Chapter 8

The old man stroked his sparse white hair. "You can take a look yourself. The items on the left side of my shop are all newly collected from the countryside, while the ones on the right are some old and valuable pieces." After saying this, he lowered his head and continued to examine the small object in his hand.

Jialong glanced over and saw that the old man was wearing white gloves, holding a light golden pocket watch with its back cover open, seemingly examining its internal structure.

Turning his gaze away, Jialong scanned the entire shop and began to look around from left to right.

On the far left wall hung a rectangular oil painting depicting a siege of a white castle. A large number of silver-armored warriors were charging towards the castle with red flags, while catapults continuously hurled huge stones, and boiling oil poured down from the castle walls. Blood, limbs, and corpses were scattered everywhere.

Below the oil painting hung a dark golden circular metal plate, over half a meter in diameter, with a smiling human face prominently displayed at its center.

"What is this?" Jialong reached out to touch the material of the metal plate. It was very hard, with a fine, rough texture similar to copper printing paper.

The old man, who was standing by a bookshelf, looked up. "It's a sun god totem from the Red Tribe three hundred years ago. It's a good piece. The tribe's shamans would melt new gold ornaments and mix them with brass, pouring them over the totem. Except for the central human face, the rest is a continuous accumulation of gold and brass. If you're interested, I can sell it to you for 35,000. After all, there aren't many people who can appreciate it these days. If it were a few decades ago, during the peak of antique collecting, this thing would have sold for at least a few hundred thousand."

"Sun god totem..." Jialong's lips twitched. He knew without looking that it was definitely fake. Not only did his ability not react, but if the totem were real and worth so much, especially being made of gold, it wouldn't be sitting here for sale. Such a large piece could easily fetch over a hundred thousand at any jewelry store, and the old man was offering it for just 30,000. He currently had less than 20 yuan on him.

He turned left and looked at a slightly higher red table, on which sat a purple-red medal, a bottle of clear wine, and a silver-white cup.

He reached out and touched each of the three items, and when he touched the purple-red medal, the potential percentage at the bottom of his vision suddenly jumped.

"Hmm?!" He shifted slightly, his back to the old man, his face showing a hint of tension.

He picked up the purple-red medal and examined it closely.

It was a cross-shaped medal, with a purple-red cross and a dark golden wheat border. Jialong noticed a small black circular area in the center of the medal, about the size of a fingernail, with a white letter "P" engraved inside.

He could feel a strong, cold aura emanating from the medal, even stronger than the black pearl and the crystal from Finestine's Ring of Misfortune. However, he couldn't fully draw out the aura from the medal; only a very thin channel was allowing the potential to seep out slowly.

"Before, I could absorb all the potential with just a touch, but this time, even holding it, I can only absorb a little... At this rate, it would take days to absorb it all." A hint of surprise and confusion flashed in Jialong's eyes.

"This thing costs 6,000." The old man, who had somehow moved to Jialong's right, spoke suddenly.

"6,000..." Jialong frowned slightly.

The old man, dressed in black, looked at the medal and said softly, "This bronze cross medal was acquired from a retired officer's home. You have good eyes; among the items I've collected, this medal is a rare gem. It comes from the once powerful Montia Republic, which was a formidable nation that made the entire world tremble. They had over a hundred colonies worldwide, and nearly half of our Yalu Federation was colonized by Montia. This medal is a product of that era, supposedly awarded to commanders with second-class military achievements."

"I'll take a closer look... no rush." Jialong suppressed his desire to buy it. He knew that if he could quickly absorb the aura from the medal, he could potentially gain over two attribute points. Unfortunately, he had no money...

His weekly allowance was only 20 yuan, and he was still 5,980 yuan short of 6,000.

The old man noticed Jialong's lingering gaze and a glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes. "Moreover, a military officer wanted to collect this medal last time, but he didn't have enough money then. He might come back soon to buy it. Young man, if you want it, don't miss this opportunity..."

Jialong's face twitched. "I'll look at the other items first."

