Five Frozen Centuries

The bronze gate was an unusual one. There was too much Qi energy behind the gate, and Wei Huo could not open it right away. Wei Huo was sure of one thing; there was probably treasure behind that gate.

Wei Huo built a campsite at the ruins. Every day he would be punching the gate as if he was boxing, and he also took the time to gather all the bronze pots and pans that he had found together. He then set up a huge furnace to melt them all.

Wei Huo planned on melting them all to make new weapons or other equipment from them since this special bronze was capable of conducting Qi energy.

Other than that, Wei Huo still went back to punching the door every day. Nonetheless, he felt satisfied as the Qi energy in the bronze gate gradually decreased. On top of that, another coffin appeared on the altar a month later. Wei Huo took his chance to kill the Lillend skeleton again.

He would not miss this opportunity since the Lillend's bones could be used to enhance his equipment.

God had added the 'Equipment Enhancement' patch a long time ago, but Wei Huo could not find anything to enhance his equipment with — until now. Although it was possible to buy enhancement stones in the Item Mall, they were too pricey!

He did not expect that the Lillend's bones could be used for equipment enhancement. This was a pleasant surprise.

Wei Huo planned to use the Lillend's bones to enhance his bronze-made weapons. Unfortunately, Wei Huo did not know much about making equipment.

But it was alright, one could learn!

He could purchase a weapon-making scroll from the Item Mall. He could start learning it from theory to practice, as well as accumulate and improve his experiences with it. He had a lifespan of two millennia anyway.

One could do a lot with a long lifespan, after all the world was huge and Wei Huo had not learned all there was to learn. With no growth limitations to his physique, Wei Huo could spend all the time he wanted on these things.

Five months later, Wei Huo made his first set of bronze armor and dual swords. As the Lillend's bones could enhance the equipment hardness, Wei Huo used all the Lillend's bones he had on his equipment. As a result, his equipment was hardened to Level 10 — the limit for bronze-made equipment. That also caused a ten-fold increase in the bronze armor's weight.

After putting on the armor, every step Wei Huo took left a footprint on the ground while a tap on the granite floor would cause it to crack.

Wei Huo then understood that it became a super defense suit. If he had a bronze shield to go with it, it would be perfect.

However, since he had the passive title and a curse of being neglected easily, he was probably more suitable to be an assassin!

'Wait, I have the God of Thunder skill as well, I could be a lightning-controlling mage.

'Wait, my strongest skill is Qi Cultivation. I could be a Qigong Master.

'Or I could invent some things and become a mecha pilot.'

Wei Huo sighed. 'I'm the only player in the world, so there's no point talking about which occupation to focus on. I'll need to know a little bit of everything as I have to do everything on my own anyway.'

A famous person once said, "Life would be a little more exciting, if one knew a little bit of everything[1]." [1]

Wei Huo felt that this saying was pure bullsh*t. Obviously, only someone without friends would have to know a little bit of everything to survive.

Wei Huo's defense capabilities were stunning after wearing the bronze armor. His destructive power was also greatly improved. Apart from slower movements, there were no other weaknesses to the bronze armor.

With the armor, Wei Huo took just ten days to break open the bronze gate.

Wei Huo felt a little let down to find that it was empty behind the bronze gate. The only thing that was there was a huge bronze incense tripod in the center of the hall. The incense tripod was about two meters tall and circular in shape. Wei Huo approached it, and he could feel the vast Qi energy contained within the incense tripod.

The incense tripod was carved with flora and fauna motifs while its insides were clean and empty. Wei Huo attempted to lift the incense tripod, but it was extremely heavy. He only managed to carry it out of the ruins after using all his might.

When the incense tripod was put on soil, its legs sank into it. A granite floor tile had to be placed under the incense tripod carefully to keep it steady. Otherwise, that tile would be crushed to pieces, and the tripod would revert to being unstable again.

Wei Huo was puzzled as he stared at the incense tripod. This thing was probably left behind because it was too heavy. Even if Wei Huo could carry it as he traveled, the Rhinoceros would not be able to handle its weight.

After opening the bronze gate, the gate to the lowest floor appeared as well. It was a gate made of jade, and peculiar runes were carved on it. There was a notch in the middle of the jade gate, and its shape was very similar to the gem Wei Huo had.

Wei Huo had killed multiple Lillend skeletons over the last few months and collected multiple gems. He placed the gem in the notch, and the jade gate creaked open.

Theoretically, there might not be any valuable items in the bottom-most floor — which was where the shaman lived. However, given that these ruins were set in a game, the deeper a place was, the more valuable items found would be. Nonetheless, it would be more dangerous as well.

Wei Huo remained cautious as he went in. He used his inner Qi to shield himself just in case there were monsters or traps.

Wei Huo activated Massacre Mode and just as he walked past the jade gate, an unknown creature attacked him. Wei Huo spotted it through God View, and found that it was a giant crocodile that was about 17 or 18 meters long. Its mouth was reaching for Wei Huo.

However, Wei Huo moved faster than the crocodile, pulled out his bronze sword, and split the crocodile's head in half. Its blood splattered everywhere, and the smell of blood had spread all over the place.

Although Wei Huo did not wear the bronze armor this time, he was wielding the bronze sword which was further strengthened with his Lightning Force flowing into it. That was why although the bronze sword itself was not tough, its destructive power was greatly enhanced by the Lightning Force, causing it to be much stronger than normal weapons!

Wei Huo thought to himself, 'If I used this material to make a modern gun or a cannon, wouldn't it be a god-defying weapon?'

Wei Huo looked over at the crocodile and found that there were water stains under its feet. It seemed like it had just climbed out of water, and was startled by the jade gate being unlocked.

There was a river not too far away. It was an underground river and that crocodile probably had come from there.

There were also many giant crocodiles lingering around nearby. As Wei Huo had killed the crocodile that attacked him, the bloody smell was spreading all over the place, and alerting the other crocodiles nearby. Moments later, countless crocodiles were charging towards Wei Huo in a frenzy.

[1] A famous saying by Zhuge Liang, a military strategist, politician, and writer during the Three Kingdoms period.