The other instructors heard the commotion.
One after another, they gathered around, their attention drawn toward the enormous projection in front of them.
At first glance, every one of them was amazed by Reed’s astonishingly skilled house-building abilities.
No nails had been used throughout the entire construction process.
Instead, every single connection had relied on traditional mortise-and-tenon structures, fitting the wooden components together with an almost perfect degree of precision.
The wooden house was square, sturdy, and stable.
It looked exceptionally solid.
The surrounding walls had also been carefully covered with three inner layers and three outer layers of long thatch.
Those thick layers of thatch could effectively block the wind and scorching sunlight, providing the wooden house with considerably better protection than an ordinary shelter could offer.
The roof, meanwhile, adopted a split-type drainage structure.
Water could be guided away from the house whenever it rained, preventing the roof from accumulating excessive moisture and reducing the possibility of leaks.
Quite an exquisite design.
It had to be said, Reed was indeed exceptionally skilled when it came to building houses.
His craftsmanship alone was enough to make even these experienced instructors look at him with admiration.
But this was the Endless Sea.
Here, survival was everything.
Cutting down trees and spending a large amount of time constructing a house without first prioritizing the search for the source of evolution was undoubtedly putting the cart before the horse.
“It seems that he is planning to give up.
He can’t even distinguish the source of evolution.”
“That’s right.
This hand-built house technique can probably be rated highly in terms of craftsmanship and exquisiteness, but when it comes to practicality and actual survival value, it can only receive zero points.”
“By the way, isn’t the Endless Sea unable to allow anyone to bring tools into it?
Where did he get that stone ax?”
“Well…
it should have been polished by himself using stones found on the island.”
“…”
The instructors whispered among themselves.
Although none of them said it directly, they all felt a little sorry for Reed.
Don’t say anything else.
Just looking at his architectural ability was enough to make them realize that Reed possessed an extraordinary talent in this area.
His ability to construct a shelter without relying on modern tools was already astonishing, and his understanding of structure and stability was even more impressive.
But the Endless Sea was not a place where architectural talent alone could guarantee survival.
Survival on the island was extremely dangerous and terrifying.
Without evolving, in the future, when facing those terrifying sea monsters, strange beasts, and mysterious entities, Reed Newt would have no power to fight back.
No matter how sturdy the wooden house was, it could not protect him forever.
And one of the most important rules of the Endless Sea prohibited anyone from bringing tools belonging to modern civilization into it.
That was why Terra had resolutely decided to take the Supernatural path after its resources had been exhausted.
If humanity wanted to continue advancing after entering the Endless Sea, there was only one reliable path: Evolution.
If one wanted to survive in the Endless Sea, the only possibility was to become an evolutionary.
Technological means were impossible to bring into the Endless Sea; this was common knowledge among everyone.
It was also the fundamental reason why the instructors believed that Reed Newt’s actions were completely misguided.
“Wait!” Just as everyone was preparing to move their attention elsewhere, an instructor suddenly froze.
“Everyone, look!”
His voice instantly became louder.
“The wooden house is already finished, but he’s still cutting down trees?”
The moment those words were spoken, everyone present was stunned, and they immediately turned their heads.
Their gazes once again fell upon the projection showing Reed Newt’s island.
Sure enough.
The wooden house was already standing firmly in the middle of the island, yet Reed Newt had not stopped.
He picked up the stone ax in his hand and once again walked toward the giant tree standing beside the cabin.
The instructors stared at the scene in confusion.
What was this guy planning to do now?
On the Island…
“That’s all.” Reed gripped the stone ax tightly in both hands as he raised it slightly and aimed the blade at a towering giant tree in front of him.
A moment earlier, he had just used the [Grandmaster Log House Construction Skill] exchanged from the system mall to complete the construction of a small log cabin measuring approximately forty square meters.
The cabin was not particularly large, but for him alone, it was more than enough.
More importantly, it could serve as a reliable shelter at night.
The novice gift pack had given him 3 survival points, and Reed Newt had exchanged all three points for corresponding skills.
They were [Grandmaster Log House Building Skill], [Grandmaster Logging Skill], and [Grandmaster Trap Making Skill].
Each of them was extremely practical.
After conducting a detailed investigation of the island, Reed discovered that there were countless towering giant trees growing across this small island.
The trees were tall, thick, and incredibly sturdy.
They were extremely suitable for building shelters.
After all, at night, it was inevitable that some wild animals would roam the island and attack humans.
A simple shelter might not be enough to stop them, but a sturdy log cabin would be much safer.
At this point, the cabin had already been completed, so his next step was to think about food.
On a deserted island, if he wanted to survive for a long time, food would always be the absolute top priority.
After all, no matter how strong the shelter was, there was no point if he eventually starved to death inside it.
And Reed had already discovered something important: this small island was incredibly rich in species.
There were all kinds of beasts roaming through the forests and grasslands.
There were abundant wild resources such as hares, deer, cattle, squirrels, and even larger animals.
As long as he could successfully hunt them, his food problem would be solved.
The giant tree in front of him was also not chosen randomly.
The hardness of this particular tree ranked first among all the trees Reed had discovered on the island.
Its wood was extremely dense and tough.
If he simply sharpened it and turned the resulting pieces into spikes, he could use them to construct highly effective traps.
Once an unsuspecting beast stepped into one, it could be killed almost instantly!
“Boom!” Reed swung the stone ax down with tremendous force, and the blade struck one of the weaker sections of the giant tree.
Afterward, he continued.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
One strike after another.
After chopping more than a dozen times at several carefully selected weak points of the giant tree, the enormous tree finally could no longer withstand the repeated blows.
