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

The speedboat raced through the clear river, leaving a trail of rolling waves behind it like a white ribbon, engraving Lu Yuan’s silhouette onto the rippling waters.

The Undying Giant Turtle plunged into the river with a splash.

Excited, it began to race the speedboat.

Its shell patterns changed once again, and the light blue symbols flowed like tadpoles, significantly reducing the resistance of the surrounding water flow.

Amazingly, the Undying Giant Turtle’s swimming speed actually caught up with the speedboat!

Engravings truly are potent supernatural phenomena, consuming very low Ideal Energy yet providing quite comprehensive functions.

In other words, the engraving abilities of the Undying Giant Turtle were stronger than many abilities combined.

For instance, hardness, anti-heat, anti-cold, temperature control, regeneration, and so forth.

Of course, these superpowers that can be replaced by engravings are mostly "Shape Skills" or "Qi Skills."

It’s hard for engraving technology to achieve the functions of "Divine Skills."

This is also why most powerful civilizations generally revere "Divine Skills."

Rarity is precious, after all!

Mist clouds, one after another, splashed onto Lu Yuan’s face, bringing the chill of frost.

The roaring engine mixed with the splashing water noisily blended together.

Lu Yuan and the turtle were now in a serious contest, a showdown between technology and physical prowess.

For the sake of dignity, the Undying Giant Turtle refused to admit defeat!

"Hurry up, turtle, or should I wait for you?"

"Water Margin’s Biao, Journey to the West’s demons, Three Kingdoms’ warriors, Red Mansion’s Jiao, which move should I use?"

Lu Yuan kept taunting...

Alright, for the sake of completing the Milestone, he was just taming the turtle.

If he lost, it would just mean the technology of Rize Civilization was subpar, not his problem at all.

Only the Orange Cat, stepping on the gas at the back of the speedboat, felt a bit emo.

It couldn’t enjoy the fun of playing with water...

Even when its fur got wet from the mist, it didn’t feel moist.

Watching the happy people and turtle, it couldn’t help but ponder a philosophical question: "What… is being alive?"

"What is being alive? Tell me!!"

"Not being dead is being alive!" shouted the giant turtle, sticking its head out of the water, "They all died, the strong ones, the weak ones, all of them!"

"Only I am alive, still swimming here!"

"Not being dead is being alive!"

The philosophical principles of the Undying Giant Turtle, simple yet crude.

Old Cat was stunned.

By this logic, am I also alive?

Am I really dead?

Lu Yuan also gave his answer: "Tormenting others is being alive! This is the law of conservation of mind."

"Whom did you torment?" asked Old Cat disdainfully.

Lu Yuan, despite being neurotic, actually possessed decent morals.

"Tormenting Old Wolf."

Lu Yuan excitedly explained, "Just thinking about going back and seeing the top-ranking wolf in a listless state, with chafed raw skin and losing a substantial amount of Essence, fills my heart with pleasure."

"Don’t you feel the same?!" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I... I am also filled with pleasure! I also want to see Old Wolf tormented!"

Old Cat’s eyes widened with excitement.

"But why is it so, have you assimilated me? Am I a pervert now? Have I already hit the moral abyss? Is tormenting Old Wolf my life’s support?"

"Maybe... maybe I am still alive?" it quivered as it posed the ultimate question, rolling on the boat.

Since no one was accelerating, the speedboat came to a stop.

Seeing the turtle cutting through waves far ahead, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but curse, "You lowly maid, thinking about philosophy again! Step on the gas for me, press hard!"

...

...

This long-distance marathon spanning six thousand kilometers eventually ended in a victory for technology.

After all, the turtle was not a perpetual motion machine; it ran out of strength halfway and was overtaken by the speedboat, unable to catch up again.

It tremulously climbed onto the speedboat, its four limbs shaking, its neck gone limp.

Its mouth remained stubborn: "If it weren’t for Mr. Turtle not yet having recovered to his prime state, how could I have lost to the damned technology."

The five hundred kilograms of mass directly pushed the waterline of the speedboat down significantly.

Lu Yuan patted the cold shell of the turtle, wondering silently, "Is this considered tamed?"

"Mr. Turtle, you’re good at swimming; can you catch me some big fish?"

"No big deal, but I’m tired now, I’ll take a nap first, then we’ll have a big meal."

Once this guy fell asleep, he might sleep for several days.

Lu Yuan was somewhat impatient, taking advantage of its drowsy, yawning state, suddenly pulled out a sour lemon and shoved it in.

"Waka waka?" The silly turtle took a long while to realize something extra was in its mouth.

This mysterious anomaly, capable of digesting even steel, naturally had no fear.

It simply ate whatever extra thing appeared in its mouth, following its "energy-saving philosophy."

Gradually, tears began to seep from its dark green eyes.

Damn, why would a lemon appear in a turtle’s mouth?

The Undying Giant Turtle leapt into the water with a splash, drinking deeply, and then Lu Yuan’s concerned shouts were heard from afar, "Mr. Turtle, what’s the matter, have you rested enough?"

