After integrating these skills, Zhou Yan took out his computer and logged into the Lord Continent's website to check the forum.
He found that the content was all about the Mid-Autumn Festival activities, with the top posts displaying information about the top one hundred participants.
The Divine Dragon Kingdom was a land of hidden talents, with thirty out of the top one hundred individuals holding Divine Dragon nationality. However, only a few displayed their real names.
The remaining seventy spots were divided among other countries, but the Divine Dragon Kingdom's dominance, securing thirty percent, was a strength that other nations found hard to match.
Individuals like Zhou Yan, ranked far below the top hundred, were of no concern to anyone.
Zhou Yan casually browsed through the posts and discovered information about his territory. The majority of it was criticism, primarily from lords who were upset about his territory's mobility and the formidable defensive towers it possessed.
However, the popularity of these posts had waned, overshadowed by the discussions surrounding the top hundred players. As a result, these past grievances were no longer being actively addressed.
Zhou Yan chuckled. His territory was indeed a significant, almost "bug-like" anomaly, allowing him to effortlessly overtake established lords who had been developing their territories for decades, or even centuries.
It was all thanks to the power of his golden finger.
He was the epitome of someone cheating their way to success.
He then began searching for the material "Soul Crystal" and, sure enough, found a post about it. The post required a small fee of one thousand Spirit Coins, which Zhou Yan readily paid. He opened the post to read its contents.
Ten minutes later, Zhou Yan had learned about a place called the Soul Continent.
Zhou Yan notified Jin Sanyi, instructing him to go to a shop on the Canglan Continent and purchase a coordinate stone to travel to the Soul Continent.
He planned to travel there and conduct trades once the crystal ore veins were depleted.
The Soul Continent was ruled by powerful beings. Attempts to conquer it in the past had failed, with not a single challenger succeeding.
Even combined attacks from multiple lords had been repelled.
Following those incidents, no one dared to harbor any ambitions of attacking the Soul Continent again.
The post mentioned that its rulers possessed more than one Half-God realm expert, implying that anyone considering an attack should first assess their own life expectancy.
Half-God realm experts were truly at the pinnacle of the Lord Continent's power structure. The presence of such individuals naturally deterred most from making any hostile moves.
A Half-God expert could, with a mere flick of their wrist, annihilate a level 90 territory. This was not hyperbole; it was a stark reality.
Zhou Yan had even seen numerous videos depicting such power. These experts had grasped a sliver of the laws of the universe, capable of using this power to destroy small nations.
To acquire Soul Crystals, Zhou Yan would need to prepare a considerable amount of resources.
He had no shortage of Spirit Coins, assuming they would accept them for trade.
Low-grade Soul Crystals could indeed be purchased with Spirit Coins. However, for Soul Crystals of six-star quality and above, the inhabitants of the Soul Continent only engaged in bartering.
They were open to exchanging a wide array of items, including cultivation techniques, skills, job change scrolls, high-level materials, and high-quality equipment – essentially, any high-quality item could be traded.
There was a standardized exchange rate for everything, so one needn't worry about being scammed. The only caveat was the need for caution and to travel with a retinue of skilled fighters or items that could ensure one's survival.
The Soul Continent was vast, a continent in its own right, and judging by the images, its size was comparable to a nation.
Within the cities, the environment was relatively safe. However, outside the city walls, the danger escalated significantly, with frequent plundering occurrences. The post had explicitly highlighted this fact.
Zhou Yan needed Soul Crystals and had no choice but to venture there. He was quite confident in his ability to protect himself, possessing numerous means of self-preservation.
As for the items required for trading Soul Crystals, Zhou Yan was well-equipped, having a multitude of them within his territory, thus negating the need for further preparation.
After reviewing this information, Zhou Yan proceeded to open the point redemption space to exchange for items.
He was transported to a special chamber, opulent and resplendent, with treasures seemingly floating throughout the air.
This space bore a resemblance to the "Prestige Pavilion," but this particular area only opened once a year, coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival event.
A screen appeared before Zhou Yan. The interface was straightforward; one could either verbally state their desired item for direct redemption or follow prompts to exchange for various goods.
Zhou Yan had used the "Prestige Pavilion" once before and was familiar with this system. He mused about the considerable prestige he had accumulated and wondered when he would have the opportunity to redeem items from the "Prestige Pavilion" again.
Defeating monsters of Bronze Boss quality or higher granted prestige. With the accumulation of small amounts, his prestige had indeed grown substantial.
However, accessing the "Prestige Pavilion" was not a matter of simple desire; it depended on luck.
Zhou Yan pondered for a moment and then decided to check the redemption rates for high-level materials.
He inputted "Nine-Star Spatial Stone."
The exchange ratio appeared on the screen.
10,000:1
Ten thousand points for one Nine-Star Spatial Stone.
Upon seeing this ratio, Zhou Yan was speechless. High-level materials were indeed precious, with such a steep exchange rate.
With his over five hundred thousand points, Zhou Yan could only redeem around fifty Nine-Star Spatial Stones.
Zhou Yan saw no value in using his points for such items; it was simply not cost-effective.
This redemption space differed significantly from the "Prestige Pavilion." Prestige was considerably harder to acquire than points. After all, defeating a Bronze-quality Boss yielded only a few points of prestige.
Moreover, finding Bosses was not something one could always guarantee. It was only due to his numerous soldiers and the vast area they could cover for monster hunting that his chances of encountering Bosses were naturally higher.
Therefore, acquiring prestige was difficult for most people. However, these Mid-Autumn Festival points could be obtained by plundering half of another player's points after destroying their territory. The vast majority of people had accumulated their points by defeating other lords.
As for equipment, skills, or cultivation techniques, those were not what Zhou Yan desired.
Zhou Yan opted for special buildings, prioritizing those that could evolve regardless of their initial quality.
However, special buildings were of S-rank quality at the very least; low-level special buildings were nonexistent.
He examined the redemption rates: the lowest S-rank special building required one hundred thousand points.
SS-rank buildings demanded two hundred thousand points, SSS-rank buildings three hundred thousand, R-rank buildings five hundred thousand, RR-rank buildings seven hundred thousand, and RRR-rank buildings a staggering one million points.
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