Above the mage

Chapter 665 It really is in my house.

Mithril City truly lives up to its reputation as the second largest city in the Golden Flower Dynasty, second only to Glorious Capital.

Like the City of Glory, the Mage District has all kinds of niche shops and industries.

Gaode Maps even spotted a shop with a sign that read "Alpine Moss Cultivation House".

They sell fluorescent moss that only grows above the snow line, which provides a natural moisture barrier for spell scrolls.

Because of its proximity to the Erwinray Mountains, Mithril City has some rare and precious magical materials that are hard to find elsewhere, compared to Glorious City.

Gao De carefully visited several large magic material stores and immediately found several magic materials that he had not been able to find before.

He immediately took out his money and bought it.

The procurement process went very smoothly overall.

Just as he was preparing to return to his old ways and search for tree seeds, a commotion came from the street corner in front of the mage district.

Gaode looked around and saw that the street corner was crowded with people.

A number of monks and wealthy-looking people were walking toward an imposing stone building with a gilded plaque that read "Obsidian Antique Dealers Association" hanging above the entrance.

Two staff members in black uniforms were shouting at the entrance: "The Obsidian Merchant Guild's annual antique gambling event is now open!"

"A complete range of items, including medieval artifacts, aristocratic jewelry, legendary mage manuscripts, and ancient alchemical rubbings, each with its own hidden value. We welcome your appraisal and bidding!"

As the staff called out, more and more people gathered around.

"The Obsidian Merchant Guild has really gone all out this time, offering both medieval artifacts and lost magical texts."

"Gambling on antiques is all about having the right eye. If you actually find an ancient spellbook, you'll be rolling in money."

"The Obsidian Merchant Guild is one of the most famous antique dealer guilds in the dynasty. They only hold this one antique gambling event once a year, and they bring out a lot of good stuff."

Every year, some people make a fortune from this. Let's hurry and join the fun; there are bound to be lots of good stuff left to sell on the first day.

Hearing the whispers of passersby, Gao De's heart stirred.

Another antique gambling game?

Previously, in the glorious city of Gujiao Street, he knew nothing about antiques, but because of Eevee, he unexpectedly found a dilapidated watch containing astral energy.

Although its origin has not yet been deciphered, it is already certain that it has made a huge profit.

With this positive feedback loop in place, Gaode still retains some interest in betting on antiques.

An idea immediately struck him, and he decided to go and see what kind of artifacts related to astral energy Eevee might discover.

He followed the flow of people into the Chamber of Commerce.

The interior space is much larger than it appears from the outside.

The dome is over ten meters high and is adorned with chandeliers decorated with crystals.

Light refracted through the crystal, casting dappled shadows on the deep red velvet carpet.

Hundreds of glass display cases were neatly arranged on both sides of the carpet.

Each display case is engraved with pale gold protective runes along its edge, which shimmer with a faint light, protecting the exhibits while allowing visitors to clearly see inside.

The exhibits are incredibly diverse, ranging from rusty medieval bronze swords to gem-encrusted noble scepters.

There are also yellowed leather notebooks, stone rubbings engraved with runes, and scrolls of alchemical formulas sealed in crystal tubes.

Each display case has a nameplate that details the origin and starting price of the exhibits.

On a high platform at the far end of the hall, there is an exhibit covered with stained glass.

That should be the star exhibit of this antique fair.

The plaque next to it reads "Starlight Pendant of the Archmage Limang from the Near Ancient Era".

The plaque states that this pendant was crafted by a legendary alchemist at the request of Archmage Leah, and imbued with a time-sealing technique, intended to be passed down as a family heirloom.

Unfortunately, the family later declined, and this time-sealed treasure ended up being sold by unworthy descendants.

It changed hands repeatedly and its whereabouts remained uncertain until it was finally acquired by the Obsidian Merchant Guild and displayed as a flagship exhibit.

The reserve price was also marked on the side: a full 500,000 gold coin.

