Who is harming our sect

"You're saying even a Divine Transformation cultivator can have all their spiritual energy drained by an illusion?"

Ding Mingcang stood with a golden Sect Leader Token hovering behind him, the purple runestone at its center transmitting the sect leader's voice.

"Absolutely true! This happened just three days ago... Nearly a thousand cultivators in our sect had their energy siphoned at once! If not for my timely intervention, it could have been disastrous!"

Ding Mingcang exaggerated the situation.

"Even so, Elder Zhao didn’t destroy the illusion?"

"No. He didn’t even apprehend its creator for punishment."

"Outrageous!"

Above the Sect Leader Token, the furious visage of the sect leader materialized as a spectral projection.

In his view, what kind of illusion could drain a Divine Transformation cultivator’s energy?

This had to be the work of demons!

"Elder Ding, I order you to take me on an inspection of every peak in Lingxiao Sect immediately."

"If your words hold true..."

"The creator of this illusion—execute them!"

"As for Zhao Wendao, strip him of his elder rank and banish him to the Demon-Suppressing Prison to guard its gates. He shall not leave for five hundred years!"

Hearing the sect leader’s decree, Ding Mingcang was overjoyed:

"Ding obeys your command!"

......

Ding Mingcang first brought the sect leader to his own peak, Linxian Peak.

To his surprise, several inner disciples he encountered at the training hall atop the peak were diligently cultivating.

This was unexpected—he had specifically given Linxian Peak a break.

Ding Mingcang knew his disciples secretly indulged in the Illusion Tower, so he had relaxed restrictions these past few days.

All so the sect leader would see more disciples addicted to it.

"This doesn’t seem to match your description?"

The sect leader’s anger subsided slightly.

He had expected the entire sect to be neglecting cultivation, lost in illusions.

Yet the first thing he saw was a group of Golden Core disciples training fervently.

It was reassuring.

Ding Mingcang’s eyes darted, and he quickly laughed. "Disciples of Linxian Peak have always prioritized cultivation—no other peak compares!"

"What are they discussing? Let me hear."

The sect leader noticed the disciples communicating via divine sense and grew curious.

In his current spectral form, he couldn’t cast spells himself.

Ding Mingcang swiftly formed a hand seal.

Instantly, the disciples’ divine sense chatter became audible to both of them.

"Hurry! Break through to Nascent Soul and you can enable [Ray Tracing] in My World!"

"[Ray Tracing]... ah, [Ray Tracing]... this is a cultivator’s glory!"

"Remember, there are only two kinds of cultivators in this world—those who can enable [Ray Tracing], and those who can’t!"

"Fellow Daoist speaks truth... Without [Ray Tracing], what difference is there between Golden Core and Qi Refinement!?"

"Train! Train!"

"I want to play My World so badly... Must resist!"

......

Ding Mingcang and the sect leader were both stunned.

The terms My World and [Ray Tracing] had already been explained to the sect leader on the way here.

But to think...

They had become the disciples’ motivation to cultivate?

"This... doesn’t seem entirely harmful?"

The sect leader had never encountered such a situation.

Though their goals were skewed, the outcome appeared positive.

"Sect Leader, you misunderstand... These disciples only aim for Nascent Soul, but what after? Will they lose all drive?"

Seeing the sect leader waver, Ding Mingcang pressed on.

"Besides, Linxian Peak has always been the most disciplined—other peaks aren’t like this!"

The sect leader nodded. "In that case... let’s inspect the others."

......

Ding Mingcang concealed his presence and began inspecting each peak.

This was My World’s peak popularity period, and rumors spread among disciples that the illusions could purify their spiritual energy.

Everywhere they went, disciples were engrossed in illusions.

If these were truly cultivation aids, it might have been tolerable.

But seeing the disciples grinning, faces flushed with delight—even though the sect leader had never entered the illusions, he knew they were for entertainment.

Peak after peak, the inspection continued.

The sect leader’s fury grew with each one.

