Treasure Hunt! First Pot of Gold!

Chapter 711: Digging for Treasure! The First Gold Jar!

Killing these wraiths yielded pretty good rewards.

After all, the master-level elemental crystal at the end was a rather high-grade material.

Cao Xing said with satisfaction, "Well done, Sarah."

Then, he turned his head and said, "Alright, let's keep moving forward."

With those words, Dabai set off on all fours, carrying Cao Xing straight into the misty path.

The rest of the group followed closely behind.

A few minutes later, they crossed the path safely without any mishaps.

The view ahead opened up once again.

Cao Xing looked around, chose a direction, and continued onward.

After walking for an hour straight, they didn't encounter any more wraiths rushing out of the mist to attack them.

But by the same token, they didn't encounter anything else either.

Cao Xing couldn't help but think to himself, "It seems City Lord Oran was right; opportunities in these outer areas really are scarce."

"Finding treasure here is going to be quite difficult."

Shaking his head, he continued leading everyone forward.

As they walked, a crack appeared on the ground ahead, almost completely buried by dust and gravel.

This crack was extremely well hidden; without careful observation, it could easily be overlooked.

Even Cao Xing had ignored it at first glance.

But just then, Qinong suddenly spoke up, "Wait a moment, Lord Cao Xing."

Hearing this, Cao Xing stopped in his tracks, turned, and asked, "What is it, Lord Qinong?"

Qinong pointed at the ground and said, "Look over there, there's a crack."

Hearing this, everyone followed his gaze.

Sure enough, they spotted a crack that was almost entirely buried.

Elisa, currently lying on Frost Moose's back, asked curiously, "Oh, there really is! Is there something special about this crack?"

Beside them, the Tauren Chieftain placed his totem pole on the ground, his eyes solemn. "This is a warning from the Earth Mother. She is telling us there is danger in this area!"

"Let me protect my Lord!"

After speaking, his muscles began to swell, and he entered a combat stance.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, looking around.

They subconsciously assumed those wraiths were about to appear again.

However, City Lord Oran shook his head helplessly.

He explained, "This is no warning from the Earth Mother. This is likely a sign that the spatial seal inside some treasure has loosened, and it is about to break through the ground."

"Treasure?!"

Everyone's interest was instantly piqued, and they stared intently at the crack.

"Indeed."

City Lord Oran nodded and said, "The outer perimeter of these ruins was likely a special battlefield in the past."

"Some of the treasures were sealed and buried beneath this soil."

"Many of the jars that adventurers obtain are found this way."

Hearing this, Cao Xing asked, "You mean there might be a jar down there?"

"In all probability, yes."

Upon receiving City Lord Oran's confirmation, Cao Xing's interest was instantly piqued.

He quickly said, "Then what are we waiting for? Dig!"

Upon hearing the order, Assam drew the lady of the lake sword without hesitation, preparing to step forward and dig.

Just then, Tong Chuchu said, "Sir Assam, let me do it!"

"Chuchu's mecha has been modified. It's really good at digging!"

Hearing the little girl's crisp voice, Assam stopped.

He looked at Little Chuchu, then at Cao Xing.

Cao Xing nodded slightly in approval.

Seeing this, Assam sheathed the lady of the lake sword once more.

He said in a gentle tone, "Miss Chuchu, then I will leave it to you."

"Okay!"

Tong Chuchu responded excitedly and immediately controlled the Earth Dragon Mecha to step forward.

She retrieved a large metal bucket from her backpack out of thin air, quickly replacing the chainsaw on the Earth Dragon Mecha's left hand.

It was worth mentioning that this metal bucket was specially made in the machinery factory by the Goblin Walker for Tong Chuchu.

Originally, it was just for her to play around with digging dirt, but now it was actually coming in handy.

In addition, he had also crafted various matching tools for Tong Chuchu, such as large drills, hex wrenches, and heavy iron hammers.

They could be swapped out directly whenever needed.

It could be said that Tong Chuchu, piloting the Earth Dragon Mecha, was essentially a mobile toolbox.

Meanwhile, Tong Chuchu had already controlled her mecha to begin excavating the soil beneath the crack.

