Road to becoming the wealthiest: Starting From Treasure Hunting in the Cabinets
Chapter 903 - 513 A Treacherous Road

Chapter 903: Chapter 513 A Treacherous Road

Lester Francis’s subordinates brought two rather large aviation aluminum boxes.

After placing the boxes properly, the opponent handed the key to Sean Knight, signaling him to open them himself.

Lincoln Harrington wanted to come over to receive the key—he was worried there might be something amiss inside.

However, Sean Knight waved his hand, took the key himself, and opened the huge box.

Sky Eye was always on, so he knew exactly what was inside.

The box was opened to reveal neatly arranged antiques wrapped in soft material.

Taking out one box, Sean Knight opened it to see a palm-sized jade pendant with a dragon and phoenix bringing prosperity pattern.

The jade pendant was made of premium mutton fat jade, warm and comfortable to touch, and exquisitely carved—a rarity indeed.

Placing the jade pendant back in the box and closing it, Sean Knight opened another elongated box.

Stored inside was an imperial sword used by an emperor.

The sword was ornately decorated, with turquoise and azurite inlaid on the hilt and several equally sized gemstones set into the scabbard, alongside patterns made from gold wire.

Sean Knight drew the sword and found it to be almost rust-free, preserved in excellent condition.

Any of these items, casually taken out, could trace their lineage and would fetch several hundred thousand, a million, or even over ten million at auction.

After all, even if that imperial sword wasn’t from famous emperors like Emperor Kangxi or Emperor Qianlong, it was at least from the royal family!

However, it was clear Sean Knight wasn’t particularly interested in these items; he quickly glanced at them, put them away, and then turned his attention to the other box.

When he opened the box, a distinct smell wafted out.

Sean Knight knew this was the special odor of bronze ware corrosion.

He was quite familiar with this smell, having once acquired a carload of bronze ware.

He carefully unwrapped the parcel—truth be told, compared to the first box, the items in this box were wrapped in a much cruder manner.

But that made sense.

After all, China has the most in-depth research on bronze artifacts in the entire world.

It seems like when it comes to bronze ware, the world is divided into two parts: China and other countries.

All the bronze artifacts from other countries unearthed put together seem to weigh less than a few hundred kilograms, while a single pit in a certain place in China yields more than that.

For example, that bronze sword recently excavated in Germany, the kind without a point or rust, supposedly over 3000 years old, is quite rare—

Even the most orthodox experts in bronze ware have to admire it, wondering if this thing could really be called a bronze artifact? From over 3000 years ago?

Abroad, there are no systematic unearthed bronze items to be mined, hence there’s no developmental thread for bronze ware. What is displayed to the world are individual items scattered here and there.

Somewhat complete ones have been dug out of muddy water pits, and items in excellent condition from humid soil.

This confuses the experts who study bronze ware in China, and even many experts in physics and chemistry.

Of course, we should just mind our own business; let others boast—or rather, let them talk about their own matters.

Until you have enough strength, no matter how good, how true, or how strong your systematic knowledge is, others will cover their ears and refuse to listen to you.

Getting back to the point, this is exactly why Sean Knight was very clear that experts from outside of China are far behind Chinese experts when it comes to the preservation and restoration of bronze ware.

Of course, this may also be related to the fact that bronze ware unearthed in other countries tends to be very well preserved and doesn’t need restoration.

He gently opened a box—this one was roughly one foot square. Upon opening it, he found a round tripod, broken into four or five pieces and then glued back together.

The rust on the tripod was pretty severe, but with Sean Knight’s half-baked knowledge of bronze ware, he knew that this kind of corrosion was relatively easy to fix.

First, because it wasn’t completely rusted through, and second, nearly half of the rust was caused by poor preservation—the rust that had formed underground over thousands of years wasn’t really that extensive.

The anti-rust technology for bronze ware might have been relatively advanced at that time.

Of course, it’s nothing compared to that bronze sword.

No comparison.

Mainly because the adhesive technique used on this tripod was too crude—it felt as though an ordinary person had simply glued it haphazardly. Not only was it not seamless, it was also misaligned.

Sean Knight felt a pang of heartache!

The crux of the matter was that there was an inscription on this round tripod!

The writing was covered by rust and hardly visible.

But under the effect of Sky Eye, Sean Knight could clearly see the text written there.

There were sixty-two characters in total, primarily stating that the king encountered a ferocious beast during his travels. The beast tried to pounce on the king but was driven away by the chariot driver, much to the king’s delight, who then rewarded the charioteer.

The charioteer was thus granted a reward, and his son cast the tripod to commemorate the event.

The story was quite simple, yet the importance lay in the recorded time and astronomical events in the inscription.

This was quite significant!

Sean Knight sighed. This artifact was better taken back, carefully restored domestically, and then discussed.

After all, he was only half an expert.

There were a total of twelve bronze items and nineteen jade artifacts in this box—the reason for the larger quantity was mainly due to the more rudimentary packaging.

Sean Knight did not continue to look; he could pretty much confirm that these items all belonged to the Zhou royal family, probably from a certain Zhou King’s Tomb.

He’d leave it to the professionals, the experts, for research. Maybe their findings could even rewrite history.