I'd stepped onto level four. But the next second, I froze.
The earlier levels at least had chickens and ducks, small beasts, something alive. But this level four was empty. Not a blade of grass growing. In all that vast space stood only a single towering ancient tree, a hundred meters tall, blotting out the sky, its trunk so thick ten grown men linking hands could barely reach around it.
Looking at this tree of unknown origin, giving off an eerie air, I had no idea what to make of it. What was this thing? Was it this level's boss?
Couldn't figure it out, so I just tried my hand.
I planted my feet, gripped the axe two-handed, let out a shout, and brought it down hard. Crack. The shock stung the web of my hand. But that trunk, all it lost was a thin sliver of bark. Not even a mark left behind.
Huh? That hard?
I wasn't having it, and I heaved the axe up and hacked away at the same spot over and over. Whack, whack, whack. Sweat soon soaked my clothes. My arms went weak and sore, but the tree didn't budge. Like every bit of strength I'd put in had been for nothing.
I chopped for close to an hour before I finally couldn't take it anymore, propping myself on the axe and gasping for air. Arms too sore to lift.
This damn tree's way too hard. At this rate, when in the world am I going to get it down?
I did the math. Even chopping day and night without eating or drinking, I couldn't dream of felling it in under ten days, half a month.
Just as I was full of frustration, all but ready to give up, a cold system voice suddenly rang out in my head.
Ding. Host's inner thoughts detected. Boss breakthrough prompt triggered.
Ding. Level four ancient tree boss, breakthrough progress: 1%.
Ding. Reward obtained: one pound of Keemun black tea.
Ding. Reward obtained: all attributes plus one.
Ding. The ancient tree boss recovers 10% of its HP automatically at midnight each day. Please plan your hunting time sensibly to avoid losing all your progress.
My mouth twitched, teeth on edge. So after all that, me sweating buckets chopping for a solid hour, I only broke through one percent, and it recovers ten percent a day. This is deliberately messing with a guy.
But I caught on quick. It wasn't that the tree was too hard. It was that my physique wasn't up to par and my weapon was too outdated. This busted axe was fine for chickens, ducks and small beasts, but hacking at this ancient tree boss was truly beyond me.
At that thought, my eyes lit up. The axe couldn't cut it. So what about fire?
Once the idea took hold, there was no shaking it. I exited the space, went back to the house, and gathered up all the firewood we had, a big bundle of flammable birch bark, and a whole box of matches. Then went back in, level four.
This time I didn't swing the axe. I circled the tree, picked a spot with good airflow, stacked the firewood layer by layer against the roots, and spread the birch bark on top to catch.
Sss. One strike of the match and the birch bark went up in a blaze, flames spreading along the woodpile. Amid the crackling, orange fire licked up the roots, black smoke rolling up the trunk, filling most of the space in no time.
I clapped my hands, backed off two hundred meters, found a rock to sit on, crossed my arms, watched the roaring blaze, and cocked the corner of my mouth, muttering smugly. "I'll just sit right here and see whether you burn faster or heal faster."
I stared at the fire. A blaze this big, and it still won't kill you?
I had it all figured out. The ancient tree was a plant, bound to fear fire. Way better than hacking with an axe. And breaking through just one percent had already netted me the tea and the attributes. Actually burn it down and the rewards could only be richer.
The flames climbed higher and higher, licking halfway up the trunk, the charred bark sizzling and peeling off in sheets. The system voice sounded again.
Breakthrough 10%. Obtained: Tier-one wagon wheel axe x1. All attributes plus ten.
A warm current surged through my limbs and every vein all at once. The soreness gone, strength coursing through me. A wagon wheel axe appeared out of thin air in my hand, a meter and a half long, blade thirty centimeters wide, gleaming cold, heavy but well balanced in the grip. Worlds better than that busted axe.
This method really works. I laughed. No matter the problem, put your head to it and find the right approach, and there's nothing you can't solve.
I was in no rush to check the tree. Just sat patiently on the rock, feeding in more wood now and then. Over four hours passed, the breakthrough progress climbing from ten percent to twenty percent to thirty percent, all the way up to —
Crash.
The whole space shuddered, and that hundred-meter ancient tree, standing who knows how many years, finally came thundering down in the flames, its crown slamming the ground, kicking up smoke and dust everywhere.
Right after, a flurry of system voices came surging in like a tide.
Level four ancient tree boss slain. Level four unlock complete.
Ultimate reward: all attributes raised to the human ceiling, one hundred points each.
Ultimate reward: skill, Bajiquan, mastery level.
Reward: fifty tons of firewood. Constant temperature teapot x1. The constant temperature teapot contains all manner of rare teas. Pour out the matching brew with but a thought. Endless and inexhaustible. Warm year round.
The level four boss is permanently dead and will no longer respawn. The host may remodel the level four space at will.
I froze, then wild joy swept through me. I leapt up off the rock, threw a punch, and cheered. Explosive power brimming through my whole body, like one punch could shatter a boulder. The moves and essentials of Bajiquan crystal clear in my mind, as if I'd trained it for decades.
The constant temperature teapot especially hit the spot. Just as I was soaking in the hot spring I'd been wishing, if only I had a good cup of tea, and here it was, granted.
A thought stirred and an antique teapot appeared in my palm. I pressed the spout and a cup of fragrant Keemun black tea poured slowly out, steam curling up, the weariness melting away.
Levels five through ten are livestock farming zones. Both hunting and raising are possible. Proceed to level five?
"No. No." I waved it off without a second thought.
I'd already made plans tonight to go ice fishing on the Ussuri River with Donkey and the others, and I wasn't about to miss it. Back in my past life in the capital, I was always hearing the old folks go on about how sweet the cold water fish from the Changbai Mountains were, but I'd never tasted them, let alone experienced the fun of ice fishing. Finally got the chance this life around. How could I pass it up?
I put away the teapot and the axe and exited the space.