Five Frozen Centuries

by Srtyi

God intends to make the earth into a game and let humans become players, so God set the rules of the game after pausing the time of humans all over the world, but God ignored a person. Wei Huo had no sense of presence since he was a child. He was ignored by the teacher when he went home during the spring tour, and was ignored by the classmates during the class party. Unexpectedly,

1. 1

Five Frozen Centuries

God intends to make the earth into a game and let humans become players, so God set the rules of the game after pausing the time of humans all over the world, but God ignored a person.

Wei Huo had no sense of presence since he was a child. He was ignored by the teacher when he went home during the spring tour, and was ignored by the classmates during the class party. Unexpectedly, this time he was ignored by God…

Five hundred years later, human time has resumed its flow. All humans think that they have crossed into the game world, and Wei Huo has led them in this game for five hundred years.

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Chapter 1: The Loner Neglected By God

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Passengers who have not boarded the bus, please hurry up! The bus heading to K Town will be departing soon!"

A driver was shouting out from the window in the service area next to an expressway. One after another, passengers started boarding the bus. The driver looked behind him and asked, "Is there anyone else who hasn't gotten on? Check if your friends are here? We'll be departing soon!"

The passengers at the back replied, "Everybody is here, we can depart!"

The driver nodded his head and started the engine. He gradually drove the bus out of the service area. At that moment, a young man seemingly in his 20s barged out of the toilet in the service area. He shouted at the bus, "Wait, I haven't got onto the bus yet!"

However, the distance between the young man and the bus was too far. The driver could not hear him at all as the bus drove into the highway and kept speeding up. After a few seconds, the bus was out of sight.

The young man was speechless. "…"

'Why?!'

That young man was called Wei Huo. He turned 19 this year. Ever since he was born, he always had a weak presence. He was once left out by his teacher during a class spring outing and had no choice but to go to the amusement park alone. At the amusement park, he encountered a trafficker who ended up ignoring his presence, allowing him to escape back home. By the time he was home, he found that both his parents had forgotten to prepare his meal portion. Left with no choice, he went out to get a cup of instant noodles and did not even have to pay because the shop owner ignored his presence.

His weak presence was literally a curse and now, even the bus driver neglected him.

"School is reopening tomorrow, what should I do now?" Wei Huo almost broke down. He took out his phone and turned on the navigation. The nearest exit from that highway was at least 20 kilometers away.

'Arghh! Why is my presence always so weak?'

Wei Huo was about to lose his mind when suddenly a voice appeared from within him. It felt like it was coming from his surroundings, but at the same time, it also felt like it was coming from somewhere deep inside his heart. The voice only said one sentence.

"Time halted!"

At the next moment, everybody in the service area stopped moving and stayed in their position with frozen expressions as though buffering a video stream. Everyone stayed still.

If it were not for the birds' chirping outside the service area and a stream of water flowing out from a tap, Wei Huo would have thought that the whole world stopped running.

Wei Huo looked at the surrounding people in shock. They were not even moving an inch. Some of them were in a walking position with one foot out and their body leaning forward. They were just frozen right there. It was impossible for a human to stay in such a position. Time halted was the only logical explanation.

'But, why am I not frozen?

'Am I neglected again?'

A bold idea suddenly struck Wei Huo's mind…

Wei Huo walked up to a restaurant waiter and patted him on the shoulder. However, he realized that the waiter's shoulder was as hard as steel. It was then that he noticed a layer of dim golden radiance surrounding each person's body. It seemed like that radiance was protecting every human from harm.

Wei Huo picked up a cup of coffee and splashed it onto the waiter's body. Surprisingly, the coffee trickled down along the golden radiance. It did not leave a trace on the waiter's body.

Seeing this, Wei Huo finally understood what the time halt meant. It was just like how a person was frozen in absolute zero conditions. Both the mind and body were halted. Due to the golden radiance's protection, time would not leave a single trace on them. Not even coffee!

However, at that moment, Wei Huo suddenly realized a serious problem. Time was halted for everybody. They did not need to eat or drink, and they were protected. How about him? He would be thirsty, hungry, tired, and hurt.

'Hey, God! Please don't forget to halt me too.'

Right at that moment, the mysterious voice appeared again somewhere deep within Wei Huo's heart.

"New menu 'Character Attributes' added."

Right after that voice disappeared, Wei Huo felt something in his head. He noticed that he could now open the Attributes Menu by just thinking about it. The Attributes Menu was a five-pointed star made up of five round discs. Different words were written on each disc. Social, Inventory, Character, Needs, and Health.

Wei Huo was not sure if the discs were actually appearing on his retina or if it just popped up in his head. However, it seemed like he could open any of the five options with just a single thought.

A thought came to Wei Huo's mind, and the Social Feed was opened. It was empty, and the same went for the Inventory Menu. However, he found something when he whipped out the Character Menu.

The Character Menu listed 10 skills. Shooting, Wrestling, Beast-taming, Medicine, Culinary, Construction, Farming, Art, Crafting, and Research. Currently, these skills could not be unlocked and each had their own skill levels. Other than Wrestling skill being at level one, Wei Huo's other skills were at level zero.

He opened the Needs Menu next. In the Needs Menu, the Hunger bar, Thirst bar, and Rest bar were shown. All three values were currently at around 70% but it was gradually reduced over time.

The following tab was the Health Menu. The attributes Age and Lifespan greeted his eye when he opened the Health Menu. 'Age: 19 Years Old. Lifespan: 88 Years.' Other than that would be Mobility, Operability, Speech, Reproductivity, Vision, Hearing, Breathing, and so on. All the abilities were at a healthy level. The Disease bar also showed no signs of sickness.

Wei Huo felt slightly relieved after reading the Attributes Menu. It would not be that bad if he could monitor himself through the menu. Since the whole world halted, it would not be a big deal if he grabbed some food and drinks from the store and stayed the night at a hotel, right? Wei Huo's main concern was the duration of time halt. What if it stopped for several hundred years?

After a while, the voice came back again.

"Achievement System implemented.

"Increasing influence of natural calamities such as solar flare, solar eclipse, and temperature changes toward organisms.

"Accelerating animal mutation and reproduction.

"Increasing the number of Titan and Legendary creatures."

The voice kept coming back every five minutes. Wei Huo's heart sank each time he heard that voice. He was too naïve. His primary goal now was not to eat, drink, and rest. He should be discovering how to survive in this perilous world.

The god-like existence's voice suddenly stopped after a series of augmentations and modifications made. Wei Huo's eyes lit up as a glimmer of hope sparked in his heart.

Was time starting to flow? The survival rate would be much higher if he cooperated with others rather than struggling alone.

The next moment an emotionless, electronically synthesized female voice rang within Wei Huo's heart.

"Congratulations! You have just unlocked 'The Loner Abandoned by God' achievement.

"Obtaining this title allows you to permanently enter into 'Camouflaged Mode'. Chances of other creatures discovering you will be reduced by 75%."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

Wei Huo thought that time was finally starting to flow again, but it was just the Achievement System granting him a title. However, he could not deny the fact that the title's function was beneficial. At least it gave Wei Huo the assurance and hopes to survive. Regardless, Wei Huo still did not know whether he should be happy or sad.

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Chapter 2: The God Has Begun

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Time had halted for everybody, but Wei Huo did not know how long the time halt would last. It could be days, months, years, or even decades. Who knew if it might even be halted till the day he dies?

'If that was really the case, what should I do?'

There were supermarkets, restaurants, and a variety of food in the service area. However, the food's shelf-life could only last him for a short time. He needed to go hunting, and grow his own vegetables for self-sustainability.

Wei Huo took out his phone and realized that there was still a network connection. All thanks to the highly-developed technology in this era, machines could still work by themselves even though time had halted. He was provided electricity, water, and an internet connection for the time being, but what if these machines broke down?

Wei Huo needed to be self-sufficient. The first thing that came to his mind was to head back home. Although there was still about 200 kilometers from his home, he could drive someone's car since time had been halted. Right then, the cruel reality hit him again.

First of all, he could not open the doors of occupied vehicles. Secondly, vehicles on the highways stayed stock-still. Needless to say, God would not have made such a howler. A chain collision would have happened if time was halted for humans but not their vehicles.

It did not matter if it were vehicles, rooms, toilets, or offices in the service area. As long as there were people present, the doors could not be opened. That ought to be God's protection for humans who had their time halted. Otherwise, being surrounded by carnivorous plants and creepy creatures would have been too difficult for humans to escape when time started flowing again.

The fact that he would not be able to open his house door made him changed his mind. He could only search for supplies at shops that were currently opened. At the same time, he should look up for information and knowledge regarding farming, equipment maintenance, and other survival skills on the Internet.

He hastily took out his phone and started downloading that information. He was not sure when the Internet connection or electricity would be cut off. It was safer for him to download the information and record it in his book. After all, he had zero knowledge regarding farming.

Farming was not just about digging a hole, planting a seed and watering the plants. Now that the environment had become much more complicated and abominable, mutation of vegetations and animals had been accelerated. Moreover, he still had to keep an eye on pests, weeds, and also the weather… It was just too hard!

Wei Huo suddenly felt that it was too hard for him to survive. Even if all the human beings united, many would have still died during the earth's gamification. It was just too difficult for him to survive on his own!

Wei Huo crumbled. After feeling dispirited for about three hours, he pulled himself together. Come to think of it, did it not mean that he basically owned the whole world since time was halted for all humanity?

That meant he could do anything he wanted. 'If I could stay alive.' He would skip school, work, and do not need to earn any money. 'If I could stay alive.' He could drive all the luxurious cars he wanted and lived in any mansion he liked. 'If I could stay alive.'

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

What was wrong with this dual personality internal monologue of his? It did not have to keep emphasizing the 'If I could stay alive' phrase!

It was right however, the premise was that he had to stay alive. Wei Huo was clueless about how long the time halt would last. If it was just a short while, he could survive with all those packaged food. What happened if time halted for a long time? He should at least be able to stay alive until the end of his lifespan, right?

Fear stemmed from his heart. He was left all alone in this world with nobody else to socialize with. Even worse than that was he had to confront all sorts of crises by himself. Who would not be afraid of such a situation? There was still a glimmer of hope in his heart. All humanity would return to normal as long as timestream recovered. He just needed to wait for that day to come. Yes, just wait.

Just when Wei Huo finally regained his confidence, the voice of God appeared again.

"Vegetation growth and animal reproduction accelerated by 10 times.

"New menu 'Vegetation and Animal Attributes' added.

"Humanity's immunity and digestive ability strengthened.

"Quest System implemented."

Wei Huo was stupefied from hearing all those voices. At that moment, another voice spoke next to his ears.

"New quest, 'Food and Security'. The Player is required to craft a wooden bow and 10 wooden arrows. A hunting knife will be rewarded once the quest is completed.

"Quest hint. If the Player does not know how to craft bow and arrow, please consult someone who knows."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'Consult your big d*mn head! Where should I even find a person who knows how to craft bows and arrows?'

Wei Huo thought things were going to turn around, only to discover he was left helpless. What a scam!

On second thoughts, Wei Huo realized that instead of consulting an actual person, he could just look it up on the Internet with his mobile phone!

Indeed, Wei Huo found tonnes of information ranging from videos to images of bow and arrow crafting methods as soon as he turned on his mobile phone. However, online shopping was not possible. In fact, at this moment he could never purchase it online. He could only learn how to craft them from the tutorial videos.

There was still plenty of time. Wei Huo could survive with packaged food he got from the service area's supermarket for at least a year. He could now take his time learning how to craft bows and arrows. He soon found a video of some young European guy crafting primitive bow and arrow. That guy had not used any modern tools when crafting. His knife was made from polished river stone, his axe by binding a piece of wood to that river stone. That was a revelation to Wei Huo.

Imitating that guy in the video, Wei Huo grabbed a fire axe and hiked up the mountains.

Why make a stone axe from scratch when you have a fire axe? Wei Huo found the fire axe in a private car. Besides that, he also found some camping gadgets like a lighter, a tent, sleeping bags, and kerosene lamps in that car. It seemed like the owner of that car was a camping enthusiast.

Wei Huo acquired all of these gadgets at the expense of others. However, everybody else was protected by the golden radiance when time halted. Wei Huo was the only one forced to survive alone. It would not be excessive to borrow some stuff from others, right?

Wei Huo did not gain much on the first day although he was already up in the mountains. He still could not distinguish which wood was better for crafting bow and arrow. However, it was fine since he still had time. Surprisingly the next day when he continued hiking up the mountains, wild grass grew much taller on the second day in comparison to the first day!

Vegetation growth had indeed been accelerated!

Wei Huo was unsure whether that was considered good news or bad news. It would be good if he started growing his crops as they would have matured faster, but that meant the city would soon be covered by countless vegetation invaders. He would be eliminated if he could not adapt to living in the wild!

Fortunately, on the third day, Wei Huo completed his quest and had successfully crafted a bow and 10 arrows. At the same time, an exquisite Damascus hunting knife was added into Wei Huo's inventory.

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Chapter 3: A Human In A Monkey Disguise

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After completing his first mission, Wei Huo obtained a piece of decent equipment in his inventory. However, Wei Huo had a bad hunch. As expected, he received the second quest.

"New quest, 'Survival and Food Continuity'. The Player is required to hunt a beast. A random game item will be rewarded once the quest is completed.

"Quest hint. The Player is allowed to use the system's scan feature for a total of three times. Each usage allows the player to scan and view their surroundings within a range of 10 kilometers for beasts' movement."

Wei Huo scratched his head and wondered why this task felt like a newbie's quest.

Wei Huo thought of the hunting knife in his mind, and the hunting knife appeared in his hand. He thought of it disappearing, and the knife was back inside the inventory. The hunting knife was somewhat quite convenient and there were many ways to use it too. The fact that it could appear and vanish instantly could confused enemies.

Wei Huo looked at the bow and arrow he crafted. Unfortunately, he could not keep that bow and arrow in the inventory.

Only items rewarded by the system could be kept in the inventory.

Wei Huo then tried the scan feature. That feature was very convenient too. Once used, a radar image would emerge in his mind, and it started scanning immediately. It ended after 10 seconds, but after those 10 seconds, the system notification said, "No beasts within 10 kilometers."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'What the f*ck…'

He suddenly understood this newbie's quest was prepared for players to get accustomed to the Earth's gamification. There would surely be plenty of beasts on earth by that time, but right now there were not that many!

After all, time had only halted for three days.

Wei Huo facepalmed himself. 'That was f*cking awkward!'

Although the animal reproduction speed had increased by 10 times, three days was still too short!

Wei Huo examined the wooden bow on his hand. He could not hunt using this wooden bow as its quality was too poor. Moreover, his shooting skills were not developed yet. Even if he encountered a beast, he was not capable of hunting it down. It would be better for him to keep practicing his skills in crafting archery weapons in order to craft better bow and arrow. He could also work on improving his archery skills.

Action speaks louder than words. Wei Huo started focusing on advancing his crafting skills as well as archery skills. However, it only lasted for 15 days. On the 15th morning, an incident broke out in the service area. Wei Huo was fast asleep at that time.

He had moved his tent into a supermarket and was wrapping himself up in the sleeping bag inside the tent. It was early autumn, and the weather was not considered that cold.

That morning, however, Wei Huo was awakened by the sound of monkeys chattering. Those monkeys barged into the service area. They rampaged and rummaged through the supermarket. Wei Huo got up startled.

"What's happening?" Wei Huo came out from his tent only to find five or six monkeys ransacking the shelves in the supermarket. A bunch of monkeys was jumping about outside the supermarket. Some were climbing up the cars, some were chasing dragonflies, some were picking lice, and some were brushing their hair. They were pulling, dragging, and chasing each other around.

Wei Huo scared away a few monkeys in the supermarket when he got out of his tent. They bolted out the supermarket whilst jumping, and surprised the monkeys outside but did not run far. They stopped about 10 meters away from Wei Huo and stared at him curiously.

Some were peeking their heads, a few of them scratched their head, whilst some were spinning on the ground. They started to become rowdy again when Wei Huo stood still. Wei Huo took a step forward, and they sprang up, backing away from him. They all stared at him in unison.

Wei Huo was in a state of confusion. Where did these monkeys come from?

One of the monkeys scampered away from the group. It leaped on to the head of a motionless person. Unfortunately, the golden radiance emerged and it failed to grasp on anything, slipped down, and fell on the floor.

That monkey swiftly stood up, glancing left and right. It patted away the dust on its bum and casually walked into the group of monkeys when it realized no other monkeys were watching it.

Wei Huo was speechless.

'You are a human in a monkey disguise, aren't you?'

Wei Huo took a closer look and discovered some of the monkeys were holding onto snacks like chips, ham, and so on. However, they did not know how to open the packaging.

Wei Huo headed back to the supermarket and brought out a few snacks. The monkeys observed Wei Huo oddly, wondering what he was up to.

Wei Huo tore open the packaging skillfully, put the food in his mouth, and munched on it. The monkeys were flabbergasted. It was as if they discovered a whole new world.

They looked at the packaged food on Wei Huo's hand and simultaneously wondered if this thing was edible?

A few monkeys started imitating Wei Huo. They tore the packaging open and shoved the food down their mouths. They were stunned.

Now that they had got a taste of the goodness, they began to tussle for food. After learning how to tear open the packaging for chips, they got their hands on chocolates, spicy gluten sticks, and even peanuts.

Monkeys were intelligent animals. They often imitated human's behavior. Wei Huo recalled that there was one time when a monkey who did not know how to deshell a sunflower seed, learned how to do it after seeing him doing it just once.

Wei Huo did not chase away the monkeys. Instead, he even welcomed them to live there with him. They definitely had sufficient food. He could not consume all the food by himself anyways. The feeling of being alone was more tormenting to him.

A few monkeys decided to brave it out. They approached Wei Huo while holding on to mineral water bottles with bite marks. It seemed like they tried very hard but still could not open the bottle.

These monkeys appeared to be still a bit vigilant. They always kept a distance of at least five meters away from Wei Huo. To be frank, for them to sense the presence of Wei Huo was already a challenge since Wei Huo was under the effects of the title 'The Loner Abandoned by God'. It might also be because monkeys were human's closest living relatives that they shared similar outer appearances, so that was why the monkeys were not so afraid of Wei Huo.

Wei Huo eyed the amusing monkeys. He picked up the water bottle from the floor and twisted open the bottle cap. He then placed the bottle on his mouth and gulped down the water.

The monkey's eyes twinkled and they started to mimic Wei Huo. However, there were still differences in the structure of a human's body and that of a monkey's. No matter how hard they tried, they still could not open the bottle.

Wei Huo walked towards the toilet and stopped in front of the water tap. He opened the tap and straight away a stream of clear water flowed out. Once again, the monkeys were amazed. They rushed over and jumped on to the sink, fighting over the water. Not long after, they had already mastered the ways of using water taps.

He observed them while in deep thoughts. 'Is this really the result of accelerated animal mutation? Or were the monkeys always so clever?'

Besides a smarter brain, what differed humans and animals would the ability for humans to inherit intelligence and knowledge. Humans dominated the earth by passing down knowledge from one generation to another. However, it still could not outweigh God's word.

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Chapter 4: Couldn't Be Any More Normal

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The monkeys' arrival brought liveliness into Wei Huo's life. Besides practicing his crafting and archery skills, he also taught the monkeys how to use human tools.

However, those monkeys were very mischievous. They would leave the tap running just to let water flowed and messed up the surroundings by leaving open and unfinished snacks everywhere.

After getting used to being around Wei Huo all the time, the monkeys were not afraid of Wei Huo anymore. They would even hop onto Wei Huo's head and pick lice from his hair. They would occasionally runoff, and brought back fruits for Wei Huo after sunset.

Although those fruits tasted a bit sour, Wei Huo was still grateful.

Animals have a sense of gratitude. They would for sure repay Wei Huo since he helped them.

On the 20th day of living together with the monkeys, a few pheasants appeared within the service area. Some small snakes would also emerge from the nearby bushes from time to time.

A weird idea came to Wei Huo's mind when he saw those pheasants…

Morning of the next day, Wei Huo grabbed a coop and propped it up with wooden sticks. He secured them with ropes and scattered some chips in the coop. His hands were clutching on the rope as he hid away.

The monkeys looked at Wei Huo curiously, clueless on what he was up to. Wei Huo stared at a pheasant. Little by little, that pheasant was strolling towards the trap. Unaware that was a trap, that same pheasant sprint towards that coop as it laid eyes on those familiar chips.

Right when that pheasant was in his trap, Wei Huo tugged that rope which dragged the wooden stick away. In a flash the coop confined that pheasant, leaving it in a daze.

The pheasant was befuddled.

Wei Huo fished out his hunting knife and walked towards the coop grinning. He flipped over the coop and gripped that pheasant's leg.

Wei Huo grabbed its head and slashed its neck with his keen hunting knife without caring how hard that pheasant was struggling. Blood spurted out from its neck. That pheasant's struggle only caused it to lose more blood and in the end bled to death.

Carrying a dead pheasant, Wei Huo returned to the service area with monkeys scrambling away in fear.

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

As the saying goes, kill a chicken to scare the monkeys1.

Wei Huo plucked and cleaned the dead pheasant. He built a bonfire and pierced through the pheasant with a shaven wooden stick. Before grilling the pheasant, he grabbed some salt and oil from the restaurant in the service area. With all ingredients at hand only then he started grilling the pheasant.

Although he had never grilled a pheasant before, he saw it many times on videos. In order to prevent the pheasant from burning, he brushed a thin layer of oil over it. He then sprinkled some salt for seasoning and flipped the pheasant from time to time. Not long after, the fragrance of grilled pheasant infiltrated his surroundings.

The smell hit his nose and made his mouth water.

Damn! It has been so long since I last ate a pheasant.

The monkeys could not hold themselves back from the smell too. The fear inside them subsided, and they started closing in on Wei Huo. Defeated by gluttony, they gathered around Wei Huo with their mouths' watering.

Wei Huo ignored them as he gulped down a drumstick which was only half-cooked. It tasted so good that it brought tears to his eyes.

'Yummy!'

The drumstick was delicious despite being half-cooked. Wei Huo was so engrossed in eating the pheasant that he even overlooked the task accomplished notification.

He only noticed it after he finished that drumstick which the monkeys were gawking with drooled saliva.

Wei Huo guffawed at the scene. He cut up half of the pheasant and hurled it towards them. They scrambled madly for the pheasant. A few stronger ones even fought against each other.

Whilst watching them, Wei Huo whipped out the Equipment Menu. It was then that he heard the quest completion notification.

"Quest 'Survival and Food Continuity' completed. You have been rewarded with '8x Scope'."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'Was this not supposed to be a game item? Why did they give me an 8x Scope? What should I do with it?'

What connection is there between eating pheasant and the 8x Scope?

Even though he was surprised, he still fiddled around the 8x Scope. He could see quite far with it. Perhaps it could be used as a telescope since he did not own a gun.

While the monkeys were still jostling over that half pheasant, Wei Huo hurriedly gobbled down the rest. He did not want to see those monkeys' yearning gaze.

Right at that moment when he just finished his meal, God's voice coincidentally appeared again.

"Human's limiter removed.

"Evolution limit increased to infinity.

"Ranking System implemented.

"Applicable to all creatures. Ranks are respectively Normal, Rare, Epic, Legendary and Mythic.

"Dragon-type monsters added."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

Why did that seem like a game version update?

However, that was not a bad thing for Wei Huo. The limiter name suggested that it was a mechanism built to protect the human body. It could prevent pulling their muscle from using too much strength, or preventing the brain from drawing too much strength and accidentally breaking a glass whilst drinking water. It even might be able to prevent a guy from accidentally collapsing the wall when he 'kabedon

Martial arts experts always dazzled people by chopping up bricks with their bare hands on television. The actual fact was that many people could do the same thing.

At the same time, the limiter had another definition which was the irremovable limitation. No matter how hard a human works out, there would always be a limit on the number of push-ups and chin-ups which can be done. The strength and number of cells were limiting human growth in a sense. Removal of the limiter meant that a cell's strength could be developed unbounded.

The limiter's absence would have made it possible for humans to be stronger than bears or faster than leopards. Anyone could achieve that with sufficient training. For example by doing 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats and 10 kilometers of jogging, and so on every day.

As long as the training period was long enough, it would not be surprising if humans were capable of blowing up the earth with just one punch

Wei Hou was fueled with confidence. 'Farming? Hunting? Are you joking? Without the limiter, I could become a superhuman by training sufficiently!'

Wei Huo then looked at his rank.

'Rank, Couldn't Be Any More Normal.'

Wei Huo was speechless.

Was it necessary for the word 'Normal' to be stressed?

The human body's quality indeed could not be any more normal. Humans could lose their lives with just a single natural disaster, an accident, or even an unforeseen calamity. The human body was really fragile!

However, the removal of human limiter indicated that humans could also be superhumans!

Wei Huo decided to give up on his archery practices, and go all out with an intensive training regime starting tomorrow.

'I had spent three years in kindergarten, six in primary school, three in middle school, three in high school, and two in university. I am a total expert when it comes to learning and perseverance.'

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The next morning, Wei Huo discovered something fascinating.

The monkeys were imitating Wei Huo, setting up traps just like how he did yesterday. After setting up the traps, they put chips as bait. They clutched onto the rope and stared at the trap anxiously waiting for pheasants to take the bait.

The always raucous monkeys suddenly became silent. They sprawled on the ground with bloodshot eyes as they concentrated on their traps.

It seemed like those pheasants felt an unusual aura causing none of them daring to come close.

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

They were simply… too clever by half?

Those monkeys were ranked the same as Wei Huo. All of them were at the normal rank. Wei Huo could also view their information feed. In one of their social bars, it showed 'Established Rapport with Wei Huo'. Their Inventory Menu was empty, and there was no Character Attributes tab. They only had health attributes which showed that those few monkeys were quite healthy.

Those restless monkeys could not stay put after a while. They scattered and loitered around. Few entertaining themselves with some jumping all over the place. Several of them were running after each other, picking lice, hanging on the tree, and rolling just about everywhere. Only one monkey kept holding on to the rope with its gaze never leaving his trap.

Wei Huo thought that monkey was quite peculiar.

Probably because the tension in the air subsided, one pheasant came trailing along with the scent. The pheasant appeared warier of its surroundings compared to that pheasant from yesterday and yet, it still fell into the trap. The monkey which was gripping the rope yanked hard and penned the pheasant in a trap.

All the other monkeys were stupefied. All of them cast an admiring gaze toward that monkey who caught a pheasant.

Pleased with itself, that monkey walked towards the coop but was bewildered. It did not know how to catch the pheasant out from that coop. That monkey would of course also have no idea how to slaughter and grill it.

They suddenly turned their head towards Wei Huo.

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'F*ck your sister, am I your chef?'

Although he was grumbling in his heart, he was still content to pick up the job. He was even imagining if those monkeys would learn more if he kept teaching them skills. Maybe they would evolve into intelligent creatures like those monkeys in the movie 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'.

As the saying goes, just do it.

From that day onward, besides intensive training (100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and 10-kilometer jog), Wei Huo also taught those monkeys all sorts of skills. He taught them everything from hunting using a lance, bow, and arrow; to grilling food, weeding, plowing, and farming crops.

In the blink of an eye, three years had passed!

Many events happened throughout those three years. Electricity and the Internet were suspended in the first year. They could no longer use any electrical appliances. In the second year, the water supply was also cut off leaving Wei Huo with no other choice but to fetch water from the river. Fortunately, the waters had turned crystal clear within those two years.

The packaged food went rotten after a year and a half. Luckily, those monkeys had already learned how to hunt and farm. They obtained seedlings from an agricultural supplies store located in a county 20 kilometers away. Ever since the human limiter was removed, Wei Huo had been transformed into a sturdy man through constant intensive training. Hunting was no longer a big deal. As luck would have it, Wei Huo and the monkeys still had sufficient food since animal reproduction speed had been accelerated.

In those three years, humanity's time has not resumed. Even God's voice had disappeared. Wei Huo nearly thought that God had forgotten their world!

Finally, in the third year, God's voice appeared once again!

"New event added Raging Animals. Ceaseless hunting at the same spot will infuriate some animals, leading to pack-attacks on humans."

"Qi System implemented."

"New event added Caves. Rare scrolls left behind by ancient Qi Cultivators could be found hidden in selected caves."

"Alterations made to the life span system. The player can now prolong their life through Qi Cultivation."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

It had been so long since Wei Huo was taciturn. Wei Huo honestly had no idea how long he had been stuck here in the service area. He sprouted a beard and had long and messy hair. He currently resembled a caveman as he was carrying his bow and arrow on his back. He was dressed in clothes made from the fur of unknown beasts while holding onto a bloodied lance. There were wounds from hunting small and medium-sized beasts on his torso.

The group of monkeys also gradually expanded with baby monkeys that were just born. Although there was a king amongst them, they respected Wei Huo a lot. If possible, Wei Huo had hoped to continue staying there.

However, he still had to leave.

He still did not know how long the time halt would last.

He wanted to survive.

"I'm leaving!" Wei Huo suddenly started talking to the group. He could not believe how hoarse his voice had become due to not speaking a word for the past three years.

The monkeys were sun-bathing when Wei Huo spoke up. They looked at Wei Huo startled and dumbfounded, not understanding a single word he said.

Wei Huo said again, "I'm leaving now!"

Misinterpreting Wei Huo's action, a baby monkey approached him and handed him fruits as he thought Wei Huo was hungry since baby monkeys would always cry for food when they were hungry.

Wei Huo felt emotional. He really did not want to leave that place but was left with no other options. The fear of death compelled him to search for rare scrolls handed down by Qi cultivators. Without the archives, he would only live until 88 years old.

As the only person in the whole world who was abandoned by God, Wei Huo had to find ways in staying alive. He should start finding methods to increase his lifespan. Otherwise, he would not get the chance to see his parents, friends, and even a living person anymore.

The monkeys belonged in the group while Wei Huo belonged to human society. He had to stay alive until he could witness that day!

"I'm really leaving!" Wei Huo received the fruit, packed his equipment, placed his food inside his bag, secured his filled bottle, and walked out of the service area.

A few monkeys trailed behind him holding onto hunting equipment. However, Wei Hao chided them. "Go back!"

The monkeys were at a complete loss. They could not understand what Wei Huo was saying. As Wei Huo kept yelling at them, they started to understand his message. Wei Huo was leaving, and he might not come back again.

Sadness was engraved on their faces. They were becoming more and more like humans.

Wei Huo's heart-wrenched when he saw that scene. He said to those monkeys as he retreated, "I hope you will still remember me when time recovers. I also hoped you would help humans, and live in peace with them. Last but not least, I wish for all of you to stay safe."

With that said, he turned around and left. He set foot on the expressway overgrown with wild grasses. That was the first time he regretted passing down so much knowledge to those monkeys.

The group watched as Wei Huo left. They had not understood what was going on. They even thought that Wei Huo was just heading out to fetch water. A baby monkey hopped onto a human's head whose time was halted. It ended up slipping and fell down to the ground.

The time halt did not affect humans in the service area. Not even a single dust left a trace on them.

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Chapter 6: God Will Make No Mistakes

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The advantages of humans were an intelligent brain and the ability to pass down knowledge from one generation to the next. If any other animals possessed the same capabilities, mankind's status on earth would have been in imminent danger.

That was Wei Huo's concern at this point. He could only pray in his heart, hoping that the time halt could recover faster. Perhaps because of him, the monkeys would maintain an amicable relationship with humans. If time recovered, he wished for humans to avoid turning monkeys into their prey.

The last thing that Wei Huo wanted to see was humans killing monkeys out of spite causing other monkeys to go against mankind.

However, at this moment, he could not care much. His primary goal was to find the cave concealing a Qi Cultivator's rare scrolls!

Be that as it may, Wei Huo had experienced and gained a lot throughout his trip.

He walked along the river bank as he needed to replenish himself from time to time. The temperature was also cooler near the river bank.

