Chapter 3: Hope of Breakthrough

  Yang Le had been staying in this cave of a million zhang mountain for eight whole months, the effect of practicing the art of breathing was mediocre, not as good as eating the meat of that ice-cold python with piercing eyes, so he simply stopped practicing, occasionally practicing was also extremely boring to find something to do, usually he would search around the cave, see if there were any heavenly treasures or earthly gems, sometimes he would go to the edge of that endless ancient forest and pick up some withered branches and fallen leaves to bring back to the cave.

  Tired, can see the sunrise at the cave entrance, like a house-sized sun, the sunset is like a fairyland, and the night is even more beautiful, the bright moonlight shines with a fascinating light, thousands of stars intersecting each other.

  Especially in the endless ancient forest, the million-mile Qin Ze Lake and the continuous mountains behind, as far as the eye can see, dozens of thick and uneven white lights have been continuously shooting down from the Taiyin star, like a giant pillar supporting the sky. The end of the white light disappears in three places. Yang Le counted, there are more than 40 white lights in the endless ancient forest, followed by more than 20 white lights in the continuous mountains behind, and only 7 or 8 white lights in the distant Qin Ze Lake. Needless to say, these are all the pinnacle of existence among the Honghuang alien beasts.

  Since eating the meat of the Biyan Cold Ice Scale Python, Yang Le's physique has become better and better, unaffected by cold or heat, and he can even lift a weight of 10,000 jin and run like the wind. With this ability, he dares to stroll around the surrounding area to see if there are any heavenly treasures or precious materials.

  As it turns out, Yang Le really did find some guys who thought they were good stuff.

  There was a time when Yang Le wore tree bark, wearing simple rattan shoes, holding his signature weapon - scale dagger, taking a stroll on the mountain. The mountain was covered with dark rocks everywhere except for some scattered greenery. Yang Le would occasionally kick small stones while strolling out of boredom. So to say, Yang Le wasn't really strolling, he was purely kicking stones. Good mountains, good water, good air, but with great risk, Yang Le hummed those popular songs from before, his legs unconsciously kicking wildly, feeling carefree!

  "Ah yo", a mournful cry, Yang Le squatted down, untied his straw sandals, and looked at his swollen foot, which was throbbing with severe pain from time to time. Yang Le quickly searched for the real culprit, only to find that it was a stone the size of a bowl mouth that was causing trouble. With Yang Le's current physical quality, although he didn't dare to boast about being as tough as copper skin and iron bones, kicking the stone into pieces would be like child's play.

  He reached out to pick it up, and his hand sank slightly. The small stone weighed a thousand catties, unbelievable. He picked up the scale knife and slashed with force, "Clang", except for some falling stones on the outside, it was actually blocked. A purple awn appeared at the falling place. Yang Le realized that he had picked up a treasure and returned to the cave to talk about it later.

  It was that accident that Yang Le finally got to eat cooked food. After returning to the cave, Yang Le scraped off the outer layer of the stone, revealing a fist-sized purple-golden stone. He hacked at it with his scale knife more than ten times, sending sparks flying, and every scratch left a mark. That's how Yang Le gained two benefits: he got a treasure and could eat cooked food from then on, which made him quite satisfied. From then on, Yang Le went out even more diligently and brought back over ten pieces of the same purple-golden stones, as well as an egg-shaped stone that looked like a fossilized dinosaur egg, and a young ice silkworm that was injured and dying.

  The weather in the desolate wilderness was unpredictable, one moment it was sunny, and the next, a cold current swept across the sky, bringing heavy snow that lasted for two or three days. The snow stopped and the ice melted, but soon a thick fog rolled in, as if to envelop the entire world. Even with Yang Le's improved eyesight, he couldn't see more than 20 feet away. Yang Le had been lying on his bed of leaves for three whole days, watching through the opening as lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and heavy rain poured down, feeling somewhat depressed.

  Get out of bed, put on straw sandals, and head towards the deep pool inside. Just as I arrived at the edge of the pool, I saw several red plants with fruit as big as plums, bright red and shiny, making my appetite surge, and emitting a refreshing fragrance. My heart was struggling, unsure whether it was toxic or like some that would make me feel extremely satisfied but also on the verge of life and death.

  Yang Le thought to himself, maybe this chance encounter would bring a turn for the better. Eating a little less wouldn't be a problem with his robust physical constitution, otherwise how could he survive in this desolate wilderness? Food will eventually run out, and it's not like he can always rely on good luck to scrounge by every day.

  Yang Le's heart was filled with a mix of excitement and nervousness as he plucked a bright red fruit. He hoped it would be a rare treasure, but at the same time worried that it might turn out to be just another ordinary fruit from the wilderness like the plum.

  She opened her mouth, took a small bite, and a scorching heat rushed down her throat, flowing into her intestines. Yang Le hurriedly threw away the bitten fruit, feeling like her internal organs were being burned, her skin turned bright red all over, and she hastily tore off the clothes made of woven leaves and jumped into the icy cold pool.

