The oracle bone jade bead was something unprecedented. As soon as Li Yang took it, he felt a powerful suction within his body, wanting to absorb the energy from it. Frightened, he immediately returned the jade bead to Huang Yiping.
"Huh?" Huang Yiping was stunned. What did he mean? He had just handed it to him, why did he give it back?
It hadn't even been two seconds!
Could it be that his jade bead was some kind of hot potato?
Huang Bai was also a bit puzzled and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong, Boss Li?"
"I already know the origin of this item, I don't need to look anymore," Li Yang said. If he looked any longer, he wouldn't be able to resist absorbing it.
He had a hunch that if he could absorb the energy from this bead, his Wuxin cultivation technique would surely reach another level.
He wondered what marvelous abilities he would gain then.
Everyone showed surprise, exclaiming, "Boss Li, you've seen it?"
"So quickly?"
"No way, how could it be so fast?"
"Hmph, you better not be boasting," Old Man Fan, who had long been displeased with him, immediately seized the opportunity and sneered, "Otherwise, it will be a big joke."
"Old Mr. Fan, you really worry about me. I wonder how your son is doing now," Li Yang said with a smile.
Old Man Fan said angrily, "Kid, you say you've figured it out, so what is it? Tell us clearly."
"This is a Tianzhu," Li Yang said.
"Tianzhu? Ha, hahaha! Absurd, truly absurd!" Upon hearing this, Old Man Fan was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, pointing at Li Yang and saying, "Everyone, listen to what he's saying. Is it possible?"
"This, this..." Everyone didn't want to get involved in the feud between the two, so they just chuckled, but their expressions showed that they strongly disagreed with Li Yang's judgment.
Huang Bai and Huang Yiping exchanged glances, also feeling that it couldn't be a Tianzhu. Huang Bai said, "Boss Li, as far as I know, Tianzhu has eye-like patterns on its surface, but this one is clearly made of jade, isn't it?"
"You're right, but that's what ordinary people consider a Tianzhu. The Tianzhu I'm talking about is not a Western Tianzhu, but a Shang King Tianzhu," Li Yang said.
Huang Bai was surprised, "I don't quite understand what you mean."
"Then I'll explain in more detail. The patterns on this bead are Taotie patterns from the Shang Dynasty. Although they are different from those on bronze wares, if any of you can make a rubbing, you'll see that they are from the same lineage," Li Yang said. "As for the golden script on it, it looks dense and numerous, but it's actually just five characters: Shang King Zhou Tianzhu."
"Ah?"
So this was what Boss Li meant by Tianzhu!
Then it could indeed be different from a Western Tianzhu.
Old Man Fan's expression changed. This kid. "Hmph, just because you say so, kid? Golden script has been deciphered very few times, even experts in this field might not be able to understand this golden script, so you can just talk nonsense?"
"It's okay if you can't understand it completely. As long as you compare it with the patterns on the Tianzhu, and the characters Shang King Zhou and Tian. As for the character 'zhu' for bead, it's true that golden script is rarely seen, and it's possible it's hard to recognize," Li Yang said with a smile. "But if I'm mostly right, how can it be fake?"
"You," Old Man Fan's face changed.
Huang Bai smiled, "Boss Li is right. Antique appraisal is not about completely appraising it before making a judgment."
"As long as there's no fakeness, then within the limited evidence, bold imagination is entirely something an appraiser can do."
"Well said. I'll have an oracle bone expert come over right away." Huang Yiping also showed a smile. If it was really a Tianzhu exclusively used by Shang King Zhou as Li Yang said, then this small jade bead would be priceless!
After all, Shang King Zhou was a household name in China. Even as a villain, he was renowned and his name echoed through the ages.
Could items exclusively used by him be of low value?
Especially now, most of the information and literature about the Shang Dynasty came from the pre-Qin period, and the earliest could only be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty.
And as everyone knew, Shang and Zhou, Shang Dynasty was replaced by the Zhou Dynasty. Could the historical records of the Zhou Dynasty say that the last emperor of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhou, was a good person?
Could they say that the late Shang Dynasty, which they replaced, was a good era?
It could be said that the Shang Dynasty was like, even experts who studied Shang Dynasty history could only draw conclusions from historical documents. At least in archaeology, there was very little evidence to prove anything.
But if this Tianzhu was real, it would be very interesting.
The oracle bone expert, Professor of Oracle Bone Studies at the Archaeology Department of Jiangcheng University, as soon as he received Huang Yiping's call and heard that he had discovered something from the Shang Dynasty, he didn't care if his students were in class. He immediately said, "Everyone, self-study," and rushed to his car.
In less than half an hour, the old professor arrived. The first thing he said to Huang Yiping was, "Brother Huang, where is the treasure from the Shang Dynasty? Let me see it."
"It's here." Huang Yiping had, in the meantime, placed the Tianzhu in an exquisite brocade box, no longer daring to hold it casually with his hands as before.
The old professor rushed forward, pounced on the table, and stared at it for a while. Then he took out his magnifying glass and focused on the golden script on the Tianzhu, constantly making "siha, siha" sounds, clearly extremely excited.
"How is it, Old Zhuang?" Huang Yiping asked, feeling a bit helpless towards his old friend. It was just a few words, did it take that long to look?
Professor Zhuang took a deep breath and said, "I can't make out anything from the patterns, but I did recognize four of the oracle bone characters. Unfortunately, one of them is very unfamiliar. I'll probably have to go back and check my dictionary or something."
"Tell me the four characters you recognize first!" Huang Yiping said immediately.
The gazes of everyone present also converged on the old professor's face, their hearts filled with tension.
Professor Zhuang extended four fingers and said, "These four characters are Tian Zhou Wang Shang."
"Haha, it's indeed not Shang King Zhou Tian!" Upon hearing this, Old Man Fan was overjoyed and burst into laughter.
But after laughing a few times, he suddenly realized something was wrong. The muscles on his old face immediately stiffened, and his voice abruptly stopped.
"Tian Zhou Wang Shang? Shang King Zhou Tian?"
"Ah, so I read it backward. My apologies," Professor Zhuang was stunned, then said apologetically.
Old Man Fan's face had turned pale.
But the faces of the others present turned red, especially Huang Yiping. He had acquired this bead by chance for less than a thousand yuan!
"Haha, hahahaha!"