The weather started to get more and more severe. At its hottest, temperatures could elevate up to over 50C whilst at its lowest, temperature could drop down to near -40C degrees. Wei Huo was not located in the center of Z Country, by right such extreme temperatures should not have occurred.

As animal and plant mutations were accelerated, Wei Huo caught sight of various odd organisms throughout his journey.

One of the examples would be Kamikaze Goats who blow up when they are disgruntled. An organ containing a TNT-like substance developed in the body of these goats. They would self-explode and die together with their hunters when provoked or preyed on. Any careless moves could end up leading to a wildfire.

There were almost no natural predators for those creatures. They breed like rabbits causing them to be found almost everywhere.

However, Wei Huo wondered if these creatures would become extinct after time had recovered as humans might hunt them down to get ready-made explosives.

In addition to Kamikaze Goats, Wei Huo also encountered Zombie Deer. Zombie Deers were creepy creatures that would attack other animals out of discontentment. Regardless of brawny hunters or frail flora and fauna, they would pounce on anything they dislike. They would even sometimes ram their horns into willow trees for no reason.

Besides that, Wei Huo even encountered a weird dog that would make weird poses whenever it saw any organisms. They could walk upright like humans and use their front paws to catch their target before crazily… Alright, that animal should have mutated before time was halted.

Besides those odd creatures, the number of existing yet endangered species had also increased vastly. For example, carnivorous animals like bears, wolves, and tigers, as well as rare species of birds, spiders, and all sorts of plants.

Bit by bit, the highway was covered in vegetation. Occasionally, Wei Huo would see a few animals sauntering around the highway. He was invisible to many animals under the influence of 'The Loner Abandoned by God' title. Even if they noticed him, they would bypass him out of caution.

Thanks to that, Wei Huo did not encounter any dangers during his entire journey. He even got to catch a glimpse of those bizarre sceneries and scenarios.

Eight years passed, in fact, Wei Huo had no idea how long he had been walking. He took short rests along his journey and sojourned in random places. He crossed over mountains and rivers, not knowing how much he had walked.

In the eighth year of his trip, there was a beard and mustache covering Wei Huo's face. He looked exactly like a caveman. As his clothes were ragged, he could only dress in self-made leather outfits from animal leather.

Eight years of traveling and consecutive hunting had also improved Wei Huo's rank.

'Rank, Only Slightly Normal.'

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'What was going on with this Ranking System?'

Ever since the limiter was removed, Wei Huo was now capable of killing a bear with merely punches and kicks. He even outran a cheetah. His hunting skills had also advanced greatly. He had reached level one in his shooting skill, he was already quite skilled in the art of archery.

Although that was the case…

"Why do I have a feeling that this time halt will last till the day I die, maybe even until years after I die?"

Time was ticking away, 11 years had passed since the time halt. Wei Huo could no longer remember the passage of time clearly, but fortunately, the age and life span bar in his health menu kept reminding him. 'You are running out of time.'

"It doesn't matter how much time you have, everything depends on how you utilize your time." Wei Huo suddenly blurted out a well-known saying which he could not recall its origins. However, a moment later, he debunked that saying. "But if you have unlimited time, you can use it however you want to!"

Once again, Wei Huo resumed ascending to the mountain summit. He was greeted by the scenery of a dramatic alpine. The landscape of the mountains was magnificent. Clusters of mountain peaks stood abreast with cliffs adjoined, it looked like a tremendous screen.

Wei Huo shut his eyes for a few seconds and opened them again, a view of boundless green landscape leaped into his eyes.

Wei Huo saw a towering ancient tree. He could not see how thick the tree trunk was as it was buried under the dense leaves and branches. However, it was obvious that the ancient tree was at least 30 stories tall.

Wei Huo decided to take a short rest and enjoy the nature and scenery around him. He suddenly heard a loud 'whooshing' sound coming from one direction!

It seemed like that sound was always present, but due to dense leaves and Wei Huo's engrossment in finding directions, he failed to notice that sound.

Wei Huo made a U-turn and crawled towards the direction where the sound came from. The sounds of water rippling gradually became more distinct.

The weeds and shrubs were close-packed in the forest. He pushed aside those tree leaves and cleaved apart the shrubs. Finally, he arrived at a whole new world!

Far-off was a view of endless breathtaking mountains. Colors of red, yellow, and green with all sorts of scenery adorning the mountain, making it a spectacular panorama. Right on the mountain was a sheer cliff. The river water was flowing down from the cliff and the kinetic energy from the water collided with the bottom of the cliff causing an ear-splitting sound of water crashing. Waves of mist surged from the water collisions, forming a mystical vibe!

Right at this moment, a ray of light illuminated the dawn sky. The dazzling white light spilled across the forest, casting light over the leaves. Dewdrops were sparkling on the leaves! It was as if the whole forest had become alive!

The sun was rising!

Without a camera, he could only engrave this view in his mind. However, that memory would fade away alongside his death

He had to find the Qi Cultivator's rare scrolls!

He continued his journey, and soon two years had passed. He stopped because he saw an unusual mountain.

The mountain was not covered in greens. The man-made pathway was not coated in vegetation because too many people were crowded all over the mountain. The time halt had halted all vegetation within five meters from the people. Otherwise, if these people would have been covered in plants and would not be able to move an inch after their time recovered.

How could it be possible for God to make mistakes?

Seeing so many people on this mountain, Wei Huo guessed that it was previously a tourist attraction. Many people would come here to travel, hike, and sightseeing during the holidays. The plants here were halted together with humans, so this mountain had not been returned to nature yet.

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Chapter 7: Already 32 Years Old

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wei Huo went straight toward the mountain. Not long after, a crowd of halted humans greeted his eyes.

Countless people were queuing up at an expansive plaza, waiting to enter the mountain. The staff at the ticket gate was sweating buckets, and security guards were scanning their surroundings vigilantly.

However, all of the people were at a standstill. It was just like a painting or a 3-D picture.

A sudden fear hit Wei Huo. If God had not neglected him, would he be watched by some other living creatures like what he was doing now? If mankind's time was halted forever, would these people in line now not become sculptures?

Just like the Moai Statues on Easter Island or the Terracotta Army in the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, after years past and when new intelligent creatures are born, would they make the place into a tourist attraction? Would they pay to visit here?

Wei Huo passed through the ticket gate which had long broken down. He climbed inside, and right at that moment when he entered, he laid his eyes onto a giant red rock. The giant rock was engulfed in vegetation. Despite that, Wei Huo could still make out the words on the rock 'Emei Mount'.

Staring at the words, his mind went blank. 'Emei Mount, what was that? Was it the name of that mountain? Is that mountain well-known? I never heard such a weird name before!'

It took a while for Wei Huo to realized, that was motherf*cking Mount Emei!

Mount Emei, it was an ideal place for people to seek divine advice from Buddha. It was an auspicious location for keeping ancient Qi Cultivator's scrolls.

Wei Huo was instantly spirited. He started hiking up the mountain. All along the way, he could see tourists. Some of them were halted in a position where they were ready to photograph the beautiful scenery. However, nowadays this kind of scenery could be found everywhere. Besides tourists taking pictures, there were couples, senior citizens, and tour groups. There were also quite a number of lone tourists who were taking pictures with their mobile phones and cameras. Barely anybody was taking in the scenery with their eyes.

No matter which method they chose to remember the mountain's beauty, they were now part of the landscape.

After walking a couple of steps, Wei Huo suddenly heard logging sounds. It was the sound of someone chopping woods using an axe. Wei Huo was astonished.

'Had God neglected someone else other than me?'

With complicated feelings, Wei Huo bolted towards the direction of that sound.

He hoped for that person to be a human. It would be better if that person was an attractive woman.

A thought struck his mind halfway through his run. He fished out his hunting knife to trim his beard. He ignored the 'Danger Deep Water' sign, raced to the streamlet, and washed his face. After calming down, he walked towards the direction of that sound again.

After walking for a long distance, he passed through a jungle. It was then that the logging sounds became more distinct. He was confused and surprised at the same time.

Did he run into a group of human contingent?

The sound of leaves rustling against his body echoed through his surroundings as he moved through the woods. The logging sounds suddenly stopped and a troop of monkeys holding stone axes in their hands turned their head towards Wei Huo.

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

Those monkeys were very unusual. They were dressed in coarse straw hats and woven rush raincoats with a little calabash tied around their waist.

He asked, "Tell me, are you guys humans pretending to be monkeys?"

The troop of monkeys eyed Wei Huo strangely, and they lifted their axes…

Wei Huo quickly said. "I'm sorry to interrupt you!"

Ending his sentence, he turned around and fled. The monkeys came chasing from behind him whilst lifting their axes.

Wei Huo shouted as he ran, "F*ck! Time was halted for humans and now you monkeys think you're the king!"

The monkeys chased him up a plank walkway. The walkway was crammed with halted humans, and that was why the time halt did not affect the walkway at all. Otherwise, the dilapidated walkway would collapse when Wei Huo stepped on it.

Wei Huo ran without stopping and dashed into a huge temple. The temple was filled with tourists. It seemed like photographing was not allowed in this temple as the tourists were just looking around. Multiple oldsters were kneeling on the praying mat, kowtowing to the Buddha statue in front of them.

The monkeys stopped chasing after Wei Huo when he entered that area. They looked afraid. Wei Huo let out a sigh of relief and started scrutinizing the Buddha Statue. His gaze then stopped at the praying mats.

'In the novel Demi-Gods And Semi-Devils1, Duan Yu found a rare scroll in the praying mats…'

An idea came to Wei Huo's mind, but of course, he would not be knocking his head until the praying mats cracked. He had a knife with him!

"Now it's time to solve the puzzle!"

Wei Huo nodded in affirmation. The world was currently a game hence, one should put themselves in a gamer's shoes when encountering such situations. These places were usually used as checkpoints to solve puzzles. He might be able to find the rare scrolls there.

Wei Huo might not be able to touch the occupied mats, but there were other vacant ones. He took out his hunting knife and immediately started slicing the praying mats apart.

Much to his disappointment, he found nothing in the ruined praying mats. Those praying mats were just normal praying mats after all.

He started checking underneath the Buddha statue. Secret trap doors were usually located in such areas. These were common scenes one would find in Wuxia novels. When the main characters had no way out, they would hide behind these trap doors. The author would have then brought an injured girl into the story and everything would be perfect.

However, there were no secret trap doors there either.

Wei Huo stroked his chin. 'Don't f*cking tell me God had not created the checkpoint and puzzle system?'

Only then had Wei Huo realized that the game world appeared to be still under development.

Wei Huo shook his head and exited the temple. He trailed along a stony path, passed through a crowd of people, and continued hiking up the mountain. A golden dome was located at the peak of Mount Emei. Although Wei Huo knew that he might not find any rare scrolls there, he still wanted to take a look. Moreover, he could enjoy the landscape of the golden dome for free.

All of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks.

His mind went blank from astonishment as he stared attentively at a woman in front of him.

'Why is she here?'

He walked up and scrutinized that woman. After a few moments, his heart ached not because of a man who seemed close to her standing next to the woman but because Wei Huo saw his own appearance through her sparkling eyes.

Time had halted for 13 years and Wei Huo was already 32 years old.

Could these halted humans saw those who were alive and kicking? Of course, they could, after all the humans' retina was just like a concave lens. However, what difference would it make when the brain could not receive any signal?

A deep sorrow pierced his heart. Everybody around him was still young, but he could only age with time. Who would still remember a guy named Wei Huo when time recovered?

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Chapter 8: Li, What's Her Name Again?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wei Huo always had a weak presence from a young age. He was a mediocre and ordinary person who was always easily neglected by others. Do you know the feeling of being left out by the virus when all his classmates were infected by influenza? Do you know the feeling of being neglected by the teacher when others were called out to do volunteer work? Do you know the feeling of being overlooked twice by the discipline teacher, once at the school gate, and once in the corridor, although you arrived late for class and left early?

That feeling was… quite satisfying!

Ahem anyways, being a person with a weak presence brings a lot of benefits too. For example, you could concentrate on your studies as you need not have to worry about girls asking you out. You would not be tempted by money as you would not be nominated for scholarships or school grants. You do not have to interact with others or join parties that you do not like because nobody would notice whether you were present or had left during class gatherings.

Of course, awkward events would occur occasionally like that time when he confessed to his schoolmate for three years. The girl asked in surprise, "Who are you?"

When he requested his teacher for a signature and his teacher asked in confusion, "Are you a student in our class?"

When he walked into his classroom after P.E. class, the student sitting at the front row would remind him. "Hey, you're in the wrong class!"

Wei Huo's heart sank when he was reminded of those incidents.

Wei Huo's attitude since high school towards love was… Trying hard in keeping her only as a crush even if he liked her a lot. Trying hard in preventing himself from longing for her even if he was crushing hard on her. Trying hard in avoiding any contacts with her even if he was longing for her. Trying hard in ignoring her even if he desperately wanted to contact her. Try hard to… That was the end. If they had already ignored each other in the first place, how can they even fall in love?

Despite that, there was one person who held a special place in his heart. Although time erased his memories, that girl still came to his mind when he saw her again.

"Oh fleeting times, even though we had parted ways. Even though you do not remember me, fate brought us together again. Right now, I just want to tell you that I missed you so much, Li…"

'Li, What's her name again?'

Wei Huo was lost in his thoughts. "???"

'Sh*t, why can't I remember her name?'

Wei Huo showed an embarrassing expression. He facepalmed himself and sighed. "All good things in life could not escape from the erosion of time."

Such sayings were indeed used to conceal embarrassment, right? For example, in the poem 'Rainy Alley1, Dai Wangshu could not remember the appearance of the girl he met so he described her as 'A girl like lilacs'. In the poem 'On Leaving Cambridge2', Xu Zhimo went to Cambridge to meet his friends but they were not there so he wrote 'Quietly I am leaving, just as quietly as I came'.

However, time could really erase everything. Wei Huo was not trying to cover up his awkwardness. Not only had he forgotten his crush's name, but he also could not even remember his parents' appearance and phone number anymore. In addition, he also had forgotten his own I.D. number and online I.D. password.

This was quite a terrifying phenomenon. How much memory would I have left when time finally recovered?

Still, there was nothing Wei Huo could do at this moment. He could only continue to wait and keep moving forward.

He glanced over his crush whose name he had forgotten and continued moving forward. After walking for a while, Wei Huo saw a cave engulfed by a thick forest on the opposite hillside. The cave was inconspicuous, but coincidentally it was located not far away from the most crowded rest stop.

Wei Huo understood instantly. Other animals would have sufficient time to evolve and mutate as time was only halted for humans. However, humans were not provided so much time like the other animals. Animals are bound to overtake and leave humans behind when time recovers. By that time, humans would need to catch up via receiving rewards through completing quests and taking part in all sorts of adventures.

Wei Huo arrived at the cave entrance. After examining the surroundings, he retreated to make a torch. Since he needed to use the torch for a long period of time, a firewood torch was not suitable as it would burn out after a short while. Bamboo would be the best choice to make a torch's handle. After chopping off the top of bamboo, he filled it up with kerosene. He then dipped a rope into the kerosene filled bamboo and ignited it. He could now use the torch until its kerosene ran out.

It looked like a handheld kerosene lamp. If he ran out of kerosene, he could use animal fat as a substitute instead.

In brief, although the world's electricity and internet connections were cut off, Wei Huo could still figure out a way to survive in the wild. He made the torch and lit it up before entering the cave.

The cave was relatively small and narrow at the beginning. It got more spacious after moving deeper into it. Soon enough, Wei Huo could hear the sounds of water babbling. He grazed the cave wall, and his hands were instantly wet.

Wei Huo had come across numerous caves for the past 10 years, but most of the caves were not deep enough. He could reach the end only with just a few steps. However this time, Wei Huo felt that there was more to it than meets the eye.

The cave was very deep, almost bottomless.

The ground felt damper as he moved further inside. The cave reeked of a foul stench too. Suddenly, sounds of wings flapping blasted through the cave. It seemed like something was alarmed by Wei Huo's movement. The next thing he knew, a crowd of bats spiraled out from the fathomless cave.

Wei Huo immediately crouched down and dodged the bats.

Wei Huo knew right away where the foul stench came from when he saw the bats.

It was said that bats sleep hanging upside down. Do they also defecate upside down then? Wei Huo used to read comments from the Internet saying, "If this question isn't coming out in the exam, I will sh*t upside down." or "If I don't get champion in RNG, I will fly upside down."

'These people were spirits bat aren't they?'

Wei Huo kept walking ahead as the sounds of water babbling became more distinct. Not long after, Wei Huo set foot on a small stream.

At this moment, Wei Huo found himself in a dilemma as he came face to face with a fork in the road. One was going in the upstream direction whilst the other one was in the downstream direction.

If he followed upstream, he would progress deeper into the cave. On the other hand, if he had chosen downstream, he might exit the cave.

Wei Huo was torn between moving forward and exiting? He was caught up in a dilemma.

After a bit of thought, he felt that he should be more cautious. He should follow the downstream and explore it for a bit. If he found nothing much then he would go upstream.

He walked downstream after making his decision. He realized the cave became wider as he advanced forward. The water beneath him gradually deepened, and he was standing knee-deep in the waters. His torch crackled when it came in contact with water droplets dripping from the cave roof.

Right then, Wei Huo stopped in his tracks from feeling itchiness around his right ankle. He was about to lift up his leg and check what was going on when suddenly he felt something coiled around his shank. It was even climbing up his body. The feeling of icy-cold scales rubbing along his right leg brought goose-bumps to his skin.

It was snakes!

Wei Huo lowered his torch, just to find a black snake coiling around his leg. The snake was swirling up his body, seemingly targeting his private parts.

"F*ck!"

Wei Huo blurted profanities out of shock and he started jumping all over the place. He shook his right leg aggressively, attempting to shake off the snake. Consequently, he lost his balance after accidentally stepping on a rock and plunged into a puddle.

As he tripped, he knocked off a rock stuck on a small slope. The rock loosened and caused the waters to rush in and washed everything away. The water in the puddle rushed down the slope and brought along Wei Huo.

Wei Huo did not even notice that he was on a small slope. What was more important now was the fact that the slope was getting steeper. Wei Huo was flushed down by the voluminous water as if he was river rafting.

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Chapter 9: Please Reload Your Cash

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wei Huo was being washed away by the gushing water. Erosion from the flowing water for years had caused the slopes to become wet and slippery. It became similar to a slide where one could slide down endlessly until they reached the bottom. Wei Huo was shielding his head and adjusting his position in the midst of sliding down, avoiding himself from bumping into sharp stones.

Following the endless gliding, Wei Huo heard the deafening roar of a waterfall.

Wei Huo panicked. "!!!"

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. He could only shield his head and was swept away by the torrent. Seconds later, he saw the sun and the sky.

The cave was in the shape of a vertical shaft and appears to be bottomless. Looking above, one could see the sky with sunlight peeking in through the gaps. Water was running out from countless holes on the wall. Just like that, a waterfall was formed in the middle of the mountain.

Wei Huo was held down firmly by gravity. He could only helplessly fall into the endless pit cave. The view of the sky and sun he saw was momentary. The next second, he had dropped into the waters again. The force of a stronger water current swept Wei Huo into a more cavernous place.

Beneath the pit cave were numerous turbulent flows. Wei Huo had been swept around, and in the end, was washed away into a subterranean river. Sometimes he would bump into a rock while other times he would be hoisted up and dropped down vigorously. Wei Hua felt as though he was riding a roller-coaster.

Without any protective measures, Wei Huo could only embrace himself tightly during such situations. In the midst of this chaos, Wei Huo still managed to spare a tiny bit of time to do some thinking.

'I'm sure something big is hidden in this cave. This roller-coaster-like subterranean river is surely a creation by God himself!'

Boom! Alongside a blaring sound, Wei Huo was wiped into the center of a subterranean lake. The water's surface became much calmer and while he was whirling slowly on the water, Wei Huo saved himself with his athletic body from years of persistent intensive training.

That was why even though he went through such an extreme and thrilling torrent, he only had a few bruises without any severe injury.

However, he still felt slightly dizzy. He fluttered around the water for a bit and was washed ashore.

Wei Huo lifted his head on the shore. Although he still felt a bit light-headed, the scene ahead awed him. In front of him was a moon gate made of white jade. Glowing plants bloomed on both sides of the gate. Purple glows, red glows, blue glows and green glows were radiating from the plants.

All sorts of radiance lightened up the jade gate. Images of red-crowned cranes, phoenixes, spirit apes, and white deers were carved on the jade gate.

"Indeed, I was right!" Wei Huo swayed his head and walked up to the gate. He was prepared to push open the jade gate.

No words were needed, that had to be the cave concealing Qi Cultivation's rare scrolls. Finally, after 10 years, he found it!

He pushed the jade gate hard, but it did not budge.

He pushed again, but still, nothing happened.

Wei Huo frowned. "Are there any other operations needed to open this gate?"

Right when Wei Huo fell silent, an image appeared on the jade gate. Not long after, a notification bar with the writings 'Power On' popped up.

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'This is not a jade gate. It's a laptop, isn't it?'

After the power was turned on, another image appeared on the jade gate. Following, countless thumbnails of red-crowned cranes, phoenixes, spirit apes, and white deers appeared. The thumbnails were all arranged in different orders. He took a closer look. 'What the f*ck…'

'Isn't this sh*t a puzzle game?'

Why would the 'Power On' notification pop up in an ancient Qi Cultivation Master's jade gate? Why did a puzzle game appear after it was turned on?

The notification popped up again.

"Mini-Game commences. Scores of the minigame will determine the player's degree of completion for the inheritance of Qi Cultivation."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

Wei Huo almost forgot that Earth was gradually being gamified by God!

Wei Huo closely examined the screen. There was a 'Start Game' option on the game interface. It seemed like he could use some time to look into the early stage of the game.

Wei Huo believed that players would be swarming into that place, scrambling over each other once they discovered it when time recovered. One by one, they would wait for their turn to play the minigame. The gap between players would be pulled apart as the minigame's mark would decide the degree of completion when inheriting Qi Cultivation skills. In turn, the Europeans and Pros would have a wide gap of separation from Africans and Noobs1. If the Africans and Noobs do not want to fall behind, they would have to reload cash!

That was the first time Wei Huo felt something's fishy. Was God really the one behind this Earth's gamification? Will those who recovered from the time halt really become players of the game?

It was all Wei Huo's guess at that point as God did not say anything.

No matter what, Wei Huo had to speed up his progress. He tapped the start button, and the puzzle game began!

"The time limit is 60 seconds. Scores accumulated within the time limit will decide on the inheritance completion level for the rare Qi Cultivation Scrolls. The game will start in three seconds. Three… Two… One… Start!"

Wei Huo kept his eye on the ball as the marks accumulated would decide his degree of completion for the inheritance of the Qi Cultivator's Rare Scrolls. Whether he could increase his lifespan would also be dependent on the rare scrolls. Otherwise, when the time halt ends, he might already be dead!

Although he put in all his effort, puzzle games were not his specialty. He only managed to gain a little over 2000 points after 60 seconds.

Soon after, another notification popped up. "According to the Player's accumulated scores, you have been awarded a Qi Cultivator's Rare Scroll inheritance with a 35% completion rate. Would you like to replay the game?"

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'You can f*cking replay the game?'

Wei Huo let out a deep breath feeling relieved. 'Do you think I will give up that easily before I reach 100%?'

Wei Huo immediately tapped the 'Replay' button. In the next second, a dialog box popped up on the jade gate.

"Replaying the game requires 90 Magical Stones. You have not met the requirements for replaying the game. Please reload your cash."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'D*mn you! So I have to reload my cash!'

Just then Wei Huo started wondering again, 'What are Magical Stones?'

Another notification popped up on the jade gate. "Are you willing to accept the inheritance? Please take note that the inheritance can only take place once!"

Wei Huo did not have any other better options. 'What can I do? I am very desperate too but I don't have any Magical Stones!'

He tapped on the accept button, and right then the jade door was opened!

The place oozed a mystical and magical aura. Inside the door, rays of light were shining through the colorful fog. The area was occupied by numerous decorated jade palaces. Cries of the red-crowned crane filled his ears every so often, and white deers would hop across streams. Immortals were sitting in their residences.

A magical voice suddenly resounded through the area.

"Pay 49 Magical Stones for a 1% increase of inheritance completion rate, or 81 Magical Stones for a 3% increase of inheritance completion rate."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'What is this? Is this some Daoism chant? No wonder it was always 49 and 81 in Daoism chants1.'

Wei Huo was dejected. He wanted to purchase the completion rate, but he had no Magical Stones!

It was then that Wei Huo realized the in-game purchase system was not created yet. Players still could not make in-app purchases. This game was not well developed enough!

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Chapter 10: No Comparison

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"I don't have any money!" Wei Huo waved his hands. "Just pass me the inheritance at 35% completion!"

Before the inheritance could take place a voice said, "Are you sure you want to proceed with an inheritance at 35% completion? You have three more chances to decide." Wei Huo's face darkened, he already said that he did not have any money!

A panel appeared in front of Wei Huo with its background showing red-crowned cranes, white deers, and jade palaces. The panel showed '35% Completion'. Other than that, there were two other options. 'Pay with Magical Stones to Increase Completion Percentage' and 'Confirm (Please Confirm Three Times)'.

The 'Confirm' option was not provided when they asked players to reload money. What would have happened if someone reloaded the wrong amount?

Wei Huo tapped twice on the 'Confirm' option, but out of the blue, he accidentally tapped the 'Pay with Magical Stones' option. He was then led to another two options. 'Pay with 49 Magical Stones' and 'Pay with 81 Magical Stones'.

Wei Huo stroked his chin. Anyways, he did not have any Magical Stones hence, he just wanted to see what would have happened after he clicked that option.

Wei Huo clicked on the 'Pay with 49 Magical Stone' option. His inheritance completion rate suddenly increased to 36%.

Wei Huo was confused. "???"

'What happened? Don't tell me that I have Magical Stones?'

Wei Huo looked at his body, then he looked at his Inventory Menu. There were no Magical Stones!

After a few moments, Wei Huo figured out the whole situation. God had yet to create the in-game purchase system, meaning that the Magical Stones have not existed. However, Magical Stones were needed to increase the Qi Cultivation inheritance completion rate. It was a BUG!

Wei Huo immediately clicked on the 'Pay with 81 Magical Stones' option. His completion rate boosted up to 41%.

'It's a BUG! It really is a BUG!'

Wei Huo was thrilled. Magical Stones do not exist in this world yet, meaning Magical Stones were equivalent to 'Nothing'. Players could increase the inheritance completion rate through Magical Stones, meaning that he could use 'Nothing' to increase his completion rate. In other words, his completion rate would increase as long as he chooses the 'Pay' option!

Wei Huo started clicking on the option furiously. At the same time, his inheritance completion rate was also escalating. It surged till 100% and of course, that was the limit.

Wei Huo was on cloud nine. He did not expect to come across such a benefit when he was just testing the waters. Full completion rate on the inheritance of Qi Cultivation. He was quite a thing, right?

"Congratulations! You have achieved 100% completion for Qi Cultivation inheritance!"

The immortals sitting in their residences were smiling at the same time when the system notification appeared. They all stood up and turned into a huge pile of books. The books then shattered into pieces, and transformed into an endless stream of data, flowing into Wei Huo's mind.

Wei Huo closed his eyes. He did not feel any brain swelling pains that he had imagined. Instead, the word 'Sending' and a sending progress bar appeared in his mind.

Not long after, the sending progress bar reached 100%. A new skill was added into Wei Huo's Character Menu 'Qi-Training Skill, Level Zero'.

In contrast to the other skills, that skill had a description.

"Qi-Training Skill. Lifespan will increase by 100 years for each upgraded level. The highest level is level 20."

Wei Huo was stunned. He could live up to 2,000 years if he practiced his Qi-Training Skill!

'Stop talking. Time to practice, practice, practice!'

Wei Huo searched through his mind and soon after, he found the Qi-Training manual. However, he thought that the manual was a bit weird. There were a total of five steps in Qi-Training. The Qi Cultivation only starts after one reaches the fifth step. After the training starts, the Player would lose one percent of their blood essence every two hours. At the same time, the Player's Qi-Training Skill EXP would increase by 0.1 percent.

In other words, 2,000 hours were required to be upgraded from level zero to level one provided that one has sufficient blood essence. The human body would be in danger when they lose over 30 percent of blood. One would be on the verge of death if they lose over 50 percent of blood, let alone blood essences.

In order to upgrade from level one to level two, one would lose one percent of blood essence every four hours to gain 0.1 percent of Qi-Training EXP. A possible reason for that was when the Qi-Training Skill reached level one, one's physical quality would also be improved. It meant that the difficulty to improve his Qi using blood essence would increase simultaneously.

Eight hours will be needed to upgrade from level two to level three, 16 hours will be needed to upgrade from level three to level four, and so on. As the player's level increases so do the time required to upgrade to a higher level.

The time spent on Qi Cultivation is only secondary. The actual time used would have to be doubled as the player would need to regain blood essences by having adequate rest and sufficient amounts of nutrients. The fact that more time was needed for next level advancement as the player's level increases, Wei Huo might not even gain an extra 100 years of lifespan although he would have trained for 100 years.

Wei Huo recalled a novel he previously read which mentioned practicing immortality for 45 years only to increase his lifespan by 35 days, that was f*cking… awkward!

At times like these, the importance of natural treasures that could help restore blood essences was accented!

"Hint. Regain 10% Blood Essence by consuming the Tianshan Snow Lotus. One serving costs 100 Magical Stones, while stocks last."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

Everything was indeed connected to everything else. One would have to spend time if they do not want to spend money.

Wei Huo immediately purchased 100 servings of Tianshan Snow Lotus since there was still a BUG in the game.

The Tianshan Snow Lotus was kept in his Inventory Menu so that he could consume it whenever he wanted. One would not feel hungry after consuming the Tianshan Snow Lotus. On the other hand, strength and power would start fueling the body.

"Alright! Let the Qi Cultivation begin!"

He was eager to start his training as the Qi-Training Skill could increase his lifespan, as well as improve his physical qualities.

However just as Wei Huo sat down crossed-leg, a notification sound appeared. "This site is considered a sacred location which boosts the player's Qi Cultivation progress by 5%. However, it would cost 10 Magical Stones per day as rental fees."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

Motherf*cker!

Wei Huo could not care any less about the Magical Stones. With the aid of Snow Lotus to increase his satiety, he did not even have to go hunt for food. He only needed to focus on his Qi Cultivation!

He sat down and assumed the Lotus position, concentrating on his Qi Cultivation.

In the blink of an eye 100 years had passed!

He halted his Qi Cultivation because God has spoken again!

"New material 'Magical Stones' added.

"New menu 'Item Mall' added."

Now that Magical Stones existed, he could not practice Qi Cultivation anymore as he had to pay with Magical Stones. The BUG was repaired. Although Wei Huo could not continue his Qi Cultivation anymore, fortunately, his Qi-Training Skill was already at level five!

He used up 50 servings of Tianshan Snow Lotus on his Qi Cultivation. Although the Tianshan Snow Lotus could restore his hunger and rest bar, it was a waste not to use it all on Qi Cultivation so Wei Huo still spent some time hunting for food and resting.

Despite 100 years having passed, he did not spend all his time only on Qi Cultivation.

Let alone some days when he just wanted to be lost in his own thoughts. Instead of practicing Qi Cultivation, he pondered on life and observed the plants and animals around him.

That was the reason Wei Huo had only reached level five after 100 years of practice. He had also gained an extra 500 years of lifespan. The beard he had shaved never grew back and his appearance never grew any older. He became younger instead. He turned back into how he looked when he was in his early 20s.

There was no doubt that his physical qualities also improved. Throughout those 100 years, there were countless times he encountered those irascible monkeys who ran after him while holding axes. However, not even one scar from those axes left a trace on his skin.

Wei Huo knew that he was very strong right now, but as there was no comparison he does not know exactly how powerful he really was.

