Cave Refuge

Since his own father had spoken, Zachary naturally wouldn't say anything more. Although he was a bit irked by his father's unprovoked temper just moments ago, what of it? After all, it was his own father, and when you live together, you naturally come to understand the art of playing dumb and forgetting.

Upon hearing his father's call, Zachary naturally summoned his Companion Spiritual Treasure into the backyard. As the Companion Spiritual Treasure appeared in its reduced form, the family of three prepared to enter it ahead of time.

What no one expected was that, while indoors, the three of them hadn't noticed the slightest change in temperature. However, as soon as they stepped out of the house and into the yard, their skin, exposed to the air, instantly felt a slight burning pain.

Realizing the change in temperature outside, Zachary quickly urged his parents, "The scorching heat must have arrived, and the temperature outdoors is gradually rising. We should hurry into the cabin now, otherwise, as the temperature continues to climb, even if we stand still like this, I'm afraid we won't be able to stay for long."

Upon stepping outside, Father Dong and Mother Dong naturally felt the change in temperature, and with their son's reminder, they didn't dilly-dally like a tragic drama, pushing each other off. Following Mr. Thompson's lead, Mrs. Thompson simply trailed behind him and entered Zachary's Companion Spiritual Treasure.

The straight-line distance from the courtyard gate to the top of Zachary's Companion Spiritual Treasure was no more than ten meters, not even thirty meters at a normal walking pace.

Yet on this short thirty-meter journey, they spent no more than five minutes. By the time they entered the inside of the Companion Spiritual Treasure, the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, as well as the previously unprotected, exposed skin, all looked as if they had been sunburned for an extended period, now somewhat red, swollen, and even peeling.

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson had only stayed outside for a few minutes, and yet their skin had been sunburned to this extent. Keep in mind that the Thompsons weren't ordinary people; although their cultivation levels were not high, they absolutely surpassed top athletes before the natural disaster in terms of physical condition.

Even so, despite not having been outside for long, such severe damage had already occurred, which was an indication that the extreme heat waves outside were far from as safe and calm as the environment seemed.

However, compared to the slightly reddened skin of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, Zachary's skin was still as smooth and flawless as ever. Seeing their son's appearance at that moment, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson naturally wouldn't find it strange, after all, they began their cultivation under Zachary's guidance.

And after such a long time, they were well aware that the cultivation method taught to them by Zachary was quite different from the cultivation techniques publicly disclosed by the Imperial Court, especially in the basic realm divisions.

Most importantly, in comparison to the cultivation methods for the Path Entry Realm currently disclosed by the Imperial Court, the cultivation technique Zachary imprinted into their memories through his Divine Sense could even cultivate the legendary Golden Core.

After all, they were his parents, so although Zachary didn't imprint the complete cultivation method in their memories, he did include the techniques up to the Golden Core Stage.

Cultivation methods, despite requiring corresponding techniques for each realm, could still lead to breakthroughs even without the specific techniques for the next level.

Different techniques for each stage, if they are of the same cultivation method, simply affect the efficiency of cultivation. After all, with a breakthrough to the next realm, physical condition naturally improves all around, enabling the practitioner to endure greater stress and achieve more efficient cultivation.

Compared to the comfort of the Thompson family inside the Companion Spiritual Treasure, the situation of the other camp inhabitants was not so fortunate.

Although the temperature outdoors had started to rise, for some reason, the temperature inside and outside seemed naturally divided, with the indoor and outdoor temperature contrast growing larger by the moment.

However, unlike Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, who left the Companion Spiritual Treasure to return to the villa, perhaps due to damage to the house, plus the lack of a cleanup, there were those black snakes that had once stealthily attacked them in the water during the camp's flooding.

So, even after the floodwaters had receded, most survivors still chose to stay within their Companion Spiritual Treasures and did not return to their original homes, but continued to stay within their Companion Spiritual Treasures.

It was precisely because of this choice that after patiently observing for a while and confirming that there were no shadows of those black snakes nearby, they felt the camp should now be safe, it was then they wanted to venture out to explore.

But as soon as they stretched a hand out of the Companion Spiritual Treasure, a burning, stabbing pain surged from the back of their hand into their heart. They quickly withdrew their hand and looked at the back of it, horrified to discover that just from a momentary exposure, the skin had turned red as if scorched by heat.

Logically speaking, if the outside temperature had reached a point where extending a hand could cause scalding, then the indoor temperature should also naturally be hot and dry enough for one to feel uncomfortable.

Yet, the current situation was such that although they did not know the outdoor temperature, the indoor temperature was still very comfortable. It was precisely for this reason that they had failed to notice the change in the outdoor temperature.

Although the backs of their hands still maintained the appearance of a burn and had not recovered, many survivors did not give up on trying further. Some were rather stubborn; after getting one hand scalded, they switched to the other hand to continue testing.

If other people knew that someone had tried again with the other hand after scalding one, they would definitely think that person was a foolhardy idiot.

And the vast majority of the remaining people, after discovering the scalding on the back of the hand they had extended, would look for alternative items to test with.

The simplest and most readily available were various plastic products, especially fragments of plastic bags. Despite being cheap and ubiquitous before the natural disaster, plastic bags were incredibly useful in both a post-apocalyptic setting and wilderness survival.

A whole plastic bag could be used to carry water and as a waterproof tool, while torn plastic bags could serve as temporary adhesives or sealants, and could even be used as raw material for homemade torches.

No matter that burning plastic bags produced slightly toxic fumes, in most cases, compared to other common materials, plastic bags were often the easiest to find and had the longest burn time as a kindling material.

Some people fixed pieces of plastic bags to the tip of a wooden stick and then slowly extended the end with the plastic tied to it outside the door.

The stick had barely reached outside when the initially wrinkled pieces of plastic bag, as if drawing close to a flame, rapidly began to shrivel and collapse.

Eventually, it not only melted into a drop of liquid plastic but also when the survivors were about to pull the stick back, the drop of liquid plastic at its tip spontaneously ignited without open flame.

Upon seeing this, anyone who knew even a bit about plastic gasped because they understood that while most ordinary plastics would shrink and collapse in high temperatures, igniting them usually required temperatures of at least 250 degrees Celsius.

And now, with the liquid plastic at the end of the stick being ignited, it naturally indicated that the outdoor temperature might indeed have reached over 250 degrees Celsius. After all, they must remember that they had now become Martial Artists; the so-called high temperatures of pre-disaster times no longer affected them.

And the fact that their hands were instantly scalded the moment they reached out was already a stern warning of the extraordinary temperatures outside.