"Sure, take your time." The old man's face broke into a chrysanthemum-like smile.

Jialong glanced at the old man. "This guy... clearly sees that I want to buy it and is deliberately trying to pressure me. But better safe than sorry. Someone else might really want it. No rush, though; maybe I can find something else to absorb potential from elsewhere."

He calmed himself and began to wander around the other tables and walls in the shop. In just ten minutes, he had touched everything.

To his disappointment, only the medal had potential that he could absorb; the rest were just ordinary items.

A short while later, he returned to the table where the medal was placed and picked up the purple-red bronze cross medal again, examining it for over half an hour.

"I don't have enough money on me, boss. Can you hold it for me until I come back to buy it?" Jialong finally looked up at the old man.

The old man had returned to the bookshelf, carefully dusting off the antiques with a white cloth. Hearing this, he turned with a smile. "Of course, but I can't hold it for too long. Don't think I was pressuring you earlier; someone really wants to buy it. The reservation is in three weeks."

"Three weeks..." Jialong frowned. "Alright, I'll try to gather the money. What's the lowest price you can offer?"

"Considering you're a student, I'll give it to you for 5,000, but no less." The old man adjusted his glasses.

"I won't haggle now; we'll see later." Jialong didn't say more, gave the bronze cross medal one last look, and reluctantly placed it back on the table. He then walked to the old man's desk. "I'm Jialong. May I ask for your name, boss?"

"You can just call me Old Gege. What do you want to ask? If it's a sensitive question, I won't answer for free."

"I want to ask where you acquired that medal." Jialong frowned.

The old man recalled for a moment. "I can tell you, but..." He smiled and held out his hand.

Jialong looked at the old man's bony hand and pulled out a 10-yuan note from his pocket, placing it in his hand.

"Cheapskate..." The old man muttered, pocketing the money. "The place is a dilapidated ancient castle, about 60 miles outside Huai Mountain City in the countryside. The castle's original owner was a viscount, but each generation declined, and now he only holds the title of knight. Many years ago, he couldn't maintain the castle, and most of its contents have been sold off. If it weren't so dilapidated and in such a poor location, the castle itself would have been sold long ago. The castle's name... I think it's Silver Veil Castle."

"Silver Veil Castle. Can you draw me a map?"

The old man smiled and held out his hand again.

"Damn!" Jialong cursed, pulling out another 10-yuan note from his pocket and placing it in the old man's hand. "Please, quickly!"

"No problem!" The old man pocketed the note, quickly pulled out a pale yellow sheet of paper from under the desk, and drew a simple map with a white feather pen, then handed it over.

Jialong took the map and scanned it. "Thank you. I'll be in touch."

Without waiting for the old man's response, he rolled up the map, turned, and strode out of the antique shop.

After walking a distance down the street, he touched his empty pocket, feeling a mix of frustration and helplessness. "Not to mention buying the medal, just the travel expenses to Silver Veil Castle would cost 50 to 60 yuan... And now I've spent all my allowance for next week."

As he walked, Jialong kept thinking of ways to get 5,000 yuan. He had a feeling that the bronze cross medal was somehow covered, preventing him from fully absorbing its potential. To completely absorb it, he needed to remove the surface layer and see what was truly hidden inside. But he couldn't do that without buying it; just looking and touching wouldn't help.

He glanced at the light red data at the bottom of his vision. The potential had already reached 101%, and a cool stream of energy was swirling in his mind, ready to be added to any attribute.

"Don't rush. I absorbed so little potential standing there for so long. To absorb enough from the bronze cross medal to gain an attribute point, I'd need to stand there for half a day. Old Gege, being so money-hungry, wouldn't allow it." Jialong re-estimated the total potential of the bronze cross medal, which was at least five points, making him even more eager.

"I'll gather the money and come here every day to absorb potential. I'll accumulate it bit by bit; I won't believe I can't finish it!" He made up his mind.

Reaching the entrance of Bannington Street, Jialong looked up at his uncle's place.

