Master Feng the Second

It could be said that Chen Fengyun’s idea was rather extravagant. In this era of declining spiritual energy, where the essence of heaven and earth was all but invisible and humans were virtually incapable of cultivation, he still insisted on using his miniature paradise and spiritual spring to grow vegetables and fruit. If ancient cultivators were to learn of this, they might well rise from their graves to seek him out for such profligacy.

The following day, Chen Fengyun truly traversed many places: herbal medicine shops, medicinal herb plantations, and stores selling herb seeds. He managed to acquire seeds and roots of more than a dozen medicinal plants, including fleeceflower root, poria, lingzhi, ambergris, cordyceps, snow lotus, notoginseng, rhubarb, ligusticum, fritillary, schisandra, salvia, licorice, and others.

He also obtained saplings of fruit trees such as peach, plum, apricot, pear, tangerine, and orange, as well as seeds for vegetables like cucumber, watermelon, tomato, chives, and leafy greens. He planted every inch of soil within the miniature paradise.

All this cost him over ten thousand yuan, but to Chen Fengyun—who had recently made six or seven hundred thousand in Lin C County—this was a trivial expense. If he and his parents could not consume all the produce from the paradise, he could always sell the surplus, and it would be easy to earn even more.

At the same time, Chen Fengyun discovered that the plants in the miniature paradise seemed to grow faster than those outside. Ordinary frankincense, Paris polyphylla, and tea trees, after only seven or eight days, appeared as if they had grown for two or three months.

He was not sure whether this was due to frequent irrigation with diluted spiritual spring water or if the soil in the paradise itself was unique, but the seeds of vegetables and fruits he had sown sprouted and took root overnight.

“Now that the weather is hot, perhaps in just a few days I’ll be able to taste watermelons and other fruits and vegetables grown in the paradise.” Chen Fengyun was full of anticipation.

Meanwhile, the sharp-eyed man had waited expectantly for Chen Fengyun all day, but for some reason, Chen Fengyun had not returned to the antique market, leaving him somewhat disgruntled.

Finally, just as the sharp-eyed man was considering paying Chen Fengyun a visit if he failed to appear again, Chen Fengyun arrived, radiant with energy, no doubt because the ordinary herb and vegetable seeds had all sprouted overnight.

“Young man, our Master Feng would like to meet you and invites you to visit his shop,” the shopkeeper said, approaching Chen Fengyun after he had only been in the store for a few minutes.

“Who is Master Feng? I don’t think I know him,” Chen Fengyun asked.

“Master Feng is a renowned and authoritative figure in the antique trade across several southwestern provinces. He also owns a chain of antique shops throughout the region—far more distinguished than our humble establishment,” explained the shopkeeper.

“I don’t know what business Master Feng has with you, but if you’re looking for something special, he may have just what you need.”

“All right, so which shop is Master Feng at?” Chen Fengyun thought for a moment. Every industry had its local powerhouses, and perhaps Master Feng was one of the dominant figures in the southwestern antique trade.

“Master Feng only has a small shop here, but his largest store in Rong City is Treasure Pavilion at Gaosheng Bridge in the WH District. Right now, though, he’s at the shop called Sands of Time.”

“So he’s Master Feng. I’ve been to his shop before and probably met him,” Chen Fengyun immediately recalled the sharp-eyed man in that store. At the time, he had discovered an object with special energy and thought the shopkeeper was extraordinary—so it turned out he was Master Feng.

Without needing the shopkeeper to guide him, Chen Fengyun made his way to the Sands of Time shop. Sure enough, the sharp-eyed man was sitting behind the counter. When he saw Chen Fengyun, he stood up, nodded, and greeted him with a smile.

“Uncle, are you Master Feng?” Chen Fengyun asked.

“You truly live up to your reputation as the top scholar of Rong City—such sharp perception. I am Feng Tianbao. I’ve been dealing in antiques for decades. Upon learning that you are fond of old objects, I wanted to make your acquaintance,” the sharp-eyed man replied with a smile.

“My name is Chen Fengyun. May I ask, Uncle Feng, why have you asked to see me?” he replied.

“Since you have an interest in antiques, I have a collection of old treasures—most of them unearthed from ancient tombs. Would you care to take a look?” Feng Tianbao asked with a smile.

“Oh, I didn’t expect Uncle Feng to have such rarities. To be honest, I’ll soon be a student in the archaeology department at the Capital University, so I am indeed fascinated by genuine antiquities. But I must say up front, I’m only here to look and study—I can’t afford to buy real treasures,” Chen Fengyun replied with a nod.

“The day you first came to my shop, I sensed you were different from the rest—and indeed you are interesting. My old objects are just sitting here collecting dust. If they can benefit your research, you are welcome to come and view them any time,” Feng Tianbao said, leading Chen Fengyun toward the back of the shop.

Behind the shop was a small courtyard flanked by rooms. He opened one of them to reveal rows of wooden shelves lined with dozens of ancient artifacts.

“Uncle Feng, your collection is impressive! Are all these genuine antiques?” Chen Fengyun said calmly, while his spiritual sense quietly scanned the items, confirming that they were indeed old but devoid of any spiritual energy.

“Please, young man, appraise them—see if they are genuine,” Feng Tianbao said, ushering him into the room.

In truth, Chen Fengyun was not particularly interested in antiques themselves and had never studied them, so he could not have offered any insightful commentary. Yet, as his spiritual sense swept over the objects, he found he could roughly determine their ages, and thus the dynasties they belonged to.

“This bronze basin should be from the Song Dynasty, this porcelain vase from the Tang, this snuff bottle from early Qing, and this ancient painting bears the air of the Ming…”

Chen Fengyun did not refuse. He picked up each piece, examined it, and casually stated its approximate era. This left Feng Tianbao secretly astonished, as he had obtained these items through tomb raiding and knew exactly which dynasties they came from.

But Chen Fengyun, without using any tools or even examining them closely, simply handled each item briefly and glanced at it, yet was able to identify the dynasty of each one without a single error. This amazed Feng Tianbao.

“Young man, may I ask how you determine their ages?” Feng Tianbao asked.

“It’s mostly a matter of intuition. I can roughly sense the aura of their respective periods. For example, this statue of Guanyin of Water and Moon should be from the Tang Dynasty.”

As Chen Fengyun picked up a jade carving, his cultivation system interface suddenly vibrated, indicating that it contained special energy. Without betraying his discovery, he quietly absorbed the energy while speaking to Feng Tianbao, then gently set the piece back down.