People Have a Thousand Faces

The chat in the main hall was refreshing at an incredible speed.

Many people were discussing the "glimmer of hope" theory proposed by Zhu Jiusi.

A moment later, someone posted an extremely arrogant image.

"Basic Healing Pill ×3, can treat non-skill injuries. The more severe the injury, the more are consumed. Useless for fatal wounds."

Monkey Has Iron Rod: "@Master of Cloud Stack Cave, the big shot is right! There really is a glimmer of hope!"

Immediately following was a short video of someone twisting their waist and hips, reminiscent of a boorish lord snatching a bride.

Monkey Has Iron Rod: "This Young Master is healed! I can jump and hop! Where are you, little auntie? Let's continue our unfinished business!"

These guys were quite impressive; they had learned how to use scrolls to record videos as soon as they arrived.

Zhu Jiusi had also adapted to his body and could run faster now.

While running, he suddenly turned and dashed to the side of the road.

Another gourd vine.

His eyesight was too poor; he had to be within sixteen or seventeen meters to see it clearly.

He plucked the gourd with his mouth, stepped on it, and pulled the stopper in one fluid motion.

A small snake wriggled out and bit down on his boar hoof, snapping its own fangs. It then looked up at Zhu Jiusi in confusion, twisted its waist, and escaped right between the wild boar's legs.

The mist inside the gourd had finished spraying.

Mung Bean Cake ×5

Good stuff!

Any gourd that could produce food was a good gourd. It would be even better if it could produce drinking water!

Zhu Jiusi stowed away the Mung Bean Cake and the gourd.

The gourd was also a useful item. Although it lost its spatial properties once opened and could no longer hold large objects, it could be used to carry water if he encountered a pond or puddle.

There was a tree fork here on the gourd vine, two parallel Y-shaped branches growing from a single limb, at just the right height.

Zhu Jiusi held the crude Clairvoyance Scope in his mouth and mounted it, pressing one pig eye against it to look ahead.

His field of vision extended instantly, allowing him to see the blurry conditions of the path for a full three miles, though unfortunately, there was nothing special to be found.

As expected, he wasn't a lucky dog; it was impossible to encounter a hidden location right at the start.

Zhu Jiusi snapped the branch off at the root with a crunch, tucked it into his inventory, and continued his light jog.

The top left corner of the scroll displayed the daily mileage. He had already run eleven miles, with thirty-nine miles left to complete today's task.

Furthermore, Zhu Jiusi had a little scheme in mind.

There was a major rule regarding daily mileage that needed to be explored; last time, it took until the third day for someone to figure it out.

This time, Zhu Jiusi wanted to be the first.

The rewards brought by exploring the rules were the real grand prizes.

Traveling...

...Traveling!

On a narrow, winding path, a wild boar trotted along with a rhythmic clip-clop.

It didn't just bury its head in the journey; from time to time, it would dash into the woods on either side, rooting through the soil to dig up tubers.

Sometimes it would crunch them down immediately, and other times it would carefully store them away.

Occasionally, it would discover a gourd, approaching with a mix of excitement and caution.

In the previous round, countless people had established a foothold in Journey Survival, only to die under a gourd due to a moment of negligence.

A gourd could contain anything, even a massive swarm of hornets, making them impossible to guard against.

Many people eventually became too afraid to open the gourds at all.

Zhu Jiusi trotted, paused, searched, and headed west.

The sun leaned to the west, and the day was drawing to a close.

The top right corner of the scroll reminded him of the sunset time and the daily mileage.

In Journey Survival, sunset meant darkness. Darkness meant danger.

One had to complete the daily mileage before dark, or the Heavenly Tribulation would descend, leaving no possibility of survival.

After the seven-day novice protection period ended, monsters would attack at night.

Humans had vehicles, and beasts had lairs. Staying near vehicles and lairs was the only way to be safe.

Zhu Jiusi glanced at the scroll.

