First Kill

With gods to choose from, you skipped them; with humanity to embrace, you chose to be a pig.

Blockhead!

Why the insults? Zhu Jiusi was stunned, then watched as new characters appeared on the scroll.

[Reward Notice: The Path Seeker has survived the Journey Survival, being the first to obtain a title, a reward is granted!]

The scroll shimmered with light and spat out a Silver Gourd.

Zhu Jiusi's eyes lit up.

Gourds were the treasure chests of Journey Survival, containing all sorts of resources and treasures.

In his past life, many suspected that Journey Survival might truly be the work of the Heavenly Court—perhaps some great beings had read too many modern novels and created it on a whim.

Many things were modeled after games and novels. The gourds were color-coded, starting from the lowest grade Wood Gourd, followed by Bronze, Silver, Gold, Vermilion-Purple, and Mysterious Black.

During the first seven days of the novice protection period, there were no Silver Gourds by the roadside.

They only appeared as special rewards!

A fine gourd!

But he couldn't open it now; besides supplies, the gourd might contain monsters.

Forget fighting monsters—just standing was an exhausting task!

When he first transformed into a pig and remained still, he hadn't felt much, but the moment he thought about moving, his feet gave way and he tumbled to the ground.

Walking on four legs was completely different from using hands and feet as he had imagined!

Struggling to adapt, Zhu Jiusi finally stood up slowly and packed the gourd, the cabbage, and the sweet potato into his inventory.

Just like in a game, entering Journey Survival provided a basic inventory, but it only had fifteen slots.

Items of the same type occupied a single slot.

Zhu Jiusi stood with his four legs splayed wide, barely managing to balance as he checked the effects of his title.

Blockhead: Impulsive but powerful!

Journey Survival was not a game; there were very few things that could be perfectly quantified. The same title could have subtle differences depending on who wore it.

Blockhead was a title that reduced intelligence in exchange for increased attack power.

Since he needed his wits at the very start, he couldn't equip the title just yet.

He wobbled, trying to get used to his body. The light on the scroll flickered, the characters shifting constantly before settling on [Daoist Name], waiting for Zhu Jiusi to confirm.

A so-called Daoist Name was essentially a nickname. It also served as a form of defense; there were too many bizarre and strange abilities in Journey Survival. Having one's real name known made one susceptible to all sorts of casual curses.

Zhu Jiusi focused his mind, and text appeared after the Daoist Name:

Master of Cloud Stack Cave

This was his Daoist Name from his previous life; it actually suited his current identity even better!

Some things were destined in the dark.

Or perhaps he could change it to Son-in-law of Gao Village?

Zhu Jiusi chuckled.

Once the Daoist Name was set, he had truly stepped onto the path of Journey Survival.

The scroll flickered, reminding him to extract his cave.

Zhu Jiusi acted as if he hadn't seen it.

He would be insane to extract the cave now! In Journey Survival, one had to move forward every day.

The road beneath his feet was the Path Seeker's Great Dao. But a beast's lair was a fixed location; if he extracted it now, it would be stuck here, wasted for nothing.

This was a massive trap!

Seven days later, when the novice protection period ended and monsters attacked from the mist, many Demon Cultivators would die simply because they lacked the protection of a beast lair.

Well... actually, not that many; most Demon Cultivators died during the novice protection period itself. Having suddenly swapped into a beast's body, few could manage to walk the required distance.

First, complete today's mileage!

Zhu Jiusi tried to move his limbs, adapting to the body of a wild boar.

But the moment he took a single step forward, he stumbled and fell to the ground.

His four hooves, while not exactly acting independently, were certainly not very obedient.

Zhu Jiusi struggled to climb up, then—fell, and climbed up again!

He fell again, and climbed up again!

He didn't know how many times he had fallen, but finally, he was able to walk forward, stumbling and swaying.

It was like an infant learning to walk, but burdened with a body weighing several hundred pounds.

The journey was arduous.

Moving forward.

Running became smoother with every step. After three or four miles along the Sheep Gut Mountain Path, he was already running quite decently.

Walking was still awkward, though; running was simpler.

Being able to jog was already a very good start. Zhu Jiusi kept up that light trot, occasionally darting left and right, rooting with his snout, and rolling about.

His control over his body was improving rapidly.

Compared to other Demon Cultivators, his speed of progress was likely much faster.

Journey Survival had monthly rankings. The higher the rank, the better the rewards.

Beyond just rankings, there were also the rules and laws of Journey Survival to explore. Clearly uncovering one could also net a grand prize.

Zhu Jiusi ran with increasing fluidity. He suddenly stopped; a gourd vine swayed gently in the wind by the roadside. A single gourd hung from it.

