Year 500 of the Era, But Still Haven't Dug Up a Treasure to Become a God

Time once again flowed quickly, reaching Era 419.

The Human 18 Civilization spent a large sum of money to purchase sufficient materials from the Greedy God Temple, completing the construction of the Central Great Array.

This city wall was entirely built from compacted heavy earth-attribute materials. Its surface was rough and solid, as if it had withstood thousands of years of wind and rain, yet remained unmoving – this was the ancient rhythm deliberately created by the Glyph Masters.

As sunlight shone down, the city wall emitted a faint golden glow, exuding a stable and profound Qi.

This city wall was constructed around the inner ring of Green Field City, with a length of approximately 120 kilometers. It possessed a certain degree of defensive capability and load-bearing capacity, allowing for the passage of cargo trucks, thus laying the foundation for the expansion of Sky City.

Standing beneath the city wall, one could almost feel a surging power emanating from deep within the earth.

At this point, the Level Four technology known as Pangu Thought Resonance Technology was essentially realized.

It cost a total of 329 points of Luck! Severely exceeding the budget!

The Northern Great Array and the Central Great Array could theoretically increase the Human Spirit Attribute limit to 20-25 points – a considerable value.

Although there were still three great arrays yet to be completed, that would have to wait until enough materials were gathered in the future.

"This great array is our first step towards becoming a Level Four Civilization."

"We are currently and will be for a long time in the early stage of a Level Three Civilization, and we are now advancing towards the intermediate stage of a Level Three Civilization..."

One Level Four technology is not enough to propel humanity into becoming a Level Four Civilization.

As a backbone force of the Pangu Continent, a Level Four Civilization should be comprehensively strong in areas such as culture, economy, industry, and technology.

Therefore, more Level Four technologies are being researched simultaneously...

Lu Yuan often sighed, Old Cat was truly patient. There was clearly a Civilization Ruin in the Northern Limit, where Level Four data could be easily obtained, but Old Cat insisted that humanity research it independently, even investing a large amount of manpower and resources for this – in this regard, it was quite generous.

Of course, this was also a good thing. There was indeed a world of difference between what was researched independently and what was picked up.

Independent research would encounter many difficulties and setbacks.

It would bring about the progress of the entire research system.

It could also cultivate more talents.

While picking up scraps certainly led to rapid progress, cultivating a system was very difficult.

In Era 429, the second Level Four technology showed a glimmer of hope – Super-Material Hyper-Polymerization!

This term was quite strange. After understanding it, Lu Yuan realized that this was actually an Idealistic science that increased the level of extraordinary materials!

"The level of materials can still be increased?"

"Yes, as the Pangu Continent developed to the Ninth Era, Legendary-grade heavenly materials and earthly treasures have become very rare."

"In the journey of our Human 18 Civilization over so many years, we have actually only unearthed a few Legendary-grade materials, and there hasn't even been a trace of Epic-grade materials... This shows the rarity of these precious materials."

The professor leading the Super-Material Hyper-Polymerization project was named Lu Guangming, and he was also a Super-Thinker.

Lu Yuan sat in the front row.

He calculated that the Legendary-grade materials humanity had unearthed were obtained during the volcanic eruption of the Source Fire Civilization; other than that, there were none.

"If Legendary materials are hard to come by even once in a hundred years, then Epic items are practically nonexistent, with only a small number of Aberrant Phenomena producing them."

"As for Immortal-grade materials, they are produced in extremely small quantities only by Calamity-level Aberrant Phenomena."

Not every Calamity can produce "Immortal" items. The productivity of the Yao is far stronger than that of the Guai, which is stronger than the Guai, which is stronger than the Demon.

But there are also differences between Yao.

Like the OpiumYu Tree, which suffered a great loss of Vitality, it can only produce some Excellent-grade items now, and its Vitality has only recovered somewhat in recent years.

Lu Yuan's Life Tree, however, can produce Legendary-grade wood, and the yield is just passable.

But the Life Tree is still a long, long way from producing Immortal-grade items.

Only Yao that have survived for several eras, expending a huge amount of life force, might be able to produce Immortal-grade items.

