Lian was sitting on the Windrunner Strider and looking at the massive gates of the base.
Hundreds of awakened ones were coming and going, some were just returning from hunting, others were getting ready to enter unknown areas.
But he was in no hurry, this was his first real day after returning to the Ruined Realm.
The first day was always important, the first day determined how he would plan the rest of his path.
With a gentle move, he pulled the reins, the riding monster under him let out a short neigh and passed through the gate, a few seconds later the base was behind him.
And the Ruined Realm showed itself again, Lian was silent for a moment.
This world was different from the outside world, the sky was still and considerably red.
But the clouds were normal, the wind was blowing, trees were growing, and everything was bigger, more extreme, the mountains that could be seen in the distance were easily several times taller than the mountains of the normal world.
There were trees whose height was more than multi-story buildings, rivers could be seen that looked more like moving lakes.
And more importantly... mana, mana was everywhere, in the air, in the soil, in the plants.
Even breathing here was different from the outside world, if a normal human entered this place, they would probably notice the difference in the first few minutes.
Lian gave a faint smile, he was finally back, the previous time he was here was against his will and he had come completely by force, but now that he looks at it, that event was a blessing and a miracle for him.
Today he was not going to enter dangerous areas, at least not for now, his goal was simple.
Examining the surrounding areas, understanding the environment, evaluating the monsters, and more importantly... testing the Celestial Book of Treasure, a book that even he himself did not have a proper understanding of yet and needed to test it.
He reached his hand toward the storage space, a moment later the book appeared, its cover shone under the sunlight.
Even now, its appearance looked more like a sacred artifact than a normal tool.
Lian opened it, at that same moment the pages began to shine, mana flowed through the golden lines and the system notification appeared.
[Scanning Surroundings...]
A few seconds passed, then the light came out from the pages and expanded right in front of his eyes in the form of a 3D map.
Lian unconsciously raised his eyebrows, the map was floating in the air, precise, clear and with incredible detail.
Different areas were marked on it, sections in green, sections in yellow, sections in red, and even a few black spots could be seen.
He quickly understood their meaning.
Safe areas, medium risk areas, deadly areas, dungeons, ruins and areas containing resources, it had practically shown anywhere that had the slightest sign of treasure, but only up to a radius of ten kilometers.
Beyond that, everything was dark, like fog in games, Lian stared at the map for a few seconds, the more he looked, the more he understood the value of this book.
If this tool fell into the hands of a big guild... if it fell into the hands of the army... or even into the hands of a powerful clan... they could exactly build something similar to the Celestial Treasury.
The book suddenly lit up a few small points.
Lian lowered his gaze.
The first point, a rare plant rank D, the second point, a mana crystal rank E which seemed to indicate the lowest quality, the third point, a rare metal rank D, none of them were special or high rank.
Most of them were so worthless that going after them was itself a waste of time.
But this made him smile, this meant the book does not only show big treasures, but tracks anything that is valuable.
A unique tool for exploration, he kept the book open and continued on his path.
Hours passed.
Along the way he saw different areas, the Emerald Forest, a vast area where its green trees almost swallowed the sunlight.
According to the map’s information, many plant monsters lived there.
Predator trees, poisonous flowers, and creatures that looked more like plant monsters than animals.
A little further ahead was the stone plain, where dozens of rock rhinos that were made of stone were moving among the rocks.
Most of them were below level fifteen, and there were not that many of them, but that still made them dangerous for beginners.
He, as much as he could, one-shot those that attacked him with simple attacks.
And notifications about killing monsters kept appearing for him one after another.
[ You killed a level 7 horned rock rhino. ]
[ You gained three stats points. ]
[ You killed a level 7 horned rock rhino. ]
[ You gained three stats points. ]
[ You killed a level 9 bloodthirsty tree. ]
[ You gained three stats points. ]
[ You killed a.... ]
Then he reached the Red Valley, a massive valley whose walls still carried the marks of old battles on them.
Some cracks were so large that they seemed to have been made by gigantic creatures, Lian knew many of these marks were related to the battles of the people of this same world with the monsters, trying to protect their world.
Battles whose marks still remained.
Along the way he saw many groups, students who were moving in groups, guild members who had identical equipment.
Independent hunters who traveled alone, some were hunting, some were collecting resources.
Some were mapping, and some were just moving toward farther areas.
The Ruined Realm really looked like an independent world, as if millions of people were living in a massive game and each person followed their own path.
He did not bother them, and they also completely ignored him and continued with their own work.
The sun was slowly moving toward the horizon, he had advanced more than 297 kilometers, had randomly killed dozens of monsters, and had managed to gain 49 stats points.
But at least in these 297 kilometers, he had not seen anything special, even those large herds of monsters were nowhere to be seen, as if they were not around here.
Lian was examining the last three remaining kilometers when suddenly the book reacted.
He immediately stopped, his eyes fixed on the map. For the first time since morning, finally a different color appeared.
Not blue, not green, not white, but golden! A golden point lit up in the eastern part of the map and a new notification was written on the book.
[High Value Treasure Detected. ]
[Sunheart Bloom. ]
[Rank: A. ]
[Description: A legendary flower born from concentrated mana. Consuming it significantly increases physical vitality, accelerates mana circulation and permanently strengthens the body’s affinity with mana by 55%. One of the primary ingredients used in high-grade body refinement elixirs. ]
[Distance: 9.1 Kilometers. ]
[Threat Level: Medium. ]
Lian stared at the notification for a few seconds.
Rank A.
This was the first truly valuable treasure that the book had found for him, even in the base market, such a thing could be sold for an astronomical price.
But something more than its financial value caught his attention.
The threat level was medium, the book usually had information about surrounding dangers, and until now, all the threat levels he had seen were safe levels.
But finally a medium threat level appeared!
The sun had almost set, the most logical decision was to return to the base, he could continue tomorrow too.
But... curiosity would not allow it, he looked at the golden point again.
Nine kilometers distance, for the Windrunner Strider it was not a long time, and more importantly... this was the first important treasure the book had found.
Lian gently pulled the reins of his riding monster and then changed his direction, and moved toward the golden point.