<Golden Ao Island Safety Guidelines and Interception Sect Disciple Anti-Fraud Guide (First Edition)>.
The name was long and strange, but eye-catching enough.
Rather than rambling on about any Supreme Principles of the Great Dao, he used the plainest, most straightforward language, paired with one shocking "case study" after another, to explain his core ideas.
[First General Principle: Staying alive is everything! Any action that does not help you stay alive is stupid! Remember, dead people are meaningless!]
[Rule One: Regarding "Treasures"]
"Fellow Daoist, please stay. You are fated with our Western Sect." "This treasure is fated with me."
Whenever you heard these two lines, do not hesitate in the slightest. Run immediately, at top speed! Do not look back! Do not argue! Do not try to reason with them! The thickness of their skin was beyond your imagination.
Case Study: A mighty expert of the Primordial World had been unwilling to part with an Innate Spiritual Treasure and argued with a Sage of the Western Sect. In the end, both he and his treasure became "fated" with the other party, and his whereabouts remained unknown to this day.
[Rule Two: Regarding "Pride"]
Pride was the most useless thing in the Primordial World, and also the most deadly. Was it worth bringing death upon yourself over a verbal dispute?
The correct response: When someone insulted you, smile and say, "Fellow Daoist is right." Then quietly note down his name and the location of his cave abode. A gentleman's revenge could wait a Tribulation.
[Rule Three: Regarding "Sparring"]
Any invitation to spar initiated by someone else should be regarded as potential murder.
Three standard lines for refusing a sparring match:
"Senior Brother/Junior Brother, my cultivation went awry yesterday, so it would be inappropriate for me to fight."
"I recently gained some insight and am at a critical point in secluded cultivation. What a pity."
"I... I can't beat you." (Note: Use this one with caution, but its effects are outstanding.)
[Rule Four: Regarding "Training"]
The Primordial World was perilous, and people's hearts were unfathomable. Any trip down the mountain for training without clear safety guarantees and enormous benefits was simply seeking death.
Remember the three elements of risk assessment:
First, ask about the reward: Would the gains from this trip exceed a hundred years of secluded cultivation?
Second, ask about the risk: Was the chance of dying on this trip lower than one in ten thousand?
Third, ask about backing: If something went wrong, would a Grand Unity Golden Immortal-level big shot be willing to stand up for me?
If the answer to any of these three questions was "no," refuse immediately.
Over several thousand words, Chen Changsheng perfectly combined the survival wisdom of countless webnovel "old schemers" from a later age with the cruel reality of the Primordial World, compiling a survival manual that could only be described as foolproof.
After writing the final character, he let out a long breath.
The content was ready, but how could he spread it without anyone noticing? That was another problem.
Distributing it himself was definitely out of the question. He would be too conspicuous.
He could not trust anyone else with it, either.
Chen Changsheng paced around his cave abode. His gaze swept over a pile of blank Jade Slips in the corner, normally used to assist his cultivation, and a plan gradually took shape in his mind.
He was going to carry out a Primordial World version of "viral marketing."
For the next three days, Chen Changsheng shut himself away and used his mana to duplicate the Guide over a thousand times.
Once that was done, he quietly waited for the right opportunity.
On a dark and windy night.
Chen Changsheng activated the Turtle Breath technique, suppressing his aura to a level even lower than that of an ordinary mortal, and silently slipped out of his cave abode.
Like a ghost, he moved through the area where Golden Ao Island's Outer Sect Disciples lived.
Whenever he passed a cave abode, he flicked a finger, and a Jade Slip silently landed outside its door.
He hid several beneath the stone benches at the Dharma Transmission Platform.
He stuffed several into corners of the Scripture Repository.
He even thoughtfully placed several beside the large water vat in the Outer Sect cafeteria.
After doing all this, he quietly returned to his cave abode, concealing both his achievements and his identity.
The next morning.
Wang Ermazi, an Outer Sect Disciple, yawned as he stepped out of his cave abode, preparing to attend the day's morning lesson, when his foot kicked something hard.
"Hm? Who has so little public decency that they just throw things around?"
He picked it up and saw that it was a Jade Slip.
He sent his divine sense inside.
<Golden Ao Island Safety Guidelines and Interception Sect Disciple Anti-Fraud Guide (First Edition)>.
