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Almost simultaneously, nearly ten new messages appeared on Qiyu’s friends list. 

It goes without saying what these messages were asking.

【I Love Survival Game: My account hasn’t been hacked.】

【I Love Survival Game: My account wasn’t hacked.】

Player from Server 01:?

【I Love Survival Game: God Has No Form and is right beside me.】

Everyone: Oh—

【Irritable Brother: That guy who raises dragons?】 

【Irritable Brother: I used to just think he was good-looking, but I never expected his mouth to be so sweet, too.】 

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: It’s that top player from Server 88. Wow, you guys are really close—still hanging out this late.】

Qiyu repeated the words to Dan Xingyu.

Dan Xingyu raised one of his thick eyebrows slightly: 

【I Love Survival Game: @Irritable Brother, classy.】

【I Love Survival Game: @Cockroach Taste Is So Weird, of course.】

Server 01 players: “……”

I can’t take it anymore. I know the person speaking isn’t the top player himself, but seeing how active this ID is, it’s just a little weird.

【Liver Emperor: My perspective is a bit off—can other players actually access the Survival Panel?】

【Liver Emperor: It’s mainly because everything about the player—including their backpack—is tied to the Survival Panel. If someone else could take control of it, it just feels really dangerous.】

【I Love Survival Game: No way—I’m the one posting all these messages myself.】

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Hahaha, so those comments from earlier were actually posted by the gaming pro himself? That makes it even funnier when you think about it.】

The regional channel is clearly very curious about this mysterious No. 1 player from Server 88.

【Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens: Welcome, “God Has No Form.” It looks like you’re in the desert—is it really hot there right now?】

【I Love Survival Game: They call him “Er Shen.”】

【I Love Survival Game: It’s hot.】

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Compared to that, I think I’d rather freeze to death than die of heat.】

【Liver Emperor: If it’s a desert, there probably aren’t any trees or wood. So what are the main basic resources in Server 88?】

【Little Old Me: I’m more curious about how the big shot got that dragon. Do players in Server 88 all have pets?】

This is the first time a player from another server has appeared in this region— and he’s even the top-ranked player in his server.

Everyone was very interested in God Has No Form and Server 88, and the server chat was bustling with back-and-forth banter. It stood in stark contrast to before, when “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” was performing a one-man show.

【I Love Survival Game: Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone. The game and I are good friends—coming to Star Forest feels just as comfortable as coming home.】

Amid a sea of harmonious comments, a furious tirade from some guy who’d lost his cool stood out—but he’s clearly far from becoming the center of attention. 

In fact, no one was even sticking up for boss anymore; everyone was just watching the No. 1 player from Server 88 let loose:

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: So all that kindness and generosity you show day-to-day is just a facade! When it really counts, you just stand there and watch me die.】

【I Love Survival Game: Don’t just say you would die—come on, gray out your ID so I can see if it’s true?】

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: I want to talk to “I Love Survival Game”! You’re from another server—why are you butting in?】

【I Love Survival Game: Of course I’m here to watch the show. I’ve had my firecrackers ready for ages, just waiting for you to die so I can set them off.】

【I Love Survival Game: Don’t worry, I’ll definitely give you a grand funeral—guaranteed to be a spectacle.】

My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens:“……”

Damn it!

What kind of bastard is that guy on the other end?! 

He was so furious his vision went dark, but since every part of his body ached, he couldn’t even pass out if he wanted to. 

【Roadside Drifter: Impressive.】

【Irritable Brother: @I Love Survival Game, this is for Er Shen. It’s a shame we’re not in the same region—I can’t add you as a friend.】 

“My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” was done talking.

Not sure if he died or just gave up arguing and disappeared. 

Qiyu clicked on the leaderboard and saw that his ID was still active—it hadn’t turned gray yet. 

“It’s such a shame,” Dan Xingyu said regretfully. “Why hasn’t divine justice come down from the heavens to deal with this cancerous player?” 

As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed the local player staring at him with bright eyes.

“You’re really amazing, Dan Xingyu.” 

Dan Xingyu replied modestly, “That’s nothing. I haven’t even shown three-tenths of my true ability.”

He told Qiyu, “Some people just deserve to be scolded. Next time you run into a weirdo like that, let me know—I’ll do the scolding for you.” He suddenly reached out quickly and ruffled Qiyu’s hair. 

Qiyu:?

Dan Xingyu said with a straight face, “I’ve been meaning to say this for a while—you have such nice hair. It looks so soft and inviting to touch.” 

Before Qiyu could react, he added, “I’m not taking advantage of you. Come on, let’s be fair—you get to touch mine back.” 

He lowered his head and brought his fuzzy head close to Qiyu’s face. 

Qiyu:?

He didn’t know how things had suddenly turned out this way. He hadn’t said he was going to touch Dan Xingyu’s hair, had he? 

But since his good friend had leaned his head toward him, it was such a small thing—there was no reason to refuse. He reached out and gently ran his fingers through the top of the other’s hair.

Dan Xingyu felt as if a cloud were gently drifting over his head; he tilted his head up slightly and nuzzled against his hand. 

Completely satisfied: “All right, we’re even!”

Dan Xingyu stayed here for a while. Seeing that *My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens* had indeed fallen silent, Qiyu walked him home. 

He feigned sadness: “I thought you’d at least say something to make me stay?” 

