Nancy Stewart didn’t go to set up a stall at the antique market before; he once wore that jade Buddha for two days. But after meeting David Carter at the antique market, he learned that men usually wear Guanyin, and women wear Buddha, so Nancy Stewart gave the pendant to his younger sister, and right now it’s still hanging around her neck.

“Who made up that rule? That jade Buddha was something I went through a lot of trouble to get for you.” Hearing his son’s words, John Stewart couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth, but after glancing at his daughter, he didn’t say anything more.

“Dad, since you’re back, can you talk to the doctor later and see if we can get discharged today?”

While unwrapping the box, Nancy Stewart spoke up. He really couldn’t stand staying in this hospital for even one more day. Especially every time he saw that chubby nurse, Nancy Stewart felt as if he wasn’t wearing any clothes, like he’d been completely seen through.

“Alright, I’ll go talk to them in a bit. There’s really no point in staying here.”

John Stewart thought for a moment and said, “Our crew at sea often get sunburned, which is pretty similar to burns. I actually have some ointment that’s just right for that. I’ll bring it for you to use later—it should be better than the hospital’s medicine, and you’ll recover faster.”

“Dad, is your medicine reliable?” Nancy Stewart wasn’t too confident in his dad, and casually opened the box, taking out the jade pendant inside.

“Hey, Dad, you really have a good eye this time. Judging by the craftsmanship and design, this actually looks like a piece of fine jade.”

Looking at the jade pendant in his hand, Nancy Stewart showed a look of surprise in his eyes. Although he’d only been in the antique market for two or three years, he learned things very quickly, especially since he got to interact with some truly knowledgeable old masters every day. So Nancy Stewart did have some solid skills in antique appraisal.

“This is a dragon-phoenix jade pendant design from the Warring States period. There were also quite a few similar ones in the Han dynasty. When unearthed, they usually come in pairs—one dragon, one phoenix. But the jade pendant you have, Dad, doesn’t have any patina, so it doesn’t look like something unearthed. It might be a fake.”

After carefully examining the jade pendant in his hand, Nancy Stewart felt a bit uncertain. Also, he’d only said it was good jade, not ancient jade, because most so-called ancient jade pieces were dug up from tombs. Even those with a so-called clear lineage in history were just unearthed earlier and passed through several generations, becoming “inherited” pieces. But at the root, they were still things dug up from tombs.

As the old saying goes, “No patina, no jade.” Patina is one of the standards for authenticating ancient jade. The patina on ancient jade forms because the jade has been buried in the earth for a long time, and the trace elements in the jade interact with substances in the soil, causing color changes.

Because the substances in the soil and the length of burial vary by region, the patina on jade pieces also differs. But as long as it’s real ancient jade, there will usually be at least some patina. In fact, many fake antique dealers will even artificially create patina on new jade just to sell it as ancient jade.

But the ancient jade in Nancy Stewart’s hand was completely crystal clear and pure white, with a fine and moist texture, like freshly cut mutton fat, and its luster was like refined oil—there wasn’t a trace of skin color or patina.

In terms of material, this was a top-quality piece of mutton-fat white jade. But to call it ancient jade was a bit of a stretch. In Nancy Stewart’s opinion, this was probably a modern carving made from a superb piece of mutton-fat white jade.

But in terms of price, just a piece of top-quality mutton-fat white jade like this would already be worth a fortune. And the dragon-shaped pendant’s craftsmanship and design were both in the antique style. Even if it was a modern jade carving, if Dad bought it for twenty thousand US dollars, that was definitely a huge bargain. If this piece went to auction, it could easily fetch three to five hundred thousand RMB.

“Huh? What… what does this mean?”

Just as Nancy Stewart was admiring the jade pendant in his hand, a few words suddenly appeared in his mind:

[Han Dynasty Dragon-Shaped Jade Pendant, mid-level damaged magical artifact, can be repaired, requires 50 repair points. Repair now?]

Chapter 10 Ointment

[Han Dynasty Dragon-Shaped Jade Pendant, mid-level damaged magical artifact, can be repaired, requires 50 repair points. Repair now?]

[Repair points: 10. Insufficient repair points. Unable to repair!]

After the previous line appeared in his mind, another line immediately followed, showing that Nancy Stewart didn’t have enough repair points and couldn’t repair the so-called damaged magical artifact.

“A Han Dynasty item—so it really is ancient jade. But what’s this about a damaged magical artifact?” Looking at the dragon-shaped jade pendant in his hand, Nancy Stewart was a bit confused. The repair system in his mind could even determine the era, and the words that appeared indicated it was a magical artifact, albeit a damaged one, and could be repaired with repair points.

After experiencing the effect of repair points on his body, Nancy Stewart no longer doubted their power. But what he hadn’t expected was that these repair points could not only heal his body, but also repair objects.

Unfortunately, Nancy Stewart had only ever had a total of 30 repair points. Even if he hadn’t used any to heal his body, all his points combined still wouldn’t be enough to repair this damaged magical artifact.

“Is this magical artifact the same as the stuff Mr. Carter messes around with?”