The time halt had not recovered and time had not left a single trace on those halted humans.

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Read Five Frozen Centuries Chapter 11 online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 11: I Would Rather Die Of Starvation Than Eat Something From You

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

An important interface in the game 'Item Mall' finally appeared on Wei Huo's feed. The variation of items available in there dazzled Wei Huo.

There was an adorable elf in a corner of Item Mall repeating the same sentence. "If you don't reload your cash, would you become stronger?"

"If you don't reload your cash…"

"Enough!" An annoyed Wei Huo tapped the mute button. Although God did say that he wanted to turn Earth into a game, he did not have to copy the exact same settings of an actual videogame, right? Why was there even cash reload function?

Wei Huo took a look at the Magical Stones he had. Unsurprisingly, he had none.

The Tianshan Snow Lotus that was being sold in Item Mall cost 200 Magical Stones. Apart from that, along with rare scrolls for martial arts, magic mantras, medicine, and weapons, the cheapest items available were food.

The Item Mall had everything one could imagine. There were Divine Eggs, high-tech weapons, and space battleships among others but they were all incredibly expensive.

At this point Wei Huo thought to himself, 'It seems like the Earth isn't the only planet that was turned into a game, it could be the whole universe!'

If God's power was absolute in this universe, it would not be out of the ordinary for him to change the universal rules and turn it into a game, would it?

Wei Huo left the cave where he had obtained his powers from as he continued being deep in thought.

The cave was the same as every other cave around the world. It was easier to get out of one than entering it. It all depended on one's will to leave.

The Qi Cultivation could not be completed without Magical Stones. It was a better idea to go out and look for Magical Stones as Wei Huo was salivating over those items in Item Mall!

However, just as Wei Huo exited the cave, he was attacked by something huge.

Wei Huo could not see what it was. He could only feel a creature approaching him from his back before jumping on him.

Nonetheless, the creature was no match for Wei Huo's reflexes. It was slammed onto the ground over his shoulders.

Wei Huo got a good look at the creature that attacked him after throwing it over his shoulders. He saw black round ears, black-and-white fur, a plump figure, as well as two huge and dark circles around its eyes.

A giant panda?

The Giant Panda was four times larger than an average adult panda!

However, Wei Huo's powers and speed were at a terrifying state when unleashed after consistent training giving him strong combat powers! On top of that, his Qi-Training Skill was at level five. Every cell in his body was filled with Qi energy. That made him stronger than ever!

The Giant Panda was laying on its back with its limbs up. It was confused as it had not made sense of what happened.

'What's going on? Who am I? Where am I?'

Moments later, the Giant Panda got up and stared at Wei Huo angrily with its small eyes but it did not look threatening at all because of its dark circles and black ears. The panda seemed adorable instead.

Something was not right! The Giant Panda was confused. 'This living creature is so small and I'm so huge. How could he be stronger than me?'

Wei Huo understood it all as he saw the panda's expression. 'Accelerated Mutation', 'Accelerated Evolution', 'Accelerated Reproduction', and 'Emergence of Intelligent Creatures'. These updates by God caused improvements in the IQs of many animals. On top of monkeys, it seemed like the IQ of pandas had been increased as well!

Wei Huo took a step towards it. The Giant Panda stood up immediately and growled loudly.

'Don't come near me! I'm really fierce!'

Wei Huo took two more steps, but the Giant Panda turned around instead and ran. Although it was swaying as it ran, its speed was commendable!

Wei Huo was confused. 'Am I that scary? Why are you so timid?'

Wei Huo understood it all moments later. Wild giant pandas were rare in Z Country as most were bred by humans. After civilization came halted a century ago, it was hard for giant pandas at the conservatory to survive without humans providing food to them.

On top of that, peculiar creatures continued popping up as the mutation rate increased. Making it harder for giant pandas to defend themselves at times.

"New quest, 'Beast-taming'. The Player is required to tame a beast. A game item will be rewarded once the quest is completed."

Wei Huo was startled. "???"

'There's another quest?'

As he thought about the previous 8x Scope, Wei Huo felt that the awarded item could be another sham. However, he did not want to pass on any opportunities to evolve himself but how should one tame a beast?

"Quest hint. If the Player does not know how to tame a beast, the Player could ask other players with beast-taming experience for advice."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'I'm the only player online right now!'

Wei Huo was a little angry. 'Screw it, let's get something to eat!'

The past century spent had caused Wei Huo's rank to change dramatically once again.

'Rank, Slightly Abnormal.'

Wei Huo had no energy left in him to complain about the Ranking System. One thing was for sure though, 'Slightly Abnormal' and 'Normal' felt miles apart from each other. It was easier for Wei Huo to hunt for the Normal-rank creatures now. He no longer needed any tools for it. He could just grab that creature with his bare hands. He was also strong enough to break the bones of cattle, sheep, and pigs. His punch could immediately break the thick tree trunk.

As his Qi-Training Skill was at level five, Wei Huo's hunger, thirst, and rest bars lowered much slower. Basically, he only needed to drink water once every five days, eat once a month, and rest once every five days.

With his new Qi System, Qi naturally replaced the energy consumption in his body. If his Qi-Training Skill reached level 20, he might not even need to eat or rest ever again.

Though that was the case, eating was a form of spiritual enjoyment in itself. It was not just to fill a person up. After a century of hunting and cooking, Wei Huo's Culinary Skill had reached level 12 and he even obtained a title along with it.

'Guru Among the Chefs.'

A hundred years were enough for a lot of things to happen. Even a musically illiterate person would become a great pianist after practicing for a hundred years.

Wei Huo cut up his prey and began roasting them. He had a few bottles and cans of spices with him. Even after years of plant mutations, their mutations were still no match for the human brain. Wei Huo found a few plants that could be turned into spices after multiple attempts.

Once spices were sprinkled on, the aroma of roasted meat immediately spread throughout the jungle.

At that very moment, there was a sudden movement in the bushes next to Wei Huo. He heard sounds of drool hitting the ground as well.

Wei Huo smiled. He cut up a huge piece of meat and threw it in the direction of that sound.

It was the Giant Panda that had attacked Wei Huo earlier, hiding in the bushes. It had planned to hunt somewhere further away, but it was attracted by the aroma of food. However, it did not dare to snatch the food away from Wei Huo.

As it stared at the roasted meat thrown in its direction, the intelligent panda immediately thought that this was a trap. 'I would rather die of starvation than eat something from you!'

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Chapter 12: A Wise Man Knows His Food

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Smells great!"

Wei Huo left with the roasted meat after realizing that the panda did not dare to come out. The giant panda rushed out after Wei Huo had left and gobbled through the food. However, there was too little for the panda that it finished the roasted meat within moments.

Wei Huo knew the reason that Giant Panda was afraid of him. On top of his bear-like strength, it was also because of the scent he emitted.

With level five Qi-Training Skill, Wei Huo had a scent around him that was invisible to the human eye. It was both coercive and courageous, causing invisible mental stresses. Animals were highly sensitive to such things, and that was why they would behave like that subconsciously.

However were they to be accustomed to each other, that feeling of fear would have disappeared eventually.

If he topped it off by seducing it with food, chances of taming it would be much higher.

That was why the aroma of food was everywhere in the jungle today.

Every time Wei Huo provided food for the Giant Panda, a notification would pop up on his Social Feed. "A friendly exchange occurred with the Giant Panda."

In the introduction to the Giant Panda's attributes, Wei Huo also observed the increasingly long message under that panda's Domestication bar. Over a hundred years ago, the relationship between pandas and humans was not bad. It was said that when the Yellow Emperor1 battled Chi You, Chi You was riding a giant panda as he fought against the emperor's army.

Wei Huo took a look at the panda's ridiculous expression and thought that there was a reason Chi You lost the battle back then.

After being fed for a whole day, there were still no signs of the Giant Panda being tamed. Wei Huo said to the panda, "A wise man knows his food. If you can't be tamed, I'll change my target. Anyways, all I wanted was just to complete the quest."

The Giant Panda seemed confused. 'What are you talking about? Can you speak in Panda Language?'

The lazy Giant Panda planned on taking a nap after a filling meal, but Wei Huo was not tired yet. He left the panda behind and walked in the northwest direction alone. Since most creatures nearby had already been hunted, an animal rampage could be triggered anytime soon!

Wei Huo experienced something like this not too long ago. He was hunting in the same area for an extended period of time, and it triggered an animal rampage. All animals in the area were attacking him.

No matter how powerful Wei Huo became, he was no match for an animal rampage. Some of them were venomous as well. The last rampage Wei Huo encountered made him hide in the cave for quite some time, and it still gave him the shivers to this day. He would move from one area to another if he had hunted too frequently in one place.

However, the Giant Panda knew nothing about this. When it woke up the next morning, it was startled.

'Ah! Where did the living being that kept feeding me go?'

The Giant Panda immediately used its strong sense of smell but to no avail. As a veteran of the jungle, Wei Huo did a pretty good job of concealing his scent!

At that moment, a shocking momentum erupted in the northwest direction. It was so strong that all birds flew away in fear, and all animals looked in that direction instantly.

Soon after that, a loud tiger's roar could be heard from that direction. "Roar!"

It was definitely Wei Huo who angered that tiger, but he could not be blamed for that. Wei Huo had to do 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and run for 10km every day.

When he was working out this morning, he accidentally stepped on the soft stomach of an animal while he was jogging.

That animal woke up from its sleep, and it was not happy.

'What's going on? Why are you making noise and not sleeping this early in the morning?'

"Roar! Roar!" The huge tiger roared at Wei Huo, and it seemed like it was complaining. It was obvious that it had just woken up.

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'These animals were becoming more and more human!'

That was a giant tiger. It was about three times the size of an adult tiger from a century ago. It looked down at Wei Huo, and it clearly did not understand what species Wei Huo was. However, that tiger was the king of the jungle. It did not fear anything.

Soon after that, it jumped on Wei Huo and attempted to kill him.

It was then kicked to the ground by Wei Huo within the next second.

The tiger was confused. "???"

'What's going on? Who am I? Where am I?'

Wei Huo's body was at a horrifying peak with the daily 100 squats and 10km jogs.

As the limiter was lifted, Wei Huo's fitness could improve without limits. On top of that, he was addicted to Qi Cultivation. The strength of his cells and the energy in them were far greater than any other creature. That was why he was at the Slightly Abnormal rank, and other creatures belonged to the Normal rank.

The tiger was still a little confused. 'What's going on?'

Wei Huo approached the tiger and stared at it. He realized that the tiger was incredibly fat. One would have thought that it was a fat pig in a tiger's skin.

"Roar!" The huge tiger growled. 'What did I do to deserve this?'

Wei Huo slapped the tiger into the ground.

It was clear that the tiger was cursing itself.

Although the reproduction rate of animals increased tenfold, the reproduction rates of carnivores and herbivores were inherently different. Multiplying their propagation rates by ten only made the difference more obvious. The carnivores had been having it good, and they had not needed to worry about rampages of animals. They could have hunted all they wanted.

The Giant Tiger had a wronged expression on its face as it watched Wei Huo being deep in thought. 'Can I go yet?'

Once the tiger moved, Wei Huo stomped on it again.

The tiger was speechless. "…"

'I will not go down without a fight!' The tiger jumped up. 'I'll fight with you!'

Wei Huo took a step back and stared at it in confusion.

The tiger growled. 'Come, let's fight!'

Wei Huo understood what it meant. He said to the tiger, "Violence isn't the only way to solve conflicts. I think we can talk about it amicably. I just want to complete the quest."

'What are you talking about, can you speak in Tiger Language?'

"Roar!" The tiger jumped on him. 'I'm the king of the jungle!'

Bang! Bang! Bang! Wei Huo threw three punches back to back.

Everything turned black before the tiger's eyes.

It fainted.

When the tiger woke up, Wei Huo was roasting meat in front of it. The tiger was startled.

'Am I… being eaten?'

The tiger checked its own body, and let out a sigh of relief when it found itself was still in one piece. Soon after that, the tiger saw a drooling giant panda.

'What's going on?'

Wei Huo was in a good mood. He had planned to tame the tiger, but he did not expect that the quest was completed after the Giant Panda found where he was.

"Beast-taming quest complete. You have been rewarded with Doran's Shield1.

"Doran's Shield possesses a mysterious power. It will constantly restore your HP for as long as you wear it."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

His world was getting more and more unreal. How could a shield restore one's HP? Is the shield made out of blood vials?

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Chapter 13: Aren't We Supposed To Go South?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After taming the Giant Panda, a new message popped up on Wei Huo's Social Feed. "You're now the owner of the Giant Panda."

Wei Huo took a look at it, and it seemed like it was possible to name that panda as well. Wei Huo glanced at its foolish look and immediately named it 'Big Fool'. An abbreviation for 'Big Foolish Panda'.

Wei Huo looked over at the tiger and said, "Let's call this second fatty, 'Fatty Tiger'."

The panda and tiger were both confused. 'What are you talking about? We don't understand anything.'

After Wei Huo was done with naming them, the long-lost voice of God appeared again.

"New menu 'Map' added.

"Modifying Earth's tectonic plates to increase land area. Marine lifeforms disembarkment began.

"Biological evolution has accelerated.

"New blueprint 'Basic Construction Blueprint' added."

Wei Huo was confused. "???"

'What does modifying Earth's tectonic plates mean?'

Just as God's voice trailed off, Wei Huo heard an incredibly loud noise. It was a rumbling noise that sounded like a road roller. Soon after that, the ground vibrated, and it was getting stronger along with the loud noise. Wei Huo gradually got into a squat position on the ground. He could not stand still amidst such strong shocks!

The sky was shaking. The lands were moving. There were even landslides with the Earth all cracked up!

Those were the only phrases that were most appropriate to describe what was happening. Apart from the buildings and cars that experienced a time halt along with humans, everything else was about to be baptized by that super earthquake from the modification of Earth's plates.

Thankfully, Wei Huo was in the wild at the moment. Due to his luck, he was in the central region of the land. Although a horrifying earthquake was happening from the plates' movement, it did not hurt Wei Huo too badly. He only suffered a few scrapes on his body.

The panda and tiger did not understand what was happening. They hid under the trees while trembling. They thought an apocalypse was happening.

Wei Huo whipped up the Attributes Menu and saw the 'Map' option. He opened it to find the World Map, and all the continents on the map were moving. While these movements seemed minor on the map, it was the opposite in reality.

There were landslides and the cracks on Earth. It was as good as a 10-magnitude super earthquake.

Fortunately, humans were experiencing the time halt whilst animals and plants had undergone mutations over a hundred years. Animals had gotten bigger, while plants became stronger with their roots now being more developed to grip on the land firmly.

Wei Huo studied the map closely and realized that continents were breaking up and moving in different directions. The area Wei Huo was on was moving towards the north.

Wei Huo scrunched his eyebrows at that very moment. "We have no choice but to go south!"

The climate on earth was extremely horrible at the moment. If that area continued moving north, the average temperature would drop significantly. If animals and plants did not have good enough adapting skills, most of them would die in the blink of an eye!

They had to move south!

The earthquake's magnitude gradually decreased. The super earthquake before was caused by the strong, tearing force in the Earth. As the plates began to drift at a slower speed, the degree of vibration decreased as well. The moment the plates reached its position, it was necessary to slow down otherwise there would be another super earthquake!

There were changes in all continents according to Wei Huo's map. It seemed like God planned to group continents of the Earth into five continents namely the Centre, Upper, Lower, Left, and Right. It seemed like a virtual gaming world at the moment, but God was being a little selfish, was he not?

Wei Huo was sure that if the time halt for humans came to an end, everyone would think that they had been teleported into a gaming world. Earth, at its current state, was worlds apart from what it used to be.

Wei Huo patted both his trembling beasts and pointed towards the south.

"We have to move towards the south!" Wei Huo said.

Both beasts did not understand what Wei Huo was talking about. They were startled by the sudden earthquake. There were no telling signs of it. It was caused by a mysterious and sudden crack in the Earth. That was why those animals were not able to predict the earthquake in advance despite their instinctive hunches.

Wei Huo began moving southwards. Although the beasts did not understand what had just happened, they followed Wei Huo instinctively.

They naively assumed that following Wei Huo was their best shot at survival because of his strength and goodwill.

It was important for animals to improve their living conditions while they were alive. What was wrong with being adorable to be fed? There was no need to take the trouble of hunting when they could just live an easy life! Their ego would not feed them.

Just as Wei Huo prepared to move along with the beasts, a quest was triggered.

"New quest, 'Safety and Defence'. The human body is fragile. Equip yourself with protective gear. A game item will be rewarded once the quest is completed."

Wei Huo was stunned. Another game item? He had already collected Doran's Shield. Could it be that he was not too far from collecting the Bloodthirster1?

He had to complete the quest no matter what it was!

Wei Huo said to the beasts, "Give me a moment!"

Wei Huo ran in the direction of the north. He remembered that there were bamboos growing in that direction, and he could use them as armor. Nonetheless, bamboo-made armors were pretty useless. His own skin was tougher than those.

Both beasts were confused. "???"

'Aren't we supposed to go south?'

They could not understand the human language. That was why wherever Wei Huo went, they just followed him.

When they saw Wei Huo cutting bamboo sticks, they followed suit despite not knowing why he needed to do so.

Nothing ever goes wrong when you follow whatever the leader does, even if you don't know why.

Wei Huo was confused when he saw these two chewing on the bamboo sticks. 'What's going on? You're eating bamboo sticks? It was normal for pandas to do so, but why was the tiger chewing on them as well?'

Wei Huo saw them breaking the bamboo sticks up after chewing on them and followed the way he put those sticks together. He was confused yet again. 'What's going on, were you guys assigned to the quest as well?'

Wei Huo made his own armor by tying the bamboo sticks together using tree vines. It was a rectangular-shaped armor. There were openings on top as well as both left and right sides of it, and it was empty at the bottom. The insides of it were left empty as well.

After making his own, Wei Huo made armors for the beasts as well to protect their vulnerable stomach. However, the tiger was uncomfortable after wearing it. It attempted to bite the bamboo-made armor off its body. However, its head could not reach the armor, and it eventually started going in circles.

'You're causing trouble for me, Fatty Tiger!'

The panda did not resist when the armor was put on it, but after some time it pulled out a bamboo stick and began nibbling on it.

'These were snacks for the road!'

Wei Huo facepalmed. He knew the IQs of these beasts were not as high as he thought.

The trio began moving towards the south while Wei Huo collected the game item awarded to him.

"Quest 'Safety and Defence' completed. You have been rewarded with 'Strength Bracer'.

"Strength Bracer will slightly increase its bearer's strength."

It was a golden bracer, and Wei Huo wore it on his wrist. He threw a few punches and began crying in the next second.

It was a 'slight' increase indeed!

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Chapter 14: Vegetative People

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

At the current state of Wei Huo's body, the Strength Bracer did not aid him much. However, for new players who would have just come out of the time halt, the Strength Bracer would be extremely useful to them.

It was reasonable for Wei Huo to be dismissive of the Strength Bracer. He was over a hundred years ahead of the other players!

"Let's hope humans will come out of the time halt soon!" Wei Huo said to himself before embarking on his journey to the south with his beasts.

The journey took three long years!

They came to a stop in their journey not because they arrived at the southernmost of the northern continent, but because something had happened.

There were multiple strong earthquakes over the last three years; the latest one was then the Earth cracked. There were also a few other earthquakes that were caused by the splicing of continents. The Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western, and Central continents were coming to their final form. The Central continent had already arrived at its designated location and stopped. It was located near the equator, and Wei Huo believed that the animals and plants on that continent were feeling extremely hot.

The Northern continent Wei Huo was on was still moving towards the north. Wei Huo estimated that there was still some time until it arrived at its designated location. Nonetheless, the temperature on this continent was already at a horrifying low with half of the continent already covered in snow!

Based on the map, Wei Huo was not far from the southernmost seashore of the Northern continent. He should be arriving in about a year or two.

However, they stopped on their journey as something weird happened tonight.

Wei Huo had gone into a jungle with his beasts in the evening. They would usually start the fire before anything else, so the beasts instinctively went to find firewood. After being by Wei Huo's side for three years, they picked up a few survival skills of their own. They carried quite a bit of luggage on them. There were water bags, wooden pots, food, and some pickled meat. On top of that, there were wooden armors on their heads and bodies with scratches and prints on them.

They had been through danger time and time again over the past three years. Terrifying predators were everywhere as the speed of biological evolution had been accelerated. The preys of the past had become today's terrifying predators. None of them should be underestimated.

After coming back with firewood and having Wei Huo light it up, they found a flat and warm spot to lay down. They were tired after traveling for the day.

Wei Huo sat down with his legs crossed. He wanted to take this opportunity to train his Qi.

His face had never aged as he maintained the look he had when he was 18. His body did not grow any taller either, and he seemed like he was of the average size of not too bulky or skinny. However, his cells were full of energy and strength, and his muscles were extremely powerful.

He had been the one taking down powerful enemies along the way. All that only made the beasts even more determined to continue following him.

'What was that saying again? It did not matter if your opponent was weak, what mattered most was having a strong teammate1.

'Anyway, no one could be as weak as us.'

The trio had never taken turns during the night watch. Wei Huo would usually be meditating and training his Qi. During that process, his senses would have been heightened allowing him to even detect hostility from his surroundings. If there were any beasts about to attack them, he would wake them all up immediately.

Both beasts could rest peacefully with Wei Huo by their side. However, things were different tonight.

Wei Huo's automatic detection system failed for the first time!

When the bonfire was put out in the middle of the night, the enemies hiding around them launched an attack all of a sudden. Wei Huo did not respond at all. He only hit back when his enemies were right in front of him.

Wei Huo felt like he had punched something hard. It felt like a wooden stick. However, the wooden item was broken in half by his strong force. Wei Huo could barely see who were the assaulters in the middle of the jungle at night.

The beasts were in a more pathetic state. Before they could even make sense of what was happening, both of them were grabbed from above and growled wildly after being awakened. However, it was of no use. Python-like weapons had grabbed and curled them up in the air.

The weapons were attempting to get Wei Huo as well. Due to him being small, quick, and so strong that they could not even touch him. There were also wooden sticks coming at him, but all of them were destroyed by Wei Huo.

When Wei Huo rushed out of the jungle, he could finally see his attackers under the moonlight.

They were huge trees!

They were walking Tree-Men!

Each tree was over 20 meters tall, and all of them had two legs, two hands, huge canopies, and a pair of eyes and ears in the middle of their bodies. Some of the Tree-Men seemed like they had just emerged from the soil and as they started walking upright, their roots began shrinking back into the insides of their legs.

The other Tree-Men which had yet to emerge from the soil used their huge hands to pull themselves off the ground, and their legs out of the soil.

Wei Huo's eyes widened in shock.

'Are these Tree-Men animals or plants, or perhaps… Vegetative people?'

Wei Huo did not know how to describe them. They could either be human-shaped plants or plant-shaped humans. They seemed like they were quite interested in Wei Huo. They surrounded him while one of the Tree-Man still had the beasts tied up in its vines. Their luggage as well as daily provisions started falling onto the ground. Those Tree-Men stared at the things curiously and stopped moving.

Wei Huo's brows scrunched together. He saw the Information Feed of the Tree-Man which showed that they were all at the rank of 'Slightly Abnormal'. In other words, each of their powers was on the same rank as his own, and there were hundreds of them around him!

What could he do?

If he chose to escape without rescuing the beasts, he could make it out. However, if he chose to rescue them… Perhaps none of them would make it out.

As Wei Huo was deep in thought, one of the Tree-Man bent over with his head lowered and extended his fingers. He started shaking himself causing leaves and flowers to fall down. A few red and yellow flowers landed in front of Wei Huo.

Wei Huo was confused. "???"

'What's going on?'

Wei Huo did not see any mouths on those Tree-Men. In other words, they were unable to speak. However, it seemed like they had their own mode of communication.

Wei Huo was pretty good at biology. He knew that plants usually communicated with each other by spreading their pollen. However, he did not know what kind of trees were the Tree-Men in front of him. Their canopies had all kinds of flowers on them. It seemed like those were their organs of communication.

There was just one problem. Wei Huo could not communicate with them!

The biological evolution had indeed been accelerated. Not only did the IQs of animals increase, but even plants had also evolved into being capable of moving as well.

Within the next moment, Wei Huo sneezed. The Tree-Men was indeed communicating through pollen, and the pollen around the area was getting dense. Moments later, Wei Huo realized that the Tree-Men waved the red flowers on them followed by the yellow and purple ones intermittently.

Could it be that… was how they communicated?

Wei Huo picked up a red lower and waved it.

All Tree-Men immediately focused their attention on Wei Huo.

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Chapter 15: A Free Ride

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Just like how there were 26 letters in the alphabet and how the mandarin language was composed of various radicals, the language of these Tree-Men was made of pollen from different colored flowers.

The Tree-Men focused their attention on Wei Huo after he waved the red flower. Soon after that, the Tree-Men began communicating between themselves. They were nowhere as violent as Wei Huo was. The intensity of the pollen spread was not as strong. It was as if they were speaking softly with each other.

Wei Huo's vigorous waving of the flower was as good as shouting. It was no wonder that he attracted the attention of all Tree-Men.

The Tree-Men started communicating with each other. It was as if they were contemplating what to do with Wei Huo and his beasts. Moments later, the Tree-Men stopped communicating after a breeze blew over them.

It was just like how people wouldn't be able to hear clearly in a noisy surrounding. If there was a breeze, the affected spread of the pollen would affect the efficiency of communication amongst the Tree-Men. That was why they would stop talking among themselves amidst the wind.

Wei Huo did not know what those Tree-Men were talking about. Fortunately, that Tree-Man put his beasts down after some time.

Both beasts were shaking and none of them dared to escape while being surrounded by Tree-Men.

It seemed as if there was a leader among the Tree-Men. It approached Wei Huo and pointed in the direction of the north.

Wei Huo understood that those Tree-Men were planning to migrate southwards as well. They had the same goal as Wei Huo.

The pollen of the Tree-Men was floating everywhere and Wei Huo could not help but sneeze. The Tree-Men looked over at him out of curiosity. It was obvious that they recognized both the panda and the tiger, but had no memories of humans.

Wei Huo was the only human on Earth who could move around freely.

After talking to each other among themselves, the Tree-Men decided to walk with Wei Huo and his giant beasts. The group of Tree-Men then went back to their pits after coming to a decision. Some of the Tree-Men who had no pits began digging their own.

They had a peculiar method of digging. They would first extend their tough roots, and upon touching the ground, their roots drilled straight into it until their legs were completely buried in the soil.

It did not matter if they were Tree-Men or merely trees. They needed nutrients from the ground.

Both beasts were a little confused. They did not know if they should escape or stay, but Wei Huo made it clear that he was staying.

As a citizen of Z Country who was nurtured by its culture and traditions, of course, he understood the value of being one with nature and living in harmony with it.

That was not the whole truth. At the end of the day, it was because Wei Huo was afraid of loneliness!

He had initially decided to bring both beasts along with him and later chose to join the group of Tree-Men, all because he was afraid of loneliness.

As the only human on Earth who did not experience the time halt, he had been feeling lonely all the while.

He no longer had parents nagging him. He no longer had friends and classmates complaining about things and teasing dogs together. The worst part was the online novels he was reading no longer had any updates! If it was not for the sliver of hope that someday time would eventually resume for humans, Wei Huo would have lost it by now.

'When will this time halt ever end?'

There were always a few days in a month where he did not feel like training his Qi or exercising. It was just like how some authors would not feel like updating their novels for a few days in a month, and how girls had a few days in a month that… No, that was not the same.

Wei Huo basically thought about his life and future that way every month. Nonetheless, he always chose to persevere and move forward. Setbacks and hardships could only be overcome bit by bit, persistence was the key to victory!

As he remained deep in thought, the night had passed and the sky was lit up!

The Tree-Men opened their eyes and used their thick palms to push themselves out of the ground. Soon after that, they shook their bodies under the glimmer of morning light. Leaves and petals fell along with the wind, and Wei Huo could not help himself but sneeze.

"Are you… saying 'Good Morning' in unison?"

Just like humans wishing each other 'Good Morning' when they see each other, those Tree-Men seemed like they were doing just the same. Greeting each other after waking up before embarking on a new journey!

Wei Huo and his beasts went on with their journey again. The difference was now they had a huge group with them. That was right, the 'huge' in a huge group was meant to describe the size of the Tree-Men.

The Tree-Men did not move quickly because of their size as a single step for them was equivalent to a few steps of other animals. That was why whenever they took a step, Wei Huo and his beasts had to catch up with them by running.

After taking a few steps, the giant Tree-Men was annoyed by the slowness of Wei Huo and his company. They decided to grab Wei Huo and his beasts and chucked the trio on their canopies before continuing the journey.

Wei Huo was a little excited.

They had a good relationship. He had a free ride, and he could enjoy the scenery as well.

The Tree-Men may have moved slowly but due to their large strides, their speed was actually very fast. That greatly improved the efficiency of Wei Huo's journey to the south. Moreover, they no longer needed to walk.

Wei Huo could see the entire jungle as he sat on the canopy. At the same time, he could tell the difference between jungles in the north and the south. The trees and leaves in the north had become bare. As the continent was still moving north, the weather was getting colder!

The Tree-Men continued traveling and found a small stream along the way. Wei Huo directly jumped off the canopy since a 20-meter height was no longer difficult to him. He jumped down to fetch water. Water was the source of life, and no living creature could live without it.

The Tree-Men stepped into the stream, and their roots began absorbing water at a ridiculous rate. Soon after that, the water level in the stream evidently decreased.

'Did these Tree-Men obtain a water-storing organ from evolution?

'This wasn't odd at all since camels had such an organ too.'

After storing enough water, Wei Huo went on his journey with the Tree-Men. He no longer needed the Tree-Men to grab him as he could jump up the canopy by himself.

Tree-Men were generous and honest creatures. These qualities cemented their status among other creatures in the jungle.

They had no natural enemies as no carnivores would come to prey on them. Herbivores did not dare to provoke them at all, nor would they prey on other animals or plants. As long as there were sunlight and soil, they could photosynthesize and absorb all the nutrients they needed.

However, a Tree-Man collapsed today.

The last Tree-Man had collapsed on their journey to the south. Its collapse was similar to a five-story building crashing down. The ground could not be helped but shook from it as well.

Other Tree-Men turned around and had a sad expression on their faces. Pollen began flying everywhere causing Wei Huo and his giant beasts to sneezed helplessly.

The Tree-Men mourned for their companion for a while before continuing their journey.

Tree-Men were not suited for long-distance travel. They were only suited to stay in one place. However, as the weather on the Northern continent turned cold, they had no choice but to move to the south and by doing so could lead to their eventual death!

The biggest enemy of living creatures was aging. No living creature could beat aging, decaying, and the end of life.

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Chapter 16: The Weather Was Getting Colder

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The weather was getting colder, and the temperature was dropping non-stop. There was ice on the surface of the water every morning, and every day there would be a Tree-Man who either collapsed or never woke up again and became an actual tree.

Tree-men did not have natural enemies, but they were no match for the cold weather.

Wei Huo began coming up with solutions for them. He started using hay to make mats and wrapped the Tree-Men with them. Before humans experienced the time halt, they used that method to protect London Plane Trees1.

On top of that, he could brush lime water on them as well but where could one find limestones at that moment?

The Tree-Men would light up bonfires every night. Otherwise, the water in them would become frozen.

The leaves on the Tree-Men's canopies continued falling, and it was as if they were balding like middle-aged men. The condition was serious as the leaf loss decreased their photosynthesis efficiency. It was just like tooth loss for humans. That was a serious situation.

Wei Huo was determined in finding solutions, but the Tree-Men were never the kind of moving plants that were suitable for long journeys.

Fortunately, Tree-Men had a stronger determination than humans. Regardless of what happened even if there was only one Tree-Man left standing, they would continue traveling to the south until they arrived at the southernmost part of the Northern continent.

