Number One

There was nothing on the memorial scroll except an image.

A bolt of heavenly punishment struck, and three figures turned to ashes.

Five minutes earlier, in the Ghost Wood Secret Realm, District 33 of the Immortal Seeking Domain.

A massive tree pulled its roots from the ground and carried three people forward.

An old man and a pair of Black and White Impermanence.

Black Impermanence looked puzzled. "Team Leader, that pig isn't weak. Why not look for other powerful people, instead of repeatedly seeking out these sinister figures? And from other districts, too."

The old man glanced at him. "You're new, aren't you? Here's a bit of advice: watch more and talk less in the Enforcement Hall!"

He fell silent for a moment. Then, feeling it was his duty to educate his subordinate before the man got himself killed without even realizing he'd been set up, he continued.

"Powerful people value their lives. You can't just egg them on and expect them to risk their lives fighting someone else. But these sinister Path Seekers are different. Even if it hurts them without doing them any good, they'll still do it.

"And they'll pull out every trick in the book. You never know when one of them might land a devastating blow on that pig!"

Black Impermanence still looked puzzled. "Then why target District 33?"

"Because once the Secret Realm ends, District 33 will merge with District 66," White Impermanence replied, his face expressionless.

Black Impermanence opened his mouth. He had only just become an Enforcer and didn't understand the ins and outs. After thinking it over, he quietly asked, "Shouldn't we report this to the Enforcement Hall?"

The old man gave a mocking laugh. "Go ahead and try. See if you can report anything about the Law Enforcement Inspector."

Their status as Law Enforcement Inspectors was special. The three of them could discuss it only because they all knew. They couldn't even get the words out if they tried to tell anyone else!

That was one of the rules of Journey Survival!

"It's not that we won't report it. We've sent several groups after that pig for no reason. The Enforcement Hall will naturally notice. It won't be hard for them to put two and two together..."

He had only just reached that point when he suddenly looked up at the sky in horror.

A bolt of pitch-black lightning struck down from the cloudless sky.

Black Impermanence stared in shock. The other two were struck with terror at the same time.

"Heavenly punishment! How did that pig break through the veil?!" the old man cried in shock.

"Run!" The three of them fled in different directions.

But the bolt of lightning seemed to have eyes. It curved around and skewered all three of them in a row.

In an instant, it vanished, leaving only three skeletons on the ground. A gust of wind scattered them into white ash.

Zhu Jiusi watched the video of the heavenly punishment and sucked in a sharp breath.

How domineering!

He'd seen heavenly punishment strike when he went against the rules on the first day of Journey Survival. But back then, it had only been a warning; it hadn't struck him, so he hadn't truly felt its force.

Even watching it through a video today sent chills down his spine.

When the video on the scroll ended, everything fell quiet, and the memorial scroll returned to normal.

But the progress of Law Enforcement Inspector beside his status had increased by 1%. This could be upgraded, too!

Zhu Jiusi marveled at it for a moment, replied to a couple of messages in the chat, then put away the scroll, shook himself out, and set off.

There was no need to hurry during the instance. But—he was running out of food!

Zhu Jiusi hadn't found any food in the instance. Once he was back on the mountain road, he'd have to forage for himself.

It had just rained, and the roots beneath the earth released a fresh, fragrant scent along with the damp soil.

But not every root was edible. He'd eaten some that tasted great, only to spend the whole journey leaking from both ends.

Foraging for food, tending to his body, breathing in spiritual energy.

Zhu Jiusi spent two whole days this way.

A few more Path Seekers had returned from the Secret Realm.

Never underestimate the people of the world. There were always those with the skills to accomplish what others couldn't.

Before sunset on the sixth day after the Secret Realm opened, Zhu Jiusi took out his resources.

He'd come into quite a bit of extra wealth over this period.

By now, he had over four hundred of each basic material.

The Spirit Refining Primer was truly at the entry level now. He'd condensed three wisps of spiritual power and was finally on the right track.

Zhu Jiusi planned to take advantage of the fact that most Path Seekers were in the Secret Realm. Journey Survival was safe, and no one could merge paths with him, so he could push his Mountain Master progress forward.

