Eat Well, Drink Well, Pack Well

Jiang Yun and the other two had packed several bundles of Little Crocodile meat on Mars, but no one felt like eating that stuff now.

Although Jiang Yun was very interested in Little Crocodile's corpse and had stored plenty of it in Source Space,

there was better food in the Desolate Forbidden Land, so he had no interest in it for the time being.

Jiang Yun pulled Ye Fan and Pang Bo along to look for something to eat.

As they walked, the three chatted about the golden Roc they had just seen clutching a giant elephant, their fantastical experiences over the past two days, their hopes for the future, and their worries about their families back on Earth.

"There's a spring pool up ahead."

Pang Bo suddenly spotted something.

Not far ahead was an open patch of ground surrounded by several ancient vines. There was a spring pool about a meter wide, its water bubbling forth like sweet divine dew.

Beside the spring grew more than a dozen small trees over half a meter tall. Their broad, emerald-green leaves resembled human palms.

They looked like several little people with many arms standing there. At the top of each small tree hung a bright red fruit, shaped like a cherry but as large as an egg.

Jiang Yun and the other two hurried over. They could smell the rich fragrance wafting from the fruits, and a powerful craving rose from within their bodies as saliva unconsciously ran from the corners of their mouths.

They had barely eaten anything for a day and a night, and by now they were starving.

"They smell incredible. I've never smelled fruit this fragrant before. Are these immortal fruits?"

As they approached, the fruits' scent became even sweeter and more intoxicating, as if every cell in their bodies craved something.

"Could fruits this fragrant be poisonous?"

Seeing the two hesitate, Jiang Yun reached out without the slightest delay.

"I'll taste one for you first. Even if they're poisonous, I'd die willingly for a fragrance like this."

He plucked a fruit from the top of a lush little tree and began to eat it.

Jiang Yun took a light bite. The instant the crystalline, gleaming red peel split open, a rich and fragrant aroma rushed straight into his organs and spread throughout his body.

As expected of immortal fruit. Jiang Yun had gotten his first taste of the joys of a fantasy world. There was no greater pleasure in life than this.

"This is too tempting. We have to try some too."

Ye Fan and Pang Bo could not resist the temptation either. Each picked one and began eating.

Before long, the three took turns eating, four each, leaving only one of the thirteen fruits.

Almost simultaneously, all three reached for the last fruit, and their hands ended up clasped together.

They looked at one another and immediately felt a little awkward.

The fruit was simply too fragrant and alluring. While eating it, Jiang Yun thought he would not trade it even for a fairy maiden—though he might consider trading it for Ruthless.

They stared at the last fruit, torn.

"I was just thinking of bringing a few back for Yiyi and Zhang Ziling," Ye Fan said.

"The problem is, there's only one left. How would we divide it if we brought it back?"

Pang Bo asked hesitantly.

With only one fruit, it would be terribly awkward to make those two share it.

They might not even be grateful, and could instead feel slighted.

"Let's split it among the three of us. Bringing back just one fruit would look terrible," Jiang Yun decided.

After thinking it over, the two understood that Jiang Yun was right. Bringing back one fruit was not merely a case of too little to go around; they would definitely be excluded for it.

None of them were rigid fools, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about. The three divided the last fruit.

"That felt amazing. Coming to this world isn't so bad after all. I want to eat this kind of fruit every day."

Pang Bo leaned comfortably against an ancient vine, savoring the lingering fragrance of the fruit.

"I think these little red fruits must be rare even in this world. Eating one or two a month to satisfy our cravings would be enough."

Ye Fan voiced his guess.

These little red fruits were the fruits that grew after the Nine Wonders Immortal Medicine split into nine parts. There were very few Immortal Elixirs in the entire universe; they were exceedingly rare.

One-ninth of an Undying Medicine had been eaten by three ordinary people. If anyone on the Big Dipper found out, they surely would not mind setting up a pot.

As for Pang Bo and Ye Fan's beautiful dream, Jiang Yun felt that even Ruthless's biological brother could not afford to eat like this!!

"This spring water must be extraordinary if it can nourish fruits like these. I can faintly smell its fragrance too. Come have a drink."

Jiang Yun stood by the spring and took a deep breath, interrupting their daydreams.

Pang Bo came over and took several big gulps from the spring.

"It has a faint sweet fragrance. The taste is special, but I don't feel anything after drinking it. It's not as satisfying as eating the little red fruits."

Still, he honestly poured out all the water from several mineral water bottles and began filling them with the spring water that carried a faint fragrance.

Jiang Yun did not stand on ceremony either. While the two were not paying attention, he directly collected some of the Divine Spring water with Source Space. Split it fifty-fifty when they met—a fine tradition could not be abandoned.

After eating the little red fruits and drinking some Divine Spring water, the three got up to leave.