That was only wishful thinking. There were Tree-Men dying every day, and Wei Huo estimated that they were about a year away from arriving at the southernmost part of the continent. Moreover, the temperature continued dropping to only 10C in the middle of the day and up to -30C at night.

When the Tree-Men woke up every morning, they would find one of their companions became an actual tree. However, they believed that these Tree-Men would come back to life if the weather became warmer.

The last Tree-Man eventually collapsed. It was not dead yet, and they were still moving with Wei Huo dragging it forward!

"Don't die!" Wei Huo continued encouraging the Tree-Man who had lost a lot of weight while carrying it over his shoulders.

Though that was the case, it seemed like Wei Huo was dragging a fallen five-story building forward. Every step he took left a footprint on the frozen ground. The training he had done throughout the hundred years made Wei Huo extraordinarily strong. The human limiter was lifted, and his strength was growing without limits. There were no longer limits to what humans could do.

The Tree-Men were different from animals. If one had survived, their species could eventually multiply into a community. Unfortunately, the Tree-Man over Wei Huo's shoulders did not survive in the end.

Wei Huo dug a huge pit and buried it in the soil upright. He hoped that things would turn out exactly how the Tree-Men had imagined, that all of them would come back to life when the weather got warmer.

Wei Huo took dozens of seeds from the Tree-Man and packed it into a small bag. He eventually continued his journey to the south.

It was snowing heavily, and the beasts put another layer of straw mats on themselves. Wei Huo's Qi-Training Skill not only increased his lifespan but also made him unaffected by both heat and cold. At the very least until he had exhausted his Qi energy, he would have continued to feel nothing amidst the freezing temperatures around him.

The ground was covered in snow, and the leaves had all fallen. Despite that, they continued traveling.

There was another reason why the Northern continent was freezing, it was currently winter.

Hunting gradually became tougher as many animals lost their lives from the low temperatures. They had all suffered from hypothermia. In the face of extremely low temperatures, death was inevitable without sufficient energy and thick fur protection to keep them warm.

If one knew how to light bonfires and sew clothes, he could resist the cold to a certain extent.

Wei Huo found a group of monkeys who lit their own bonfires and sewed their own clothes. It was as if they were humans pretending to be monkeys.

Wei Huo met polar bears and arctic wolves as well.

The polar bears and arctic wolves made it clear that the north is getting too cold. They had decided to run towards the south as well.

Meanwhile, Wei Huo's beasts showed off their skills at this moment. They detected the smell of some dead beasts from time to time and pulled the frozen animals out of the snow.

The dead animals did not rot at all under the extremely cold temperatures. They were edible after being thawed with fire.

Nonetheless, the panda and tiger were on the brink of collapsing, and Wei Huo basically carried all the luggage by himself. He wrapped both beasts with thick animal fur as well, but they were still about to collapse from the cold.

They rarely snarled to conserve energy, and barely ate as well. Their moods were pretty bad too without apparent reason.

They were after all animals of temperate climate, barely holding it together as the temperature became cold.

They eventually collapsed on that day when the highest temperature was only -1C.

Hypothermia was the horrifying disease that threatened all animals and plants on the Northern continent. Apart from Wei Huo and the humans who were in the time halt, no living creatures were spared by it.

Wei Huo could no longer continue his journey. He stayed and cut up snags to build a cabin. It was impossible for Wei Huo to build a house for the Tree-Men due to their size, but both beast's sizes were still manageable.

"You have to stay alive!" Wei Huo built the cabin for his beasts and started a bonfire in the cabin before going out to hunt on his own.

It was snowing heavily outside the cabin, and the snow was knee-deep. Hunting had also become tougher than it previously was.

Wei Huo thought about the movie 'Life of Pi' which he had previously watched. A young man and a tiger were drifting across the ocean on the same boat where they were eventually rescued.

However, Wei Huo's situation was different from that young man in the movie. Wei Huo was no longer young, and he was used to the life and death of living beings. He was just trying his very best to save the beasts at that moment.

If they died in the end, Wei Huo might be sad about it but he would not be crying over them.

"What a shame! It's impossible to teach the Qi-Training Skill to you guys." Wei Huo said as he patted both the beast's heads.

The Qi-Training Skill was a system skill. As long as a player's posture was right, the skill could have been unlocked and obtained. However, when it came to teaching the skill to others, it was impossible to do so for humans, let alone animals.

Both beasts were dying. The fat tiger and fat panda had both become skinny.

They had collapsed in the cabin and did not move. Their tongues were out, and they were panting heavily. It seemed like they were having an asthma attack. They also seemed like they were suffering greatly.

Wei Huo would prefer them to howl if they were in pain, but they could not react to the pain as humans do. They were quiet as they stared into space. They only reacted a little whenever Wei Huo patted them by looking over at Wei Huo or wagged their tails at him.

Even if Wei Huo placed food in front of them, they could only sniff and licked it. They did not want to eat at all. Wei Huo had no choice but to force-feed them and made them swallow it.

Wei Huo walked out of the cabin and stared at falling snow from the grey sky. He could not help but sigh. "Damn! It's still long before winter comes to an end!"

It was a torture for both beasts every night. The temperature continued falling, and the low temperature at night was even more terrifying. Adding more firewood to the bonfire continuously throughout the night was a futile effort as it had barely brought any warmth to the cabin.

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Chapter 17: Since When Did The Sun Rise From The South

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The Northern continent was shrouded by the extreme cold. Everything was covered in snow; the sudden low temperature caused many animals to freeze straight to death.

Only the strongest survived was the law of nature. The weather was changing rapidly and temperatures continued dropping. One had to either migrate or evolve otherwise, death was inevitable.

Early in the next morning, temperatures had begun to rise. The beasts were no longer having asthma attacks, they…

They were in a much better state. They finally began to rest with their eyes shut and their breathing was much more stabilized now.

Based on the messages tab, their conditions went from 'Hypothermia (severe)' to 'Hypothermia (mild)'.

Wei Huo was unaffected as he possessed the strengthened immune system which God had given to humans on top of his strong body quality and Qi-Training Skill.

As mentioned in one of the previous updates, God had given humans strengthened immune and digestive systems presumably for them to quickly adapt in such harsh environments after they come out of the time halt.

However, the stable condition of both beasts had nothing to do with their immune systems. It could be that they had evolved. God's update stated clearly that biological evolution was also accelerated.

Wei Huo let out a sigh of relief. He studied both beasts closely. Although the beasts' ability to move, breath, and etc were weak at the moment, in addition to both their health columns displayed as "Severely Ill", they were evidently getting better.

The biological evolution of all living creatures was accelerated yet again. Despite the extreme and cruel cold, there were animals that survived and continued reproducing. It was not going to take long before Earth was filled with living creatures again.

Just this morning, Wei Huo saw a group of mountain hares that were jumping around in the snow. They were not trapped in the snow because of the special structure of their feet which gave them a huge advantage during the winter. Hunters usually had a hard time catching up with them.

However, unfortunately, they bumped into Wei Huo. He was not the type of hunter who would reason with you. He could either use his bow or directly chase after his prey. He could have killed his prey with just one punch, scratch, or kick.

If one's speed was fast enough, he could both walk on water and not be buried by the snow.

When Wei Huo returned to the cabin with those mountain hares, both the panda and tiger had sat up and they now were capable of adding firewood to the bonfire themselves.

According to their Health Menu, their hypothermia had subsided. It was just that their bodily functions have yet to recover fully. They could barely move or eat, but their ability to breathe had recovered.

They began drinking from the wooden bowl containing water that had been boiled from melted snow and cooled again. The wooden bowl was personally made by Wei Huo for holding water.

Wei Huo slaughtered the mountain hares and allowed both beasts to have some before lying down again.

Wei Huo let out a sigh of relief. Truth be told, he was of barely any help to them. He had no medicine nor was he a vet. In addition, he had no abilities to control temperatures at the moment. The beasts could only help themselves regarding the low temperature, but fortunately, they made it through.

However, Wei Huo thought to himself, 'What if I was the one who was sick? I'm the only one in the world who isn't stuck in the time halt, and I couldn't go to the hospital or see a doctor. I'm the only one who could save myself!'

Wei Huo pulled out a mobile phone packed in a small plastic bag. The plastic bag had worn out, while the phone inside was wrapped in layers of transparent tape. Nonetheless, the phone had already rusted.

It was no surprise that it could not be used anymore since the buttons could no longer be pressed, and the screen was completely cracked. After the end of time halt, Wei Huo could just buy himself another one provided that civilization and the economy had recovered sufficiently. Wei Huo was only worried if he could still get himself integrated into society by then.

There were days in a month where he did not feel like training his Qi and spent time thinking about life instead. Wei Huo spent more time doing that this month. Thankfully, Giant Panda and Fatty Tiger had recovered their ability to move after three days. They could go out and hunt on their own now.

They did not express gratitude towards Wei Huo. Most importantly, they did not speak Human Language, and hence they did not know how to express gratitude as humans do. After eating and drinking, their priorities were to play and roll around in the snow. Whenever Wei Huo appeared in front of them, they would approach Wei Huo affectionately and either lick his palms gently, rub their bodies against his trousers, or happily run around Wei Huo.

They did not smile because they did not know how to show their teeth to Wei Huo. Their way of showing gratitude to him was by lowering their heads in front of him and waiting to be petted.

Truth be told, Wei Huo did not need them to thank him. As long as they stayed alive, it was good enough for him. They should live their lives to the fullest at the very least.

Wei Huo could see the lifespans of both of them through the Health Menu.

'Giant Panda. Age: 27 Years Old. Lifespan: 90 Years.'

'Fatty Tiger. Age: 37 Years Old. Lifespan: 60 Years.'

Based on their lifespans the panda was still considered young, but the tiger was already middle-aged. Nonetheless, both their lifespans were nowhere as long as Wei Huo's. They were going to die eventually!

Wei Huo sighed at that moment.

After the beasts recovered fully, Wei Huo chose to continue his journey. He took both of them toward the south. They were now more resistant to the cold after evolving once again and had thicker fur.

The last time both beasts collapsed, Wei Huo did think about using Doran's Shield's Health-Recovering Skill, but unfortunately, Doran's Shield could only recover one's health but had no effect on curing hypothermia. One would probably need slags to resist the extreme cold.

Wei Huo continued traveling south with the beasts for the next two years.

One year should have been sufficient initially, but because it was difficult to walk on the slippery snow-covered ground it took longer. No matter what difficulties they encountered, they overcame it. Two years later, Wei Huo arrived at the southernmost part of the Northern continent with his beasts, and they finally saw the ocean!

When Wei Huo and company arrived at the seashore, the first ray of morning light appeared on the horizon. Wei Huo felt something was amiss.

'Wait… did I not come from the north? How is it possible that the Sun is rising in the south? Since when did the Sun rise from the south?'

Wei Huo realized that he was wrong moments later. It was not the sun that had risen. It was a huge fireball in the air. The fireball flew up high before exploding in the sky into tiny flames that fell. Soon after that, the sky and ground turned dark again.

Wei Huo could not understand what was going on, but he had felt a horrifying aura coming from the southern seas. The aura was incredibly strong and terrifying that it sent chills down his back.

While Wei Huo was thinking about it, both beasts behind him were already lying on the ground and shivering. They instinctively felt fear towards the sea at first glance.

Wei Huo frowned and had a thought that since all animals on land exceeded their limitations by evolving into giants, what kind of evolved monsters could come out of the sea which was already filled with huge creatures in the first place?

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Chapter 18: Preparing To Sail

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

As water had high heat capacity, the energy that it could have absorbed or released during temperature changes were vast. That meant there would not be huge temperature variations while living near the sea. It would have been warm during the winter and cool during the summer due to the sea breeze which helped to regulate the surrounding temperatures. One could get food from the ocean, and it helped that seawater could also be evaporated into salt.

Wei Huo had already begun constructing a cabin on the shore. He also found a suitable piece of land for farming and planted the Tree-Men's seeds before putting up a fence to protect it. He had done all he could, and whether the Tree-Men species could be revived was now up to those seeds.

However, there were also troubles at the seaside such as typhoons or tsunamis.

When the Northern continent arrived at its designated location, its drifting speed began decreasing which triggered yet another strong earthquake. If it was not for Wei Huo who had set up wooden piles on the coast in advance, the farming land he had reclaimed could have been washed away.

The earthquake's magnitude which recently occurred was not too great, measuring around 7-magnitude. After the Northern continent slowed its drifting speed, the temperatures stopped dropping. It was even picking up again because spring had arrived.

After being busy for over 100 years, Wei Huo could finally enjoy life for the first time.

He laid down on the beach and basked in the sun. He was enjoying the sea breeze while looking at drifting clouds on the horizon when God's voice appeared again.

"Releasing 10,000 units of 'God's Envoy' artificial intelligence beings.

"Gameworld fine-tuning begins. The first test begins."

Wei Huo was taken aback. He got up from the beach and realized that games were usually tested several times before they were officially launched. The most important part of these tests was to find flaws. Game companies would usually seek out professional players to test their game for any bugs. Based on the feedback from those gamers, they would then modify the game to make it more entertaining.

Wei Huo was taken aback. Were those 10,000 units of artificial intelligence beings deployed to test the game?

It was indeed very godly!

Just as God's voice disappeared, countless colorful rays of divine light fell from the skies and flew in the direction of the Central continent. God's voice could be heard again.

"The Central continent is officially open."

The Central continent is open? Wei Huo could not help but stare in the southern direction. He could not miss the chance and had to get to the Central continent to find Magic Stones so that he could purchase those items in the Item Mall. He could no longer improve his Qi-Training Skill at the moment without the external help of natural treasures and precious Cultivation Resources Spots. It was indeed difficult to improve one's Qi Cultivation rank.

Although his current lifespan exceeded 500 years, who knew how long the time halt was going to last? What if it lasted for a thousand years or two?

He needed to get his hands on those Magic Stones. He had no choice but to continue his journey toward the Central continent!

Before he could begin his journey, he needed to build a boat to get to the Central continent. It must not be an ordinary boat either. It had to be a huge ship with sails, and it needed a compass as well.

Fortunately, God had already given players the basic ability to build long ago. Wei Huo did not know how to build cabins initially, but with that ability, he could do it as long as he found a cabin's blueprint among the icons. The cabin would then build itself by placing the blueprint on the floor together with materials needed on top of it. Was it not magical?

Yes, it was magical, but at the same time, it was a game. There was no need to dwell on the details so much.

It was no wonder that the blueprint icon also contained a blueprint for medium-sized sailboats as well as a blueprint for pirate ships. However, the materials needed to build them were not limited to only wood. Wei Huo dragged the blueprint of a pirate ship onto the seashore and watched as a faint outline of a sailboat appeared on the sea.

However, there were too many materials needed for that blueprint to be gathered that one or two days will not be enough.

That was not an issue for Wei Huo who had all the time in the world. He spent the next two decades collecting various materials for the ship.

The Fatty Tiger had changed vastly over the last two decades. Although it was still fat, it was getting lazier. At times, it would even lie on the coast and bask in the sun all day.

At other times, it would stare blankly at a tree for the whole day. It was no longer active other than hunting. It could just lie down and sleep for the whole day with only moving its feet once in a while.

Its fur was getting darker, and its gaze was gradually becoming empty. Over time, It could no longer hunt like it.

Wei Huo knew those signs meant that the tiger's end was near. Its lifespan was already almost twice the average lifespan of a normal tiger. Nonetheless, animals could not resist their biggest enemy of all, death!

The Lifespan Menu only showed that Fatty Two's lifespan was 60 years, but Wei Huo was unclear if the 60 years meant 60 years and 364 days or 60 years and 1 day. He was unsure if the tiger was currently 59 years and 364 days old or 59 years and 1 day old.

Anyways it was going to die sooner or later. The Attributes Menu would not lie about something like that, and furthermore Wei Huo could not do anything to help it.

Any living creature had to face this head-on; death!

No living creature would be spared by it!

On that day when Wei Huo was having another sail trial, Fatty Tiger who had been lying under the sun got up all of a sudden and walked staggeringly towards the shore. It arrived at a meadow surrounded with flowers on the ground. There was a row of fences on one side and tiny trees within the fenced up area. Those were bred from the seeds that Tree-Man left with Wei Huo. Although they had begun to grow, it did not seem like they were turning into new clan members of the Tree-Men. Wei Huo had to leave them to travel to the Central continent.

It was his seventh sail trial today. Wei Huo was going to embark on his journey once he had everything ready.

However, for some reason, the Fatty Tiger came over to the meadow today and stared at those flowers blankly. It began doing things it had never done such as sniffed the blooming blue flowers, and stared blankly at a towering tree on a hill in the distance. It looked to the south again with squinted eyes and stared at the clouds on the horizon. Eventually, it stood up with its head held high and looked up at the scorching sun up in the sky before it collapsed…

Under the mild breeze, its collapse in the meadow seemed like nothing had happened at all.

Wei Huo had brought the panda along with him for the sail trial this time to let it get used to sailing. As the panda could not get used to it the past six times, they could not go on their journey right away. However for some reason today, the panda was no longer making a fuss. It laid lazily on the deck and seemed deep in thought about something.

There was definitely nothing wrong with the ship. That ship was built in some peculiar way, produced by the system. Its quality was guaranteed.

Wei Huo was confident that they could officially get on with their journey very soon.

They could leave as long as they had stocked up on some resources and prepared a few tools.

Wei Huo could not find Fatty Tiger when he returned, but with the panda's heightened sense of smell, they found the tiger collapsed in the meadow. It was laying there quietly and seemed like it was just sleeping.

It was not the first time Wei Huo had encountered something like this. However, that was different from hypothermia symptoms. The Fatty Tiger was not panting, and it seemed like it was not in pain either. It was often reminiscing about something, and would blankly stare into space at times. Sometimes, it would take a walk and wag its tail while other times it would lick Wei Huo's palm.

However, the tiger was extraordinarily quiet today.

The panda walked over. It would usually be mischievous and walk while swaying its body, but it was quiet today. It had walked over to the tiger's body and sniffed it.

It did not cry or have any painful expression on its face. There was nothing. The Giant Panda just looked up at Wei Huo and walked off.

Wei Huo did not walk over. He could see everything in the Health Menu.

'Name: Fatty Tiger.'

'Gender: Male.'

'Status: Dead.'

Chapter 19: We'll Set Out At Dawn

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Fatty Tiger eventually passed away. It was at the end of its life, and no one could stop it.

Wei Huo did not say much. He saw how the giant tiger laid in the meadow peacefully. It did not move an inch and seemed like it was sleeping just like any other time of the day it would be doing. One could only realize that its chest stopped moving upon closer inspection, and the tip of its nose was dried up. The tiger's fierce aura gradually dissipated.

Wei Huo did not plan on moving it as it had made its choice. It chose that spot to be its final resting place.

Wei Huo walked towards the Giant Panda and patted its head. "It's time to go."

They did not want to disturb the tiger's peace. Life and death were the most common things in nature, and moreover the giant tiger passed away in peace. It had not led a difficult life. It basically had never starved since it met Wei Huo, and it survived the huge hypothermia crisis. It did not starve to death or die from a disease. That was already the best ending compared to other creatures in nature.

If it was a human, one could say that it had led a life of no regrets. However, Wei Huo's helpless sigh was for its inability to resist death.

Wei Huo clenched his fists. If there was hope for eternal life in that world, no living creature would give up hope!

Together with the Giant Panda, Wei Huo boarded the ship in the night. He had moved all the resources needed onto the ship, and after seven sailing trials, Wei Huo knew enough about helming the ship. Although the Giant Panda was afraid of the sea, it had gotten used to boarding a ship and sailing. Its lifespan may be way longer than the Giant Tiger's, but eventually, its life would also come to an end someday.

Nonetheless, it was just as what Wei Huo had decided. Nothing could be determined until the last minute.

The uncertainties of the world had caused people to be fearful of them. For example… We would not know when we would have died from a disease… We would not know when we could lose our jobs… We would not know when a natural disaster would land on us… but these uncertainties were also the reason our world was so wonderful.

One of the many mentioned uncertainty was God's voice. At that moment, God's voice could be heard again as he was planning to bring a little uncertainty into the world.

"Quest Evaluation System implemented.

"New occupations 'Hunter', 'Gardener', 'Factory Manager', 'Architect', 'Researcher', and 'Artist' added.

"Ten new skills added for each occupation."

Wei Huo felt refreshed. Was it possible to switch jobs now? He had ten basic skills and a Qi Cultivation Skill at the moment. However because no new skills had appeared so far, he had never acquired anything new until now. After all, the development of the game had yet to be completed.

Wei Huo checked the system immediately. He found the 'Job Change' option, but unfortunately one needed to complete the Job Change Quest beforehand.

"Please go to the Central continent and look for the corresponding NPCs to accept the Job Change Quest."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

It was no surprise that a string of quests would have appeared as the Central continent opened up. Those artificial-intelligence beings could pose as players to test out the game. Once the game launches, they could be turned into NPCs to serve humans.

It had been 20 years since the Central continent was opened up. The first trial would be ending soon, and Wei Huo had to rush there as soon as possible.

Wei Huo began sorting through resources, checking the ship's equipment, and waited for dawn to arrive.

"We'll set out at dawn~"

Wei Huo nearly sang it out loud.

It was human to cry and laugh whenever one felt like it as it was panda-like to sleep and eat whenever it felt like it.

When the first ray of light appeared on the horizon along with the first sea breeze hit the land, Wei Huo raised his sails and pulled the anchor. He stuck a pirate flag on the bow of the ship as he got ready to set out to the ocean!

He waited for ten minutes and the ship still did not move an inch.

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

The wind was not strong enough.

The pirate flag was moving loudly amidst the wind. It was not a typical pirate flag with a skull on it, instead, it was the head of a strange creature. It had black ears, dark circles under its eyes, and a white face. It looked fat, round, and furry. That was the portrait of an adorable panda!

Wei Huo felt awkward. "Um…"

He went to the bow and pulled down the flag. Soon after that, a gush of strong wind struck the ship, and its sails were propped up by it. The ship was thrust forward. Wei Huo quickly ran to the captain's cabin and got a grip of the rudder.

The ship was officially sailing towards that continent in the south!

After seven sailing trials, the panda was already used to sea sailing. It crawled into the lower deck skillfully and pulled out a bamboo stick to chew on it. There were only chewing sounds in the lower deck for quite some time.

The strong winds from the land were forcing that ship to travel at full speed. The sails were fully propped up, and the ship was at maximum speed.

It was not a cloudless sky today. There were weirdly-shaped clouds in the sky. Some were shaped like cotton candy, some looked like steak, some looked like chicken thighs, and Wei Huo thought there was a particular cloud that looked like a plate of braised pork.

Motherf*cker…

Wei Huo thought the clouds today seemed more peculiar than usual.

He stared right at the clouds. 'Do you know what I'm thinking about?'

The Central continent was officially opened, and NPCs had appeared. No matter what genre this game world belonged to, there must be good food, alcohol, and humans. Although they were only artificial intelligence beings, they were still considered some form of a human. Wei Huo did not have any human interaction for over 100 years.

That was why he was so eager to get onto the Central continent. It was not for good food!

Wei Huo knew how to cook, but he only knew how to roast. Moreover, there were no vegetables available. More than 100 years had passed, and the seeds from the agriculture supplies store could no longer be planted. Without humans taking care of them, the human-grown vegetables and fruits would not have survived in nature against other creatures.

In fact, if there were no wild boars, Wei Huo would not have been able to savor pork for the rest of his life. Beef was even more out of the question since wild cattle could probably only be found on a prairie.

In order to make sure the trip was a successful one, Wei Huo only brought along cured meat and fruits that could be stored for a long time. Naturally, there was also a pile of bamboo sticks, but it probably was not going to be enough for the panda. Thankfully, Wei Huo's Qi-Training Skill had leveled up, and his need for food or water had decreased.

On top of that, Wei Huo had prepared fishing nets and fishing rods for the journey. As soon as the ship sailed into the southbound current, he could start fishing. The south was warmer hence, those fish would have definitely migrated to the south as well. They usually swam with the current to conserve energy, and that behavior was convenient for fishermen.

Even if there was not enough food, Wei Huo still had 40 servings of Tianshan Snow Lotus. However, Wei Huo thought it would be a waste if those were only used to curb hunger.

At this moment, the quest system posted a new quest.

"New quest, 'Fishing'. The Player is required to catch a fish from the nearby ocean. A game item will be rewarded once the quest is completed. The system will evaluate the rarity of the fish. The higher its rank, the more rare the reward will be."

Wei Huo was taken aback. 'Was this the Quest Evaluation System?'

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Chapter 20: This Fish Is Most Mischievous

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wei Huo regretted his small-sized fishing rod. The higher the rating of the fish caught, the higher the completion rate of the quest, and hence the rarer the game item reward was. It could be a Bloodthirster or a Guardian Angel1! He would not mind either!

Wei Huo did not have ready-made materials therefore there was no other way about it at the moment. He could only use the fishing rod he had previously made to complete the fishing quest. Truth be told, the quality of his fishing rod was quite good. It was pretty tough and strong.

However, that moment was not the right time to fish. A strong wind came from the north, and Wei Huo wanted to capitalize on that opportunity to get into the southward current once and for all. If he could do that, he could continue moving south without the wind's help.

Nonetheless, as the ship moved forward, the sky was getting cloudier. The cotton candy, steak, and chicken thigh-looking clouds disappeared only to be replaced with dark clouds.

Wei Huo frowned. The weather was unpredictable, and the storms at sea were extremely horrifying. A ship could be capsized at any moment. One must be very careful when at sea.

After a while, bright silver snakes appeared across the skies followed by deafening sounds of thunder. It seemed as if they were about to tear the sky apart as terrifying sounds continued echoing in the air.

Lightning also struck the sea from time to time causing the nearby fishes and shrimps to instantly float on the surface of the sea.

Wei Huo stared at the sky. In the face of nature's forces, he presently had no way to resist it. He could only pray that he was lucky.

There were constant strikes of thunder from the sky. Soon after that, the first drop of rain fell, and it seemed as if it unhinged a certain gear. Heavy rain suddenly started pouring down on the upper deck, causing loud pattering sounds.

The rain was violent as if the sky had split open and the raindrops formed a line. It poured like a river from the sky and flowed as if there was a waterfall opening among the clouds.

If the forces of Heaven and Earth were already so horrifying, the more so for God— which existed above it all!

'Could humans eventually evolve into Gods?'

Wei Huo was deep in thought while staring at the sky, but he eventually decided to be realistic about life. He did not know for how long humans were still going to be stuck in that time halt, but hundreds and thousands of years were nothing to the mighty God. If he did not have a long enough lifespan, he could be dead before humans even got out of the time halt.

The heavy rain poured for the entire day. When it finally ended in the evening, the sky brightened up. The sun was already setting in the west. Amidst the setting sun, a lotus-shaped cloud was shining with a golden-red glow.

All of a sudden, Wei Huo understood why people in ancient times believed in the Gods and worshipped them. It was at that moment that Wei Huo thought it was a passing Buddha who blew the clouds away.

Nonetheless, Wei Huo knew that was an impossibility. After all, even if there were Gods in their universe, why would Gods even consider descending to Earth just to save you for no reason?

After the heavy rain ended and the sun had set for the day, it was hard to see the horizons. The night sky was full of stars while both the wind and ship had stopped. Reflection of the starry night was all over the ocean surface.

Wei Huo felt like he had arrived in space. In front of, behind, above, and even beneath him; it was all stars around him.

There were tiny fishes appearing on the ocean surface and their appearances caused ripples to spread across the waters. The presence of ripples was the only reason one could tell that those stars beneath the ship were all just an illusion.

Wei Huo could not endure the beautiful view being ruined by those tiny fish. He decided to pull out his fishing rod.

Bloop! The fishing hook, along with its bait was thrown into the waters causing a huge ripple on the surface of the sea.

The panda climbed up from the lower deck quietly and shook off water droplets on its fur. It then climbed next to Wei Huo and joined him staring out to sea.

The view was peaceful for some time.

The tranquility was soon disrupted by those fishes in the sea which seemed to not have their guards up; probably because they had never been fished. Not long after Wei Huo's fishing hook landed in the sea, a fish took the bait.

Wei Huo lifted his fishing rod and caught the fish.

Bloop! Bloop! It was a palm-sized fish flapping its tail.

At this moment, the Quest Evaluation appeared.

'It's a Normal fish. Awarded 9 out of 100 points.'

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

Wei Huo grabbed that fish and threw it back in the ocean since it was only worth nine points.

Wei Huo continued fishing and soon after that, another fish took the bait. Wei Huo pulled it up excitedly to find…

'Motherf*cker, it was that same fish!'

Wei Huo threw it back in the waters and tried to fish again. Ten seconds later, the same fish took the bait.

Wei Huo pulled it up and stared at the two other holes on its chin. He was speechless. 'Your skills included being caught 100% of the time, didn't it?'

Wei Huo was confused.

'Are you the only fish in this part of the sea?'

Wei Huo decided not to throw it back in the sea. Instead, he threw it over to the panda that was lying by his side. He rejected the quest completion option and continued fishing.

The panda looked at that flapping fish in fascination and picked it up with its mouth. It walked over to the edge of the ship and threw it over.

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'Are you all messing with me?'

Soon after that, another fish took the bait. Wei Huo did not bother to pull his fishing rod up.

However, he felt a sudden weight increase in his hands and realized that motherf*cker was a big one.

Wei Huo stood up and used all his force. The fishing rod was pulled into the shape of a bow.

It was truly a big one. The fishing rod nearly snapped in half. Wei Huo let go of it a little bit before using his force again. He was strong enough, but the quality of the fishing rod was not. If he used too much force, the fishing rod would have snapped.

Fishing was nothing like tug-of-war. If you caught a big one, you could only fight it out with wisdom and courage. If you continued exhausting the fish's strength, you could pull it out of water in one go.

The fishing line continued moving vigorously disturbing the ocean's surface. Wei Huo saw a gradual outline of a giant creature under the water which was pulling the fishing line, and shaking their ship along with it.

After ten minutes of pulling back and forth, the huge fish seems like it had run out of energy. Wei Huo pulled it out of the water immediately.

It was a swordfish. Its beak was long as a sword. Wei Huo pulled it out of the water, grabbed its long beak, and put it on the ship.

It was a two-meter-long swordfish. It was even taller than humans.

The Quest Evaluation appeared at that moment. 'It's a Normal fish. Awarded 29 out of 100 points.'

Although Wei Huo was satisfied with that fish, he did not plan on completing the quest so soon. The Quest Evaluation score was too low and he would not be getting something good out of it.

However, the fish was good enough to feed them for a few days. He put it in the lower deck and continued fishing.

Wei Huo spent nearly the entire night fishing, but he still could not get a fish that was worth above 50 points.

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---

Read Five Frozen Centuries Chapter 21 online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 21: Gigantic Creature

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Steering his sailboat, Wei Huo kept heading south. He would fish whenever the waves were tranquil.

Worms were used as baits for tiddlers, while tiddlers were used as baits for larger fish. He made fishing rods out of fish bones and thickened the fishing line using fish tendons. Wei Huo's life went on with him constantly upgrading his fishing rod, and catching larger fishes. Just like that, seven years had gone by.

One day, Wei Huo caught a frighteningly big fish which was worth 80 points. He almost could not suppress his desire to exchange it with a game item.

However, he managed to hold it back. He needed a powerful weapon, not novice equipment like the Dolan's Shield and Strength Bracer. It would be better if he could draw a Guardian Angel as nothing is more important than having an extra life.

Wei Huo was not worried about losing his way as he had the world map with him. He checked the map and realized he still had halfway to reach the central continent. They had ample resources too as the ship was packed with various fresh aquatic animals.

Wei Huo's fishing skills have improved tremendously after years of persevering in fishing. In addition to the fish rod being upgraded continuously, a fish could not escape once it was hooked.

