In this world, there are fixed laws that govern everything: the strong trample the weak, sects control resources, and luck… is simply unfair.
Xiao Lin, an eighteen-year-old youth, stood at the edge of a cliff as he watched a group of cultivators gathered around a small hole in the ground. They were staring in astonishment at a dusty wooden box.
"Huh? Just a battered box in the middle of nowhere? It's a heavenly treasure!" one of them exclaimed, his eyes shining with greed.
Xiao Lin let out a long sigh. "I bet once they open it, someone will find a peerless cultivation technique, or a divine weapon sealed thousands of years ago… As if life is that easy."
Just as he expected, one of the cultivators opened the box, finding an ancient golden scroll inside. Xiao Lin's lips twitched at the recurring scene.
"Huh! It's the 'Heavenly Dragon Fist' technique! This technique hasn't been seen in a thousand years!" another youth exclaimed.
Xiao Lin held his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment. He had lived in this world for eighteen years and had seen this scenario unfold hundreds of times. Anything strange or ancient turned into treasure, and anything touched by others became a key to supernatural power.
As for him?
Well, he had found a similar box once before… and when he opened it, there was a dead mouse inside.
He raised his head to look up at the sky. "Is this just a coincidence? Or is this world punishing me for being a rational person?"
From a young age, he hadn't been like others. He didn't believe in random miracles or magical luck. As a child, he had refused to drink water from a river that glowed with a blue glow, while his friends drank from it and suddenly became more powerful. When he saw an ancient sword embedded in a stone, he didn't even touch it, knowing it was likely cursed or full of traps. Of course, two days later, a random young man came along and easily pulled out the sword. It turned out to be the "Celestial Emperor's Sword Lost Since Primordial Times."
He was used to it.
"Xiao Lin, why don't you try searching for treasures like us?" one of the cultivators asked.
Xiao Lin looked at him with an emotionless face. "Because I don't want to die due to an ancient curse or open a box containing a deadly snake."
Everyone burst out laughing. "You coward! No wonder you're still at the first level of cultivation!"
Xiao Lin ignored their ridicule and continued on his way. In this world, there was no room for rationality, but that wouldn't stop him from finding his own path to strength, without relying on dumb luck.
What he didn't know… was that being different from others would one day make him stronger than all of them.