Before leaving, Jiang Yun talked Ye Fan and Pang Bo into going together to break off some branches from all thirteen small trees.

Pang Bo felt gathering branches was too troublesome and wanted to pull up several trees to take with him.

Fortunately, Jiang Yun talked him out of it. The moment he heard Pang Bo say that, Jiang Yun suddenly felt a chill run through his entire body, as though some terrifying existence had fixed its gaze upon him.

Jiang Yun guessed Pang Bo had felt it too, which was why he listened so readily.

They only dared to break off a small branch from each tree. Then the three left at once and returned to meet up with their classmates.

When they returned to the previous spot, all their classmates had come back.

"We were just waiting for you three. Looks like you found nothing either. What, are you planning to chew tree bark?"

Wang Yan, Liu Yunzhi's ex-girlfriend, mocked Jiang Yun and the other two when she saw them return empty-handed except for a few broken branches.

"Can't help it. We were starving. Unlike you three, sneaking behind a tree to eat chocolate."

Pang Bo replied with a grin. The three of them were full, satisfied, and had gained quite a bit, so they could not be bothered arguing with such clowns.

Liu Yunzhi and the other two's faces turned pale and green. They had not expected those three jinxes to see them.

They had wanted to get up and share what was left, but with twenty-five people, even half a piece each would not be enough.

"Everyone, stop arguing. Let's figure out how to get out of these mountains first," Zhou Yi urged from the side.

Neither side spoke again.

Liu Yunzhi's group of three was somewhat intimidated. They were two men and one woman, and if they clashed with Jiang Yun's group of three tall, strong men, they feared they would not be enough to withstand a beating.

Jiang Yun's group simply could not be bothered with those three clownish fools.

The group soon chose a direction that looked like the fastest route out of the mountain forest and continued onward, supporting one another.

Even by nightfall, they still had not made it out. They had gone two days without a proper meal and spent another entire day trekking through the forest.

Although they had gathered some wild fruits and shared a few snacks, there was far too little for everyone. Exhausted to the point of being unable to walk any farther, they decided to rest there for the night.

Unlike the others, who lay awake in fear through the night, Jiang Yun was not particularly afraid. There would be no problem for them to leave safely.

That night, Jiang Yun fell asleep to the heavy-metal music of the Great Accomplished Sacred Physique pounding on Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin within the Abyss of the Desolate Forbidden Land.

The only drawback was that it was too loud. Jiang Yun was awakened several times in the middle of the night, but he could not exactly say anything.

After all, that was the Great Accomplished Sacred Physique, an existence capable of challenging a Great Emperor. Jiang Yun, meanwhile, could only challenge the likes of Liu Yunzhi.

The next day, everyone washed up in a stream, ate some snacks and wild fruit, then set out once more.

After climbing a high mountain, they suddenly made a discovery.

"Hey, look at that mountain in the distance. Are those buildings on it?"

Wang Ziwen suddenly pointed ahead. It was an enormous mountain, still very far from where they stood and separated by several peaks, though those smaller mountains could not block it from view.

"They really are buildings, and they seem to stretch on in clusters!"

Everyone immediately showed delight. They would surely reach it before nightfall.

"Hey, there even seem to be immortal cranes flying around there. Could it be an Immortal Land? Could there be an Immortal there..."

Thinking of the Immortals from legend, everyone quickened their pace.

It was indeed a stretch of Heavenly Palace Ruins. Only those with destiny could truly enter that area.

Jiang Yun remembered that several more of their classmates later had the chance to enter it. More people had survived this time, so he wondered whether more would be driven into the Desolate Forbidden Land and gain this opportunity.

After slowly crossing several mountains, the forest began to show signs of life, and they encountered some cute and delicious wild animals.

They also saw an intact stone stele engraved with the words "Desolate Forbidden Land," which meant they had left that region.

Jiang Yun immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Though he claimed not to be afraid, who would not be on edge after staying in the Desolate Forbidden Land for so long?

"Let's rest here before continuing. I believe we'll see signs of human habitation soon."

The group split into twos and threes, forming little groups that sat down to rest.

Later, Liu Yunzhi, Wang Yan, and Li Changqing were discovered by Pang Bo because of their secret plotting and vicious curses.

To prevent the three from causing trouble again in the future, they were thrown into a tiger's den.

Jiang Yun did not stop them. It was not because he wanted to save the three, but because he had considered killing them outright.

If they were thrown into the tiger's den, the three would be saved by the Divine Thought of the Great Accomplished Sacred Physique that had followed the Bronze Coffin, then secretly plot to kill Ye Fan.

But after thinking it over, Jiang Yun realized that with the intelligence of those three in the original story, they had caused Ye Fan only minor trouble and no major losses.

If he killed them and the Divine Thought supported someone else instead, that would be even more troublesome. The new person would be hiding in the shadows, and he would not know who it was.

Better to let those three drag Divine Thought down with them.