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

Chapter 76: Chapter 73: Stumbling Upon a Treasure Trove

Watching these animals leave collectively, Lu Yuan had an uneasy premonition.

The valley where the scorpions lived was filled with a large number of locust trees.

The dense beanworms (a type of green insect) on the trees were the main food source for the scorpions.

Wild animals are not very intelligent, but they often possess their own survival instincts.

"Why would the scorpions migrate... They abandoned their territory, but where would they find so many insects to eat?"

Lu Yuan mustered his courage and went to the scorpion's lair to search for a while and found a black ore weighing over two hundred pounds.

[Black Iron Ore: Iron ore, under certain unknown conditions, has a small chance of turning into black iron, greatly enhancing the material's properties. (Inferior Grade · Natural Wonder)]

[Ability: Hold Fast, the mind nature is relatively stable, can isolate other mind abilities to a certain extent.]

Junkman·Lu Yuan didn't know whether to be excited or annoyed.

He got the treasure here without having to fight monsters...

Was it like wanting to enter a dungeon only to find the boss was out?

After sprinting another twenty-something kilometers, he reached another small BOSS, Snake King's territory.

This was a huge karst cave; from afar, one could hear the sound of flowing water.

The geographical environment inside the cave was winding and complex, with rapid water flow leading to a pitch-dark underground world.

Lu Yuan was somewhat allergic to snakes, so he just observed from a distance.

As expected, the huge Snake King and its vast progeny had also left long ago, leaving behind nothing but snake sheds and snake dung.

Lu Yuan's mood was not wonderful.

Then, unable to control his hands, he picked up garbage inside the cave.

[Snake King's Snake Shed: The shed skin of a huge python left after it molts. Used as a medicine, it can enhance immunity and cell activity. Made into clothing, its innate scent can repel insects and bites. (Inferior Grade · Natural Wonder)]

This thick snake shed is truly valuable!

The most terrifying creatures in the forest are not jackals, tigers, leopards, or the Cannibal Flower, but the omnipresent poisonous insects... Although the Extraordinary Fire has healing properties, it can't withstand being constantly bitten by insects.

Moreover, some insects might be superpower insects, causing swelling as big as a bowl with one bite.

[Poisonous Snake's Tooth: A tooth shed by the Snake King, extremely hard, and an excellent material for bone knives. (Inferior Grade · Natural Wonder)]

[Ability: Solidness, it is harder than normal materials.]

Yet, Lu Yuan picked up a treasure and couldn't feel happy about it.

"They must have sensed danger to choose to leave..."

The answer was clear, it was that Donkey-headed Monster that scared these animals away!

As the burden in his heart gradually lifted, Lu Yuan's mood became heavier.

"Damn it."

When he returned to take another look, the mother bear and its two children hadn't left.

The silly mother bear was still guarding its corn tree, watching Lu Yuan with a vigilant expression.

"Roar!"

Seeing that the foolish bear hadn't left, his mood somewhat improved.

He was busy today and had no leisure or elegance to fight it.

He threw down a steamed bun and left.

He hurried to the territory of the bees.

The swarm of bees hadn't left either.

But the bee swarm was clearly more agitated than before, and many worker bees, not sure what they had eaten, began to attack by flapping their wings as Lu Yuan approached.

As for the Cannibal Flower... well, that guy wouldn't have the ability to leave even if it wanted to.

"Only the foolish bear didn't react; its Extraordinary Level is too low, only at Level 1. Or maybe, it sensed the danger but just couldn't bear to leave its corn tree."

This impending storm-like situation shook Lu Yuan's confidence again.

He might have encountered an "incomprehensible supernatural disaster" described by the Meida Civilization, and there's still time to run away.

But where would he escape to?

Sky City, 17,000 kilometers away?

What if that place also had similar monsters? What then?

...

...

He returned to his own camp and looked up more information.

"The Meida Civilization observed the outside world for thirty thousand years; there must be some words about it. It's just that I haven't found them."

Even the communicator that links him with humans grew dull; he kept the metal ball by his side, sharing whatever he found with the metal ball.

The communicator occasionally made a "ding" sound, as if expressing thanks.

After searching for quite a while, he indeed found some useful stuff.

[Incomprehensible Supernatural Phenomena · Summary Integration Investigation Report.]

[Investigator: Guang Chagou]

[In Pangu Continent, there are many strange and incomprehensible deceitful life forms. They long to enter the Safe Zone and linger around it for a long time.]

[We believe that it's not appropriate to describe them as "life" because they seem not to need energy on the material level, only Heart Energy...]

[This means these species do not need normal food consumption.]

"Where does Ideal Energy come from? It's simple. The higher the 'God' attribute a species possesses, the greater the Ideal Energy that bursts forth under extreme emotions."

