Having just arrived in a new place, wanting to do everything at once without a clear train of thought is likely to make a mess of things.
The few girls ate until they were round as a melon, discussing taking a break before continuing to build their nest.
Lu Zhe looked at the time, still early, planning to go to the lakeside to take a look around, as well as bring back the python to use as reserve rations over the next few days.
Shen Bing needed to lead everyone in building the nest, and was worried about Lu Zhe going out alone, so she asked Ning Shu to go with Lu Zhe.
This time the two entered the jungle from another direction, continuing to look for mosquito-repelling herbs and other cash crops along the way.
Midway, they encountered many more good things.
For example, Ning Shu discovered a birch tree!
The bark peeled off the trunk in layers like paper.
Ning Shu happily said: "I've seen Sister Sparrow's videos, she used these branches to drill holes and get fire, using the peeled bark as tinder and the inside as toilet paper, a better choice than bamboo leaves."
Lu Zhe looked it over: "Not bad indeed, though a little hard, what if it scratches your bottom?"
"It shouldn't if you're gentle enough..."
"Feel this!"
As he spoke, Lu Zhe handed Ning Shu a spindle-shaped leaf about 8 cm wide and 15 cm long.
Ning Shu rubbed it and asked: "The leaf is quite soft, what's it for?"
"This is an Indian mallow leaf, the size and shape varies across regions. Its papery leaves are covered with fine hairs, different from other hairs in that they don't fall off easily and are very soft and non-irritating.
Use it to wipe your bottom and it perfectly clears away any residual poop without hurting a girl's tender skin."
Ning Shu blushed: "Your ten thousand whys are a bit too specific!"
Just then, she discovered something new: "Look over there, the whole tree of red and white flowers looks quite nice!"
"Indeed! Let's go take a look!"
As they walked over, they realized the red parts were flowers, while the white clusters bursting out of the fruit husks looked more like cotton.
Lu Zhe put his hand on the tree bark, and a message sounded in his mind!
"Ding! Found important crop: kapok! Potential point +1!"
Information on kapok appeared in his mind!
Also called silk-cotton tree, found mostly in China and Southeast Asia.
The flowers are red, the melon-like fruit contains large amounts of cotton-like fluff that carries seeds and spreads them far away.
Ning Shu marveled: "I've just learned that cotton grows on trees!"
Lu Zhe happily said: "This is kapok. Not the same as regular cotton but can fully replace it. With this we can permanently end the era of sea sponges as sanitary pads! We can even make cotton cloth and quilts in the future. Wait and see, I’ll pick some to take back!"
As he spoke, Lu Zhe climbed up the tree and started plucking the fluff cluster by cluster.
Soon his backpack was stuffed full.
Looking out from the tree trunk, he realized there were six kapok trees in this stretch of jungle.
Even if used extravagantly to fully replace toilet paper, there would be enough.
Lu Zhe jumped down and continued forward!
Along the way, they discovered white snakeroot, wild ginger (snake-dispelling), chili peppers, fishmint, sweet orchid leaves and other plants, as well as a second lemon tree.
Regrettably no cassava, sugarcane, bananas, wild mangoes or other high-value plants were found.
Still not bad.
Walking further, they heard croaking!
Ning Shu excitedly said: "Frogs mean freshwater!"
"Not necessarily, could be marine frogs!"
"There's such a creature?"
"There is, Indonesia nearby is one of their native habitats."
Five minutes later, they arrived at the lakeside!
The shore was covered with deciduous trees and numerous waist-high bushes. Lu Zhe spent over ten minutes hacking an opening to crawl through!
The long anticipated lake was right before their eyes.
Gripping a small tree in one hand, he dipped the other hand in the water. A message immediately sounded in his mind:
"Ding! Gained new freshwater source, potential point +1!"
Only then did Lu Zhe breathe a sigh of relief!
Over the past month, he had obtained various freshwater sources through different channels, but none made him so excited!
A full 5 hectares!
Equivalent to two stadiums in size, it was actually a freshwater lake!
This meant whether in dry or rainy seasons, their freshwater issues on the volcanic island would be completely resolved!
"How is it? Lu Zhe!" Ning Shu asked.
"Freshwater!"
"How can you tell before tasting it?"
Lu Zhe licked it with his tongue: "Really, try it?"
Ning Shu also licked and excitedly hugged Lu Zhe: "Really! That's awesome, we have endless freshwater now!"
Lu Zhe nodded: "Moreover, the value of this lake is far more than that. There are still many usable resources to explore!"
"Too bad our phones are out of battery, or we could take some photos back. When to recharge them?"
"No rush for that. I don't recommend lemons. We'll make batteries from scratch in some days."
Ning Shu nodded: "Good idea!"
Lu Zhe checked his watch: "It's getting late. Let's go find the python to take back to camp!"
"I'll handle everything else, you just get that snake!"
"Got it. Careful, there are marshes over there!"
The two arrived at the marsh where the cow had fallen. Lu Zhe quickly pulled Ning Shu close so she wouldn't move.
Ning Shu didn't dare make a sound, scared stiff.
Was the python alive?
No!
It was dead as a doornail, even its head was gone.
They saw a three-meter crocodile biting the python's body with a section swallowed into its mouth. It suddenly thrashed violently in the marsh, spinning three and a half circles, trying to snap the python's neck.
But it failed!
The python had long lost any life force.
As the crocodile twisted, its body twisted along, completely refusing to snap no matter how much the crocodile spun.
Deep distress showed on Lu Zhe's face.
So much protein, digestion could really become an issue.

e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”

s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."

ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.

lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...