In front of the Ruined Tower, after the eight Gargoyles died, some Soul Sand and Remnant Souls slowly crystallized out.
There were 300+g of Soul Sand in total, along with four Remnant Souls: two Random Remnant Souls and two three-star Remnant Souls.
There were no Rare Remnant Souls.
Remnant Souls above the Rare tier did not drop that easily. Otherwise, powerful players could simply mow down all kinds of rare monsters, and the high-grade Remnant Souls circulating on the market would not be so scarce and expensive.
Besides, the Gargoyles before him were fakes.
"Actually, exploration, subjugation, monster extermination, and the like offer limited rewards in themselves. These kinds of tasks are mostly done by Ranger Players. What Lord Players care about is whether they can occupy resource sites after subjugating the monsters, and whether they can dig up treasures."
Ranger Players? Just wage laborers. Lords were the real bosses who made money while lying down.
However, Mu Yuan was not a true lord yet. He had no mines, farming, trade, taxes, or other sources of income. He was even worse off than an unaffiliated veteran player—just an ordinary newbie who possessed a tiny bit of evolution ability.
The drops from eight Gargoyles were already a considerable income to him.
Besides, Mu Yuan had subjugated the Gargoyles first for the safety of his territory, and second for the tower before him.
Mu Yuan slowly approached this Ancient Civilization Ruins.
From up close, the entire tower looked even more dilapidated. Beneath the moss and vines crawling all over its exterior were clearly visible cracks. In some areas, the cracks were even half a meter wide, making one wonder how much longer the tower could hold out.
The tower's main gate was already in terrible shape. Any Skeleton Soldier could put in a little strength and yank the entire gate down.
There might once have been defensive barriers here, but with the passage of time, everything had vanished. Even the Gargoyles, renowned for their "shelf life," had continued weakening under the years until they became the small, feeble creatures they were now.
Before the gate, Deathbone hesitated, wanting to speak.
Mu Yuan knew exactly what Deathbone wanted to say—the tower was dilapidated, entering it was dangerous, and this was far from prudent.
Mu Yuan also felt it was somewhat lacking in prudence. However, only players could appraise the information of treasures that had entered a tier, and only he could distinguish them.
There was no point relying on the other skeletons. Even Deathbone, who possessed the Appearance of an Emperor, had no appraisal ability. Unless it obtained a hero identity, it could not possess various extraordinary abilities like a Heaven Chosen Lord.
Besides, Deathbone's reserves of knowledge were far inferior to those of Great Lord Mu.
He had no choice but to enter this tower.
"Don't worry. Even if something goes wrong and the tower collapses, we still have Dora."
He pulled Dora over.
The soft and enormous Great Slime was indeed an excellent cushion. As long as one hid beneath the Slime cushion in a critical moment, one would be perfectly safe.
Steady! As expected of our lord.
Mu Yuan entered the tower that had been sealed for countless years and looked around.
The inside of the tower was somewhat chaotic. He saw many objects resembling research instruments lying broken and scattered across the floor. In a room to one side, he found some bottles and jars that might have once contained potions. A dozen or so ancient books had been casually placed on a bookshelf not far away.
However, the liquid in the potion bottles had long since dried up, leaving behind only a few dark crystals. Those ancient books, which might once have been worth a fortune, had also weathered away over the years. Mu Yuan could only vaguely make out some unfamiliar symbols on them.
These were probably the written language of the ancient civilization back then.
Mu Yuan could not understand them, and none of these objects yielded any information when appraised. Clearly, they were all "scraps" that had not reached a tier.
Of course, it was also possible that he did not know how to use them.
For a newbie like him, interacting with the Ancient Civilization Ruins was still too early.
Even the existence of ancient civilizations was something he had only heard about through rumors.
"Still, ancient civilizations probably did exist. I just don't know how long ago they existed, what kind of civilization they were, whether they were human or another race, and so on."
Mu Yuan felt that the Xuan Kingdom had some understanding of ancient civilizations.
After all, even a newbie like him could hear a few fragments from veteran players who were not that old. How much more would the Great Lords of the Xuan Kingdom know, having already established magnificent cities and vast territories?
This world ran deep.
And he was still a pure newbie who could only scrape by in the Newbie Zone. Killing a few Gargoyles that had not even reached the Professional Grade was nothing to be proud of.
