After Zhang Xiangqiang buried Liu Ben's body, everyone patted the physical education teacher on the shoulder and continued forward.
The dead have been liberated, but the living still have to struggle to survive in this world and cannot stay.
However, after a concerted battle, the psychological endurance and combat capabilities of these superpowers who came together to fetch water were obviously greatly improved.
Before, it took them half an hour to advance a few dozen meters, but now in fifteen minutes they had quickly and safely walked the remaining few dozen meters and arrived at the river.
The cooperation of the Dharma Kings, in particular, was very precise and helped everyone eliminate obstacles to the greatest extent.
They even provided special care for the treatment.
Whenever Wu Xiangwang approached them, they would be particularly strong and say that they could squeeze out a little more of their abilities and there was really no need to replenish their health or mana!
Seeing this, Chi Yan nodded repeatedly: "You are the strongest newcomers I have ever met! Unlike those magic kings in our group, they always shout healing and defense for no reason, as if they can't do anything else except using supernatural powers."
The strong newcomers could only give a polite fake smile collectively.
If you recruit that Want Want poisonous milkman into the group, I believe your people will soon learn to be strong on their own.
This is a river with a diameter of more than ten meters, with dense aquatic plants on the riverside and fast-flowing water.
However, the river water was surprisingly clear, and through the refraction of sunlight, people with good eyesight could even see the fish swimming quickly in the river.
Some of those fish looked extremely strange, while others, except for being a little more colorful and a little larger in size, were quite similar to fish on Earth.
"There are quite a few edible fish in the river, but each one is more ferocious than the piranhas in the Amazon. If you're fast and strong enough, you can try to catch one and make soup with it."
Chi Yan saw some people staring at the fish in the water curiously, so he spoke up and gave them a hint.
"But you'd better wait until you get to the main city and buy the purification stone before eating the native species here."
Chi Yan held the core of the second-level strange vine in his hand, and the expression on his face made Wu Xiangwang feel it was hard to describe whether it was happiness or disgust.
"All the food in this world is like the core in my hand. It looks crystal clear and beautiful, and it also contains the power to enhance strangeness and even our supernatural powers."
"However, the 'power' contained within it is harmless to the weird, but for humans... it is extremely toxic and can only be purified but not completely eliminated."
Wu Xiangwang paused while kneading the clay bowl when he heard this.
"Highly poisonous?! Brother Yan, are you kidding me? If it was highly poisonous, why did you buy this Yuan Core upgrade from us? Besides, if the food here was highly poisonous, wouldn't the wild boar meat, the big eggs, and the river water we've been drinking have already poisoned us to death?"
Chi Yan smiled at the newcomers who stopped to look at him. Four months ago, he was as naive as these newcomers and knew nothing about the world.
Even after gaining superpowers and gradually adapting to this world, he once felt that this place was not as bad as he had imagined.
Maybe it will take him a little longer. There are only ten main cities. He will be able to go home in three to five years.
However……
Chi Yan suppressed the desperate secret that could not be told and said what could be said.
"Originally, this is something you would have learned about slowly in the Strange Shop after arriving in the first main city. However, since you've already obtained the Strange Core, I might as well tell you a little bit first."
"Consider this your reward for destroying the Level 2 strange vines head-on on your first try."
“The brave can always go further in this world.”
"The poison I'm talking about isn't something that can kill us directly," Chi Yan said, touching his forearm, which was covered by his sleeve. "It's something that can make humans 'weird'."
"Perhaps it can't be a poison. It could be a genetic infection, or perhaps alienation or assimilation. Anyway, as long as you understand the meaning, it's fine."
"This 'strange toxin' permeates every corner of this world like the air. It exists in both plants and animals here."
"When humans came to this world, this 'weird assimilation' began. And as we stay here longer, eat more food here, and... the higher the level of the core gems we use to upgrade..."
Chi Yan looked at the newcomers, whose faces had turned into collective horror, and curled his lips as he finished his words, "Our 'weirdness' will become more and more serious."
"I don't need to tell you what it will become in the end."
clang.
Someone's homemade kettle fell directly to the ground.
After a while, the man with glasses who had an unusually accurate estimate of time finally asked, "Is this strange transformation irreversible?"
Don't forget to lower your eyes, of course.
"Of course." Chi Yan gave a desperate answer.
Wu Xiangwang looked at the clay bowl he had kneaded in his hand and suddenly felt that it became unpleasant to the eye. He simply rolled it into a clay ball and kneaded it again.
So, he solved a question that he had when he first came here and listened to the explanation of the red-haired and curly-haired girls -
Why do they care so much about "time".
Because after coming into this world, everyone has entered a countdown of time in another sense.
If the alienation from humans to strange infections is reversible, they will not regard "caring about time" as an instinct.
But if time is so important, why do these old people still have time to come to the Novice Village to guide these newcomers?
Wu Xiangwang made a new clay bowl and listened to Chi Yan's next words.
"Hey, don't make such ugly expressions! Just now I thought you were different from others.
And while transformation into a strange state is irreversible, it doesn't mean certain death! Didn't I mention there's a purification stone? Just add it to the water we drink and the food we eat, and 90% of the strange toxins in the food will be removed!
The remaining toxins can be ignored, and don't forget that we will all leave this place in the end! As long as we can successfully pass through ten main cities and complete the main city clearance missions, the strange toxins in our bodies will be directly purified when we leave this world."
Chi Yan tossed the core in his hand and said, "So everyone just remember to add the purification stone after eating or drinking water, and don't eat the food here directly."
