The hall's chat refreshed at lightning speed.
Quite a few people were discussing Zhu Jiusi's "sliver of hope" theory.
A moment later, someone posted an incredibly boastful picture.
"Basic Healing Pill ×3. Can treat non-skill injuries. The more severe the injury, the more pills consumed. Useless for fatal wounds."
Monkey Has Iron Rod: "@Master of Cloud Stack Cave, you called it, boss! There really is a sliver of hope!"
Then came a short video of him twisting his waist and swinging his hips, like a tyrant snatching a bride.
Monkey Has Iron Rod: "I'm all better! I can jump and run! Little Auntie, where are you? Let's pick up where we left off!"
These people were impressive. They'd barely arrived, and they'd already learned how to record videos with the Scroll.
Zhu Jiusi had also gotten used to his body and could run faster now.
As he ran, he suddenly turned and headed for the roadside.
Another gourd vine.
His eyesight was terrible. He couldn't make out the vine until he was sixteen or seventeen meters away.
He plucked the gourd with his mouth, then stepped on it and pulled out the stopper, all in one smooth motion.
A little snake wriggled out and bit the Mountain Boar's hoof. Its fangs snapped, and it looked up at Zhu Jiusi in a daze. Then it twisted around and escaped beneath the Wild Boar's belly.
The mist inside the gourd had finished spraying out.
Mung Bean Cake ×5
Good stuff!
Any gourd that could produce food was a good gourd. It would be even better if one could produce drinking water!
Zhu Jiusi put away the Mung Bean Cake and the gourd.
The gourd was useful too. Once opened, it lost its spatial properties and could no longer hold large objects.
But if he came across a pond or a puddle, he could use it to carry water.
There was also a forked branch by the gourd vine: two parallel Y-shaped forks growing from a single branch, at just the right height.
Zhu Jiusi put on the Crude Clairvoyant with his mouth, then pressed one pig's eye to it and looked ahead.
His view suddenly stretched out. He could see a blurry stretch of the path three li ahead, but there was nothing unusual.
He really wasn't lucky. There was no way he'd find a hidden location right at the start.
Zhu Jiusi bit through the forked branch with a crunch, tucked it into his pack, and kept jogging.
The top-left corner of the Scroll displayed his mileage for the day. He'd already run eleven li, and still had thirty-nine li to go to complete today's task.
Zhu Jiusi also had a little plan of his own.
There was another major rule hidden in the daily mileage, and it still needed to be figured out. Last time, people hadn't worked it out until the third day.
This time, Zhu Jiusi wanted to be the first.
The rewards for discovering the rules were the real grand prize.
On the road...
...on the road!
Along a narrow path, a Wild Boar trotted along, its hooves clattering.
It didn't keep its head down and hurry onward. Every so often, it would run into the woods at the roadside, rooting up the earth to dig out roots and tubers.
Sometimes it crunched them up on the spot. Other times, it carefully stored them away.
Now and then, it would spot a gourd, excitement mingling with wariness.
In the last round, who knew how many people had already found their footing in Journey Survival, only to die beneath a gourd after letting their guard down?
A gourd could contain anything—even a whole nest of wasps. You never knew what might be waiting inside.
By the end, quite a few people had even grown afraid to open gourds.
Zhu Jiusi jogged, paused, searched, and continued west.
The sun sank in the west, and evening fell.
The top-right corner of the Scroll showed the time until sunset and the day's mileage.
In Journey Survival, sunset meant darkness. Darkness meant danger.
You had to complete the day's mileage before nightfall. Otherwise, the Heaven's Tribulation would descend, and survival would be impossible.
Once the seven-day beginner protection period ended, monsters would attack at night too.
Humans had vehicles, while demons had lairs. Staying near a vehicle or lair was the only way to be safe.
Zhu Jiusi glanced at the Scroll.
Sunset: 1:41:32
Distance: 48
Sunset was less than two hours away, and he still had two li left to travel today.