But Gaode's self-illumination quickly surpassed it, firstly because it was unaffordable, secondly because it couldn't distinguish between genuine and fake products, and thirdly because it wasn't interesting.

Even if it's true, who knows how long this time-sealing technique can last?

He's not going to buy a family heirloom that might not even be effective for a long time.

Gao De's gaze fell directly on three exhibits related to knowledge and magic in the corner.

The first item is "A Shadow Spell Manuscript from the medieval Plantagenet Noble Valleru Family".

The cover is bound with patterned leather, and the plaque states that the manuscript contains the Valerius family's exclusive methods for practicing shadow magic.

If it truly contains the Valerius family's exclusive shadow magic, it would be very attractive to God, a "spell enthusiast."

The second item is titled "Elemental Transformation Scroll from the Cecilia Family Collection (Near Ancient Times)".

The beginning of the scroll is embroidered with star trail patterns in silver thread.

The nameplate is marked with the "laws of elemental transformation," which seems to be a profound magical knowledge.

The third item is called "The Thorne Family's Collection of Ancient Rune Rubbings".

More than ten black stone rubbings are neatly arranged in the display case, each rubbing covered with obscure runes.

The runes, varying in depth, conveyed the vicissitudes of time.

The plaque claims that the collection of rubbings contains several lost high-level ancient runes, which are of immeasurable value for the study of runes.

For Gao De, who has a deep understanding of talisman literature, this is naturally very appealing.

These three antiques all exuded faint magical energy fluctuations and looked incredibly realistic, but their price tags were equally astonishing:

The first two items were each priced at three thousand gold coin, while the last set of ancient rune rubbings was priced at an even higher six thousand gold coin.

Gao De frowned slightly.

He was indeed completely ignorant about antique appraisal.

These knowledge-based antiques have always been a major target for antique forgery.

Later generations can easily imitate ancient handwriting and materials to fabricate seemingly profound but actually useless content, which laymen simply cannot distinguish.

Losing money is a small matter, but if you spend a lot of time and energy studying these fake knowledge, not only will you gain nothing, but you may even go astray and affect your own magical cultivation, which would be a real loss.

But he was unwilling to give up at this point.

What if all of this is true?

He was conflicted for a moment and stood there, unable to move.

"Don't buy these, they're all fake."

A clear, melodious girl's voice, like the tinkling of a spring, suddenly rang out beside Gao De, breaking his reverie.

He turned his head and saw that the person who had spoken to him was a girl who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old.

The girl had a very plain appearance, with unremarkable eyebrows and eyes, and slightly dark skin.

The only commendable thing is that her eyes are clear and bright, with an indescribable sense of purity that makes her unforgettable.

Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but it carried clearly throughout the surrounding area.

Several customers who were examining the artifacts nearby also turned their heads, their eyes all turning towards this side, their faces showing a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

This young girl looks so young, yet she dares to make such a confident judgment?

Upon hearing this, the chamber of commerce deacon in charge of promoting the display cases immediately darkened his expression. He strode forward and said in an unpleasant tone, "Young lady, you can't just say whatever you want, even if you can't eat anything!"

"Our Obsidian Antique Dealers Association has a well-known reputation within the Dynasty, and all the antiques on display have been professionally authenticated."

"Even if there are occasional instances of misjudging, they are extremely rare. How could they all be fake?"

He leaned closer, his eyes sharp as he stared at the girl, his tone growing increasingly stern: "You're young and don't know any better, so we won't hold it against you. But you can't use that to spout nonsense, affecting our business and damaging the reputation of our chamber of commerce!"

"It's fake anyway!" The girl blinked, completely oblivious to the butler's displeasure, and continued to "argue her case."

Her clear eyes were full of seriousness: "This manuscript of shadow magic from the Valerius family, they only copied the dark patterns on the cover, but they didn't even understand the most basic family mark."

