Chapter 497: Fire Starting and Cooking, Spore Evolution

The ground is still wet. After this rain, it must be five or six degrees Celsius.

The biting wind blew as Xu Zhi stood at the doorway in a thick coat. “For Dongcheng, it was an incredibly ordinary cold snap, a night of heavy rain... and yet, a new era of transcendence has begun.”

If it had been a normal winter descending slowly, it would have been acceptable, as there would have been grain and crops. But this thirty-year-long, continuous ice and rainstorm, serving as the prelude to the Ice Age, truly scoured the land, destroying all stored seeds, grains, and livestock.

Throughout these thirty years, mortals hid indoors in special shelters within city skyscrapers. Not only were these shelters incredibly crowded, but they also consumed all their stored food supplies.

Despite extensive preparations, a full thirty percent of the population perished.

“The onset of this winter marks an era of utter destitution,” Xu Zhi sighed. “A ten-thousand-year ice age, the harsh environment of the demon realm — it truly lives up to its name now...”

These were things he could not prevent.

Xu Zhi surveyed the entire landscape, wet and utterly desolate. Mortals shivered as they emerged from their shelters, gazing at the barren land with a growing sense of numbness, finding it hard to imagine their future.

Faced with the tribulations and natural disasters of the era, mortals could not resist; they could only endure.

Even the strong emerged from their shelters, exhausted, their eyes weary.

“We survived,” they murmured.

“Thirty years is a lifetime for mortals... For us, it’s merely a few months of our lives, but these few months are enough for us to remember forever.”

Even major factions from the Three Realms, the Shu Mountain Sword Immortals, and the Great Zhou Dynasty had joined the rescue efforts, yet it had been incredibly difficult.

Several individuals from the Valkyrie Palace also looked pale, clearly utterly exhausted. For martial cultivators who were Heavenly Emperors, what did such exhaustion even mean? It was hard to imagine.

They quietly gazed up at the sky.

“What a thorough thirty years of training the body!”

“A new age of ice and snow, though it brings death, also contains vitality. Everything lies in ruins, waiting to be rebuilt. We can wait and see; in about a day, we should be able to see how things develop,” Xu Zhi mused, opening his palm. “During this day...”

Swish!

A delicate black book, no larger than a fingernail, slowly floated into view.

This was the data transmitted by Miraqi.

Although it appeared tiny, to them it was immense; the entire book was comparable to a large wardrobe. “Since this is a new beginning, now is the time, during this period of rebuilding, to research and create a new world: the third sandbox world, the Gourmet World, and the genes for new humans...”

The Ancient Wood World was not nearby, so it wasn’t counted due to lack of energy. Currently, there were only the Three Realms and the Lava Land. The Gourmet World would be a special inner world, similar to Dao Changsheng’s inner cosmos—the Immortal Realm.

Swish.

“Speaking of a new world, we need to introduce new species. Let’s release these players.”

Xu Zhi extended his hand, and the protective barrier covering the evolution sandbox and the wizard community slowly vanished.

Protected by the barrier, this area hadn’t been drenched by the night’s rain, but it was still filled with cold. As frigid air seeped into the sandbox, the terrifying drop in temperature was palpable.

Update Complete: Winter Version Online

Players logged in one after another—a strange assortment of animals and plants. They immediately shivered, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. Looking around, the ground was clearly dry, yet the air was unusually humid and bone-chillingly cold.

“Holy crap! New version, it’s freaking cold!”

“Ice Age? Is this a synchronized update to match the demon realm’s ice age?”

“This is too human-friendly, I love the dev team! It used to be so monotonous; I’ve long wanted a new evolutionary environment.”

“Guys, I tried it out. It’s too cold now; the seawater is icy, probably just a few degrees. It’s too freezing to even get in—this is practically winter swimming! So from now on, when we restart, our spores will likely freeze to death in the icy water... The evolution difficulty has greatly increased, but it’s more challenging! You know, back on Earth, the Cambrian Explosion...”

“Get lost!”

The person next to him’s face darkened.

“Don’t drag me into this, you bald old man! If we really have to restart, I’m going to boil hot water and evolve in that!”

“I’ll build a greenhouse and live inside it!” A plant shivered its leaves, speaking gently.