Qiyu:?

He couldn’t help but say, “Dan Xingyu, you’re acting really strange tonight.”

Dan Xingyu’s heart skipped a beat, but an impulse made him press further: “What’s so strange?” 

“I can’t quite put my finger on it,” Qiyu said. “It’s just… strange.”

Dan Xingyu looked at him: “So do you hate it when I’m like this?”

Qiyu shook his head: “I don’t hate it.” He just needed to get used to it again. 

The corners of Dan Xingyu’s mouth twitched upward ever so slightly. 

An even bigger surprise was yet to come.

“Dan Xingyu, are you going to stay and sleep in my place tonight?”

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t tempted.

But he just shook his head slightly: “No, thanks. I need to go home and practice.” 

Hmph, it was obvious he only said that after I brought it up.

There’s no rush to decide whether to stay the night—the local kid is already a Level 4 mage. How is he supposed to sleep at night?

After a night of training.

Qiyu opened his eyes beneath the Tree of Life.

He sensed something was off—the consumption of the temperature-regulating magic array had increased again.

This meant the weather had turned colder again. He opened the Survival Panel:

【Current Location: Star Forest.】

【Today’s Weather: Heavy Snow. -50°C to -45°C.】 

Fifty degrees below zero.

Opening the zone chat channel, aside from a few scattered players complaining that it had gotten a little colder today, everyone seemed to be adapting fairly well to the drop in temperature.

Today’s buzz stems from something else.

“My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” combat rankings have dropped from third to ninth! 

Everyone was delighted by this.

A few people even went out of their way to @ him, notably “Little Old Me” and “I Am Domineering.”

Qiyu glanced at the chat log. Influenced by what Dan Xingyu had said last night, his first thought was, “Is ‘My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens’ still alive?”

What a shame. 

However, judging by his Combat Power Rankings, even if he’s still alive, he must have had to give up quite a few valuable items. 

Just as he was thinking this, he saw “My Fate” disappear from ninth place—and upon closer look, it had dropped to thirteenth. His ranking on the Wealth Rankings had also slipped a bit.

It seemed this person had likely lost quite a bit of gear.

Qiyu imitated Dan Xingyu’s tone and silently thought to himself: I hope he drops more stuff—though, of course, it would be even better if he just died. 

A notification suddenly popped up:

【Heavy snow has frozen the forest; the bitter cold and thick snow have made survival extremely difficult for the creatures of the Star Forest. Shelters with warm fires and food have become much easier to spot.】

The players who had just been watching the spectacle: ??!

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: What does this mean? What’s the deal with this announcement? Did they really only post half of it?】 Everyone thought the same thing, but after waiting patiently for a while, nothing else followed.

【Liver Emperor: I guess our peaceful winter life is about to end—could mutated creatures be about to attack our territory?】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: I agree. Come to think of it, giving us some time to adjust to the bitter cold and fortify our shelters before further crises arise is actually pretty good.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: Announcements in survival games never appear out of the blue. Everyone, stay on your guard.】

That single announcement put everyone on edge, and no one was in the mood to watch the spectacle of “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens.” Compared to their own survival, everyone else was irrelevant.

Qiyu began receiving frequent summons from players on the regional channel, all of them asking to buy screaming lily of the valley.

Worried that a sudden attack by mutated creatures might damage his ears, he decided to pick all the screaming lilies of the valley from his plot and list them on the trade channel.

He didn’t want any wood in exchange, setting the price at one Beast Crystal per screaming lily of the valley.

Players in the regional channel began praising him again:

【The More I Involution The Bitterer My Life Becomes: This top player is so generous. With lumber prices on the rise and everyone wanting screaming lily of the valley, he’s actually selling it even cheaper.】

【Be A Good Person: I bought a little pink lily of the valley—I love it.】 

【Rainbow Bubblegum: Yeah, I’m wasting a ton of wood every day now, and the cooldown for chopping trees keeps getting longer. I can’t believe this top player is actually thinking about us.】

Glancing at the regional chat, Qiyu looked puzzled.

【I Love Survival Game: I didn’t think that far ahead.】

【I Love Survival Game: I collect Beast Crystals because they’re used as in-game currency.】

Although he could resell the wood to get more gold coins, it really did take up space.

If given the choice, he didn’t enjoy the back-and-forth of trading.

Of course, the most important reason is that he’s now a somewhat wealthy mage. 

Otherwise, even if he didn’t like it, he’d still diligently collect wood to sell in Gold Hole City.

Speaking of Gold Hole City, he planned to wait and see what the announcement for the survival game was like. If there weren’t any major dangers in his territory, he intended to make a trip to Gold Hole City.

He’s now a four-star mage and needs to go to the mages association to update his rank. The players were on high alert, but in the end, the Survival Game announcement didn’t seem as frightening as they’d imagined. Three or four days passed peacefully. 

Qiyu was all set to go to Gold Hole City the next day, but just as dawn broke the following morning—as he opened his eyes after a full night of cultivation—he received a message.

【An intelligent creature has been detected approaching outside your territory.】 

Intelligent creature?

He immediately went on high alert.

He had his Guardian Mage Robe equipped, with magic scrolls placed in the first slot of his backpack. The Bow of Idelan and the Heart of the Great Tree Staff were ready to be drawn at any moment.

He made his way to the entrance of his territory.