[The Path of the Gods: Extreme Survival has arrived: The gods have laid out a journey, monsters lie in wait, and humanity is besieged on all sides. There's only one way to survive. A wilderness adventure inspired by Journey to the West and ancient Chinese mythology, with road-trip survival, stockpiling, management, and strategy.]
[Introductory Instance: The City Is Rotting]
Hunger: 85%. Pure, natural substances decay more slowly. The more honest a product's ingredients list, the more likely it is to earn the gods' forgiveness.
It's all chemicals and additives. Eat it or don't.
Spicy strips can save your life.
Deception is abhorred by the gods, but love is humanity's cage.
Shen Zhi's younger brother, reborn and wearing her jade amulet of protection, has claimed first place on both leaderboards.
Shen Zhi chose the Basic Guide to Life Skills from the Human Civilization Starter Pack.
Fishing, cooking, smelting, weaving... She was nothing but a regular life-skills player.
How ridiculous! On a journey comparable to the pilgrimage to the west, crawling with monsters and demons, who would bring along a deadweight who could only do the laundry and cook?!
[The Path of the Gods: Extreme Survival has begun. First instance: The Black Bear and the Kasaya]
[Players, form teams and register before entering Glass Town ahead.]
[This instance isn't difficult. Make sure you work together!]
A mountain village and a little temple, a black moon overhead and a chilling demonic wind. A man-eating black bear that steals its teammates' clothes and takes human form, and a rare piece of equipment called the “Kasaya” that steals attributes when stained with human blood. How are they supposed to work together?
A team wipe right from the start?!
Shen Zhi did two things.
She brewed arsenic in a rice cooker.
She used her “Reform Yourself” talent, which lets her adjust her attribute points, to turn herself into that black bear.
The ending was an unbelievable comeback: the whole town was wiped out.
During a later stage of the journey, monsters surrounded the players and miasma shrouded the land. Human players gathered at a small tavern on a dock.
With the lanterns of the funeral home hung high, a hundred pounds of beef and a thousand jugs of wine on the tables, the best of the best from seven top human teams sat drinking and sneering at one another.
Team Captain: Those idiots have no idea I've already paid Shen Zhi a fortune to work for me. I want the heads of both the monsters and the players!
But the other team captains were thinking the same thing.
Shen Zhi: “…”
How did we all end up in the same instance? What am I supposed to do now?
People slowly turn bad.
Shen Zhi: I've already walked the gentle, selfless path in my past life. The apocalypse is cruel, and no one in this world can judge me!
But her talent just happens to be “Reform Yourself.”
She reflects three thousand times a day and can change her attribute points at any time. Whether she's good or evil, it's always someone else's fault.
But do too many bad things, and people are bound to get suspicious.
A certain monster company in the universe had started to feel that the recent rates for first clears and pioneering new instances were unusually high. Player rewards were too generous, throwing the company's finances out of balance. After investigating...
Well, the suspect was obvious: she was there every time. Was that normal?
They brought her in.
Executive 1: It wasn't her?
Executive 2: It doesn't look like her.
Executive 3: It definitely wasn't her!
Executive 4: I will never forgive the scoundrel who framed Ms. Shen!
A certain trembling NPC: Reform Yourself +1 +1 +1 +1…
Years later, the world's order had been transformed. The journey's big shots stood at Shen Zhi's sides, insisting on draping the classic yellow robe and cape of the wasteland over the shoulders of Shen Zhi, CEO of a colossal monster conglomerate.
Shen Zhi: No, I couldn't possibly. That was never my intention. I just wanted to save my cat daughter and live a good life.
Everyone who had risen to power thanks to a certain NPC feeding them information: Such benevolence, my lord! We beg you, at the cost of our lives, please take the throne!
P.S. Check out my completed female-led novels: The Great Arcanist Is Making Money Today, After the Revival of Spiritual Qi, The Old Wang Is Away, So We Went to Pioneer, and Please Keep a Firm Grip on Your Wrench.
P.S. I recommend my friend Jinri Zhige's new novel next door, No Games. It's an old-school, intense tale of possessive pursuit and resistance. Romance fans might enjoy it.
Synopsis:
After moving her whole family to the prosperous metropolis to seek a better life, Zhuang Qichi discovered that her husband, Xu Jingxing, was having an affair with a refined, highborn heiress. The heiress was engaged to someone else.