And the miracle of Lu Yuan picking up two Immortal items in one day is truly unprecedented on the Pangu Continent!

The professor's tone shifted: "So how do powerful civilizations obtain high-grade materials?"

"Super-Material Hyper-Polymerization is one way. Through the power of the Pangu Continent, some materials are catalyzed and upgraded."

"The specific process is like this..."

This project is also quite troublesome, involving high temperature and high pressure, low temperature and high pressure, and the construction of special instruments.

This kind of instrument is similar to a large hadron collider, consuming astonishing manpower and material resources.

"But the process consumes a lot of Luck, right?" Old Cat couldn't help but ask, "Is there such a good thing as upgrading for free in the world?"

The professor looked a little embarrassed and scratched his bald head: "That's right... The cost-saving method requires a huge amount of time, often thousands or tens of thousands of years. If you want to save time, you have to spend more Civilization Points."

"The current cost-effectiveness is still not as good as direct purchase from the Greedy Temple. We estimate that catalyzing 1 kilogram of high-purity Epic material would cost over a thousand Civilization Points."

"Catalyzing Immortal-grade might cost five thousand or even over ten thousand."

Everyone fell silent. Who could afford this!

Old Cat almost swore, his hair standing on end!

Although Lu Yuan was just listening on the side, he was secretly clicking his tongue and constantly calculating humanity's assets.

"Without the extra income from the Trading Market, the original three thousand-plus Civilization Points would indeed be stretched thin, and a few Level Four technologies would use them all up."

Looking at it this way, the development of Advanced Civilizations is really not easy.

This requires Civilization Points, that requires Civilization Points. With such a large enterprise, they can't afford it!

But no matter what, this technology still needs investment and development...

"First... first research the cheaper technology..." Old Cat felt like he was about to gain a soul, and said tremblingly, "We still have to rely on picking up trash... The current demand for high-grade materials is not large."

In the 444th year of the era, after thirty years of fermentation, the Greedy Temple finally gained continuous recognition from the major races in the Northern Territory.

God's Skill, this thing, is indeed a hard currency, triggering a wave of bestsellers.

While the price is a bit high, the appearance of a God's Skill might change the course of civilization's development and effectively compensate for racial defects. It is indeed quite valuable.

"It doesn't have to be powerful, but it can't be absent!"

Under the guidance of this philosophy, civilizations came to trade every now and then.

In recent decades, Lu Yuan has successively put several best-selling God's Skills on the market, such as "Glyph Reader," "Whisperer," and "Treasure Hunting Eye."

The civilization with the largest purchasing power turned out to be Human 18 Civilization?!

Well, humans are indeed the wealthiest and have the largest demand... especially since humans have recently made a little money.

Old Cat, knowing the truth, could only complain to the old Aberrants: "When I think of humans buying so much, and all the money they worked so hard to earn going to Lu Yuan, it feels like eating a pile of shit."

"Haven't humans been strengthened? Don't I have to spend money to replicate God's Skills?!" Lu Yuan said shamelessly, "Moreover, if I sell them cheaply to humans, wouldn't it quickly be deduced that this is the Greedy Demon God's Temple?"

That was also true.

For example, "Glyph Reading" combined with "Artisan Talent" can further improve an artisan's forging level.

The combination of "Super-Thinker" and "Whisperer" can also enhance a scientist's research and development capabilities.

Natural dual God's Skill Users are extremely rare; not even one in ten civilizations has one.

Therefore, equipping top talents with appropriate God's Skills is indeed a way to improve talent levels.

It's just... too expensive!

Humans bought over 500 God's Skills, spending nearly 1,800 Civilization Points!

This expenditure was truly like flowing water, with all the money earned invested in talent cultivation.

The most crucial thing is that within humanity, they all say "not a loss," "not a loss," "anyway, we've been making money all these years."

Old Cat muttered a few words in his heart and finally had to let go of this pain: "When can your [Temple] teleport life?"

"Humans haven't left the Northern Territory yet, are you still dragging your feet there?"

