Rule Rewards

This person had opened a Silver Gourd. That was the item he had been obsessing over.

Heart Without Darkness wanted to tap on the avatar of the Master of Cloud Stack Cave, but then he shook his head.

Must not be too obvious!

"@Orchid Pavilion Scholar: You've opened quite a few steamed buns, right? Lend them to the friends who are weak from hunger first, so they have the strength to keep moving."

"@Monkey Has Iron Rod, I remember you opened three Primary Healing Potions. Share one with Sparrow first so he can heal his wounds."

"@Master of Cloud Stack Cave, make the items you opened from your Silver Gourd public. If you can save everyone's life, everyone will owe you a favor!"

He issued instructions one by one. Throughout the day, many people had shown off what they had opened in the group chat, and he had actually remembered every single one of them.

Most of those he tagged didn't respond. Right now, aside from basic supplies, what item wasn't a lifesaver?

If they gave it away today, what would they do if they needed it tomorrow?

However, there were also honest people who actually began to trade.

Heart Without Darkness: "@Orchid Pavilion Scholar, you opened a few bottles of water, right? Share those too!"

Orchid Pavilion Scholar: "Idiot!"

Heart Without Darkness: "? It's not like I'm asking for them for free; you'd be saving a life!"

Orchid Pavilion Scholar: "Idiot! The Scroll warned us long ago that failing the task would result in a Heavenly Tribulation. Even a carp can flop its way to the finish line, yet you lot didn't keep moving. Now that you're in a rush, you want to leech off others? You deserve to die!"

Heart Without Darkness: "We all entered together and are surviving together. We should be united and help each other!"

Truly, people only preach about what they lack; those who lack character love to call themselves scholars.

Ignoring the Orchid Pavilion Scholar, he tagged Zhu Jiusi instead.

Since the Master of Cloud Stack Cave had already blocked him, he was even less afraid of offending him.

"@Master of Cloud Stack Cave, don't hoard things now. Share the life-saving items with everyone. Consider it a favor I owe you; I will surely repay it in the future!"

Zhu Jiusi: "?"

Master of Cloud Stack Cave: [A video of lightning and thunder.]

Zhu Jiusi was different from the others who hadn't finished the task; he had turned back, and his Heavenly Tribulation looked far more ferocious than anyone else's, as if it were about to strike him dead the very next moment.

Master of Cloud Stack Cave: "Do you want to share the Heavenly Tribulation with me? I have no objections!"

"Also: items opened from gourds come in sets of 5. @Heart Without Darkness, you don't even have 5 units of metal or stone. Did you upgrade your vehicle? Share how you upgraded it so everyone can get through this crisis together!"

What a sanctimonious hypocrite!

This person wasn't stupid; he was just purely malicious. He hid his own items while trying to stand on the moral high ground to make others share their supplies.

Except for special items, ordinary items appeared in sets of five. He had only displayed two stones and one piece of metal—wasn't that just because he was afraid people would ask for them?!

On the rugged path, Heart Without Darkness had been directing and commanding with great flair, but upon seeing Zhu Jiusi's words, his expression froze bit by bit.

...Sets of 5?

Before he could speak, someone in the chat area had already started.

"Has Boss Darkness already upgraded his vehicle? Share how you upgraded it! Mine is just a shoulder pole; I can't move at all. Even upgrading it to a wheelbarrow would be better!"

Journey Survival was heavily biased. Some had ox carts, some rode donkeys, and some even had a carriage pulled by two horses. Yet he only had a shoulder pole!

He wasn't the only one; the moment Zhu Jiusi spoke, the entire chat area was instantly flooded.

"Boss Darkness, save us!"

"Please share!"

"Let's help each other survive!"

The words he had used from the moral high ground were now turning around and rushing back at him.

After a long while, Heart Without Darkness finally replied: "@Master of Cloud Stack Cave, don't talk nonsense! Who said all supplies from the gourds come in sets of 5? Haven't you seen that many people who posted theirs didn't have five?"

