Chapter 3: The Way of Survival From Beginner to Quitter in Three Days

Lin Xiao set three rules for his Way of Survival:

First, be invisible.

Second, stay ten zhang away from all female leads.

Third, if you can’t avoid them, chant in your head, “This is just a game character.”

“Perfect.”

Lin Xiao nodded in satisfaction at his supreme survival principle.

As long as he stuck to it, even if he couldn’t dodge the plot entirely, he could at least buy time.

Every extra day bought him another day to run away.

Why did this damn game have to start with the entrance ceremony instead of a mountain village beginning?

It gave him no chance to choose not to join a sect.

Lin Xiao had no choice but to grit his teeth and begin his path of cultivation.

Day one: Basic Qi Induction Class.

The teacher was an elder, Old Zhou, who spoke in a slow drawl.

Old Zhou had one quirk: he loved asking questions.

“Heaven and Earth’s spiritual energy divides into five elements and transforms into Yin and Yang.”

Old Zhou stroked his beard, squinting as he swept his gaze over the nearly hundred new disciples.

“So, among the five elements—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—which generates which? Which overcomes which? Who can answer?”

Silence fell over the audience.

Everyone kept their heads down, afraid of being called on.

Old Zhou waited a long time, his eyes scanning the crowd.

Lin Xiao lowered his head, pretending not to hear.

“That disciple there.”

Old Zhou raised a hand, pointing straight to the back row.

“Yes, you, the one in the far corner. You answer.”

Lin Xiao: “…”

His body stiffened.

He had no choice but to stand under everyone’s gaze and force out an answer: “Metal generates Water, Metal overcomes Wood…”

Old Zhou’s eyes lit up.

“Oh? Then tell me, why does Metal generate Water?”

“Metal meets cold and condenses into water droplets, so Metal generates Water,” Lin Xiao replied.

“But that’s just surface. When Metal’s killing aura reaches its extreme, it turns soft and moistening—that’s Metal generating Water.”

Standard answer from the game. Just recite it.

Old Zhou laughed loudly.

“Good! Good! I didn’t expect such insight among the new disciples! What’s your name?”

“Disciple Lin Xiao.”

Lin Xiao’s heart sank.

“Lin Xiao… hm, you’re the one who was distracted during the entrance ceremony, right?”

Elder Zhou nodded, took out a small notebook, and made a note.

“Sit down. All of you should learn from Lin Xiao. Cultivation isn’t just about knowing the ‘what,’ but also the ‘why’…”

The moment Lin Xiao sat down, he regretted it.

Supreme Survival Principle 1: Be invisible.

Failure.

Day two: Sect chores.

New disciples had to take turns doing menial labor, euphemistically called “tempering the heart.”

Lin Xiao’s assignment: go to the Spirit Beast Garden and shovel rabbit poop.

Shoveling poop was great.

Safe, low-key, no need to deal with people, and rabbits were unlikely to suddenly turn into yanderes.

Lin Xiao carried his shovel and manure bucket toward the Spirit Beast Garden.

The sun was nice, the breeze pleasant.

Until he pushed open the rabbit house door.

In the corner of the rabbit house, a light purple figure caught his eye.

Lin Xiao’s footsteps froze instantly, his hand still on the door handle.

Xiao Luoyi was crouching beside a haystack, carefully adding hay to the feeding trough.

She heard the door open, turned her head, and her pale purple eyes met Lin Xiao’s gaze.

They stared at each other for a moment.

Lin Xiao’s mind raced.

He decided to pretend he hadn’t seen her and go shovel poop at the other end to keep his distance.

Expressionless, he walked into the rabbit house without looking at Xiao Luoyi.

He headed straight for the farthest corner, set down the manure bucket, raised his shovel, and began concentrating on his task.

Good.

Very safe.

Perfect execution of Supreme Survival Principle 2.

Just as he was about to go dump the bucket outside, the door slammed shut with a bang.

Lin Xiao stood inside with the bucket, blinking.