“Cut the chatter, let’s get moving and build a fire! Go catch some slimes, use their antennae as bellows, hurry and warm up! And you tree brothers over there, contribute a bit of yourselves!”

Faced with the ice and snow version of the evolution sandbox, their first reaction wasn’t to evolve cold-resistant species, but to directly build houses, make fires for warmth, and boil hot water for baths.

They had just started working, intending to make a fire soon after.

“It’s over, my species can’t hold up!” Someone’s species couldn’t withstand the cold any longer.

“Brother, don’t worry, we’ll boil a pot of water for you, so your spores can evolve in there.” Inside a makeshift wooden hut, a player immediately used a clay pot to boil water, stirring a large vat with a stick.

In a blink, several large vats were boiling warm water, slowly stirred with wooden sticks, like making soup. Spores were already re-evolving within them.

Xu Zhi: ???

He was completely dumbfounded. The species evolution environment in this icy world was clearly a fresh, highly challenging start, potentially leading to brand-new, powerful organisms. Yet, they were directly building houses, boiling hot water, and evolving in hot pots?

The internet also went wild; the weather was cold, but the comments were buzzing.

“Hahahahaha! Look, even the Creator God sitting in the chair is dumbfounded! What are these little ants in my orchard doing?”

“What does the Creator God know about evolution? We’re artificially creating an evolutionary environment! Earth’s high-tech civilization can not only boil hot water to evolve within it but also create ice water and various other artificial environments to evolve novel species!”

Just then, the Alchemist Emperor, who hadn’t been seen for a long time, unexpectedly appeared.

Primordial Thunder Hand, intending to evolve into a Kun, announced, “Everyone, I’m announcing my return.”

As everyone was chatting animatedly, this sudden remark instantly caused an uproar.

This was explosive news. The Alchemist Emperor had been missing the longest; even Akina Speed had returned ages ago. Was this major figure finally rejoining the game world?

“Did he see the former demon realm turn into an ice age, with everyone struggling, and couldn’t bear it? Is the Alchemist Emperor returning to the demon realm?”

“Is it because he wants to find his apprentice, Armin, the Underworld Emperor, and develop the master-apprentice story of Little Dragon Girl and Yang Guo? Marry a goddess wife? (Shameless scoundrel.jpg)”

“Medusa: Hahahaha! Foolish Grantham, you’re back again? Finally, I can avenge myself! After suppressing me for so many years... The Alchemist Emperor sneered, ‘You are merely a defeated subordinate!’ and casually glanced at one hundred and ten thousand Heavenly Emperor cells—*game over*!”

Everyone began discussing animatedly.

This major figure’s return, seemingly without reason, definitely hinted at a conspiracy, and everyone was discussing it heatedly.

Regardless, the Alchemist Emperor truly returned, instantly logging in. Just when everyone expected him, like Akina Speed, to have long plotted something outrageous and introduce some incredible, world-defying species as soon as he entered, he instead asked other players for help. He had them prepare a pot of warm water and provide food, then he entered it as a spore.

Everyone was once again filled with anticipation.

They probably expected him to evolve some kind of greenhouse species.

Who knew that after a while, this major figure, with practiced ease, transformed directly into his previous octopus monster form, complete with miner’s hands and a miner’s shovel—the familiar style from when he used to build bicycles.

“Boss, what are you doing?” someone asked.

“Where’s the new species?”

“My new species isn’t that simple to evolve,” Li Shengjiang chuckled. He transformed into an octopus and began taking over from the others, fiddling with the bottles and jars in the hut. Pointing to the hot water pot, he said, “Is anyone about to die? As a spore in this water vat, you can come in and try to evolve.”

Everyone was instantly stunned.

Looking at his style, the octopus resembled an evil dark wizard. With the bottles and jars, and him fiddling with a pot, allowing spores to evolve inside... was this evil life alchemy?

Everyone gasped, dumbfounded.

Holy moly!

A brand-new alchemy version.

Experimenting with potions in a large vat, making spores evolve within them?

Was he integrating species spore evolution into his alchemy?

Soon, Li Shengjiang once again transformed into an evil wizard within his icy, snow-covered laboratory.

“It seems he’s been planning this for an unknown period, choosing a special era to make his entrance?” Xu Zhi sat on his chair, pondering and organizing the data Miraqi had given him, flipping through it continuously, seemingly somewhat anticipating Li Shengjiang’s new species.