I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

Lu Yuan vanished.

Only the blazing flames remained.

The terrifying skeleton trembled slightly as it tried to use its own ability.

But every ability has its limits, it was restrained by the flames, and couldn’t use them at all in the bright environment.

Those cold eyes looked towards the direction where Lu Yuan disappeared.

Perhaps this monster did indeed possess wisdom comparable to that of humans, yet it would have been hard to imagine that this human had so many "Divine Skills."

And hid them so deeply.

Perhaps it had won many times in past Epochs, predicting the unknown, calculating across thousands of years and miles, even down to the month and year, but it couldn’t predict that it would face a tragic defeat at the dawn of the Ninth Epoch.

...

Lu Yuan hid in the Different Space, clumsily batting the flames on his body.

His whole body was scalded, and the intense pain caused his skin to secrete a large amount of sticky fluid, burning painfully.

If judged by medical standards, he had at least second-degree burns, or even first-degree!

His originally suave hair had turned to baldness, only a few twisted, charred hairs remaining on the scalp, the Fire Lizard Skin Coat’s resistance was decent, only very hot, the Leather Shield was even more pitiful, its surface charred.

He hid in the Different Space, there was no excitement, only a cold gaze.

Had he won? Not yet...

Facing a terrifying and horrifying opponent, there was no reason to relax before a complete victory.

The two faced each other across a Different Space, those words beyond slaughter buried in the bottom of their hearts.

This was a standoff between the first warrior of the Ninth Epoch and a Civilization Hunter.

Lu Yuan could see his opponent.

The opponent couldn’t see him.

In the intense heat, the Donkey-headed Monster only lasted just under 3 seconds before its entire skeleton began to redden and fracture.

Its upper body began furiously attacking that metal door.

"Boom! Boom!!"

Each hit was extremely heavy, like a furious elephant using all its might to ram a city wall.

However, unfortunately, that metal door already weighed about ten tons, not even high-explosive bombs could blast it open, and its brute force was just a bit too low.

In the roaring flames, as a great deal of metal melted, even the cracks were directly welded shut.

The door could not possibly be broken open.

Lu Yuan’s heart unwittingly began to pound rapidly.

"Da-da-da..." that mysterious ally’s sound, slow at times and fast at others, unclear what it was expressing.

The fierce fire in the room was still fierce, the oxygen in the air could last for a few more minutes, enough to burn the enemy to death, but Lu Yuan still didn’t let down his guard.

[A fearful mind-only life named "Shadow Illumination," Demon, is now being forced into a desperate situation.]

[Attribute: ???]

[Ability: ???]

[Extraordinary Level: Level Two.]

More information was gleaned by the Pioneer’s Eye.

Shadow Illumination, this name really suited its ability.

This terrifying enemy, was actually only... Level Two?!

"That means, it is indeed in an extremely weakened state." Lu Yuan was both shocked and relieved, he just stared tightly at this powerful enemy struggling in the flames.

...

The Demon named "Shadow Illumination" completely fell apart in the roaring flames.

Using its last strength, it removed its hard bones—the skull of the donkey head.

In the corner of the wall, it built a triangular support, and placed its skull on the support.

So this skull was a mask-like object, an... equipment?

Dropped equipment?!

This piece of equipment was indeed formidable, withstanding high temperatures, a dim corner, constructed out of the last of its own body by the Donkey-headed Monster.

Next, those all-around red-hot bones exuded clumps of strange black liquid.

This liquid, like mercury, was viscous, icy, and full of life force, continuously converging towards the dark place.

"Da-da-da! Da-da-da!!!" that mysterious ally, began to sound urgently again.

Lu Yuan was also greatly anxious.

He knew that those black liquids were the real "body" of the Donkey-headed Monster, if that body activated its Space Ability to escape in darkness, it would be unbearable!

But he was now hiding in the Different Space, and if he wanted to intervene in the outside world, he had to first cancel the Different Space.

The Different Space was indeed a powerful ability, even if ten billion tons of nuclear bombs exploded outside, it wouldn’t harm a hair inside the Different Space.

Unless someone could move a black hole over, maybe it would affect the Different Space.

But regardless, this ability also had its own limitations, one cannot throw items from inside the Different Space to the outside.

Otherwise, the Different Space would be completely shattered, and Lu Yuan would suffer mental damage, unable to reactivate it for a while, and by then, he would be burnt alive.

Of course, there’s only one thing that could freely move in and out of the Different Space—that was his own body!!

Lu Yuan was really out of options, watching the weird black liquid flowing out of that skull become more and more, quickly gathering in the shadows.

He was running out of time.

With determination in his heart, he took off the Fire Lizard Skin Coat, boldly stretched his left arm out of the Different Space!

