He'd Grown a Brain

A wave of bliss washed over him.

Zhu Jiusi felt as if he were soaking in a cool stream on a scorching summer day.

Even his pig's head suddenly felt clear.

Basking in the refreshing sensation, Zhu Jiusi closed his eyes and slowly drifted off.

This time, he fell asleep surprisingly fast.

All night long, he even felt a pair of icy little hands massaging his temples.

And from inside his mind came a steady stream of crackling, popping sounds, as if he were growing a brain.

He slept wonderfully that night. The sunlight piercing into his nest woke him.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a notification flashing on the Scroll.

Essence +2

Zhu Jiusi was overjoyed. He felt refreshed and clear-headed. His essence was back, and his clever intellect had reclaimed the high ground.

Essence didn't mean intelligence. It was a measure of the soul, the spirit, and one's inner cultivation. High essence didn't guarantee cleverness, but low essence meant you were bound to be dull-witted.

And Moon Essence Dew wasn't a one-time boost. It increased essence for a while.

Though the first dose had the strongest effect.

This bottle might not get his essence past 10, but the next one almost certainly would.

Sure enough, Journey Survival was all about the snowball effect. A quick start made everything faster: the stronger you were, the faster you leveled up, and the faster you leveled up, the stronger you became!

In high spirits, Zhu Jiusi hopped out of his nest and let out a long howl toward the depths of the mountain road.

"Ee-ee-ee—" The shrill, piercing cry sounded like a pig being slaughtered.

After he'd howled to his heart's content and breathed out the stale air, Zhu Jiusi took a deep breath and began his cultivation for the day.

He couldn't afford to neglect his cultivation for even a moment.

In Journey Survival, the advancement of vehicles and nests had to match the Path Seeker's own cultivation. All were equally important.

Those three Enforcers had played little tricks. They'd given him the manual, sure, but not a word of its accompanying introduction.

Not a word about the realms, precautions, or advice for breaking through bottlenecks.

Normally, all that came with a manual.

But Zhu Jiusi didn't need it. He'd memorized it all by heart in his previous life.

He'd survived three years in Journey Survival in his previous run. He'd just entered the Third Realm when he died in a Secret Realm and started over.

For cultivation in Journey Survival, Path Seekers had borrowed all sorts of names from online novels for the First Realm: Qi Refining, Body Tempering, Mortal Shedding...

They all meant roughly the same thing. In this realm, signs of being different from ordinary people gradually began to emerge.

The first step was to breathe in spiritual energy and turn it into spiritual power. With enough cultivation, you could quickly learn to control it.

Used to attack, it made your strikes more lethal. Used to defend, it made you tougher. You could even channel it into your four hooves when traveling.

But this required a strong will.

With insufficient essence, you could only accumulate spiritual power the old-fashioned way. If you couldn't control it with precision, you had to make up for it with quantity.

Once you had enough, and your whole body was filled with spiritual power, you could control it however you liked.

With his essence up by 2, Zhu Jiusi got carried away and tried guiding spiritual power into his limbs.

Then he realized he really was a pig, through and through, and had no business entertaining such impractical ideas.

He breathed in spiritual energy, ate some roots, and set off.

Today's distance wasn't 50 li anymore. It had become 65. The Scroll's chat channel was already full of wailing.

As Zhu Jiusi trotted along, he spotted something silvery glinting by the roadside.

A Silver Gourd!

Long time no see.

Now that the newbie protection period was over, Silver Gourds, Golden Gourds, and even more advanced gourds could all turn up.

The intensity of the battles was going to skyrocket, too.

Zhu Jiusi bounced around to make sure he was fine. Then he plucked the Silver Gourd, pinned it beneath a hoof, and pulled out the stopper with his mouth.

A cloud of mist burst out. Zhu Jiusi quickly backed away and braced himself to charge.

A wolf howled.

One, two... three wolves!

Damn it, a whole pack?

In his three years during his previous run, Zhu Jiusi had never encountered this.

He'd seen swarms of bees and ants, but since when did wolves come out of gourds in packs?

The three wolves reacted incredibly fast. As soon as they emerged, they formed a triangular formation and pounced on Zhu Jiusi.

He couldn't trick them into charging into the mist. He might manage it with one, but three working together were a different story.