  A burst of mist rose, just like drinking iced plum soup on a sweltering summer day. Yang Le felt his limbs and body cool down, while his stomach was warm and cozy. This refreshing sensation had him enthralled. In a half-asleep state, a bone-chilling coldness shocked Yang Le awake, flailing his stiff limbs as he struggled to climb up the pool and lay by its edge.

  After resting for a while, Yang Le's body recovered to normal. He stood up and felt that there was no change, neither had he eaten something that would suddenly increase his power by 180 years, nor had he washed his marrow and replaced his body with a new one that would reverse his innate physique. He punched the mountain wall with force, "Bang", the rocks flew out, his left arm sank deep into the rock, he pulled out his left arm, feeling the pain in his fist, but his strength hadn't increased. The only fortunate thing was that nothing unexpected had happened.

  Looked at a cocoon shell the size of a face plate not far from the edge of the pool, and the ice silkworm inside was gone. It seemed that it had fallen into the cold pool again. The ice silkworm Yang Le thought of was picked up at the edge of the endless ancient forest, on the second day of the great escape from the endless ancient forest. At that time, Yang Le saw that the ice silkworm was trampled and its body was torn open with a wound occupying two-thirds of it. Not far away, there was a broken cocoon shell, and Yang Le used the cocoon shell to wrap up the ice silkworm and bring it back. In fact, Yang Le had a small idea in his heart: no matter what, this is a product of the Hongyuan, it must be an alien species. I have been here for so many days, but I haven't seen any harmless creatures like ants, termites, or cockroaches. They are all enlarged by hundreds or thousands of times, possessing innate divine powers or strange abilities.

  So, Yang Le shamelessly took the ice silkworm back to raise it, planning to cultivate a rare species from the flood, and treat the ice silkworm as a pet. And indeed, the appearance of this ice silkworm is not bad at all, its whole body is crystal clear like jade, surrounded by misty fog, about the size of a small dog, emitting a refreshing fragrance, if you don't look at it like an enlarged insect, it's nauseating, but with that appearance, it's guaranteed to be loved by everyone, the best pet for little girls.

  Yang Le didn't know how to treat its injuries, so he could only feed it python meat and hope for the best. As expected, after three days of feeding, the ice silkworm's wounds had healed significantly. Speaking of the small mountain-like pile of Biyan Cold Ice Scale Python meat blocks, Yang Le was initially worried that they would rot, but after worrying for several days, the pile of meat remained as fresh as ever, even after more than ten days had passed. Only then did he finally put his mind at ease. Not long after, when Yang Le went to feed it again, he discovered that the ice silkworm was nowhere to be found, and no matter how hard he searched the entire cave, he couldn't find it anywhere. Just as Yang Le was lamenting, a splashing sound echoed through the quiet cave, and Yang Le walked over to the edge of the pool to take a look. The ice silkworm was swimming on the surface of the cold pool, preparing to come ashore! After coming ashore, Yang Le only then discovered that the ice silkworm's injuries had completely healed, leaving behind an icy trail on the ground. From then on, Yang Le got used to the fact that the ice silkworm would occasionally go to the bottom of the cold pool every few days. Each time it came back from the cold pool, its body would be even colder. Yang Le made a nest using tree leaves in a location not far from the cold pool and placed all the items inside, including over ten metal blocks, a dinosaur egg-like stone, and the ice silkworm, except for one purple-gold colored metal piece that he used as a fire starter.

  Gulps, a severe hunger pang accompanied by colic, Yang Le suddenly felt his entire body's strength disappear, picked up the fallen scale knife, rushed to the edge of the ice-cold python meat mountain that occupied nearly one-third of the cave, cut off a piece of crystal-clear meat about one catty, swallowed it in one gulp, and stuffed it down. Feeling the icy coldness flowing through his intestines for a moment before disappearing, the hunger pang only slightly alleviated. Swallowing over twenty pieces of meat weighing over one catty each, the hunger pang was finally relieved, and after swallowing two more pieces, his stomach finally felt full.

  Lying on the ground panting, I didn't expect those crimson fruits to have such aftereffects. Yang Le quietly relaxed lying there, rarely loosening up.

  Half a time later, Yang Le came back to his senses, his hands pushed up, wanting to do an empty somersault, but unexpectedly a huge force, his body involuntarily rushed towards the top of the cave and crashed with a "bang" sound echoing in the cave, after hitting a shallow human-shaped pit at the top of the cave, it fell back down with another "bang".

  "Pfft", Yang Le patted the dust off his body, stood up, and stared at his hands in disbelief, clenching them tightly to feel the power that was ten times stronger than usual. Excitedly, he walked over to a vacant area of the cave wall, made a tight fist with his right hand, and heavily punched the wall in front of him. Suddenly, a loud noise echoed, and the entire wall collapsed, burying Yang Le underneath.

  "Hahaha..." Yang Le, unscathed and uninjured, burst into tears of joy and laughter as he pushed away the massive boulder on top of him. He needed to vent his emotions, for since arriving in this world, he had been lonely, terrified, and helpless. As a young person from modern society, nearly eight months of isolation without communication or entertainment, and facing the harsh reality that there might not be any humans left in this world, had left him bewildered. How many nights had he spent falling asleep with thoughts of his hometown, now a distant memory? The Earth's everything could only be his sweet and eternal recollection.