“Timber-!” With a thunderous crash, the giant tree collapsed while dust and leaves scattered in every direction.
Immediately afterward, Reed began processing the giant tree.
The tree was more than ten meters tall, and its trunk was far too large to move as a whole.
Therefore, he cut it into several sections and dismantled them one by one.
Using his [Grandmaster Logging Skill], his movements were fast and precisely.
Before long, the massive tree had been transformed into countless usable pieces of wood.
He then sharpened the pieces.
One spike-like object after another gradually appeared in his hands.
Then, Reed carried the sharpened wooden spikes toward the nearby animal trails.
He carefully dug holes across several paths frequently used by the beasts.
After that, he constructed traps around the holes and concealed the openings with branches, leaves, and grass.
Finally, he placed the sharpened spike-like objects inside the traps.
Everything was carefully arranged.
The traps were hidden so well that an ordinary person would have difficulty noticing them even when standing nearby.
Reed continued working, and he had been busy for two entire hours.
By the time he finally finished, 20 traps had been successfully placed throughout the nearby animal trails.
“Time really passes quickly.” Reed looked toward the horizon, and the sun was already beginning to sink.
The golden afterglow of sunset stretched across the sky, gradually disappearing beyond the distant horizon.
“It’s getting dark.” After checking the surroundings one final time, Reed made the sensible choice to return to the cabin.
Nighttime on this deserted island was clearly much more dangerous than daytime.
He had no intention of wandering around unnecessarily.
Returning to the cabin, he immediately lit a bonfire.
The warm flames illuminated the interior of the wooden house, bringing a rare sense of security to the otherwise frightening wilderness.
Using some of the leftover wood, Reed also built a simple wooden bed.
It wasn’t particularly comfortable, but compared with sleeping directly on the cold ground, it was already a considerable improvement.
Reed lay comfortably on the bed, and his body relaxed slightly.
There was no need to do anything else tonight; he only needed to patiently wait for dawn on the second day.
The next day, the sky gradually brightened.
The darkness covering the deserted island slowly receded, replaced by the first rays of morning sunlight.
Reed didn’t sleep in.
As soon as the sun rose, he immediately got out of bed.
The first thing he did was go outside and check the twenty traps he had set up the previous day.
Relying on the power of the [Grandmaster Trap Skill], every trap he had constructed was positioned along a path that the beasts were highly likely to pass through.
The concealment was excellent, and the success rate was also extremely high.
Both were close to eighty percent.
After some investigation, Reed Newt discovered that his preparations had paid off.
He successfully dragged twelve dead prey out of the traps.
Six hares.
Two fawns.
Three squirrels.
And an antelope.
Looking at the pile of prey in front of him, Reed Newt’s eyes lit up slightly.
Just this amount of food would be enough for him to eat for an entire month.
For a survivor stranded alone on a deserted island, this was an enormous harvest.
At least for the time being, his food problem had been completely solved.
Subsequently, Reed began processing the prey.
Following the techniques recorded in Wilderness Survival Basics, he carefully skinned each animal.
He then cleaned out the internal organs and processed the meat before smoking it.
Smoking the meat would allow it to be preserved for a much longer period of time, ensuring that he wouldn’t have to worry about wasting his hard-earned food.
As for the peeled fur, Reed didn’t waste it either.
All of it was carefully spread across his wooden bed.
The fur served as a natural mattress, making the crude wooden bed considerably more comfortable.
Just as Reed Newt finished processing everything…
“Ding!
Congratulations to the host.
You have successfully survived one day in the wilderness and gained 1 survival point.”
“Current survival points: 1.”
Suddenly, a familiar system notification sounded inside Reed Newt’s mind.
He paused for a moment, then the corners of his mouth curled upward slightly.
Another survival point.
Although it wasn’t much, every survival point was extremely precious to him right now.
Reed Newt immediately immersed his consciousness into his mind and opened the system mall.
He carefully browsed through the available skills, then he exchanged for the skill he needed most at that moment.
“System, exchange for [Grandmaster Prehistoric Era Weapon Forging Skill]!”
The moment his voice fell, the system light flickered, and a vast wave of knowledge regarding the forging of primitive weapons instantly flooded into Reed Newt’s mind.
Information about materials.
Methods of processing.
Techniques for shaping weapons.
Methods for sharpening and strengthening primitive tools.
All of it poured into his consciousness.
Instantly, it was completely integrated.
There was no learning process and no need to practice.
It was as though Reed Newt had spent countless years studying the craft.
Last night, although he had been safely living inside his wooden house, he had still heard all kinds of horrifying sounds coming from every direction of the deserted island.
Some of those voices didn’t sound like they had come from beasts at all.
They were strange and filled with an indescribable sense of danger.
Obviously, to survive on this deserted island, he needed a sharp weapon for self-defense.
A sturdy shelter alone wasn’t enough.
A trap alone wasn’t enough.
He also needed a weapon that could be carried with him at all times.
For example, a bone knife.
The thought had barely appeared in his mind, and he immediately acted.
He picked up the horns of the dead antelope and began making weapons.
With the knowledge of the [Grandmaster Primal Era Weapon Forging Skill] already deeply integrated into his mind, even the seemingly primitive materials in his hands could be transformed into useful weapons.
At the same time, he set up another fire nearby.
He placed the leg of the antelope over the flames and slowly roasted it.
Not long afterward, the surface of the meat began to sizzle.
Fat dripped into the flames, and a rich aroma slowly spread through the air.
The smell of roasted meat was overflowing and tangy, filling the entire surroundings.
When Reed looked at the roasting meat and the primitive weapon taking shape in his hands, a faint smile appeared on his face.
At least for now…
His survival on this island had finally begun to enter a stable rhythm.