive away from the range of the Qin Ling dragon vein. The earth's energy here was too terrifying. Even if he didn't absorb it, it would still seep into his body. If he stayed here any longer, he would surely die without a trace.

Xu Gang didn't know what had happened to Zhang Tianyuan, but he trusted him and started the car, accelerating. This was entirely out of trust in Zhang Tianyuan.

Once they were far from the Qin Tomb, Zhang Tianyuan felt much better. The surging earth's energy in his body had been tamed, and miraculously, a faint, dragon-shaped earth's energy had formed in his dantian.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a tissue. Although his expression remained unchanged, he was inwardly amazed.

Without a doubt, this was identical to the first level of the nine levels of mana in the game, except that mana had been replaced by earth's energy.

The nine levels were: Hidden Dragon, Young Dragon, True Dragon, Golden Dragon, Soaring Dragon, Nine Dragons Protecting the Master, Leading the Dragon Group, Ten Thousand Dragons Nesting, and Divine Dragon!

In the game, Zhang Tianyuan's mana level had only reached the "Nine Dragons Protecting the Master" level, with nine dragons coiling around his dantian, guarding his body. Therefore, in the game, a treasure appraiser was a very powerful existence.

Now, in reality, he had only reached the "Hidden Dragon" level. Perhaps because his level was too low, he had almost died when absorbing the earth's energy from the Qin Tomb's dragon vein.

"Are you okay now?" Xu Gang asked with concern.

"Yes, I'm fine," Zhang Tianyuan nodded, not saying more. Explaining this would be too shocking and complicated.

Fortunately, Xu Gang didn't ask further. The默契 (mutual understanding) they had developed since childhood meant that if one party didn't want to talk, the other wouldn't press.

Zhang Tianyuan looked back at his still sleeping parents and sighed in relief. Fortunately, his parents hadn't seen what had happened; otherwise, they would have been very worried.

However, it was a blessing in disguise. Although he had almost died, this experience confirmed that he had indeed obtained the abilities of a treasure appraiser from the game, not just the six-character true incantation of the Feng Shui Treasure Appraisal.

Since this was the case, it meant that all the abilities contained in the six-character true incantation could be used in reality. In the hospital, he had already tried the "Bu" (Supplement) incantation. Now, with nothing to do, he could try the other incantations to see if they worked.

The "Xun" (Seek) incantation was for finding treasures and objects, which was especially useful for someone who liked archaeology and adventure. However, it wasn't limited to this. For example, if someone went to an antique shop and used the "Xun" incantation, they could immediately know where the treasures were and what they wanted, saving time and avoiding being cheated.

Zhang Tianyuan controlled the earth's energy and activated the "Xun" incantation, starting to search for things in Xu Gang's car. He believed that Xu Gang, who ran a jade shop, must have some good things in his car, so it was worth a try.

After a moment, he suddenly smiled and said, "Gangzi, did you buy a bunch of cheap stuff from the street vendors again?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Xu Gang asked, surprised.

"Don't worry about how I know. You just never learn. Although Lantian jade is good, there are several dead pieces in your cheap stuff. Taking them home would harm others," Zhang Tianyuan sighed.

"Dead pieces? I know about dead pieces, but I checked when I bought them and didn't see any," Xu Gang said, puzzled.

"You were cheated. After some special processing, dead pieces look almost the same as live pieces. Don't believe me? I'll show you!" Zhang Tianyuan reached into a plain-looking burlap bag under the driver's seat.

"Wow, you're really amazing. How did you know where I put the jade?" Xu Gang was dumbfounded. He knew Zhang Tianyuan was strong, but he didn't expect him to be this strong.

Zhang Tianyuan wouldn't say he had learned the six-character true incantation. He found the things using the "Xun" incantation.

He just smiled and said, "Your little tricks are easy to guess. You put them in a burlap bag so others wouldn't notice, right?"

"Hehe, you got it right," Xu Gang said, scratching his head while holding the steering wheel.

"Stop laughing. Drive carefully. I'll check these jades for you, so you don't bring bad luck home," Zhang Tianyuan said, untying the rope on the burlap bag and activating the "Jian" (Appraise) incantation.

The "Jian" incantation was complex, involving touch, observation, smell, and other senses, all of which could be enhanced by the earth's energy. The higher the level of earth's energy, the higher the enhancement, and the more accurate the appraisal.

Xu Gang's jades didn't need much more than a visual inspection. Zhang Tianyuan could tell which were live and which were dead just by looking.

In Xifeng City, there was a saying that Lantian jade had no true or false, only live or dead. Therefore, when observing jade, one didn't focus on authenticity but on whether it was live or dead.

Live jade could ward off evil and benefit the body, while dead jade had the opposite effect.

So, buying fake items was just a loss of money, but buying dead jade could bring bad luck.

The enhancement of vision by the earth's energy was simply a matter of "seeing."

"Seeing" had two aspects: penetration and detail.

Penetration was simple. The earth's energy allowed one's eyes to temporarily have the ability to see through objects, revealing the inside of the jade. The higher the level of earth's energy, the better the penetration. This ability had other uses as well.

In the game, Zhang Tianyuan often used this to check if NPCs had any treasures.

In reality, well, you know.

Detail was also simple. It allowed one's eyes to act like a magnifying glass or even a microscope, seeing very fine details, such as small letters, tiny cracks, or signs of fakery.

Using these two methods, Zhang Tianyuan separated the live and dead jades.

Poor Xu Gang had bought about twenty-five pieces of jade, but only five were live. The rest were dead. Although the cost wasn't high, bringing them home would bring a lot of bad luck.

"How is it?" Xu Gang asked anxiously.

"Most of them are junk, no, they are worse than junk!" Zhang Tianyuan sighed. "Be more careful when buying jade in the future."

"How many are live?" Xu Gang looked nervous.

Zhang Tianyuan felt sorry for him and didn't answer immediately. He thought for a moment and said, "Keep driving. I'll take a closer look."

Actually, he wasn't looking but trying the "Yang" (Nurture) incantation to see if he could bring the dead jades back to life. He tried to nurture as many as possible, but only five were live, and he was afraid Xu Gang would be too upset.

"Tianyuan, be careful. I'm going to give these jades to my friends," Xu Gang reminded him.

"Don't worry, I know what to do," Zhang Tianyuan nodded and tried to nurture the dead jades. He put the ones that were completely dead or couldn't be nurtured with his current level into the trash. He did his best to nurture the ones that could be brought back to life.

In the end, he used up most of his earth's energy and managed to nurture five more, making a total of ten live jades, which was a significant improvement.

"Here, ten live jades! I threw the rest in the trash. Remember to bury them when you get home, so no one picks them up and gets harmed," Zhang Tianyuan put the jades back in the burlap bag, tied it, and placed it back. "I'm a bit tired. Wake me up when we get home."

...

Zhang Tianyuan's home was in the countryside. His father had bought two plots of land early on. The first plot was an old cooperative house with some wasteland. The old house was said to have been