Everyone watched her movements with curiosity.

"Whirrr— Whirrr—"

Scoop after scoop of black soil was dug up by her, mixed with some rusted metal parts and fragments.

It was evident that some kind of large-scale mechanical war had once taken place here, as these fragments appeared to originate from mechanical creatures.

But after so many years, these fragments had already been reduced to scrap metal.

Tong Chuchu dug down nearly five or six meters along the crack. The excavated soil was almost piled into a small mountain, yet there was still no sign of any jar.

Cao Xing's brow furrowed slightly as he murmured, "Nothing?"

"Or has it already been dug up by someone else?"

Just as he was about to give up, Tong Chuchu suddenly cried out, "I found it!"

Hearing this, everyone turned their eyes toward the excavation site.

At the bottom of the deep pit, a dirt-covered jar was indeed buried.

Because it had been buried underground for too long, it was impossible to tell what grade the jar was just from its appearance.

"There really is one!" Surprise flashed in Cao Xing's eyes.

At the same time, he felt extremely satisfied.

No matter what grade this jar was, it was at least their first harvest since entering the ruins.

"Wow! Little Chuchu really dug it up, amazing!" Elisa clapped for Tong Chuchu while lying on Frost Moose's back.

The little girl also giggled foolishly.

Then, she controlled the bucket, carefully scooping the jar out and placing it on the ground.

Cao Xing quickly jumped down from Dabai's back and picked up the jar.

[Obtained: Unopened Gold Jar (Gold) *1]

Seeing this prompt, a pleasant, surprised smile instantly broke out on Cao Xing's face.

"Haha! I didn't expect to dig up a Gold Jar right off the bat. Talk about great luck!"

After speaking, he quickly wiped away the dirt on the jar's surface, revealing its dark gold exterior.

Beside him, City Lord Oran exclaimed, "As expected of Lord Cao Xing, your luck is truly extraordinary!"

"Other adventurers might spend a whole month here without necessarily finding a single jar."

"Yet not long after you entered, you dug up a Gold Jar!"

"That is simply incredible!"

The Tauren Chieftain said seriously, "This must be the Earth Mother's blessing upon my Lord."

Cao Xing was also highly satisfied.

He carefully examined the jar in his hand, then looked at the deep pit behind him and asked, "Are these jars usually buried this deep?"

City Lord Oran nodded and replied, "Yes, jars like these are basically buried deep underground."

"Only in rare circumstances, such as a major earthquake or a loosening of the seal inside them, will they be exposed."

"Under normal circumstances, finding these jars can be said to be extremely difficult."

Cao Xing asked thoughtfully, "If that's the case, why don't those adventurers just dig up the ground entirely and conduct a carpet-style excavation?"

"That way, they should be able to dig up quite a few jars, right?"

City Lord Oran chuckled. "Of course those adventurers have done that."

"Every year, there are numerous excavation teams digging frantically in the outer perimeter of the ruins."

"Some, like you, have even brought large mecha equipment specifically for digging and treasure hunting."

"These excavation teams do get some rewards, but the results are far from ideal."

He paused, then continued to explain, "First and foremost, the main reason is that these jars are too scattered."

"There might be several kilometers, or even over a dozen kilometers, between each one."

"Furthermore, the depth at which the jars are buried varies."

"Some might be buried four or five meters deep, while others are buried over a dozen meters deep."

"And the Lost Royal City only opens once a year, for just a month at a time—"

"Coupled with the obstruction of the mist, wanting to dig through the entire ruins in such a short amount of time is practically impossible." Cao Xing nodded in realization. "I see."

He looked at the Gold Jar in his hand, then at the desolate ruins around him.

It was as if he could see the many long-buried secrets sealed deep underground.

After pondering for a moment, Cao Xing said, "Since this jar was dug up here, I don't plan on taking it out to sell."

"In that case, let's just open it right here."

With this in mind, he held up the jar and asked, "Does anyone want to try?"

Hearing this, everyone turned their gazes over, their faces filled with eager anticipation.

After all, random things like this were indeed very interesting.

