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

So it turned out that this vine didn't need much water after all; just a bit of moisture was enough to maintain its life.

[Respected Sir, thank you for rescuing me from a dangerous environment.]

[Therefore, I would like to give you some gifts.]

"This guy is pretty polite."

The vine started pulling one piece of trash after another from the conch.

Lu Yuan was full of joy. This generous, huh?

[Worm King's Tooth: A relic of a candidate insect that failed to compete for the Worm King, extremely hard, suspected to be a Level 4 creature's remnant.]

[Mother Insect's Shed: The shell that a Mother Insect shed after evolving, possibly still containing some remnants of the Idealistic element, able to deter nearby insects. (Inferior Grade·Extraordinary Artifact)]

"This seems to be good stuff."

[Iron Beetle Venom Gland, a dried venom gland, venom soluble in organic solvents. If soaked in oil, some venom could still be extracted.]

And all sorts of odds and ends from insect bodies, such as wings, glands, carapaces, and the like.

Even the Pioneer's Eye couldn't make out what they actually were.

At first, Lu Yuan excitedly picked through the trash, but later he sat upright and watched the vine continuously throw out trash, his heart skipping a beat with each piece discarded.

So many things were utterly useless, should he accept them? Or not?

The quantity piled up into a small mountain!

He finally realized that all these things showed signs of corrosion.

The reason was simple: the Star Sea Snail had been swallowed by an insect, and as the insect kept eating, the snail quietly picked through the trash inside the insect's stomach.

You're not qualified as a trash collector, picking up useless things.

While Old Cat was sizing up the conch, it also eyed Lu Yuan with its head twisting back and forth.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"I'm wondering if the one hiding inside the conch might be your half-sister from a different father, encountering a fellow trash picker."

Lu Yuan almost rushed over to strangle it.

Finally, after disposing of about 7 cubic meters of trash, the vine stopped moving.

It let out a tired yet buoyant sigh: [Huff~ Finally cleaned up, much fresher~]

[I don't even understand now why I picked up all this trash. Picking it up and not being able to throw it away, it's really uncomfortable.]

"Cough cough!" Lu Yuan coughed heavily.

The other party suddenly remembered it was in the middle of giving gifts and hurriedly let out a timid [Ah].

The entire verdant vine awkwardly retracted back into the conch, looking extremely embarrassed.

But now that it was difficult to back out, it had to brazenly say: [Respected lifesaver, these are gifts for you.]

"Lifesaver, evil… person? Evil person?!"

[Uh... Benefactor.]

"You have the nerve, giving away trash you don't even want?" Old Cat began to nag, "I thought you were a being of high morals, but it turns out you're so stingy and miserly."

"Even that turtle is far more generous than you; it gives away a turtle shell for no reason, and you give away trash."

Believing Old Cat to be singing its praises, the Undying Giant Turtle lifted its head proudly and arrogantly said, "Stingy bug, drink cold water."

Then it actually spat out a piece of turtle shell, giving it to Old Cat.

It was residue from after it turned to stone, also a material for engravings, albeit of slightly lesser quality.

Old Cat happily accepted it and turned around to purr quietly.

Clearing accounts among brothers and having personal property among friends was something Lu Yuan would not meddle with.

[I'm sorry, I was too fixated on cleaning up trash. I am just so single-minded.]

[Let me give you this as well...]

A segment of verdant green branch was thrown out by the vine.

[Opium poppy branch, still carrying a minuscule amount of life force, suspected to be a part of a [Demon].]

Now this was indeed a great item, perhaps it could be grafted onto the Tree of Life!

Lu Yuan tried it out, only to find that the branch's life force was too weak; it would need to be nourished for a long while before it could possibly be revived... as for its specific uses, that was also unknown.

"This little gift is indeed not bad, do you have any more?" Find your next read at empire

[Can't move it, give me a rope.]

Lu Yuan, pulling on the rope, dragged out a very large piece of wood—30 centimeters in diameter, about 2 meters in length, nearly three hundred kilograms!

[Part of the Opium poppy's tree core, excellent forging material, engraving material. (Legendary Level·Natural Oddities)]

[The Ideal Energy in this section of the tree core is somewhat complex. To make perfect use of it might be a difficult task.]

Legendary level?!

Lu Yuan rubbed his hands together, feeling his heart rebelliously begin to race.

This conch seemed to be quite a big shot...

However, he did not directly seize the object.

After all, he had no immediate use for it, and to rob it outright would affect his favorability too much.

He eagerly asked the final question, "Do you have any other treasures? Show them to me quick."

"I won't take them, just want to have a look!"

The other party was silent for quite a while: [Nothing else good left... Oh, there's one more thing I can't move. If you stick your head in, you'll be able to see it.]

"Brother, it's a huge trap!"

"As soon as you poke your head in, you're sure to be taken over!" the Undying Giant Turtle shouted indignantly.

It felt it had grown smarter and made progress.

[Take over... Even if I had that ability, I have no interest in taking over an inept turtle. Being a turtle is not too bad, but it's just not something I'd consider.]

The conch might have wanted to talk trash, but in the end, it didn't contradict its conscience and started babbling nonsense.

Unafraid of being taken over, the turtle swaggered up to it.

But the turtle and this new friend did not get along very well.

The conch, fearing the turtle would eat it, was unwilling to open its lid.

Eventually, Lu Yuan came up with a compromise. He summoned the Tree of Life and slowly extended one of its vines into the conch.

After cleaning up the trash, the interior space of the conch was quite spacious, the size of a small room.

Apart from the Opium poppy's tree core, a few small "Sea soul grass," and that pale blue Soul Gem, there was almost nothing.

Then he saw a dazzling green hidden in a corner, emitting a soft glow.

[Demon Essence, concentrated life essence of a [Demon], contains an enormous amount of Ideal Energy.]

[It is an excellent material for forging and engraving.]

[Even as the energy in the Essence has been largely spent over time, it still reaches the standards of an Epic Level. (Epic Level·Natural Oddities)]

This time, he truly was shocked.

The Tree of Life developed a strong craving, as though devouring this green light would bring tremendous benefits!

Epic Level Extraordinary Items were the highest quality Lu Yuan had seen so far! A level higher than Legendary.

This clump of Demon Essence was just lying there inside a conch, easily obtainable...

Clearly it wasn't picked up by this creature—how could it be so lucky with so many insects around?

Instead, it was placed there either by a [Demon] or some civilization...

Or perhaps, this creature was an offspring of [Demon]?!

Lu Yuan began to doubt his life and tapped on the wall of the conch, producing a "thunk thunk thunk" sound.

The answer to this question might have been buried in the sands of history.

Perhaps after finding Sky City, he might find the answer, or perhaps not.

Lu Yuan fell silent for a while and did not rob the "Demon Essence."

On the one hand, it would be wasteful to feed it to the Tree of Life.

The carcasses of those Anomalies hadn't been finished yet. Although the "Demon Essence" was an "Epic Level" Extraordinary Item, it was not likely to propel the Tree of Life to heaven in a single bound.

On the other hand, this newcomer had no physical body and seemed to rely on the Demon Essence to replenish Soul Energy.

By robbing rashly, he might kill this "Stranger."