Chapter 2715

Zhao Lao Si was collecting money while praising, and he didn't forget to flatter Chang Sheng Bo with a sentence: "Old sir, it seems you're also an expert! Did you also support a pot when you were young?"

Supporting a pot is jargon in the tomb-robbing industry, roughly meaning that one once led a tomb-robbing team and served as a core figure in that group.

Chang Sheng Bo waved his hand and said with a chuckle: "I only know some antiques, I don't know about tomb robbing."

Chang Sheng Bo indeed doesn't know much about tomb robbing.

When he was young, he had also heard some rumors about tomb robbing and digging up graves, and even heard rumors about Sun Dianying robbing Empress Dowager Cixi's tomb, but the key point is, he has long been cultivating in the temple, has little interest in tomb robbing and cultural relics themselves, so he hasn't learned much about it.

However, this person has lived a long time, and the information he has actively or passively received is necessarily much greater than that of ordinary people, so he has also heard people mention the term "supporting a pot" for digging up graves.

Immediately, Chang Sheng Bo tentatively asked Zhao Lao Si: "Little brother, would it be convenient for you to hand over the ring on your finger for me to take a look?"

Zhao Lao Si knew this old man wanted to see his ring. After saying so much earlier, it was nothing but trying to gradually extract his money, so he deliberately made things difficult and said: "Old sir, this ring is a token given to me by my elder brother, not a gift, and you also know roughly where it came from. The item is indeed somewhat sensitive, I can't show it to you, so I won't say it too clearly. I hope you can understand."

Chang Sheng Bo naturally knows what he means.

Coincidentally, for safety's sake, I always prefer to use cash when going out, so I have plenty of cash on me. Thus, this time I simply took out two hundred-dollar bills from my long robe and handed them to Zhang Ermao, saying seriously: "Little brother, I'll also be frank with you. This time I returned to China, I first went to Yanjing, then came to Jin Ling, just to find some antique collectibles I like in these two ancient capitals. I happened to take a fancy to your ring, and I won't make things difficult for you. Let me have a look. If it's really a good item, I'll give you one thousand US dollars, and you help me connect with your elder brother. As for the specific business, I'll talk to him."

Zhao Lao Si never expected this old man to be so straightforward—he had given money several times already, and this time he simply pulled out US dollars directly.

Seeing the money, his eyes lit up. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said: "Done! Since you like this ring so much, I'll take it off and let you have a look!"

Saying that, he took off the jade ring and handed it to Chang Sheng Bo.

Chang Sheng Bo was overjoyed, nervously receiving the jade ring with both hands, afraid it might accidentally fall to the ground and break.

After receiving the jade ring, he immediately realized that this item is indeed an antique, and moreover, it is a mid-Qing dynasty artifact.

After all, Chang Sheng Bo himself was born in the Qing dynasty, so he still has some ability to identify such things.

The item is a genuine antique. Combined with the faint bloody smell and rotting stench it carries, he immediately concluded that this item must have just been dug up from the ground not long ago. Read, ah

Perhaps it had been lying with the corpse even before excavation.

Thus, he couldn't wait to pour a few strands of spiritual energy into it, wanting to investigate and see what secrets this item holds.

As soon as the spiritual energy entered the ring, Chang Sheng Bo immediately felt that there was a formation slowly operating inside the ring.

He was startled and secretly thought: "This formation has been operating all along—I don't know what its function actually is!"

For Chang Sheng Bo, although he has mastered spiritual energy, he doesn't know much about magical artifacts and formations.

Although he has a wooden sword, and the wooden sword also contains an offensive formation, he only knows how to use it, not how to forge it.

He doesn't even understand the mysteries of formations, nor can he grasp their basic principles and logic.

Therefore, when he saw the formation left by Ye Chen inside, he couldn't figure out for a moment what this formation is actually used for.

In fact, this formation is a passive defensive formation recorded in the 《Nine Mysteries Heaven Scripture》. Once the wearer of a magical artifact encounters an attack, the formation will immediately activate, using the energy contained within itself to resist the attack for the owner.

The strength and effect of the formation follow the principle of a simple arithmetic problem: if the attack received is less than the formation's own strength, then the owner will remain completely unharmed;

but if the attack received is greater than the formation's own strength, then the formation will exert its full effort to resist this wave of attack for the owner; as for the part that cannot be resisted, the owner must bear it themselves.

However, Chang Sheng Bo has never seen such a formation before, so he simply cannot figure out what use this jade ring actually has.

Thinking this through, he couldn't help but silently curse the old fox: "That old fox never tells us deeper things, so now that I see a magical artifact, I don't know what it's actually for. Even if I obtain it, I'm completely in the dark. I really want to know what its function is—I might have to go back and ask that old fox... But if it's truly a good item, what if that old fox takes it and won't give it back to me?"

Upon this thought, Chang Sheng Bo gritted his teeth in hatred.

Before he could properly ponder the mysteries of this ring, Zhao Lao Si came forward and said: "Old sir, you've looked enough, haven't you? Almost done—just give it back to me!"

Chang Sheng Bo was slightly startled, thinking to himself: "For us cultivators, magical artifacts are of utmost importance—the top priority. Even the old fox still cherishes that mysterious ring on Lin Wan'er's hand, which shows how important magical artifacts are to cultivators. This is the first time in many years I've encountered a genuine magical artifact outside, so naturally I cannot let go even if I die!"

Immediately afterward, Chang Sheng Bo muttered in his heart: "But should I just snatch this magical artifact away, or should I first return it to this guy and then continue to pump him for information? Snatching it is easy—this brat couldn't possibly stop me. But in broad daylight, if he reports the police, I'll inevitably be unable to move an inch in Jin Ling afterward. What's more, if his elder brother still has other magical artifacts in his hand, wouldn't I be startling the snake by beating the grass, losing big for small gain?"

Moreover, having discussed things to this extent, Chang Sheng Bo had already figured out the logic of the whole matter in his heart.

He speculated: "This money-greedy fellow before me must be a lackey of some tomb-robbing gang in Jin Ling. This gang must have recently dug up an ancient tomb, obtained this ring and other cultural relics and antiques, and is now surely looking everywhere for powerful buyers. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent this kid to hold a sign here waiting to meet with Hong Kong merchants..."

"Taking advantage of the fact that the Hong Kong merchant hasn't made contact yet, if I can connect with his superior, I should be able to see first all the gains from their tomb-robbing this time. If there really are many magical artifacts, wouldn't that be a huge profit?!"

Thinking this, he looked at Zhao Lao Si and asked very seriously: "Little brother, how much are you selling this ring for? Give me a realistic price. If it's suitable, I'll buy this ring!"