He pushed the door. It didn’t budge.

Lin Xiao: “???”

“…Anyone there?”

Lin Xiao called out.

Silence outside.

No answer.

Lin Xiao turned his head to the other side of the rabbit house.

Xiao Luoyi had also stood up, still holding a handful of hay, looking a bit lost.

Lin Xiao took a deep breath and asked, “Junior Sister Xiao, do you have the key?”

Xiao Luoyi shook her head.

“No… No… The key is with the teaching senior brother.”

“Do you have a Message Talisman? Contact the teaching senior brother?”

“…I didn’t bring one.”

Lin Xiao looked down at the manure bucket in his hand, then up at the closed wooden door, and finally at the mountain of rabbit droppings in the corner.

“Let’s work first,” Lin Xiao sighed.

“The teaching senior brother will find us when he comes to inspect.”

Lin Xiao walked back to his corner and picked up his shovel again.

Xiao Luoyi silently crouched back down and continued working.

Lin Xiao shovelled quickly.

Once he was done, he couldn’t help glancing over at the other side.

Xiao Luoyi was still shovelling.

Her movements were clumsy—clearly she’d never done this kind of work.

After all this time, she’d only cleared less than a third of her section.

“…Tch.”

Lin Xiao stabbed his shovel into the ground and strode over.

Xiao Luoyi heard the footsteps, looked up, and stared blankly at him.

Without a word, Lin Xiao reached out, took the shovel from her hand, and pointed to the haystack beside them.

“You add the hay. I’ll take care of this.”

“B-But…”

“No ‘buts.’”

Lin Xiao had already started shovelling, cutting her off.

“You’re too slow. When the teaching senior brother comes and sees we’ve done way different amounts, you’ll definitely get scolded.”

Xiao Luoyi opened her mouth, but eventually said nothing.

She silently walked to the haystack and started adding hay.

With a boy and a girl working together, the work went smoothly.

Soon, both of them were done.

Lin Xiao put down the shovel and turned around to find Xiao Luoyi standing not far behind him, twisting the hem of her clothes, as if she wanted to say something.

“Um… Senior Bro…”

Bang!

The rabbit house door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

The teaching senior brother stood at the doorway, frowning as he swept his gaze around.

His eyes landed on Lin Xiao.

“Lin Xiao? Why are you still here? And Xiao Luoyi, are you done with your work?”

“All done.”

Lin Xiao pointed at the cleaned-up rabbit house.

The teaching senior brother checked, his expression softening a bit, but then he frowned again.

“Then why did you lock the door?”

“I didn’t lock it,” Lin Xiao said.

“The wind blew it shut.”

“Wind?”

The senior brother looked suspiciously at the door.

“The wind can lock itself? …Fine, forget it. Pay more attention next time. Getting locked in while shoveling poop… honestly…”

He shook his head and turned to leave.

Lin Xiao quickly followed, almost fleeing.

Xiao Luoyi stood at the rabbit house door, watching his figure disappear around the corner.

She bit her lip.

Supreme Survival Principle 2: Stay ten zhang away from all female leads.

Failure.

Lin Xiao gave up and took a detour, hoping for some peace.

He hadn’t gone far when he heard laughter and chatter from a few female disciples nearby.

“…Locked it! I locked it myself.”

“Let’s see how that silent girl deals with it now. Spend the whole afternoon with the rabbits!”

“Too bad, I wanted to lock her in alone. Who knew that Lin Xiao guy would be there too…”

“Who cares? Locked them both up together.”

“Hehe…”

Lin Xiao stopped, hiding behind a rock.

Hearing someone mention him, he had to pause and listen.

“Let’s teach her another lesson tomorrow night? I remember there’s an abandoned storeroom…”

“Will something happen? I heard she’s frail…”

“What could happen? It’s not like she’ll die.”

The three giggled for a while longer, then left together.

Lin Xiao stepped out from behind the rock, watching their backs.

The expression on his face was complicated.