"The Valerius family's spellbooks all have a miniature symbol of a snake entwined with a star engraved in the margins of the pages. It's so small that it's only a third the size of a fingertip and you can't even notice it unless you look closely."

"Moreover, the Valerius family's ink is made with a special extract of the family's shadow flower, which gives it a faint purple glow in the dark, but this one does not have a purple glow."

"Fake." She uttered a single word with unwavering certainty, her voice crisp and clear, yet it struck the chamber of commerce deacon's heart like a heavy hammer.

Before the butler could object, the girl continued, "And this scroll of elemental transformation from the Cecilia family’s collection. Cecilia family documents all use laurel wood for the core, and the edges of the scrolls are decorated with miniature carvings of laurel wreaths."

"This core is just ordinary peach wood, and there are no micro-carvings on the edges. It must be a later imitation."

"It's so fake." This time she emphasized her words.

"There is also this set of ancient rune rubbings from the Thorne family. Thorne family rubbings will have a hidden clover mark in the corner, and the stone paste used for rubbing has a warm and smooth texture with a soft sheen. The edges of the rubbings will have natural stone texture marks."

"This is just a regular ink rubbing, dry and hard, without even any hidden markings. It's obviously just a copy of the surface appearance; the order of the runes inside is definitely made up!"

"Very fake!" She nodded heavily as she finished speaking, as if confirming her judgment, her clear eyes showing no hesitation.

The surrounding guests were convinced by her meticulous analysis and tiptoed closer to the display case to carefully examine the page margins, scroll edges, and corners of the rubbings.

Although most of them had never heard of the secret customs of these noble families.

But the girl spoke so clearly and logically, with such detailed and compelling arguments, that it was impossible not to believe her.

"I really didn't see any micro-runes!"

"The edges of the rubbing are really dry and hard; where is the stone texture?"

"Could it all really be fake?"

"6

""

Whispers rose and fell. The guests who had been very interested in the exhibits now looked suspicious and scrutinized the display cases.

The chamber of commerce deacon's face was already ashen, and the veins on his forehead were throbbing.

He stared intently at the girl, suspecting she was sent by a rival merchant guild to cause trouble.

Regardless of whether what the girl said is true or not.

Even if it were true, these detailed habits from medieval and early modern aristocratic families would be so comprehensive and detailed that even a seasoned scholar who has been immersed in the field of history for hundreds of years might not know them so well, let alone an ordinary appraiser.

How could a little girl understand?

There must be someone behind this.

He quickly gave his staff a frantic wink and hissed in a low voice, "Go and fetch the head of the department! Now! Immediately!"

After giving his instructions, he suddenly turned to look at the girl and said through gritted teeth, "Little girl, you'd better produce some evidence, otherwise you will suffer the consequences of damaging the Chamber of Commerce's reputation and spreading rumors."

Seeing this, Xin Gaode quietly took half a step forward and stood firmly in front of the girl.

He looked calmly at the deacon without saying a word.

The girl noticed Gao De's movement and subconsciously took half a step back, gently turning her body to create some distance between herself and Gao De, avoiding any unintentional physical contact.

Gao De noticed the girl's actions, but simply assumed she was just being sensible and didn't pay much attention.

He subtly channeled his magic power, casting a [communication spell] to curiously inquire of the girl, "How did you know?"

Just like the chamber of commerce deacon, Gao De also felt that even if what the girl said was true, these things should not be something a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl should understand.

Upon hearing Gao De's question, the girl paused slightly before finally replying, "Marcus told me that the Obsidian Merchant Guild's reputation has been declining in recent years, with more and more counterfeit goods appearing. I just made up some nonsense to fool him."

Upon hearing this, Gao De was left speechless, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

So all that ridiculously professional analysis was just nonsense?

But the details were described in such detail that they didn't seem to be made up out of thin air.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps approached.

A middle-aged man dressed in a magnificent brocade robe strode over; he was Morton, the head of the Obsidian Merchant Guild.

After listening to the deacon's whispered report, Morton's sharp gaze swept over the girl like a hawk's.

