Why Does the Moon Turn Red

"So this world doesn't just have villages—it even has demonic cultivators..."

Zhong Yi couldn't help but marvel.

The four of them had been exploring this illusory realm for over an hour now.

Almost every moment brought new revelations.

To them, this world remained a place brimming with novelty and the unknown.

This way of uncovering the world’s secrets was utterly intoxicating!

"Damn it, once I level up, I’m gonna wipe them all out!"

Zhou Yue, freshly resurrected, gnashed his teeth in fury.

At the moment, they were heading toward the coordinates Zhou Qiaoling had provided.

Rumor had it there were ready-made houses, food, and even companions—a perfect place to settle.

Soon, they crossed the hills and arrived at a village nestled in the plains.

"Whoa, so many houses! Now this is impressive!"

Zhong Yi’s eyebrows shot up, relieved they wouldn’t have to endure a nomadic life any longer.

But as soon as they reached the village entrance, they noticed the door of the first house was wide open.

"Why’s this door open... Holy crap! Demonic cultivators!?"

The moment Zhong Yi stepped closer, he spotted a pale-gray humanoid creature hacking at a villager sleeping in bed. He immediately drew his weapon in alarm.

"Wait, that can’t be right... Demonic cultivators wear black robes..."

Zhou Yue leaned in, confusion written all over his face.

Then, a familiar voice rang out from inside the gray armor:

"Lazybones! Sleeping in broad daylight... Get up and go farm the fields!!!"

Zhou Yue: "..."

Zhong Yi: "..."

Even the usually mild-mannered Mu Yawen widened her eyes in disbelief.

...

Zhou Qiaoling hadn’t actually hit the villager.

She’d just smashed his bed to pieces.

According to her, this straw-hat-wearing villager was supposed to be farming.

She merely wanted to "motivate" him to stop lazing around.

As the first to discover the village, Zhou Qiaoling led the group on a tour.

"Strange... Why does every villager’s house have a stone block at the entrance?"

Zhong Yi’s sharp eyes immediately caught the oddity.

"Ah, that? Hahaha... Maybe... the villagers here just like using them as decorations!"

Zhou Qiaoling turned away, laughing awkwardly.

Meanwhile, Zhong Yi’s stream of viewer comments exploded:

[Senior Brother Zhong, those stones used to be chests!]

[The chests held the villagers’ belongings—Junior Sister Zhou looted them all!]

[Demonic cultivator junior sister!]

[Have some mercy! At least leave them the chests!]

...

Busted, Zhou Qiaoling hastily dumped the spoils she’d pilfered from the villagers for "fair distribution."

Iron ingots, gold ingots, diamonds, spirit stones...

The sheer variety of treasures left Zhou Yue and Zhong Yi speechless, their scolding forgotten.

"You’re saying... the villagers just gave these to you?"

Zhong Yi gulped.

If they had to mine all this themselves, how long would it take?

"Exactly."

Zhou Qiaoling nodded with absolute certainty.

"Uh..."

Zhou Yue, now holding the loot, was at a loss for words.

Ahem. "Next time... at least leave them the chests..."

...

The village’s ecosystem was surprisingly well-structured.

Unlike Zhou Qiaoling, who only cared for plunder, Zhong Yi paid closer attention.

Soon, they made several discoveries.

For instance, they could trade with specialized villagers, exchanging supplies for spirit stones.

Or, in one overlooked chest, they found a secret realm map—marking the location of a hidden trial.

...

When Lu Ze localized this world, he incorporated many cultivation-themed elements.

Treasure maps, once bartered from cartographers in his past life, now came in richer varieties.

Secret realm maps were one such addition.

Each realm held formidable challenges, rewarding victors with powerful artifacts.

Some even contained critical guides—like the arcane uses of redstone, intel on the End or Nether, or insights into spiritual roots and cultivation techniques.

Certain special villagers even possessed innate spiritual roots.

...

Zhong Yi was enthralled by village exploration.

He realized that while the villagers couldn’t communicate with players, they followed their own behavioral logic.

Cracking that logic might lead to groundbreaking discoveries.

While he researched, the others weren’t idle.

At the village outskirts, they encountered a white giant. After a brutal fight that left them wailing for mercy, they were annihilated.

Only later did they learn this "iron golem" was the villagers’ guardian.

Zhou Yue became obsessed, convinced it was a summoned construct, and vowed to replicate the technique.

Night fell, the moon bright and stars sparse.

Except for the four villagers they’d displaced from their beds, the village was peaceful.

Watching the flickering candlelight at the doorstep, Zhong Yi sighed in contentment:

"Looks like we’ll finally have a peaceful night."

These past few days, it’s either been a total wipeout or being on the verge of one.

Every morning, I wake up only to start from scratch again.

But now, with the shelter of the village, life has finally taken a turn for the better.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

This chapter isn’t over yet—click next page to continue reading the exciting content!

Right at that moment...

The bright moon in the night sky suddenly turned blood-red.

"......"

The three of them took a deep breath in unison, their eyes locked onto Zhong Yi.

"Wh-what are you all looking at me for..."

Zhong Yi’s face flushed.

"It’s just the moon turning red. Maybe it’s some kind of rare phenomenon..."

No sooner had he spoken than

zombies emerged from the darkness.

Unlike the usual dim-witted monsters they’d encountered before,

this time,

their eye sockets glowed with a sinister crimson hue!

An eerie aura radiated from their entire bodies.

"It’s fine, it’s fine! We’ll just hide in the house and stay put..."

"Damn it!! Why can they open doors?!"

"Don’t panic, let’s block the door with stones..."

"Seriously?! They can break through stones too?!"

"Stay calm, we can—"

"Old Zhong, please, for the love of heaven, just shut up!!"

......

......

Tianxuan Sect.

Lu Ze, watching the live stream, was utterly stunned by the four-man team’s extraordinary skills.

Especially Zhou Yue and Zhong Yi.

One was a walking bad-luck magnet, attracting every improbable misfortune.

The other had a cursed tongue—whatever he said seemed to manifest.

The Blood Moon event was a special scenario he had added.

The trigger probability increased over time,

but in the early stages, the odds were less than one in a thousand.

For things to escalate like this...

Well, let’s just say neither Zhong Yi nor Zhou Yue were innocent.

Watching the team get wiped out yet again—along with the entire village being razed by monsters—Lu Ze couldn’t help but laugh.

Who knew even the normal difficulty survival mode could gift him so much Demon Path energy?

Lu Ze exited the stream and logged into the backend of My World.

He entered the Main World of the Heavenly Dao’s remnant spirit.

At that moment, the remnant spirit was also engrossed in watching the cultivators’ gameplay.

"Well? Convinced now?"

Lu Ze asked with a smirk.

"Hmph. The effect is negligible at best."

Seeing Lu Ze appear, the remnant spirit quickly suppressed its wicked grin.

The deaths of righteous cultivators in the illusion had minimal impact.

But... it did have some effect.

"At this rate, it’d take millennia—tens of millennia—to balance the karma... Given what you call ‘server consumption,’ how am I supposed to last that long in my current state?"

The remnant spirit scoffed.

Though it had witnessed Lu Ze’s abilities,

it still refused to accept the server proposal.

The energy required to cover the entire cultivation world was no trivial matter.

In its current broken state, forget millennia—

it’d be lucky to last a century!

Rather than exhausting itself to death, it’d rather hide in the illusory world of My World.

Maybe fate would offer a way out someday.

"Oh?"

Lu Ze raised an eyebrow, completely unfazed.

"What if I told you I could shorten that timeline... to less than a century?"