However, there were several occasions where Wei Huo encountered dangerous incidents. There was that one time where a hooked big fish floundered about in the water while dragging Wei Huo's ship. It nearly destroyed the boat and killed him.

Fueled by anger, Wei Huo grabbed a javelin made from fish bones and threw it towards the gigantic fish when it floated above the water. The javelin killed that fish immediately.

If it was not for the javelin, the fish could have dragged Wei Huo back to the Southern continent.

The creatures living under the sea were growing larger and looking weirder. They probably did not care how they looked since nobody visited them.

In the past seven years, Wei Huo caught creatures such as a two-headed fish, a thorn-filled snake, a green-haired fish, and a fish with antlers on its head.

Wei Huo did not feel guilty for capturing and eating them as these weird-looking creatures were judged too ugly to live.

Fishes were not ugly even if they were not that good looking in the past. Animals like killer whales and dolphins on the other hand looked adorable. Were they using their cuteness and charm to survive? However, people still hunt and kill them regardless of their cuteness level.

Today was another stormy day. Wei Huo had been waiting very long for that day to come as he wanted to try out a mischievous fishing method.

He climbed onto the top of his sailboat and installed an iron needle. He then tied the fishing rod and the iron needle with a bunch of iron wires while using one Tianshan Snow Lotus as bait.

Wei Huo has found the iron needles and iron wires in an underground dry storage warehouse. He had brought them along as they looked useful. The hermetically sealed warehouse seemed like it also underwent moisture controls and oxygen reduction systems in the past. That explained why the iron products were still usable as they were not over oxidized and rusted.

On that day, thick layers of dark clouds occupied the sky. Thunders rang out, and lightning flashed across the sky. Taking advantage of such an opportunity, Wei Huo took a Tianshan Snow Lotus from his Inventory Menu.

A dim white glow emitted from the Tianshan Snow Lotus. One would feel refreshed and energetic after sniffing it. Wei Huo was reluctant to use it, but as the saying goes, 'If you don't sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice.' How could he catch a high scoring big fish if he did not want to make any sacrifices?

Wei Huo tied the Tianshan Snow Lotus to the hook. Before even lowering the bait into the water, countless fish species had swarmed over.

The fishes thought, 'What is this? Why can't I control myself?'

The fishes started gathering around uncontrollably. Wei Huo could experience a bountiful harvest of fish if he cast his fishing net now. However, he was not interested in catching tiddlers and little prawns.

Wei Huo continued to wait patiently. That was not the first time he tried such a fishing technique. He already wasted seven Tianshan Snow Lotus in his previous attempts. Unsure if he could succeed this time, Wei Huo could only rely on luck.

Thunders and lightning flashed above Wei Huo's head. Right at that moment, Wei Huo threw his Tianshan Snow Lotus into the sea.

A swarm of fish and prawns flocked over following a 'plop' sound. However, at that next moment, the fishes and prawns scattered away as a gigantic creature swam towards their direction. Wei Huo could see the shadow of that gigantic creature from his boat.

Wei Huo felt a terrifying pressure in his heart. It was formidable and horrifying. The panda was trembling on the deck while Wei Huo grabbed the sharp javelin.

The next moment, a thunderbolt struck down from the sky and hit the iron needle, consequently splitting the sail apart.

The lightning was led into the sea by those iron wires. Instantly, the Tianshan Snow Lotus cracked into pieces, and a silver light appeared under the ocean. Fishes started floating above the seawater while emitting a faint fishy and salty scent.

The shadow beneath the seawater was growing larger. A massive creature then floated above the sea. A saying came across Wei Huo's mind as he set eyes on the creature.

'There was a fish named Kun1 in the northern underworld, it was a thousand miles long.'

It looked like a tremendous island on the ocean although only the vertebra was exposed. Huge waves were formed when the big fish emerged. It nearly overturned Wei Huo's ship.

Wei Huo could not get the full view of the creature with one look, but he could smell the burnt smell radiating from the creature's body. However, the creature's breathing has not deteriorated even after being struck by the thunderbolt. It was still alive!

Wei Huo lifted his javelin but did not know where to start.

The creature's rank was rare, meaning that that creature would be terrifying. Everything would have been fine if things ended there. However, Wei Huo's toothpick-like javelin was nothing compared to the gigantic creature in front of him. How could he kill such a tremendous creature with that javelin?

It was impossible unless another lightning hit the creature!

The seawater started to move when Wei Huo was deep in his thoughts. Mouth drenched in blood, the gigantic creature sucked in dead fishes and prawns. Wei Huo's ship began to move towards the direction of the gigantic creature too.

Wei Huo frowned and took some bottles out from the hold. The bottles were filled with colorful venoms which were extremely poisonous. Those venoms were extracted from the fangs of snakes that Wei Huo had captured.

Now, he could put these venoms to use. Venoms from poisonous snakes were lethal. A dropped venom from a cobra could kill 50 people. One could only wait for death if anti-venoms were not injected on time after the snake bite.

Wei Huo was unsure if the venoms could work on that gigantic creature. However, currently, he had no other ways.

Wei Huo grabbed around 10 fish-bone javelins and smeared the venom on the javelins. He lifted one javelin and threw it towards the gigantic creature's back which was floating on the water surface.

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Chapter 22: The Underwater Cave

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It had been more than 100 years since time was halted. Wei Huo's physical quality had been constantly improving as he trained day and night in the past 100 years. In addition to Qi Cultivation, he also accumulated immense cellular energy.

His throw was powerful enough to destroy the world. The terrifying blare that reverberated through the silent sky, the white light that flashed past, and the deafening blast that blew off when the javelin hit its target. It all showed how formidable his throw was.

That javelin broke through the sky and jabbed into the gigantic creature's skin. Wei Huo heard the gigantic creature let out an ear-splitting roar as the intense vibration drilled a giant hole on its skin.

It sounded just like how a human would scream if a hair needle penetrated one's skin powerfully.

However, no matter how powerful it was, not much damage would be done if the needle did not hit any vital parts.

What if poison was smeared on the needle?

Wei Huo lifted another javelin. He saw the part of the creature's flesh that was hit by the first javelin turning into a reddish-purple color.

There was hope!

Wei Huo threw another javelin with all his might. It flashed across the sky so rapidly one could not even see it. Once again, it jabbed into the creature's skin and the intense vibration shattered its skin. Blood flowed out from the hole on the creature's skin and the sea was dyed red.

The gigantic creature did not realize who was attacking it as it did not have eyes. It was a deep-sea creature living under the deep ocean. The creature did not need eyes because it was dark under the ocean. Moreover, Wei Huo was a terrestrial organism standing on his ship. The aquatic creature did not know what kind of enemy it was facing as that was the first time it was floating on the ocean's surface.

However, the creature sensed things were going wrong when it felt a tinge of numbness on its wound.

That was a threat from Thanatos1!

The gigantic deep-sea creature resisted and struggled by floundering about in the water while shimmying its tail.

However, it had to be said that this method was very effective. The ocean surface swayed back and forth wildly as the gigantic creature kept floundering about. Wei Huo failed to throw another javelin as he could not balance himself. Moreover, he had to control the helm to prevent the boat from colliding into that gigantic creature.

The gigantic creature started to submerge into the ocean as the ocean surface calmed down. Wei Huo instantly lifted a javelin and threw it. The javelin smeared in poison blast through the sky and landed on the corner of the creature's mouth. Then, it pierced through the creature's throat.

Finally, that throw hit the creature's vital point. The creature started to struggle as the poison diffused into its body. The ship bobbed up and down as a tsunami rushed towards Wei Huo's ship. The ship would have been scattered and smashed if the quality was not strong enough.

The tsunami did not last long. After a few minutes, the ocean became tranquil. The gigantic creature stopped struggling as the poison had dispersed into the brain through the blood. Death was inevitable.

At that moment, the quest evaluation for Wei Huo's Fishing quest appeared.

"It's a Mutated large whale. Awarded 97 out of 100 points."

97 was the highest score that Wei Huo achieved ever since he had received the fishing quests. He might not be able to capture whales that scored higher than that whale if he gave up completing the quest now.

Wei Huo decided to complete the quest rather than continuing it so that he could receive that random game item.

Wei Huo chose to complete the quest. After a few moments, a new notification appeared.

"Quest 'Fishing' completed and you scored 97 points. You have been rewarded with a 'Shadow Blade'.

"Equipping Shadow Blade will grant the Player 'Immunity'. The current durability is 2/2.

"The Player will be immune to any attack. The Item will lose one durability for any level of attack."

Wei Huo was speechless.

To be honest, this item was quite cool as players could be immune to every attack. Although the item would wear out after two usages, it only took seconds to equip the item. In other words, it was as though Wei Huo was rewarded two Doran's Shield.

However, Wei Huo was dumbfounded at the fact that these game items were selected randomly from popular games before the time halt like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, LOL, and DOTA. The current game item was from Hearthstone1.

The God who wanted to turn Earth into a game was indeed an Internet addict.

Wei Huo wanted to collect some useful materials from the gigantic creature's body after he completed the quest. However, the creature disappeared in an instant. The creature was so gigantic, yet it vanished in a flash. Moreover, the creature left a hollow behind as it disappeared, causing Wei Huo's ship to automatically flow in that direction.

Wei Huo broke into a cold sweat. He wanted to enter the gigantic creature's mouth and attack it in its mouth. Although the gigantic creature looked like it was protected by a thick layer of fat on its outer body, its interior body was not as well protected. Hence, it would be easier to attack it from inside.

However, Wei Huo sighed when he realized he escaped danger as he saw the creature being engulfed by the ocean, together with the fishes and prawns in its belly.

Now, Wei Huo could continue his journey to the south at ease as he completed the fishing quest. He spent seven years arriving at the center of two continents mainly because he spent too much time fishing. If he did not waste his time on fishing, he could have reached the Central continent already.

However, the time spent was worth it. Otherwise, he would not have obtained the Shadow Blade. That item was equivalent to two Doran's Shield.

Pitter-pattering. Raindrops started falling from the sky, and soon after, it turned into a rainstorm. Ripples flowed out on the ocean surface as the raindrops hit the water. Wei Huo was in a good mood although the rainstorm did not stop.

However, as the rain kept falling, Wei Huo suddenly realized that his sails were shattered into pieces by the lightning. How should he continue his journey?

Wei Huo only noticed that serious problem. 'How should I move on?'

The unceasing rainstorm fell pitter-patter on the ocean, causing waves of ripples to form on the surface. The dead fishes and prawns started to float on the surface, and the bloody water began to fade. Wei Huo suddenly felt down.

He could only move along the ocean current before the sails were repaired. However, the speed would be very slow.

Right when Wei Huo was distressed over this problem, a glimmer of light appeared on the ocean surface. Then, a notification popped up in Wei Huo's quest menu.

"A Rare Quest was triggered. It's the Underwater Cave."

A layer of white radiance had been radiating from the ocean surface ever since the gigantic mutated whale disappeared. The rainstorm did not cease. The sky turned dusky as dark clouds filled the sky. The white radiance was accentuated as the sun began to set and the ocean turned dark.

Wei Huo looked at his shattered sail.

Alright, let alone repair the sails, I would not be leaving here for a while.

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Chapter 23: Dive (Additional Update For SFA Helmsman Dong Chen)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

There were many kinds of caves in this world like the caves on the mountains (mountain caves), the caves on the ground (sinkholes), the caves in the universe (black hole), and the caves on a human's body… Ehem, that was why it's not unusual for a cave to appear under the sea too.

However, it was weird to trigger a rare quest. The deep-sea creature was ranked rare. I would have needed days to kill the creature without the lightning to inflict serious damages, even if it was just drifting on the surface.

I would have been dead if I met the creature underwater.

Wei Huo steered the ship to an area where the white light appeared. He tore apart the mighty fishing rod. Then, he tied one end of the long and thick fishing line on his waist and the other end on the bow. After that, he dived into the sea.

The sea was in an uproar due to the torrential downpour. Sounds of boisterous wind and stormy rain filled his ears. However, the battering sound of a rainstorm disappeared as he dived into the sea. His surroundings became silent.

At that moment the sun had set and storm clouds were covering the sky. The sea was pitch-black as starlight and moonlight could not penetrate the sea's surface. The faint white light was the only source of light coming from the bottom of the sea.

There seemed to be something hidden in the darkness as there were strange voices coming from the deep sea. However, Wei Huo still plucked up the courage to dive into the sea under the protection of the Shadow Blade.

He could get a whiff of fishy smell from time to time as he dived deeper because there were too many dead fish in the area. The water was not too cold as it had just absorbed the heat energy from the lightning. However, his surrounding temperature was gradually dropping.

Wei Huo's main reason for diving into the sea was not to complete the quest. He just wanted to figure out where the white light was coming from. He came down merely to explore the underwater as he was not fully prepared yet.

He kept on diving but still did not reach the bottom even after almost suffocating. He could not see how far away he was from the bottom as his surroundings were too dark. He could only move forward following his instinct, yet his feet did not touch any ground or stones despite him diving for a long time.

In the end, he had no choice but to ascend from the sea. He had to go back up because he was suffocating.

Once he reached the surface, the pelting rain started pouring down on his head again. The sound of battering rainstorms reverberated through the world. It was as though a sudden deafening sound jolting someone awake from its sleep.

Wei Huo swam back to his ship. This time, he had to do some preparation such as prepare an air pocket and a long rope. Air pockets were easy to make; it could be made simply out of fish maws. The longer rope was for Wei Huo to tie himself up to the ship. Otherwise, the situation would have gotten awkward if his ship was gone when he would have gotten back.

The next day when the sun rose, the sky was clear with not a cloud in sight.

Wei Huo's mood brightened up. It was a good day for an adventure.

However after Wei Huo dived into the sea, he realized he could not see the white light anymore as the sun was too bright.

'F*ck your sister, this weather won't do. It was not a good day for an underwater adventure.'

However, Wei Huo already made a mark on his boat. As long as he followed the mark…

Do you think the story 'to mark a boat to find one's sword1' was just a fable? Do you think the story was to tell people to look at things with an adaptable mindset?

Sorry to say… But yes, that was what it was.

Wei Huo dived down from the area that was marked. However, he did not find anything.

That was normal as the ship's position had shifted due to the rain. It was not in its original position anymore. Indeed, the moral of the saying had told us to look at things with an adaptable mindset.

Wei Huo was just testing the method as he did not have any other ways to find the underwater cave's exact location.

It seemed like he had to dive at night.

Wei Huo prepared himself for an entire day. The sea today was calm as the night fell. Clouds adorned the ski, but there was no sign of rain. The underwater was still caliginous. Wei Huo plunged from the ship and into the sea. Then, he started diving into the water.

He dived down briskly. As his cell density was very high, his mass had surpassed mankind although he had a young man's physique. That explains why he could dive at such high speeds but needed more energy when ascending.

However, he could hold his breath underwater for a long time since he had strong physical qualities. In addition to the air pockets, he would have had more time to explore the underwater cave.

Wei Huo gradually descended into the water. Not long after, he saw a faint white light.

He found it.

Wei Huo instantly swam towards the direction of the light. As he reached the bottom of the sea, he saw a hidden cave. The light was coming out of the cave.

As Wei Huo dived deeper, he saw an enormous cave mouth, which was about 15 meters in diameter. Near the cave mouth was a tremendous crater. It was obviously the habitat for the large whale.

Natural treasures were always guarded by vicious beasts. That was the norm of traditional Xianxia novels.

However others kill beasts to steal treasures, I only began to hunt the treasure after I killed the beast.

Wei Huo breathed into the air pocket made by fish maws. The surroundings of the air pocket were covered by a layer of animal leather for protection. However, the air bubbles inside stunk. A waft of fishy smell could be felt on the tip of the tongue after inhaling from the air pocket.

However, Wei Huo could not care any less. He spat out some air bubbles and pushed himself into the tremendous cave mouth.

Wei Huo paused for a moment and got ready to explore the underwater cave. After all learning from his previous experiences, caves with treasures were extremely dangerous.

However, Wei Huo came face to face with a wall.

Wei Huo was left speechless.

'Where is the cave? Why is it a wall?'

A small gem radiating white light was placed on the center of the wall. It looked dim from far away, yet bright when one got closer to it.

'This couldn't be a treasure, right?'

Wei Huo began digging the gem with his finger. However, he could not remove it as it was too tightly embedded to the wall. Then, Wei Huo fished out his hunting knife to pry out the gem yet, he still failed.

Wei Huo bustled about but still could not pry the gem out of the wall. He wondered what material was used to build the wall such that it was so solid.

Wei Huo was disheartened. He did not gain anything then!

Then, Wei Huo saw a line of words on the wall. It was written in Mandarin.

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

It was written 'Drip Blood To Open The Door.'

He kept silent.

Indeed, mankind has always been disregarding small things in life. A normal person would have found ways to open the wall when they see it. 'Why did removing the gem come to my mind first?'

Mankind was indeed different.

That gem was actually a lock.

A thought suddenly struck Wei Huo's mind. 'This was a motherf*ucking game. Which player would try to dig out a gem on the wall?'

Wei Huo facepalmed himself. He still could not adapt to the world's current pace.

Wei Huo stretched out a finger and cut it using his hunting knife. Blood spurted out from his finger and scattered away with the seawater.

Wei Huo instantly felt that his hunting knife was quite impressive. How could it cut open his finger with just a light touch when his skin was so tough? Had he overlooked a magical weapon?

Wei Huo's blood had already dripped onto the gem.

The gem then radiated a dazzling white light!

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Chapter 24: Trial Version

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The wall was a door while the gem was a lock. One could only open the door by dripping blood on the gem.

Wei Huo thought that was how it worked. However, he had forgotten what happened back then when he found the cave concealing the Qi Cultivation Scrolls.

Soon after, the white light radiating from the gem transformed into a holographic projection. Surprisingly, on the holographic projection, it read 'Tetris'.

Wei Huo was left speechless. "…"

'F*ck your sister, why do I need to play a game to open a door? It used to be a puzzle game, and now it has become Tetris. So, is there going to be a Quest Evaluation system and an In-App purchase?'

"There are nine levels of difficulty in Tetris. The Player's reward after entering the cave will be decided by the difficulty level chosen. The Player is allowed to enter the cave after passing the level. Please take note that the Player only has one chance. However, the Player may try again after paying 100 Magical Stones."

He kept silent. "…"

'Indeed! God, now I know your routine!'

Wei Huo hesitated as he did not have any Magical Stones. What should he do? Should he play the game after collecting some magical stones, or play it straight away and leave the rest to fate?

It was a hard choice to make! What mattered most was that there were no coordinates in the sea. Could he still find this place after he left?

He could not have found it! Wei Huo was certain that he could not find the place unless the 'Mark The Boat to Find One's Sword' method worked. Otherwise, he could never find it again.

Wei Huo stretched out his cut finger which had already healed and tapped on the hologram menu.

"Difficulty Level Nine!"

Wei Huo took out his air pocket and took a deep breath. It was quite challenging to play such a reflex testing game while holding his breath. Moreover, he chose the difficulty level nine. However, he believed in himself.

His reflex nerves were very developed after training for more than 100 years. Besides that, his brain cells were filled with the 'Qi' energy after years of Qi Cultivation. Such an insignificant Tetris game like this…

It was difficult!

Wei Huo tapped the start game option and soon after, various kinds of Tetris blocks fell so rapidly that the afterimages almost appeared. Wei Huo instantly kept his attention focused. His fingers turned into an afterimage as well, nearly distorting the seawater.

It was Mission Impossible to play Tetris at difficulty level nine while he had to hold his breath and withstood the deep sea's water pressure. However, there were indeed people who passed level nine in Tetris. Now that Wei Huo had developed such reflex nerves, there should be no reason for him to fail.

Wei Huo did not have any extra brainpower to think about other stuff. He kept all his attention focused on the hologram menu. His fingers turned into afterimage, and his hand speed had surpassed even the world's most professional Starcraft e-athlete.

An over 100 years virgin's hand speed, do you think it's something to joke about?

Wei Huo's eyes trembled as he tapped crazily on the screen. Tetris by itself was not difficult. The difficult part was to make the correct decision under such high speed, and Wei Huo…

He closed his eyes, and his fingers stopped.

The Tetris blocks reached the top, but the next moment two words 'Game Cleared' popped up.

The game will be cleared as long as one has achieved a specific score. Although the score was limitless in Tetris, it was impossible to let Wei Huo continue playing the game for his whole life. God would not make such a blunder.

Wei Huo let out a deep sigh after he cleared the game. However the next moment, he quickly took out his air pocket and inhaled deeply. He almost suffocated.

After Wei Huo opened his eyes, he saw the 'Game Cleared' notification and the 'Do You Want To Open The Door And Enter The Cave?' option. Relief washed over him. At least he had passed the mini-game. It was very challenging to play such an arduous game under hypoxic conditions.

At that moment, the cave door gradually opened. A flood of turbid seawater gushed out of the cave door causing Wei Huo to instantly shut his eyes.

The seawater stung his eyes!

The seawater turned turbid as it had been sealed behind the cave for years and became a pool of stagnant water.

Wei Huo swam inside the cave as the turbid water diffused with the surrounding seawater. The space inside the cave was vast like the middle of a huge mountain. Wei Huo was at the top of the cave.

Wei Huo tied the rope on his body to a huge rock and gradually swam downward. Not long after, a gigantic palace came into view. The palace was built out of white jade and its corners were embedded with night pearls. The night pearl's luminous glow was illuminating the palace.

Wei Huo gradually swam towards the palace and arrived at the palace's door. Wei Huo saw an enormous stone tablet, and what greeted his eyes next were the two words 'Dragon Palace' carved on the stone tablet.

Wei Huo was stunned. There was a Dragon Palace here!

However, seconds later, he saw a tiny string of the words 'Trial Version 1.01' at the stone tablet's bottom left corner.

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

If he combined all the words on the stone tablet, it would have read as 'Dragon Palace Trial Version 1.01'.

That Dragon Palace was just a trial version!

Game production was tough. One would need to carry out tests and improve the game continuously. However, the words on the bottom left corner of the stone tablet would probably disappear after the game had been fully developed.

Wei Huo swam inside the palace's door with not much air left in his air pocket. He had to check out the palace faster as he did not have much time left.

As he arrived at the door, he saw a string of words on the plaque of the Dragon Palace.

"The Player is a Descendant of the Fiery Emperor and the Yellow Emperor. The Player would be rewarded with a rare scroll as The Player had completed the mini-game at difficulty level nine. However, please take note that you will be put to a test before obtaining the item."

It was then that Wei Huo realized the whole 'Drip Blood to Open Door' situation was to verify his lineage.

Wei Huo saw a thin layer of the transparent film as he walked into the door. It was a barrier. He passed through the barrier smoothly and fell onto the floor. There was no seawater in the Dragon Palace!

That barrier blocked the outside seawater from entering. One could breathe freely when they entered the area.

Wei Huo did not inhale at once. He took small breaths and realized there were no strange odors. He felt a gust of wind and started walking towards that direction. Not long after, he arrived at the main hall.

Main hall…

The main hall was obviously still under construction as there was nothing inside except for four walls and a rooftop. It was pretty empty that even the ground was made up of parched soil. It looked like a semi-finished house that was still under construction.

He kept silent. "…"

It was indeed a trial version…

Wei Huo felt like he was tricked. Where was the random scroll? There was nothing here!

Right when Wei Huo was engaged in his thoughts, a voice appeared from the center of the main hall.

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, you arrived here finally. You see the pillars built from gold, the ground built from crystal, and the countless dragon treasures. Unfortunately, a spell has been cast on them. You cannot take them away…"

Wei Huo was confused. "???"

Golden Pillars? Crystal Grounds? Dragon Treasures? Where are they? It was indeed a trial version!

"…The only thing you can take is this Thunder Variation Scroll. However, you would be put to a test before you can obtain it. Do you see the Thunder Pond ahead of you? Stand and be baptized in the Thunder Pond for three minutes. You will be rewarded the Thunder Variation Scroll if you survive!"

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

So, where was the thunder pond?

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Chapter 25: Human Electric Generator

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Although the notification mentioned that Wei Huo had to be tested in the Thunder Pond, he did not see any Thunder Pond.

'F*ck your sister, you should have at least created the main props!'

Wei Huo took a few steps forward and accidentally triggered the system's notification. "You have already entered the Thunder Pond."

Wei Huo was confused. "???"

'When did I even step into the Thunder Pond? Why do I feel nothing?'

A three minutes countdown timer then appeared on Wei Huo's head. However, he had not felt anything. It seemed like that was another BUG.

The game setting was very rigid. For example, one would trigger an incident after arriving at a specific place and after a specific time. Just like what is happening right now in the Dragon Palace, Wei Huo arrived at the Thunder Pond and he would have obtained the scroll after three minutes.

Although the Thunder Pond did not exist now, it would definitely be set up at this location in the future. By listening to the name, it was no doubt that one who entered the pond will be electrocuted. However, the game was not fully developed yet. So…

Wei Huo sat crossed-leg and waited for the countdown to end. However, he did not receive anything even after the countdown ended.

Does that mean the Thunder Variation Scroll was still under development?

Another system notification appeared after that. "Persist for another 10 minutes to obtain the True Thunder Variation Scroll. Spend 100 Magical Stones to purchase a one-off shield if the Player could not persist. The one-off shield's effect only lasts for a minute."

Wei Huo was left speechless. "…"

This God used to work in the Penguin logo company, right?

Wei Huo suddenly imagined how Ma Huateng1 would have felt after entering this checkpoint. Would he have felt a sense of familiarity?

Wei Huo continued sitting cross-legged in the Thunder Pond. After 10 minutes, the system notification appeared again. "Persist for another 30 minutes and you will be rewarded the Improvised True Thunder Variation Scroll."

Wei Huo was left speechless. "…"

'Let's see what kind of scroll you will give me in the end.'

After 30 minutes, the system notification popped up again. "Persist for another hour and you will be rewarded the God of Thunder scroll."

Wei Huo was dumbstruck. God of Thunder sounded very impressive. The name was a bit too exaggerated for a Qi Cultivation scroll.

Wei Huo did not move and the one-hour countdown began. He reckoned it was impossible for someone to stay in the Thunder Pond for such a long time except for the God of Thunder.

Wei Huo waited patiently for an hour. Suddenly, a flash hit the rugged roof and struck Wei Huo. The next moment, a new skill was added into Wei Huo's Attribute Menu.

'God of Thunder, Level Zero. The highest level is level 20.'

Wei Huo lifted his hand to try out the skill. Suddenly, an electric current spurt out from his fingertip. Right then, Wei Huo felt that the Qi energy in his body reduced slightly. At the same time, his skill proficiency in God of Thunder increased by one percent.

Wei Huo instantly understood that he had the ability to control the thunder and gained proficiency by consuming his Qi. Hence, the ability to control thunder was also considered a Qi Cultivation scroll.

Indeed, God was being very considerate.

Wei Huo decided to leave after he got the scroll. After all, the mentioned gold, crystal, and treasures did not exist at all. The whole Dragon Palace was empty and it looked like a semi-finished house. However, Wei Huo still felt relieved that basic props like the scroll and test still existed.

He left the Dragon Palace and entered the seawater. He suddenly realized that he had not needed to breathe!

Wei Huo was in shock and it was then that he finally noticed there were bubbles all over the surface of his skin. It dawned on him seconds later,

Electrolysis of water!

Electricity could break down water molecules and split it into hydrogen and oxygen. Oxygen was just what the human body needed.

Wei Huo felt that the Qi in his body was gradually reducing while the skill proficiency of God of Thunder was increasing. At the same time, he felt that he only had to exhale carbon dioxide and need not inhale oxygen. That was because the cells on his skin's surface had begun electrolyzing water, and the oxygen obtained will be provided directly to the cells in his body.

Wei Huo left the tremendous cave. The cave door shut itself the moment he left. The gem was still embedded in the center of the door but it would not open for Wei Huo anymore.

Wei Huo untied the rope on the rock and swam upwards. Raindrops started falling from the sky as Wei Huo popped out of the water. A gush of cool wind blew towards Wei Huo and suddenly, his hair stood up.

Wei Huo touched his hair with his hand and he heard a crackling noise from the static electricity.

Wei Huo was left speechless. "…"

'Is this a natural punk hairstyle?'

Wei Huo knew that it happened because of his improficiency in controlling the electricity. Situations like that would not have happened if he was proficient enough.

Wei Huo went back to his ship and saw that the panda was chewing on a string of iron wire instead of sleeping. It seemed that pandas had a nickname called the Iron Eater1…

A brilliant idea suddenly struck Wei Huo's mind as he saw the wire coil.

'Electric Motor Manufacturing!'

Wei Huo had the skill to control electricity now, and he needed the practice to increase his proficiency. Moreover, the destroyed sails had slowed down his ship's speed.

The problems would be easily solved if he manufactured an electric motor.

Wei Huo ran to the hold of the ship. He found some iron coils, magnets, and wire cords which were still in good condition.

He studied those tools attentively, trying to understand the operating principles of each tool and figuring out how to manufacture an electric motor. He was brainstorming the manufacturing methods available and had finally made up his mind…

Wei Huo then opened the 'Electric Motor' blueprint in the system and installed it on the ship. He put the materials inside and the next thing he knew, the electric motor had been automatically manufactured.

'Isn't that fascinating?'

'Well, it's a game. You don't have to be too particular with the details.'

The next step would be the power supply. There was a lot of power supply equipment in the blueprint. That equipment was prepared for the players. Otherwise, things would go wrong if most of the devices were destroyed and the players did not know how to build and repair them after time had recovered.

God would not make such a blunder.

Every player was provided basic manufacturing blueprints. More advanced equipment like the nuclear reactor, spaceship engine, and anti-gravity system cannot be manufactured at that moment. Players would have to collect the blueprints for equipment that required advanced technologies. Collecting these blueprints would probably be a mystifying journey too, for example, the need to scan the equipment using scanners in order to register the blueprints?

The power supply equipment blueprints included Solar Panel, Wind Power Generator, Tidal Energy, Geothermal Energy, Thermal Power, Hydroelectric Power, and so on. On the other hand, the power storage equipment blueprints included a Battery, Lithium Battery, and so on. Unfortunately, Wei Huo did not have the materials, so he could manufacture that equipment.

However, Wei Huo could now solve the fundamental problem of inoperative electrical appliances with the God of Thunder Skill.

Wei Huo became a new electric generator. He could generate electricity as long as he eats and trains his Qi energy.

'Let me show you the Legendary Human Electric Generator.'

Wei Huo grabbed the tip of the electric motor's wire and began to generate electricity. Unfortunately, nothing happened to the electric motor as the electricity generated by Wei Huo was still too weak. It was not enough to start the electric motor.

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Chapter 26: Wei Huo Arrived Too Late

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

God of Thunder, it did sound very awesome. However, the power of Wei Huo's God of Thunder Skill was too weak as it was only at level zero. It was not even enough to start the electric motor.

However, Wei Huo knew very well that every player had to go through the process of upgrading from level zero to level one. It was challenging to become a novice from nothing, yet it was an unavoidable experience.

Before he could start sailing again, Wei Huo could only focus on training his skill by consuming his Qi energy to increase the proficiency of the God of Thunder Skill.

Fortunately, Wei Huo was very efficient in upgrading his skill proficiency. That probably had something to do with his Qi-Training Skill reaching level six. As he had plentiful Qi energy in his body and they were high in quality as well, he managed to upgrade his God of Thunder skill to level one in only three days. However, it took him three months to upgrade the skill from level one to level two.

Proficiency growth would get slower as the levels increased. The settings for other skills in the game worked the same way too.

However, Wei Huo was capable of starting the electric motor when his God of Thunder Skill reached level two. As long as he had enough Qi energy, he could continue sailing.

Wei Huo would imagine at times if he was already so powerful at level two, would he become a God who is capable of controlling real thunder when he reaches level 20?

However, it might take him a few tens of millennia to reach level 20; but the maximum he could achieve was merely an extra 2,000 years lifespan by reaching level 20 in Qi-Training Skill.