They were merely slightly stronger beginner monsters.
During the time that followed, Mu Yuan searched every inch of the tower, taking out each item he could find and examining it before him.
At last, he found genuinely valuable, highly valuable treasures worthy of celebration.
There were two in total.
They were also the only two treasures inside the tower whose information could be appraised. Their number was extremely small, yet either one made him feel that the trip had been worthwhile—an absolute windfall!
"Miracle Building Blueprint: Mage Tower (Basic)"
"Grade: Rare"
"Description: A special blueprint manifested by the Heaven and Earth Rules. As long as it is unfolded at a suitable location and the required materials are invested, it can rapidly construct a Miracle Building with special effects."
"Note: This blueprint can only be used once."
This was an esoteric blueprint suffused with a faint green glow.
It had originally floated slightly inside an already-decayed storage box, seemingly unaffected by the passage of time and untouched by even the slightest speck of dust.
This was one of the most valuable treasures in the Eternal World—the Miracle Blueprint!
Mu Yuan had of course heard of it. It was something countless Lord Players pursued.
This "Mage Tower (Basic)" blueprint and the Shaman Inheritance Stone were both Rare-grade items, but the former was probably worth more than a hundred times the latter.
This stemmed from the special nature of Miracle Buildings.
Unlike buildings constructed normally, Miracle Buildings were not only easy and quick to build but also possessed "special effects." For example, some buildings could increase a troop's Soul Sand absorption efficiency by 200% or 300% while it cultivated.
Defensive buildings, for example, required no troops to operate or garrison them, yet could attack enemies on their own.
Forge-type buildings, for example, could effortlessly produce Standard Equipment with special Tags.
Among Miracle Buildings, the most prestigious were Troop Buildings. It was by no means easy for Lord Players to obtain one.
However, if they performed exceptionally well in the Lord Trial and received the Heaven and Earth Gift, they had a fairly good chance of obtaining a Troop Building.
This was also why countless Whale Players competed so fiercely.
"Judging from the description, the Mage Tower is probably a defensive building with some research functions as well... Come to think of it, this Ruined Tower beneath my feet is a Mage Tower, right? Only a Miracle Building could have endured through such a long age without completely collapsing."
"With a Mage Tower, my chances in the Lord Trial will be much better... Hmm, I have to gather the materials as soon as possible."
The other treasure was also a Rare-grade item.
It was a special item.
It was a divine lamp resembling a kettle and inlaid with gold trim. However, it was covered in dust and looked terribly old. If not for the information appraisal, Mu Yuan would probably have mistaken it for an inconspicuous ornament.
"Djinn Crystal Lamp (Rare)"
"Description: Rub the Crystal Lamp three times to summon a second-order djinn for the user to command."
"Note: A single summon can last for a maximum of thirty minutes. Remaining uses: 2/3."
Djinns were Rare three-star troops.
Of course, Mu Yuan did not care whether it was Rare or not. Deathbone was also a Rare three-star unit, and it possessed three skills and one talent. Its lavish configuration far surpassed that of other Rare three-star troops of the same tier.
But no matter how powerful Deathbone was, it was only level 6 of the zero order. Whether it could deal with an ordinary troop that had just entered the Professional Grade was still unknown.
Discussing grade without considering level only meant that its future was promising.
As for the Djinn summoned by the Crystal Lamp, it was second-order—the powerful unit the Xuan Kingdom defined as "Elite Grade," essentially a fully developed Rare troop.
"With this Djinn Crystal Lamp, I won't have to worry too much about the Wandering Ogre to the North Side... After all, unlike the fake Gargoyles, the Ogre hasn't fallen dormant. As a Rare wild monster, there's a very high chance it has entered the Professional Grade."
"Of course, I can't waste the precious uses of the Crystal Lamp on a mere wild monster. As long as the Ogre doesn't come looking for trouble, we'll wait until we have enough strength before subjugating it."
"Most importantly, with this Crystal Lamp, I'll be much safer in the real world too. I won't have to be on edge whenever I sell something."
"It's just a pity that the Crystal Lamp only has two uses left. They're destined to be saved for the most critical moments."
Mu Yuan thought greedily.
Before you continue