Chapter 13
Ye Bai first glanced at the lord leaderboard, which still displayed only a solitary entry: "Bai Ye." It seemed that a second lord among the cosmic players had yet to emerge.
With so many players re-registering, it was inevitable that some would spawn in the wilderness. However, even in a standard dungeon, clearing it without expending manpower to trial and error was no easy feat. Exiting, logging off, or dying during the dungeon would deplete the energy of the dungeon key, requiring resource-based items to recharge it for another attempt.
Starting in the wilderness was a shortcut of sorts. The design of the city-building dungeon was intended for players who had already familiarized themselves with the game and had the necessary equipment and resources. If they failed, they could spend resources to challenge it again.
The cosmic players had only transitioned to formal players for two or three hours, making their progress a full day behind Ye Bai. Unlike her, they were all standard novices, likely unable to produce any resources. They could only use their first free attempt to trial and error. Even if they chose to push through a standard dungeon, their progress would be slow.
Ye Bai opened her backpack to sort through her items.
Her weapons remained unchanged, and her inventory was occupied by two sets of complete fluorite, totaling 45 pieces. She discarded the remaining two fluorite shards to save space.
The other items were more varied, lined up in her backpack according to rarity:
60 pieces of Shredded Meat (White), 31 Bat Wings (Green), 12 Bat Fangs (Blue), 1 Unidentified Blueprint (Blue), 8 Premium Beast Meat (Blue), 4 Angry Horned Beast Skins (Purple), 1 Blood of Transformation (Purple), 1 Angry Horn (Gold), 1 Philosopher's Stone (Gold), 1 Unidentified Blueprint (Gold), 1 Seed of Creation, and 10 gold coins.
Ye Bai was well aware of the BOSS drops, and her gaze fell upon the golden item: the Philosopher's Stone.
**Philosopher's Stone**
**Level:** Legendary
**Attribute:** Mythical Material
**Description:** The ultimate creation of alchemy.
Had it not been for the shocking server-wide announcement earlier, Ye Bai would have immediately focused on this item.
What was the use of the Philosopher's Stone?
It was a universal material. As long as there was a blueprint, it could substitute for any required material in a recipe. Of course, only one could be used per crafting attempt.
In other words, if she obtained a rare blueprint and had collected all the other items but was still missing one material, it wouldn’t matter. In that case, inserting a Philosopher's Stone would complete the crafting, even if it was the most crucial and precious material. It was truly a boon for the unlucky.
Clearly, such an item was best suited for the game’s shop.
However, by the time Ye Bai was frozen a million years ago, the shop framework had not yet been launched.
The investors had sent planners who were solely focused on profit, proposing many plans that Ye Bai disagreed with. For instance, her design for the Philosopher's Stone was that it could only serve as a substitute material in a crafting recipe, meaning other materials plus the Philosopher's Stone could successfully create an item. Yet, the investors wanted to remove the restrictions on other materials, suggesting that as long as players were willing to spend, they could use only the Philosopher's Stone to craft an item.
When Ye Bai heard this, she clenched her fists, already imagining that if it were implemented, the game would soon feature a leaderboard for wealthy spenders.
Why would the wealthy bother with quests or gathering materials? They could simply throw money at building a city.
The two sides had been at an impasse, and naturally, the shop framework remained undecided.
In this holographic version of the myriad worlds, there was neither a shop nor a direct exchange channel between in-game currency and real money. To Ye Bai's surprise, the achievement system still existed.
The achievement system was designed to reward players who truly loved the game and diligently explored its mechanics. The first players to achieve certain special accomplishments could earn various rewards, typically special attribute titles and unique items, like the Philosopher's Stone.
Now, in this myriad world without a shop, it meant that achievement rewards were the only source for obtaining such special items.
Thus, the value of the Philosopher's Stone in Ye Bai's hands had increased even further.
As for how to maximize the use of this Philosopher's Stone? It was obvious: it should be used on that golden legendary building blueprint!
