Chapter 9

After nightfall, the public benches near Ye Bai gradually filled with people.

Most were travelers waiting for their spacecraft, those who had a long wait ahead and didn’t want to spend extra on accommodations.

On a planet like Blue Star, there were no vagrants. Everything required Stellar Coins, which made living expenses prohibitively high. It was far more comfortable to find a planet that used local currency.

Ye Bai’s current situation—being able to afford the StarNet but not a hotel—was probably unique on Blue Star.

“Gurgle…”

Ye Bai finished the remaining half of a nutrient drink from earlier in the day. It still tasted like water, but one bottle was enough to satisfy hunger and nutritional needs for an entire day, making it incredibly convenient.

After lying back on the public bench, Ye Bai thought for a moment, then spent 1 Stellar Coin on a molecular cleaning service. This method, which used molecular vibrations, wasn’t as comfortable as a water bath, but it was quick and convenient. It also cleaned her clothes, making it the most cost-effective option available.

With a full stomach and a “clean” body, Ye Bai felt refreshed and closed her eyes on the bench.

Time to log in!

...

In the world of "Boundless Realms," day and night cycles were shorter than on Blue Star. When Ye Bai logged back in, it was already daylight in the game.

She first checked the leaderboard for lords. The only name on it was still "Bai Ye," indicating that no other players had yet achieved the status of lord.

With so many players re-registering, there were bound to be those starting in the wilderness. However, even for regular dungeons, without spending resources to experiment, clearing a normal-level dungeon wasn’t easy. If a player quit, logged out, or died during the dungeon, the dungeon key’s energy would be depleted, requiring resource-based recharging to use again.

Starting in the wilderness was a shortcut, but the city-building dungeon was designed for experienced players with equipment and resources. If they failed, they could spend resources to try again.

The players had only been officially active for two or three hours, and their progress was a day behind Ye Bai’s. Unlike her, they weren’t familiar with the game and were essentially penniless. They likely couldn’t afford resources and had to rely on their first free attempt to experiment. Even if wilderness players chose regular dungeons, progress would be slow.

Ye Bai opened her inventory and reviewed her items.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Her weapons were unchanged. The materials took up three slots: two sets of fully synthesized fluorite, totaling 45 pieces. She had discarded the remaining two fluorite fragments to save space.

Other items were more varied, arranged in her inventory by rarity:

60 pieces of minced meat (white), 31 bat wings (green), 12 bat teeth (blue), 1 unidentified blueprint (blue), 8 pieces of high-grade beast meat (blue), 4 pieces of Ragehorn hide (purple), 1 vial of Metamorphic Blood (purple), 1 Ragehorn (gold), 1 Philosopher’s Stone (gold), 1 unidentified blueprint (gold), 1 Seed of Genesis, and 10 gold coins.

Ye Bai was familiar with the boss drops, but her attention was drawn to the golden item in her inventory: the Philosopher’s Stone.

**Philosopher’s Stone**

Rank: Legendary

Type: Mythical Material

Description: The ultimate creation of alchemy.

If it weren’t for the shocking server-wide announcement earlier, Ye Bai would have immediately noticed this item.

What did the Philosopher’s Stone do?

It was a universal material. As long as you had a blueprint, it could substitute for any required material in crafting. However, only one could be used per creation.

In other words, if you obtained a rare blueprint and gathered all the materials except one, the Philosopher’s Stone could fill that gap, even for the most critical or precious material. It was a blessing for unlucky players.

Clearly, such an item belonged in the game’s shop.

But back when Ye Bai was cryogenically frozen 10,000 years ago, the shop framework hadn’t been implemented.

The investor’s representative, who was profit-driven, proposed many ideas Ye Bai disagreed with. For example, while Ye Bai designed the Philosopher’s Stone to replace only one material in crafting, the investor wanted to remove all material restrictions, allowing players to use multiple Philosopher’s Stones to create items purely through spending.

When Ye Bai heard that, she clenched her fists, imagining how the game would devolve into a pay-to-win system.

If wealthy players could just buy their way to building a city, what was the point of quests or gathering materials?

The two sides had been at odds, so the shop framework remained unresolved.

Now, in this version of "Boundless Realms," there was no shop or direct currency exchange between the game and real money. Surprisingly, the achievement system still existed.

