Used to forge Witchcraft Artifacts, it can outfit an entire army.

But all he needed to do was to absorb them all.

Duke raised his left hand, and the Yellow Sand Crystal burst with dazzling light.

Countless metallic yellow sands surged out of his body, transforming into a sea of dark golden sand, sweeping overwhelmingly towards the Star Golds.

The sand stream covered the metal blocks like countless hungry mouths, greedily devouring each piece of Star Gold.

The eerie blue metal blocks quickly dissolved under the embrace of the sand stream, their luster darkening bit by bit until they turned into grayish-white powder.

Duke could clearly feel that the Yellow Sand Crystal was absorbing the energy and matter of the Star Golds crazily.

The special structures in those Star Golds, those highly spirit-affinitive properties, were slowly integrating into the metallic yellow sand.

The sea of sand roiled, the metallic mountain shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Duke’s Spiritual Power extended continuously with the expansion of the Yellow Sand Crystal, he could feel the Star Golds changing the essence of the metallic yellow sand.

The originally dark golden sand grains began to glow with a ghostly blue light, and each grain of sand now had a trace of starlight within it.

The cave echoed with the roaring of the surging sand stream, like a giant beast feeding in hunger.

It was unclear how much time passed before the last piece of Star Gold was swallowed by the sand sea.

The metallic yellow sand slowly receded, returning to Duke’s left arm.

The metallic yellow sand in the Yellow Sand Crystal glowed faintly, its surface patterns becoming more intricate, with faint traces of starlight flowing.

When Duke emerged from the cave, the Kobolds were still kneeling there, none daring to lift their heads.

He glanced at those trembling figures and ignored them, walking straight to the puddle beside which he sat on a rock.

Then he looked down at the Six-Ring Badge on his chest, extended his Spiritual Power into it, and the light screen expanded, revealing the ranking board.

Resource Points Ranking (Real-time Update)

1st: Duke — 1000 points

His gaze lingered on that number for a moment, one thousand points.

This number was much higher than he had anticipated, indicating that the value of those Star Golds far exceeded ordinary resources.

He continued to look down.

2nd: Audric — 120 points

3rd: Vera — 95 points

4th: Wesley Brooke — 80 points

...

There was a long list of names below, most with only tens or a few points, with quite a few even at zero.

Duke’s gaze passed over those names, silently calculating in his mind.

On the first day, everyone was searching for resource points.

He was lucky; his drop point was near a super resource point worth a thousand points.

While others found, it was evidently just ordinary goods.

He recalled that hill-like Star Gold, one thousand tons.

If it weren’t for the Yellow Sand Crystal’s ability to absorb, he couldn’t possibly transport that much.

Because this Star Gold cannot be stored in an ordinary Space Ring; it’s refined Magic Metal blocks, not the ores absorbed before.

Many Magic Metals have such a characteristic, repelling ordinary spatial equipment, requiring special space equipment to load.

If it were someone else, even finding this resource point, they could only take a small part at best.

Luck is also a part of strength.

He withdrew his Spiritual Power, stood up, took one last glance at the still-kneeling Kobolds, and turned to the depths of the badlands.

...

Meanwhile, the change in the ranking board caused quite a stir throughout the Broken Land.

Deep in a dark forest, Audric stood under a giant tree, holding a faintly glowing Crystal Stone.

He had just dealt with a group of tree spirits guarding a resource point, earning 120 resource points.

This was quite a good haul until he saw that name on the ranking board.

Audric squinted, staring at that number for a long time.

His lips curled up slightly, but there was no warmth in that smile.

Audric then put away the Crystal Stone and turned deeper into the forest.

His pace remained unhurried but was a bit faster than before.

At the edge of a swamp, Vera just emerged from a giant lizard’s nest.

Covered in mud, her Magic Robe stained with blood, she held a jade green Crystal Stone.

Ninety-five points, temporarily securing the third place spot.

She was about to check the ranking board when she saw Leon approaching from afar. His armor had several new scratches, but he seemed in good spirits.

"Good haul?" Vera asked.

"Fifty points," Leon grinned, "And you?"

"Ninety-five."

Leon nodded, about to say something, and then abruptly froze.

His gaze fell on the top of the ranking board, the number made him doubt his eyes.

"One thousand points?" He turned to Vera, "Duke? By himself?"

Vera fell silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"It’s him."

Leon opened his mouth to speak but finally just let out a breath: "This guy..."

...

Duke knew that when his name appeared at number one, it would inevitably draw everyone’s attention.

Becoming the focus so early was clearly not a good thing.

But by this point, it was impossible to hide, and he certainly wasn’t going to leave the resources right in front of him. That would be putting the cart before the horse.

Duke wasn’t worried about anyone coming after him either, as this place should be vast, making it difficult to be surrounded.

In a one-on-one, he was unafraid of anyone and wouldn’t give up the chance to compete for benefits.

Duke had already realized that the Broken Land, ostensibly a test, was actually a benefit and reward for them, the students.

As long as you have some strength, you can always gain some benefits.

The stronger you are, the longer you survive, the more resources you can seize.

Three days passed quietly in the monotonous advance across the badlands.

Duke did not encounter another super resource point like on the first day.

On the second day, he found a cave guarded by a group of sand scorpions, containing only a few blocks of ordinary magic metal, worth only eighty points in resource count.

On the third day, he discovered a lone Moonlight Grass on the surface, an auxiliary material for refining Level 2 Magic Potions, worth one hundred and twenty points.

Two days combined, only two hundred points.

Coupled with the first day’s gain, he now had a total of one thousand two hundred points.

On the ranking board, he remained in first place, but the numbers behind him were starting to catch up.

Audric had climbed to over eight hundred points, and Vera had over six hundred.

Everyone was desperately seeking resources, and the gap was slowly closing.

At noon that day, Duke turned into a stream of dark golden sand, slowly traversing underground at dozens of meters deep.

This method of movement was the safest and most efficient.

Surface dangers could be avoided, and underground resource points couldn’t escape his perception.

He maintained a semi-elementalized state, his Spiritual Power spreading like an invisible web in all directions.

Suddenly, his Spiritual Power touched a particularly vibrant life area.

Duke stopped, the sand stream slowly floated upwards, stopping near the surface.

He condensed his perception into a thread, carefully probing above ground.

It was a valley surrounded by low hills.

In the center of the valley was a large pond, the water emerald green, with many large, lotus-leaf-like plants floating on its surface.

Around the pond were numerous crude but solid stone houses, connected by paths, along which the Lizardmen moved back and forth.

These Lizardmen were more than twice the size of the Kobolds Duke encountered on the badlands.

They walked upright, stood over two meters tall, covered in dark green scales that shimmered faintly in the sunlight.

Broad limbs, sharp claws, and mouths full of sharp teeth.

Their tails were the most striking, thick and powerful, with bony spurs at the tips, leaving shallow grooves as they dragged on the ground.

Water Lizardmen.

Duke had studied these creatures in Cohen’s class. They lived near water sources, adept at amphibious combat, with very strong Scale Armor Defense, and had high resistance to Water Magic.

Their tribal structure was tight, respecting strength, with each tribe having a most powerful leader and several elders beneath them.