Shi Feng stared at the golden stone disc in his backpack, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
The Divine Realm was enormous, home to numerous kingdoms and empires, and these kingdoms and empires naturally rose and fell over time.
Quite a few of them had already vanished into the river of history.
Though these kingdoms and empires had been forgotten by most, some of them left behind earth-shaking treasures that no one knew about.
In the Divine Realm, these were known as Secret Treasures.
Secret Treasures were divided into four tiers.
Kingdom Secret Treasures were, as the name implied, hidden treasures left behind by a past kingdom of the Divine Realm. They were enough to make any top-tier guild fight to the death over them. In his previous life, even a super guild had offered a city with a population of one million in exchange for one — their value was beyond imagination.
As for the Shadow Guild in his previous life, even though it was a top-tier second-rate guild that controlled ten city-states, it didn't have the qualifications to compete for one.
The next tier up was the Empire Secret Treasure.
Empire Secret Treasures were hidden treasures left behind by a past empire of the Divine Realm. A single ordinary empire controlled wealth that exceeded three to five kingdoms combined, so their value went without saying.
In his previous life, a nothing guild called the Thunderclan had acquired an Empire Secret Treasure. Using it, they rapidly developed behind the scenes and transformed into a top-tier first-rate guild within less than a year, shocking the entire Divine Realm.
That guild had no top players, no financial resources — in short, nothing going for it. Yet it had vaulted to the pinnacle of first-rate guilds, which was absolutely staggering. After extensive investigation, everyone finally understood what had happened.
It turned out that the small Thunderclan guild had stumbled upon something called an Empire Secret Treasure. Through this treasure, they had developed in secret, and in less than a year became one of the dominant powers of the Divine Realm.
From that point on, Secret Treasures entered the public consciousness. Countless wars erupted over them across the Divine Realm, and an unknown number of guilds were completely annihilated because of them...
Beyond Empire Secret Treasures, there were even higher-tier Continental Secret Treasures and the highest-tier World Secret Treasures, but these were only mentioned in the Divine Realm's library. As far as Shi Feng knew, none had ever actually appeared.
And now, sitting in Shi Feng's backpack, was an Empire Secret Treasure. How could he not be thrilled?
Even as someone who had been reborn, Shi Feng knew he would need to plan meticulously — accumulate countless opportunities, train a multitude of experts — before he could even hope to build a virtual empire. Yet a single Empire Secret Treasure could transform a small guild into a top-tier first-rate guild in under a year, turning it into a true empire. An Empire Secret Treasure truly could make an empire rise.
As for what was hidden inside the Empire Secret Treasure, Shi Feng had no idea. After the incident in his previous life, every person who had obtained one had kept the information tightly sealed away.
In this life, Shi Feng certainly wasn't going to leak anything either, so he suppressed his excitement. He planned to find a secluded place and study the Empire Secret Treasure at his leisure.
After tidying up his backpack, he quietly slipped away to the forging room on the fourth floor of the Star Trace Trading Company.
The Star Trace Trading Company had already become the number-one trading company in White River City, stocked with a comprehensive assortment of goods. Anything that players could currently craft, the Star Trace Trading Company had for sale. Once you visited the Star Trace Trading Company, there was no need to go anywhere else. Business was booming every single day, raking in money hand over fist. Countless major guilds had come seeking partnerships with the trading company, but they were all turned down one by one by its manager, Anna.
Shi Feng casually picked an empty forging room.
"Let's see what secrets this Empire Secret Treasure holds." He carefully took out the Empire Secret Treasure and placed it on the stone workbench.
The golden stone disc displayed nothing but its name — Empire Secret Treasure — with no other information. Shi Feng had no idea how to use it either, so he would have to figure it out on his own.
The disc was engraved with numerous patterns and magic runes, but there wasn't a single pattern that Shi Feng could decipher.