Starting With a Reef [Global Survival]

Yun Luohe didn’t run into any danger in the Hot Spring Zone and smoothly collected a large amount of [Sulfur Crystals].
In addition to that, she also discovered a patch of dandelions near the hot spring.
What’s more, they were mutated Golden-Grade Dandelions, their long narrow leaves serrated, topped with puffy golden blossoms. When she pulled one up by the roots, it gave off a faint sulfur scent.
Probably a result of the sulfur-rich environment here—the dandelions had mutated, and their effects were stronger than regular dandelions.
[Golden Dandelion: After mutation, possesses extremely strong antibacterial properties. Boiling the root in water can relieve abdominal pain caused by frog-borne parasites. Dried flowers can be brewed as tea to prevent heatstroke.]
Frogs come with parasites? Yun Luohe looked at the entry and thought, Then once we’re back, I need to process all that frog meat properly. I don’t want to end up poisoned. If I get food poisoning, how am I supposed to compete in tomorrow’s event?
She decided to pick as many dandelions as possible. Even if someone did end up sick, at least she’d have a solution.
After nightfall, Yun Luohe figured it was still early. Frog Call Island was relatively safe anyway, so she might as well stay a little longer and leave later.
There were a lot of wild plants on Frog Call Island that seemed pretty useful. If she could find some spices or wild chili peppers, that would be perfect.
If you wanted frog meat to taste good, chili peppers were absolutely essential. Without them, the most you could make were soy-sauce based dishes—hardly satisfying.
And [Field Snails] were best spicy stir-fried too.
Holding an umbrella in one hand and a torch in the other, she searched around the nearby hillside.
She didn’t find any peppers, but she did come across a patch of wild mung beans.
The hillside was covered in dense vines, with long thin stems and lots of fuzz. Dark green pods hung all over them.
At first, Yun Luohe didn’t even recognize what they were. She picked one, peeled it open, and only then realized it was mung beans—they looked quite different from regular ones.
[Wild Mung Beans: Have certain medicinal properties. Can clear heat and detoxify, relieve summer heat, promote diuresis, fight bacteria and inflammation, protect the liver and kidneys, and lower blood lipids. Requires long soaking in warm water before cooking to ensure they are fully cooked; otherwise, can cause digestive issues.]
You could make mung bean soup, mung bean porridge, mung bean cake…
There were only two vines here—not much—but Yun Luohe decided to dig them up and take them back to try planting.
——
Late that night, Yun Luohe returned to the reef. Yúntūn was in the middle of fighting [Fish Monsters].
Its fighting style was very different from Ròubāo’s. Ròubāo would just swat the Fish Monsters to death with its claws, or pin them down and stab them with its nails until they bled out.
Yúntūn, on the other hand, spat out spider silk and wrapped them up like dumplings, catching them alive and hanging them under the eaves.
Before she left, Yun Luohe had told it not to use poison—otherwise, it might inject venom into the spider silk and contaminate the fish’s body.
“Heheh! Heheh!” Yúntūn spotted Yun Luohe returning, shot out a strand of silk that stuck to her, and whoosh—sprang right into her arms.
Its soft, delicate voice was full of longing, making Yun Luohe’s heart melt.
It had thought she wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. Seeing her return early had it completely overjoyed.
“Hiss hiss! I caught a ton of fish!” It pointed seriously at the cluster of Fish Monsters hanging under the eaves.
Maybe the Fish Monsters had sensed Yun Luohe and Ròubāo were away from the reef today and decided it was a good chance to launch an attack—but instead, they ran into the wrong opponent.
They had it rough.
Lately, many players had started using [Sonic Repellers], so Fish Monsters had fewer targets to go after. They’d also been avoiding Yun Luohe’s reef because of the “formidable human” and “fierce cat” guarding it.
But today, with both of them gone, a swarm of Fish Monsters gathered and launched an attack—only to run straight into the tough little spider, Yúntūn.
Yúntūn had wanted to impress Yun Luohe, so it didn’t let a single Fish Monster escape. Every one that dared show up got taken down.
“Amazing! So many—and all still alive.”
