Graveyard Riot

It had finally arrived.

The moment the moon appeared and announced the early cancellation of the novice protection period, Zhu Jiusi knew it was time to finalize the second law. He deployed his Nest immediately.

Although there had been a few mishaps, the necessary procedures had to be followed.

"Announcement!" Zhu Jiusi gritted his teeth and commanded.

Anomalies were what felt wrong; since he hadn't bothered to hide anything earlier, failing to issue an announcement for this law would only invite suspicion.

The Path Seekers from the previous round had already begun to sense something.

Journey Survival actually had two official faces. One was the pure rules, and the other was an organization similar to NPCs.

Under normal circumstances, the two were one and the same, but at times, they were quite different.

Perhaps it was something like—Heavenly Dao and the Heavenly Court?

Heavenly Punishment, Lightning Tribulations, and the Laws were matters of the rule system. Management and punishment were the business of that mysterious organization.

The Scroll shook, emitting a brilliant light as flowers rained from the sky.

[Myriad World Announcement: In the 66th District of the Immortal Seeking Domain, Path Seeker "Master of Cloud Stack Cave" has deduced the fifth law and received the announcement reward. May all Path Seekers continue to strive!]

[Law Five: The long night is endless and the demons are boundless; your Nest and your vehicle are the foundation of your survival.]

Following the two consecutive announcements, the emotions of the crowd, which had just begun to settle, erupted once more.

Squatting Grass and the others: "Holy crap! It's the Master of Cloud Stack Cave big shot again?"

Beaver Does Not Drink: "I missed out on a fortune!! I was right on the vehicle, and I was wondering why that tiger wasn't attacking me!!"

"If only I could have been faster!!"

They had seen Zhu Jiusi summarize the laws a few days ago, and whenever they discovered something unusual these days, they would immediately treat it as a law summary and post it to the chat area. Yet, this time, they were too late!

He wasn't the only one feeling regret; the chat area was currently filled with exclamation marks, interspersed with words of gratitude toward Zhu Jiusi.

Of course, there were also those on the verge of a breakdown.

Sparrow: "My bird's nest was just smashed by hail, and I haven't fixed it yet! It can't block the monsters!"

He sent a voice message, and everyone could hear his despair.

Orchid Pavilion Scholar: "Weakling, you're a bird!"

If you're a bird, you can fly; what are you afraid of?

Sparrow sent a live stream. In the dense forest, an owl was being chased by another owl, unable to escape anywhere.

He was a bird, but the other was a native bird. Moreover, its feathers shimmered with a metallic luster; as it swooped past, tree branches as thick as an arm were severed by its wings.

Orchid Pavilion Scholar: "My condolences!"

Several people sent their condolences simultaneously—not as a joke. Having grown accustomed to life and death over the past few days, they knew this bird was a dead man walking.

Sparrow was beyond tears. But fortunately, heaven never leaves a man without a way out.

Sword Seven Doesn't Learn Sword: "Don't run, I've locked onto your position. I want this bird!"

The next moment, the landscape in the live stream changed; on one side was a forest, and on the other, a grassland.

A woman who looked as if she had just been unsealed from ice appeared abruptly. She swung her sword, and the owl chasing Sparrow was cleaved out of the air.

As it hit the ground and tried to jump up, the woman pulled a birdcage from her pack and trapped it inside. No matter how the owl struggled, it couldn't get out.

It was her!

Zhu Jiusi's eyes lit up. So her name was Sword Seven Doesn't Learn Sword!

Zhu Jiusi had only just encountered Sword Seven Doesn't Learn Sword a few days ago; she had traded three sanitary pads for a Dao Discussion Card.

He had seen her in his previous life as well.

In the last round, this woman had been extremely famous. But only her nickname was widely known—Sword Fairy!

Only today did he finally connect the person to the title.

Before entering Journey Survival, this woman had been a top-tier genius of ancient martial sword techniques, and after entering, she had obtained an even higher-grade sword inheritance.

She was formidable!

This was the assessment from Water Monarch. Even Water Monarch, who possessed the Kan Trigram, was wary of her; one could imagine the extent of this woman's talent.

Journey Survival never lacked strong individuals; the wild boar still needed to work hard!

Zhu Jiusi curbed his pride and impatience, looking back at the Scroll.

The announcement reward had already been settled.

Metal ×125, Stone ×125, Wood ×125, Drinking Water ×5.

It was the same as the reward for the initial Irreversibility announcement.

The basic materials for the third round of upgrades were almost collected, and Zhu Jiusi was quite satisfied.

Just as he put away the Scroll and prepared to face the Green-Hat Zombie in front of him head-on, the Scroll popped out on its own again.

A light flashed across the Scroll, and a line of text appeared.

