It took more time than As would ever admit for him to actually put together his transportation device.


    And despite how much work actually went into it, its design was…well it was terrible. 8 wooden logs tied together by thick brown cords. That was it. However, it floated on the water just fine so As couldn''t reallyin.


    At least maneuvering it would be easy. He could use his spiritual energy to push it. Although it was a tedious and slightly wasteful solution, he didn''t have anything better.


    After finding that his invention was a sess, his next move was to return to the jungle and find himself at least some food. He didn''t know how long he''d be on the ocean, so it was necessary.


    With his current cultivation, he could stay in peak condition for 3-4 days without any sustenance, but no more than that.


    Last time he entered the jungle, he moved in a straight line so he could have an easier time making his way back to shore, but since he found no wildlife in that direction, he decided to run to another side of the beach before entering.


    And even after many hours of searching, he still couldn''t find anything remotely close to meat. However, he did find plenty of berries and nts that seemed edible.


    ''But am I going to poison myself with these?''


    He was still basically an evolved human. He wasn''t anywhere near being something amazing. Poisons from herbs and nts could still affect him even if the effect itself was minuscule.


    And it was even more for herbs nurtured by spiritual energy. Those could genuinely kill him if he mixed them wrong.


    Still, he wasn''t in any position toin. He grabbed all the nts he saw that looked edible and made his way back to his original spot on the beach.


    Gathering everything he had, he stood on his makeshift boat and set forth on the sea. The most important thing at the moment was finding other inds since it was the hardest requirement to pass the trial.


    ***


    It had been an entire week and As had yet to find any sort ofnd. In fact, even the ind he came from was so far away that he could no longer see it.


    In every direction, the only thing that existed was water. It wasn''t just once or twice that As had to stop and marvel at the true vastness of such a ce.


    Luckily, this past week had been rtively eventful for him. Most of the nts and berries he picked from the ind weren''t poisonous and helped him sustain himself for 3 days.


    As for the ones that were poisonous, they only messed with his bowel movement for a few hours, almost causing some unfortunate idents.


    But it wasn''t a problem. When As made it a bit farther from his ind, he noticed that there was plenty of life in the depths of this sea. A myriad of creatures had been living under its surface, he just hadn''t detected them.


    And since he had an extendable weapon, hunting these creatures was especially easy. The smaller ones were roped in quickly, and therger ones were always attracted to the smell of blood and soon met the same fate.


    And the taste of these creatures was amazing. Being slightly more resourceful than he used to be, As naturally cooked his meat before eating it.


    The sulent meat had a slight taste of the sea, but it was mostly burned away by his fire. It was slightly salty but had its own unique vor profile that he never tasted in Arthia City before he entered the tower.


    Like this, As''s makeshift boat was filled with a good amount of seafood for him to eat throughout the duration of his trial. Truthfully, he might not even have to leave his boat.


    And at the end of the week, he finally saw something on the horizon that made him jump in joy. He saw genuinend. It wasn''t one of those floating rocks or small tforms that he saw in thest week, it was a genuine ind that had a simr constitution to the one he came from.


    As for how he could tell the difference? There were rock formations on the shore of this ind, unlike his own.


    Within the day, As reached the ind and when he stepped on its surface, he saw a heartening notification pop up in front of him.


    [Inds found: 1/2]


    It might not have meant much, but it was a testament to his sess. An entire week of aimless sailing was finally rewarded.


    But As didn''t stay on this ind for long. He only had 6 days left in the trial, and with the amount of time it took to find this ind, he didn''t want to take any risks.


    And so, after some minor exploration, he jumped back onto his boat and set sail once more.


    It was only 4 dayster when As spotted another ind in front of him. He didn''t expect it toe any time soon, but there was no way he''d be mad that did.


    Just like before, he stepped onto the ind and looked forward to the notification.


    [Inds found: 2/2]


    With this, he had no more worries. He took the fish he had caught over thest 4 days andpletely stepped on the ind, choosing to stay here for the next 2 days until the trial ended.


    As he sat on the beach and enjoyed a meal, he saw another ind off in the distance that hadn''t been explored yet.


    ''Why are there so many of them around here?''


    Maybe he had been moving in the wrong direction this whole time. There were two massive inds in both directions he could see, unlike what he was forced to deal with previously.


    But As didn''t pay them much attention. He rxed on the beach, enjoyed the feeling of the sand running through his toes, and ate to his heart''s content.


    He was thrilled by everything around him. In the past 8 floors, the tower had shown him so many things he''d never seen before and had allowed him to experience a life of adventure.


    When he was living from meal to meal in the slums, unsure of whether he even wanted to stay alive or not, this was exactly the dream he had.


    It was adventure, it was fighting, and it was power. Even if he was still weak, he was a far cry from his previous self.


    Not to mention the memories that kept flooding his head. They came in droves, as he was sure that if he absorbed them all at once he''d go insane.


    It was thousands upon thousands of years'' worth of growing in power and fighting for his beliefs.


    And now, he had an opportunity to do it again, this time in such a mysterious ce like the tower.


    But there was always this nagging feeling in the back of his head that he couldn''t get rid of.


    It was a feeling that said his purpose in his tower should be elsewhere, not some childish bullshit like he was thinking now.