Crude Clairvoyant

I, Path Seeker "Orchid Pavilion Scholar."

A billion regrets. I want to kill someone!

Orchid Pavilion Scholar stared murderously at the cleaver he'd gotten from the Wood Gourd.

Just then, he saw the other Path Seekers' information on the Scroll, and the corners of his mouth lifted.

Here's someone I can take my anger out on!

Heart Without Darkness: "@Master of Cloud Stack Cave, how did you get the Silver Gourd? What's inside? If there are resources, could you share them with everyone?"

Heart Without Darkness posted a heartfelt emoji. "No one knows why we've entered Journey Survival, and there are probably plenty of dangers here. I suggest we share resources and information, and band together to survive..."

His words made the Scroll fall silent.

Orchid Pavilion Scholar bared his teeth in a grin. "Can you share your wife with us?"

Heart Without Darkness: "? Why are you insulting me? We don't know where we are. Isn't it only right that we band together for warmth?"

Orchid Pavilion Scholar: "Band together with your grandpa! You're just jealous of someone else's Silver Gourd and want his stuff, aren't you? Why are you acting like you're standing on the moral high ground? Aren't you afraid you'll fall to your death?!"

Heart Without Darkness: "Why be so dark-hearted? We're in an unfamiliar place. Isn't it only right to band together?"

Orchid Pavilion Scholar laughed and poked at the Scroll to send a voice message. "My cart's too crappy to go fast. Take some parts off your cart and band together with me!"

Heart Without Darkness stopped talking.

This guy's Dao name was Scholar, but he was a Blockhead who snapped at anyone he saw. Better not to engage with him!

He turned and opened a private chat with Master of Cloud Stack Cave. "Friend, could you share what's inside the Silver Gourd? I've opened a Gourd too. If you need anything, we could set up a shared storage vault and keep whatever we find inside, then use it together."

After typing the message, he discovered he'd been blocked. It wouldn't send at all.

Heart Without Darkness gaped. What the hell? So selfish!

He angrily put away the Scroll and lashed the camel, making it take a few faster steps.

Since this was a survival challenge where they had to travel every day, the first to complete the task should get a reward, right?

Whap! Whap!

He cracked the whip twice more.

Would the first person to finish the task get a better Gourd as a reward?

Where had Master of Cloud Stack Cave gotten that Silver Gourd? Why had he only found Wood Gourds?

Zhu Jiusi had added seven or eight people to his blacklist in a row. They were all freeloaders who stood on the moral high ground, demanding that he share his things.

Every one of them was a bleeding heart, saying things like, "It doesn't matter whether you give it to me; give it to someone who needs it..."

"Let's band together for warmth. We have to think of the greater good..."

Sorry, you're not part of my greater good, and I'm not part of yours.

People like this were everywhere early on, especially after the seven-day protection period ended. The pressure to survive suddenly mounted, but people still clung to their old moral values.

So plenty of people played the bleeding heart from the moral high ground. Who knew how many had swallowed their anger and taken a loss?

After a while, once two or three batches had died, that would take care of it. Whether they were genuine do-gooders or fakes, they'd all vanish without a trace.

Zhu Jiusi shook out his body and continued trotting along, his hooves clopping against the ground. As he ran, he kept sniffing.

After turning into a Mountain Boar, his eyesight was only so-so. But his sense of smell was truly amazing. One deep breath, and he could smell everything beneath the soil in the woods on either side.

He trotted along while watching the Scroll.

They'd only just entered Journey Survival, and most people still didn't know what was going on. The danger hadn't really sunk in for a bunch of them yet.

Some were even so excited they could barely contain themselves, convinced they were destined for greatness.

Smelling the Rose: "I've become a tiger. Anyone want to fight? I want to test my skills!"

Monkey Has Iron Rod: "Looking for a doctor! It's really broken! These two horses are so rough pulling the cart that even one bump hurts like hell."

His cart actually had two horses!

Heals Stomach Not Body: "No doctor here, but I'm a cook!"

White Beard's Fist: "A cook? Then do you have any food? I'm defending my title in the Hunger Endurance Championship, and then this happened..."

The Scroll fell silent at once.

Now this was a truly pitiful kid. He'd been in Journey Survival for almost two hours. Anyone who was going to get hungry was hungry by now.

Heals Stomach Not Body: "I've only got a kitchen knife."

White Beard's Fist: "Please, I need food! I can trade!"

He sent a message with a picture of a monocular telescope.

"Crude Clairvoyant. Viewing range: three li. Can roughly see the appearance of objects over five chi in size."

Everyone: "..."

Was there really any difference between having this telescope and not having it?

You could see things three li away just fine without it!

After more than two hours, everyone had realized just how important food was here. No one was going to trade food for a thing like that.

Monkey Has Iron Rod: "Looking for a doctor!"

Zhu Jiusi's eyes lit up. He opened a private chat with White Beard's Fist and sent a picture of a steamed bun.

"Two steamed buns for the Crude Clairvoyant. Deal?"

White Beard's Fist: "It's the big shot Cave Master! Deal, deal!"

He was starving. He'd trade it for two steamed buns, or even half of one. This thing was useless to carry around!

As he replied, the Scroll had already prompted them to trade, and the telescope's picture was flashing.

Zhu Jiusi put two steamed buns in and confirmed the trade.

With a bright ding, the Crude Clairvoyant dropped down.

This was a good thing. After suddenly turning into a Mountain Boar, his eyesight had worsened a lot. He couldn't make out things even thirty meters away, and he was very unused to it!

The telescope made by Journey Survival could make up for poor eyesight. It said you could see large objects within three li, and you could—your own limitations as a Mountain Boar wouldn't affect it.

Even a blind person could see things through the telescope.

And Journey Survival had plenty of hidden places that required special equipment to find.

The telescope was one such piece of equipment. Later, finely crafted telescopes would cost a terrifying amount.

The only problem was that he didn't have hands right now, so using the telescope would be incredibly awkward.

Choosing Demon Cultivator meant becoming a real beast. To regain human form, he'd need both his body and his life force to break through two hundred and condense a demon core. Only then would he have a chance.

Zhu Jiusi put the Crude Clairvoyant in his backpack and casually browsed the Scroll as he continued trotting ahead.

He was getting better and better at controlling his body. After all, he was still walking on solid ground, not a bird that had to learn how to fly from scratch.

Even bird cultivators didn't have it too bad. There was someone even more unlucky in the chat.

Rain Seeker: "Big shots, did anyone choose Demon Cultivator? I turned into a fish. What am I supposed to do?"

"I chose a pond at the start, and now I'm stuck in this little pond! I saw on the Scroll that we have to travel fifty li today. How am I supposed to go?"

White Beard's Fist: "Thanks, big shot Cave Master. These steamed buns are delicious! About the... Demon Cultivator, can't you fly?"

Three seconds of sympathy.

Zhu Jiusi was silent for a moment, but still replied in the chat: "Jump out of the pond and flop forward! It's called Journey Survival, so if it's survival, they can't have left you without any way to live. Maybe the Gourd has exactly what you need."

He wasn't just making that up. It was a rule he'd worked out last time. Journey Survival wouldn't leave you without the slightest chance to survive. It just depended on whether you could seize the opportunity and whether you were willing to risk your life.

Rain Seeker: "Big shot, if I jump out, there's no water. Won't I suffocate to death?... Huh? I really won't!"

On a narrow path, a huge carp flopped and bounced along with a loud ga-ga.