"Light Screen, come!"

A thin light screen enveloped the skin on his left arm.

This was a defense mechanism of the Extraordinary Spark, which substantially increased anti-hit capability by using spiritual energy.

But in front of the terrifying hell, this layer of defense was as good as none.

In an instant, Lu Yuan’s left forearm was slashed open, releasing a foul, burnt scent.

Burning, pain!

Sweat the size of soybeans instantly surged from his pores.

It felt as though his hand had been thrust into a boiling pot of oil.

This was to be expected, as even the Donkey-headed Monster couldn’t withstand the terrifying high heat; Lu Yuan naturally couldn’t either, as he was not the monkey capable of withstanding Lord Lao Zi’s crucible.

"Hurry up and die for me!"

He gritted his teeth, and with a slap, sent the Donkey-headed Monster’s skull cap flying.

As the skull cap was sent flying, losing its cover, the dark corner was once again engulfed in flames.

The black liquid continuously bounced.

Without the dark environment, "Shadow Illumination" couldn’t instantaneously teleport...

Lu Yuan immediately withdrew his scorched arm, his eyes intently watching the enemy’s movements.

The Donkey-headed Monster was terrifyingly powerful, definitely not something he could overcome head-on. If it grew, even the combined power of all human civilization might not suffice to defeat it.

To nip it in the bud was indeed the correct choice.

"Extraordinary Spark... agony-blocking technique!"

A ray of light appeared at the marrow of his arm, temporarily cutting off the pain akin to being roasted in oil.

His arm felt numb like it had been anesthetized, rendering it somewhat rigid, yet painless.

Lu Yuan licked his dry lips. Such a severe injury wouldn’t heal any soon; he could only use the Extraordinary Spark to forcibly suppress the intense pain.

Otherwise, the sheer agony could halt his brain from functioning.

Yet his crisis was far from over. The next second, the Donkey-headed Monster’s skull cap surprisingly flew back!

Lu Yuan fixed his eyes and saw a black thread sticking to the skull cap!

The returned skull cap once again created a tripod in the fire, forming a shadow.

The black liquid gathered once again.

"I have an Eternal Body, capable of regenerating limbs."

"Even if it costs me this arm, I must suppress you!" Lu Yuan resolutely extended his already charred left arm from the Different Space and once again sent the skull cap flying.

"Smack!"

Then, to his surprise, he found his arm wouldn’t retract!

Several black threads twined around his arm, forcibly digging into his flesh.

The black droplets continuously stretched towards his arm.

Lu Yuan’s pupils slightly constricted, realizing he had been tricked: "This thing is too clever; it anticipated that I would knock away this skull cap and retaliated in a second."

"Damn it, once Divine Skills are exposed, this is the consequence..."

"I don’t have more Divine Skills."

This high level of intelligence and adaptive capability deeply unsettled him.

Lu Yuan instinctively wanted to use the Superior Dagger to chop off his arm!

Hesitating any longer would mean being pulled entirely out of the Different Space, where he would burn alive from the outside heat.

But the next second, Lu Yuan showed a ferocious expression.

He realized he was thinking wrong!

He had to endure to the limit before he could sever his arm.

Because the indescribable high temperature in the vault was indeed causing damage to the black liquid.

[A terrifying mind-dependent life form known as "Shadow Illumination" is now driven into a corner. It lost its physical body in reality, exposing its true form.]

[However, it is worth noting: demons can be killed but are immortal in another form. Each rebirth merely equates to resetting memory; it will always reappear in this world.]

[Attribute: ???]

[Ability: Field·Attribute Absorption, Dark Instantaneous Movement, Shadow Hand, Possession Rebirth, Spirit Tremor.]

[Extraordinary Level: Level 1.]

Yes, the black liquid, once again downgraded by the fire, revealed more information.

The longer Lu Yuan endured, the higher the probability of the black liquid being killed by high temperatures.

If Lu Yuan severed his arm now, and the opponent pulled the skull cap back again, wanting to use Dark Instantaneous Movement, he would lose the ability to intervene.

He certainly couldn’t stretch out his right arm too...

Of course, he could also stretch out a leg for a kick.

But any leg stretched out would immediately be ensnared, then what, chop off a leg too?

Thus, the most rational plan was to fight this terrifying opponent to the very last breath.

"Losing an arm is already the best-case scenario."

In the blink of an eye, Lu Yuan cleared up all this convoluted thinking.

This could be a talent, or perhaps a result of long-term independent survival, leading to a strong heart.

It could also be said, fool overcomes master; true fools would choose to adamantly protect this arm, which actually is the superior solution; half-baked masters who chopped off their arm ended up losing the ability to act further, and subsequently getting flustered, potentially losing even more.