It was something that he aspired but could never attain!

After a brief moment of lamenting, Wei Huo started a disciplined life. He would get up early and started his morning with physical training like 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and 10 kilometers of freestyle swimming.

Wei Huo had persisted in this training method for over 100 years. Without rushing, he strengthened his physical quality at a steady pace. In combination with his Qi Cultivation, Wei Huo's physical quality had improved to a terrifying state that even he was not aware of.

Even if he wanted to stop training, he would not be able to do so as those training had long become a habit for him. However, it was not a bad habit, and neither was it a habit that Wei Huo disliked. For example, waking up early in the morning to go to school was a habit that he disliked. Waking up early to train his body, skills, and Qi on the other hand was a habit that he favored.

Just like the Giant Panda, its habit was to eat and sleep every day.

Just like some authors, their habits were to write novels every day. They would feel uneasy if they did not write anything for that day.

Wei Huo could choose his own life and do anything he wanted unfettered by fame and wealth. It was undeniable that such a feeling of freedom was satisfying. He did not have to pursue fame and wealth, did not have to earn money, and did not have to own a house or a car. This kind of freedom…

It was a lonely kind of freedom.

That was the reason why Wei Huo longed to arrive at the central continent. There were 10,000 artificial intelligence beings in the central continent testing out the game world. Since artificial intelligence beings were the simulation of human intelligence in machines, they probably knew how to run, jump, and talk. As long as he arrived at the central continent, Wei Huo could communicate or acquire information from them. He could even enjoy food with them, converse with them, tell jokes to make them laugh, or even share with them the story of his journey.

So, when Wei Huo finally reached level three for the God of Thunder Skill, he started to sail at full speed. He would wake up early every day to train before starting the electric motor and forged ahead rapidly. When night fell, he would start his Qi Cultivation training to recover the lost Qi energy in his body.

His daily life may be repetitive, but the anticipation in his heart grew bit by bit as the map showed that he was getting closer to the Central continent.

He soon would meet 'humans', although they were just artificial intelligence.

The ship sailed swiftly along with Wei Huo's anticipation and just like that, three years passed.

One early morning after three years, Wei Huo saw a tract of land. The Central continent finally appeared in his sight!

Wei Huo instantly exerted all his power. Electric currents flickered from his body as he exerted his full power. The motor rumbled and the propeller whirled wildly. The ship then started surging forward towards the shores.

The Giant Panda came to the prow of the ship and stared at the shores with an indescribable expression. Its mood brightened up. It stopped chewing on its bamboo and stopped bathing in its wooden basin; its gaze was fixed to the shore as the ship got closer.

In the end, the ship rushed into the shore with a bump, drawing a deep gully on the beach.

They arrived at last!

Wei Huo jumped down from his ship. As soon as he landed both his feet on the sandy shores, he knelt down and touched the ground. Feeling the fine sand on his fingertips, he shouted excitedly, "I'm finally backed on land!"

He had finally arrived on land after 10 years of sailing, rolling and pitching on the ship. The stability and calmness Wei Huo felt were beyond words.

The Giant Panda sprawled on the prow of the ship as it swayed. It hesitated as it was scared of height. However, he jumped down in the end as it could not resist the temptations of stabilized land.

Ultimately, it tumbled down the beach but did not feel any pains as it had accumulated too much fat. Instead, it scampered around excitedly and ended up bumping into Wei Huo and toppled over the ground again.

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

That guy was even more excited than him.

The Giant Panda peed under a big tree after strolling around. That guy had simply been holding it in so that it could relieve itself on land.

It was an animal's habit to leave their marks by urinating whenever they arrived at a new place to prevent themselves from getting lost.

A saying came to Wei Huo's mind as he saw that scene, 'I come, I see, I urinate1.'

Wei Huo expressed deep remorse for alternating sayings. However, at that moment, Wei Huo was itching to head to the south. He wanted to see the situation of the Central continent which had been opened for 30 years, and what kind of existence were the artificial intelligence beings.

Right at that moment, the long-lost God had spoken. Unfortunately, all he brought was bad news.

"The first test completed, all artificial intelligence beings are recalled."

"New material 'Natural Treasures' added. Natural Treasures will now appear randomly in nature."

"Magical Beasts added. Magical Stones can be obtained from killing Magical Beasts."

Wei Huo's mind went blank as in the next moment, a portal appeared in the sky. Numerous divine lights appeared in the Central continent before beginning to fly towards the sky. They soared into the air and disappeared into the portal.

Wei Huo felt slightly dejected. "Had I arrived too late?"

However, at the very moment, another divine light was soaring up to the sky. It was a divine light that was left behind. The portal in the sky suddenly closed when it was rising to the sky causing that divine light to have lost its target and fell back to the ground. Coincidentally, it was falling toward Wei Huo's direction.

Wei Huo was surprised. "Was there an artificial intelligence being that had not returned?"

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Chapter 27: Microchip

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

An artificial being was left behind. Wei Huo was unsure about the whole situation, but it seemed that the artificial being had failed to return to the portal causing it to have plummeted in the direction of Wei Huo.

Wei Huo had sharp eyes. He clearly saw the divine light plummeting to a jungle nearby. He had to hurry over and check what was going on. He brought the Giant Panda along and rushed towards that direction.

The Giant Panda who was running while peeing, could not catch up with Wei Huo who rushed ahead. It was crying out as if trying to say, 'Aren't you afraid of getting lost?'

Of course, Wei Huo was not afraid. He had the Map function after all.

Wei Huo rushed into the jungle and kept running forward. He even used the Creature Scanner that he had stopped using a long time ago. He realized there were all kinds of creatures around him. Some were large in size while others were small. However, the creatures in the Central continent were somehow different from the creatures in the Northern continent.

The creatures in the Central continent did not have to worry about being frozen. They did not have thick fur as the weather there was not cold but hot instead. Shaggy creatures like the Giant Panda were out of breath after running for a short while due to its body's low heat dissipation from the thick fur.

The Giant Panda found it hard to adapt to the weather in the Central continent. It previously happened when they were still at sea. It got worse when they got closer to the Central continent. That was the reason Wei Huo had built a wooden basin for it to soak.

Wei Huo and the Giant Panda kept moving forward. Finally, he saw a human silhouette ahead of him. That being smashed into numerous branches when falling from the sky before finally hitting the ground and falling unconscious.

As he walked closer, Wei Huo realized the artificial being was a girl around 17 years old. Wei Huo was stunned the instant he laid eyes on her.

He had never seen such a beautiful lady before. With well-defined facial features, fair skin, smooth hair, and a slender body. Her beauty was out of this world. Not even the world's most beautiful woman was comparable to her.

Wei Huo could not think of any words to describe her. None of the idioms describing a beautiful lady like 'Making Fish Sink and Wild Geese Fall' or 'Outshining the Moon and Putting Flowers to Shame1' came to his mind. Only one word popped up at that moment, and that word was… "F*ck!"

That was the first time Wei Huo felt he was such an uncultured man.

However, describing the girl was not important now. Saving her was his first priority. Wei Huo saw the attractive girl's attributes through her Health Menu.

'Artificial Intelligence Being. Gender: Female. Health: Hurt. Breathing: Weak. Mobility: Zero. Operability: Weak. State: Unconscious.'

Wei Huo could clearly see that the girl was badly injured. He saw a fracture on her left lower-leg and scratches all over her body through her Health Menu.

Instead of touching her, Wei Huo built a log cabin and a bed first. Next, he carried the girl and placed her on the bed.

Then…

Wei Huo did not do anything then.

Wei Huo did not know what to do! He was not experienced in rescuing someone as he never suffered serious injuries throughout those few hundred years. Not many animals dared to provoke him because firstly, he was too strong and secondly, his 'The Loner Abandoned by God' title. He was the one who had been provoking animals all the while.

So, Wei Huo was clueless about how he could rescue the girl.

Again, her survival depended on herself. However, the good news was that she had 10 basic skills at level five. As soon as she wakes up, she could give Wei Huo instructions on how to rescue herself.

What Wei Huo meant was that although his Medicine Skill was at level zero, his learning ability was very strong. He might not be capable of anything else but as a full-time student more than a hundred years ago, he was very good when it came to learning.

'Do you think nine years of compulsory education was useless? Are you kidding? These nine years of education had greatly improved our copying… Ahem, our ability to learn by analogy, our ability to study, and our ability to imitate others.'

After settling her down, Wei Huo ordered the panda to keep watch on the girl while he went back to their ship and moved his stuff over. There were foods as well as materials such as wooden boards and oil lamps.

The Giant Panda stared curiously at the girl when Wei Huo was out moving stuff. It was confused yet felt attracted to her as the girl was the second human it had ever seen. It walked up to her and started sniffing her scent. Then, it licked the girl's palm.

Right then, the girl suddenly woke up and groaned in pain. Shocked, the panda bolted out the door.

That panda was indeed a 'Big Fool'.

The girl struggled to get up. She was stunned when she saw the terrified Giant Panda. Wei Huo happened to come across that scene when he returned. He saw both of them looking at each other in dismay.

"You're awake?" Wei Huo was slightly surprised.

The girl looked at him with a confused expression.

Concern filled his face as he asked, "Can you talk?"

Bewildered, the girl looked at Wei Huo and tilted her head, "I am artificial being Number 677. Have I arrived at God's Gate? I have three issues to report regarding the Construction, Medicine, and Beast-taming skills test in the game world. First…"

"Wait!" Wei Huo interrupted her. "You're not in good condition right now. I don't know much about Medicine Skill. Maybe you should take a look at your own conditions first!"

Number 677 checked her Attribute Menu and said, "Rest stat at 70%. Hunger stat at 25%. Thirst stat at 30%. Currently immobile. Currently incapable of eating or drinking. Estimated time of death 3.7 days."

Wei Huo frowned slightly. That girl in front of him was really an artificial intelligence being. It seemed like she did not have any human emotions from talking about her death so blandly.

Wei Huo said, "You don't have to worry about food and water. You should take a look at how to save yourself first and tell me!"

Number 677 examined her body carefully and said, "The wrist, shoulder, and head needed to be bandaged. The fractured lower leg to be splinted with a board and wait for it to recover. Mobility will be regained after 10 weeks."

Wei Huo sighed in relief when he realized surgery was not needed. He had zero knowledge of medical skills.

Wei Huo instructed Number 677 to tell him how he could rescue her, then he followed her orders to save her. Although it was very troublesome, Number 677 was very cooperative throughout the whole process.

Soon after, Wei Huo was done with all the bandaging and had splinted her fractured lower leg.

Number 677 checked herself and said, "Bandaging quality 'Shoddy', the expected recovery in 5-7 days. Splint quality 'Shoddy', splint has to be changed after 10 days."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

Although she was expressionless, she surely had a lot to complain about!

"It's my first time, please excuse me." Wei Huo quickly explained himself.

Number 677 did not even realize the expression on Wei Huo's face. Just like a robot, she continued. "Herbal medicine can help shorten healing time. Hunger level and Thirst level are below normal, physical unwellness will occur soon."

Wei Huo kept silent. "…"

'Just tell me if you are hungry and thirsty.'

Wei Huo had already prepared her food and water. Number 677 started enjoying her meal after she received it. She laid down and rested after she finished replenishing herself.

Wei Huo suddenly asked, "Have you seen God before?"

Number 677 emotionlessly looked at Wei Huo and said, "May I know what is your serial number?"

Wei Huo twitched his mouth and said, "I'm not an artificial intelligence being. I am human!"

Number 677 went blank for a moment. She scrutinized Wei Huo as she did not believe him. She then said, "A non-halted human detected. An error message has been recorded. Requesting a connection with artificial intelligence being Number Zero… Connection failed. Unknown error detected."

Wei Huo was confused. "???"

Wei Huo thought it was a bit weird. Was Number 677 really under the control of a microchip?

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Chapter 28: Automatic Navigation

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Number 677 was out of danger. In the process of treating Number 677, Wei Huo gradually noticed that Number 677 was not a real human. She only looked like a human, but she was not a human by nature.

Her skin looked very much similar to a human's skin, but it was made out of some unknown material. She had no pores and would not sweat.

Her blood was not real blood. It was some kind of unknown liquid. Although it was red, it did not have the function of blood.

Number 677 was an artificial intelligence being. She was a robot, not a real human.

She was sent to Earth by God for one purpose. Game Testing!

That was the reason why she could be injured, needed food and water, and she could die. God's purpose was to test whether humans could survive under such an environment.

Wei Huo began to understand the whole situation little by little. Ultimately, he could only let out a faint sigh. Number 677 was still not a real human.

Wei Huo looked at the drowsy Number 677 and asked, "By the way, what's your name?"

Number 677 woke up and answered, "I am Artificial Intelligence Being Number 677 under the jurisdiction of No. Zero. I have been here for 30 years to carry out the game testing mission."

Wei Huo was left speechless. "…"

He had heard Chinese and English names before, but this was the first time he heard a name in numbers.

"Let me give you a name." Wei Huo thought about it before saying, "Let me name you Lu Qiqi, and your nickname will be Qiqi."

After hearing Wei Huo's words, Lu Qiqi instantly turned away and stopped looking at Wei Huo.

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

It seemed like she was not satisfied with the name.

677 and Lu Qiqi, there was not much difference!

Lu Qiqi turned around while maintaining an expressionless face as she asked, "How should I address you?"

It seemed like Lu Qiqi never rejected any of Wei Huo's requests. That was probably because God injected the idea of serving humans into their mindset, so she never rejected Wei Huo. Moreover, she always maintained a respectful tone when talking to Wei Huo.

Wei Huo thought for a moment and asked, "For you, what kind of existence are humans?"

Lu Qiqi answered obediently, "Humans are the sons of God that we serve."

Wei Huo glanced at Lu Qiqi. Her logical reasoning and behavior pattern were pretty similar to robots although she looked like a human.

Wei Huo even suspected that she did not have a brain but instead a microchip was implanted in her head.

"When is the second game testing?" Wei Huo asked.

Lu Qiqi answered, "The basic skills test is over. The next test will start in 30 years."

Wei Huo spoke again, "Have you heard of Magical Stones?"

Wei Huo finally asked the key question, and Lu Qiqi replied without concealing anything, "Players could obtain Magical Stones through mining or hunting Magical Beasts which are ranked Rare or above. Many Magical Stones are also stored in the warehouse at our camp."

Wei Huo quickly asked, "How many exactly? 100 or 1,000?"

Lu Qiqi answered, "Magical Stones are useless to us, but we've collected around 5,000 magical stones."

Wei Huo stayed silent for three seconds, then he immediately said, "Pack your stuff. We're all set to go!"

Although Lu Qiqi's leg was fractured, the Giant Panda could carry her. They would obtain 5,000 Magical Stones as long as she led them to their camp. They could buy a lot of stuff in the Item Mall with those 5,000 Magical Stones!

What mattered here was that Wei Huo heard a piece of information. He could obtain Magical Stones through mining and hunting Magical Beasts!

Lu Qiqi had no objection. It was as though she did not feel pain. Her injured leg would hurt a lot throughout the bumpy journey. Moreover, the Giant Panda was very mischievous as it was always waddling around as it walked.

However, Wei Huo was determined to get the Magical Stones. His purpose of bringing Lu Qiqi along was for her to lead the way.

He could use the 5,000 magical stones to buy a rare item, numerous Tianshan Snow Lotuses, and endless amounts of food. The most important thing was that he could store those stuff in his Inventory Menu and they would never go bad.

Lu Qiqi sat on the Giant Panda's back. She turned into a conscientious tour guide, leading the way without any complaints. She listened to Wei Huo's orders attentively and would not do anything out of line, let alone saying more words than necessary.

She would answer all of Wei Huo's questions truthfully and honestly, and then she would fall into silence again.

Sometimes Wei Huo would think, 'Her autism was much worse than mine!'

Come to think of it, both of them had been neglected by God and were left behind by their friends. If it was not for Wei Huo who saved her, she could only await death.

At times, Wei Huo would ask her questions like, "Do you know how to smile?"

Lu Qiqi looked at him and flashed her pearly whites. Her eyes did not show the faintest tinge of happiness, and the muscles on her face hardly moved. She let out a frightening sound, "He~He~He."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'Was that a threat? Am I being threatened?'

Wei Huo facepalmed himself and said, "That was one frightening smile!"

Lu Qiqi immediately went silent, and she turned her head away.

Wei Huo was left speechless again. "…"

Was she… angry?

Wei Huo could see an attribute in Lu Qiqi's Health Menu, the Mood bar. Wei Huo did not have that value in his menu. It meant that God took the human's emotional state into consideration too. He added this attribute to the artificial beings to test a human's emotional state when they encounter different scenarios.

"Let's set out to your camp!"

Lu Qiqi started giving out directions as soon as she heard his instructions. "Getting ready for departure. The total journey distance is 7.6 kilometers. The estimated time of arrival at the final destination is five hours. The deep forest is dangerous. Please beware of beasts attacks."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

Take a look at that automatic humanoid navigator.

Lu Qiqi started leading the way while Wei Huo was in charge of their safety, and they began their journey. Throughout the journey, Lu Qiqi would keep talking even without Wei Huo asking her any questions.

"Take a right turn at the intersection ahead. Please note that the ground is slippery. Please beware of poisonous snakes in the bushes."

Wei Huo was a bit confused. 'Since when did navigation systems give out directions in the wild?'

"Qiqi, sing me a song."

Lu Qiqi spoke, "Network connection failed. Unable to download songs."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'You are a humanoid computer, right? What was the matter with the network connection? Should I give you Wi-Fi?'

Wei Huo understood that Lu Qiqi was actually a robot although she appeared like a human. She was an artificial intelligence being, an 'AI'. Perhaps her brain was indeed made out of microchips.

Wei Huo let out a faint sigh.

Although she looked like a 'human', she was not a real 'human'.

Only the voices of Lu Qiqi navigating were heard throughout the whole journey. They did not even spend five hours as both Wei Huo and the Giant Panda were moving at fast speeds. Along the way, all the animals did not dare to attack them as they felt Wei Huo's strong aura. They arrived at their destination in only two hours.

Lu Qiqi spoke as they set eyes on the railing fences surrounding the camp, "You have arrived at your destination. Navigation ends here. Thank you for using Lu Qiqi navigation."

Wei Huo shot a glance at her. "You're not going to continue pretending all the way, aren't you?"

Lu Qiqi turned her head away.

Wei Huo ignored her and started examining the camp. Wei Huo was astonished at first sight when he saw the camp.

The camp was very modernized. He thought it would be a primitive camp with wooden houses, wooden fences, and a few farms. However, it was a modernized small town with access to water, electricity, air conditioners, and heaters.

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Chapter 29: Animal Frenzy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wei Huo set foot on the road paved with limestone where brick walls were built on the sides. Some of the houses had two stories with most of the rooms being equipped with air-conditioning systems and drain outlets. There might even be an underground sewerage system.

Lu Qiqi introduced the place as they walked, "No problems were detected in the construction test. The electrical facilities are operating normally. In the past 30 years, there were a total of 37 short-circuits and three fire incidents."

At that moment, Wei Huo suddenly understood the reason Lu Qiqi's skills were all at level five. In other words, she was an all-rounder artificial being. From Farming, Construction, Hunting, Cooking to Medicines, nothing could inconvenience her. Wei Huo suddenly realized that he had found a treasure!

"Do you know how to manufacture an atomic bomb?" Wei Huo asked carefully.

Lu Qiqi glanced at him and said, "First, please collect materials to build a scanner according to the blueprint. Next, search for well-preserved atomic bombs. Then, use the scanner to scan the atomic bombs and obtain the atomic bomb blueprint. Lastly, collect sufficient materials to manufacture the atomic bomb."

Wei Huo was confused. Was it so easy to manufacture an atomic bomb? That was unscientific!

However, it was a game. It was normal to be unscientific.

"Take me to the warehouse. I'm eager to see the 5,000 Magical Stones."

Lu Qiqi continued leading the way. They walked past the kitchen and Wei Huo saw a few four-doored refrigerators. He also saw other electric cookware such as an induction cooker, electric frying pan, electric rice cooker, and so on.

Lu Qiqi said, "The cooking appliances are operating normally and their functions are consistent with human's usual practice. There are various cooking methods adoptable by humans. No problems were detected."

It suddenly dawned on Wei Huo that the purpose of the first test was to find out whether humans could survive under such harsh environments.

All of a sudden, Wei Huo wanted to know how many artificial beings survived amongst the 10,000 of them so he asked, "How many of your kind survived after the first test?"

Lu Qiqi answered, "The total number of testers was 10,000. A total of 4,569 survived the first test. A total of 2,357 were killed by beasts, 384 were killed by the fire, and 863 were killed by an infectious disease…"

Wei Huo was surprised to hear that the death rate had exceeded 50%. Most of the artificial beings were killed by beasts. However, it was no surprise because the evolution and mutation of creatures had accelerated. Humans were too fragile to compete with those creatures.

Not everybody had the title 'The Loner Neglected by God' like him, or was 100 years ahead of everyone else like him, or fearless of death like artificial beings.

Now that only 100 years have passed, will humans be able to survive when the time halt ends? Will they become extinct because they cannot endure the harsh environments?

Lu Qiqi took Wei Huo to the warehouses. Wei Huo realized that the warehouses were divided into different types. For example, the air-conditioned warehouses only stored food, while the one next to it stored sundries. The other warehouses were filled with stone blocks, minerals, and so on. Numerous pitch-black Magical Stones were also piled up in that warehouse. It looked ordinary but the system had already posted a notification.

"Unclaimed Magical Stones detected, would you like to accept it?"

"Of course I'll accept it! I came here for this!"

As soon as he finished his sentence, the pile of Magical Stones disappeared into thin air. Soon after, the number of Magical Stones in Wei Huo's Item Mall became 5,231.

Wei Huo was elated to see the unexpected surge in the number of Magical Stones he had. He did not purchase the goods in his Item Mall immediately as he did not know what to buy since there were too many goods to choose from. He also wanted to use those Magical Stones at critical times. He could purchase 10 days worth of food with only one Magical Stone and that could have saved one's life during critical times!

Wei Huo turned his head and asked Lu Qiqi, "I heard you saying Magical Stones can be obtained through mining and hunting magical beasts ranked rare or above?"

Lu Qiqi answered, "There are three ways to obtain Magical Stones. First, you can obtain it through mining. Second, you can obtain it through hunting magical beasts ranked rare and above. Third, you can obtain it through completing specific quests."

At this moment, Lu Qiqi turned into a novice guide. She could answer almost all questions about the game.

Wei Huo asked again, "Do you know any rare ranked magical beasts around here?"

Lu Qiqi said, "The Player should explore the relevant game content by yourselves."

Wei Huo was left speechless. "…"

'If you don't know, just say it.'

Wei Huo and Lu Qiqi stayed in the camp temporarily. Wei Huo found some clothing made out of super woven fabric in the warehouse. The super woven fabrics were extracted from a plant farmed by artificial beings. Clothes made out of those fabrics were very durable. The thermal insulation and sweat-wicking effects were also pretty good. Moreover, it looked quite stylish too.

Wei Huo could finally take a comfortable bath after more than a century. He could cut his hair and put on some modern clothes. Wei Huo could not help but be overcome with emotions when he saw himself in the mirror.

However, what Wei Huo did not expect was that when he met Lu Qiqi with his new look. Lu Qiqi was surprised and she asked, "May I know who you are?"

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

It was indeed an artificial being made by God. She also knew how to crack a joke!

Lu Qiqi only realized after a few moments. She looked Wei Huo up and down and said, "You did not lie to me. You are indeed a human, not a caveman who evolved from monkeys throughout these hundred years."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'So you thought I was a caveman?'

However, Wei Huo had to admit that his before and after appearance did look like two different people.

A few moments ago, Wei Huo checked the warehouses and noticed that food in the warehouses were all frozen. The electrical appliances were still operating automatically. Even if they broke down, Lu Qiqi knew how to repair them so Wei Huo could live in the camp without any worries.

However, survival was not a problem for Wei Huo. His main concern was to survive forever. His total lifespan was now 688 years as his level six Qi-Training Skill had further granted him an additional 600 years of lifespan. It may appear to be a very long time, but one-sixth of it was already gone.

Fortunately, Wei Huo could use his Magical Stones to purchase natural treasures in the Item Mall that could speed up his Qi Cultivation progress. He could also look for precious cultivation resource spots for his Qi Cultivation.

What Wei Huo needed the most now are Magical Stones. He had to get a huge amount of Magical Stones to ensure his Cultivation progress.

Currently, there were only two stable ways to get Magical Stones. One was through mining and another one through hunting rare magical beasts.

However, due to various reasons, rare magical beasts were still scarce and not commonly seen. God probably thought that it was unnecessary to release a large number of magical beasts ranked rare and above as the human time was still halted.

The game world was still in the making and had not been completed yet. In the process of game-making, one should first build a large framework, create the game, and then consider optimization and other details.

Wei Huo understood this, so he started searching for rare magical beasts. Occasionally, he would also kill normal beasts who attempted to attack him.

On Wei Huo's fifth day in the camp, the system suddenly sent a warning.

"Hunting quota reached. Incident 'Animal Frenzy' triggered!"

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Animal Frenzy?

Wei Huo was stunned. He knew that the Animal Frenzy incident would be triggered if the number of animals hunted exceeded its quota in a particular location. However, he had not expected it to happen within these few days.

He quickly looked for Lu Qiqi and asked, "How many times did the Animal Frenzy incident happen?"

Lu Qiqi answered, "This is the third time the Animal Frenzy incident was triggered in this camp. The first incident lasted for three days, where 867 were killed, while the second incident lasted for 10 days, and 674 were killed."

Wei Huo frowned. It was his fault for neglecting this issue. Overhunting would cause the animals to go wild causing all animals to begin attacking mankind. Animals like lions, tigers, leopards, antelopes, wild boars, and poisonous snakes would start attacking humans wildly. If there were any rare Magical Beasts, they would have attacked humans uncontrollably too.

Lu Qiqi spoke as she saw Wei Huo frown, "The animals will only go wild in this area. You have three options. First, escape from this place. Second, hide and wait for time to pass. Third, fight them and kill all the animal invaders."

Wei Huo asked after hearing her words, "What about you?"

Dazed, Lu Qiqi thought to herself, 'Me?'

She did not think of herself. Why would she think of herself? She was just an artificial being. It did not matter if she died.

Lu Qiqi was confused as nobody had ever asked her questions like 'What about you?' before. However, she had to give Wei Huo a reply since he was a player. She said, "The network is not connected. Response search failed."

The corner of Wei Huo's eyes twitched as he asked, "So you guys can connect to the internet? Let me ask another question, can you guys download videos?"

'What kind of artificial being was this? This was clearly a humanoid-computer. Come on! You guys are novice instructors, right? Those kinds of game elves who would answer players' questions and once that task is finished, all of you will change jobs, right?'

Lu Qiqi kept silent for a moment. Instead of answering Wei Huo's question, she changed the topic. "The Player had chosen option three. I suggest the Player head toward the warehouse and equip himself with a bow and arrow, iron swords, and iron knives before heading to the Central Control room and turn on the Automated Machine Gun turret. Please take note that the Automated Machine Gun turret will not be able to differentiate between enemies and friendlies. There are four exits in the camp. All four are equipped with the Automated Machine Gun turret. Deadfall traps were set up at both the south gate and north gate. The Player is requested to check if the traps are operating normally."

Wei Huo nodded and ordered the Giant Panda to guard the area as he headed to the warehouses. Lu Qiqi's existence was useful to him at present. Firstly, he could obtain a lot of information regarding the game. Secondly, he could learn a lot of skills from her. For example, skills like Medicine and Research that Wei Huo was completely clueless about.

Wei Huo did not worry too much as he had experienced Animal Frenzy before. However, he had chosen to hide previous times. He could not hide this time as he needed to protect Lu Qiqi. Moreover, he wanted to test his maximum battle strength.

After all, his current rank had been upgraded to rank Rare!

Wei Huo had reached the Rare rank after his God of Thunder Skill reached level two. How strong was the rank Rare? Sorry to say this, but even Wei Huo himself did not know. This was due to the lacking points of reference as no creature had been powerful enough to force him into exerting his full power.

Wei Huo took out the Strength Bracer and wore it while he carried Dolan's Shield on his back before heading to the warehouse. He found some bow and arrow, as well as knives and swords. After equipping them, he went to the camp's south gate.

He did not plan to escape this time. He wanted to confront the Animal Frenzy incident by himself. He wanted to test his strength.

He carried the bow and arrow on his back. His left hand was holding a blade while his right was holding a sword and he stood guard at the camp's gate.

Wei Huo only turned on the machine gun turret at the east, west, and north. He left the one in the south off to prevent friendly fire and also to test his strength.

As Wei Huo stood at the south gate, he immediately felt the vibration of the ground and heard a whooshing sound coming from the jungle. The first animal that scuttled out of the forest was a Pere David's deer. With bloodshot eyes, it instantly sprinted towards Wei Huo as soon as it laid eyes on him. However, it was only the first one.

Behind it was dozens of Pere David's deer, it was a herd of Pere David's deer! Following closely behind them were two cheetahs and a crash of rhinoceros. The animals had only one goal, and that was to kill the human ahead of them!

Wei Huo took a slight breath and bellowed, "The hunt begins now!"

He then started his killing spree.

For over 100 years, Wei Huo had never stopped his physical training and Qi Cultivation. He had also reached level two in his God of Thunder Skill. He was unaware that presently he was extremely powerful.

His speed was so fast, it was impossible to see with the naked eye. His strength was more powerful than 10 elephants combined and he was way more skillful in hunting as compared to other experienced hunters. This was the advantage of being 100 years ahead!

In addition to weapons developed from human knowledge, Wei Huo's combat strength was 10 times higher than those animals that went wild!

With a sword, he beheaded a Pere David's deer. With one blade, he slaughtered a rhinoceros into half. With one kick, he flung a cheetah 10 meters away.

That was not hunting, that was a massacre!

The Animal Frenzy incident was a punishment to humans for hunting too much, but it was also to suppress the accelerated reproduction of animals.

Only the strongest could survive from this incident just like natural selection in the wild. Survival of the fittest, the precise basis of the jungle world.

Wei Huo's arrow penetrated the head of a hyena who attempted to sneak into the south gate.

At this moment, an ear-shattering roar suddenly came from the south and rent the air. All the animals halted their steps and started retreating. The ground vibrated ceaselessly and a giant monster appeared!

The most frightening enemy was finally lured out by Wei Huo's ceaseless massacre!

The giant monster was over 20 meters tall. It looked like a gorilla but had four arms, white fur, and a ferocious face.

'Four-Armed Gorilla. Rank: Rare. State: Frenzied.'

The Rare Magical Beast had finally appeared!

Lightning flashed across Wei Huo's eyes as the electric current started to appear beneath his feet. The next moment, Wei Huo rushed towards the gorilla.

Pounding its chest, the gorilla roared and rushed towards Wei Huo. It reached out two of its arms for Wei Huo while it clasped and smashed the other two of its arms towards him.

Wei Huo's eyes were focused. He cast aside the blade and sword in his hand, clenched his fist, and punched the gorilla's arms which were plummeting towards him.

Boom! A thunderous bang blared through the air as their fists collided.

Their colliding fist stirred up a strong wind. The leaves scattered all over the place and Wei Huo's clothes rustled in the wind. Then, Wei Huo heard a crack!

It was a distinct sound of bones breaking. The sound did not come from Wei Huo's arms. The Four-Armed Gorilla stepped back as soon as the sound died down. Two of its arms dropped onto the ground.

Indeed, a hundred years of push-ups were not for nothing!

The buffed arms of a man who had been single for over a hundred years was worthy of its reputation.

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Read Five Frozen Centuries Chapter 31 online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 31: This Is How Love Is

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

How strong was Wei Huo? Very!

Wei Huo had not known this as he did not have a reference point to his strength. He had yet to meet someone who was on par with him in terms of strength.