The turtle, who was fond of keeping up appearances, quickly said, "I’m helping you catch fish!"

Indeed, when it genuinely set to work, it was fairly efficient.

Crabs, one after another, and many shells, it caught a whole basketful, along with three lively fish adding up to more than ten kilograms.

The gifts of nature always bring a heartfelt joy.

He docked the speedboat by the shore, collected firewood, and prepared steamed crab and grilled fish dishes, complemented by a clam hotpot.

Together with the alcoholic beverages gifted by Rize Civilization, the meal was indeed a feast for the senses, at least Lu Yuan thoroughly enjoyed it by himself.

He couldn’t help but remember the time when he first entered the Pangu Continent.

With only a wolf by his side, his food relied solely on fishing.

Reflecting on the hardships, life back then...

Nights were so lonely that he would tremble, constantly battling feelings of desperation.

At this moment, he...

Old Wolf was still suffering, and next to him were a cat and a turtle, staring at each other over the grilled fish.

"Hahaha!"

His mood was indeed different from before.

At this moment, he temporarily forgot all his troubles, his pot filled with old wine, brimming with intoxicating moments.

The thousands of years old pine tree covered the sky, perhaps long ago, there were travelers drinking under it as well, as travelers changed, but the dense pine tree remained unchanged.

"Old Lu was here!"

Lu Yuan carved a line of text on a large rock, and also etched a mural incorporating the cat and Mr. Turtle.

"It’s a pity it’s not an engraving." The Undying Giant Turtle got tipsy from drinking crazily, "The text you’ve carved will be gone in a few hundred years."

"You can engrave."

"I...can’t," it retracted its head.

Although the Undying Giant Turtle was a born Favored Person of Engraving, it used engraving as an innate instinct without understanding the principles behind it.

It didn’t know how to do such specific things.

"Mr. Turtle gifts you a piece of shell, carving on it would preserve it for a long time!" Trying to impress, the turtle forcibly peeled off a piece of its shell, tears streaming from the pain.

On closer examination.

[Undying Giant Turtle’s Fallen Shell. As it was given voluntarily, this shell has not been contaminated by any Mind factors, making it excellent material for engraving. (Rare Level·Natural Oddity)]

[Ability: Engraving Affinity, mainly oriented towards the defensive domain. Even engravers of lesser skill can achieve decent effects when etching defense engravings on it.]

[Ability: Hardness, it is more durable than ordinary materials, resistant to weathering, corrosion, and high temperatures.]

"Damn!" Lu Yuan’s eyes lit up; this turtle was pretty awesome, just a piece of its shell was a rare oddity.

Of course, the turtle had to give it voluntarily.

If it had been forcibly peeled off, the shell would react and contaminate the material instead.

Greedy Demon God·Lu Yuan wouldn’t let such a treasure go to waste, he immediately stored the shell in his Storage Space.

"Hmm? You’re not engraving anymore!"

"This is the first gift a good brother gave me, it has sentimental value, how could I just scribble on it?" Lu Yuan said casually, "I want it to reach its fullest potential."

The silly turtle immediately chuckled "hee hee hee", feeling very pleased internally.

"Am I not your friend, Old Cat?"

The Undying Giant Turtle turned its head to look at the orange cat, struggling internally.

Peeling off a piece of shell was quite painful for it.

"You give Old Cat a piece of shell, and I’ll tell you the story of Old Cat and the math teacher’s romance."

Lu Yuan’s scalp went numb. Are you trying to scam the turtle?

Just then, Lu Yuan’s ears twitched suddenly.

An androgynous, comprehensible voice arrived belatedly.

[Congratulations, your civilization has achieved the Unique Milestone, Ninth Epoch·Anomaly Tamer.]

[Achievement Condition: First among all civilizations to capture and tame an anomaly.]

[An anomaly is a double-edged sword, bringing disasters yet also enlightening oneself. From bronze to steel, from horses to swords, the sky begins to reveal its secrets, the universe excites us, the stars guide us to this vast world, taming anomalies might be a shortcut to understanding nature.]

[Become their friends. Perhaps, you could gain even more!]

[Your civilization has received a Unique Milestone Reward: Insightful Rune Talent (randomly obtained by one person within the civilization).]

[Your civilization has received a Unique Milestone Points Reward: 5000 points. (This feature has not yet been activated)]

Neither Old Cat nor the Undying Giant Turtle could hear this voice.

Lu Yuan could only rejoice on his own...

He had once again achieved a first-place milestone.

"Insightful Rune Talent!"

Other civilizations hadn’t snatched it first!

Perhaps the difficulty of this milestone was far beyond expectations?

Or maybe he was just incredibly lucky?

But was it really just that?

Was it really just plain luck? Stay connected with empire

At this moment, a subtle unease began to form in the depths of his heart.

This hint of worry quickly magnified, even diluting his intense joy.

...

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