I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

The expert sighed, "That is to say, this civilization indeed had no technology, but crafted this 'Time Lock' through some bizarre blood ritual. The principle is unknown, but it certainly consumed a tremendous amount of Spirit Essence."

"If we estimate based on the volume of the entire small hillside, at least the flesh and blood of a billion people became part of this mountain... It's extremely solid, as solid as Sky City."

Lu Yuan was shocked by this number.

He had known that this ancient civilization was brutal due to their "control" ability, slaughtering many other civilizations.

But he never imagined they had slaughtered as many as a billion...

The difficulty of survival was vividly demonstrated at this moment.

The expert continued, "The scale of this mountain is not too large, with a height of about four hundred meters and a surface area of 3.8 square kilometers, inhabited by a large number of ordinary animals and plants."

"Its volume is 62 million cubic meters and its mass is roughly 90 million tons. The internal caverns alone account for about 30 million cubic meters, meaning half of the mountain is hollow, so it has a rather low density."

A three-dimensional image of the mountain appeared on the screen.

The various caves were dizzying.

What can I say? It's not really a big mountain... But for humans, it's still a significant size.

"Since it fell from Different Space and isn't completely connected to the ground, just install Pandora Crystal Stones on it, and we can fly the entire mountain. However, this project would be immense. We estimate that even with the full effort and mobilization of over ten thousand people, it would still take 20 years."

"The Ratmen strongly suggest we take it away, as they believe such an object is a rare find."

The expert's report ended there.

"Spending twenty years to pack up a mountain here, I'm not sure if it's a loss or a gain..." Lu Yuan exhaled softly, "As for the 'slow passage of time'..."

He then made a phone call, "Sha Kan'er, can we extract Spirit Essence from that mountain?"

The other party replied, "No, there's not a bit of Spirit Essence left, otherwise the Ratmen would have dismantled it long ago. But for some reason, the Time Lock still functions, and there's nothing of rarity on the mountain."

"Alright then... continue with the research." Lu Yuan was somewhat troubled; after all, it would consume twenty years, and the opportunity cost was also very high.

Immediately after, he saw the letter left by Old Cat...

Seeing 31 Strangers craftsmen wanting to stay in Sky City for a long time, Lu Yuan was ecstatic.

To think that he could trick thirty-one craftsmen, Old Cat, you've truly made a great contribution!

Then his face changed dramatically.

It would take 31,000 Spirit Essence to get these people!

That number was ridiculously exaggerated!

You should know that the current transaction volume between humans and the Shu Mi Dam Civilization was about three thousand, with a large portion being the Donkey Head Masks sold by Lu Yuan!

Lu Yuan immediately called Old Cat, "My dear comrade-in-arms, there's not enough money at all, you're asking for my life!"

Old Cat's image appeared on the screen at Green Grass Paradise, "Oh... you're awake? This matter can actually be discussed, don't rush."

"The plan now is, after these craftsmen join us, their first Inspiration must be used on their own Shu Mi Dam Civilization... They seem quite tempted."

"That method could indeed work... It's like borrowing our luck." Lu Yuan nodded; the thirty-one individuals were seasoned experts; even without Inspiration, how many students could they teach?

Merely tinkering and creating some trinkets would earn back the cost of supporting them!

Old Cat added, "Anyway, you need to put up three to four thousand Spirit Essence as a security deposit, it cannot be any lower."

"What? It still takes money?"

"It's just a deposit, not selling people. They're also afraid of being double-crossed by you..."

"If they go back one day, the money will be returned to you."

Lu Yuan nodded his head.

Alright, it sounded acceptable.

Old Cat's voice lowered, "Moreover, these craftsmen are rather wealthy. They have some small treasures, you should understand..."

Lu Yuan had an epiphany and realized he had a sizable advantage, "Understood, I'll raise the money right away..."

After hanging up the phone, he muttered to himself, "Three to four thousand Spirit Essence... where on earth am I supposed to find that."

His heart was chilly.

Despite his inner turmoil, the wealth he could present openly was still too little.

The Donkey Head Masks had already been sold.

Now he could only sell necklaces, but the raw material only cost about a thousand, far from enough.

Suddenly, an idea struck him; there was something else he could sell—Sealing Resin!

In his battle against the Painted Skin, some Sealing Resin had been used up, but the majority of Smoke Bombs used within the city were recycled by Insects.

This stuff was really amazing; even the Anomaly like Painted Skin, the Spirit Words it used were easily countered!

Currently, Lu Yuan still had about fifty pounds in his possession.

As a Strategic Level material, it's usually not taken out for casual use.

"I wonder how much the Sealing Resin is worth..."

