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

In the past, people only had a vague concept of the value of Ideal Energy, but now, with a clear unit of measurement, this concept has gradually become clearer.

Lu Yuan calculated in his mind, just how much the annual income of humanity was.

"Magic Cube Energy can collect luck, roughly 40-50 Spirit Essences a year... Some is consumed by the Opium poppy and Tree of Life, and some goes to raising children."

"The Opium poppy collects Dream Energy, but I have no idea how much it gets in a year..."

The population of the 18th Human Civilization was only 120,000, and the average Divine Attribute was about 8-9 points; the Dream Energy produced was not much...

But there are so many masters!

A Level 4 Master could reach 18-20 points of God Attribute, and when you add them all up, there are almost more than a hundred.

Level Three Masters, those with more than 12 points of God Attribute, numbered four or five hundred.

And then there was himself, with 23 points of God Attribute...

These people could fight thousands on their own, equating to a million people with 9 points of God Attribute, that's not an exaggeration, right?

"Dreaming for a year... 1.8—2 Spirit Essences, wouldn't exceed 3 Spirit Essences, why so little?!"

Lu Yuan was shocked.

Without crunching the numbers, you wouldn't know, Dream Energy really needs to build up from a large population base!

Oh, right, there's still the 35 points God Great Spirit Essence treasure that I didn't account for.

The higher the Divine Attribute, the lower the proportion of scattered Dream Energy; ordinary people scatter one ten-thousandth, Conch Girl might only scatter one hundred-millionth.

But overall, Dream Energy still increases with the rise of one's God Attribute.

Lu Yuan estimated that if Conch Girl slept for a year, producing a hundred Spirit Essences wouldn't be excessive.

"Everything is consumed by the Opium poppy!"

"Damn, no wonder this Opium poppy has been living so luxuriously these years."

"It often pretends to be on the verge of death, to trick and ambush. It's only now that I find out, it's consumed so much!"

Although the Opium poppy doesn't have a soul, its biological instincts make it quite cunning.

If you ask it to provide some Extraordinary Material, it will feign being on its last legs.

Now that Lu Yuan has cleared the calculations, it's definitely faking!

And the Opium poppy itself naturally produces energy, maybe also 10-20 units, not a small amount.

Lu Yuan decided to redirect the energy from the "Magic Cube Energy" and not to charge it anymore.

There's also the Tree of Life, Lu Yuan estimated its annual Spirit Essences production to be about 50-60 units, quite a bit more than the Opium poppy—regardless of where it comes from, it could be the fortune of civilization, or perhaps just simple photosynthesis.

One unit of Spirit Essence can fertilize 20 Pomegranate Fruits, or 10 Soul Baby Fruits, or over a hundred "Ordinary Level" pears, or even more lower-grade ones, like say grapes.

These are considered the special products of Human Civilization; perhaps they could sell for a bit of money.

The current reserve of Spirit Essences in the Tree of Life is around five hundred, which Lu Yuan uses for emergencies.

Finally, there are various other outputs, including various Extraordinary Plants and Animals, which total about 8-12 Spirit Essences a year when calculated.

If the masters were to output some Spark Energy to a limited degree, not too much, just one-twentieth of their value...

Would a hundred or more 18-20 point God Attribute masters produce 5-8 points a year?

And this policy once enacted, was bound to generate some resentment...

"Can Conch Girl output energy?... It doesn't seem so, she doesn't have an Extraordinary Spark..."

Scavenging for a year could yield quite a lot, but it's all down to luck, maybe 10-20 points a year.

Lu Yuan was startled, could there be that much?

Indeed, better items, those of Rare Level, are valued at least 10 Spirit Essences—the Ideal Energy from these can be extracted using Gathering Spirit Runes.

Superior Level items are even more expensive, likely worth over 100!

Having run these calculations, Lu Yuan had a direct impression of human poverty.

"We're really poor."

...

...

Not just Lu Yuan, the human diplomatic teams were also constantly calculating in their minds.

Unaware of the true annual income of the 35 points God Conch and the Opium poppy and Tree of Life, they could only see some of the surface data.

Including "Magic Cube Energy," it looked quite comfortable.

Without the Magic Cube Energy, no matter how you calculate it, the visible yearly income for humanity itself was just about 20 Spirit Essences—much of which relied on scavenging!

"We're actually relying on scavenging to maintain our standard of living!"@@novelbin@@

Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire

This reality left everyone feeling cold...

How the hell are we supposed to live on this?

Shu Huangfeng smiled, young civilizations realizing their poverty.

Back in the day, our Shu Mi Dam Civilization... sigh, I can't remember anymore, it's already like this, no potential left.

"Oh, right, in light of your purchase of paid knowledge, I've thought of two places you could earn Spirit Essences."

"The first is some unique space-time nodes, which may contain remnants of powerful civilizations. Here, the charging speed of Spirit Crystals can be significantly faster."

"There's a space node nearby where time passes very slowly, so we're staying here a little longer."

Lu Yuan immediately understood why these Ratmen wanted to stay here.

