The Big Announcement

The snow outside has been falling all day without stopping.

Standing on the second-floor platform and looking out, the mountains were covered in thick snow, the trees bent low under the weight of the snow, and every now and then a thin branch could not bear the weight of the snow and snapped on the snow. The wind kept blowing, carrying snow pellets that hit the stone walls with a rustling sound. In this kind of weather, it was impossible to go out.

Lu Heng decided to settle down in the Shelter and focus on honing his skills.

His daytime was fully scheduled, with no free time at all.

First, he practiced the Flowing Water Blade Art repeatedly. In the cramped room, he would draw his knife, sheathe it, step forward, and change moves over and over again, the movements repetitive and tedious. When his arms ached and his shoulder and back muscles tightened, he would stop to rest for two minutes, shake his wrists, and then continue practicing. There were no shortcuts; the ability to survive depended entirely on the skill that was honed little by little.

During breaks from sword practice, he steadied his breathing, calmed his mind and regulated his breath according to the Breathing Technique, and gradually strengthened his physical foundation. Before, he was out fighting every day, mostly in emergency situations, and rarely had a peaceful time to settle down. Today, taking advantage of the blizzard blocking the mountain, he suppressed his restlessness and made his basic training more solid.

When hungry, just heat up a pot of leftover meat broth, soak a few pieces of bread in it, and you'll have a simple meal to fill your stomach.

There was no experimentation with new dishes, nor any extra leisure activities; eating, training, and resting were the three things that cycled endlessly. In this world, staying safely in Shelter to hone one's skills is far more worthwhile than going out and taking reckless risks.

And so I patiently endured the entire day.

After dark, the wind and snow outside showed no signs of abating. Lu Heng added firewood, checked the stone door locks and the Silk-Peeping Bug surveillance, and after confirming that everything in the Shelter was safe, he laid out a soft animal hide, lay down, and fell into a deep sleep.

My nerves, which had been tense for days, completely relaxed, and I slept soundly without any dreams.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

The fire inside still had residual warmth, gently enveloping him. Lu Heng slowly opened his eyes, his muscles and bones relaxed, and after a day of rest and recuperation, he felt exceptionally refreshed.

He had just sat up and hadn't even gotten up to add firewood when the Survival Bracelet on his wrist suddenly burst out with a blinding blue light without warning.

The cold, impersonal system notification sounded directly into the room.

[Global Emergency Announcement: Seven-Day Extreme Cold Trial Begins]

[Over the next seven days (starting today), temperatures will drop by 10°C each day, with the cooling effect being cumulative and cumulative.]

Every day at midnight, a trial-exclusive ferocious beast will spawn in your personal survival area.

[Rule: Killing a ferocious beast in the area on the current day will offset the temperature drop; if no beast is killed, the temperature will be deducted normally.]

[No ferocious beasts were killed throughout the seven days; the lowest temperature in the Global Region will reach -70℃ on the seventh day.]

A few lines of text were clearly displayed on the screen, without any further explanation; each one was a hard rule.

Lu Heng stared at the screen, the languid feeling he had just woken up instantly vanishing, and his heart sank.

Minus 70 degrees Celsius.

He knew his limits perfectly well. Normally, he could barely endure temperatures of minus 20 or 30 degrees Celsius with the help of a stone house, a campfire, and thick animal hides; at most, he would feel unwell from the cold. But minus 70 degrees Celsius was a completely different matter. It wasn't just cold; it was an extreme natural disaster that could freeze people to death.

There was absolutely no room for luck.

Lu Heng quickly calculated in his mind the bottom line for survival.

For seven days, the temperature dropped by ten degrees each day; if you didn't kill any monsters, the temperature would keep dropping.

To survive to the end, you absolutely cannot fail to kill any of them. Conservatively speaking, you need to take out at least three, and to be on the safe side, it's best to eliminate four or more to keep the final temperature within a tolerable range and prevent being directly killed by the extreme cold.