"Even this thing doesn't have a grade... It can't be observed through 'Identification'..."

Lu Yuan pondered for a while but decided to play it safe and not to recklessly bring out the Sealing Resin.

While the Humans and Ratmen were eagerly interacting, he planned to visit the Rize Civilization.

The Rize people were even poorer!

If the Rize Civilization was willing to sell "Sealing Resin," then everyone could consider selling a bit together.

If even the much poorer Rize people were unwilling, then Lu Yuan would have to think of another way.

With this in mind, he wrote a telegram, "Respected leaders of the Rize Civilization, greetings, I am Lu Yuan."

"As you have seen, we are exchanging resources with the Shu Mi Dam Civilization, and it has been six months now, and we have learned a lot from them."

"They come from the Eighth Epoch, and even though they have lost most of their heritage, the wealth they do possess is truly eye-opening."

"Limited by our own poverty, the resources we Humans can purchase are quite limited."

"I wonder if the Rize Civilization would like to join this trade event? The Shu Mi Dam Civilization will not remain here for long, they too have to travel to distant places to contact more civilizations, and probably in another year or two, they will leave, which is less than 10 days in Safe Zone time."

"Trade is a mutually beneficial choice, if your city wishes to participate, please allow our Dream Ability Users to accept a letter in their dreams."

The dozen or so cities of the Rize Civilization were scattered in various corners of the Desert Plateau, thousands of kilometers apart, and it would waste too much time to go and make contact one by one.

It was more appropriate to pull people directly into dreams through the Opium poppy tree.

"Conch Girl, urgent aid needed in the Society! Lend a hand and help me organize a Dream meeting, just like talking with Humans."

"I know, I have already sent the Dream letter," Conch Girl's pleasant voice came through the phone, "But you might have to wait a while, the Safe Zone's response is very slow."

"If they miss the first day's Dream Sensing, they have to wait for the second day, and they also have meetings and such... So talk to them after two hundred days."

Lu Yuan nodded, "That's fine."

"How are you feeling?" Conch Girl, as his secretary, was quite concerned about this matter.

He immediately became animated, "Not bad, just that I've expended too much in a short period, I feel rather empty inside, I need to save up for a while."

"Plus, I've accrued another debt and am not sure where to start."

Conch Girl hummed softly, knowing about this as Lu Yuan's secretary, "Don't think about becoming fat in one bite, think about your mother civilization, think about the Rize Civilization, we're not really poor, right?"

"Ah... true enough."

"But I need to purchase those craftsmen, and there's a big shortfall..."

The couple assessed their personal wealth, it wasn't that they were stingy, but Immortal Level items genuinely couldn't be sold casually.

"The Opium poppy tree could be squeezed a bit more... It actually has quite a bit stored."

"Magic Cube Energy needs to cultivate talent... Never mind, let's not move that part of energy recklessly."

"Wait! I've got an idea!" Lu Yuan's eyes shone, "Meida Civilization, my second homeland!"

...

...

So, during this time, when there wasn't anything particularly urgent to attend to, Lu Yuan activated the "Sky Fortress," taking a group of dozens of Human soldiers and a swarm of Insects, and hurried towards the Meida Civilization.

The long journey that had taken five months before was now reduced to a mere half a month with the flight of the "Sky Fortress," and the relics of the Meida Civilization came into view.

The place was still tranquil and peaceful, the dense jungle lush and verdant, hiding most of the ruins.

Yet it was also where dreams and stories began.

Lu Yuan found an old car, pushed aside the vines on its surface, opened the door, and found 'clatter clatter' Insects crawling out, his hand covered in reddish-brown rust.

Then he sat in the car, reminiscing about his first night on the Pangu Continent.

"Truly the first night... Everything changed from that day on."

Nearly 40 years later, returning to the place of old, beside the houses appearing even more ancient, it seemed not much had changed.

The weather wasn't too great, with rain 'pattering' down.

Lu Yuan found the data center, his former home, opened the thick anti-theft door, and saw the Gold statue he left behind still in the corner, unchanged.

He sat down in the corner and spaced out for a while.

By the window, there was a black pot, once used for cooking fish.

Unused for a long long time, the pot's surface had taken on a patina of age.

Rainwater seeped in through the broken window, 'drip dripping' into a full pot—Lu Yuan remembered that long ago, he had deliberately placed the pot there to collect rainwater.

"Awoo!" Old Wolf stood by Lu Yuan's side, rubbing his leg with its coarse fur.

Old Wolf too had memories of this place.

Sniffing with its nose, it bounded off into the jungle... The scent of the mother wolf from here was still alluring, detectable from afar.