"@Monkey Has Iron Rod, @Rain Seeker, aren't your pills and protective talismans not in sets of five? Speak up."

Monkey Has Iron Rod: "They were five. I ate two myself, so only three were shown."

Rain Seeker: "They were five. I also used a talisman, so the quantity shown was insufficient. Otherwise, how would the fish tail have become a skateboard?"

The chat room went silent for a split second, and then someone spoke up.

Orchid Pavilion Scholar: "You piece of trash! Tricking others into sharing resources while hiding your own stuff. You don't even dare to show your basic materials."

In this day and age, who was truly a fool? In an instant, who didn't understand what was going on?

Suddenly, the screen was filled with curses.

On the jagged, rocky path, Heart Without Darkness stared at the Scroll without saying a word, his teeth grinding together audibly.

Watching the screen full of insults, he snorted coldly: A bunch of idiots! That guy opened a Silver Gourd right at the start; everyone else has fallen behind on progress. If you can't catch up, you should be thinking about how to pull him down! You deserve to fail to reach the end, you deserve to die!

Orchid Pavilion Scholar: "Grandson, now that you've been exposed, you've got nothing to say? If you can't speak, can't you at least fart? Say something!"

Heart Without Darkness simply put away the Scroll, out of sight and out of mind.

With a cold snort, he opened a Bronze Gourd. This was the reward for being the first to finish today's mileage.

But why was there no server-wide announcement?

He opened the gourd and immediately jumped up, cursing, "Why are there only basic supplies?"

It was more than the Wooden Gourd—the Wooden Gourd gave 5x basic supplies, while the Bronze Gourd gave 25x.

But that was useless!

That Silver Gourd must be extraordinary; the lightning of the Master of Cloud Stack Cave was different from the rest, and it must be related to his gourd!

Zhu Jiusi diverted the spearhead, put away the Scroll, and bolted.

Thunder roared and lightning flashed in the sky, with bolts of lightning striking down on both sides.

A normal person's mileage warning consisted of ordinary lightning, but Zhu Jiusi had gone against the flow; his warning carried black lightning, appearing like a Heavenly Tribulation, with thunder falling like rain.

He ran for 50 miles, but the lightning above his head remained. It felt as if it could strike down at any moment.

That was more like it!

Journey Survival did not allow backtracking; one had to run ten times the distance of any backtracking. This was the most important rule of Journey Survival, aside from the original three.

It was also the rule that, once summarized, yielded the most generous rewards.

Crack!

The Mountain Boar charged through the rain of lightning, bracing against a bolt of thunder.

As long as the time had not expired, the thunder would not truly strike the Path Seeker. It only served as a warning and a prod.

With one final dash, the dark clouds across the sky instantly dispersed.

Zhu Jiusi panted heavily, collapsing by the side of the road, his flesh and blood trembling all over.

He had poured every ounce of his strength into these twenty miles.

His entire body felt feverish yet he could not sweat, as if a furnace had been lit inside him.

He felt a strong urge to go roll in a mud pit.

This was the instinct of a boar.

But he had no time to dwell on it; after a few gasps, he immediately unfolded the Scroll.

The number of people on the Scroll had suddenly dropped to 9823.

Just at the moment the sun set, those who failed to complete their daily mileage had already perished under the Heavenly Tribulation.

Messages in the chat lobby scrolled upward incessantly.

The previous arguments had all vanished. Everyone was terrified by the sudden decrease in numbers.

Zhu Jiusi's heart stirred, and he posted a message in the chat lobby.

Master of Cloud Stack Cave: "Do not take the path back! Do not take the path back; any path you backtrack must be walked ten times over. Otherwise, the power of the Heavenly Tribulation will double! The black lightning is a Heavenly Tribulation, it is a punishment!"

This rule now belonged to him!