Zhu Jiusi slowly came to a stop.
Most of Journey Survival's top experts had gained incredible opportunities early on.
Those hidden caves and heavenly treasures depended too much on luck. Zhu Jiusi didn't expect any of them to appear along his path.
But he was determined to claim the reward for being the first to summarize Journey Survival's rules.
The rewards for summarizing the rules were generous, but guessing wouldn't earn them. Even if you guessed correctly, you still wouldn't get a reward.
You had to experience a rule for yourself and then sum it up!
Journey Survival had only just begun. There was only one rule that could be summarized so far: Great Path No Regrets!
In Journey Survival, you couldn't retrace your steps. If you went back along a path you'd already traveled, you had to cover that distance ten times over to make up for it. Otherwise, the Heaven's Tribulation would descend, and death was certain.
Zhu Jiusi planned to summarize this rule at just the right moment.
He continued forward. When he was just about to reach the day's mileage, he suddenly seemed to remember something, turned around, and jogged back two li.
Beneath a large tree, he rooted around for a while and dug up two knobby tubers. Only then did he happily put them in his pack.
Just then, thunder suddenly roared across the sky.
Crack!
A bolt of lightning struck three zhang away from Zhu Jiusi.
The Scroll unfurled:
[Path Seeker, the sun is about to set. Please complete today's journey at once. Otherwise, the Heaven's Tribulation will be upon you, and your life will be in danger.]
After the message flashed across the Scroll, it returned to the chatroom.
Rain Seeker: "Everyone... I got struck by lightning!"
"+1"
"+1"
"..."
Sparrow: "Aaaah! I still have thirty li to go, but I just learned how to fly! Now my wing's broken! What do I do?!"
Rain Seeker: "I'm jealous you've got wings. I've been bouncing along the whole way."
Then someone posted a video. A fish lay with half its body on a strange Skateboard. It slapped its tail, and the board shot forward.
But the mileage shown in the top-right corner said it only had four li left to go.
Sparrow: "Don't be jealous, help me! I'm bouncing right now! How am I supposed to bounce thirty li in an hour? My wing's broken too..."
Goji: "What happens if we don't finish fifty li? Do we have to make up double tomorrow?"
Jujube: "That wouldn't be a problem. I'll learn to fly today, so covering a longer distance tomorrow should be fine."
"Or do we have to travel through the night?"
Quite a few people relaxed when they saw the messages on the Scroll.
Zhu Jiusi had turned back two li, timed his turn, and was now jogging west again. He saw the discussion on the Scroll, thought it over, then decided to warn them.
Master of Cloud Stack Cave: "You'll probably die!"
"Look at the number in the top-left corner. There were 12,000 people in District 66 when we arrived this morning. More than two hundred have already died. Journey Survival probably isn't joking around."
As soon as Zhu Jiusi spoke, the entire chat hall fell silent. After a long pause, rows of ellipses appeared.
Only then did quite a few people notice that the Scroll also displayed the number of people in their district in real time.
Sparrow: "...Holy crap! It's true! I added a crab as a friend this morning, and its avatar's gone dark. It says it's dead!"
Jujube: "...Fly! I'll fly! I don't care if I break both wings today. I'm getting my fifty li in!"
"..."
Sparrow: "Help me, help me! My wing really is broken. I can't fly fifty li!"
In an instant, everyone panicked.
Heart Without Darkness: "Everyone! At a time like this, don't hold back. Let's join hands and get through this crisis together. Whatever supplies you have, bring them out! I'll start. I have two pieces of stone and one piece of metal."
As soon as he spoke, quite a few people immediately followed suit.
Some voiced their support, while others listed the materials they had.
On a desert path, Heart Without Darkness sat atop a camel, looking pleased.
He'd gotten everyone moving, just like that.
He looked at the Scroll, his gaze settling on Master of Cloud Stack Cave's avatar.
Before you continue