The round arched window was open, and a chubby middle-aged man was looking down. "Is that Jialong?" The man had a plain face but very thick, dark eyebrows, giving him a strong and resilient look. "It's been a while since I've seen you. Come up quickly!"

Jialong, surprised to see his uncle directly, nodded and walked through the stone pillars, entering the half-open wooden door of the building.

Inside the entrance was a spacious hall with a black carpet on the floor and a white stone angel statue in the center, poised to take flight.

Jialong entered from the left staircase, ran past a few people going upstairs, and soon arrived at the red metal door on the left side of the fifth floor.

Knock, knock, knock.

He knocked on the door.

The door opened with a click, and his uncle Tiel, dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, stood at the door. "Come in quickly, the fireplace is still burning."

"Okay." Jialong entered, changed into slippers, and followed his uncle into the inner room.

The room was lined with light yellow wallpaper, and various oil paintings hung on the walls, most of which were either his uncle's or his wife Windsor's.

A few minutes later, Jialong stood by the window, listening to his uncle and a bearded guest discussing recent events in the city.

As they were chatting, Uncle Tiel suddenly turned his gaze to Jialong.

"Jialong, if you want to achieve something in the future, you must remember one thing: listen more, observe more, think more, and speak less, but act more." Uncle Tiel took his cigar and tapped it lightly in the ashtray. "You're still in high school, and you'll go to college and then work. Whether it's studying or working, remember this, and it will benefit you in every way."

"Also, spend more time with Lombas and Felicia. They are your peers and the same age as you. They've been playing some war games lately, neglecting their studies. You should advise them."

Uncle Tiel had been in business for a long time, with extremely complex relationships in both the legal and illegal worlds. On the surface, he was just an ordinary businessman, but in reality, he had strong underlying power and even had a gun license.

Jialong nodded repeatedly, knowing that his uncle, though seemingly gentle, was actually very stubborn and wouldn't tolerate others going against his wishes, with a strong will of his own.

The bearded man also smiled. "Is this your nephew? The conditions for young people these days are really good. When we were young, we didn't have such a good life."

"Indeed, but with such good conditions, they don't know how to cherish them." Uncle Tiel shook his head and laughed, then resumed discussing business matters with the bearded man.

Jialong stood to the side, listening to the two adults chat, while his mind was preoccupied with how to get the 5,000 yuan. Every time Uncle Tiel saw him, he would give him some pocket money, ranging from a few hundred to eighty or ninety yuan, but it was still far from 5,000.

He didn't plan to ask his uncle for the money, as this was only the first time, and he could foresee that there might be a second or third time. Once might be acceptable, but multiple times would make even his uncle, who liked him, reluctant to indulge him.

"So, I have to find a way myself..." Jialong thought of the martial arts school. "If I pass the White Cloud Martial Arts School's assessment, I'll receive a monthly bonus of 2,000 yuan. That's one source of money. Also... the school offers many scholarships, up to 100,000 yuan, but my current level is far from qualifying. The final exams are in two months. I need attribute points to improve. Except for Chinese and history, the minimum intelligence requirement for other subjects hasn't been met. Only by reaching it can I memorize and understand everything smoothly. If not, I'll have to learn step by step."

Suddenly, a thought flashed in Jialong's mind. "There's also the archery and swordsmanship competitions! Ying'er is participating in one of them. If she wins, even third place comes with a 10,000 yuan prize. I wonder how my archery and swordsmanship are?"

As this thought crossed his mind, the symbols in his vision changed, showing the attributes for swordsmanship, archery, and basic combat.

Swordsmanship: Beginner. Archery: Beginner. Basic Combat: Beginner.

"I wonder if I can add attribute points to these skills..." Jialong had a sudden idea.

He tried to focus on the first skill, swordsmanship, and the energy in his mind surged, ready to burst out.

"It actually works!!" He quickly stopped the energy flow, shifted his focus, and suppressed his excitement.

Page AD starts

Page AD ends