He opened his mouth and inhaled. Each type of basic material decreased by 120.

Good. The required materials increased by ten each time, so he could still afford it.

Heat surged through his body, along with that familiar, bloated pressure. Zhu Jiusi pushed off with all four hooves and ran, his stout body twisting as he went. He timed it so that by the time the sun set, all the heat in his body had faded.

Life +1, 33

Mountain Master, Tier 1 (3%)

Zhu Jiusi liked this way of advancing as a Mountain Master. Although it took a lot out of him, leaving him exhausted every time, the progress was clear and measurable.

Cultivation realms, on the other hand, were too vague and difficult to grasp.

The next two days passed in a steady routine.

In the mornings, he foraged for food and breathed in spiritual energy. In the afternoons, he absorbed basic resources to advance his Mountain Master progress.

He still had enough basic resources for now.

His lair had already been remodeled and could be upgraded normally.

But upgrading a lair required special materials.

The first upgrade for the Pig Nest needed 1,300 of each basic material, as well as a House-Guarding Stone and Tiger Bone Glue.

He'd have to gather those two materials little by little. After leaving the beginner period, special materials wouldn't come only from Secret Realms. He could get them from monsters he encountered in his daily travels, too.

That was also why Zhu Jiusi had chosen Disaster Summoning.

Since he didn't have enough special materials, he could use his basic materials to strengthen his Mountain Master progress for now.

After two full days, Zhu Jiusi's Mountain Master progress had reached Tier 1, 6%. His Life had reached 36, and his materials were almost completely used up.

More and more people were leaving the Secret Realm. There were already seventeen of them.

But that seemed to be the limit.

Then, on the evening of August 13, the chat suddenly exploded. All the Path Seekers returned at once.

White Beard's Fist: "Holy crap! I'd just taken a job from the Changxin Marquis Mansion to find their young master. They were feeding me, and I was stuffing my face, when I got tossed back here. Now I'm going hungry again!"

This one hadn't found a single scrap of food on the road of Journey Survival.

Sparrow: "Hehe, not me. I got captured, and they'd plucked half my feathers. They were about to throw me in the pot when I got sent back."

Beaver Does Not Drink: "!!! I'd just finished digging a dam and was about to open the sluice, flood the zombie nest downstream, and then I got sent back! Give me one more night! Just one night, and I would've had enough points!"

People complained, cheered, wailed, and rejoiced at having survived...

Every Path Seeker watched as their own scroll popped into view, with the moon laughing uproariously on it.

"Young Path Seekers! Congratulations on escaping the beginner instance alive. Was it exciting? Was it thrilling?"

Everyone: "..."

The moon reassured them, "Don't worry, you won't have many instances like this in the future—Journey Survival isn't a charity. How could the instances possibly stay this easy and gentle?"

Then it planted its hands on its hips and laughed. At some point, the thing had grown arms—long, spindly ones, like a reaction image.

"Come on, come on! The instance is over, so now it's time for everyone's favorite part: the results. Did you do badly and don't dare look at the leaderboard? Well, that won't do!"

As it spoke, the entire scroll turned into a huge leaderboard.

First place: Master of Cloud Stack Cave. Rewards: Life Stone ×7, Spirit Refining Primer, Treatise on Cloud-Resting Consciousness Refinement.

The rewards on the leaderboard were based on what they had when they left the Secret Realm, not on everything they'd obtained inside it.

Second place: Sword Seven Doesn't Learn Sword. Rewards: Soul Jade ×5, Falling Wood Sword

Third place: Monkey Has an Iron Rod. Rewards: Soul Jade ×5, Brook-Facing Stone ×1, Mustard Seed Stone ×1.

Fourth place: White Beard's Fist...

Fifth place...

Before the leaderboard had even finished appearing, the chat was already in an uproar.

No one had a problem with Master of Cloud Stack Cave taking first place, but two cultivation manuals?

Over two thousand points?!

Had they really all been in the same Secret Realm instance?

Was this rigged?!