I changed the world.

Jiangdong Art Museum is the largest museum in Jiangdong Province. Unlike most museums in Zhang Jing's previous life in China, which were mostly public, most museums in this world are privately operated. Jiangdong Art Museum is one such example, managed by professional managers hired by the board of directors. According to publicly available information, Jiangdong Art Museum has multiple shareholders, the largest of which are the Chengguo Duke's Mansion and Southeast University.

In recent years, with the emergence of various new entertainment projects, the number of visitors to museums has been declining, and the Jiangdong Art Museum is no exception. Today is Tuesday, not a holiday, so when Zhang Jing arrived at the museum, it would be no exaggeration to describe it as deserted.

Because he has a city citizen card, Zhang Jing can enjoy a 5-yuan admission fee. This is partly an incentive for the city to enhance its citizens' cultural literacy, and partly a disguised subsidy from the municipal government to the museum. However, as it turns out, the effect is not as expected.

Zhang Jing's main purpose in coming here today was to test his newly acquired "True Fire Refining Eyes" secret technique. After all, when it comes to treasures, nowhere is more abundant than a museum.

A large poster was displayed at the entrance of the museum, announcing the Qi Qian Jade Carving and Antique Exhibition, which was currently underway. Zhang Jing followed the signboard to the relevant exhibition hall.

The glass display cases and showcases in the exhibition hall contain many exquisite objects, mostly brushes, inkstones, inkstones, bottles, incense burners, and fans, all of which are exquisite and delightful.

The Qianlong reign, being ruled by a foreign tribe, produced artifacts with a rougher, more rugged style, reminiscent of the steppes. In terms of materials, the Qianlong period produced a large number of jade artifacts, all of which appeared to be of high quality.

The artifacts of the Qi Dynasty were mainly porcelain. Geographically, the main jade-producing areas were in the northwest and southwest, and these regions were not directly under the jurisdiction of the Central Plains dynasties during the Qi Dynasty. Therefore, although jade did flow in through trade, its quality and quantity were far inferior to those of the Qian Dynasty. However, due to the scarcity of jade, the porcelain industry of the Qi Dynasty reached its historical peak, clearly surpassing all previous dynasties.

Zhang Jing wore a pair of non-prescription sunglasses, which he had bought before coming to conceal the strange phenomena in his eyes when performing his magic. Now, walking through the exhibition area, Zhang Jing silently activated his secret technique and looked around.

Chapter Fifty-Seven: A Visit to the Museum

Most of the exhibits remained unchanged in his eyes. As Zhang Jing walked forward, he occasionally saw some objects whose light and color changed, shrouded in a faint white light. Whenever this happened, Zhang Jing would stop and examine them carefully. These objects all had one thing in common: they were mostly made of jade and of excellent quality.

Of course, there were also items not made of jade. For example, Zhang Jing saw a Southern Red Agate carved pagoda, entirely persimmon red without a single impurity. There was also a Tianhuang stone seal with a lion playing with a ball, belonging to Zhang Zunru, a Grand Secretary of the Qianlong Emperor; it was a chicken-fat yellow color, with translucent radish-like veins throughout. Under Zhang Jing's secret gaze, both items were enveloped in a white light.

In addition, Zhang Jing also observed some seals carved by famous artists, fan surfaces with inscriptions, or celadon products with exceptionally exquisite craftsmanship, but he could not find anything unusual in most of them.

The entire exhibition hall was like this. Zhang Jing pondered to himself that this kind of secret technique was sensitive not only to things with power, but also to rare and precious objects, such as beautiful jade, high-grade agate, and seal stones, but not to artificially processed items.

After visiting this exhibition hall, Zhang Jing went to see the others. This was his first visit to a museum in this world since his transmigration, so in addition to testing his new skills, Zhang Jing was also quite interested in the collections themselves and the history they contained, examining them very carefully along the way. As a result, by the time he had seen all the exhibits, it was almost closing time.

To Zhang Jing's surprise, along the way, besides the jade and gemstones, he unexpectedly discovered two items that appeared to be from the Dharma Treasury. One crystal pillar glowed red under his secret technique, while the other was a jade tablet that also glowed red.

Both of the Dharma treasures were discovered in the Ancient Era Exhibition Hall. The so-called ancient times in this world actually refer to the period before the official historical records. Because it is too far back, many historical events of those times cannot be verified. Some views in historical books are also inferred and pieced together by later generations through myths, legends, ancient records, and archaeological clues. Many historical views are still highly controversial even in China.

In this world, the Central Plains civilization of the Eastern Continent, where Da Zhao is located, has an internationally recognized verifiable history of 3000 years, while Da Zhao itself claims 5000 years. Before that, however, the history is shrouded in mystery.

Based on the information Zhang Jing has collected, the legendary era that possessed such power dates back at least 5000 years. As for what exactly happened back then, very little history has been left behind. Even many treasures and magical artifacts from that era have lost their spiritual power over time.

"Hello, I'd like to ask you some questions." At the entrance of the Ancient Era Exhibition Hall, Zhang Jing found a middle-aged man dressed in staff uniform and stepped forward to greet him with a bow.

"Please ask, no need to be polite." The middle-aged man quickly glanced at Zhang Jing's rather elegant clothes, cupped his hands and smiled.

"Well, I'm quite interested in two exhibits in the exhibition hall. I wonder if the exhibition hall has any possibility of selling them to the public?"

"That's right. Although our museum is private, we generally don't sell our exhibits to the public," the staff member said politely.

"I see. I'm truly sorry for my intrusion." Zhang Jing's smile remained unchanged as he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

“Hmm… there’s another possibility,” the staff member said, looking Zhang Jing up and down again. “I think he’s quite remarkable.” He continued, “We will be holding an auction next spring, mainly to raise funds for the museum. Some of our collections will be up for sale. You can check out our museum’s website.”

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind." Zhang Jing nodded, bowed again, and then took his leave.