Just as things were settling down, they were suddenly dragged back into a high-pressure, life-or-death situation.

Calming himself, Lu Heng raised his hand and opened the Regional Channel.

Upon refreshing, a barrage of messages exploded across the screen, all expressing panic and despair.

"Oh no, the temperature is dropping every day for seven days? Finally, it'll be minus seventy degrees Celsius? Who can withstand that!"

"Stop playing around, just give up. In this weather, plus a ferocious beast, it's a guaranteed death sentence."

"My Shelter was just a makeshift wooden shed; it froze solid in temperatures tens of degrees below zero, there was no way anyone could survive there."

"I have to kill a monster every day? I can't even beat ordinary wild beasts, who can handle the trial beasts?"

"I've resigned myself to my fate. It's a dead end from the start; I'll just freeze to death in the end anyway. I might as well just give up."

The screen was filled with negative complaints and wailing.

Lu Heng glanced at these messages and felt inexplicably irritated.

He hates people who completely collapse at the slightest setback. In the old world or in the current Survival World, the weak always make excuses and give up first. Before even facing the crisis, they've already scared themselves out of their courage.

However, amidst the overwhelming stream of depressing messages, a few dissenting voices were also present.

"What's the use of crying? The rules are very clear: killing monsters will cool you down, so just do it!"

"It's only seven days. If you give it your all, you might survive; if you give up, you'll die. Only a fool would give up."

"My Shelter is secure, and I have enough supplies. As long as I can kill the respawning monsters, I can survive. There's no need to panic."

"Don't be scared by the final temperature. Take it one day at a time, kill it as quickly as possible!"

A few strong statements stood out amidst the pervasive sense of dejection.

Upon reading these words, Lu Heng's restless heart finally calmed down completely.

Unnecessary panic solves nothing.

The rules have been set, the natural disaster has been decided. The only way to survive now is to hold out against each new ferocious beast that spawns over the next seven days and fight your way out.

After reading the announcement, Lu Heng suddenly slapped his forehead, realizing a crucial point he had overlooked: the system provided the subsequent temperature drop, but it didn't take into account the current temperature.

He quickly raised his Wristband and brought up the real-time outside temperature monitoring.

The cold, hard numbers on the screen came into view: Current outdoor temperature: minus ten degrees Celsius.

Lu Heng let out a long sigh, feeling utterly helpless.

The initial temperature was already minus ten degrees Celsius, and it dropped another ten degrees every day for seven days. If they failed to kill any monsters even once, the temperature would eventually approach minus eighty degrees Celsius. This kind of extreme cold was unbearable even if one stayed in a stone house for a long time, let alone going out to fight ferocious beasts.

Not daring to dwell on it any longer, he immediately began to prepare his full set of protective gear.

The newly acquired Rough Black Iron Leg Guards were first tightly bound, and the leather armor on the upper body was put on neatly. An extra layer of thick, soft animal hide was then wrapped around the body, with the two layers of fur clinging tightly to the body to lock in body heat to the maximum extent. On the outside, a windproof animal hide coat was put on, layer upon layer to resist the cold wind.

Next, put on thick, non-slip leather gloves to protect your hands and prevent frostbite from holding the knife for too long.

Finally, he drew his Bronze Hunting Blade, cut off a large square piece of animal hide, and trimmed it into a triangular turban. He then used a knife to cut small holes in the two corners of the cloth, quickly prepared it, and wrapped it directly over his head and cheeks, leaving only his eyes exposed, so that the cold wind could no longer get into his neck.

After packing up his armor, he turned around, picked up his Hand Crossbow, selected the sharp arrows made from Leopard Fang, and loaded the best ones one by one.

Holding the Bronze Hunting Blade in my palm, the cool metallic touch instantly sobered me up.

Lu Heng took a deep breath, suppressing all the anxiety surging in his chest.

Complaining is useless, and backing down is a dead end.

He whispered two words: "Done."