Chapter 174: Star Dragon King's Blood Essence (World-Tier)

Although it was a bit troublesome, it did not matter.

As an Alchemist versed in the use of Alchemy Arrays, Lan Qingyou had taken quite a few photos during her previous battle with the Ancient Tree of Knowledge.

They were all captured at the exact moments the tree initiated its magic circles.

With these magic circles serving as her foundational research subjects, she was confident that she would master this discipline in no time.

Moreover, the book she had found lacked the word "Basic" in its title. In Lan Qingyou's eyes, this meant it was likely an advanced manifestation of Symbology.

"Squeak, squeak."

Just as Lan Qingyou was planning to study it carefully later, Little Spoon tugged at the hem of her clothes.

"Hmm? Outside?"

At Little Spoon's urgent cries, Lan Qingyou turned her head toward the door.

However, Little Spoon did not care about that. The little creature bolted outside as fast as its legs could carry it, prompting Lan Qingyou to shove the book into her Herb Pouch and follow right behind.

Eventually, Little Spoon skidded to a halt in the very center of the area and gazed upward.

Lan Qingyou looked up as well. Oh, were they not standing directly beneath the massive crystal cluster?

Because the large crystals that had encased the four ancient trees had fallen, four gaping, pitch-black holes were now visible above. Even standing over a hundred meters below, Lan Qingyou could see them clearly through her Appraisal Glasses.

'Hmm... Could the real treasure actually be hidden inside up there, and the stone house was nothing but a decoy?'

Lan Qingyou frowned slightly.

She then scooped Little Spoon into her arms, fired up her Thruster, and soared into the air.

As she drew closer, her view became increasingly clear.

There was indeed an accessible entrance at each of the four gaps in the crystal cluster. When Lan Qingyou hovered at one of the openings and peered inside, she found it to be pitch black. Compared to the radiant exterior of the crystal cluster, which shone as brightly as the sun, it was a stark contrast of pure light and absolute darkness.

Or perhaps, it was precisely because the blinding light outside made it hard for her to keep her eyes open that the interior appeared so much darker.

'Should I go in?' she wondered.

Lan Qingyou cautiously circled all four entrances, discovering that they were largely identical. Unable to see anything from the outside, she ultimately decided to venture inside and explore.

Naturally, she was not about to charge in blindly.

She released a one-armed purple knight with a Magic Carriage Lantern hanging from its waist to scout ahead and assess the situation first.

The warm glow of the Magic Carriage Lantern instantly illuminated the space within.

Lan Qingyou focused her gaze and saw that there were indeed items inside, though only two of them.

One was a large, three-legged iron cauldron about a meter and a half wide, remaining almost fully intact, and containing some crimson liquid.

The other item was a branch that looked somewhat withered.

Lan Qingyou adjusted her glasses and attempted to appraise the two items, but the result...

[???] [???] [???] [???]

Four distinct prompts instantly popped up in her vision, and all of them were marked with question marks.

This completely dumbfounded Lan Qingyou.

'What the...'

'I could even appraise something on the level of those ancient trees, yet these things are entirely question marks.'

'Could I have actually stumbled upon world-tier items?'

'And four of them at that?'

'Wait a minute! Four!?'

Lan Qingyou glanced left and right, noticing that besides the cauldron, the red liquid, and the withered branch, there did not seem to be anything else inside.

There were no hidden compartments or anything of the sort.

Although she was baffled, Lan Qingyou stored the three visible items into her Herb Pouch and checked again.

[???]

A prompt still existed.

'What could it be?'

'Is it this enormous crystal cluster itself?'

Lan Qingyou flew back out to take a look and realized that was exactly it!

'But how am I supposed to handle something this huge?'

Staring at the crystal cluster, which had a diameter of at least fifty meters, Lan Qingyou pondered with a furrowed brow.

As it was the sole light source in this space, Lan Qingyou did not want to tamper with it right now. Remembering that the Mana Tide was still raging outside and she could not leave anyway, she decided to just let it stay suspended and take it with her when it was finally time to depart.

Upon returning to the ground, Lan Qingyou tossed the three mysterious items to Shang Chuan for him to appraise. Afterward, she picked up the Magic Broom she had discarded earlier to inspect it.

Aside from the new shoots that had sprouted on it earlier, it had not sustained any real damage. With a bit of pruning and trimming, it would be perfectly usable again.

With that settled, Lan Qingyou pitched her tent.

Since she could not leave, she might as well hunker down and wait here.

There was probably only about a day left until the Mana Tide ended anyway, so getting some proper rest was not a bad idea.

Of course, the most important reason was that Lan Qingyou genuinely did not want to move another muscle.

Over the past few hours, she had chugged down so many Potions that she had completely lost her appetite for real food.

She was full—the kind of full where she could hear liquid sloshing around in her stomach whenever she shifted.

Thinking about how all those mysterious, unidentifiable items had been hidden right inside the crystal cluster amused Lan Qingyou.

'If it were not for my flight talent, I probably wouldn't have been able to investigate up there even if I suspected something was amiss,' she mused.

'No, it's more accurate to say that anyone else who couldn't fly would have absolutely zero chance of obtaining those treasures.'

'Should I be thankful for my flight talent?'

Looking down at her legs, Lan Qingyou chuckled and shook her head.

'Losing out in one aspect only to strike gold in another... I suppose this is exactly what that saying means?'

The Moon: "You really are incredibly lucky! To be honest, I am quite jealous. Are you selling? I can contact a buyer for you."

...

Just as she finished counting her blessings, Shang Chuan sent a message, and it certainly looked like good news.

Then again, considering everything had shown up as question marks, it was bound to be top-tier loot.

The Tower: "What are the specifics?"

Lan Qingyou asked after receiving the three items he had sent back.

Shortly after, Shang Chuan forwarded the appraisal results for the three items.

[Fire-Seeking Crucible (World-Tier)]

[Effect: Potion crafting speed +50%, Potion crafting success rate +80%]

[Description: Personally forged by the world-tier magic item master Feng. It possesses excellent preservation properties and will never corrode.]

[Ancient Tree Branch (World-Tier)]

[Effect: Flying monster attraction +100%, Taming probability +100%]

[Description: Planting this on any tree will attract flying monsters to roost, with a high probability of taming them. It provides a safe haven for flying creatures, and long-term habitation has a chance to improve their physical constitution.]

[Star Dragon King's Blood Essence (World-Tier)]

[Effect: Dragon race evolution rate +100%, Attribute Correction]

[Description: The Star Dragon King is the beginning of all things. A single drop of its blood can evolve a human into a Dragonkin, or evolve other creatures into dragons.]

Gasp—

Reading these three descriptions, Lan Qingyou inhaled sharply, nearly passing out from the shock.

She was especially overwhelmed with excitement when she saw the Star Dragon King's Blood Essence.

No wonder Shang Chuan had immediately offered to contact buyers before she even had a chance to look at the stats herself. This was an item absolutely anyone would kill to have!

'Dragonkin?'

'I do not know exactly what that entails, but it has to be incredibly powerful, right?'

'At the very least, it should be much stronger than my current Blue Star Earthling race.'

'Otherwise, it would not be worthy of the "World-Tier" label.'

Although there were varying degrees of strength even among world-tier items, Lan Qingyou had a gut feeling that a Dragonkin would be terrifyingly strong.

It really was true—the bigger the deal, the fewer the words.