What are chaotic times?
Human lives are not as valued as pigs or dogs! Bones exposed in the wild, not a single rooster heard for miles!
"I just hope my predictions are wrong! But it’s never wrong to prepare for the worst!"
"Prepare early!" Zhang Chen scratched his head and slowly extinguished the lamp. What is most important in chaotic times?
Not silver, not antiques, but food and medicine, swords and armor.
"Talking too much is useless. I don’t know medicine, and there’s that damned Fox Spirit next door. It’s a wonder I can retain any extra food," Zhang Chen cursed in his heart, eyes showing a hint of helplessness.
Early the next morning, Zhang Chen got up and made his way to the ancient tomb, eyes fixed on the stone tablet. Sure enough, he saw another orb fall beneath it, this time dropping a red experience point: +100.
"A hundred experience points isn’t bad. One should be content," Zhang Chen muttered as he picked up the experience points.
[Name: Zhang Chen]
[1 Skill (Tier 2): Light of the True God (0/5000)]
[2 Skill (Unranked): Dragon Qi (0/2000)]
[Points: 1600]
"Today I’ll strive to make it to two thousand points!" Zhang Chen looked at the Golden Finger Interface. Digging four hundred points a day seemed achievable.
Especially with the feeling that the world is about to descend into chaos. Zhang Chen felt an urgency in his heart. Should turmoil and warfare break out, he may not be able to stay here and might have to flee.
Of course, in Zhang Chen’s plan, he also intended to find a teacher to learn to read and write, knowing from his modern soul that only literacy would allow him to travel the world. At the very least, when he encountered texts in the future, he would be able to understand them himself, rather than depending on others.
He looked at the stone tablet and took out the rabbit and wild chicken he hunted in the morning, bleeding them directly in front of the stone tablet, letting the blood soak into it. He was counting on the stone tablet to produce some skills.
As for the risks of summoning some strange disaster through a blood ritual, this is the tomb of a True Dragon. Would a True Dragon harm a mere mortal?
"I am a descendant of dragons; there’s no reason the ancestor would harm me, right," Zhang Chen mused as he chiseled the stone, sparks flying. He chipped away the frozen soil, gathering countless experience points.
[Experience Points +8]
[Experience Points +17]
[Experience Points +11]
[Experience Points +22]
[Experience Points +37]
[Experience Points +5]
[Experience Points +4]
...
Time passed slowly, accompanied by Zhang Chen’s chiseling, the experience points kept accumulating. He went outside to breathe three times, and when he went out with the earth for the fourth time, the sunset had already moved past noon in the sky.
[Name: Zhang Chen]
[1 Skill (Tier 2): Light of the True God (0/5000)]
[2 Skill (Unranked): Dragon Qi (0/2000)]
[Points: 1900]
"Today’s points amounted to only three hundred." Looking at the panel in front of him, Zhang Chen couldn’t help but frown. Today’s goal was unmet, making him hesitant. He looked up at the already-shifted sun, ultimately deciding not to continue digging.
"Can’t be in a hurry! Absolutely can’t rush it! Rushing could cause big problems. This tomb holds terrifying things, and even if I’m a dragon’s descendant, it doesn’t prevent the ancestors from becoming revenants! If the ancestor becomes a revenant, it wouldn’t recognize me as a dragon’s descendant!" Zhang Chen whispered to himself, always feeling something was off about the tomb. But without knowing what exactly was wrong, he played it safe.
Carrying the earth, Zhang Chen left the tomb, carefully spreading the earth around. Only after handling the soil did he wash away the dirt at a nearby stream, all smiles.
This time, with both legs stepping in the stream, his eyes revealed an indescribable sensation, as if the stream water was incredibly silky, like it was alive.
"Interesting, is this an additional effect brought by Dragon Qi?" Zhang Chen pondered, gently stroking the stream water with his hands, feeling an inexplicable familiarity, as if returning home.
After cleaning up, Zhang Chen went ashore, slowly changing his clothes. He turned to the clear water surface, then suddenly frowned: "Something’s not right!"
Walking carefully to the stream, he found the stream had narrowed by a hand’s width compared to yesterday, with the water level dropping significantly. Without the Dragon Qi within him making him sensitive to the water vapors of Heaven and Earth, this subtle change in water level might have gone unnoticed.
"Hasn’t it been a month since the last rain? Even if it hasn’t rained for a month, the water level shouldn’t be this severe, right?"
Zhang Chen’s mind flashed with thoughts, but he couldn’t find a useful clue, only muttering, "Maybe it’s just too dry this season?"
After finishing his grooming, Zhang Chen headed into the cave to start the grand task of making gunpowder.
During the impending chaos, if he wanted to have self-preservation skills, gunpowder was indispensable.
Time flew by, a month passed in the blink of an eye.
This day, in a certain cave, staring at two piles of powder before him, Zhang Chen showed a hint of excitement: "This is the fruit of my labor for the past month! This is the foundation for my stability during chaotic times! As long as the gunpowder is pure enough, even the Fox Spirit could be blown apart!"
Looking at the two piles of prepared powders, his eyes were filled with excitement and caution, for these were both sensitive and nonsensitive explosives, a slight mishap would lead to a catastrophic accident.
Fortunately, Zhang Chen came prepared, pulling from behind him a set of prepared long cylindrical ceramic jars. These were not thick, only as wide as a later-day firecracker, carefully filling each with gunpowder, sealing them tightly.
These were not ordinary ceramic jars; inside were iron shavings, marbles, and other items, turning them into lethal weapons if exploded.
"I have twenty of them, enough for self-defense." Zhang Chen lifted his prepared undershirt revealing more than thirty small pockets and straps. Carefully placing the jars in the pockets and securely binding them to prevent explosions, protecting the twenty jars, he delightfully walked to the village.
He decided that as long as he lived, the gunpowder would never leave his side.
"I wonder when I’ll acquire the Flame Skill. It would be much easier to trigger the explosives then," Zhang Chen murmured to himself, "I still need to prepare flint, craft a fuse, and then I’ll have a complete explosive package ready."
PS: I humbly ask everyone to follow the new book daily during this period; it’s really important. Once the author is able to publish, I’ll repay everyone’s kindness diligently.