109: Chapter 109 The Great Horse of Dawan

After finishing his prayer, Lin Tian opened his eyes, his gaze becoming sharp and focused once more. No longer hesitating, he communicated with his mind and selected "Open."

Buzz!

A low, long hum, far deeper than that of the silver treasure chest, resonated from within the Gold Treasure Chest.

Immediately after, a pure and warm golden light flowed from the chest!

The light lasted for a few seconds before receding rapidly like a low tide, all of it sinking back into the chest.

The treasure chest opened quietly, the lid flipping back automatically.

Lin Tian held his breath and leaned forward to look inside.

"Oh?" He let out a soft cry of pleasant surprise.

There was no treasure light shooting into the sky, nor was there a pile of clutter inside. There were only three palm-sized cards made of a special material with faint golden light flowing around the edges, along with a single scroll. One card was dark brown, featuring a lifelike image of a galloping horse, and next to it was a scroll with a slightly dim glow. The other two cards were translucent pale gold, with countless tiny, abacus-bead-like runes slowly flowing, combining, and separating within them.

"Four items this time?"

A smile appeared on Lin Tian's face, and most of his previous anxiety dissipated.

Based on his limited experience, a Gold Treasure Chest yielding two items usually meant a "guaranteed break-even," and there might even be a big surprise.

"Let's see what good things we have..."

He first picked up the dark brown card with the image of the horse. The card felt warm to the touch and had a leather-like texture; the dark patterns of the galloping horse looked as if they could come to life at any moment.

He clicked on the item information.

[Mount Card (Dayuan Steed)]

[Quality]: Common High-grade

[Effect]: Upon use, unlocks a special unit recruitment option.

[Dayuan Steed]: This mount is a Common High-grade warhorse, possessing excellent endurance, speed, and load capacity. It has a relatively gentle temperament and is easy to tame and ride. Recruitment price is 1 Spirit Crystal per head, with no daily recruitment limit and no recruitment cooldown. Recruitment is limited to the Lord through the Altar.

[Description]: A gift from a fantasy plane known for producing fine steeds. They may not be top-tier dragon steeds or pegasi, but they are the most stable and economical choice for building large-scale conventional cavalry units.

"A Mount Card! Dayuan Steed!" Lin Tian's eyes instantly lit up as he read the effect description repeatedly, the joy on his face growing stronger.

"Not bad! Really not bad!" he couldn't help but praise, his tone full of excitement.

"Even though it's only Common quality, in my hands, it's a perfect match! 1 Spirit Crystal each, no quantity limit, no cooldown! What does this mean?"

He turned abruptly to look at Lin Yin, as if sharing this joy with her, even though he knew she might not fully understand its strategic significance.

"This means that as long as I have enough Spirit Crystals, I can build a massive cavalry force in a short amount of time! If the Heavy Armored Spearman mounts up, they become Heavy Cavalry! If the Moon Shadow Archer mounts up, they become Rangers!"

Lin Tian grew more excited the more he thought about it, pacing back and forth as he pondered. "This card might not be very useful, or even a bit redundant, for lords whose units can fly or who have high-grade units. But for me... it's extraordinary!"

He could already see the future battlefield, with iron hooves like thunder and a forest of spears like rain, a powerful torrent of cavalry belonging to Lintian City galloping across the land.

The potential value of this Mount Card might even exceed many gold items for him!

He carefully put away the dark brown Mount Card. Instead of looking at the scroll first, Lin Tian's burning gaze turned toward the other two identical translucent pale gold cards with flowing runes, which were clearly of a higher grade. The first card had already given him a huge surprise; what would come next?

He picked up a card—it felt cool to the touch—and used Inspect again.

[Designated Item Quantity Increase Card (One-time)]

[Type]: Special Item

[Effect]: Upon use, you can designate any acquired, quantifiable, non-living, non-rule-based item and attempt to "increase its quantity." The increase effect is influenced by the item's own quality, rarity, and the level of rules it contains:

The lower the quality and the shallower the rule level of the item, the higher the multiplier or quantity increased.

The higher the quality and the deeper the rule level of the item, the lower the multiplier or quantity increased.

Ineffective against certain extremely rare, unique, or special items involving core rules.

Special Note: When used on "Chest" type special containers, it increases the quantity of the "Chest" itself, rather than the rewards that might be opened from within.

[Description]: A magical card containing faint conceptual rules of "copying" and "proliferation." It cannot create miracles, but sometimes it can make your harvest look a little less like an "unlucky soul." Use with caution, as you only have one chance.

"Designated Item Quantity Increase Card?" Lin Tian raised an eyebrow. As he read the description carefully, the expression on his face shifted from curiosity to thoughtfulness, and even took on a hint of playfulness.

"This thing is quite interesting..." He rubbed his chin, his brain working at high speed.

"Designate an item, increase the quantity... affected by quality, lower grades increase more, higher grades increase less, maybe even ineffective... Hmm, very reasonable to prevent breaking the balance."

A thought involuntarily popped into his head, making his heart race slightly:

"What if I... designated a Gold Treasure Chest? One becomes two?"

The idea was too tempting! If he could use one card to duplicate a Gold Treasure Chest, it would be an incredible bargain!

Even if the items opened from the duplicated Gold Treasure Chest were different or even disappointing, having one more chance to open a top-tier chest was a massive gain in itself!

However, when he saw the bolded "Special Note" in the description, it was like a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, instantly clearing his head.

"When used on 'Chest' types, it increases the 'Chest' itself..." Lin Tian repeated in a low voice, a wry expression on his face.

"The system really won't leave such an obvious loophole for you to exploit. Even if I duplicate the chest, what comes out might still be a bunch of basic resources, or even worse... and with my luck today..."

The image of those fifteen silver treasure chests yielding a large amount of basic resources like an "unlucky soul" flashed in his mind, along with the anxiety he felt before opening the Gold Treasure Chest.

What if he duplicated a Gold Treasure Chest only to have it yield a bunch of things like the "top-tier recipe book"—useful but not urgently needed strategic materials—or something even worse? Wouldn't this precious card be wasted? After all, the card's description also hinted that the effect on high-grade items might be very poor.

"It feels like this is indeed a potential 'loophole,' but the risks and rewards coexist, and the uncertainty of the rewards is too high."}],