Chapter 134: Opening Passage

Chapter 134: Chapter 134: Opening Passage

Exploiting a game bug, she had actually managed to connect successfully.

She couldn’t wait to use the Teleportation Gate. The moment she thought of it, the gate appeared right before her eyes.

She didn’t need to manually click the panel to open the Teleportation Gate, which was simpler and more convenient. When danger struck, she could also escape more quickly.

She lifted her foot and stepped over the threshold. In the blink of an eye, the scene before her changed to a pitch-black courtyard.

The wooden roof blocked out the moonlight, and in the distance, the furnace emitted a faint, reddish glow—the only light in the dead of night.

The temperature on Stone Island was much higher than in the Primitive Forest. In just a few moments, a suffocating heat clung to her, impossible to shake off.

Sweat slid down her forehead, and she reached up to wipe it away.

She opened her panel to check the temperature. It was currently 36 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature of the day. Tomorrow, the high would reach 55 degrees—a temperature that could bake a person to death.

’This back-to-back instance opening might not be a bad thing for the players. If we were still in the game right now, with the water shortage and this extreme heat disaster, who knows how many people would have died.’

Bathing in the Primitive Forest had been inconvenient; she usually just went into her space for a quick rinse with cold water. Now that her shelter had a bathtub, she was desperate for a proper soak.

She took out the solar panel and lamp from her backpack. After a simple assembly, the courtyard was instantly illuminated.

Under the light, the freshwater lake on the east side shimmered. Shi Zhile walked to the shore to test the water temperature.

’The water’s warm. Even though the Amber isn’t directly exposed to the sun, the ground temperature is high enough to heat the lake. That saves me the trouble of boiling water.’

She collected the warm water into her backpack and then entered the bathroom.

Half an hour later, Shi Zhile had changed into a clean set of clothes. She used the bathwater to give her dirty clothes a quick wash and hung them above the furnace to dry.

Her shoulder-length hair was still dripping, so she gave it a quick towel-off before walking over to the workbench.

Of the three axes she had brought into the instance, one was now embedded in the python’s eye, and another had been sent flying somewhere by its scales.

The only one left was a Level Two Axe. Never mind that it stood no chance against the giant python; even chopping trees with it was much slower.

She needed to upgrade this axe and forge a couple more for self-defense while she was at it.

Keeping her Passive Skills in mind, Shi Zhile opted not to use the one-click upgrade this time. Instead, she took the axe and began to work on it carefully by hand at the workbench.

Sharpening an axe was an extremely time-consuming and mentally draining task. Just as Shi Zhile thought it would take a long while, the crude axe in her hands began to emit a faint glow.

[Passive Skill triggered. Current axe Level has been raised to Level Five.]

[Axe: Level Five Mountain-opening Divine Axe. As the name implies, it can cleave mountains. (You know the Heaven-opening Divine Axe, right? Of course you do. What a coincidence! We’re not related in the slightest.

My most basic function is splitting mountains, and there’s a 90.99 percent probability that I can probably, maybe, possibly, definitely split a mountain.

Use me, and you can split the smallest of mountains with the least amount of effort. If the mountain is very large, then sorry, pretend I said nothing.)]

Shi Zhile: "..."

’The axe has really gone native,’ she thought. ’It used to be so honest, but now it’s been worn down by the world.’

’A Level 5 Axe is a Mountain-opening Divine Axe. Its self-description is a bit goofy, but it does have the ability to split a small mountain.

I just don’t know which is tougher—a mountainside or the giant python’s scales.’

She ran her finger along the axe’s edge and gave it a light flick. The deep, mellow hum of a high-quality axe rang out, its echo long and lingering.

It was an exceptionally good axe, but having only one was not enough. If this one also got stuck in the giant python’s eye, she’d be screwed.

She continued making axes. This time, she chose the one-click crafting option. The last of her iron was added to the workbench, and a Level Two Axe was complete.

She was completely out of iron. The time was now one in the morning.

She returned to the Primitive Forest. The night watch had changed from Jiang Jing and Wei Zhan to Jiang Yuxing and Wang Peng.

The two of them were sitting around the fire, speaking in low voices.

Thinking about the system anomaly when she was in her space, Shi Zhile walked over, a weary look on her face.

The faint sound of her footsteps drew their attention. Shi Zhile sat down by the fire as well, massaging her arm.

Wang Peng said, "Sister Zhile, you’re still up this late? I thought you’d gone to sleep in your space."

After a full day of hard work, the cave was filled with the sound of snoring rising and falling. Unless you were utterly exhausted, it was hard not to be woken up.

Shi Zhile yawned. "I was making axes in my space. Jiang Yuxing, do you have any more iron? I need some. I can trade you food for it."

The Primitive Forest was full of wild vegetables, and they grew exceptionally large, so greens were no longer an unaffordable luxury.

So far, Jiang Yuxing was still ranked first on the resource leaderboard.

He didn’t seem to be lacking any supplies, so he probably didn’t care what he got in exchange.

Jiang Yuxing added some dry wood to the fire. Hearing her, he gave a meaningful smile. "There’s plenty of raw iron on my island. Why don’t you go get it yourself?"

Stone Island was connected to his island; if she could return to Stone Island, she could travel to his.

He wasn’t on his island right now, which meant it was indeed the perfect time for her to go dig for raw iron.

Shi Zhile had considered it, but she dismissed the idea as soon as it came to her. Jiang Yuxing had concocted too many poisons; if she secretly landed on his island, she would surely fall into one of his traps.

She might not die, but she could suffer a fate worse than death.

Shi Zhile was just about to speak when she saw the smile on his face, and alarm bells instantly went off in her head.

’What does he mean by that? Is he saying he knows I got the Teleportation Gate again?’

"The instance isn’t over. How could I go to your island? If you’re really okay with me taking it myself, I definitely won’t hold back once we’re out."

Jiang Yuxing was still smiling. "Sure. After the instance, if you still need it, go mine it yourself."

"You don’t have traps set up on the island? I remember there’s a poison mist on your island."

"Don’t worry, just go. The traps on the island are all by the seashore. The iron ore is in the center of the island, and there’s no poison or traps nearby.

If you do accidentally get poisoned, just go to the shelter and find the antidote.

The shelter is completely safe. Use the secret passage I showed you last time. The antidotes are on a shelf in the wooden cabin. They’re organized by type, so you have to remember which area you were poisoned in to find the right one.

As long as you don’t tear down my shelter, you can do whatever you want."

Wang Peng looked from one to the other, his smile growing increasingly devious, his face a mask of pure gossip.

He chuckled slyly. "Brother Nan, your little brother wants some of that raw iron ore, too."

Jiang Yuxing glanced back at him and uttered a single, flat word: "Scram!"

Shi Zhile ignored the two of them, her gaze lowered in thought.

He hadn’t just told her where the raw iron ore was; he had also revealed the location of the antidotes.

No matter how she looked at it, it felt strange, as if he were delivering his last words.