Journey Survival

[By the mandate of the Heavens, the Jade Emperor decrees: All living beings of the Three Realms shall enter the Path of Tribulation! Embark upon the Journey Survival to prove your destiny. The decree is issued; depart within three breaths!]

Zhu Jiusi lay on his bed, staring at the translucent imperial scroll that had suddenly appeared before him. He sprang up, scrambling toward the kitchen in a frantic rush.

With one hand, he scooped up a mesh bag containing ten pounds of sweet potatoes; with the other, he grabbed two large Napa cabbages.

He wanted to dash into the living room to shoulder the half-bucket of water, but before he could reach it, a flash of light enveloped him, and his surroundings shifted.

A narrow, winding path stretched into the unknown. The area was desolate and silent, flanked by a three-meter-tall forest of gloomy trees, beyond which lay a thick, impenetrable fog.

Zhu Jiusi sighed. The Jade Emperor's words were law; when he said three breaths, he meant three breaths, not a second more.

Yet, the Jade Emperor kept his word—he had truly granted him a chance to start over! He had returned to this hellish world once more—the Mythic Road Survival!

A scroll unfurled before him, characters shimmering into view.

[Seeker, welcome to the Journey Survival, 66th Dao-Seeking District of the Immortal Seeking Realm. There are three rules of survival here; do not treat them as child's play.]

[Rule One: The path beneath your feet is your road to seeking the Dao. You must complete a fixed distance each day. Remember this well, for if you fail, the Heavenly Tribulation shall descend. Do not say you were not warned.]

[Rule Two: The path is treacherous; the thick fog on either side must never be entered!]

[Rule Three: The road holds opportunities, but fortune and disaster are intertwined. Proceed with caution.]

The same warnings, the same world. It was the exact same environment as when he had first entered three years ago.

The Journey Survival, later known by many as the Mythic Survival.

In truth, it was simply the mythic version of a road survival game. A path lay beneath your feet, and you had to walk it. You would either die or become powerful!

In his past life, Zhu Jiusi had struggled here for three years. He hated this place with a passion, yet he loved it just as much!

Living here was truly difficult. One faced death at every turn, and death was not even the most terrifying part.

Fear, betrayal, and despair... these were the primary themes of this place, at least for the seekers in the lower and middle tiers.

But this place truly lived up to the name of "seeking the Dao." A seeker could obtain everything here!

Fame, wealth, divine abilities, and even... immortality!

The prerequisite was that you had to survive!

After the three warnings, the light on the scroll flickered, and the text changed:

[The Great Dao is vast, and the taboos are countless. Explore the other rules as you travel. Seeker, choose your identity and step onto the path.]

The three starting rules were merely the basics. Only when you truly stepped into the Journey Survival did you realize—there were far more than a hundred taboos.

The scroll now displayed three patterns.

A white cloud, a cave, and a single-wheeled cart.

Below them was a single sentence: [God? Demon? Human? Think thrice before you decide!]

There were three identities in the Journey Survival: Human, God, and Demon.

When the identity selection first appeared, it corresponded to different items. For instance, God might be represented by a flying sword or a celestial boat, Human by an ox cart or carriage, and Demon by various types of lairs.

But there was a massive trap hidden within—one must not choose God!

The moment a seeker chose God, they would instantly vanish, becoming an NPC within the Journey Survival. Furthermore, they would be "castrated"—their soul would be severed.

After choosing God, one would have no connection to their former life. Although they would retain their memories, they would view those memories as if watching a stranger.

Even when facing someone who had once cuckolded them, they would feel not a shred of anger.

The past would no longer have anything to do with you!

Both times Zhu Jiusi had started, the option for God had been a white cloud.

Last time, he had wanted to choose it, but his reaction had been too slow. He had hesitated for a few seconds, and by the time he tried to select it, it was no longer available—the NPC slots were full.

Now that he knew the truth, he avoided it like a venomous snake. His gaze shifted to the remaining two. The single-wheeled cart was just an ordinary wooden farm cart.

Zhu Jiusi remained silent for a long time, his raised hand eventually dropping.

Being human was not so easy!

Humans possessed countless advantages, but they also suffered from countless flaws.

For example: infighting!

In the Journey Survival, this was a trait clearly etched into the human attribute!

Only by clearing one's heart and perceiving one's nature, breaking through the confusion to reach enlightenment, could one escape these shackles.