Lu Yuan said with a bitter face: "I've been researching for so many years, and there are still some technical hurdles I haven't overcome."

"I plan to only use small-level Inspiration to achieve this goal. Using large-level Inspiration would be a bit wasteful."

"Do you have that ability? You just come up with things on the fly." Old Cat was speechless.

The technological development of humanity actually brought Lu Yuan a certain degree of inspiration.

Especially regarding communication with the "Pangu World Will" and the construction of various arrays, it filled some knowledge gaps.

So he decided to change his technical path.

Lu Yuan explained: "The teleportation function of the [Immortal Palace] is limited to items and cannot teleport life. This is a rule-level defect that is difficult to compensate for."

"But in a short time, only humans should be willing to buy the expensive [Temple], and the required transportation volume won't be too large."

"Hmm... that's right."

"So I plan to transform the Ancient Worm Horn into a flying shuttle skilled in Earth Escape."

"I will link the 'shuttle' with the world will, borrowing its power to achieve long-distance Earth Escape."

This approach is equivalent to splitting the task into two.

Non-living teleportation is completed by the [Temple].

While living teleportation is actually completed by the Flying Shuttle.

The advantage of this approach is that the connection between the [Immortal Palace] and the world will is greatly weakened, almost to zero; the difficulty of forging is also greatly reduced.

If they really need to escape, they just need to sacrifice the "Flying Shuttle" to the world will.

"And the creation of the Flying Shuttle is not too difficult. The Ancient Worm Horn itself is an Immortal-level earth attribute material, suitable for Earth Escape in shape and size, and its ability is 'penetration'."

"Therefore, it doesn't require too much modification... it doesn't even require Inspiration. Just create some carriages to follow behind."

"This modification will not damage the shape and characteristics of the horn. If I need to use it in the future, I can still remove it and modify it again."

"What are the disadvantages?"

"The disadvantage is that the shuttle ability of Earth Escape is slower than conventional space jumps. Space jumps can truly make distant places feel like neighbors, while Earth Escape travel might take some time."

"If more civilizations use the [Temple] in the future, one Flying Shuttle might not be enough."

"If it really doesn't work, I'll just let the Ancient Worm grow another horn, and I'll buy it with money! And modify another Flying Shuttle?" Lu Yuan patted his chest with a grand gesture.

To compensate this old geezer, the Ancient Worm, he had gifted 50 God's Skills over the past few years, making this big beetle overjoyed and now calling Lu Yuan his brother.

As for how the Ancient Worm distributes them, Lu Yuan didn't bother to interfere.

With Prince Jin Bote giving advice behind the scenes, there shouldn't be too many problems.

Time flowed again.

Year 483 of the Era.

The Earth Escape Flying Shuttle was finally completed!

It looked like a large drilling machine. The front was an 800-meter-long Ancient Worm Horn, and the back was connected to a series of carriages – Lu Yuan had put in a lot of effort to tinker with these carriages.

One must know that most of the carriages were as large as a 500-square-meter house!

And the largest carriage was as huge as a 1-kilometer Floating Fortress!

He alone didn't have that much productivity, and even with that armored Aberrant, it wasn't enough.

In the end, he had to rely on the industrial power of the Blue Roc Civilization to produce these things. (The Blue Peng People were in a dream state, but they still had some industrial strength.)

Lu Yuan and the armored Aberrant, Kosi, hammered and chiseled, engraving Glyphs on the carriages, and it took them nearly 40 years to finish this behemoth.

[Earth Escape Flying Shuttle]

[The blood and sweat crystallization of the Legendary Grandmaster Artisan Lu Yuan from the Ninth Era and the Artisan Master Kosi from the Seventh Era. Not much Inspiration was used, nor was there high Artistic Achievement. It merely utilized the extraordinary characteristics of the material itself.]

[In the Glyph markings on the carriages, the curses of these two Artisans were left behind.]

[They gradually lost patience during 39 years of repetitive work, occasionally regretting why they had to produce this monstrous thing with single-person power. Fortunately, they still completed this colossal work.]

[Function: Earth Escape Shuttle, capable of rapid shuttling between [Temple] and [Temple].]

