"Teacher He, can we use the tools next to us freely?" Zhou Chuang, the survival expert from Group E, asked.

“You can use them. For each item you use, you’ll need to add thirty seconds to the total time it takes to start the fire. There are no restrictions on anything here; you can use as many as you want,” He Jiong said with a smile and a nod.

"Does anyone have any other questions? If not, the staff will start timing." Seeing that no one had any further questions, He Jiong nodded to indicate that they understood the rules.

They immediately announced the start of the first variable.

At this moment, five staff members arrived at the temporary location set up by the five groups of people, each carrying a stopwatch.

"Do as I say, the faster the better!" After selecting a Swiss Army knife from the tools prepared by the production team, Li Yinsheng headed towards the edge of the island to explore.

The production team prepared a variety of fire-starting tools, including Swiss Army knives, light bulbs, traditional fire-starting kits, and tinder for one person.

Both Group C and Group E chose the traditional fire-making kit. The kit provided by the program included a hard wooden stick as a drill rod, a dry and easily ignitable wooden board as a fire board, and a small piece of tinder to guide the sparks.

After receiving the tools for starting a fire by friction, both groups were full of confidence. They sat around their respective temporary sites and began the challenge of starting a fire.

Groups BD did not choose any of the items provided by the production team. Like Group A, the team members scattered across the island searching for tools to start a fire.

"I found tinder, lots of it, enough for the six of us!" Zhao Liying shouted.

"I've also found a suitable fireboard," Zhang Yixing's voice followed.

Just then, Li Yinsheng also found two suitable wooden sticks for making bowstrings and starting fires by drilling wood. They were the right length, dry, and tough.

In less than two minutes, they found suitable materials for making bowstrings, drilling wood, and starting a fire.

Making a bowstring for starting a fire by friction requires patience and skill. Li Yinsheng and his team had a clear division of labor: Li Xiang was responsible for meticulously polishing the wooden stick to make one end sharp and smooth, which would serve as the drill bit.

Li Yinsheng untied the shoelaces and tied them to both ends of a sturdy tree branch to serve as a bow frame.

The wood used for starting a fire, also known as a fireboard, has a V-shaped cut in the center so that a knife or other sharp object can go in.

Wrap the bowstring around the fire starter once, so that the middle part of the string is wrapped around the fire starter, so that there is room to move the fire starter back and forth.

"Great! It's lit! Next one, please!" At that moment, cheers came from Group E. It turned out that the expert from Group E had successfully lit a fire using a primitive fire-making tool called friction.

Next, Hu Ge from Group C also successfully started a fire using a primitive fire-making tool called friction.

The successive success of two groups in starting a fire spurred Groups B and D, who neither chose the primitive method of fire-making by friction nor, like Li Yinsheng and his group, opted for fire-making by friction using bowstrings.

Instead, they opted for the more modern but equally skill-intensive method of focusing sunlight with a light bulb. Under the blazing sun, one member of Group B carefully adjusted the angle and distance of the bulb, while another assisted, building a small fire with hay and thin wooden strips. Sunlight, filtered through the bulb, focused into a bright, intense beam that shone directly onto the hay.

"Keep going! Almost there!" Group D used friction to start a fire, choosing two bamboo strips, placing some tinder in the middle, and rubbing them back and forth to start a fire.

"It's done. I'll start a fire first." It took Li Yinsheng nearly two minutes to finish making the bowstring fire-starting device.

Li Yinsheng quickly and rhythmically pulled the bowstring, causing the drill bit to spin rapidly on the drill plate. Each pull was accompanied by a slight "squeak," the sound of friction between the wood.

Starting a fire by rubbing wood with a bowstring is not only time-saving and labor-saving, but also a clever application of physical principles. The friction generated by rapid rotation concentrates the heat of the wood to a single point until it reaches its ignition point.

As Li Yinsheng continued his work, the wood chips on the drill plate gradually became finer, and their color changed from light yellow to dark brown, filling the air with a faint aroma of burning wood.

Smoke began to rise from the small pit on the drill plate, followed by a wisp of blue smoke.

Seeing this, Li Yinsheng stopped drawing his bow. He took a piece of tinder in his left hand, poured the sparks from the fire board onto the tinder, and then blew on the sparks. In no time, the tinder was lit. He then added firewood and quickly lit a fire.

"I'll do it." After seeing that the chubby girl had successfully started a fire, Li Xiang immediately took the bowstring from Li Yinsheng's hand and began to spin it rapidly.

However, the other four groups also had members who successfully started a fire one after another, but no one in Ed's group, who was the first to succeed in starting a fire, succeeded in starting a fire again.

The bowstring fire-starting method is indeed efficient and convenient. Quickly pulling the drill shaft generates enough friction and heat to ignite flammable materials, thus successfully starting a fire. Compared to other methods, the bowstring fire-starting method is simpler to operate and can complete the fire-starting process in a shorter time.

Li Xiang hadn't even been holding the bowstring for twenty seconds when the fireboard quickly emitted blue smoke. He then poured a spark onto the tinder, blew on it, and successfully ignited the fire.

"I'll go!" Huang Xiaoming took over, and Zhang Yixing prepared to start the next fire.

........

"Damn! Group A started the fire really fast. Three people in a row started the fire successfully, and none of them took more than a minute."

"Upstairs, the bowstring fire-starting method is much more efficient and convenient than the old-fashioned method of fire-starting by friction."

"The teamwork in Group A is really good. It seems that Group A is the biggest variable in the first fire-lighting competition."

"Groups E and D are in big trouble. Making fire by friction requires a lot of strength, and the girls in those two groups simply don't have the skills or stamina to start a fire. Why didn't the survival expert in Group E consider the girls' situation?"

"Indeed, Group A's strategy was much more comprehensive, taking into account not only the efficiency of skills but also the differences in gender and ability within the team. Such teamwork is the key to the survival challenge."

"It seems that this time the variable is not only a display of individual skills, but also a test of teamwork and strategic planning. Group A's approach, which is both fast and comprehensive, has undoubtedly given them an advantage."

"Group A's lead in this variable doesn't guarantee a consistent lead. Don't forget, the survival challenge includes many other skills, and other teams may excel in other areas."

Viewers watching the live stream left numerous comments and engaged in lively discussions after witnessing the first round of the "unpredictable fire-starting" challenge. Some praised Group A's seamless teamwork, believing they demonstrated true team spirit; others expressed sympathy for the difficulties faced by Groups E and D, encouraging them not to give up, as the survival challenge had only just begun and anything was possible.