It turns out that Sky Pit where that "Monster" stayed had this function!

"However, the remaining fortune here is quite limited, almost completely absorbed by us... so we'll be leaving soon to find the next place."

"The second method is creation."

"Craftsmen create extraordinary items, conjuring something out of nothing and infusing extraordinary energy into equipment. Particularly, equipment of Legendary level or above represents to some extent the luck of a civilization, making them very precious."

Ideal Energy is different from energy in the physical sense.

It doesn't need to follow the law of conservation of energy.

The thoughts and actions of intelligent life are all processes of creating Ideal Energy.

Creating items above Legendary is even more so a creation of great energy!

Lu Yuan found this idea quite agreeable.

"How about this, our Shu Mi Dam Civilization has a work named 'Spiritual Treasure Encyclopedia,' authored by a sage of the previous epoch, which meticulously records the value of various items."

"It even includes a valuation system for Legendary items. Maybe you should consider it?" Shu Huangfeng began to peddle his wares again.

"How much?"

"Ten Spirit Rhymes, take it or leave it!"

"That expensive?" Lu Yuan's brow furrowed.

"Not expensive at all. It covers the values of over ten thousand extraordinary materials as well as some equipment valuation systems. It's not expensive, more detailed than identification ability."

"Of course, if you don't want to buy it, that's your choice." He said smugly, "If I were Lu the King, I definitely would buy it."

"Even if it made me a bit poorer, I'd still buy it."

Lu Yuan restrained himself, flipping to a page of the 'Spiritual Treasure Encyclopedia,' which evaluated a piece of Legendary Equipment known as "Purple Gold Lock Armor."

Because he couldn't understand the text, he had Shu Huangfeng describe it to him in words.

[Purple Gold Lock Armor: This armor can automatically adjust its size to fit the wearer, repels water and fire, is impervious to blades and spears, and possesses a grand and impressive design that shines brightly, truly a high-class artistic masterpiece.]

[The ability to change size adds the most Spirit Essence, rated as A-grade middle, adding at least 800 Spirit Rhymes.]

[Avoiding water and fire, impervious to blades and spears, rated as Upper D Grade, adds no more than five Spirit Rhymes.]

[Impressive and grand appearance, shining brightly, rated as Grade B top, counting for one hundred Spirit Rhymes.]

[Materials consist of...]

[Engraved group...]

[Artistic design...]

[Historical background...]

Over two thousand words spilled out in elaborate detail.

What was astonishing was that the Purple Gold Lock Armor's main ability to repel water and fire and be impervious to blades and spears was only rated as Upper D Grade.

The reason was simple; the original materials already possessed these functions, and unless it was extremely shoddy work, these abilities weren't likely to be poor.

On the other hand, ostentatious functions such as "size adjustment" and "impressive and grand appearance" received higher ratings.

Because these abilities were conjured out of thin air, beyond what the materials originally had.

By such calculations, the Legendary Equipment "Purple Gold Lock Armor," with over a thousand newly added Spirit Rhymes, was rated as Grade B Lower among Legendary Equipment.

Not exceptionally good, but satisfactory.

"Indeed, there's some learning here..."

Lu Yuan contacted the headquarters back at the Green Grass Civilization, confirming that such a valuation system had indeed been lost there.

He bit the bullet and purchased the book.

"Very good, very good, Lu the King really has an eye for value!"

"Knowledge is a treasure beyond price, and we have Legendary Equipment crafting imagery for sale here as well. Perhaps you would like to purchase some?"

"These imageries were recorded with Light and Shadow Stones! They still retain some of the original inspirations—your craftsmen might gain inspiration from them too."

"Not too expensive either, one for just 10 Spirit Rhymes. Even without inspiration, you'd learn something..."

This Mouse King really had a way with words. Once Lu Yuan had bought an item, the broken window effect had taken hold.

He found his interest gripping him.

As a lover of "Mythical Equipment," he really wanted... to buy it all!

"Or just go to war with these Ratmen, rob them!" a dangerous thought flickered through Lu Yuan's mind.

In the end, after some deliberation, Lu Yuan chose to buy only a copy of 'Spiritual Treasure Encyclopedia' to study first.

In trading, whoever is in a rush suffers the loss!

If he found it to be of great value, he would come back to purchase more.

If it turned out to be a rip-off, then... never mind.

After all, the Spirit Rhymes he paid this time were won through gambling.

"We welcome your return at any time."

Afterward, Lu Yuan didn't need to participate in the trading personally, because many of the cheaper extraordinary items required bargaining.

Many details would take a long time to negotiate.

He just needed to control the overall direction.

Before leaving, Lu Yuan left behind a group of volunteers, headed by Lu Tiantian, in that place.

These people were ecstatic, their horizons broadened with valuable gains today.

"We don't have spare cash to throw around, in the end, bartering is mostly what we do."

"Collect more information, and make sure we get a good price for our specialty products."

Lu Tiantian asked, "What specialties do we have that can be sold? Give me a target so I can prepare."

Humans don't lack specialty products, but it seemed there weren't many "good things" that could be sold.