A sneer, undisguised, curled at the corner of his lips: "Oh? This young lady, so young, is already so knowledgeable about the past and present, knowing quite a bit of the secrets of the medieval and early modern nobility?"

He deliberately emphasized the word "secret," his tone full of sarcasm.

"How dare you question the goods of our Obsidian Merchant Guild in public? May I ask which antique master you studied under?" Morton strode up to the girl, looking down at her with a strong sense of pressure in his tone.

"Since you say these items are fake, why don't you take a look at our star exhibits and let everyone see your eye for quality, and see if you can find any flaws?"

His words, though seemingly an invitation, were actually intended to verbally attack the girl.

Because that star-shaped pendant was his personally selected trump card, and it had been jointly certified by three top appraisers. Its origin was clear, its craftsmanship was exquisite, and it could not possibly be a fake.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the girl actually raised her head, her clear gaze fixed on the high platform in the center of the hall, landing on the star-shaped pendant covered by a glass dome.

The pendant is made of silver-white metal, wrapped with fine star patterns, and has a blue crystal the size of a pigeon egg set in the center.

A faint halo shimmered on the surface of the crystal. Even though the magical aura was concealed by the Time-Sealing Technique, its extraordinary attributes were still evident, indicating that it was far more than just a beautiful ornament.

Seeing her scrutinizing gaze, Morton's sarcasm deepened.

He deliberately raised his voice and introduced it to everyone present: "Please look! This is a starlight pendant created by a legendary alchemist at the personal request of the ancient archmage Lia, using a time-sealing technique."

Morton paused, his tone brimming with pride and boastfulness: "Throughout the entire Golden Flower Dynasty, there are only a handful of merchant guilds that can afford to put an antique of this caliber and provenance up for auction. Our Obsidian Merchant Guild dares to present it as our trump card because we are absolutely confident!"

The monks and guests in the exhibition hall nodded in agreement, their eyes filled with amazement and longing as they looked at the star pendant.

Faced with everyone's approval, the person in charge couldn't help but raise his head.

But just then, the girl wrinkled her small nose slightly, her clear eyes filled with certainty, and said again with unwavering conviction, "This one is fake too!"

Morton's smile froze on his face, the surrounding chatter ceased abruptly, and everyone stared at the girl.

"Fine, very well, I'd like to see what you can come up with!" Morton gritted his teeth and glared at the girl, his eyes suddenly turning fierce. Facing her slightly menacing gaze, the girl remained calm and composed, explaining slowly, "Not only is it fake, it's utterly fake."

She held up a slender finger. "First, when Mage Lia crafted the Starry Pendant, she used Star Silver, a special material supplied to the royal family of the Golden Flower Dynasty. This Star Silver has a higher density and is of better quality than ordinary ancient Star Silver."

"Most importantly, the star patterns on the Star Silver will show different patterns as the light changes, but the star patterns on this pendant look the same no matter how the light shines on them, which means it is made of ordinary ancient star silver."

"Secondly, later on, the mage Lia had a habit of engraving moon runes on her items, but this was a very late habit, so not many people know about it, and there are not many records of it."

"You can have someone turn this pendant over and check if there are any traces of moon-shaped runes. If not, then it's definitely fake."

As soon as the girl finished speaking, the entire exhibition hall fell silent; you could hear a pin drop.

Morton and his butler exchanged bewildered glances, their expressions completely frozen, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

They knew better than anyone that the back of the star-shaped pendant was indeed smooth and bare. Even Gao De was somewhat stunned. He had initially thought the girl's doubts about the star-shaped pendant were nonsense, but the details she gave were simply too specific.

That's very convincing.

Especially the changes in the star patterns and the existence of the moon runes on the Condensed Star Silver, it's clear that these cannot be fabricated out of thin air.

He couldn't help but ask again using the [Communication] spell, "Is this also something you made up?"

"No, because the real star pendant is in my home."