Not only was Wei Huo centuries ahead of other humans, he was also ahead of all living creatures! That was leverage in itself. While the evolution speed and mutation rates had increased among Earth's living creatures, it was the same for Wei Huo as well.

Moreover, as a human, Wei Huo was adamant about training every day. He managed to continue strengthening himself after the limiter was removed, and on top of that to feed himself he had to continuously hunt. That indirectly had also improved his combat awareness and skills.

Therefore, Wei Huo was actually quite strong.

At the very least, he was stronger than the Four-Armed Gorilla in front of him.

In nature, most animals would choose to run from a predator stronger than themselves but things were different today.

They were all mad today and still continued charging towards Wei Huo although he had shown off his incredible strength.

This was how God designed the game!

God would never make mistakes.

There used to be a certain species of squirrels known as European ground squirrels. When its population reached a certain threshold, a mass suicide would occur1.

Scientists had yet to find out the reason behind the behavior. They were probably thinking to themselves, 'Why should I bother explaining something that I can't when no one seems to be bothered anyway?'

However, at this very moment, Wei Huo understood why.

That was all God's doing. It was to balance the forces of nature. Just like how wolves prey on sheep, or how tigers prey on deers. Animals were made capable of going crazy.

As the propagation rate of animals increased, adding an 'Animal Frenzy' setting could help reduce the population of both animals and humans. At the same time, animals and humans with higher potential could grow fast amidst the frenzy and surpass their own limits to become stronger than ever.

A stronger presence did not mean their reproduction rate would increase as well. Wei Huo looked back on humanity's history and noticed that a rich, handsome, and capable man would never be attracted to an average girl. The same could be said for a Four-Armed male gorilla, who would never be attracted to an average female gorilla.

This was nature in balance!

Just as Wei Huo concluded his thoughts, a group of ordinary female gorillas sprang out of the bushes. They surrounded the Four-Armed Gorilla and glared at Wei Huo fiercely.

Wei Huo was left speechless. "…"

'Nope! I'm not wrong because… This is how love is!'

Anything that could not be explained by logic could always be concluded with 'This Is How Love Is'. Why would one not quit from a tough, low-paying job? Because this is how love is. Why would one continue chasing an impossible dream? Because this is how love is. Why would… No matter what it was, this is how love is.

Although the Four-Armed Gorilla had two of its arms pulled down, it still had two others that were used to pat its own chest as it growled at Wei Huo.

Wei Huo's eyes twitched. He looked at that gorilla and the female ones around it while saying, "Although you have lost, you won something else at the same time."

Wei Huo picked up the sword and blade on the ground. The punches prior were to test his own strength, but alas the Four-Armed Gorilla had yet to push him to his limit. He still could not get an idea of his true strength. However, he had to solve the frenzied animals in front of him as soon as possible.

Hence, it was time to kill!

Wei Huo extended his leg and charged towards the gorilla. The Four-Armed Gorilla's eyes were red in anger. It growled and charged towards Wei Huo. The female gorillas and other animals that were in the frenzied state were all running alongside the Four-Armed Gorilla.

Numerous animals came charging, and Wei Huo was suddenly reminded of a movie he had watched —'The Chronicles of Narnia'. There were beasts that were also running around and killing each other in that movie.

However, Wei Huo was the only one facing these beasts at the moment!

Although he was the only one, that was good enough!

'That's because I'm of the Rare rank!'

Wei Huo raised his sword and blade and charged forward. His combat skills were sublime. He used to crush his enemies in one-on-one battles, but it was different this time!

The world was not an actual game or to be more accurate, the world had yet to become an actual game. One would not see blood being splattered in games at the very least, and there would not be skulls, intestines, or organs spilling all over the place.

In actual games, blood would usually be dyed green or pixelated. However that was not the case here — this was God's game!

From God's perspective, humans and animals were insignificant. If you are dead, you are dead. No one cares if it was cruel. If you can not adapt to the cruelty, you will be eliminated by it. That was the rule of the jungle.

That was an inevitable rule of the jungle, and one could either adapt or be eliminated by it. Running away from it would only make you more vulnerable in the face of cruelty. That was why people were still committing suicide in peaceful times.

The fact that Wei Huo had the time to think this much proved that the battle was relatively easy for him. At times, Wei Huo even held back and knocked the animals out rather than killing them.

The killing needs to stop!

Overhunting could trigger another Animal Frenzy.

Wei Huo did not want a fourth frenzy to occur right after this otherwise, this would never come to an end.

That was why Wei Huo chose to knock them out or break their legs instead. He would only kill them if he had no other choice.

That was the so-called kindness that stemmed from his advantage, he merely did not want to trouble himself further.

However, at that very moment, the East, West, and North gates of the base were broken into. It was three Rare-ranked beasts leading a huge pack of crazy animals through the gates. They smashed the tower with an automatic machine gun, destroyed traps made with heavy objects, and broken in.

It was as if they knew where Lu Qiqi was hidden. They did not seem to be bothered by destroying buildings as they were directly headed towards where Lu Qiqi hid!

Wei Huo scrunched his eyebrows. He only felt stressed at this moment.

It was harder to protect than to destroy!

Wei Huo turned around, pulled the bow from his back, and nocked his arrow as he gradually mobilized the Lightning Force in him. The force eventually lingered on the arrow. At that very moment, Wei Huo loosened his right hand and released the arrow.

The Lightning Force amplified in strength as the arrow left his hand. The arrow shaft was instantly destroyed by the Lightning Force, but the arrowhead was still moving forward — It was carrying the horrifying Lightning Force.

That was a Lightning Arrow!

It was as if lightning flashed across the sky. The arrow pierced the shoulder of a huge Rhinoceros, and the massive force instantly exploded in its shoulder. The Rhinoceros flew for over 10 meters as if it was struck by lightning. Half of its body was blown to pieces, and the flesh surrounding it was charred beyond recognition. It seemed impossible for the Rhinoceros to survive this.

However just as Wei Huo shot his arrow, the Four-Armed Gorilla took its chance and threw a punch at him.

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Chapter 32: Qi Cultivation Skills

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wei Huo was hit by the strong punch and flew for over 10 meters and finally smashed into a brick wall.

The bricks crumbled and buried Wei Huo as he fell down. However, the Four-Armed Gorilla did not stop there. It charged over and continued punching on the pile of bricks Wei Huo was buried under with its remaining pair of arms.

It was not the gorilla being extra adamant, but it knew that Wei Huo was not dead yet. In other words, Animal Frenzy gave them a new ability to detect the location and status of humans.

The mutated Four-Armed Gorilla might know kindness, but it had not dared to think of that while facing a strong enemy. It had to leverage on Wei Huo's fall!

The Four-Armed Gorilla threw its punch into the pile of bricks. At that very moment, a hand reached out from the pile of rubbles and blocked its punch.

The air quivered for a moment scattered dust away. They spread out like ripples in the air.

Wei Huo stood up with his fists clenched. There were no traces of dust on his body, but instead, his body was being wrapped in a light and transparent layer of air shield.

'I should've known!'

Wei Huo lifted the gorilla's arm with ease.

'I should've known. How could the Qi-Training Skill merely increase one's lifespan? The so-called increase of lifespan was just an added advantage of my enhanced cell activity.'

What was surrounding Wei Huo's body at that moment was the Qi energy in his cells being released from his body.

Qi energy could be used the same way the Lightning Force was used! Moreover, his Qi-Training Skill was at level six — that level was even higher than the God of Thunder!

Speaking of Qi, there was plenty of historical literature that detailed it, such as 'Dragon Ball1' and 'Battle Through The Heavens'.

'When can I fire Qigong blasts? When can I become the Dou Ancestor1?'

Wei Huo clenched his fist and a layer of Qi energy started wrapping around it. Soon after, Wei Huo threw his punch!

Bang!

One punch!

The Four-Armed Gorilla's stomach collapsed inwards, and it flew over 10 meters away. It smashed through almost four large trees before crashing into the ground. No one knew if it was still alive.

Wei Huo walked out of the brick pile slowly with his body giving off a strong and threatening aura. The inner Qi that came out of his body seemed like an invisible flame.

Wei Huo thought of a saying, 'The Strength of a Skill isn't in the Skill itself, it's in the Person Who Uses the Skill1'.

Qi Cultivation Skills were strong skills, but Wei Huo had yet to know how to properly utilize it.

However, his priority was not to research on ways to use the skills — It was to end the crazed animals at the moment!

Wei Huo extended his leg and charged forward like a released arrow. He was running towards Lu Qiqi's hideout. He first met a red-eyed Titan Python which rushed out upon seeing Wei Huo and reached for him with its fishy-smelling mouth.

However, Wei Huo was faster than the python. He released his inner Qi causing his strength, speed, and resilience to multiply. Just as the python's mouth reached for him, Wei Huo was already on top of its head and punched it down.

Bang!

The giant snake was smashed into the ground and caused a huge pit in the limestone-paved ground. Gravels were splattered everywhere, and blood flowed through the gaps between the limestone-paved ground.

There was one last Rare-ranked animal!

It was a Giant Wild Boar. Its eyes were red as it charged towards Lu Qiqi's hideout. It seemed as if it was about to smash into the house Lu Qiqi was in.

At that very moment, the panda finally became intelligent for once. It rushed out and stopped the Giant Wild Boar in its tracks. Although its body was not small, it was still nothing compared to the Giant Wild Boar.

Wei Huo was a little anxious. He might not make it in time!

At the same moment, Lu Qiqi walked out of the house with a crutch and a straight-pull rifle in her hands. She raised the rifle, tilted her head, aimed at her target, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

There was a loud noise. The bullet hit the Giant Wild Boar, and there was blood gushing out of its right eye!

The Giant Wild Boar screamed in pain, and it changed its original trajectory. It rubbed shoulders with the panda before rushing out and crashing into a two-story brick house. The brick wall was destroyed.

The panda was confused. 'Was I… saved by the bell?'

At this moment, Wei Huo pulled out his bow and arrow as only arrows would work at this distance.

He nocked his arrow. The Lightning Force and inner Qi were both lingering on the arrowhead. As two types of energy gathered in one spot, an explosion was inevitable. The arrow shaft was destroyed into pieces after Wei Huo released his arrow.

The steel arrowhead rushed out, and there were forces of inner Qi and lightning trailing behind it. Both forces continued exploding as the arrow moved forward. The arrowhead's speed continuously increased and eventually, it broke the sound barrier.

The Giant Wild Boar stood up and shook its head before locking its eyes on Lu Qiqi's location and charged towards her yet again. However, the Lightning and Qi arrow were headed towards it and entered the Giant Wild Boar's body. In the next moment, the two colliding forces caused a horrifying explosion.

Bang!

The lightning and inner Qi exploded within the Giant Wild Boar, tearing into pieces. The surrounding walls and grounds were painted red, causing a bloody smell permeating everywhere. The animals around the area stopped in their tracks.

Wei Huo let out a sigh of relief. Four Rare-ranked animals were finally destroyed!

Wei Huo looked at the straight-pull rifle in Lu Qiqi's hands. He exclaimed, "98k?!"

Lu Qiqi glared at Wei Huo and replied, "This is an M1903 Springfield rifle, I got it as a reward from a quest."

Wei Huo was left speechless. "…"

One should not speak without knowing his facts. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing!

Lu Qiqi picked up a tree branch and asked Wei Huo, "What is this? Another 98K?"

Wei Huo was annoyed. "Hey, I know what branches are. Speaking of which you did not travel through time from a century ago, did you? Was your soul attached to a robot or something?

"How did you know about 98K?"

Lu Qiqi turned around and picked up her rifle. She aimed in another direction and pulled the trigger. A crocodile that was coming over from the river was shot in its head.

Wei Huo was shocked. She did not deny it!

'Motherf*cker, I now know why all the artificial intelligence beings returned to God's Gate except for you.'

Wei Huo ran over and asked, "Quickly, tell me. Are you a Time Traveller?"

Lu Qiqi said with a straight face, "Network connection failed. Answer not found."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'It's all motherf*cking tricks.'

Chapter 33: The Final Dinner

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wei Huo nocked his arrow. He stood behind Lu Qiqi back-to-back and aimed it at the beasts that were charging towards them. Every shot from him either hit the legs or heads of the beasts.

The rifle in Lu Qiqi's hands was way more powerful. Almost every shot struck the beasts' heads and tore them into pieces. She continued wielding the horrifying powerful rifle and shooting non-stop. However as she had a fracture in her right calf, the recoil from every shot sent her moving backward. Nonetheless, Wei Huo was right behind her and she was backed into him with every shot she took.

Wei Huo did not move an inch. His strong back had absorbed all the recoil from Lu Qiqi's rifle. The duo continued shooting while the fierce panda continued waddling. Eventually, the number of beasts charging at them was reduced to zero.

After it was all over, Lu Qiqi spoke out of nowhere, "The third Animal Frenzy has ended. No members were injured. All four of the Rare-ranked beasts were killed."

Wei Huo looked over at Lu Qiqi and realized that her left calf was shaking. Due to the injury in her right leg, she had been relying on her left leg to support her body. Her left leg could not hold it any longer.

As the recoil of a straight-pull rifle was strong, her left leg had been enduring a lot of stress despite having Wei Huo as her backup.

Despite that, Lu Qiqi supported herself with her crutch and walked towards her room slowly. Wei Huo still had a bit of empathy left in him. He rushed over to help her, but instead, he caused Lu Qiqi to hurriedly keep her rifle in her inventory space and said with a straight face, "I will never give it to you."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

"You did travel through time, didn't you? Were you the lead actress in 'Becoming A Robot After Travelling Through 500 Years' movie?"

The Animal Frenzy was finally over, and it was considerably short-lived this time around because the beasts were either killed, knocked out, or had their legs broken.

In order to avoid a potential plague, Wei Huo and the panda began moving the dead bodies into the freezer. The animals that were knocked out eventually woke up quickly escaped while those who had their legs broken were still in the frenzied mode. Wei Huo knocked them out again and had Lu Qiqi treat them. For the ones who lost their abilities to survive in the wild, the duo had no choice but to nurse them at the base.

They were not all useless since chickens could lay eggs, and sheep could produce milk.

There was no sympathy in nature. The so-called display of sympathy were merely selfish thoughts of not wanting to attract more trouble, and only the strongest had such privilege of being sympathetic.

After settling everything, Wei Huo thought about Lu Qiqi's rifle. He had yet to touch an actual gun in his life and wanted to try it out. He tried to borrow it from Lu Qiqi.

Although Lu Qiqi did say that she would never give her rifle reward to Wei Huo, she still handed it to him when he asked to try it out.

Without a scope, Wei Huo's aim was not that great. He aimed the rifle at a red flower but ended up hitting a dead tree ten meters away. He aimed it again at a huge rock but ended up hitting the same tree.

Wei Huo was confused. 'What's up with this tree? Is it taking all the bullets on purpose?'

Lu Qiqi looked over and quietly took her rifle back. Wei Huo reached for it again, but Lu Qiqi took a step back instead and kept the rifle.

Wei Huo was confused.

How could such a tiny act cause so much pain…

"Fine…" Wei Huo handed out the 8x Scope from his inventory. "This must be God's plan."

Lu Qiqi grabbed the 8x Scope in shock and mounted it onto the rifle skillfully. She tested it out a few times.

Wei Huo could tell that she was excited. Moments later she said to him, "Whatever you need, I'll trade it with you."

Wei Huo thought about it carefully. He realized that he was not lacking anything, but he asked anyway, "Do you know how to cook? Braised pork, twice-cooked pork slices, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stewed chicken with mushrooms…"

Wei Huo realized that he was drooling as he spoke.

Lu Qiqi said, "Lu Qiqi's Culinary Skill is at level five, and knows how to cook 123 types of dishes. What do you want to eat?"

Wei Huo was feeling greedy. He went on to name dishes, "Braised pork, twice-cooked pork slices, fried pork—"

Lu Qiqi cut him short. "Can you finish it?"

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

Wei Huo said after thinking it through, "Scrambled eggs with tomatoes!"

Lu Qiqi said heartlessly, "There are no tomatoes."

Wei Huo was confused. He thought about it and asked, "What about stewed chicken with mushrooms?"

Lu Qiqi had a straight face. "No mushrooms."

Wei Huo was lost.

'Why isn't there anything?'

"Forget it, I'll go to the kitchen and find something." Wei Huo arrived at the kitchen and found that there were not many frozen vegetables, but there was quite a selection of meats. Apart from that, there was also a huge box of eggs, milk, potatoes, leeks, flour, and the likes.

Although Lu Qiqi knew the recipes of over 100 dishes, she could not do anything about the lack of materials!

The duo started working with what was available. Although Wei Huo did not know how to cook, he knew how to use a rice cooker as well as cutting vegetables.

Lu Qiqi on the other hand was in charge of cooking. Although her calf was injured and couldn't stand for long, she still persevered to cook for Wei Huo.

After some time, the dishes were completed. Wei Huo felt like he could eat a horse as he smelled the fragrance of food. Lu Qiqi eventually made shredded potatoes, fried leeks with eggs, fried pork, and a pot of vegetable soup.

After cooking, Lu Qiqi commented, "Four cuisines. All four cuisines are rated above 75. Evaluation: Good."

Soon after that, she looked over at the rice cooked by Wei Huo and commented, "The rice is rated under 60. Evaluation: Coarse."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

Almost there!

Although the coarse rice was a nadir, Wei Huo did not care much about it. He could finally eat home-cooked food, after more than 100 years. Wei Huo was moved by the simple dishes on the table.

He initially thought that he would gobble them up, but what he did not expect was that he could not even lift his chopsticks.

"Pardon me, it's been over 100 years since I used chopsticks. I'm still getting used to it." Wei Huo nearly lost grip of his chopsticks. He seemed like a foreigner learning how to use chopsticks, and he could barely pick up vegetables with it.

Wei Huo took a bite of each dish and stopped himself. He shut his eyes, and his soul was quivering.

Wei Huo thought that he would be picking up vegetables and eating non-stop. However, he realized that he was not going to. He was not that hungry. On the contrary, he was more worried that he would never be able to have these dishes again if he gobbled them up.

At that moment, Lu Qiqi asked, "Are they not good?"

Lu Qiqi thought that the dishes were not of Wei Huo's taste when she saw him put his chopsticks down.

"N-no, they're good. They're very good!" Wei Huo was choking up.

Wei Huo's fingers were trembling. He continued stuffing food into his mouth and said while chewing, "I was just worried that if I ate too quickly, I won't be able to have them ever again."

Lu Qiqi just stared at Wei Huo quietly and did not eat as that was the deal they had, a trade.

Wei Huo was eating slowly because he was cherishing this meal. He wanted to savor the aftertaste, as he was afraid he would never be able to have this meal again.

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Chapter 34: Deadly Virus

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wei Huo was worried that he would never be able to have such a nostalgic meal again, but it was obvious that his worry was unfounded. Lu Qiqi had to eat as well. Whenever she ate, would she not cook another portion for Wei Huo too?

Of course… Not.

The next day, Lu Qiqi did not cook Wei Huo's portion. Wei Huo was annoyed. "Why didn't you cook my portion?"

Lu Qiqi lifted her head and asked in confusion, "Did you ask for it?"

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

Wei Huo understood it all at that moment. Lu Qiqi did not have any common sense. She was an artificial being before she met Wei Huo. It could be that they had always been cooking only for themselves.

Wei Huo asked, "Before returning to God's Gate, did you all only cook for yourselves?"

Lu Qiqi replied, "We were each in charge of different modules. The meals were made by a certain group of people, and construction, hunting, maintenance, manufacturing, farming, and animal training were all carried out by different groups of people. Everyone worked together to test the game."

Wei Huo asked again, "What if someone who was in charge of hunting died?"

Lu Qiqi replied with a serious face, "The manpower would be reallocated, and we would try our best to get enough data from the trials."

Wei Huo was silent for a while before asking, "What happened to the ones who died? Were they buried or cremated?"

Lu Qiqi replied, "The dead artificial beings would return to God's embrace and not leave a trace in this world."

Wei Huo was shocked. He could see Lu Qiqi's age and lifespan from her Health Menu.

'Lu Qiqi. Age: 30 Years Old. Lifespan: 45 Years'

Time did not leave a trace on her body. That was probably one of her God-given abilities.

"Your lifespan is only 45 years! What… do you plan on doing next?" Wei Huo asked.

Lu Qiqi replied, "I'll wait for the next trial 30 years later and test the game according to God's orders. I'll then return to God's Gate and relay the data."

Wei Huo was confused. "Is my math bad, or do you have bad communication skills? You artificial beings only have 15 years of life left. How can you wait for another 30 years?"

Lu Qiqi replied, "After delivering the data upon our return to God's Gate, our time will be halted until the second trial begins."

"But you were forgotten." Wei Huo said.

Lu Qiqi paused then said, "It's my mistake. I was executing an important quest and missed out on the time frame to go back."

Wei Huo immediately asked, "What quest?"

Lu Qiqi looked over at Wei Huo and said, "Game contents are not allowed to be leaked to players."

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

There must be a bug somewhere in that quest. I knew it even if you did not say it! The quest of artificial beings was to test out the game. For one, it was to see if humans could survive in such conditions, and the other reason was to find bugs. God must not wish to see players exploiting the bugs to level up.

Wei Huo felt a little guilty, but he did not tell Lu Qiqi that he had exploited bugs in order to obtain the Qi-Training Skill scroll and the highest-ranked God of Thunder Skill scroll.

Lu Qiqi said, "I need to wait till the next trial is completed before returning to God's Gate. I have important information to relay to God."

Wei Huo asked, "Is this the only way to relay information to God?"

Lu Qiqi replied, "And death. After I die, God will have access to my memories."

"But you were forgotten by God." Wei Huo looked over at Lu Qiqi and realized an important problem. If Lu Qiqi died, God would have access to her memories and realize that Wei Huo was left out of the time halt. 'Would God send me into a time halt or take away everything I've worked for, or… kill me immediately?'

Lu Qiqi cannot die!

Wei Huo scrunched his brows and asked Lu Qiqi, "Are you afraid of death?"

Based on past events, Lu Qiqi seemed as if she did not care much about her life and death. It seemed as if she treated herself like a completely artificial being. She seemed like she was unbothered with death.

Lu Qiqi shook her head to Wei Huo's question. "I don't know what fear is."

Wei Huo continued asking, "Can you cultivate Qi?"

If she could cultivate Qi, she should be able to increase her lifespan through it. As long as he found the cave to pass on the Qi Cultivation skills, her lifespan could be increased. When the next trial is over, her freedom could be controlled to prevent her from returning to God's Gate. That crisis would then be resolved.

Lu Qiqi replied to his surprise, "I'm an artificial being, I have no soul. I can only cultivate Qi but I can't refine my mind or return to the void."

Wei Huo let out a sigh of relief. As long as Qi Cultivation was possible, everything was fine. He could buy some time at the very least. Moreover, she mentioned 'Refine My Mind' and 'Return To The Void'— had she meant to say 'Refining Essence Into Qi', 'Refining Qi Into God', and 'Refining The Mind To Return To The Void1'?

Was this the path after Qi Cultivation? In other words, the lifespan of 2,000 years was not the limit, he could still obtain more years!

However, she mentioned soul…

Wei Huo did not overthink it and said, "After your calf recovers, we'll set out for the cave!"

Lu Qiqi did not say no, nor was she excited about it. It was as if she had nothing to do with whatever Wei Huo had just said.

A month went by and Lu Qiqi's injury had fully recovered thanks to the meat abundance in the warehouses. She had sufficient nutrients for her recovery.

After Lu Qiqi recovered from her injury, Wei Huo could not wait to bring her along in search of the cave. He wanted to look for a way to pass on Qi Cultivation Skills so that even if Lu Qiqi said no, he could still force her to cultivate her Qi anyway.

Lu Qiqi heard Wei Huo's plan and replied, "Qi Cultivation Skills are included in the second trial. If we can find the cave, I will agree to inherit the skills and perform trials with it."

Wei Huo let out a sigh of relief after hearing what Lu Qiqi had said.

Wei Huo began packing up and equipping himself. Together with Lu Qiqi and the panda, they headed out to the south.

The northern part of the Central continent had already been explored by 10,000 artificial intelligence beings however, they had yet to find the cave. Wei Huo did not plan to waste his time. He planned to bring Lu Qiqi and the panda to the south and explored uncharted territories.

At that very moment, God's voice could be heard.

"New event added, Cliffs. From this moment onwards, there will be possibilities for treasures or scrolls to be found under cliffs.

"New event added, Dragon's Treasure. From this moment onwards, there will be Dragon's Treasure at dragons' habitat. The treasure includes Weapons, Scrolls, Props, Medicine, Golden Coins, Magical Stones, and more.

"Note: the first Epic-ranked living creature appears.

"New location Divine Realm added.

"New creatures added: Gods. Gods are intelligent creatures living in the Divine Realm. They possess powerful strength and long lifespans."

Wei Huo paid attention to God's updates and changes to the game. He did not understand what kind of game God was planning to turn the world into, but it seemed like the game incorporated elements of games from before the time halt.

However, Wei Huo gradually realized that humans would find themselves in a depressing environment after the time halt ends. Would humanity be ended by God?

God had added many more methods to obtain scrolls. It was probably because scrolls were rare. That was good news to Wei Huo and Lu Qiqi as they went on with their journey to the south with sufficient resources.

Ten years flew by.

They stopped in their tracks because of a sudden system warning.

"Deadly virus discovered!"

Chapter 35: Heart Attack

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wei Huo heard the horrifying warning and was stunned. He quickly checked his own Health Menu but found no diseases. He then checked Lu Qiqi's Health Menu as well and she was alright.

Wei Huo had gone out to hunt with Lu Qiqi today while the panda was in charge of looking after their belongings. Due to its age, the panda no longer had the strength to hunt. Wei Huo ended up being the one carrying all of their belongings.

Wei Huo ran back when he realized that the problem was neither him nor Lu Qiqi.

The panda could no longer get up by the time Wei Huo found it. It was panting on the floor and seemed like it was in excruciating pains.

Wei Huo checked its Health Menu immediately. 'Deadly Disease: Heart Attack (Critical).'

Lu Qiqi arrived at the scene as well. She checked the panda's condition and said, "It's too fat. Too much fat has accumulated in its body causing its blood vessels to harden and clog. The heart has been overworking, and the damage to it is severe. Most importantly… It's too old."

Wei Huo scrunched his brows. "Could it be saved?"

Lu Qiqi said, "A surgery needs to be performed, but there are no tools for it. On top of that, my Medicine level is not high enough to perform surgeries. We need to find an experienced vet."

Where can one find an experienced vet while humans are still in the time halt?

Wei Huo had an idea as he asked Lu Qiqi, "Can medicine for humans be fed to pandas?"

Wei Huo had the Item Mall as his arsenal. He also had over 5,000 Magical Stones. As long as he used those stones to buy a special remedy for heart diseases, should the problem not be solved?

Wei Huo clicked open the Item Mall and performed a search. There was a wide range of medicine available in the Item Mall. There were both cheap and expensive options. For example, Sparkling World tablets said to be the cure of all diseases cost 1.5 million Magical Stones each while a box of Bao Xin Ning tablets usually used for heart diseases only cost five Magical Stones each.

Lu Qiqi suggested, "I don't know how to treat heart diseases, but I recommend that you shouldn't buy too many types of medicine. You should focus on getting just one."

Wei Huo nodded. He knew that he was not a doctor himself, and there was no way he would be capable of getting the most appropriate medicine for the panda's situation at that moment. He was also clear that one should not consume medicine rashly. Moreover, this was medicine for humans. He did not know what would happen if he fed it to an animal.

There were more expensive and fancy options, but it was wiser to buy a simpler and commonly used medicine instead.

Wei Huo bought a Perfect Heart Reliever pill which cost him 500 Magical Stones. According to its introduction, the pill can revive any patient suffering from heart attacks but it was not a cure. It was said to work on humans, but no one knew if it was going to work on pandas.

The ones that could cure heart diseases were too expensive. Wei Huo could not afford those. He did not care for the cheaper options either as he knew that good things never came cheap.

Wei Huo fed the Perfect Heart Reliever pill to the panda. As it could no longer eat anything, Wei Huo had to force its mouth open and stuff the pill down its throat. The panda could only swallow the pill after being fed some water.

Wei Huo could only try his best in desperate times. It was all up to fate and the panda itself if it could survive.

Wei Huo put his Doran's Shield on the panda's body. Unfortunately, the shield was of no use. The introduction of Doran's Shield had stated that it could only slightly recover one's health.

However, as the panda had a heart attack, Doran's Shield was of no use to it.

There were no operating theatres in a place like this. They only had some common herbal medicine on them. The most they could do presently was to make a crutch or stretcher for the panda. They were of not much use to its present situation.

The panda was panting more severely. It closed its eyes, clenched its fists, and it seemed like it was in excruciating pains.

Lu Qiqi had been taking care of it. She put her hand on the panda's body where its heart was and felt that the panda's heartbeat was weak. It would be unsurprising if its heart stopped beating at that moment.

Wei Huo had no other choice. He could only wait it out.

The panda was going to be the next one to pass away after Fatty Tiger. It was already pretty old. Even if it made it through this time, it would not be alive for long. That was the most helpless thing about life. No living creature could defeat the inevitability of death.

Humans could increase their lifespan through Qi Cultivation, but what about animals? Animals had no way of picking up the skills unless they managed to learn about the caves or open the caves by chance. They would then need to learn the Human Language. Otherwise, there was no other way.

Wei Huo sat next to the panda and ran his fingers through its fur. It was really getting old. Its fur had become dull, and its gaze was no longer as sharp. It seemed dispirited at that moment.

It continued panting and tolerating the pains in its heart. It kept crying, but its voice was getting softer.

The panda might not be able to make it!

Lu Qiqi ran her fingers through the panda's fur as well. She had changed greatly over the past ten years. Although she still had a few features akin to artificial beings, she was becoming more and more human.

Wei Huo checked his provisions. They did not have much left and needed to hunt. However, their surroundings were deserted. There were barely any beasts within sight, making hunting nearly impossible. Wei Huo's Qi Cultivation was now level seven. His need for food had decreased to a bare minimum, but Lu Qiqi and the panda still needed food.

Wei Huo had Lu Qiqi stay back to take care of the panda as he went out to hunt alone. No matter what happened, life had to go on.

There were barely any beasts in the area because it was a desert. The heat was intolerable in the day and the cold was unbearable at night. Water was scarce at the moment, let alone food.

They had to travel in this direction because there was a tall, skyscraping mountain in the south.

The Central continent was formed by countless pieces of land. Just like the Himalayas, huge mountains would be formed at the points where tectonic plates integrated with each other. They would then only grow higher over time.

That was how the huge mountain on the Central continent was formed. Countless pieces of land integrated with each other forming that huge mountain in the middle of it all. It touched the clouds and was visible from a fair distance away. However, being able to see it did not mean that they were near. After ten years of traveling, they had yet to arrive at that mountain's foot.

Wei Huo did not manage to get anything from today's hunting. He rushed back before the sky turned dark, and found Lu Qiqi still taking care of the panda. The panda was still panting as well.

Wei Huo let out a sigh of relief and said to Lu Qiqi, "I'm sorry, there aren't many beasts around here, we might have spent too much time here."

Lu Qiqi looked at the panda and asked sadly, "Are we abandoning it?"

Wei Huo scrunched his brows. "I'll carry it. We need to go. We need to get out of this desert!"

The panda had been in bad shape for days, but Wei Huo was not going to abandon it. If he did, it would die sooner than expected.

Wei Huo carried the panda and said, "We'll set out in the night!"

Although that was no good for the panda's situation, no one could survive without sufficient food. Moreover, living in the deserts was truly too harsh!

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Chapter 36: It's My Turn

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The panda's condition was getting worse. Its heart suddenly stopped on the third day. Wei Huo put it down immediately and defibrillated its heart following Lu Qiqi's advice. Thankfully, Wei Huo's God of Thunder Skill was at level three, and he could control his powers better now. The panda was eventually resuscitated.