The achievement system rewarded players who truly loved the game and explored its mechanics. The first to achieve certain milestones received special titles and items, like the Philosopher’s Stone.

With no shop in this version, achievement rewards were the only way to obtain such unique items.

Thus, the value of Ye Bai’s Philosopher’s Stone increased even further.

As for how to maximize its use? The answer was obvious: use it on the legendary golden blueprint!

The Philosopher’s Stone could be used not only for crafting items and equipment but also for constructing buildings.

For Ye Bai, who had just obtained a legendary building blueprint and was wondering when she’d ever gather the materials to build it, this achievement reward was like a dream come true, propelling her progress forward.

But all of that would have to wait until after her territory was established.

With 15 hours left before the Seed of Genesis expired, Ye Bai’s top priority was to secure her territory.

**Confirm the use of the unique bound item Seed of Genesis?**

**Confirm.**

Ye Bai had specifically “cleaned” herself before logging in, hoping her luck would strike again and lead her to a resource-rich territory.

As she confirmed, Ye Bai’s eyes closed involuntarily, and a mark on her character’s forehead began to glow. The light gathered and shot into the sky, piercing through the clouds.

At the same time, despite her closed eyes, Ye Bai regained her vision—a bird’s-eye view that encompassed the geography within a five-mile radius. Moreover, as she focused on specific areas, her vision zoomed in, revealing detailed environmental features.

With a quick scan, Ye Bai identified several suitable locations for her territory.

Areas near lakes offered fishing resources and reeds for weaving, ideal for early development. Forests were rich in timber and wildlife, perfect for hunting and later domestication. Riversides were great for trade and provided water resources…

Basic resource information appeared as Ye Bai looked at each area. The holographic version of "Boundless Realms" added an extra layer of detail compared to the version from 10,000 years ago, where this process was represented by map textures on a new screen.

Wait… textures!

A spark of realization struck Ye Bai as her gaze landed on a particular spot.

It was a seemingly ordinary flat area with few plants or animals, just a few trees forming a triangular corner.

The surroundings lacked wildlife, lakes, or dense forests, and it was far from the river. At first glance, it didn’t seem advantageous.

But as Ye Bai looked at that triangular corner, a smile of delight spread across her face.

Since "Boundless Realms" is a game with base-building elements, various resources naturally spawn when the map is generated. Due to differences in the underlying code, different resources require distinct map textures. Even if some appear similar at first glance, there are subtle differences; otherwise, bugs might occur.

Moreover, because of the existence of a tech tree, many resources that require technological advancements to unlock won’t display their information on the map in the early stages when the tech level is insufficient.

Now, the unremarkable triangular terrain that caught Ye Bai’s attention is actually the texture for the highest-tier energy material in "Boundless Realms"—the 【Source Energy Crystal Mine】!

Under normal circumstances, players would need to reach the mid-to-late stages of their territory’s tech tree and unlock the 【Energy Exploration】 technology to see the location of Source Energy Crystal Mines on the map.

If there aren’t any nearby, tough luck—apart from relocating your territory or conquering a territory that possesses this resource, there’s no other way to obtain it.

Competing for limited high-tier resources is one of the key elements that make up the late-game territorial warfare mechanics.

And now, thanks to an unconventional method of ‘texture recognition,’ Ye Bai has managed to pinpoint the location of what could be compared to an oil field, even when the current exploration level can’t even locate coal mines…

What more is there to say? Ye Bai immediately searched for a strategic location near the Source Energy Crystal Mine and chose to plant the Seed of Genesis.

A glow enveloped Ye Bai’s character, and she vanished from her current spot, reappearing in the previously chosen location.

“Rumble…”

At the same time, a crystal-clear tree sprouted rapidly at Ye Bai’s feet, its branches stretching out in the blink of an eye, growing into a nearly five-meter-tall tree.

Ye Bai reached out and touched one of its branches.

【Level 0 Territory (Unnamed)】

Lord: Bai Ye

Current Population: 8 (Migrating)

Population Attraction: 10% Base Attraction + 3% Environmental Attraction + 15% Title Bonus

Buildings: None

Happiness: 0

Switching back to the aerial view, Ye Bai noticed eight small black dots moving toward the center of her territory at the edge of her vision.

From this moment on, Bai Ye’s identity as a lord truly lived up to its name.