Zhu Jiusi didn't waste another thought. He planted all four hooves and charged headlong at one wolf.

If he landed that hit squarely, the wolf would be dead—or at least crippled.

But the charging pack refused to meet him head-on. Their movements changed in an instant, and they kicked up a cloud of dust as they sprang aside.

Yet the moment they dodged the wild boar's charge, they wheeled around and attacked Zhu Jiusi from behind.

Zhu Jiusi's charge missed, sending him surging forward. When he caught the stench behind him, his pig's rump clenched. Could that pack have hound blood in them?

He lowered his tail to shield his vulnerable parts. The wolf wouldn't let up, though, and sank its teeth into the base of his tail.

That was the only place on Zhu Jiusi's entire body not protected by mud.

With his tail caught in the wolf's jaws, Zhu Jiusi couldn't turn around. He howled, reared up on his hind legs, and slammed backward. His whole body crashed down on the wolf.

With a crack, he broke its spine.

Zhu Jiusi kicked wildly and rolled over. Before he could even get back on his feet, his tusks had already stabbed into another wolf's neck.

He heaved it up and smashed it down!

Smack!

The wolf hit the ground with a sharp crack. Its limbs twitched, then went still.

With only one wolf left, the pack had no fight left in it. It turned and ran back the way it had come. It was so fast that it vanished from Zhu Jiusi's sight in the blink of an eye.

Wild Boars had terrible eyesight, especially in daylight.

He should save up spiritual power for a few more days, then use it to nourish his eyes.

Shouldn't his eyesight be improving, since his Vitality kept increasing every day?

Zhu Jiusi shook his head and looked at the two wolves on the ground.

What a waste. He didn't have a profession, so he couldn't salvage any useful materials from them.

After a moment's thought, he tapped someone's avatar and sent a private message.

"Can you process wolves? Can they be made into food?"

Zhu Jiusi remembered that this person was a chef.

Heals Stomach Not Body: "Cave Master!"

He exclaimed in surprise, then hurriedly replied, "Sure, sure, sure. They're a lot like dogs, but there are so few materials in Journey Survival. I only brought back a few seasonings from a dungeon, and I don't have a pot, so I can only roast the meat. Wolf meat turns out pretty tough."

Those were minor issues.

Zhu Jiusi waited until both wolves were completely dead, then used a trade to send their carcasses over.

Zhu Jiusi replied, "Keep one as your fee, and send the other back to me cooked."

Heals Stomach Not Body: "You got it! Don't worry, Boss. I'll take good care of it."

"Boss, do you want the wolf pelts? I met a friend in a Secret Realm who already has a profession. He can tan leather and turn it into bedding or a little coat."

Zhu Jiusi's eyes lit up. "I want them. Sure!"

They'd been going to waste anyway. Anything he could get by putting them to use was pure profit.

Heals Stomach Not Body: "You got it!"

They agreed on how large the pelts should be. Zhu Jiusi only needed enough to line his nest; anything extra would count as payment.

A win-win!

After dealing with the wolf carcasses, Zhu Jiusi finally looked at what had emerged from the gourd.

Shaft Orientation Device.

It was used to fix the carriage shaft in place. Human Path Seekers could install it on their vehicles to keep them on the road instead of veering into the mist on either side.

Combined with a Speed Governor and a Self-Steering Device, it could even make a vehicle drive itself.

Unfortunately, Zhu Jiusi couldn't use it. He'd have to sell it later.

He had a Beast Nest, and making it drive itself would be a hassle.

He'd need to attach a soul to the Beast Nest and awaken its spirit. He wouldn't be able to do that until at least the Third Realm.

Or perhaps he could learn the art of beast-taming and tame a monster to carry him?

Zhu Jiusi suspected Sword Seven Doesn't Learn Sword already knew how to tame beasts. She'd caught an owl.

He put away the gourd and continued on. He found five gourds that day: one silver, one copper, and three wooden. Unfortunately, there was nothing inside the copper gourd but a snake, which Zhu Jiusi swallowed whole like a spicy strip.

Maybe it really was time to fatten up for winter. He could actually smell the snake's aroma.

By two in the afternoon, he'd covered the day's distance.

Zhu Jiusi didn't go any farther. Through the Crude Telescope, he saw a great river crossing the road two li ahead.

The river had cut off his route!