Before his seclusion, Lingxiao Sect’s cultivation atmosphere had been impeccable.

Disciples took joy in the Dao, revered the strong.

Now?

From Divine Transformation down to Qi Refinement—all addicted to illusions!

The few cultivators they saw were mostly late-stage Golden Core disciples desperate to reach Nascent Soul... just to enable that accursed [Ray Tracing]!

Worse, the sect leader repeatedly witnessed high-realm disciples being surpassed by lower-realm ones in the illusions—

And the former even praised the latter!

Even the elders, once devoted to Dao debates, were gathered in a room playing some game called Three Kingdoms Kill!

Was this still the Lingxiao Sect he knew?

Rage swelled within him.

As a late-stage Unity Realm cultivator, even his divine sense radiated terrifying energy fluctuations.

"Who dares corrupt my Lingxiao Sect!?"

Seeing this, Ding Mingcang rejoiced inwardly.

"Reporting to the Sect Leader! The culprit is an inner disciple of Lihuo Peak—named Lu Ze!"

"Bring him to me."

"Yes!"

......

......

Zhong Yi’s illusion world.

For once, Zhong Yi wasn’t tormenting villagers in the settlement. Instead, he rode a Darkflame Horse, exploring the wilderness.

"Strange, no sign of ‘Black Curtain’ here... Were those forum posts lies?"

After wandering the desert’s edge for hours, Zhong Yi sighed.

Recently, several forum threads described encounters with a mysterious figure called "Black Curtain."

Every account was the same: a blue-clad, buzzcut character standing motionless, back turned.

No response to calls or attacks.

But upon approach, it would suddenly spin around, revealing a face with hollow eyes and a grotesque grin—

Then the player would instantly die, their gear devoured by the void.

Zhong Yi loved such oddities.

Following the threads’ clues, he scoured every reported "Black Curtain" location.

Yet found nothing.

Just then, the floating chat messages multiplied.

[Senior Brother Zhong, stop playing! Disaster’s struck!]

[Elder Ding took the Sect Leader to confront Junior Brother Lu!!]

[The Illusion Tower might be banned after this...]

[The Sect Leader’s furious!]

[True Disciple Zhong, quit the game and cultivate!]

......

The moment Zhong Yi read the messages, dread gripped him.

He roared into the party voice channel:

"Emergency—Junior Brother Lu’s in trouble!"

......

......

Lihuo Peak, Spirit Jade Pavilion.

With [Ray Tracing]’s burden greatly reduced, the Heavenly Fragment’s main world was no longer barren.

Lu Ze had built a Demon Castle in his past life’s style.

The Heavenly Fragment adored it.

"That kid’s a born demon..."

After reading forum posts about "Black Curtain," Lu Ze reached this conclusion.

The scare tactics weren’t his idea—the Heavenly Fragment had devised them alone.

It looked exactly like the urban legend of HIM from his past life.

"So, isn't the development difficulty of that mod a bit too high?" Lu Ze asked.

"Hmph, if you can't even handle this level of difficulty, you're worse than an ant," the remnant spirit of the Heavenly Dao sneered.

When it came to the laws of the world, the remnant spirit of the Heavenly Dao was a born top-tier powerhouse.

Building upon the mod rules Lu Ze had specified, it integrated principles inherited from Minecraft.

Cultivators who wanted to develop new mods had to operate within the logic of these laws.

As a result, the more advanced the mod, the harder it was to create.

"Whatever, this isn’t so bad," Lu Ze shrugged.

So far, he hadn’t seen anyone successfully develop a mod.

But from what he knew, Zhao Wendao seemed deeply engrossed in it.

Though the difficulty had increased, it would attract higher-level cultivators—a decent outcome.

"By the way, what you mentioned last time—"

The remnant spirit of the Heavenly Dao was about to ask Lu Ze about the progress of the new mode.

Then, without any warning,

Lu Ze’s figure vanished from its main world.