However, there was only one jar here, so everyone felt a bit embarrassed to speak up.

Cao Xing knew what they were thinking, and his gaze swept over the crowd.

Finally, it landed on the Phantom Dancer, Sarah.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

He directly tossed the jar in his hand, "Catch, Sarah."

The Dark Elf assassin instinctively caught it.

Cao Xing continued, "Sarah, you open this jar."

"Yes, my Lord!"

Sarah executed the order without hesitation.

She lightly tossed the jar in her hand into the air, then flicked her right hand slightly.

The next moment, a flash of cold light streaked by.

The jar was sliced into two pieces in mid-air.

Instantly, a large number of gold coins appeared from within.

[Your territory member: Sarah Blade Dance successfully opened a Gold Jar.]

[Achievement: King of Jar Opening progress has increased]

[Progress: 3/100]

"Clatter—"

Dozens of coins scattered in the air, among which was a blue orb emitting a faint luster.

Cao Xing walked over quickly and gathered all these items into his backpack.

[Obtained: Ancient Gold Coin * 46]

[Obtained: Blue Copper Orb (Gold) * 1]

[Obtained: Star Meteor Ore * 6]

[Obtained: Mithril Ore * 13]

Beside him, City Lord Oran had seen these items and exclaimed, "Lord Cao Xing, the things opened from this jar are quite good."

"The price of that Blue Copper Orb is much higher than an Opal Orb; the acquisition price is around 3 million."

"Additionally, those Star Meteor Ores and Mithril Ores are worth about 200,000."

Cao Xing heard this, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

It didn't matter if he made more or less from these extra items; he hadn't spent any money on this jar anyway.

However, those forty-plus Ancient Gold Coins made him feel quite pleasantly surprised.

Between the two Gold Jars, the number of Ancient Gold Coins opened had already exceeded 90.

Plus, he still had a dozen left over from when he planted Golden Sunflowers earlier.

In other words, the Ancient Gold Coins in his backpack were already enough to exchange for an Ancient Gold Treasure Chest.

Thinking of this, he felt even more gratified.

However, Cao Xing did not exchange them immediately.

Instead, he gave the Dark Elf assassin beside him an approving look.

Then, he jumped back onto the Mammoth's back and ordered, "Let's go, we continue moving forward."

As he finished speaking, the Mammoth took the lead, carrying Cao Xing at the very front of the team.

The group advanced for about seven or eight kilometers.

Along the way, they also encountered some adventurers and mercenary squads.

They were in groups of three or five, forming temporary teams.

Some were exploring ruins, while others were digging up the ground.

There were also some specialized digging squads, concentrating on one area and digging frantically.

That area had been dug into a square deep pit by them; from a distance, it looked like a huge pond.

Cao Xing chuckled, "I didn't expect there to be such teams; this is truly digging three feet into the ground!"

He observed for a moment as he walked.

However, judging by the expressions on these people, it seemed their harvest wasn't very good.

Many faces were filled with exhaustion and disappointment; clearly, they hadn't found any valuable treasures.

Cao Xing shook his head and didn't watch any longer, instead leading the group forward.

Next, they continued moving forward for an hour.

While crossing those mist areas on the road, they also encountered a few incidents of wraith attacks.

But these wraiths only had the strength of about Tier 6 or 7 and were easily dealt with by the group.

As the team continued to penetrate deep into the ruins, they were getting closer and closer to that massive city wall that towered into the clouds.

The city wall was majestic and spectacular, like a natural chasm, separating the inner and outer areas of the ruins.

At this moment, Cao Xing seemed to recall something.

He took out a yellowed piece of parchment from his backpack, unfolded it, and said to everyone, "I have a treasure map of the ruins' periphery here. Everyone come take a look and see if you can solve the puzzle within."

Earlier, while on the back of the Griffin King, most of the members were put into the necromancers bag by him, so not everyone had seen this treasure map.

Holding the idea that many hands make light work, Cao Xing wanted to stimulate everyone's brainpower or thinking to crack the secret on the treasure map.

Upon hearing this, everyone gathered around, their eyes focused on the parchment.

