Faced with the three treasures of the Star Moon Kingdom, Shi Feng found himself hesitating.
Any one of the three treasures was enough to elevate a kingdom to prominence or propel a guild to the pinnacle of the Divine Realm in an instant. Each possessed its own advantages, and none held an overwhelming edge over the others.
"Can I really only exchange for one?" Shi Feng couldn't help but ask the old man.
"You may only exchange for one." The old man smiled and answered with certainty. "Of course, there is another way. If you can advance the Star Moon Kingdom into an Empire, all three treasures can be yours to exchange for as you please."
"Advance into an Empire?" Shi Feng shook his head with a bitter smile.
A kingdom could advance into an empire through several methods, but none of them were easy to accomplish — each required a vast amount of time.
A thought suddenly flashed through Shi Feng's mind, and he looked straight at the old man. "I wonder — do I qualify to exchange treasures?"
Treasures of this nature were divided into two categories: Kingdom Treasures and Empire Treasures.
In his previous life, lucky players who managed to obtain Kingdom or Empire Treasures would always try to seek out more on their own. The reason was simple: these Kingdom and Empire Treasures were relics left behind by kingdoms and empires that had long since fallen throughout the history of the Divine Realm. With one in hand, a player could rebuild an entire kingdom or even an empire.
However, finding the ruins of those long-lost kingdoms and empires within the Divine Realm was no easy task. The difficulty was on par with a Legendary-tier quest.
Take the Empire Treasure he had obtained early on, for instance. He had sent many members of his guild to investigate, but even now there were no leads at all. He had no idea where that ancient empire, long vanished from the Divine Realm, had once stood. The portions of the Divine Realm that had been explored so far didn't even amount to twenty percent.
That's right — to date, the total map explored by all players in the Divine Realm didn't even account for fifteen percent of the entire world.
On the Divine Realm continent, the kingdoms and empires of the human race occupied only a small fraction. The vast majority of the territory consisted of neutral zones for players of level 150 and above. Over forty percent of the continent's map could only be barely explored by third-tier players of level 180 or higher.
And that wasn't even counting the far more expansive ocean regions, which were dotted with countless islands — some as large as entire empires in their own right. So finding a fallen empire that had vanished from the history of the Divine Realm was an incredibly, impossibly difficult task.
Among the Divine Realm's top ten guilds, there was one that had spent a fortune to purchase an Empire Treasure at auction, then used that Empire Treasure to exchange for an existing Kingdom Treasure. This dramatically bolstered the guild's foundations, making it one of the twelve candidate guilds of the Divine Realm at the time.
Though Shi Feng didn't know exactly how that guild had managed the exchange, it would be a shame not to at least try now.
"Exchange?" The old man showed a flicker of surprise. He thought for quite a while before speaking. "An exchange isn't impossible, but are you willing to pay such a steep price?"
"What kind of price?" Shi Feng asked.
"The first price is to locate a lost Empire Treasure. The second is to pay twice the value of a Kingdom Treasure." The old man smiled as he explained.
"Double?" Shi Feng winched slightly.
A Kingdom Treasure was far from cheap. Setting aside the millions of gold coins, simply acquiring millions of Magic Crystals was something only the most powerful forces could manage. Doubling that price would be unbearable even for those superpowers.
"That's right. But the most important thing is that you find an Empire Treasure first. Without that, everything else is moot." The old man nodded.
"Fine. I'll use an Empire Treasure to exchange for the Iron Rank Airship Blueprint, and I'll also redeem the Mythril Rank War Puppet for myself!" Shi Feng gritted his teeth and pulled the Empire Treasure straight out of his backpack.
Before coming here, he had brought along all of Zero Wing's assets. After accounting for the gold coins and Magic Crystals spent on re-establishing Old Rock City, he still had 5.5 million gold coins and 5.3 million Magic Crystals remaining — the absolute limit that Zero Wing could produce at this point. Rebuilding Old Rock City's various defenses and recruiting NPC guards had been enormously expensive. Even with the current high incomes from Zero Wing City and Old Rock City, it still wasn't enough to cover all the expenses.
The old man looked at the Empire Treasure in Shi Feng's hand and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You actually have one!"
"Of course. Let's get on with the exchange!" Shi Feng nodded.
"Very well. Five million gold coins and three million Magic Crystals in total." The old man smiled and extended his hand.
"Go ahead and count."
Shi Feng transferred the gold coins and Magic Crystals directly from his inventory space into the old man's spatial backpack. Once the old man confirmed the amounts were correct, he waved a hand, and two ancient, weathered blueprints materialized before Shi Feng's eyes.
Shi Feng gazed at the two blueprints, his heart surging with excitement.
Purchasing both blueprints had instantly reduced him to a pauper, but the value they promised was beyond measure.