Sunset: 1:41:32

Distance: 48

With less than two hours until sunset, he was still two miles short of today's mileage.

Zhu Jiusi slowly came to a halt.

Most top-tier experts in Journey Survival had obtained immense fortuitous encounters during the early stages.

Those hidden caves and heaven-sent treasures relied too heavily on luck; Zhu Jiusi did not dare hope for such things to appear on his path.

But the rewards for being the first to summarize the laws of Journey Survival—those he had to secure!

The rewards for summarizing laws were generous, but they could not be guessed through mere speculation. Even if one guessed correctly, there would be no reward.

Laws required personal experience and summary!

Survival had only just begun, and there was only one law suitable for summary right now: Great Path No Regrets!

In Journey Survival, one could not turn back. Any path retraced required ten times the distance to be covered again, or else a Heavenly Tribulation would descend, leaving one with zero chance of survival.

Zhu Jiusi planned to time his summary of this law perfectly.

He continued moving forward, and just as he was about to meet his daily mileage, he seemed to recall something. He turned around and jogged back two miles.

Under a large tree, he dug frantically until he unearthed two tuberous roots, which he then tucked into his pack with satisfaction.

Just then, a sudden thunderclap shook the sky.

Crack!

A bolt of lightning struck just thirty feet away from Zhu Jiusi.

A scroll unfurled:

[Path Seeker, the great sun is about to set. Please complete today's distance immediately. Otherwise, the Heavenly Tribulation will befall you, and your life will be in peril.]

After the text flashed, it transformed back into a chat room.

Rain Seeker: "Everyone... I just got struck by lightning!"

"+1"

"+1"

"..."

Sparrow: "Ahhh! I'm still thirty miles short, but I just learned how to fly! My wing broke! What do I do!!"

Rain Seeker: "I envy those with wings; I've been hopping the whole way."

A video followed. A fish was lying with half its body on a deformed skateboard; with a flick of its tail, the board lunged forward.

However, the top right corner showed he was only 4 miles short of his goal.

Sparrow: "Stop envying, help me! I'm hopping right now! How can I possibly hop thirty miles in an hour! And my wing is broken..."

Goji: "What happens if we don't finish the fifty miles? Does it double tomorrow?"

Jujube: "That wouldn't matter. I'll learn to fly today, so flying a bit more tomorrow shouldn't be a problem."

"Or do we have to pull an all-nighter to finish the distance?"

On the scroll, many people relaxed slightly.

Zhu Jiusi, having turned back two miles and timed his reversal, was now jogging westward again. Seeing the discussion on the scroll, he thought for a moment and decided to offer a reminder.

Master of Cloud Stack Cave: "You will likely die!"

"Look at the number of people in the top left corner. When we entered this morning, there were 12,000 people in District 66; now, over two hundred have already died. Journey Survival is likely not joking."

As soon as Zhu Jiusi spoke, the entire chat hall went silent, and it took a long while before rows of ellipses appeared.

Only then did many notice that the scroll was updating the number of people in the district in real-time.

Sparrow: "...Holy crap! It's true! I added a crab as a friend this morning, and his avatar has gone black, showing 'Deceased'!"

Jujube: "...Fly! I'll fly! Even if I have to break my wings, I'm going to fly those 50 miles!"

"..." Sparrow: "Save me, save me! My wing is actually broken, I can't fly 50 miles!"

In an instant, everyone grew anxious.

Heart Without Darkness: "Everyone! At a time like this, let's not hold back; let's work together to overcome this crisis. If you have any supplies, bring them out! I'll go first; I have two units of stone and one of metal."

As soon as he spoke, many immediately followed suit.

Some offered support, others reported their materials.

On a small desert path, Heart Without Darkness sat atop a camel, a look of satisfaction on his face.

Wasn't this momentum building up nicely?

He looked at the scroll, his gaze lingering on the avatar of the Master of Cloud Stack Cave.