Yun Luohe reached out and stroked Yúntūn’s head. It didn’t feel as soft as before. On closer inspection, it looked like Yúntūn had grown a bit bigger again.
“Hiss hiss!”
Yun Luohe smiled with satisfaction. “Yúntūn is such a good girl.”
Hearing her praise, Yúntūn buried itself into her chest, happily hissing away.
“Alright, down you go. I’ve got to tidy up—the reef is about to finish upgrading. I need to sort through all the supplies.”
The [Reef Upgrade Countdown] had about an hour left—just enough time to organize everything.
This time, she’d brought back over seven hundred frogs, spanning six different species.
The common ones were frogs, tree frogs, and bullfrogs.

There were also a few she hadn’t seen before—toads, bell toads, and poison dart frogs, and it was obvious just by looking that they were venomous.
[Poison Dart Frog: The most toxic frog species in the world. Brightly colored. Toxins secreted from its skin can stop a target’s heart instantly.]
Yun Luohe planned to extract poison from the Poison Dart Frogs to coat her arrows and throwing weapons.
The Bell Toads and Toads were also poisonous—she’d send those to Siqi. That was her area of expertise.
As for the edible ones—
Both regular frogs and tree frogs carried parasites. They had to be properly processed with [Cooking Skills]. Players without the skill might end up with food that still contained parasites.
[Tree Frog: Small-sized frog. Restores stamina quickly. Skin contains trace toxins and must be peeled before consumption.]
Since it boosted stamina…
Yun Luohe decided to peel the tree frogs and regular frogs later to make [Charcoal-Grilled Frog].
She sent the poisonous frogs to Siqi.
The bullfrogs were already butchered and sorted into [Frog Meat].
As for the frog skins from the regular and tree frogs, they could be used for composting or as fishing bait.
She’d also brought back a batch of frog eggs. She was still worried they’d be too noisy if raised in her fishpond, but maybe other players wouldn’t mind. Some might even want them.
After all, frogs were relatively easy to raise, lively, and especially the common frogs were beneficial—they ate mosquitoes.
There weren’t any mosquito problems on the reef yet, but who knew what might happen later?
She kept just a few bullfrog and frog eggs for herself. The rest she posted in the [Trainee Group Chat] to see if anyone wanted them.
Originally, she’d thought frog eggs were only good for raising.
But after collecting them, she discovered that if properly cleaned and boiled, they could actually be eaten. But they had to be fully cooked.
She didn’t know what they’d taste like. Eating frog eggs sounded... pretty exotic.
Some of the mutated frog eggs were huge—each one the size of a bird egg. Who knew what kind of giant frogs might hatch from those?
Yun Luohe posted the frog eggs in the group, and they were quickly claimed.
“Didn’t think you guys would all want them,” she said, surprised.
Mu Zitang replied, “Sister Yun! Did you know a player once brought back mutated golden frogs from Frog Call Island? They hatched from frog eggs—and they’re usable as pets!”
Yun Luohe: “Ah, I see.”
“If I’d known, I would’ve grabbed more.”
She was usually too busy to keep up with the chat channel.
Mu Zitang said, “Tch. The Intelligence Division of Tianji Pavilion didn’t include that in the compiled intel for Frog Call Island. Guess their research wasn’t thorough enough.”
“And frog eggs can be cooked too. I heard someone used frog eggs and plant ash to make... Century Eggs!”
“What??” Yun Luohe was shocked.
But thinking about it—the frog eggs were so translucent, they really did look a bit like century eggs.
Should she give it a try?
Plant ash was easy to get—just burn some [Reed Stalks].
Siqi messaged her back about the poisonous frogs she’d received: “These frogs only have toxins on their skin. The rest of the body can be used for compost. I’ll give the carcasses back to you after I extract the poison.”
Yun Luohe: “No need. You keep them for yourself.”
Siqi was helping with poison extraction—it was only right she got something in return.
—
Once she finished dividing up the frogs, Yun Luohe began sorting the rest of the supplies.
She placed all the new materials in the [Storage Chests].
She changed up her sorting method this time—organizing by island of origin.
Everything from Frog Call Island went into a single dedicated chest.
She’d done the same before with loot from Spider Island and Bat Island.
