Chapter 699: I Want to Give It a Try

“Uncle Zhuo, what are ancient artifacts?” Su Che asked via telepathy.
“Ancient artifacts are essentially dead magic treasures, things passed down from ancient times. They’re just decorations, completely useless now…” Zhuo Feng replied telepathically. “When the world was first created, the laws of heaven were not yet complete, and demons and gods ruled. The magic treasures from that era were extremely powerful; a few even possessed terrifying abilities to disrupt the balance of the world. Later, as the laws of heaven gradually became established, most of these ancient treasures were punished by them, losing their spiritual essence and power, effectively dying completely. There’s no way to reforge them, so they can only be called ancient artifacts.”
“Dead ancient treasures.”
Su Che nodded slowly, thinking to himself, “If they’re just useless decorations, why does such a shop still sell them? Especially here in the expensive Haoyuan Heaven Market…”
The four of them stood in the front hall, yet they hadn’t seen the shop owner or employees yet. The old man who seemed like a swindler turned around and whispered, “Don’t talk carelessly. The owner here has a rather bad temper.”
As soon as he said that, faint footsteps came from the dim interior. Out of basic courtesy, Su Che and the others didn’t use their spiritual senses to investigate inside.
With slow footsteps, a woman in a black long dress, with white hair but not aged features, stepped out.
“Grandma Gu, I’m here again,” the old man said cheerfully, his expression showing a hint of reverence for the owner.
“You little monkey, you’re cheating again,” Grandma Gu said indifferently.
Zhuo Feng and Fei Yun glanced at Su Che, silently signaling that it seemed he had indeed fallen for it.
“Not necessarily. Let’s keep watching,” Su Che replied, his expression unchanged, still trusting his intuition.
“How is this cheating?” the old man sniffled in defense. “You’ve always been willing to sell the shop, haven’t you? If there’s such a chance, why not let them give it a try?”
Grandma Gu gave him a cold glance, seemingly too lazy to argue further. Her gaze shifted to Su Che and the others, and it was obvious at a glance that Su Che, standing in the middle, was the one making decisions.
“I’ve wanted to sell this shop for tens of millions of years. It’s just that no one has ever met my conditions.”

She looked at Su Che and slowly said, “This isn’t a secret at Haoyuan Tian Shi at all. If you stay a few more days, you’ll also find out. So, paying that so-called agency fee to this little monkey is nothing but being deceived.”
“I understand.”
Su Che nodded gently. Her words seemed simple, but many underlying meanings could be discerned.
Firstly, over tens of millions of years, so many people who wanted to open shops at Haoyuan Tian Shi had failed to meet the conditions she set—these conditions must be unimaginably difficult, almost impossible to fulfill.
Secondly, the fact that she had only recently considered selling the shop already indicated that ‘Cang Ji Ancient Artifacts’ had a much longer history in Haoyuan Tian Shi.
Hundreds of millions of years? Billions of years? It was even possible that its history was as long as that of Haoyuan Tian Shi itself…
All these years, this peculiar shop, which seemed unlikely to do any business, had managed to survive—this meant that unless this ancient woman possessed extraordinary strength or had a very significant background, she would have long been acquired by a large merchant alliance like ‘Tian Bao Rui Xiang’ or forced out.
As soon as Su Che thought of this, he received a secret message from Zhuo Feng: “I can’t even determine her true cultivation level. Be careful—don’t say anything inappropriate that might offend her.”
Su Che’s heart trembled. If even Zhuo Feng, a Golden Immortal, couldn’t figure out this ancient woman’s true cultivation level, just how powerful was she?
Could it be that she was an Immortal Emperor living in seclusion here?
“It seems unlikely,” Su Che thought to himself. “The Immortal Realm is so vast—how could one easily encounter a lofty Immortal Emperor? Perhaps she simply has some special ability that allows her to completely conceal her true cultivation level…”
No matter who she was, Su Che certainly had the courage to talk to her. After all, even when he was just a mere mortal, he had stood before a Witch God of the Immortal Lord level and straightened his back to reject their attempts to recruit him.
“Elder Lady, I still want to know how I can buy your shop,” Su Che asked politely.
“There’s only one condition!”
The ancient woman clearly disliked verbosity. With her pale right hand, she gestured toward the shelves inside the shop: “Revive all these ancient artifacts of mine, bring them back to life. If you can do that, this shop will be yours.”
Before her words faded, she had already turned and gone back inside. Her black dress gradually merged into the darkness and disappeared.
“Haven’t I lied?”

