Zhu Jiusi

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Zhu Jiusi (朱九四)
Alias(es)	Master of Cloud Stack Cave; Cave Master; Blockhead; Fiend
Species/Race	Demon Cultivator · Mountain Boar
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Journey Survival Path Seeker; District 66
Occupation/Role	Mountain Master; Law Enforcement Inspector
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Mountain Boar — initial attributes	1	Began with Nature 4 and Life 28; his unusually high Life came from his wild-boar body.
Attribute increase	2	Consumed a Life Nourishing Pill: Nature +1 and Life +2.
Mountain Master, Tier 1 (1%)	11	Merged with the Innate Eight Trigrams' Gen Trigram. After consuming basic materials and exhausting himself running, his Life reached 31.
Mountain Master, Tier 1 (2%); First Realm	32 33	Condensed his first wisp of spiritual power through the Spirit Refining Primer, formally entering cultivation; attributes recorded as Nature 5, Life 32.
Mountain Master, Tier 1 (3%)	34	Consumed 120 each of metal, stone, and wood; Life rose to 33. He had condensed three wisps of spiritual power.
Essence increase	37	Drank Moon Essence Dew and gained Essence +2.
First Realm, second layer	49	His Nature exceeded 10, allowing him to consciously circulate spiritual power through his body and more than double his leaping speed.

Background / History

Zhu Jiusi was dying when a decree accepted his plea for another chance and rebirthed him into Journey Survival. Retaining memories from a previous cycle, he recognized that a Demon Cultivator begins as an ordinary beast and deliberately accepted becoming a Mountain Boar, valuing survival over human appearance. His initial form granted him immense physical Life but a short natural lifespan, making advancement essential. 1

He quickly learned to stand, walk, and run on four hooves. After becoming the first Path Seeker to obtain a title, he received a Silver Gourd, then killed both a rat and a vampire bat to secure early resources and a Life Nourishing Pill. 2

His previous-cycle knowledge became a decisive advantage. He identified survival traps, including the danger of extracting a fixed beast lair too early, recognized the importance of Journey Survival's hidden laws, and treated information as a resource rather than something to distribute freely. 2 8

Appearance

Zhu Jiusi is a brown, coarse-haired wild boar with four sturdy hooves, a pig snout, and prominent tusks. His boar physiology gives him exceptional bodily strength, but poor long-distance natural vision and no hands. 1 3 21

• Brown, stiff bristles covering his body. 1
• Four powerful hooves suited to sprinting, charging, and trampling. 1 49
• Uses tusk-led rams as his primary physical attack. 21 40
• Can coat himself in hardened river mud as improvised armor. 18
• Usually carries his modified Beast Nest in backpack form. 16

Personality

Zhu Jiusi is pragmatic above all else. He considers survival more important than morality, appearance, or pride, and he evaluates people by their usefulness, reliability, and potential future value. He is willing to offer loans, trade fairly, or maintain alliances when doing so benefits his long-term position. 1 29 47

He is equally ruthless toward threats. Zhu Jiusi believes grudges should either be settled immediately or abandoned completely; hesitation between those choices is, in his view, fatal. This mindset leads him to kill ambushers, fraudsters, and enemies who attempt to exploit him. 9 13 26

Though guarded with resources and information, he can be cooperative. He advises weaker Path Seekers without encouraging dependence, rewards useful assistance, and trusts a small circle whose conduct he has judged over time. 3 7 10 47

Abilities & Skills

Mountain Master

After merging with the Gen Trigram, Zhu Jiusi became the Mountain Master, an Eight Trigrams bearer able to merge basic materials into his body. 11

• Absorbs metal, stone, and wood to increase his physical strength and Life. 11 34
• Has no known upper limit to material absorption. 11
• Requires progressively greater quantities of each basic material for each increase. 11 34
• Must run and expend great physical effort to process absorbed resources. 11 34
• Delays his eventual human transformation and doubles the difficulty of spell cultivation. 11

Physical Combat

Zhu Jiusi fights primarily through his Mountain Boar physique, using charges, body weight, tusks, terrain, and feints rather than conventional weapons. 17 40 48

• Flipped Zheng Ai's ox cart and killed him during an attempted robbery. 9
• Lured zombies into mist and toward Earth Vein Nodes rather than confronting every enemy directly. 17 25 26
• Matched the Strongwoman Sha Ya in repeated brute-force collisions and gradually forced her toward the river. 40 41
• Used open ground and a false charge to counter a giant python's flexible body. 48

Spiritual Cultivation

Zhu Jiusi obtained the Spirit Refining Primer and Treatise on Cloud-Resting Consciousness Refinement from the Enforcement Bureau, then used prior-cycle knowledge to begin cultivation. 28 32

• Condensed spiritual power and entered the First Realm. 32 33
• Can absorb spiritual energy while traveling or resting. 33 34
• At the First Realm's second layer, can circulate spiritual power into his hooves to greatly increase mobility. 49
• Has not yet reached the third First Realm layer, where simple combat techniques and spells become available. 49

Horn Assault

Zhu Jiusi acquired a Golden Horn from a tribulation-transformed Golden Gourd. Its skill, Horn Assault, is his first documented offensive skill. 43 44

• Enhances tusk-based attacks with significant offensive power. 44
• Consumes a small amount of spiritual power per activation. 43
• Was used alongside his Beast Nest to defeat a giant python. 48

Law Enforcement Inspector

After deducing a major law, Zhu Jiusi received the position of Law Enforcement Inspector and access to the Heavenly Listening Memorial. 20

