Fang Yun didn't expect the Whale King to apologize for the matter of the Dragon People, so he went to "Wen You Xuan".

Wen You Xuan is one of the few big stores in Yu Hai City, owned by the Chen Holy Prominent Family. Wen You refers to the four friends of qin (a stringed musical instrument), chess, calligraphy, and painting, so its main business is the ordinary qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting and the Four Treasures of the Study.

Although the Treasures of Literature in qin, chess, and battle paintings are highly profitable, they have very few transactions and are not the main business scope of Wen You Xuan. Only the Holy Academy and the capitals of the ten nations have large specialized businesses in Treasures of Literature, all backed by the old Semi-Saint Prominent Families of the nations.

Wen You Xuan in Tian Di Bei covers a vast area, with a single store occupying an entire street, divided into four major stores for qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Today, over three hundred clerks from various places are serving thousands of customers.

Fang Yun entered Wen You Xuan, asked the clerks, and went to where the Treasures of Literature qins were sold, finding only five Presented Scholar Treasures of Literature qins and three Imperial Scholar Treasures of Literature qins, all consigned by others with exchange conditions, exchange only, not for sale.

Each qin had an appraisal certificate, detailing the origin, era, and number of times talent was infused into the Treasures of Literature qin. Fang Yun also judged through the theory of "crack pattern representation," finding that the era matched the appraisal documents, all being very ordinary Treasures of Literature qins, not worth the Whale King's mention.

"I need an Imperial Scholar Treasure of Literature qin, and one that would make the Whale King speak up is certainly not an ordinary one. His words seem to test my eye for detail; perhaps one of these eight Treasures of Literature qins is very special."

Fang Yun carefully appraised the eight Treasures of Literature qins again but still saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Could it be that a Treasure of Literature qin is hidden among other ordinary qins? The probability is too small. The difference between a Treasure of Literature qin and a non-Treasure of Literature qin is too great, Wen You Xuan would not make such a big mistake. What exactly does the Whale King mean?"

Fang Yun checked the eight Treasures of Literature qins for the third time but still found nothing, so he went to the nearby place selling boutique ancient qins.

Fang Yun arrived at the store and found rows of shelves standing tall, each displaying numerous Yao qins of different shapes and colors, including Fuxi style, Zhongni style, Lianzhu style, Lingji style, and so on, ancient and quaint.

This place was not like a shop, but like a palace of ancient qins.

Just looking at them, Fang Yun heard his favorite music ringing in his ears, his spirit delighted.

"If those eight Treasures of Literature qins are not special, then there must be something special among these hundreds of qins." Fang Yun began to search slowly, focusing only on ancient qins with history.

The people here to buy qins were also different, walking leisurely and contentedly, not choosing merchandise, but appreciating art, as if the noise of Yinlong Pavilion was completely isolated outside.

Yang Yuhuan's eyes were particularly expressive. Since qins and se (a plucked string instrument) are inseparable, there were also se here.

Seeing that she liked it, Fang Yun let Nunu accompany her while he slowly admired those boutique ancient qins, searching for a possible good qin.

If he fully appraised each qin, it would take half a quarter of an hour, so in a day and a night, he couldn't appraise a hundred qins. Thus, Fang Yun used "crack pattern representation" for quick appraisal.

A qin would have cracks only after a hundred years, the first century showing ice-crack patterns, resembling cracked ice surfaces. But after two hundred years, other parts of the qin body would have new crack patterns, like fine cow hair, known as cow hair cracks.

A few qins, due to their special materials, would not show crack patterns for the first few hundred years, only appearing after several hundred years, showing more advanced crack patterns.

Fang Yun quickly looked over all the qins and finally stood at the back, looking at a long row of shelves. There, ten ancient qins were displayed, each once a Treasure of Literature, now even without talent still extremely precious.

The most expensive among them was made by a famous qin maker from Qin Nation hundreds of years ago. Although somewhat damaged, it was worth two hundred thousand taels of silver, the treasure of the store.

Fang Yun observed carefully and found two types of crack patterns on this qin. One was the "snake belly pattern," appearing only after five hundred years, long and spaced wide, parallel, like the belly of a snake, a very precious crack pattern. This pattern not only proved its ancient history but also had great value for collection in itself.

The second was the "plum blossom pattern," appearing after seven hundred years, resembling blooming plum blossoms.

The strings and sound of the qin, like a paintbrush, left strange and beautiful crack patterns on the qin's body.

People of Holy Origin Mainland didn't care, but Fang Yun was overjoyed at seeing the plum blossom pattern for the first time, a legendary crack pattern. The next step, the thousand-year turtle back pattern, was close to myth and had no physical existence. Fang Yun had only seen a few lines about it in the "Zang Qin Lu" of Qishu Tiandi, among which the line "a thousand gold can't buy a turtle back pattern" left a deep impression.

"If there really is a turtle back pattern, then the first killer qin 'Hao Zhong' must have it."

Fang Yun thought, then admired those beautiful crack patterns for a while before starting to seriously search for a possible ancient qin.

Finally, Fang Yun found a problematic ancient qin!

The appraisal certificate of that qin did not have detailed information about the maker, labeled as an ancient qin from four hundred years ago, having undergone talent infusion twice.

The appraisal document also praised this ancient qin for its special material, preserving its sound for four hundred years, still playable today, with an especially rich sound. Although it doesn't reach the legendary level of the qin sound like a huge bell, when playing battle songs, the "sound shakes like drums," like the simultaneous sound of military drums, making the enemy terrified, hence named "Zhendan."