The Philosopher's Stone could be used not only in crafting items but also in constructing buildings.
For Ye Bai, who had just obtained a legendary building blueprint and was pondering when she could finally create it, this achievement reward was like a pillow arriving just as she was falling asleep—an instant lift-off!
However, all of this would come after establishing her territory.
At this moment, there were still 15 hours left before the Seed of Creation would expire, and Ye Bai's most pressing task was to confirm her territory.
**Confirm the use of the unique bound item, Seed of Creation?**
**Confirm**
Before logging in, Ye Bai had taken a special "bath," hoping for another stroke of luck in finding a resource-rich territory.
As she confirmed, Ye Bai involuntarily closed her eyes. At the same time, the mark on her character's forehead emitted a glow, which coalesced into a beam of light shooting skyward, breaking through the clouds.
At that moment, even with her eyes closed, Ye Bai regained her vision.
It was a high-altitude perspective, looking down and instantly taking in the geographical environment within a five-mile radius. Not only that, but as Ye Bai focused on a specific area, her view could zoom in, magnifying the details of the surrounding environment.
In a brief sweep, Ye Bai discovered several suitable locations for claiming land.
Near the lake, there would be fishing resources, as well as reeds for crafting—ideal for early development; the forest was rich in timber resources, and there were wild animals for hunting in the woods, which could later be domesticated; the riverside was suitable for trade and provided water resources...
All these basic resources prompted information alerts as Ye Bai looked over them. Meanwhile, the holographic version of the myriad worlds displayed a wealth of detail. In the myriad worlds of a million years ago, this land-claiming phase had simply opened a new page, lacking such detailed visual scenes, instead presenting different map textures.
Wait... textures!
A jolt of realization struck Ye Bai as she paused at a particular location.
It was a seemingly ordinary flatland, devoid of animals or plants, with only a few trees, forming a triangular angle in this area.
Looking around, there were no wild animals, no lakes, and it was far from the river, with trees not densely packed—seemingly lacking any advantageous geographical conditions.
Yet, as Ye Bai gazed at that triangular terrain, a look of delight crossed her face.
Since the myriad worlds incorporated infrastructure elements, various resources would naturally refresh during map generation. Due to differences in the underlying code, different resources required distinct map texture styles. Even if some appeared similar, there would be subtle differences; otherwise, bugs could arise.
Moreover, because of the existence of a technology tree, many resources could only be discovered once the technology level was high enough. In the early stages, when the technology level was insufficient, resource information would not be displayed on the map.
Now, the unassuming triangular terrain that caught Ye Bai's attention was actually the terrain texture for one of the highest-level energy materials in the myriad worlds—**Energy Crystal Mine**!
Under normal circumstances, one would need to develop the territory's technology tree to the mid-to-late stages and unlock the **Energy Exploration** technology to see the location of the Energy Crystal Mine on the map.
If there were none nearby, tough luck—unless one relocated their territory or conquered a territory that possessed this resource, there would be no other options.
Competing for limited high-level resources was also a crucial aspect of the later territory warfare gameplay.
And now, thanks to her unique "texture recognition," Ye Bai had pinpointed a location for an oil field, even when she couldn't find a coal mine...
What more was there to say? Ye Bai quickly found a suitable spot near the Energy Crystal Mine and chose to plant the Seed of Creation.
A radiant light enveloped her character, and she vanished from her original location, reappearing at the previously selected spot.
"Boom..."
At the same time, a tree, entirely crystalline, rapidly sprouted at Ye Bai's feet, unfurling its branches in the blink of an eye, transforming into a tree nearly five meters tall.
Ye Bai reached out to touch the branches.
**Level 0 Territory (Unnamed)**
**Lord:** Bai Ye
**Current Population:** 8 (Migrating)
**Population Attraction:** 10% Base Attraction + 3% Environmental Attraction + 15% Title Bonus
**Buildings:** None
**Happiness Level:** 0
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