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 bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
