Landing 500 Years Early, I Became a God by Digging for Treasures 19

Chapter 19: Hunting the Fire Lizard

Lu Yuan’s back began to sweat, the perspiration trickling down his spine. He felt as if dormant cells throughout his body were slowly awakening. He sensed the presence of *Qi* (a vital life force in traditional Chinese culture), a cold, murderous aura, the symbol of a powerful lifeform. The icy hand of death was chasing away the “loneliness” that gnawed at him like parasites.

“I’m afraid of dying,” Lu Yuan thought. “If I win, then maybe I won’t die.”

A hot, pungent smell of fish carried on the breeze – the strong body odor of the fire lizard. Lu Yuan dared not move forward; he left his small cart behind.

“This is upwind; it’ll definitely smell the fish,” he muttered, his body trembling slightly. “Come on, I know you won’t be easily poisoned. Let’s have a real dragon-and-tiger fight!”

Lu Yuan hid behind a large boulder in the distance, waiting silently. His nerves were taut, but he wasn’t overly tense. He felt only the beating of his heart and a long-lost excitement, like a dead tree coming back to life, reviving bit by bit.

This surge of adrenaline gave him a strange feeling: “I’m actually alive!”

It was strange, yet not unpleasant.

A long time ago – or maybe not so long ago, just a hundred days prior – Lu Yuan completely failed to understand the mindset of those who engaged in “extreme sports.” He always thought those guys who jumped around on the tops of skyscrapers were a bit crazy.

Now, he seemed to understand…

When we strive forward yet continuously regress, until we touch the eternal darkness, only then do we know the meaning of “being alive.”

“Hey, buddy, don’t you want some free food?” Lu Yuan called out loudly. “It’s free! Come and get it!”

The fire lizard seemed to be asleep.

After waiting for over an hour, its massive body slowly emerged from its cave. Lu Yuan’s heart immediately tensed!

Its fiery red skin, thick scales, resembled a heavy tank; a mere scratch could crush him to pulp. He was actually going to fight such a creature! A one-on-one fight!

“A hundred days ago, lying in bed, I could never have imagined today’s me.” “Come on, come.”

The fire lizard, lacking intelligence, lunged forward and swallowed the black fish whole, then lumbered back into its lair.

He had tested the spider venom before; it could easily incapacitate a fish weighing tens of kilograms. But its effectiveness against a Transcendent being was unknown. Stomach acid and the high temperature inside the fire lizard’s body could easily destroy the venom’s potency. If the poison bait plan didn’t work, he’d have to rely on a trap.

“Are you asleep… or are you already dead?” “You wouldn’t die so easily, would you?”

As Lu Yuan waited, he frowned, worried about another possibility. According to Midea Civilization data, creatures possessing a “Transcendent Fire Seed” ability would exhibit a phosphorescent phenomenon on their corpses after death. The stronger the Transcendent Fire Seed, the longer it would linger, but it generally wouldn’t last more than an hour. If the fire lizard died suddenly, Lu Yuan would have to immediately go to the corpse and use the remaining power of its Fire Seed to ignite his own. Of course, this depended on the fire lizard actually possessing a Transcendent Fire Seed; otherwise, it would all be for nothing.

“It’s so powerful, it must have what I want,” Lu Yuan muttered to himself, his resolve firm. “I won’t be wrong.”

His rough right hand gripped a metal spear. Three months of hard labor had left his palms calloused. His legs were slightly numb from prolonged sitting.

Suddenly, he heard a deafening roar! The ground trembled slightly, rocks tumbled down, and a minor earthquake occurred. The ten-ton behemoth was struggling wildly inside the cave!

The most exciting moment had arrived. Would the spider venom actually kill the fire lizard?!

Lu Yuan’s heart pounded; he squinted into the distance, vaguely seeing the massive body within the cave. The fiery red scales looked especially gruesome in the setting sun.

But in the next instant, Lu Yuan’s pupils constricted!

The Explorer’s Eye provided a line of information: 【A strong lizard-type Transcendent lifeform seems to have been poisoned by a potent toxin.】 【But clearly, this toxin won’t kill it.】 【Are you really going to challenge it? You might disappear from this world tomorrow.】

“I have to challenge it… because I’m about to lose my humanity.”

“My passion is fading day by day, and the difficulties I’ll face in the future are as vast as the cosmos.”

“This is just a small problem!”

“I’m going to find my human courage right now!” Lu Yuan shouted to himself.

He leaped from behind the rock, roared, “Come on, come eat your grandpa!!!”

He simultaneously kicked the handcart down the slope. Perhaps due to long-term friction, the last section of the path to the cave mouth was quite smooth. The cart rolled down into the cave with a clatter, seemingly hitting something.

The fire lizard, already in excruciating abdominal pain, was instantly enraged by the cart’s impact, shifting its hatred. Its head emerged from the hole; blood-red eyes and raised scales radiated intense killing intent, its furious rage palpable even from afar.

“Come eat your grandpa! You idiot!”

Lu Yuan turned and started running as fast as he’d ever run in his life! He had to lure the lizard into the trap! Even without looking back, he could hear the furious roar like a raging storm.

In that burning run, Lu Yuan experienced unspeakable fear. As an ant faced the wrath of a god, he trembled, his hairs standing on end. This fear pulled him from his numb, cold world, returning him to the vibrant human world.

“So, I’m still afraid of death… haha, come and eat me!”

The setting sun illuminated everything; the leaves on the trees seemed to burst forth, as if in a high-speed film expressing the awakening and rapid growth of all things. In this ordinary valley, a life-or-death struggle was unfolding.

Each step of the fire lizard covered over ten meters, its killing intent filled with violence and ferocity. And in Lu Yuan’s heart, a familiar belief arose: his life would begin anew with this hunt.

His speed was no match for the fire lizard’s, but he deliberately ran along a path strewn with numerous rocks.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

These rocks were smashed aside like foam blocks by the giant beast behind him.

(Chapter end)

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