That made it easier to find things. Each island had its own specialties.
She also had separate chests for [Food Supplies] and [Upgrade Materials].
Since the storage chests didn’t have refrigeration, food had to be kept in the [Fridge], which could preserve things for up to a week. After that, spoilage was inevitable—so Yun Luohe needed to manage it based on freshness.
She’d brought back tons of ingredients today.
She planned to cook a big meal tonight. Ròubāo had worked hard catching frogs, and she’d promised it a treat.
First, she processed the [Field Snails]—half a bucket’s worth, still alive. Half would be made into [Snail Jerky], and the other half would become [Sauced Field Snails].
She soaked them in clean water for half an hour, then stir-fried them with ginger, added seasonings, and simmered.
After thirty minutes of cooking, she sprinkled in chopped wild onions, and it was ready.
She ended up with a whole pot of [Sauced Field Snails], enough for five portions.
She sent one portion each to Mu Zitang and Cheng Xuening.
Mu Zitang: “Yun-jie! These snails must be the ones you just caught today on Frog Call Island—they smell amazing!”
“Yeah, try them. They don’t have any special effects, but they taste great.”
Each portion of Field Snails only restored 10 stamina—not much, but they were delicious. The snail shells were soaked with sauce, addictively good.
One after another, hard to stop. The moment you sucked the snail meat into your mouth, the rich sauce came with it—heavenly.
“I’ll let my parents try your cooking too.”
Mu Zitang even sent her a bundle of cilantro from who-knew-where.
“This cilantro’s for you—it’ll go great with frog meat.”
Yun Luohe: “Perfect timing. I was just about to make Stir-Fried Bullfrog. This’ll be perfect.”
Cheng Xuening also sent back some food in return.
“I just had dinner. I’ll save the snails for breakfast tomorrow. I picked up a bag of dried chili peppers and a winter melon from the Shell Market today—you can ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) have them.”
Yun Luohe’s eyes lit up at the dried chilies.
Exactly what she needed for [Dry-Pot Bullfrog].
She first rendered fat from wild boar meat, then added the dried chili and ginger, then tossed in the frog meat to stir-fry.
That was how a true dry-pot dish came to life.
She had been worried the flavor would fall flat without chili—now it would be perfect.
The winter melon was great too. Its seeds could be processed into [Planting Seeds].
She used the bullfrog leg meat for the [Dry-Pot Bullfrog], but the bones didn’t go to waste either.
She boiled the frog bones into a white, rich [Broth], added chopped [Water Celery] and wild scallions—ending up with a perfect stew.
[Congratulations! You’ve successfully crafted a Strength Recipe — Marshland Stew.]
[Reward: Black Pepper Sauce ×1]
[Marshland Stew: A fragrant, nutrient-dense soup. High-calorie and high-nutrition. Restores 30 Stamina.]
Not bad—another powerful food unlocked.
She made ten servings of Marshland Stew in total. Yun Luohe kept half and listed the rest in the [Trading Center].
If just the soup had effects this strong, then once the [Dry-Pot Bullfrog] was done—it’d be even better.
Yun Luohe could already smell the aroma.
Ròubāo: “Meow! How much longer?! It smells sooo good!”
Yun Luohe: “Almost. Just a few more minutes.”
Just as the Dry-Pot Bullfrog was about to finish—
The system alert popped up.
[Reef Upgrade Successful.]
[Congratulations! You are the first player in Zone 2 to upgrade your reef to Level 6!]
[Rewards: Teaming Card ×1, Teleportation Card ×1, Workbench Upgrade Card ×1, Crystals ×3, Obsidian ×5, Livestock Pen Blueprint ×1, Reed Chicken ×2, Golden Ding Duck ×2, Greenhouse Blueprint ×1, Oil Extractor Blueprint ×1, Smoker Blueprint ×1]
First place sure came with a ridiculous number of rewards!
Yun Luohe was practically blinded by the flood of system text.
[Reef Level: 6
Area: 1,500 square meters
Score: 130
Next Upgrade Requirements: Obsidian ×100, Advanced Hardwood ×1000, Iron Ore ×2000, Copper Ore ×1000, Glass ×1000, Reef Score must reach 200]