However… it was the same situation as before with Cao Xing and the others.

After watching for a moment, looks of confusion appeared in their eyes.

Braum rubbed his bald head, frowned, and said, "My Lord, this map only has some special symbols drawn on it, along with a pile of ruins. There aren't any clues at all!"

Andrew whispered, "The Goddess of Nature hasn't indicated any path forward on it either…"

"However—the symbols on the map don't seem to be ordinary marks."

The others also shook their heads, indicating they had no clue.

Seeing this, Cao Xing didn't feel much regret.

Or rather, this was within his expectations.

After all, the hints on this map were too vague; trying to solve the puzzle relying solely on the information above wasn't a simple matter.

Cao Xing nodded and said, "It doesn't matter if you can't figure it out."

"According to the information above, the recorded location seems to be a distance away from the city wall."

"However, because the Lost Royal City wall is circular, we don't know exactly which area it is."

"So, if we arrive at the approximate area later, everyone keep an eye on the surroundings; we might just discover some clues."

Qinong took over the conversation and added, "Lord Cao Xing's line of thinking makes a lot of sense."

"Sometimes the symbols on the map might not be direct guides, but rather require combining with the actual environment to be solved."

"Once we reach the place, we can search carefully; perhaps we will have new discoveries."

Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Although the clues on the map couldn't be solved for the time being, at least they had a general direction.

Cao Xing put away the map and continued to lead the team forward.

After bypassing several mist areas along the way and slaying a few waves of wraiths.

Cao Xing harvested quite a few wraith crystals and master-level elemental crystals.

At this moment, Elisa, who was lying on the head of the Frost Moose, seemed to have discovered something.

She stood up immediately, pointed to an area to the front left, and said, "My Lord! Look there, there is something there!"

Upon hearing this, everyone cast their gaze over.

On the desolate land ahead stood a tall, special building.

The building had an entirely black appearance and looked like it was cast from some kind of special metal, full of a sense of weight.

But looking closely, one could see it wasn't metal, but a type of stone.

Through special processing methods, it had been crafted into this metal-like texture.

The surface was as smooth as jade, gleaming with a cold luster, and one could also see a special symbol similar to '&' on it.

"What a strange building—"

Cao Xing revealed a look of confusion; in his memory, he really couldn't find this style of building.

At this moment, a smile appeared on City Lord Oran's face: "City Lord Cao Xing, it seems our luck is not bad; we discovered a building in the ruins so quickly."

"When the mist tide erupts tonight, this place can serve as a temporary foothold for us, allowing everyone to safely pass through."

Cao Xing nodded.

He had indeed heard City Lord Oran mention this rule of the ruins.

At midnight, the mist would emerge from the inner city and cover the entire ruins.

Adventurers outside needed to return to the entrance camp or find a building to use as a shelter, otherwise they would be lost in this mist.

Cao Xing said, "Let's go, let's go over and see what's inside that building."

Upon hearing this, looks of interest appeared in everyone's eyes.

Everyone was indeed very interested in the interior of such a strange building.

The group advanced quickly, moving at a very fast speed.

In the blink of an eye, they had advanced four or five kilometers, getting closer and closer to that black building.

And just at this moment, they suddenly felt a violent tremor coming from under their feet.

"Rumble—!"

Cao Xing, sitting on the Mammoth's back, raised his hand, "Stop!"

Instantly, the dozens of people stopped in their tracks.

Cao Xing's gaze held some solemnity as he stared ahead.

Because he could feel that this tremor was coming from inside that black building.

Accompanied by low rumbling and crashing sounds, it was as if some behemoth was rampaging inside!

"Is there something inside the building?"

Cao Xing frowned slightly, a trace of doubt rising in his heart.

Just as everyone was feeling strange.

A team of adventurers wearing worn-out leather armor, with strength roughly around Tier 4 or 5, rushed out from the building with panicked expressions!

At this moment, they were unleashing all their potential, running away at high speed!

While running, they shouted in terror, "Golem—the Golem has gone berserk!"

"Run quickly!!!"

The voice was shrill, echoing for hundreds of meters.