• Can submit memorials directly to Journey Survival to report unlawful conduct. 20
• Used this authority to expose Enforcers who attempted to abuse their power for personal gain. 27 28
• Leveraged the memorial to force the Enforcers into granting him cultivation techniques and enemy-location information. 28
• Later filed evidence against the corrupt Enforcers. 33

Defiance

Zhu Jiusi deduced the third rule, “Defiance,” gaining limited permission to violate Journey Survival's rules. 33

• Received three opportunities to break Journey Survival's rules. 33
• Spent one opportunity escaping a Land God's pursuit after killing someone in a Land God Temple. 33

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Beast Nest — His lair; upgraded from a fixed nest into a mobile backpack form. 12 16
• Crude Clairvoyant — A telescope acquired for two steamed buns; extends his vision to large objects within three miles. 3 4
• Golden Horn — A Golden Gourd weapon carrying the Horn Assault skill. 43 44
• River Mud / Ceramic Jade Armor material — Hardened mud used as durable body armor during heavy rain. 18
• Moon Essence Dew — A cultivation resource that increased his Essence and aided mental clarity. 36 37
• Cursed Map · Calamity — An unusable map capable of summoning a mountain peak; it exerts a dangerous allure and releases supplies if its holder dies. 15
• Heavenly Listening Memorial — The reporting instrument tied to his Law Enforcement Inspector authority. 20 28
• Dao Discussion Cards — Cards used to locate targets and merge paths for confrontation, trade, or rapid support. 13 14 45

Relationships

• Rain Seeker — Early recipient of Zhu Jiusi's travel advice; later an information-gathering ally and District 66 business partner. Zhu Jiusi rewards useful assistance but does not want Rain Seeker to become dependent on him. 3 7 10 40
• Sword Seven Doesn't Learn Sword — A respected ally and former debtor. She assists Zhu Jiusi with items he cannot handle in boar form, while he relies on her combat ability and considers her trustworthy. 20 29 36 47
• Orchid Pavilion Scholar — A powerful associate who owes Zhu Jiusi combat assistance in exchange for Life Stones and Soul Jade. They cooperate in District 66's defense. 29 40 45
• Monkey Has Iron Rod — A wealthy, exceptionally lucky collaborator. Zhu Jiusi lent him transformation resources and later helped protect him from District 33 attackers. 29 45 47
• Heart Without Darkness — A manipulative chat antagonist whom Zhu Jiusi blocked, confronted through a Dao Discussion Card, and killed. 3 13
• Daoist Number 323 — Initially joined the campaign against Zhu Jiusi, later offered tribute and information, but remained an adversary whom Zhu Jiusi sought to eliminate. 8 14 23 29
• No Bottle — An openly self-interested informant who warned Zhu Jiusi about District 33 retaliation; Zhu Jiusi considers him definitively untrustworthy. 46
• Red Fox family — A prior favor to this family earned Zhu Jiusi a five-percent discount at the Red Fox Boutique. 50

Story Role / Major Arcs

Novice Protection Period

Zhu Jiusi establishes himself as an early standout by obtaining the first title, receiving a Silver Gourd, killing gourd monsters, and sharing key survival-rule deductions with other Path Seekers. His warnings about daily mileage help trigger widespread resource-sharing, while also making him a target for resentment and envy. 2 4

Mountain Master and Lair Upgrades

He finds the Mountain God Temple, merges with the Gen Trigram, and accepts the costly Mountain Master path. He then gathers, trades, loots, and absorbs materials to upgrade his Beast Nest and steadily build physical power. 11 12 15 16

Retaliation Against Path Seekers

Zhu Jiusi kills Zheng Ai after an ambush attempt, executes Heart Without Darkness for sustained harassment, and defeats Filial Respect to Mother after being publicly provoked. These victories establish the Master of Cloud Stack Cave as a feared figure in the chat area. 9 13 14 15

Graveyard Riot and the Enforcers

During the Graveyard Riot, Zhu Jiusi detonates Earth Vein Nodes to destroy zombie hordes and gain points, then hunts down the Path Seekers who attempted to use the zombies against him. When corrupt Enforcers intervene, he uses his inspector authority to force concessions instead of submitting to arrest. 20 25 26 27 28

District 66 and the Small Market

Zhu Jiusi supports Rain Seeker's market strategy and helps defend District 66 from cross-district attackers. He battles the Strongwoman Sha Ya to a prolonged standstill while his allies secure the district's victory. 40 41

Post-Merger Conflict

Following the district merger, Zhu Jiusi gains the Golden Horn, helps defend Monkey Has Iron Rod from District 33 attackers, and remains alert to coordinated retaliation. He continues to cultivate, refine his Beast Nest, and prepare for threats from both Path Seekers and Enforcers. 43 45 46 49 50

Notable Quotes

“Do not hold a grudge!” 13

“As you wish!” 14

“In the Journey Survival, race, appearance... none of that mattered; only staying alive was important!” 1

Trivia

• Zhu Jiusi's first system-given title was Blockhead, awarded with an insulting message after he chose to become a pig. 2
• He replaced Blockhead with Fiend after killing Zheng Ai; the title grants minor damage immunity against human Path Seekers. 9
• His lack of hands makes ordinary item use difficult; he needed Sword Seven Doesn't Learn Sword to remove the stopper from Moon Essence Dew. 36
• A Longing Beast manifested as an ideal sow because it read a desire connected to Zhu Jiusi's past-life best friend, much to his anger. 36