Lava was scorching hot. When it was first seen, experts from all countries studied it exhaustively, trying to unlock its secrets.
It was a recognized fact that the more dangerous something was, the more valuable it tended to be.
But the lava in the Cube Civilization was not like that at all.
Even with global experts researching it and countless players risking their lives, they ultimately only reached one conclusion:
It could be put into an iron bucket and would destroy all resources thrown into it.
Someone once imagined it might be like a wishing well, giving feedback if a precious item was tossed in.
The result was disappointing. Even ore, when tossed in, failed to stir even the slightest ripple.
Faced with lava, the global experts had only one conclusion:
Other than consuming resources, it was useless!
If a player touched it, they would be set on fire, continuously losing health. It was one of the most dangerous things in the block world.
When they saw Lexon place lava on the skyblock, no one understood what he meant.
Once the lava spread, wasn't that just suicide?
Until... the water from the melted ice was placed on the wooden stair.
Whoosh!
Water and fire met. Steam rose, and a block of stone was generated in the middle.
Cobblestone!
The basic ore of the block world!
Seeing Lexon create a new resource from thin air on the skyblock, the audience was utterly shocked.
"What? What did I just see?"
"It's cobblestone, it's really cobblestone!"
"Isn't there only grass blocks on the skyblock? Where did the cobblestone come from?!"
"Lava? Water? Evaporation synthesis?"
"Holy crap!"
Unaware of the situation outside, Lexon used his wooden pickaxe to break three cobblestone blocks, then immediately tossed the wooden pickaxe into the lava to destroy it.
Splash!
The brand-new wooden pickaxe, used only three times, was gone. In its place, he opened the crafting table.
[Stone Age!]
In his hand was a much stronger stone pickaxe!
Sam chang, who had just been spouting mockery, was dumbfounded.
After messing around for ages, he had only picked a few mushrooms. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of a crafting table.
But Lexon, who had spawned on a skyblock with the most barren resources, had already made a stone pickaxe?
That was a stone pickaxe!
Someone as strong as Sam chang had fumbled around for three days in the previous civilization just to scrape together the resources to craft his first wooden pickaxe.
He hadn't even dared to use it much, and now Lexon just casually threw one away?
"What a waste!"
Sam chang wished he could jump into the lava and retrieve that wooden pickaxe.
It could mine, and it could be used as a weapon to increase attack power. It was practically a divine artifact for early-game development!
But knowing that lava could instantly melt resources, and once tossed in, it could never be retrieved, Sam chang could only feel deep jealousy in his heart.
'Lava and water can form cobblestone. You just got lucky and happened to find that out!'
'You only have one bucket of lava and one block of ice. It's already pretty good that you could make a stone pickaxe. Don't tell me you can generate an endless supply of cobblestone?'
Water and fire were inherently related. In his view, Lexon must have luckily tested this out, gathered stone, and made a stone pickaxe.
All weapons and equipment have durability, and the stone pickaxe was no exception.
When the stone pickaxe's durability ran out, he would regret his act of throwing away the wooden pickaxe!
"That's right, Lexon is just too lucky!"
"If it were our contestant, he would definitely do better!"
"We just lacked a bit of luck!"
"Hmph, does he really think he's invincible just because he made a stone pickaxe?"
"He doesn't cherish his weapon. There will come a time when he regrets it!"
Facing the bullet comments that were visibly sour, the Jiuzhou audience finally let out a laugh.
"Someone's getting desperate. I won't say who."
"So sour! Are you jealous? Why does it smell so sour in here?"
"A stone pickaxe is truly nothing... but your contestant doesn't even have a *wooden* pickaxe, oh~"
"Yeah, we threw away the wooden pickaxe. Yeah, it's making you tilt. What can you do about it?"
"There isn't *someone* who doesn't even have a stone pickaxe, right? No way, no way?"
"Feels great! Hahahaha!"
Director kay's tightly knitted brows relaxed.
He had been annoyed by those passive-aggressive bullet comments for a long time. Now he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"I remember, in the PvP civilization, an Indian contestant accidentally discovered that water and lava meeting could form cobblestone."
"I didn't expect such a minor detail to be remembered. Lexon is a good kid!"
Director kay showed a rare smile.
Since he had a stone pickaxe, throwing away the wooden one wasn't a big deal.
Although his block score wasn't high yet, his equipment development had already surpassed many people!
"Yes, this design is ingenious."
After observing for a long time, Fries gave his opinion.
"Knowing that water and lava would spread, he used non-flammable dirt to contain them and generate cobblestone."
"Especially that wooden stair. It's simply brilliant!"
Water spreads faster than lava. If he had only dug out five blocks, it would be very easy for the water to overwhelm the lava, making it a one-time use.
But adding the wooden stair completely eliminated this problem, allowing it to produce a continuous supply of cobblestone.
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have thought lava could be used this way!"
Fries felt nothing short of amazed!
"We might still have hope!"
With a steady supply of cobblestone, he could expand the skyblock and build his own house.
Hiding in the room, the monsters that appeared at night would no longer be able to harm Lexon in the slightest!
He just needed to solve the food problem and keep piling up cobblestone, and advancing to a Medium-Block might not be impossible!
But it wasn't as they imagined.
Even though he knew monsters would spawn at night, Lexon didn't build his house right away.
'I have to hurry, before nightfall.'
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Lexon let out a long breath.
He had arrived in the Cube Civilization, but he hadn't inherited a body like Steve's.
He would be injured if hit, and he would feel tired from working.
After generating a stack of cobblestone, he had already eaten two apples, restoring four segments of saturation.
Choosing a direction, Lexon decided to first build a small path.
He didn't build it directly with blocks, but first crafted the cobblestone into stone slabs—half-blocks.
Placing three stone blocks horizontally could be broken down into six stone slabs.
Not only did this save blocks, but he also knew that the monster spawning mechanic only worked on full blocks.
Slabs only counted as half-blocks and wouldn't spawn monsters.
He could walk on them normally, and their surface area was the same as a normal stone block.
Using this mechanic, he could guarantee the safety of his path, without worrying about monsters ambushing him from behind.
After extending it far enough, Lexon began to build on the spot.
Two blocks high, six blocks wide, a small, perfectly square, roofed stone house appeared.
He intentionally used stone slabs under the house, leaving a 1.5-block observation space.
He then circled the stone house with more stone slabs.
"Perfect!"
He was very satisfied with his work.
With this small house, he would fear no monster!
At the same in, his block score changed based on his construction.
[Built a cobble generator and a simple skyblock mob-proofing platform.]
[Current Block Comprehensive Score: 5 (Micro-Block)]
[Player Ranking: 1]
He had officially reached first place!
On Pumpkin Island, Mark and Jett were discussing how to get through the night.
Suddenly, the ranking jumped. The first-place spot they thought was secure had dropped.
"What? How is that possible!"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]