Chapter 2: Reserve Assessment

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[The Deceased Begin the Preparatory Trial]

[Xianghua Village]

[Trial Overview: Xianghua Village features three distinct sights—the village guardian at the entrance, the Falling Flower Cave in the back mountain, and the White Dragon Fish in the river.]

[Trial Objective: Survive for 7 days]

[Trial Difficulty: Grade F (Extremely Easy)]

[Trial Reward: Qualification as a Dimensional Apostle Reserve]

(Note: During the mission, additional side quests, chained tasks, hidden missions, and other types of quests may be triggered.)

[Warning: Any mention or disclosure of anything related to the Dimensional Paradise during the preparatory trial is strictly prohibited; violation will result in disqualification.]

[Reminder: Do not leave the trial area arbitrarily, or unknown consequences such as increased trial difficulty may occur at your own risk.]

[Hint: You have mastered the language of this world and gained an identity disguise: Passing Traveler.]

As the countdown ended, Chu Danqing opened his eyes once more, sensing the changes around him.

At this moment, he found himself leaning against a tree, dressed in a different set of clothes resembling ancient attire.

On his back was a bundle containing some copper coins, a few pieces of dried food, and a pot of clear water.

After a brief tidying up, he decisively stood up, his gaze falling upon the two skills and one item he had obtained.

…

[Basic Summoning: Level 1]

[Skill Effect: Increases all attributes of summoned creatures by 1%; summoned creatures benefit from a 10% bonus based on the average attributes of the apostle.]

[Basic Summoning Art: Level 1]

[Skill Effect: Enhances summoned creatures’ talents and skill effects by 1%, increasing their potential and growth.]

…

[Type One Standard Summoning Contract Scroll]

[Type: Contract Item]

[Quality: Common]

[Durability: 1/1]

[Effect: Upon use on a target, a judgment is made based on non-distorted self-will, affinity, and attribute differences. If successful, the target is permanently transformed into a summoned creature.]

(Note: Forcibly passing the contract through attribute disparity judgment may lead to issues such as low loyalty in the permanent summon.)

…

How to put it? Chu Danqing felt hopeful about the future, yet the present seemed uncertain and bleak.

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Without summoned creatures, these two skills were essentially useless.

Thankfully, the trial difficulty was extremely easy, and the only requirement was to survive for seven days.

Apart from the prohibition against revealing anything related to Dimensional Paradise, everything else was up to him.

Theoretically, as long as he didn’t recklessly seek death, the chance of passing the preparatory trial was quite high.

As for the consequence of failure, it was obviously death; Dimensional Paradise did not even provide explicit punishments for failing.

“Dusk is falling. I must reach Xianghua Village soon.”

There was no doubt—the end of this road marked his mission objective, not to mention the presence of a signboard nearby.

So, there was no worry about taking a wrong path.

He estimated that the ration and water he carried would not last seven days.

Xianghua Village was indeed dangerous, but he knew well that danger and reward were inseparable.

Dimensional Paradise had a trial evaluation system; the higher the score, the richer the rewards.

Moreover, staying out in the wild was hardly advisable.

Judging by his clothing, this trial world seemed to be set in ancient times, where snakes, insects, rats, wolves, tigers, and leopards might appear.

As a modern man, he had no experience in wilderness survival; only places where people gathered gave him a sense of security.

He quickened his pace to a light jog, trying to arrive before nightfall.

But soon, he couldn’t help but halt.

In the grass heap by the roadside lay an old wolf crouching.

Although his specialty was paleontology, that didn’t exclude familiarity with modern animals.

From the wolf’s disordered, faded fur and loose skin around its eyes and mouth, Chu Danqing recognized its condition.

The old wolf sensed someone approaching and suddenly sprang out from the grass heap, baring its teeth in warning.

Its emaciated frame and worn-down short teeth left no doubt—it was an aged wolf.

Chu Danqing had no desire to provoke conflict with the beast.

He avoided eye contact to prevent provocation and shouted while clapping his hands to make noise.

If bitten, without modern medical treatment, death in this ancient world was a real possibility.

The old wolf’s gaze remained fixed on Chu Danqing’s retreating figure, growing sharper by the moment.

Its posture turned fierce and focused, resembling a mad dog from afar.

Clearly, it was starving.

Its aging body was no longer capable of effective hunting; for a morsel of food, it was willing to risk attacking a human.

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Humans were far larger than wolves, so wolves usually did not choose humans as prey.

However, this revealed another flaw of the old wolf: its left hind leg appeared injured.

This hampered its movement.

Chu Danqing’s first instinct was to turn and run, but he forced himself to stop.

This old wolf was dangerous.

Especially with its left hind leg impaired, hunger and age making it desperate.

If he could find a handy defensive tool, like the partially visible pitchfork in the grass heap, he might stand a chance.

The trial difficulty was marked as extremely easy, yet an old wolf blocked his path to Xianghua Village, which made Chu Danqing suspect this was part of the trial.

He calculated his speed against that of the wolf.

Suddenly, he darted toward the pitchfork beside the grass heap.

His movement startled the old wolf, causing it to slow down.

A cunning gleam flickered in its eyes, seemingly allowing Chu Danqing to retrieve the pitchfork.

Chu Danqing did not notice the subtle trap; his mind was focused solely on accelerating and reaching out.

The next moment, he grasped the pitchfork.

Before he could rejoice, the grass heap behind the pitchfork suddenly burst open, revealing a more ferocious wolf head.

It lunged forward, jaws snapping toward Chu Danqing’s neck.

Startled but not panicked, Chu Danqing lifted the pitchfork horizontally, wedging the wooden handle into the wolf’s mouth.

At that instant, adrenaline surged through him, granting him strength beyond normal limits.

He yanked the wolf forcefully out of the grass heap and flung it away.

The wolf failed to bite the pitchfork handle and was thrown flying, tumbling several times before coming to a stop.

Only then did Chu Danqing see clearly—the wolf hiding in the grass heap was a strong adult with both hind legs broken at the roots and one front paw crippled.

Its body was gaunt, with only its head remaining relatively normal, clearly starving badly.

“One old wolf, one crippled wolf.”

“Quite the teamwork. Seems you’re no strangers to attacking passersby,” Chu Danqing said coldly.

Meanwhile, the old wolf was crouched low, creeping closer to Chu Danqing.

Taking advantage of his attention on the crippled wolf, it suddenly pounced from the side toward him.