I Don't Agree to the Terms

"That's good. By the way, Master, the collection of various antiques and ancient artifacts you instructed us to gather should be arriving soon. Do you need to prepare and go take a look?" The steward surmised it might be another of Gu Shanhai's money-making strategies, though he was unsure how he would liquidate them.

Gu Shanhai was somewhat surprised to hear this; he had not expected them to arrive so quickly.

"Where are they now?" Gu Shanhai asked.

"They should reach the manor in about half an hour," the steward estimated.

"Hm, tell them to be careful not to damage anything." Gu Shanhai was pleased with this progress, mainly because collecting these antiques had required the use of various covert channels that weren't public knowledge, so this pace was already quite satisfactory. Moreover, Gu Shanhai wanted not just one or two items but a large batch.

"Rest assured, I'll go supervise personally and report back to you after they've unloaded the goods." The steward, recognizing Gu Shanhai's emphasis on antiques, naturally planned to oversee the process himself.

Gu Shanhai was very pleased with the steward's attitude, contemplating making him a Guardian Demon in charge of miscellaneous matters after he had devoured this world.

Of course, that was assuming the fellow wouldn't mess up, seemingly having spent some time by Gu Shanhai's side, and perhaps getting a bit carried away with Jile Technology's rapid expansion.

Gu Shanhai preferred subordinates who adhered to bottom lines, not those who were nonsensical.

An hour quickly passed, and the steward sent someone to inform Gu Shanhai that the goods had been arranged.

Upon hearing this, Gu Shanhai leisurely made his way to the manor's treasury.

"Master, look, these items..." The steward began to introduce them to Gu Shanhai upon his arrival.

Clearly, he had taken the past hour to memorize a rough overview of these antiques.

Gu Shanhai didn't interrupt, instead listening to the introduction while conducting his own inspection.

Most were indeed genuine antiques, with a small portion of fakes mixed in, but the craftsmanship was so high that it was normal for them not to have been identified.

As for the ancient relics he needed, there were none among them. These antiques were either from dynasties predating the Navia Empire or early in the empire's history, at most just over a thousand years old, and not of much value.

Regarding various ancient records and manuscripts, Gu Shanhai also browsed through them and found that even from earlier dynasties, there were no records related to Ghost Energy. It seemed that everything from the Wizard's era had been lost after the tribal age of antiquity.

It wasn't until Emperor Navia once again harnessed Ghost Energy that an era of prosperity for Ghost Energy began.

"The items are all quite nice, get them organized."

Without acquiring any relevant ancient relics, Gu Shanhai lost much interest.

Such items were naturally not easy to obtain; perhaps searching the Imperial Palace could yield ancient relics that hadn't been destroyed.

There would certainly be some scattered among the public, but gathering them up was unlikely to be easy.

The steward picked up on Gu Shanhai's waning interest and looked puzzled about the reason. After all, Gu Shanhai had seemed in good spirits before.

"Should we put a hold on the collection of these antiques and artifacts?" the steward asked, intending to avoid missteps.

"Continue collecting them," Gu Shanhai pondered for a moment before deciding not to stop. "However, best to focus on acquiring items related to the ancient tribal period. Of course, we shall collect those from other dynasties as well."

For Jile Technology, such expenditures were a drop in the bucket; finding something would be a stroke of luck, and if not, it didn't matter—it could be seen as doing good deeds.

"However, engage a few more experts on the appraisal side. Some fakes have been mixed in here."

"It's best to draw in a few who are producing fakes to join our team, offering them a high salary."

Gu Shanhai identified all the fakes, instructing the steward to trace their origins, which wouldn't be difficult.

For a company of Jile Technology's magnitude, finding a few people was a breeze.

"Yes, Master," the butler said, somewhat ashamed, not having expected a counterfeit to have been mixed in. It was quite a dereliction of duty on his part, and he was fortunate that Gu Shanhai did not make an issue of it.

"Mm, okay, let it be," Gu Shanhai finished speaking, then turned and left.

He had also checked each of the antiques and artifacts through Prophetic Divination, and only after confirming they were without any value did he leave.

As for how to deal with this batch of antiques and artifacts afterward, Gu Shanhai had thought it through, intending to gradually find a way to dispose of them all, treating it as recouping investment.

Selling them would most likely result in a loss, as the Navia Empire did not place much importance on antiques and artifacts, probably due to the cultural mindset and trends prevalent within the Empire itself.

Most people were keen on futuristic fantasies and modern technology, showing little interest in ancient items, hence the field of archaeology was not well-developed.

He suspected that this was likely a consequence intentionally guided by Emperor Navia.

However, the lack of interest in archaeology did not affect the advancement of the Navia Empire. After all, the only lesson humanity seems to learn from history is that humanity learns nothing from history.

Not everyone is capable of using history as a mirror.

Having left the treasury, Gu Shanhai returned to his tasks.

'Strange, I just did a divination that predicted an opportunity, has it not arrived yet?' Before going, Gu Shanhai had naturally divined that there would be a small stroke of fortune, which, of course, was of little use to him, but at least it was an opportunity.

But on arrival, he found nothing.

Perhaps it had been mixed in with those artifacts, and because it was utterly useless to him, he might have overlooked it. With his current discernment, many small opportunities were merely glanced at without genuine interest.

"Master, just now... we missed a pottery jar that's a bit special, please have a look..." The butler, gasping for breath, came running over, holding a pottery jar that seemed to be from an ancient tribal period, its body adorned with bizarre patterns.

This caused Gu Shanhai to pause, then he took it over.

"Nice piece, not bad, have those involved get a bonus," Gu Shanhai recognized at once that both the pottery jar and that piece of animal hide were tribal wizard inheritances.

However, unlike what was on the animal hide, this pottery jar was not just about wizard lineage; it seemed to also contain a Ghost Energy secret technique within it.

And it had an entirely different structure from the Ghost Energy secret techniques the Great Emperor Navia kept in the Imperial Palace.

Emperor Navia's Ghost Energy secret techniques, stored in the Imperial Palace, were all for strengthening Ghost Energy and more efficiently condensing Ghost Energy crystals, none for attack and defense, whereas the Ghost Energy secret technique contained in this pottery jar was an offensive one.

This could enable Gu Shanhai to advance further in his understanding of Ghost Energy.

Hearing Gu Shanhai's words, the butler also let out a sigh of relief, glad to have found something that satisfied his master.

"No problem, I'll notify finance immediately," the butler hastily said.

"You go ahead, I'll have a good look at this thing," Gu Shanhai, holding the pottery jar, waved his hand, signaling not to disturb him, and then returned to his study.

In his continuous examination of the pottery jar, Gu Shanhai gradually deciphered the conditions of both the wizard inheritance and the Ghost Energy secret technique.

In the case of the wizard inheritance, the pottery jar successfully reduced the death rate to seventy percent, which was far more powerful than the animal hide, indicating that the wizard who made the pottery jar was much more proficient in Ghost Energy than the one who crafted the animal hide.

Yet, in Gu Shanhai's eyes, it was still very crude, and its reference value was way too low.

This was just the difference between fifty paces and sixty paces; neither side could mock the other for reaching any significant benchmarks.

As for the Ghost Energy secret technique, it did pique Gu Shanhai's interest. It enabled the user to generate a suction force through the pottery jar and inflict certain damage on those affected by the force.

The drawback was that it could not be used alone; it required the pottery jar to unleash this particular Ghost Energy secret technique, and each use of Ghost Energy would erode the body, with excessive use leading to death.