Wang Ermazi froze.
What the hell was this?
Filled with curiosity, he continued reading.
A quarter-hour later, his expression had gone from confusion to shock, then solemnity, and finally deep contemplation.
"Hiss... it actually... makes some sense!"
Elsewhere, Li Tieniu, who usually loved fighting more than anyone, also found an identical Jade Slip on his Prayer Mat.
"Hmph! Playing tricks!"
He had intended to crush it in one go, but when he saw [Rule Three: Regarding "Sparring"], his hand stopped.
He recalled how, just last month, he had acted on a momentary impulse and sparred with someone, only for that person to play a dirty trick on him. His treasure had been damaged and still had not been repaired.
"This... isn't this talking about me?" Li Tieniu's face alternated between red and white.
The same scene played out repeatedly in over a thousand cave abodes throughout the Outer Sect district.
At first, most disciples treated the mysterious Jade Slip as nothing more than a prank.
But when they discovered that nearly everyone had received one, the nature of the matter changed.
Discussion spread among the Outer Sect Disciples like a wildfire across the plains.
"Did you read that Anti-Fraud Guide?"
"I did! I did! It's so viciously written! What does 'the thickness of their skin is beyond your imagination' even mean? Hahahaha!"
"What are you laughing at? I think it's completely right! Didn't the incident where Senior Brother Zhang Feng led a team down the mountain provide the perfect example? If they had read this and known to assess the risks, how could so many people have died?"
A junior disciple who had only entered the sect recently spoke with lingering fear.
His words instantly silenced the laughter around him.
That was right.
Zhang Feng.
That crushing defeat, those dozen or so mangled corpses sent back—it was a shadow that none of the Outer Sect Disciples could shake off.
If they had seen this Guide earlier, would the outcome have been different?
An emotion known as "reflection" began to ferment among the crowd.
"I used to think that as Interception Sect Disciples, we should press forward fearlessly and fight to be first. But thinking about it now, if you're dead, what the hell is there left to fight for?"
"Exactly. The first general principle is right—dead people are meaningless!"
"Who exactly wrote this Jade Slip? Every word is a gem, every sentence strikes the heart! This is the true great wisdom of someone who actually cares about low-level disciples like us!"
No one knew who the author was.
But that did not stop them from treating this Guide as an unquestionable standard.
Within only a few days, <Golden Ao Island Safety Guidelines and Interception Sect Disciple Anti-Fraud Guide> became wildly popular.
At an unbelievable speed, it became the most widely circulated "secret manual" among the Outer Sect Disciples.
Everyone had a copy and studied it day and night.
Some even memorized every rule and adopted them as principles for conducting themselves.
The atmosphere in Golden Ao Island's Outer Sect gradually began to undergo a subtle change.
In the past, whenever disciples met on the road, they compared who had the more imposing aura and the shinier treasure.
Now, whenever they met, they clasped their hands in greeting, wore kind smiles, and muttered, "Senior Brother looks well today, but your glabella is dark. It would be best not to go out. Returning to your cave abode for secluded cultivation would be safer."
This trend naturally caught the attention of the Inner Sect Disciples as well.
That day, Daoist Duobao, the Senior Disciple Brother of the Inner Sect, had just emerged from secluded cultivation and was testing the cultivation of his Registered Disciples before his cave abode.
Seeing one disciple wield his sword in a listless manner, utterly lacking the sharp spirit expected of an Interception Sect Disciple, he could not help frowning.
"Outrageous! The sword arts of our Interception Sect emphasize pressing forward with no retreat! What is the meaning of this limp display?"
The Registered Disciple shuddered in fright and hurriedly fell to his knees.
"Master, please calm your anger! This disciple... this disciple was keeping the Guide's teachings in mind. Leave room in all things, so we may meet again in the future..."
"Guide?"
Daoist Duobao froze.
"What guide?"
The disciple did not dare conceal anything. He hurriedly took a Jade Slip from his robes and respectfully offered it up.
Daoist Duobao accepted the Jade Slip and sent his divine sense inside with mixed doubt and suspicion.
The next moment, his expression changed from confusion to astonishment, then to surprise, and finally darkened into a heavy storm cloud.
The veins on the hand gripping the Jade Slip slowly bulged.
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