105: Gold panning in the desert, a shattered gold card!

The feeling of weightlessness lasted only a moment.

When Lu Yuan opened his eyes again, he found himself in an incredibly vast space.

Rather than a treasure vault, it was more like a giant… junkyard, piled high with all sorts of items.

Yes, a junkyard.

All kinds of things were haphazardly stacked: weapons, armor, cracked crystals, withered exotic plants, and even decaying beast bones… The entire space was filled with a putrid smell.

No wonder the aura was so muddled… However, in stark contrast to a "junkyard," every seemingly discarded item here subtly emitted Source Power fluctuations, strong or weak, hinting at their extraordinary past.

Lu Yuan steadied himself and began his search.

This space was enormous, stretching as far as the eye could see. He patiently began to meticulously explore it, one area at a time.

Time ticked by, minute by minute.

Three or four hours passed, and Lu Yuan had only initially sifted through a small area, gathering items with relatively obvious Source Power fluctuations or more intact appearances.

"Hmm?"

His gaze landed on two cards.

Both cards had an orange glow, with slight wear on the edges, but the card face patterns were still clear.

70% new!

One card depicted an incredibly handsome red-tasseled spear, emitting a sharp, penetrating aura. The other card showed a twisted black vine, subtly revealing a binding force.

"[Breaking Void Demonic Spear], Orange Three-Star Equipment card."

"[Shadow Cage], Orange Three-Star Area Control Skill card."

Lu Yuan held the two cards in his hand, injecting Source Power to feel the strength they contained.

Not bad, both were practical orange cards with considerable power. If placed outside, any one of them could cause Card Masters to fight over it.

He felt a slight joy in his heart—a good omen.

Temporarily putting away these two orange cards, Lu Yuan continued to rummage through the "junk pile."

After an unknown amount of time, as he pushed aside a pile of rusty, discarded metal materials, a faint glimmer caught his attention.

The light was extremely dim, almost concealed by the aura emanating from the surrounding materials. If Lu Yuan hadn't been so perceptive, he might have missed it.

He carefully moved aside the metal blocks pressing down on it.

A card lay quietly there.

Its edges were noticeably damaged, and several cracks appeared on the card face, making the card's own light extremely dim, almost on the verge of extinguishing.

The pattern on the card face was also blurry due to the damage, only vaguely discernible as the outline of some Support Major magic circle, emitting a soft but faint glow.

But the base color of that glow was gold!

Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

No way, did he really find a hidden gem?

He held his breath, reached out, and gently picked up the damaged card.

Then, he immediately injected Source Power into it.

"Buzz—"

As the Source Power entered, the blurry patterns on the card seemed to be activated, suddenly lighting up for an instant, and a stream of information flooded into Lu Yuan's mind.

[Life Drain]

Quality: gold

Star Rating: Three-Star

Type: Support Skill card

Skill: Centering on oneself, release a life aura that rapidly restores the Source Power of all friendly units within the aura's range. The recovery speed is related to the intensity of the injected Source Power.

Passive Skill: Can target a single enemy, slowly drain its Source Power for a duration to replenish the life aura's consumption, and inflict a negative status of Source Power loss on the target. The efficiency of the drain is affected by multiple factors such as the strength gap between both sides and the target's resistance.

Status: Core severely damaged, repair requires a large amount of rare materials and high-grade Source Crystals.

"A healer's divine skill!" Lu Yuan exclaimed.

Rapidly restoring friendly Source Power—its role in team combat was self-evident. What made him even more eager was the passive effect—draining enemy Source Power!

This was practically tailor-made for sustained battles! If it could be repaired, it meant he would have an endless supply of Source Power replenishment during combat, and his endurance would achieve a qualitative leap!

Unfortunately… it was too severely damaged.

Lu Yuan looked at the hideous cracks on the card, his brows tightly furrowed.

The cost of repairing such a gold card would likely be immeasurable.

He would look again.

He carefully put away this broken gold card close to his body and continued his search.

Several more hours passed.

Lu Yuan had almost turned this vast space upside down.

He found two fist-sized rare forging materials emitting strange fluctuations, as well as an orange four-star equipment card—[Molten Heavy Armor], with astonishing defensive power.

However, he found no trace of a second gold card, nor did he find anything similar to the mysterious stone tablet he had acquired last time.

Lu Yuan sat cross-legged beside a pile of junk, placing the few items he had sifted out in front of him.

Two orange three-star cards, one orange four-star card, two rare forging materials, and the damaged gold three-star Support Skill card [Life Drain].

According to the rules, he could only choose one.

While the orange cards were good, and the [Molten Heavy Armor] could greatly enhance his survival ability, they seemed a bit lacking compared to the broken gold Support divine card [Life Drain].

Especially its characteristic of draining enemy Source Power—for Lu Yuan, the temptation was too great.

What did he lack most right now?

Sustained combat capability!

The consumption of gold cards was not small, especially the [Raging Waves Sea Soul]; each summon and maintenance required a massive amount of Source Power. If he could solve the Source Power endurance problem… Just then, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

"My talent! My talent has a Guaranteed Gold Drop!"

Lu Yuan's eyes suddenly lit up.

If… if he used this broken gold Support card as the main material, supplemented by other suitable cards for fusion… "With a gold card as the main material, the talent effect will definitely act on this gold card! It will 100% repair it and endow it with stronger characteristics. As long as it doesn't go wrong, it will completely solve my Source Power endurance problem!"

Once this thought came to mind, it could no longer be suppressed.

What more could he ask for?

Having made up his mind, Lu Yuan no longer hesitated.

He cast aside the other items and tightly clutched the broken gold card in his hand.

Then, he crushed the cyan token.

The space rippled slightly, and a gentle force enveloped him.

The next moment, Lu Yuan's figure disappeared from the sixth alloy door.

With a flash of light, Lu Yuan reappeared before the eight alloy doors.

"Lu Yuan!"

Yao Xiao spotted him immediately and quickly hurried over; her phone had run out of battery waiting for him.

Her eyes showed fatigue, "How was it? Did you pick anything good?"

Lu Yuan smiled slightly, shaking the dull card in his hand.

The old man guarding the secret vault had opened his eyes at some point, his gaze casually sweeping over Lu Yuan, seemingly to confirm that he had followed the rules.

"Oh?" The old man slowly sat up from his recliner, stretched, and his bones made a "crack, crack" sound.

He ambled over and glanced at the card in Lu Yuan's hand.

"A damaged gold Support card, three-star [Life Drain]." The old man clicked his tongue, "Kid, you're quite lucky to dig this thing out of that pile of junk."

He paused, then continued, "The core of this card is severely damaged. To repair it, the cost won't be cheap. Ordinary repair masters can't do anything; you'll need to find grandmaster-level figures specializing in original source or ancient card repair, and the materials are all rare treasures."

"And looking at the extent of the damage, the hope of repair is probably not great."

The old man stroked his gray beard, a hint of playfulness in his eyes: "But then again, if this card were sold to Governor Duan, combined with his original gold card [Ancient Tree of Heaven], it would be a good choice. His Ancient Tree is a big Source Power consumer, and he really needs this kind of support that can restore Source Power to a group and also absorb enemy Source Power. If you sell it to him, you should make a small profit."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan showed gratitude on his face and nodded, "Thank you for your guidance, senior. I will consider it."

In his heart, however, he already had his own plan.

Sell it? How could that be?

This was the key to solving his endurance problem!

His talent cooldown was only a few days away; he had to solve the Source Power endurance problem before entering the secret realm!

...