[Theoretically, it can also travel to other locations on the Pangu Continent, but its poor navigation ability makes it easy for this shuttle to get lost. (Immortal-level · Artificial Wonder --)]

When Lu Yuan saw this line of text, he collapsed directly onto the ground.

He had completed this work without using Inspiration.

But because he hadn't fully comprehended the principle of "Earth Escape," for now, it could only shuttle between Temples.

Once off track, this shuttle could easily get lost in the earth, and the cost of travel would increase significantly.

"It's finished..." The armored Aberrant who had been working tirelessly also felt a sourness in his nose. He had never been squeezed so hard in his life; his entire soul felt hollowed out.

But there was nothing he could do. He was the only Artisan among the Aberrants.

And the evaluation of "Immortal-level · Artificial Wonder --" seemed to be the best in his life?

Well, there was nothing to be proud of. Even the material grade couldn't compare, giving a feeling of wasting precious resources. But as long as it didn't drop below the Immortal level, it seemed acceptable?

Thinking of this, the armored Aberrant felt a faint sense of satisfaction again.

"It's finished... As long as Spirit Essence is injected, this shuttle can operate," Lu Yuan muttered, lying on the ground. "Now, I can sell the Temples to other civilizations."

Along with that, he hid the appraisal result.

As the creator, he could hide a lot of information. Others' appraisals could only see the simple name "Shuttle."

The official sale of the Temples caused another small stir in the Northern Territory.

This proved that there was indeed a mastermind behind the Greedy God Temple, but this mastermind never appeared and never even released any information.

Of course, weaker civilizations didn't feel much about this news.

Each Temple cost 200 Civilization Points!

It was shockingly expensive!

But for powerful civilizations, there was a subtle feeling in their hearts.

The ends of the earth are like neighbors... Think about it, what would it mean for a Floating Fortress filled with weapons to instantly teleport out of a Temple?

Of course, the most important thing was its reliability. Would there be hidden dangers after purchasing a Temple? Would strange things be teleported over?

In the 499th year of the Era, humanity, under the strong opposition of Lu Yuan and Old Cat, purchased two Temples.

These Temples could not enter the "Heavenly Court Treasure Hall" of the Immortal Palace, thus avoiding risks related to taboos.

"Comrades, don't be reluctant to spend these Civilization Points."

"This is equivalent to a very good trump card. We have been staying in the Northern Territory for over two hundred years."

"Life here is comfortable, but it absolutely cannot be the end of our journey! Once we indulge in pleasure, we will lose the motivation to move forward."

"Therefore, preparing for future adventures and increasing our trump cards is also our strategic goal."

"Now, I announce that the first attempt at shuttling begins!"

Lu Yuan, the ultimate beneficiary, shamelessly spoke words that even he found a little against his conscience.

Old Cat, listening from the side, felt his fur bristling and kept spitting in disdain.

But there was nothing he could do. It wasn't that he deliberately wanted to earn money from humans. If the price of the Temple was too low and other civilizations each had one, it would be troublesome later.

One had to know that this thing was actually tailor-made for humans.

Lu Yuan didn't even want other civilizations to use it!

The two Temples were placed one after another in the Green Field Market, near the Soaring Leap Clan, which was close to the Northern Limit. The total distance was about 32,000 kilometers.

"Don't be nervous, I have spatial abilities, I can take the risk."

He even personally brought some experimental animals into the Temple.

What greeted him was a milky white space. In fact, this was already inside the "Flying Shuttle".

Lu Yuan felt a slight sense of being overweight, and nothing else besides that.

The Immortal-level Earth Escape Flying Shuttle was indeed powerful. In about 14 seconds, it traveled 32,000 kilometers, costing 0.12 Spirit Essence – after all, it was only one carriage, which was relatively cost-effective.

If he wanted to go faster, he could, but it would consume Luck!

When he arrived at the Soaring Leap Clan's territory, he was met with a large number of exclamations and overwhelming applause.

This meant that humanity's projection capability in the Northern Territory had reached a new height!

Then, Era 500!!