Moreover, he had only managed to survive last time by relying on that single-wheeled cart. Only Zhu Jiusi knew how much suffering he had endured and how much luck had been involved.

Starting over, he did not believe he would have that same luck again.

Zhu Jiusi's gaze settled on the cave pattern in the center.

After a long while, he grinned. "I'm done being human!"

Humans should know their own limitations!

This was the biggest reason he had been able to start over!

Last time, he had broken into the dwelling of a great power, and with a stroke of incredible luck, he had followed other seekers into the core palace—though he had collapsed from infighting the moment he rushed through the palace gates.

Yet, he had managed to touch the true core.

There, a scroll of the Imperial Decree of the Heavenly Emperor was enshrined.

It contained only a single sentence: [The Heavenly Emperor asks: How does one endure?]

The Heavenly Emperor was naturally not asking about immortality, but rather how one might endure within the Journey Survival.

Just as everyone was desperately fighting and attempting to seize the decree, Zhu Jiusi, on the verge of death, had been moved by a strange impulse to dip his finger in blood and write an answer upon it.

[Self-knowledge!]

Combat power, ability, and luck were not the most important things; self-knowledge was!

To possess self-knowledge is enough to endure!

Given his abilities, he should never have entered this cave dwelling in the first place! It was a pity he was dying, and his realization had come too late.

Then, to the utter astonishment of Zhu Jiusi, the characters on the decree changed to: [Acceptable!]

And then, Zhu Jiusi was reborn.

The decree possessed immense power, granting him a chance to restart and see if he could truly possess self-knowledge and endure!

Shaking his head to cast off the memories, Zhu Jiusi looked at the cave pattern in the center of the scroll; it appeared to be some kind of beast.

A Demon Cultivator does not start as a spirit, but as an ordinary animal.

Beasts have a significant advantage.

In the Journey Survival, there is a set distance to travel every day; at the beginning, it is fifty li.

Some started as birds, thinking they had gained a huge advantage, but the result—going from human to bird, even with wings, they did not know how to fly!

Before learning to fly, they could not complete the fifty-li journey. The Heavenly Tribulation moved faster than the birds!

On the first day alone, countless people who failed to complete the distance died under the Heavenly Tribulation.

"Jade Emperor preserve me, let it not be a carnivore!"

Zhu Jiusi bowed to the heavens; it was too difficult for carnivores to survive!

He raised his hand and tapped the scroll.

Light flickered across the parchment. The next moment, he felt his body sink, and his perspective dropped by half.

When he opened his mouth to speak, it turned into a grunt.

He looked down—very good! Four sturdy pig hooves, with brown, coarse hair standing stiffly.

A wild boar!

Zhu Jiusi shook his head; the scroll floated before him, and the text upon it had completely changed.

[Seeker: Zhu Jiusi]
[Daoist Name: TBD]
[Identity: Demon Cultivator · Mountain Boar]
[Nature: 4]
[Life: 28]

It really was a wild boar!

Zhu Jiusi felt no disappointment at becoming a boar; instead, he laughed heartily. The laughter, however, came out as pig grunts.

In the Journey Survival, race, appearance... none of that mattered; only staying alive was important!

The survival ability of a wild boar was undoubtedly worth affirming.

Zhu Jiusi swept his gaze over his Nature and Life stats, feeling even more sagacious.

In the Journey Survival, there were no complex data points, only Nature and Life.

Though it was a dual cultivation of Nature and Life, it differed from the Daoist concept.

If one were to draw an analogy, Nature was roughly equivalent to spirit and soul strength.

Life was the strength of the physical body.

For an adult male in an absolutely ideal state, both Nature and Life would be 10.

That would require someone truly healthy who underwent high-intensity training, such as a soldier!

Zhu Jiusi's Nature was currently 4, likely dragged down by his beastly form; a normal, fragile college student would reach at least 6.

But his Life had reached 28, three times that of an ordinary person, or even more—it was rare for a normal person to even reach 7.

He had not wasted this wild boar body!

However, this was traded for with his lifespan!

By walking the path of a Demon Cultivator, one truly becomes the beast they transform into.

A Mountain Boar's lifespan is only twenty years; if he cannot break through, he will grow old and die in a few years—provided, of course, that he can survive in the Journey Survival until old age.

Zhu Jiusi looked at his stats with satisfaction, his pig snout emitting snorting sounds.

Light flashed on the scroll: "Congratulations to Seeker Zhu Jiusi, you have obtained the title: Blockhead!"