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

Lu Yuan's pupils dilated: "Could it be the legendary Time attribute?"

He couldn't understand why the aurora would be associated with the Time attribute—could the aurora really be a rift in spacetime?

All he knew was, over time, certain minerals might acquire some Time attribute.

Thinking about this made him eager to try, his scavenger spirit was restless!

"North of Northern Langma, a place rarely visited by humans, a great time for scavenging!"

He didn't linger for long.

Once the aurora ended, he headed north down the mountain.

...

The weather grew colder, dropping to minus one hundred sixty degrees in the blink of an eye.

"Time attribute minerals... where are you?"

Lu Yuan yearned for them.

But as with many things in the world, eagerness doesn't always bring results, and after searching for half a day, he found nothing.

Fortunately, as a seasoned scavenger, he knew well the principle of "fortune can only be encountered, not sought," so he kept a calm heart.

Ahead lay a methane lake, the water tinged with a faint dark hue. This was because liquid methane absorbs and scatters light weakly, making the lake appear darker.

Lu Yuan looked at the large mass of liquid methane, hesitating a bit.

"What are you doing? Can't find minerals, so you're taking methane home too?"

"I'm hungry, I need to replenish some energy."

It turned out that the coal Lu Yuan brought from home was used up, physical energy depleted, he'd have to use Spirit Essence, which he was reluctant to do.

"This ready-made methane should count as energy, right?"

"Then drink it!" The Conch Girl, who also loved to play, smiled mischievously.

He's the stingiest guy she's ever seen.

The Greedy Demon God, as a being, had a sense of touch and taste, and running this far just to drink a mouthful of bone-chilling methane couldn't feel good.

"I'm worried that the energy I consume drinking it won't be worth it. Heating this liquid methane to gas form requires energy, right? What if expenses exceed income?" Lu Yuan's face was sour.

"Don't worry, burning 1 kilogram of methane can melt 200 kilograms, a surefire profit! Drink up, I'll record it for you~"

Lu Yuan, like Kua Fu, lay down by the lake and took a deep breath, visibly lowering the methane lake's water level.

His body trembled violently.

"This must be the death of me."

The next second, he was all smiles, having seen a heap of glowing blue stones appear at the bottom of the lake!

[Combustible Crystal Stone, a mineral with extremely high calorific value, can be used as heating material or for industrial manufacturing.]

[In the cold Northern Territory, it might sell for a good price. (Low-quality · Natural Oddity)]

"Couldn't find Time attribute minerals, but at least I can pick up some small trash!" Lu Yuan had heard of these "Combustible Crystal Stones," and his hands, like giant shovels, dug deep into the lakebed, vigorously harvesting them.

The methane lake's temperature was minus 180 degrees Celsius, unbearable for most life forms, and technological creations struggled to operate for long in such harsh cold.

Thus, the mineral deposits in this area might never have been tapped, a true unexplored virgin land!

Before long, Lu Yuan had dug a large heap of "Combustible Crystal Stones," shivering as he crawled ashore.

The Conch Girl, wearing a spacesuit, sifted through the pile of blue stones for a long time, feeling the scavenger's joy of a good harvest: "The quantity is about 1.82 tons, though just low-grade material, the purity is quite good, better than those in the Trading Market, I estimate it can sell for 18-20 Spirit Essence."

"We're rich, Mr. Lu!"

After pocketing 20 Spirit Essence in a matter of hours, Lu Yuan couldn't help but clasp his hands in thanks to the world.

"Thank the cold, thank the aurora! Let's stay a bit longer and extract the easily mined minerals."

"As long as your body can withstand it."

This soaking in the lake was harmful to the Greedy Demon God's body.

Even with the anomaly's strong life force, there's no indestructible body in the world.

So Lu Yuan wasn't stingy, and used the "Eternal Spark" Light Screen when needed.

The 20 Spirit Essence he just earned could keep the Light Screen running for over a month.

Yet the Arctic weather was truly too harsh; the air was very thin, with many lakes layering based on the condensation points of gases.

At the bottom were often hard ice blocks and dry ice, then heavier organic molecules like butane and propane.

Above these lay a large expanse of methane.

Further up were layers of liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen.

As temperatures rose, those liquids reached boiling points and boiled over, creating bubbles on the lake's surface.

If temperatures dropped, fierce liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen rained down from the sky, hitting like relentless bullets.

But Lu Yuan felt pain and joy, for every day he could dig out treasures worth at least 100 Spirit Essence!

This amount was equivalent to one-third of the whole human race's annual productivity (excluding the Trading Market)!

He could earn in a day what humankind took three months to produce—he just couldn't stop.

Though the grade wasn't too high, mostly low-grade minerals, the sheer quantity was overwhelming—what's more, lower-grade minerals were easier to sell due to their low unit cost.

Even if Lu Yuan didn't consume them himself, he could trade them with humans through the Insect Clan Army.

"Dig some Ice attribute minerals for the insects to eat. As humans become a Fourth-level Civilization, they should grow along with us..."