An ordinary wood-colored gourd.

Zhu Jiusi bit the stem and yanked it off.

A wood-colored gourd usually wouldn't contain a powerful monster. He pinned the gourd body with his hoof, bit the stopper, and pulled it out.

Mist immediately gushed from the gourd. A shifty, rat-like head poked out from the fog.

Before it could fully emerge, Zhu Jiusi reared up on his hind legs and slammed his front hooves down with a boom. One hoof crushed the rat's head.

Bang!

The bowl-sized rat head was smashed to pieces under his hoof.

It was a cat-sized rat, dead before it could even leap out.

Five units of stone fell out along with it; these were resources.

Zhu Jiusi collected the stone and waited a moment, but the scroll gave no notification—there was no First Kill reward.

It seemed that while he was busy adapting to his body, someone else had already killed a monster.

The First Kill for a Wood Gourd had been taken!

Zhu Jiusi suddenly felt a sense of urgency. He took the Silver Gourd from his pack and pulled out the stopper.

The gourd spewed a burst of mist, and a dog's head manifested within it.

Zhu Jiusi lowered his head and gave a shove, tossing the monster into the woods beside the path. The creature had barely hit the ground and was flapping its wings to rise when the wild boar used a Savage Charge, slamming it into the thick fog outside the forest.

"Congratulations on obtaining the Silver Gourd First Kill. Would you like to issue a Myriad Worlds Announcement?"

The scroll popped up to ask.

Journey Survival had eighty-one great domains, and each domain had thousands of Path Seeking Zones.

Myriad Worlds Announcements were extremely rare.

"Announce!"

There were rewards for announcements, too.

Once you entered Journey Survival, you shouldn't think about hiding yourself. Only the weak hid; the more you hid, the weaker you became.

[Myriad Worlds Announcement: In the 66th Path Seeking Zone of the Immortal Seeking Domain, "Master of Cloud Stack Cave" has obtained the Silver Gourd First Kill and received an announcement reward. May all Path Seekers continue to strive!]

"Announcement Reward: Stone ×25, Wood ×25, Metal ×25, Steamed Bun ×5"

Announcement rewards were mostly basic resources. Especially for killing gourd monsters—a task everyone would eventually be able to do—the rewards were relatively ordinary.

But every little bit added up, especially at the start of Journey Survival!

Zhu Jiusi shook his head and unequipped the "Blockhead" title.

The monster that had emerged from the Silver Gourd just now was a watermelon-sized vampire bat; he absolutely could not let that thing fully unleash itself.

It could fly, and it could fly silently. Given Zhu Jiusi's current state, he would be at a huge disadvantage in a fight.

Zhu Jiusi hadn't given the vampire bat a chance to react; he had equipped the title and used his ultimate move to ram it into the fog.

Zhu Jiusi looked down at the Silver Gourd on the ground. Besides the monster, it had also dropped a porcelain bottle.

Pills!

Zhu Jiusi was overjoyed. The scroll scanned it, and the pill information appeared immediately.

"Life Nourishing Pill ×1"

"Consumption Effect: Nature +1, Life +2"

Beautiful!

Pills that could increase one's Nature and Life were always in short supply in Journey Survival.

Life was manageable; it was something you could basically find every month. But Nature was something you could only hope for, not demand.

Zhu Jiusi didn't hesitate. He crushed the porcelain bottle with a hoof and swallowed the pill.

He felt nothing special for a moment, only a sensation like his brain had been rinsed with clear water—it was incredibly refreshing.

His four hooves seemed to have more strength.

He continued to look at the scroll, where messages were flickering incessantly.

This scroll was just like a system interface, possessing numerous functions, including a chat feature.

Sparrow: "Holy crap! I just turned into a bird and hadn't even hopped a hundred meters before some big shot started killing monsters?"

Daoist Number 323: "What is a Silver Gourd? Big shot, come out and explain!"

One Step Won't Walk: "Are big shots adapting this quickly? I only just learned how to use a unicycle."

Monkey Has Iron Rod: "Be content! I was just working out with my auntie when I got dragged here. I poked down with my rod and—damn it, I broke it!"

On a narrow path, a young man driving an ox cart stared at the announcement on the scroll, his mind blank.

"An announcement... and there are rewards?"

He had opened a gourd and killed a rat the moment he entered Journey Survival, and the scroll had told him he was the first to kill in Journey Survival. But he hadn't received an announcement...

In a strange environment and a survival game, shouldn't one hide their strength?

He missed out on a fortune!

He was the true first kill of Journey Survival!