Five Frozen Centuries - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Since When Did The Sun Rise From The South 3
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The Northern continent was shrouded by the extreme cold. Everything was covered in snow; the sudden low temperature caused many animals to freeze straight to death.
Only the strongest survived was the law of nature. The weather was changing rapidly and temperatures continued dropping. One had to either migrate or evolve otherwise, death was inevitable. 3
Early in the next morning, temperatures had begun to rise. The beasts were no longer having asthma attacks, they… 1
They were in a much better state. They finally began to rest with their eyes shut and their breathing was much more stabilized now. 2
Based on the messages tab, their conditions went from ‘Hypothermia (severe)’ to ‘Hypothermia (mild)’.
Wei Huo was unaffected as he possessed the strengthened immune system which God had given to humans on top of his strong body quality and Qi-Training Skill. 1
As mentioned in one of the previous updates, God had given humans strengthened immune and digestive systems presumably for them to quickly adapt in such harsh environments after they come out of the time halt. 5
However, the stable condition of both beasts had nothing to do with their immune systems. It could be that they had evolved. God’s update stated clearly that biological evolution was also accelerated.
Wei Huo let out a sigh of relief. He studied both beasts closely. Although the beasts’ ability to move, breath, and etc were weak at the moment, in addition to both their health columns displayed as “Severely Ill”, they were evidently getting better.
The biological evolution of all living creatures was accelerated yet again. Despite the extreme and cruel cold, there were animals that survived and continued reproducing. It was not going to take long before Earth was filled with living creatures again.
Just this morning, Wei Huo saw a group of mountain hares that were jumping around in the snow. They were not trapped in the snow because of the special structure of their feet which gave them a huge advantage during the winter. Hunters usually had a hard time catching up with them.
However, unfortunately, they bumped into Wei Huo. He was not the type of hunter who would reason with you. He could either use his bow or directly chase after his prey. He could have killed his prey with just one punch, scratch, or kick. 1
If one’s speed was fast enough, he could both walk on water and not be buried by the snow. 3
When Wei Huo returned to the cabin with those mountain hares, both the panda and tiger had sat up and they now were capable of adding firewood to the bonfire themselves.
According to their Health Menu, their hypothermia had subsided. It was just that their bodily functions have yet to recover fully. They could barely move or eat, but their ability to breathe had recovered.
They began drinking from the wooden bowl containing water that had been boiled from melted snow and cooled again. The wooden bowl was personally made by Wei Huo for holding water.
Wei Huo slaughtered the mountain hares and allowed both beasts to have some before lying down again.
Wei Huo let out a sigh of relief. Truth be told, he was of barely any help to them. He had no medicine nor was he a vet. In addition, he had no abilities to control temperatures at the moment. The beasts could only help themselves regarding the low temperature, but fortunately, they made it through.
However, Wei Huo thought to himself, ‘What if I was the one who was sick? I’m the only one in the world who isn’t stuck in the time halt, and I couldn’t go to the hospital or see a doctor. I’m the only one who could save myself!’
Wei Huo pulled out a mobile phone packed in a small plastic bag. The plastic bag had worn out, while the phone inside was wrapped in layers of transparent tape. Nonetheless, the phone had already rusted.
It was no surprise that it could not be used anymore since the buttons could no longer be pressed, and the screen was completely cracked. After the end of time halt, Wei Huo could just buy himself another one provided that civilization and the economy had recovered sufficiently. Wei Huo was only worried if he could still get himself integrated into society by then.
There were days in a month where he did not feel like training his Qi and spent time thinking about life instead. Wei Huo spent more time doing that this month. Thankfully, Giant Panda and Fatty Tiger had recovered their ability to move after three days. They could go out and hunt on their own now. 3
They did not express gratitude towards Wei Huo. Most importantly, they did not speak Human Language, and hence they did not know how to express gratitude as humans do. After eating and drinking, their priorities were to play and roll around in the snow. Whenever Wei Huo appeared in front of them, they would approach Wei Huo affectionately and either lick his palms gently, rub their bodies against his trousers, or happily run around Wei Huo.
They did not smile because they did not know how to show their teeth to Wei Huo. Their way of showing gratitude to him was by lowering their heads in front of him and waiting to be petted.
Truth be told, Wei Huo did not need them to thank him. As long as they stayed alive, it was good enough for him. They should live their lives to the fullest at the very least. 1
Wei Huo could see the lifespans of both of them through the Health Menu.
‘Giant Panda. Age: 27 Years Old. Lifespan: 90 Years.’
‘Fatty Tiger. Age: 37 Years Old. Lifespan: 60 Years.’ 2
Based on their lifespans the panda was still considered young, but the tiger was already middle-aged. Nonetheless, both their lifespans were nowhere as long as Wei Huo’s. They were going to die eventually!
Wei Huo sighed at that moment.
After the beasts recovered fully, Wei Huo chose to continue his journey. He took both of them toward the south. They were now more resistant to the cold after evolving once again and had thicker fur.
The last time both beasts collapsed, Wei Huo did think about using Doran’s Shield’s Health-Recovering Skill, but unfortunately, Doran’s Shield could only recover one’s health but had no effect on curing hypothermia. One would probably need slags to resist the extreme cold.
Wei Huo continued traveling south with the beasts for the next two years.
One year should have been sufficient initially, but because it was difficult to walk on the slippery snow-covered ground it took longer. No matter what difficulties they encountered, they overcame it. Two years later, Wei Huo arrived at the southernmost part of the Northern continent with his beasts, and they finally saw the ocean! 6
When Wei Huo and company arrived at the seashore, the first ray of morning light appeared on the horizon. Wei Huo felt something was amiss.
‘Wait… did I not come from the north? How is it possible that the Sun is rising in the south? Since when did the Sun rise from the south?’
Wei Huo realized that he was wrong moments later. It was not the sun that had risen. It was a huge fireball in the air. The fireball flew up high before exploding in the sky into tiny flames that fell. Soon after that, the sky and ground turned dark again.
Wei Huo could not understand what was going on, but he had felt a horrifying aura coming from the southern seas. The aura was incredibly strong and terrifying that it sent chills down his back.
While Wei Huo was thinking about it, both beasts behind him were already lying on the ground and shivering. They instinctively felt fear towards the sea at first glance.
Wei Huo frowned and had a thought that since all animals on land exceeded their limitations by evolving into giants, what kind of evolved monsters could come out of the sea which was already filled with huge creatures in the first place? 3