That “someone else” was Jiang Wuheng, a powerful man with a notorious reputation who had everything.
Miss Liu was seemingly innocent and aggrieved. She wept that her fiancé was sharp-tongued and perverse, while Xu Jingxing pitied her, frustrated by his own low status and unable to protect her.
He didn't know that Jiang Wuheng also looked upon his own wife with tenderness.
Zhuang Qichi heard that one of her students had been punished with laps around the sports field and rushed over in a panic. There she found Mr. Jiang, usually so cold and desireless, racing against her ex-husband, who had pursued her back in college.
He ran eighteen laps, until he was the only one left.
“We're both human, and we both want a future. Why gamble on this again?”
“Then use me to pave the way to your future. You can find a place to rest under the Heng Gate, Teacher Zhuang. I hope you'll become a little more ruthless.”
1. The male lead is Jiang Wuheng. There's a reason for his bad reputation, but his character is sound.
2. Some schemes in the plot are rather dark. The heroine is a little white crane under siege.
3. The pursuit begins after the divorce.
4. Overall, it's melodramatic and illogical. If that's not your thing, don't read it. But romance never dies, the heroine has a bright future, and she gets everything!
Theme: Life is worth fighting for
After the Demolition, Our Whole Family Made the Pig-Butchering Scam Hit List
Spring Holds Snow
I Want Your Throne
Mutants [Future Mutant War]
Seeing Omens of Death [Infinite]
The Green Ghost
Please Keep a Firm Grip on Your Wrench
The Immortal and Demon Realms' Greatest Master of Disguise
Reaching Above One's Station
Lao Wang’s Gone Pioneering
A Fragrance That Reveals Elegance
Now That I've Kissed You, I Can Relax
The 1960s: I Became the Workaholic's Little Sister
Becoming a Doctor With a Sign-In System
The Marquis’s Lowly Maid
Did the Upper-Class Lady Escape Prison? [Natural Disasters + Strange Tales]
Stockpiling Supplies in a Doomsday Safe House
Chosen by the Nation's Destiny, I Drew the Talent Reversal
I Have a Safe City
Who Told You to Play Infinite Like That?
Stockpiling Supplies and Surviving in a Seaside Safehouse
I've been following this series since "The Empress's Daughter," I don't even remember how many years it's been. I just love reading female-centric novels by this author.
The pacing of *J* is too fast, the ensemble cast's charm isn't showcased, and the female lead's spotlight is excessive. In the previous book, *The Spiritual Awakening*, every supporting character had a memorable moment.
I think it's very well written 😳
Both this and the previous one (The Dragon Empress) feel like the author is a bit out of sorts. I think it would be good for the author to change the subject matter and adjust. If it really doesn't work, I can accept it if you continue writing like this; I will never let the author off the hook with any of her female-centric novels. End of story! [Cat paw emoji]
Keep up the good work, author! I've read almost all of your strong female lead novels, and I really love them. The themes of self-reliance and perseverance are excellent; they're truly fantastic.
I started reading your books with "Zuo Wei," which really impressed me. From the female lead's name not being ABB-type, to the chaotic mix of her relationships with various male and female supporting characters, it seems like many of your later works are similar, featuring strong female leads without romantic pairings. The benefits of this path are obvious – long-time readers love it.
🎆🎆🎆 I still hope to see more long articles.
Dear author, I've finished reading all your works. I've been reading a lot of novels lately, and some of them are so cruel to the female characters that they're angsty after just a few chapters. There are also many where all the highlights are on the male characters, and they all become female leads who are essentially hidden cameras. Reading these novels makes me so angry!
Don't be discouraged, dear author! I used to love reading domineering CEO novels and stories about women forcibly taking advantage of their partners, but the more I read, the more confused I became. Why do so many outstanding women ultimately have to depend on men or obtain their love to survive? It made me increasingly angry. But then I met you, dear author! Now I know why I was so frustrated before. Even a tiny spark can ignite a raging fire. Keep going, dear author! Keep going, all the girls!
I've followed A Diao's books all the way up to this one, and I've read most of A Diao's other novels featuring strong female leads. I was most impressed by A Diao's. This one, while having some minor flaws, is still pretty good, and the enjoyment is still there.