"Meanwhile, the Extraordinary Spark is a natural convergence of Ideal Energy."

"They hunt civilizations. Hunting ordinary life forms means little to them."

Lu Yuan cursed under his breath, "Why does the Extraordinary Spark feel like a trap?"

"We have observed many similar Ideal life forms, and the most powerful ones often have a common feature: they produce domain-like abilities on a massive scale."

"For now, we do not understand what changes occur within these domains."

"[photo][photo]"

"…"

"Some experts believe Ideal beings also possess physical bodies. Without a physical form, it would be much harder for them to interfere with physical reality."

"Therefore, just bombing their physical bodies with heavy weapons can weaken or even kill these Ideal beings."

"This theory seems reasonable because most of the unknown supernatural events that occur within Safe Zones can be resolved using high temperatures, high pressure, physical isolation, or nuclear radiation."

"This also proves that supernatural forces have their limits."

"They are definitely not invincible, otherwise the civilizations active outside would have already been hunted down by them."

Lu Yuan felt slightly relieved and patted his forehead, "It's good to have a solution."

Carefully examining these photos, one monster after another—black figures, sphinxes, creatures with the head of a rooster and the tail of a snake, their most defining feature was the severe distortion of light around them, much like black holes.

Furthermore, these pictures could induce a special kind of psychological fear in people.

In his mind, the Extraordinary Fire pulsed involuntarily, shrinking back or brimming with fighting spirit, all depending on the mindset of the wielder.

Upon closer observation, it became clear that the monsters photographed by Meida Civilization were far stronger than the Donkey-headed Monster he had encountered.

Those "dark domains" were utterly impenetrable, causing one's heart to race and breath to catch at just a glance.

As for the Donkey-headed Monster…

Although Lu Yuan felt a primal fear, he also felt that with thorough planning, there was a chance he could prevail—this was an innate intuition.

"That Donkey-headed Monster just woke up, its body decaying, lacking even the strength to move."

"While the creatures in these photos all look formidable, with no signs of decay."

The rules of Ideal Energy were complex and vast, but physical laws also dominated this world.

A loose, decayed bone, of course, could not compare to a strong, fresh one.

Lu Yuan suddenly realized what the Donkey-headed Monster squatting near the Fire Lizard's remains was up to… could it be using the Fire Lizard's bones for a sort of self-surgery?

"Let's look for more information."

He gently flipped to the next page.

[Unexplainable Supernatural Phenomena (Top Secret File No. 112397)]

[Investigator: Guang Chagou]

[In Pangu Continent, not only are the Ideal monsters a danger, but so too could be the civilizations.]

[We have observed more than once that external civilizations wage war against each other.]

[Huge explosions have occurred in extremely distant places, most likely caused by nuclear weapons.]

[According to our scientists: the benefits of equal exchange and mutual trade between two meeting civilizations outweigh the benefits of plundering each other.]

[After all, war is risky, and civilization wars are a matter of life and death; once war begins, it's hard to pull back.]

[There may be reasons unknown to us.]

[Of course, it could also be that the gap between the two sides is just too great, allowing stronger civilizations to easily plunder weaker ones.]

[Having stayed inside the Safe Zone for too long, we are clearly among the weakest of civilizations. What should we do?]

"…"

This investigator named "Guang Chagou," included some personal opinions in his report, calling for an immediate withdrawal from the Safe Zone to enter Pangu Continent.

Lu Yuan checked the date when Comrade "Guang Chagou" wrote the report, roughly the 150th year of Meida Civilization's entry into Pangu Continent?

That's about 15,000 years in Pangu Continent time.

But what Comrade "Guang Chagou" certainly didn't foresee was that even two hundred years later, Meida Civilization still had not withdrawn from the Safe Zone.

What a tragedy!

Yet Lu Yuan also understood why Meida Civilization was so cautious.

Because the outside world… was truly dangerous!

"Glad the civilization wars are a matter of millennia later…"

"What I need to consider now is whether to run or fight?"

"Killing that Donkey-head Monster would definitely be a huge milestone for the civilization… and to nip this danger in the bud!"

"As long as I kill it, there shouldn't be much risk around Meida Civilization."

But the data from Meida Civilization was still too scant; they had never fought these Ideal life forms, with only some basic conjectures.

Exactly how to kill, to what extent it must be done—these had no clear standards and had to be decided by himself.

The risk was his to bear as well.

As the night deepened, Lu Yuan leaned against the window, gazing at the distant stars, feeling the vastness of the universe, the pride of life, the value of time, and the proximity of death.

"Old Wolf, I've started to fear death, which is both good and bad."

"If I crave comfort, many opportunities will just slip by."