"Hereby, the Path Seeker is tasked with discerning two major laws within seven days. By the authority of the Heavenly Law, you are granted the position of Law Enforcement Inspector. You are commanded to patrol on behalf of Heaven, impeach the unlawful, and are permitted to report directly to the Heavenly Ears!"

As Zhu Jiusi stood there in astonishment, a new button appeared on his Scroll.

[Submit Memorial]

He now possessed the authority to submit memorials directly to Journey Survival to report illegal activities!

Zhu Jiusi's pig-like eyes lit up instantly.

A position!

Journey Survival featured numerous roles: Physician, Apothecary, Catcher, Judge...

Law Enforcement Inspector was likely akin to a "Censor" or a member of the "Brocade Guard."

It seemed useless for now, but in truth, Journey Survival contained a vast array of indigenous species.

For instance, NPCs within the secret realm instances, NPCs who chose the "Divine" path, or even the Moon that had appeared earlier.

They were the managers and servants of Journey Survival, yet they were also individual entities—though the Moon was a point of contention; even Zhu Jiusi wasn't sure if that thing counted as an individual.

If they were individuals, they could have selfish motives, and with selfish motives, they would inevitably violate the laws.

The Heavenly Tribulation did not descend in every situation. That was when the Law Enforcement Inspector had to step in.

Report the rumors, reach the Heavenly Ears. The rest would be handled by Journey Survival.

Brilliant!

The only problem was—a Law Enforcement Inspector had to know all the laws before they could conduct inspections.

But Journey Survival had only granted the position without providing the laws!

Did he have to summarize them one by one himself?

Was that why he had to summarize two major laws within seven days just to earn this position?

If that were the case—perhaps he should try reporting the Moon first.

The seven-day novice protection period was an ironclad rule, yet it had been broken today.

Just as Zhu Jiusi was deep in thought, everyone's Scrolls lit up simultaneously.

The Moon appeared again, acting smug, its voice filled with feigned regret: "Tsk, tsk, tsk, having too much talent in a jurisdiction is not always a good thing, Path Seekers!"

"It took so much effort to help you apply for the cancellation of the seven-day protection, just to let you adapt to the rhythm of the monsters, so you wouldn't die in droves when the secret realm instance opened at dawn. What a pity that someone discovered the function of the nests and vehicles."

"So then—the novice protection period continues! Young Path Seekers! Are you ready to die heroically in the first instance of Journey Survival? I have high hopes for you!"

As soon as it finished speaking, it vanished instantly, and a countdown appeared in the top right corner of the Scroll.

Graveyard Riot: 09:32:17

Zhu Jiusi watched the disappearing Moon, feeling that the creature had fled in a panic.

"Law Enforcement Inspector?" Zhu Jiusi chuckled.

The Moon was likely not a living being; countless people had studied it for three full years in the previous round, and if it were alive, they would have discovered it long ago.

The Moon was an existence similar to a system sprite. Devoid of emotion, yet it actually knew how to seek advantages and avoid harm?

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned his gaze to the countdown on the Scroll.

Indeed, this time was different from the last.

The first instance last time was the Ghost Forest, a secret realm similar to the Lanruo Temple.

This time, it had become a Graveyard Riot.

A corpse riot meant a zombie-themed instance. No wonder he had seen zombies several times today.

Zhu Jiusi looked outside his nest. The Moon had retreated, and the novice protection period had returned. The zombies that had been opposing him were already hissing as they retreated into the fog.

Zhu Jiusi stood in his nest, struggling to recall information about this instance.

He had experienced four or five instances named Graveyard Riot, but few were suitable for the early stages of Journey Survival.

These types of instances were all much the same—kill!

The instances were filled with zombies and walking corpses; the more you killed, the more points you earned, with rewards based on your final ranking.

Of course, there were penalties for low rankings, usually involving the deduction of supplies.

In the early stages of Journey Survival, having supplies deducted was no different from being killed.

The Scroll was buzzing with heated discussion. Some were debating the novice protection period and the difficulty of future survival, while others were speculating about what tomorrow's instance might be.

Many people @-ed Zhu Jiusi, but he did not respond. Instead, he took out his crude telescope and looked into the distance again.

Journey Survival had a characteristic: no information was ever laid out clearly. If the secret realm was the next day, then most of what was experienced the day before would be related to it.

If he could scout it out clearly, he might gain a two-point advantage.

Zhu Jiusi packed up his nest and set out on the road for one last night journey.

As he walked, he would occasionally set up his crude telescope to check the situation ahead.

Unfortunately, after walking all night, he found nothing but a few gourds.

Just as dawn was about to break, a hazy structure appeared in the telescope.

A Mountain God Temple!