Suddenly, the nervous people relaxed. "Brother Yan, you should have told me the final conclusion in advance! I was so scared just now. I don't want to become a scary monster with four arms, green skin, and a mouth that stretches to my ears!"
"That's right, but if the Purification Stone is necessary, we'll have to find a way to buy it after we get to the main city, right? Where can we buy it? We don't have any energy coins."
Chi Yan stopped talking and waved his hand. "You'll understand this once you go to the main city. Every main city, at least publicly, prohibits killing, especially during the day. As long as you don't do stupid things and complete your missions honestly, you'll know everything later."
"I'll say it again. We're bringing you here because our group has this mission, and we're here just to do a mission in this main city. We're not here specifically to guide you, so don't ask me any questions.
I'd say it's because, in a sense, our meeting was fate. After all, there are at least dozens of Novice Villages capable of capturing newcomers from the world's rifts, and the ten major cities, aside from the capital, are basically ranked in no particular order. It's just that the quests required gradually increase in difficulty as you pass through more major cities.
I have told you these for the sake of fate. The rest you need to explore and think about on your own.
The tasks in the Novice Village are just small tasks. Only after you go to the main city will you truly face this world.
You will also quickly understand that no one in this world is absolutely reliable. Relying on others is the most foolish idea! "
"But... as long as you're mentally prepared and work hard on your missions to strengthen yourselves, there shouldn't be any problems."
Chi Yan's words were a bit harsh at the end, but they also reassured most of the newcomers. Overall, while this must-pass journey was dangerous and difficult, it was still within an acceptable range.
As long as they work hard to become stronger, work together to complete the task, and avoid consuming unpurified food and water, they can treat this as an adventure in another world.
"Ah, one last reminder. Don't be fooled by the strangeness here, and don't stay in each main city for too long."
Wu Xiangwang squeezed the mud bucket hard, and a hole was made in the bucket: "..."
"Alright! Have you finished getting water? Don't worry, your bodies are most resistant to the strange toxins when you first arrive here. Even if you consume a small amount of unpurified food and water here, it won't matter. You won't become strange. But remember to complete the quest and buy purification stones after you go to the main city."
After Chi Yan finished speaking, he turned around and left. The others followed him one after another, while Shang Chong and Hao Youjin walked up to Wu Xiangwang and talked to him.
"Wangwang, what do you think?"
Wu Xiangwang held out a clay bowl, a clay kettle and a large clay bucket that he had made in an irregular manner to Hao Youjin, asking him to add gold to them, with his eyelids drooping.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb! It's just a weird thing! Is it really okay for us to eat and drink like this? How about we just go on a hunger strike all the way to the main city and then exchange all the eggs for money to buy a purification stone first?"
Hao Youjin nodded as he turned mud into gold: "I think this is safer."
Wu Xiangwang simply shook his head: "Not really."
"Since Red Hair said it's okay to eat and drink less at the beginning, then it's okay. They can waste their time guiding us, there's no reason to trick us here."
"Just eat and drink normally. I think we'll speed up tomorrow. Maybe we can reach our first main city by tomorrow night."
"Also, it's best for the three of us to take turns on duty tonight. After all, this is our first night in the wild."
Although the bedding roll can prevent attacks from strange beasts, you still have to see it with your own eyes.
Shang Chong and Hao Youjin both nodded.
Hao Youjin started to grin halfway through clicking. "No, no, no, you don't need to replenish my health! I can rest for an hour and then continue clicking gold. There's really no need to rush for daily trading tasks like this."
Wu Xiannan, who had just extended his fingernails, retracted them, rolled his eyes, and lowered his head before entering the time when Xiannan was aloof and ignored everyone and was forced to think madly.
The sense of crisis made him unable to play it safe. He had to think clearly about the hidden dangers before he could...
He believed most of what Chi Yan had just said, but he was also sure that there was something wrong with what Chi Yan said.
He concealed or deliberately avoided the issues of "time" and "weirdness", but in the end he still reminded everyone to seize the time.
The purification stone can only purify 90% of the strange toxins. Chi Yan said that the rest can be ignored, but the remaining 10% of the strange toxins are indeed changing their bodies.
Chi Yan said that as long as they completed the mission, they would be able to completely purify their bodies when they returned.
But if their bodies are completely polluted and alienated before they complete their mission, will they be able to move forward?
From the beginning to the end, Chi Yan never explained how long it would take for a person to be "completely weirded out." He also didn't explain what a person would look like after being "weirded out," or whether they would still have their own reason and thoughts.
And these two points happen to be the two most important points in their "return journey" -
The former determines the minimum time limit for them to pass each main city, and the latter determines how they should upgrade and how to strengthen themselves while retaining their sanity and body to the maximum extent.
To upgrade, you need energy gems, which are purified from the core and contain strange toxins.
Therefore, upgrading and maintaining sanity have almost become two contradictory lines. The stronger you are, perhaps... the closer you are to becoming weird.
If you become weird and lose your rationality and don't want to return to Earth, then all the challenges you encounter will be a joke.
And assuming that it takes a year for them to be "completely weird" after arriving in this world, then they must advance at the rate of one main city per month.
But as we visit more and more main cities and the tasks become more and more difficult to complete, let alone a month, perhaps two or three months will not be enough.
What if the fastest speed of this "weirdness" is half a year?
Wu Xiangwang felt unwell when he thought of this.
He suddenly tore off the strange branch that fell from above his head and cursed.
"grass!"
Once the dual constraints of "time" and "weirdness" are added to this journey, it becomes truly hellish in difficulty.
He now began to doubt whether any of the humans who came to this world had truly completed the journey and returned home successfully?
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