After its resuscitation, the panda became better probably because of the Perfect Heart Reliever pill. The panda could now walk a few steps and reluctantly ate a little.

Wei Huo let out a sigh of relief. However, the panda's condition became worse the next day. It collapsed again the next morning, and its Health Menu was updated to 'Dying'. The panda's activity before this was probably a terminal lucidity.

Lu Qiqi was silent for a while before saying to Wei Huo, "It might not survive."

Wei Huo lifted the panda and said, "Let's get on with it, don't give up!"

Wei Huo and Lu Qiqi continued traveling. They finally walked out of the desert three days later.

The panda was trying its best to stay alive, but it was in agonizing pains. Wei Huo nearly tried to end the panda's life on its behalf, but who was he to do so?

Wei Huo felt the pain of having a long life for the first time. The people and things he was getting used to being with would eventually leave him one day, and the best option was to not get familiar with anyone or anything. As long as he remained alone, he would not have to bear such pains.

Wei Huo and Lu Qiqi continued traveling south.

The tall and huge mountain in the south was a skyscraping one. Wei Huo decided to name it the 'Aerial Peak'. The mountain was formed by movements of tectonic plates; the Central continent was formed by integration between pieces of land from all directions.

The Aerial Peak was the most obvious peak on the Central continent. That was why Wei Huo continued traveling toward its direction.

However, the mountain was too far from where they were. The saying 'Easier Said Than Done' was applicable to Wei Huo's situation at the moment.

Nonetheless, they made it through the desert and found a creek amidst the prairie they were on which was inhabited by many animals. It was a good sign as they no longer needed to worry about food and water.

However, the panda stopped breathing the next morning.

It laid next to the creek silently, and its chest was no longer moving. Wei Huo and Lu Qiqi did not need to feel its pulse as they could see everything from its Health Menu.

'Species: Panda.'

'Sex: Male.'

'Status: Dead.'

This was the one enemy no living creature in nature could defeat… Death!

Wei Huo thought that the panda could live till the end of its lifespan, but a deadly disease got in its way. Wei Huo and Lu Qiqi had their hands tied as it was all up to the panda itself. If it could not make it through, no one could help it.

Wei Huo clenched his fists. The lifespan of all living creatures in nature was limited, including himself. He too would eventually die one day, but he did not wish to die just like that.

"Let's go!"

Wei Huo shook his head and continued his journey with Lu Qiqi. The tiger was dead. The panda was dead. Who would be next? Would it be Lu Qiqi or himself?

Wei Huo looked over at Lu Qiqi and asked, "Lu Qiqi, are you afraid of death?"

Lu Qiqi looked at Wei Huo and seemed confused about why he repeatedly asked the same question. She replied, "I don't know what fear is. My job is to test the game until death."

She was an artificial being after all. She was not human.

She was only five years away from the end of her lifespan. Hopefully, they could find the cave within five years and pass on the Qi-Training Skill to her!

Wei Huo continued traveling with Lu Qiqi for the next three years. He became more and more irritable over those three years, but he would comfort himself at times. 'Maybe God doesn't care about someone with a minor role like me. Maybe I could be thrown into the time halt, and I will be revived when the game development is completed.'

Wei Huo only realized a major issue now. Everything he had owned was given by God. If God was to take everything away from him, how could he fight back?

The answer was, no way!

Unless one became as strong as God, or more powerful than God!

Wei Huo kept a little hope in his heart and continued with his journey to find the cave. He was not going to give up until the very last minute.

In their final two years, Lu Qiqi's body started experiencing problems. There was a new disease called 'Dementia (Mild)' on her Health Menu. That caused her to stop in her tracks sometimes and went into nostalgia. She would not wake up from it unless Wei Huo shouted at her. The 10 basic skills which she possessed also began deteriorating. Her basic skills that used to be at level five were now at level three.

Although Lu Qiqi's appearance did not change much, her body began showing signs of aging. It seemed as if she was about to die.

Wei Huo could not help but feel sad as he watched Lu Qiqi. Lu Qiqi did accompany him for about seven to eight years and it was not easy on Wei Huo's heart to have them all eventually leave him. This was something people with a long lifespan had to go through.

Wei Huo thought about the title 'The Loner Neglected By God'. As if it was not bad enough that he was neglected by God, why was he branded as a loner as well? Wei Huo felt that it was too relatable at the moment!

'At the end of the day, I'm still alone!'

Loneliness was the only constant in Wei Huo's long life.

The panda died in the fifth year of their journey, and Wei Huo paused his journey again in the eighth year.

Lu Qiqi had collapsed. She had dementia, osteoporosis, deafness, cataracts, and other diseases commonly found among the elderly. She could no longer travel with Wei Huo.

Wei Huo reluctantly complimented God at that moment. God was indeed powerful. He thought about this thoroughly.

It seemed like not only did God come up with the Mood bar, God had also considered diseases among the elderly. These diseases were all part of God's trial.

Seeing how Lu Qiqi was getting closer to death, Wei Huo could not help himself but think that if Lu Qiqi died, his demise was near as well. After God had accessed Lu Qiqi's memory, He would definitely deal with Wei Huo, the one who did not experience the time halt. In balancing out the game, God will probably wipe out his memory and everything that he had gained over the past century. God could also just kill Wei Huo. Whichever the result was, Wei Huo would not accept this!

Wei Huo had always been the one watching other living creatures die. How would it feel like now that the situation had been reversed? Wei Huo could not help but forced a smile. Who could have guessed that he was going to be the next to go after the panda, the tiger, and Lu Qiqi?

Wei Huo constructed a cabin and settled Lu Qiqi in it until her days came to an end. Black crows landed on the dead branches outside the cabin. They kept crowing as if counting down to her death.

Lu Qiqi suddenly disappeared the next morning!

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Chapter 37: A White Lie

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Artificial Intelligence Being Number 677 returns. Reporting on four problems found during the first trial.

"Firstly, there are too many materials needed for blueprint construction, and the quality of appliances built is unsatisfactory. Their parts often malfunction without reason.

"Secondly, plant seeds from three generations ago are no longer useful now that the mutation has been accelerated.

"Thirdly, cold weapons cannot be used to fight beasts of the rank Rare and above now that animal mutation has been accelerated.

"Lastly, a bug was found in the south. Glitches were recorded in the Demonic Anthills. The Demonic Ants evolved too quickly. An initial civilization has been developed, and it is equivalent to mankind's Stone Age. The civilization is expected to enter the Steam Age after 350 years."

Artificial Intelligence Being Number 677 returned after its death and relayed all information before entering the time halt mode.

God had only retrieved key information and did not access all of Number 677's memories. This was not unusual as 30 years' worth of memories were too vast, and most of them were of no use. 'Think about it, I had fried leeks with eggs yesterday. I was freaked out by a dog the day before, and slaughtered a chicken the day before that.' What were the uses of these memories?

In addition, over 5,000 artificial beings were lost during that trial. If God had to read the memories of every and every artificial being, would God not have developed dissociative identity disorder?

Although it was impossible for God to suffer from that disorder, He would never waste His time doing such things. For instance, the General Manager of a company would never spend his time micromanaging every detail. It was crucial for a leader to delegate tasks.

Wei Huo narrowly escaped yet another calamity. He was neglected by God once again, but could it be that Number 677 intentionally hid that information from God?

He would never find out the answer to his question. Anyway, Wei Huo managed to escape that calamity when Lu Qiqi disappeared and returned to God's Gate, yet Wei Huo was not punished. It seemed as if God had neglected him again.

Wei Huo did not know any of that. His perception changed vastly after Lu Qiqi's disappearance. He was sure that if God accessed Lu Qiqi's memories, He would think of ways to deal with him. The most direct way of doing so was killing him!

Those thoughts left Wei Huo feeling low. Whenever he ate, he would think if that was his last meal? Whenever he hunted, he would think if that was his last time hunting? Whenever he started a campfire, he would think if that was his last time seeing a fire?

'If this is my last time, shouldn't I be cherishing it better?'

Wei Huo started doing everything slowly. He wanted to truly savor every moment like it was his last. It seemed as if death no longer frightened Wei Huo, but he was not sure if his lack of fear was because he had already given up, or if he had already become tired of living for nearly 200 years.

Wei Huo knew nothing. He only knew one thing — He was awaiting his death.

He started behaving like an actual old man and did everything slowly. He also began enjoying the beautiful things in life. He felt that flowers, grass, as well as the food in his belly were all amazing.

However, after waiting for over three hours, God's punishment had yet to land on him.

Wei Huo was confused. 'Was I neglected again?'

Wei Huo lifted his head and looked at the sky.

However, nothing happened even after waiting for a little longer. It seemed as if God had neglected him again, or maybe Lu Qiqi had deleted the memories she had with him at the very last minute.

Wei Huo stared at the bed Lu Qiqi used to sleep in and mumbled to himself, "Is it true that good people reap what they sow? But I'm not considered a good person… What's on that bed?"

Wei Huo walked towards it and noticed that it was the straight-pull rifle and the 8x Scope. Wei Huo was stunned. 'Did Lu Qiqi leave her precious babies behind?'

Was she merely an artificial being? Or did her death mean that she would have left her inventory behind?

Wei Huo thought that the latter assumption was more plausible as Lu Qiqi was suffering from dementia before she passed away. However, when Wei Huo picked up the rifle, he found a note under it.

"Mankind's time halt will only last for 300 years."

Wei Huo was stunned. It was as if a huge hammer was smashed into his head. Since the time halt was only going to last for another 300 years, and he had already been through nearly 200 years, if he just persevered for another 100 he would witness the return of mankind!

It was a glimpse of hope!

That was the most precious gift from Lu Qiqi!

Lu Qiqi was definitely no artificial being. She must have had a soul. Wei Huo was sure of it. After spending so much time together, Lu Qiqi had occasionally acted and spoken in ways a robot could never do, and now she gave a reason for Wei Huo to continue living before she passed away.

Regardless of the truth behind her words, Wei Huo chose to believe in her!

It was just another 100 years!

Wei Huo believed in it firmly!

Wei Huo continued with his journey. He was feeling hopeful this time, and he became happier along his journey. He wanted to use the remaining time he had in the next 100 years to find more caves, train more, learn more, refine his own skills, and collect more Magical Stones.

Wei Huo had been doing everything aimlessly before this as he did not know when the time halt would end hence he was close to giving up. However, things were different now. Wei Huo had already made it through 200 of the 300 years of the estimated time halt, as long as he persevered for another 100 years the time halt would end, and Wei Huo could finally return to society. He could also hide his 300-Year leverage and acted like a wolf in sheep's clothing. He was excited just thinking about the wonderful future awaiting him!

Wei Huo started compiling a to-do list for himself. He had to cherish the remaining 100 years of time left before time unhalted.

Wei Huo continued traveling with Lu Qiqi's rifle and left the cabin behind. He spent the next five years traveling. Over those five years, Wei Huo encountered many peculiar living creatures and natural phenomena. He had witnessed countless nature's wonders and had also faced numerous attacks from unique creatures.

Super Spiders were one of them. These spiders lived in bushes and built webs that could not be cut with a knife. Animals that got caught in them could not escape at all — not even lions or tigers. The spiders would use their venom to knock their prey out, wrap them in their webs, and savored them slowly.

However, Wei Huo had also encountered beautiful and kind creatures as well, such as unicorns. They had white fur, looked like horses, had a horn, and were friendly. However, their attacking power was strong. They could use their horns to penetrate any living creatures that angered them.

On top of that, Wei Huo met creatures with long bodies as well. For example, Kog'Maws1 which had mouths that were one-third of their bodies with three layers of fangs both inside and outside of their mouths, dumb flightless birds were jumping off cliffs despite having no wings, and a Kraken that managed to arrive at the shore from the seas. Wei Huo renamed it as the Tentacles Monster as it had tentacles all over its body.

On that day, Wei Huo stopped his journey as he saw skyscraping cylindrical mountains.

It was not accurate to call them mountains. Those cylinders seemed more like buildings and some even seemed like bamboo-shaped towers. Each cylinder was over 50 meters tall, and every level had multiple entrances to them. Wei Huo watched giant ants coming out of those entrances, climbing down to the ground, before traveling to seek food.

It was unsurprising for the ants to evolve amidst other animal mutations worldwide. However, it was weird that these animals seemed like they knew how to use tools.

Wei Huo saw some ants polishing stones into sharp ones before tying them to their bodies with vines to serve as weapons while other ants put on wooden armors, and some even brought bamboo cages to carry provisions.

Wei Huo was confused. Apart from monkeys, ants were beginning to utilize tools as well.

It was not unusual for monkeys to use tools as they were of similar species to humans. Their intelligence was high, and it was not unusual for them to use tools after years of development.

However, ants were far from being similar to humans. It was rather surprising to Wei Huo that they had evolved into this state. 'Their evolution was way too quick, wasn't it?'

Humans evolved from apes after tens of thousands of years, but how long did those ants take to arrive at their current stage? Just over 100 years.

Did that mean those ants could evolve to the level of human civilization in the next few centuries, or even stronger than that? If no one cared to regulate them, would the ants begin riding Gundams1 and flying in the skies within the next few centuries?

The propagation rate of the ants was not that far off from humans!

Wei Huo scrunched his brows. He began worrying about the future of mankind, but soon after that, he had another thought. Could that be one of the tests God was going to give to humans? Maybe at some point, the ants would experience a time halt too.

Wei Huo thought that he was overthinking the situation. The Almighty God was controlling the world, and he was in no position to worry about anything.

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Chapter 38: The Kingdom Of Ants

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wei Huo went on with his journey. He found a black cat chewing on a rat along the way; it was a giant cat about the size of an Alaskan Malamute1. The rat was not small either, it was as big as an adult cat.

The giant cat did not notice Wei Huo at all when he walked past them. That was not unusual.

As Wei Huo went back to traveling alone, his title 'The Loner Neglected By God' seemed to have come into effect. Even when he was right behind some animals, they did not sense his presence at all.

Wei Huo guessed that his presence was stronger when he had animals or humanoids by his side.

Now that Wei Huo was back to being alone, his passive ability was being put to use.

However, the success of this ability depended on probability. Although 70% was pretty high, it was still possible for Wei Huo to be discovered by animals, such as the black cat next to him right now.

Wei Huo was just walking by when the black cat seemed to have felt something behind it. It turned around and jumped when it saw Wei Huo. It jumped about seven to eight meters high and landed on a tree branch.

The black cat which jumped on the tree branch had its fur stood up while growling at Wei Huo after taking a good look at him.

Wei Huo was dumbfounded. "…"

'How did that have anything to do with me!?'

The black cat continued growling at Wei Huo mercilessly with its claws out.

Wei Huo was annoyed. "If you're that courageous, come at me! You probably wouldn't anyway."

Wei Huo was confident in his capabilities. Just as he said that the black cat jumped towards Wei Huo the next moment with its claws reaching for his face.

Wei Huo was left speechless. "…"

He underestimated the stubborn cat.

Wei Huo extended his hand and pressed the black cat onto the ground. He then pinched the back of its neck causing the black cat to be immobile.

Soon after that, it began crying as it stared at Wei Huo with its watery eyes. It was trying to escape.

Wei Huo smiled and let it go.

Only the strongest could afford empathy, and most of that empathy was to avoid trouble in the future. That was why Wei Huo chose to let it go.

As Wei Huo loosened his hand, the black cat quickly ran away. Not once did it look back as it rushed into the bushes and moments later, he could no longer hear any rustle.

At this very second, there were sounds coming from the Ant Tower ahead of him. Wei Huo looked over and found that a huge group of ants was charging towards him. They surrounded Wei Huo quickly. Each ant was about as huge as an Alaskan Malamute. They encircled Wei Huo and kept using their antennae to sniff Wei Huo's scent.

Wei Huo realized what was going on. The rustle just now must have attracted them.

Ants did not have eyes or ears. They communicated only with their scents. Their language was made of various combinations of scents. They even left trails of their scents on the ground as a guide.

They discovered Wei Huo after detecting his scent. Although Wei Huo's passive ability was effective, it was no match for the crowd of ants in front of him!

If one or two ants could not discover him, would three or four ants not do the trick?

The ants surrounded Wei Huo and hesitated.

They kept emitting their scents and attempted to communicate with Wei Huo, but he did not know what they were trying to do.

One ant which was unique walked over eventually and tried to communicate with Wei Huo. Unfortunately, Wei Huo did not understand it.

Moments later, the ant charged over and attempted to lift Wei Huo, but it underestimated Wei Huo's weight. Although ants could lift objects that were a few times heavier than them, they could not lift Wei Huo at all.

After nearly 200 years of physical training and Qi Cultivation, Wei Huo's cell density was terrifyingly high. His horrifyingly high body mass had greatly increased his weight, making it impossible for the ant to lift him.

Wei Huo patted the ant's head, and it loosened its hand. These ants had all evolved to the point where they were using their four rear legs to walk, and their two front legs as hands. That was why they could now use tools.

Truth be told, Wei Huo felt like he was an alien arriving at some weird planet. The ant in front of Wei Huo seemed as if it wanted to communicate with Wei Huo, but unfortunately, Wei Huo did not know Ant Language, and neither did he have antennae. He could not communicate with them at all.

If Wei Huo did not have his follicles emitted his scent, the ants would not have found him.

Anything that did not emit scents was as good as non-existent to the ants. It was similar to how humans assumed things that could not be seen, felt, or smelled as non-existent.

Although Wei Huo had problems communicating with that ant, his nose gradually learned to identify simple scents. Moreover, he could see what the ants wanted to do from his Social Feed.

'Demonic Ant 10086 is attempting to build a friendship with you.'

Wei Huo was left speechless. "…"

The name 10086 definitely felt familiar.

It was indeed true that no humans ever used numbers as their names, but who decided that it was absurd to do so?

Could someone not have 0086 as their first name and 1 as their last name?

Wei Huo was unclear about why these Demonic Ants were not hostile towards him. They seemed as if they treated him as a Demonic Ant that did not know how to communicate. That unique Demonic Ant even brought Wei Huo back to their anthill.

Wei Huo was even more confused. Were they not worried that he could be a spy to destroy them from within?

Soon after that, Wei Huo laughed at himself. There were at least tens of thousands of Demonic Ants at their headquarters. How could they even fear a loner like him?

But truth be told with his current powers, he could definitely destroy the anthill. If he had found the queen ant's location, battling it one-on-one would not be hard.

Just as Wei Huo was deep in thought, an ant that was passing by gave both the guiding ant and Wei Huo a drink each. The drink was stored in a stone bowl. Wei Huo tried it and found it kind of sweet even after being watered down.

Wei Huo thought about the days before the time halt. Many consumers had disliked sellers who were watering down their juices and many complaints were lodged as well.

Water was the source of life. If you are still unhappy after having a watered-down drink, you have no common sense. The sellers were concerned about your health!

Wei Huo carried his sweet drink into the Demonic Ant's tall tower. He then realized that the tower was merely used as a ventilation mechanism for them. They actually lived underground and dug tunnels that extended in all directions. Even Wei Huo could detect the different scents left on various paths.

That Demonic Ant took Wei Huo to a huge cave. The cave was filled with stones of all sizes, and each stone was emitting a different scent. An elderly Demonic Ant was standing in the middle of that pile of stones as it carefully emitted its scent onto the stones, and it was using different scents interchangeably.

That gave Wei Huo an impression that… Was it writing?

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Chapter 39: There Was Such A Function?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Books with words were not the only type of literature in the world. There were illustration-based and code-based ones as well. It was unsurprising that scent-based literature existed too.

Different scents meant different things, just like how different words could form different essays. This old ant seemed as if it was writing a book by means of emitting scents.

That shocked Wei Huo. Nature was indeed full of wonders and he did not expect to encounter yet another nature's wonder here.

The old Demonic Ant put its stone down and approached Wei Huo. It watched Wei Huo closely before eventually lifted its antennae, and extended them towards Wei Huo's head.

Wei Huo scrunched his brows. He released his inner Qi to form a shield around him. He was worried that the old ant was up to something.

However, Wei Huo saw everything on his Social Feed.

'Demonic Ant Warlock is attempting to befriend you.'

Wei Huo lowered his guard when he read that line. The old Demonic Ant's antennae touched Wei Huo's brow in the next moment, and Wei Huo felt a load of information flowing into his brain. There were countless photos, videos, and numerous scents as well as what each of them meant.

Wei Huo was shocked.

'There was such a function?'

After the information transfer was completed, the old Demonic Ant retrieved its antennae. It seemed like it aged a little more than before. However at that moment, Wei Huo suddenly 'understood' their language.

Truth be told, Wei Huo now understood the meaning behind their scents.

The guiding Demonic Ant checked on the old Demonic Ant, and the latter said that it was fine.

The old Demonic Ant emitted scents, and it was automatically translated to Mandarin in Wei Huo's brain. "Foreign ant. What brings you here to our home?"

'Did they really think that I'm a different species of ants?'

Wei Huo did not know how to answer as he did not have the scent emitting organs on his body. Nevertheless, he wittily picked up a stone that still had the old Demonic Ant's scent on it. That scent represented the meaning 'traveling'.

The old Demonic Ant had recorded on the stone its traveling stories back when it was younger. Other Demonic Ants could then learn its story through the stone.

The old Demonic Ant understood what Wei Huo was trying to relay. It 'said' sympathetically, "So you are a traveler. Such a waste. No one could've expected that you would become mute at such a young age."

Wei Huo was left speechless. "…"

What a grave misunderstanding!

But standing before Wei Huo was a group of ants without eyes or ears. It was no wonder that they could not identify him. They probably misunderstood him because he demonstrated intelligence that was higher than other animals, and not because he had the scent of ants on him.

(The automatic translation function has been activated below. The parts involving Demonic Ants in the following conversations were all translated from 'sensory' writings.)

The old Demonic Ant spoke, "I traveled many places when I was younger. I've encountered many tribes of ants and learned their languages. I've also come across many rare and unique animals. I only understood later that we, the Demonic Ants, are the dominant species."

Wei Huo finally understood why the Demonic Ant tribe was treating him respectfully. They had mistaken him for Demonic Ants from another tribe — the Mute Demonic Ants.

In their opinion, Demonic Ants were the only ones in the world who possessed both intelligence and intellectuality. If they came across other intelligent and intellectual living creatures, they automatically assumed that it must be Demonic Ants as well. It was just that they came in different shapes, and had varying scents as well as languages.

That was a dumb and arrogant assumption.

However, this assumption worried Wei Huo. If Demonic Ants were to continue evolving, would they surpass mankind someday? Would they be able to live with humans in harmony?

Wei Huo clenched his fists. 'Should I kill them while I have the chance before they become stronger?'

Wei Huo suddenly thought of the saying, 'If the baby is already so scary at such a young age, it cannot be left to live. It must be killed while it's still in the cradle1'.

'Why am I acting like an antagonist? Motherf*cker, the Demonic Ant in front of me isn't the protagonist, is it?'

Wei Huo loosened his fist as he thought that he was overthinking the situation. 'The Demonic Ants could just be a test God created for humans. Humans are the players. We possess various types of powerful weapons. We have both Qi-Training Skill and God of Thunder Skill as cheats while you're just a Demonic Ant…'

Bang!

A flame appeared on the old Demonic Ant's palm while it said proudly, "This is my newest invention. I'm using special energy from the air, and I get to turn it into the fire, electricity, and more. This is the foundation of all energy on Earth — I'm calling it 'Qi'!"

Wei Huo was left speechless. "…"

'Hey, if everyone knows all the cheats then this game can't go on anymore!'

The old Demonic Ant looked over at Wei Huo and said, "I can feel the Qi on your body. You're a Qi Cultivator ant as well, aren't you? I am indeed not the only ant possessing this power. This means that the skill can be passed on to other Demonic Ants. Let's work together and research the Qi energy. We can write our own Qi cultivation scrolls for future generations!"

Wei Huo scrunched his brows. 'For the future generations? You were planning on passing the Qi Cultivation Skills on to the future generations?'

Wei Huo could not help but imagine how things could look like in the future. A few centuries from now, tens of thousands of Demonic Ants that possess Qi Cultivation Skills everywhere. That will be around when mankind gets out of the time halt and yet to understand everything. Before they get to make sense of it, they will be attacked by countless Qi Cultivator ants, and there will be devastating casualties. Mankind could go extinct as well.

Wei Huo kept thinking and imagining it. He came to a conclusion at the end of it all. Those Demonic Ants cannot remain on Earth!

Wei Huo looked at the guiding Demonic Ant. That little Demonic Ant seemed like a student of the older one. It seemed like it could sense the Qi on Wei Huo's body, and that was why Wei Huo was invited to the anthill. It had an agenda. They were definitely not friendly creatures.

Wei Huo could not help but overthink it. As the only human who did not experience the time halt, he had to consider the future of mankind. That was an instinct. In moments of danger, an individual would unconsciously consider the well-being of his community or even sacrifice himself for them.

Unless the community left that individual feeling hopeless.

Wei Huo was not feeling hopeless as he had his parents, his friends, his relatives, and the girl he had a crush on. This community had everything he was missing. That was why he did not wish for mankind to go extinct.

As a human, Wei Huo only had one choice. He had to kill the Demonic Ants in their cradles. At the very least, he had to kill this Qi Cultivator ant in its cradle!

Wei Huo had decided as he utilized his skills, a small current appeared on his fingers.

The Demonic Ant students were shocked and retreated. The old Demonic Ant was pleasantly surprised as well. It said in shock, "I can feel a strong gush of Qi."

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Chapter 40: It's All Written In The Stars

The old Demonic Ant was shocked by Wei Huo's aura. Wei Huo's inner Qi was about five times stronger than its own Qi, and it had already been training for five or six decades.

The old Demonic Ant was a little annoyed. 'We're both Demonic Ants, what makes you the better one?'

It started keeping to itself after witnessing Wei Huo's capabilities and started changing its tone, "Who would've known that someone of your young age could possess such strong Qi energy. What a rare once-in-a-millennium talent!"

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'You Demonic Ants only have over a century's worth of history, and you're talking about millenniums to me?'

The old Demonic Ant continued confidently, "Nowadays, young men like you who are both talented and hardworking are a rare sight."

Wei Huo was confused. "???"

'Young? Talented? Not to be rude but I'm definitely older than all the ants here!'

Wei Huo could not communicate with them with scents, and he only had one reason to stay. They cannot be allowed to pass those Qi Cultivation skills on to their future generations no matter what. Wei Huo saw the age and lifespan of the old Demonic Ant through the Health Menu. It still had five years of life left. If it failed to improve its Qi Cultivation skills, it would die within five years without a doubt.

Wei Huo could tell that the old Demonic Ant's Qi cultivation skills were no match for his own. The succession bar for his Qi Cultivation skills as well as training efficiency were both at 100%. However, the old Demonic Ant's training efficiency was only at 15%. Wei Huo thought to himself, if he did not capitalize on the bug to improve his succession bar and the 35% training efficiency, he probably would have to train himself forever to prolong his lifespan.

Nevertheless, Wei Huo realized something weird while analyzing the different ranks of these Demonic Ants. Only the old Demonic Ant was ranked Rare among them, and the others were Normal. Truth be told, an ordinary Demonic Ant was definitely stronger than an ordinary living creature. The differences between an ordinary Demonic Ant and an ordinary tiger were huge.

Wei Huo realized that ranks were used to make comparisons within one's own species. The Four-Armed Gorilla was ranked Rare among gorillas, but it was no match for Wei Huo or any normal gun-wielding man.

Although Wei Huo was ranked Rare, he was strong enough to hunt other Rare-ranked animals. His Rare rank was only relative to the human average.

That was why Wei Huo was the stronger one although both the old Demonic Ant and him were both ranked Rare.

The so-called ranking system was probably similar to the one in games such as Elite-ranked, Epic-ranked, Legendary Boss[1, and so on. However, the character level and the experience points system had yet to be developed. They were probably still a work in progress.

Wei Huo had a thought all of a sudden. This anthill could be an instance [2] God created. It could be one of those where it pops up again after wiping it out.

If that was the case, would his plan to kill not be useless?

On top of that, the ants had yet to gain their EXP and Ranks, there was no use for him to go into that instance!

The old Demonic Ant was still talking about the formation of Qi and how to cultivate it. Its 15% of Qi Cultivation skills made it seem like it was just bragging.

Wei Huo did not agree. How could the Qi Cultivation skills of ants and humans be the same? How could the Demonic Ants' Qi Cultivation skills be of any use to me? Moreover, my Qi Cultivation skill inheritance level was at 100%.

It was hard for the old Demonic Ant to improve itself. It was eager for new Qi Cultivation knowledge, that was why it was so respectful towards Wei Huo. Unfortunately, Wei Huo was a 'mute'.

The old Demonic Ant was troubled by this issue. However at that moment, Wei Huo picked up a stone with information recorded on it.

The stone recorded an adventurous story the old Demonic Ant encountered in a cave. The Demonic Ant students did not understand why Wei Huo had picked up the stone, but the old Demonic Ant understood it right away.

The old Demonic Ant never said anything about how it had obtained its Qi Cultivation skills. However Wei Huo who was experienced, could tell right away. It inherited the skills!

The stone recorded the old Demonic Ant's story when it explored a cave with an expedition back in its younger days. However, The old Demonic Ant was the only one who came out alive. The story was thrilling, but the old Demonic Ant had left out an important detail on purpose. It inherited the Qi Cultivation skills from that cave!

Since it was the only ant alive, whatever it said was assumed to be the truth.

However, Wei Huo knew the truth, and the Demonic Ant that inherited the skills understood what Wei Huo was trying to say right away. All of a sudden, it was thankful that Wei Huo did not know how to speak.

The old Demonic Ant said, "10086, please leave us be. I have something to discuss with this gentleman."

"Yes, Master!" 10086 exited the room respectfully.

After 10086 left the old Demonic Ant asked eagerly, "Did you find the Qi Cultivation scroll in the cave as well? Quickly, tell me how it went with you!"

Wei Huo pursed his lips. "I speak Mandarin. Can you understand it?"

The Demonic Ant did not have ears and could not hear him. It realized that Wei Huo could not emit scents like normal Demonic Ants.

The old Demonic Ant mumbled, "Who would've known that you could come out of that cave alive, that cave was too scary. I'm still feeling terrified now that I'm thinking about it. The monster guarding the place and the traps in the cave were all deadly!"

Wei Huo grabbed the stone and shook it in front of the old Demonic Ant.

The old Demonic Ant was stunned before asking, "Are you saying that I should face my fears head-on and be unafraid of death to improve my skills?"

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'What I'm saying is, take me to that cave!'

The old Demonic Ant had a realization. "Right, I get it now. If I want to extend my life, I have to face my fears head-on and let go of my emotional attachments. Are you saying that I have to learn how to let go?"

Wei Huo was speechless. "…"

'Can you stop overanalyzing it?'

Wei Huo nearly smashed the stone in rage. He pointed to the cave's location recorded on the stone, and signaled an advancing move.

The old Demonic Ant was shocked. "Do you mean that I should stay down to earth and take it one step at a time? The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I understand it now. I will do this right from the start. I will refine my Qi Cultivation methods again."

"Motherf*cker!" Wei Huo kicked the old Demonic Ant in anger.

'What kind of logic is that? Why was I worried that you'd be a threat to mankind with this level of intelligence?'

The old Demonic Ant landed on a pile of stones, but its body was shielded by its inner Qi. Wei Huo did not exert his full force either, and that was why it was not really hurt. However, the stones that recorded all sorts of information came tumbling down, and the scents were all mixed up. These information-recording stones lost their functions within the blink of an eye.

The old Demonic Ant stood up in anger. "What have you done? You ruined my efforts over the years!"

[1] Strength descriptions of creatures in the online game Guild Wars 2.

[2] Instances are a sub-area in hostile environments in World of Warcraft, often played by a well-trained group of players.

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