The old man chuckled and said, “Let me tell you, Cangji Antiques is the only shop in Haoyuan Heaven Market that’s willing to sell. Don’t even think about the others.”
Su Che smiled faintly, staying silent. Whether it was a lie or not, or whether he had been deceived, it no longer mattered.
“Let’s go.”
Su Che turned around and whispered to Zhuo Feng and Fei Yun, “Let’s talk outside.”
The three of them left the shop, with the old man following closely behind, muttering, “They say I’m a swindler, but they just refuse to admit their own incompetence. That old woman really does want to sell. Who am I trying to deceive?”
Su Che smiled silently, quickly taking out another Qiankun Bag filled with another two thousand Immortal Crystals. He handed them to the old man and said softly, “That’s right. I don’t think you’re a swindler. As a token of gratitude, there’s no need to discount the brokerage fee. Give me ten thousand Immortal Crystals in full.”
This left the old man stunned.
It wasn’t until Su Che and the others were far away that he called out, “Young man, use your brain! I have high hopes for you!”
Su Che didn’t turn around, just waved his hand casually.
At the end of the street, Zhuo Feng suddenly said, “Wait for me here for a while. I’ll be back soon.”
Su Che and Fei Yun nodded and waited. Before long, Zhuo Feng indeed returned.
“I’ve found out everything…”
Zhuo Feng transmitted his voice, “That old woman wasn’t lying. Sixty million years ago, there were already rumors that Cangji Antiques wanted to be sold. Her condition remains the same for everyone. And…”
His tone became serious, “Although we haven’t determined her true cultivation level, it’s confirmed that she’s a sister of Emperor Fenglin. That’s why no one in Fenglin’s territory dares to trouble her.”
“No wonder!” Su Che nodded slowly.
Fei Yun asked curiously, “Uncle Zhuo, reviving those ancient artifacts must be impossible, right?”
“Yes.”
Zhuo Feng nodded firmly. “Those treasures became useless ancient artifacts after being destroyed by the Heavenly Dao. Who can revive what the Heavenly Dao has destroyed? Even an Immortal Lord couldn’t do it. It’s utterly impossible! That’s why no one has been able to meet her demands in sixty million years. Her shop will never be sold.”

At this point, looking at Su Che, she said with a smile, “There’s no need to discuss this. Don’t waste energy on it. Let’s look for another option instead.”
Fei Yun blinked her large, lively eyes and also looked at Su Che. She said nothing aloud, but in her heart she was betting that, based on her understanding of him, he definitely wouldn’t give up—he would surely try before giving up.
Even subconsciously, Fei Yun didn’t want Su Che to give up easily, because she had almost blind confidence in him: whatever this guy set his mind to, he could definitely accomplish!
Sure enough, Su Che remained silent for a moment before saying to Zhuo Feng and Fei Yun, “Please wait here for a while. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
With that, he turned and walked back into the street where Cang Ji Ancient Treasures was located.
“What’s he doing…?” Zhuo Feng asked, puzzled.
“He still isn’t giving up,” Fei Yun said with a light smile, whispering, “He’s very stubborn.”
Zhuo Feng nodded gently. “It’s just youth. With so much time ahead, it’s okay to be a bit persistent—as long as it’s not excessive, it’s not a flaw…”
Su Che returned to the three-story building with the sign “Cang Ji Ancient Treasures.” The old man known as “the swindler” had long disappeared. Su Che stepped up the stone steps and pushed the door open.
Clang…
The copper bells rang again as Su Che entered the front hall and stood in front of a shelf.
A slow voice from inside came through: “Young man, why have you come back?”
“Grandma, I’d like to borrow a few ancient artifacts to try them out,” Su Che replied loudly.
“Didn’t that Golden Immortal who was with you warn you about how difficult it is?”
Clearly, Grandma thought Su Che was acting on impulse, doing something he knew was impossible.
“Ancient magical artifacts are punished by the heavens to maintain balance in the world,” Su Che replied respectfully.
“You may be young, but you’re already an immortal. You should know to revere the heavens and follow the way of heaven…”
A deep voice came from inside, “Or perhaps, like me, you’ve already had enough of life?”
Su Che smiled and replied gently, “In my understanding, the heavens aren’t that petty. They wouldn’t punish me over such a trivial matter. Besides, Grandma only wants them revived—not necessarily restored to their original power.”
“Just revived?” Grandma countered, “Do you really think it’s that easy?”

“You have to try to find out,” Su Che said seriously. “The Heavenly Way merely erased their spirituality but did not completely destroy their essence, which means a sliver of life is still left for them. And I just want to try to awaken that sliver of life within them.”
“Young man, do you really think you understand the Heavenly Way?” The old woman’s question carried a hint of seriousness, but it also seemed to contain a touch of sarcasm.
Su Che said nothing more. His posture was straight, yet his heart was filled with pride: Indeed, perhaps I am the one who understands the Heavenly Way best in this world.
Because I myself represent the Heavenly Way of another world!
Though it is still very weak…