As soon as Shopkeeper Moore heard about the bet, he immediately flinched, but after hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.
"A bet is a bet, one million! Do you dare?"
In his view, this item was different from terracotta figures; its age was precise, and the material and craftsmanship were apparent. Considering the current market, it was absolutely impossible for it to exceed fifteen thousand.
So in this bet, he was bound to win. If this lad dared to accept it, he'd just win back a million.
"Thompson, don't bet with him!" Ninth Master quickly said.
I smiled and said, "Ninth Master, I have my own judgment!"
Then, I looked at Shopkeeper Moore, "Shopkeeper Moore, it's settled then, one million!"
In an instant, Ninth Master's face changed, and the group of shopkeepers exclaimed in surprise.
"Is he crazy? He actually dares to bet!"
"No, to me, this lad doesn't seem like a fool; maybe there's really something to it."
Several shopkeepers gathered around, examining the wooden statue in my hands, and appraised it once more. Even Ninth Master and Old Mr. Taylor also came over, took the wooden statue, and carefully appraised it.
Both of them shook their heads repeatedly; no matter how you looked at it, this wooden statue was ordinary. According to the current market, it indeed couldn't reach thirty thousand.
"Little brother, your item... indeed isn't worth thirty thousand, even ten thousand is too much."
Old Mr. Taylor said.
Shopkeeper Moore immediately smiled, with Old Mr. Taylor's words it was a foregone conclusion; he won this round.
He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking at least he won back a million.
At this moment, I said, "Sir, you've misjudged this time, my item is not that simple."
"Oh ho! What big talk, a blind bear, and dares to say Old Mr. Taylor misjudged it!" Shopkeeper Moore burst into laughter.
A group of shopkeepers also had unfriendly expressions.
On this street, Old Mr. Taylor was the authority, and for an outsider to boldly claim Mr. Taylor was wrong, it was extremely disrespectful.
Old Mr. Taylor's expression turned cold, and he snorted, "Baker man, you talk big! Me misjudge? What a joke! Show me what makes your item not simple."
I lifted the wooden statue, and said calmly, "Sir, from the outside, indeed, there's nothing extraordinary about this Buddha statue, but inside there's another secret."
Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.
"Another secret? What do you mean?" Old Mr. Taylor asked in surprise.
I smiled, held the wooden statue with both hands, and forcefully cracked it.
"Thompson, what are you doing?" Ninth Master hurriedly shouted.
Even if this item wasn't worth much, it still cost thirty thousand to buy.
But the next moment, Ninth Master's eyes widened in disbelief.
Crack!
The wooden statue split open, and from the crack burst a red light, crimson like blood. Under the dim light, it was dazzling and blinding.
At that moment, everyone was stunned, as if soulless, staring intently at the wooden statue's belly, at that burst of crimson blood light.
"Oh my God! This... this this..."
Old Mr. Taylor's voice trembled with excitement, "This is Blood Jade, Thousand-year-old Blood Jade!"
Shopkeeper Moore felt as if struck by lightning, staggering back in shock, "Impossible... how could it be Blood Jade..."
He felt a whirlwind and nearly fainted.
The Blood Jade, hailed as the top jade of Arcadia, was extremely precious; every piece of Blood Jade was priceless.
Legend says that this Blood Jade is formed when raw jade is placed in a corpse's mouth, buried in a tomb, and only formed after a thousand years, carrying a mystical aura on its own.
On top of that, its appearance is extravagant, dazzling, and immensely valuable; it was always available but without a market.
Who could have thought that such a divine object was hidden in this ordinary wooden statue?
Even thirty million, let alone thirty thousand, would be undervalued.
"Unbelievable! Truly unbelievable!" Old Mr. Taylor rushed forward, staring obsessively at the crack in the wooden statue.
I was also a bit stunned; I didn't know what Blood Jade was, but seeing everyone's reaction, I understood it was something extremely valuable.
"Seems like I've struck lucky again!"
I muttered.
I only knew there was something unusual inside the wooden statue, never expecting it to be something this valuable.
"More than lucky, it's your fortune shining, your ancestors are surely smiling upon you!" Old Mr. Taylor was even more excited than me.
I grinned and looked down.
Inside the wooden statue, there was a narrow space holding a string of Jade Beads, each bead perfectly round and translucent, crimson like blood, radiating splendid light, incredibly beautiful.
With just one look, I was a bit smitten by it.
Then I frowned slightly, as I noticed something was off, the aura on this string of Jade Beads was overwhelmingly strong.
I squinted, sensing carefully, my expression changed.
This is a Magic Artifact!
The aura on those antiques always lingered on the surface, but for these Jade Beads, the aura emanated from within, vaguely having a wave.
Clearly, this was an ancient Magic Artifact.
Given that there are cultivation methods in this world, there definitely were cultivators in ancient times, leaving behind such Magic Artifacts.
My heart was extremely excited, for cultivators, nothing is more important than a Magic Artifact.
"Indeed worthy of being Blood Jade, it's truly stunning! The quality, the luster, impeccable! Taking it to auction, it wouldn't be limited to fifty million."
"Fifty million? Too little, at least a hundred million!"
A crowd of shopkeepers gathered, arguing fervently.
"I reckon a hundred million is just the base, auctioning it for two to three billion is definitely possible." Old Mr. Taylor spoke, "More than ten years ago, I also saw a piece of Blood Jade, and its quality wasn't nearly as good as this, but it still auctioned for forty million."
"This string of Blood Jade Pearls, the quality can be considered perfect, it's top grade among Blood Jade, if word spreads, it will definitely cause a sensation in the collectors' community."
"Two to three billion?"
Shopkeeper Moore blacked out again, nearly collapsing.
A crowd of shopkeepers regretted so much they could have turned green with envy.
Such a slight misjudgment, and they just brushed past two to three billion, what an immense regret.
"Little brother, how on earth did you realize there was something hidden inside?" Old Mr. Taylor asked.
"This... intuition, I guess!" I smiled.
Old Mr. Taylor was taken aback, admitting, "I was too rash; it seems, little brother, you're not the outsider they said you were, but an expert indeed."
"Expert! Truly an expert!"
The crowd of shopkeepers couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
By this point, they had no choice but to acknowledge it.
"Thompson, congratulations! Congratulations indeed!" Ninth Master came forward, clasping his hands towards me multiple times, "By the way, are you selling this string of Jade Beads? If yes, I can help you contact an auction house."
"No need! I'm not selling this thing!" I said, "It's nice to keep it for myself to wear."
Ninth Master was somewhat speechless.
This is an item worth two to three billion! Not keeping it well, but wearing it? Isn't that too extravagant!
The crowd of shopkeepers and Old Mr. Taylor were also left speechless.
"Ah! Yes, I just remembered, this little brother once said the set of Song Sawyer was fake, a replica! Shopkeeper Moore, quickly bring it out and have another look."
"Yes yes! Quickly bring it out!"
Shopkeeper Moore was stunned for a moment, then cold sweat started to pour.
"No... impossible... it can't be..." he mumbled, trying to convince himself, yet his face turned paler and paler.
Taking out the Jade, Old Mr. Taylor carefully appraised it, shaking his head, "Indeed, it is a replica, very high level, no wonder even Shopkeeper Moore was deceived."
As soon as Shopkeeper Moore heard this, his vision went black, and he collapsed straight down.