But, there was a piece of snake belly pattern on it!

A four hundred-year-old ancient qin could not have a snake belly pattern.

Fang Yun determined that this ancient qin was at least five hundred years old, and because it was once a Treasure of Literature, the power of talent could slow the generation of crack patterns, so its actual age was close to six hundred years!

Fang Yun observed carefully, combining the appraisal methods of both Huaxia ancient nation and Holy Origin Mainland, and found that this Zhendan qin clearly had six hundred years of history, but the wear marks looked like four hundred years, not only indicating the terrifyingly good material of the qin but also that it had actually undergone three talent infusions!

The Zhendan qin had only worn so little after six hundred years, able to withstand a fourth talent infusion!

Once a Treasure of Literature qin accepts the fourth infusion of talent, the power of the battle songs played will double!

"The Whale King must be referring to this Zhendan qin, because it's not made by a famous maker, priced only at twenty-six thousand taels, but it requires the infusion of talent from an Imperial Scholar on the verge of death, half a Jiao King's dragon horn is enough, after all, the ten nations admit many Imperial Scholars every year, and a Jiao King's horn does not come out even once a year. Once I reach the realm of qin or become a Presented Scholar, I can use the Imperial Scholar Treasure of Literature qin to play battle songs, compensating for my own deficiencies."

"Musical instruments like the pipa and guzheng can also be transformed to play on the Treasures of Literature qin, and the famous later songs like 'Ambush from Ten Sides,' 'Overlord Unarming,' and 'General Order' will have extraordinary power once transformed into battle songs. 'Ambush from Ten Sides' and 'Overlord Unarming' are both famous, especially the former, which is one of the ten great ancient songs. Both are based on the Chu-Han Contention, but the former focuses on Liu Bang, and the latter on Xiang Yu."

Fang Yun paused, a ridiculous idea popping into his mind.

 

"The content of 'Ambush from Ten Sides' and 'Overlord Unarming' in the Huaxia ancient country is just ordinary warfare, but in Holy Origin Mainland, although the surface history hasn't changed, the actual history is that the All the Saints supporting Chu and Han defeated the All the Saints behind the Qin Dynasty, leading to a split. The All the Saints of both Chu and Han camps had a world-shaking battle, with the side supporting Liu Bang ultimately victorious. What if 'Ambush from Ten Sides' is stimulated by talent, invoking not the armies of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, but higher-level forces? Then… it would absolutely be the most powerful battle song ever! If it could be combined with the first killer qin 'Hao Zhong,' it's unimaginable."

Fang Yun shook his head, feeling the possibility was slim, then reached out to take down the Zhendan qin.

This action immediately attracted everyone's attention, and several clerks came over. Such valuable ancient qins were kept separate, and anyone who took one down without the shop's permission was obliged to buy it.

Fang Yun, holding the Zhendan qin, said to the approaching clerks, "Take me to see your manager."

"Yes." The clerk immediately led Fang Yun away, and soon, they met a man in his fifties in a small room.

"This is our manager Ren. Manager Ren, this young master wishes to buy the Zhendan," Fang Yun said.

Manager Ren came over to greet him politely. After exchanging pleasantries, Manager Ren asked, "Would you like to pay now, or shall we deliver it to your residence?"

Fang Yun smiled, "Who carries so much silver while shopping? Deliver it to my home, please."

"May I ask the young master's name?" Manager Ren inquired.

"Fang Yun," Fang Yun replied.

Manager Ren and the clerk were taken aback.

"The Fang Yun?"

"It should be me," Fang Yun smiled in acknowledgment.

"In that case, if you need it urgently, you can take it now. Later, someone can bring the silver note to our Wen You Xuan."

"Aren't you afraid I'm an imposter?"

"Who in Yu Hai City would dare to impersonate Fang Yun?" Manager Ren retorted.

Both laughed, and Fang Yun said, "Then wrap it up nicely, and deliver it to my home tomorrow. I'm not in a hurry."

"Rest assured, I will personally deliver it to your home tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, Manager Ren."

"You're welcome. Your visit to our Wen You Xuan brings us honor. We should be the ones thanking you," Manager Ren said with a smile.

Fang Yun left, then found Yang Yuhuan, and returned to the qin meeting place, looking for the Talented Scholar Hong, but couldn't find him. He learned that Talented Scholar Hong had just sold that qin and left with four Presented Scholar Treasures of Literature.

Fang Yun stood there thinking for a while, then walked to the door with Yang Yuhuan and the others, meeting up with the rest of their group to return home.

Along the way, Fang Yun kept stroking the fur, and Nunu was also curious about it.

Back home, Fang Yun took Nunu into his study, then placed the fur on the table and asked, "Tell me, what exactly is this fur?"

Nunu shook its head, indicating it didn't know.

Fang Yun involuntarily thought of the wooden piece flashing from the sleeve of that person and asked, "You also noticed that what he held was very powerful. Let's make a comparison. You've seen the Lazy Scholar of Literature; if his strength is this much," Fang Yun said, pinching and then spreading his thumb and index finger an inch apart, "how strong do you think that wooden piece is?"

Nunu thought for a moment, then stood upright, using its front legs as arms and stretched them to both sides, finally extending both arms flat, indicating it was much more powerful than the Scholar of Literature.

"It's probably one of those few items, but I can't guess exactly what it is," Fang Yun concluded, staring at the black fur, observing the three dried drops of bright red blood on it, but feeling no power from it.

"Is it really related to The Holy Land?"

Nunu nodded subconsciously.