Absolutely won't recharge again

【Your cumulative spending has reached 12 Spirit Stones, granting you Level 2 Membership】

【Current Weekly Membership Benefits: 3 Skin Trial Cards, 3 Double EXP Cards (1-hour duration), 3 Double Gold Cards (1-hour duration), 5 Rune Gift Packs】

【Remaining Spirit Stones to Level 3 Membership: 38】

"Level 2 gives this much? How insane must Level 3 be…"

Zhong Yi had just finished purchasing the 6-Spirit-Stone skins for Yasuo and Master Yi and was about to exit when the membership prompt popped up, making his eyes widen in shock.

38 Spirit Stones? For a core disciple like him, that was practically pocket change!

He glanced again at the remaining selection of high-quality 6-Spirit-Stone skins and felt his fingers itch.

"Senior Brother Zhong, if you want to play support for me, just say so. No need to beat around the bush," Zhou Qiaoling teased from the side.

"???"

Zhou Yue panicked and waved his hands frantically.

"Old Zhong, don’t mess with my mental state. If you want any skins, I’ll gift them to you…"

"See? It’s not that I don’t want to play support—it’s that Old Zhou won’t let me…"

Zhong Yi consoled himself, then eagerly browsed the shop again.

"Whoa! The Infernal Hound skin for Nasus? Sold!"

"Hmm, the Dawnbringer Riven looks pretty sick too…"

……

After buying seven more 6-Spirit-Stone skins, Zhong Yi finally reached Level 3 Membership.

Seeing that Level 4 required another 146 Spirit Stones, he steeled his resolve and prepared to leave the shop.

"Alright, that’s Level 3 secured. From now on, I absolutely won’t—"

【You have received a Premium Skin Discount Coupon (20 Spirit Stones off for purchases over 99 Spirit Stones). Valid for 3 days.】

Zhong Yi: "???"

Lu Ze’s intentions were written all over this!!

Yet, he couldn’t resist clicking back into the shop.

Aside from the 6-Spirit-Stone skins, only three premium skins were available in the first batch.

The Three Kingdoms series—featuring Lu Bu, Zhao Yun, and Guan Yu, all iconic figures from the classic tale.

Each was priced at a steep 199 Spirit Stones.

In his past life, these skins would’ve been classified as "pseudo-Legendary"—high-quality models and voice lines but lacking special effects.

To capitalize on the cultivators’ nostalgia for the Three Kingdoms, Lu Ze had gone all out, adding dazzling effects to each.

After all, the money-making potential of this IP had long been proven by games like Three Kingdoms Tactics.

"If I buy the Zhao Yun skin now, I save 20 Spirit Stones and also get to Level 4 Membership…"

"The Level 4 rewards are worth about 50 Spirit Stones, so effectively, I’m paying 100 for the Zhao Yun skin…"

"Fine. After this, no more spending. No matter how cool Lu Bu and Guan Yu look, I won’t fall for Lu Ze’s tricks again…"

【You have purchased the skin: Zhao Yun, the Dragon of Changshan】

【Your Membership Level has increased to 4! You’ve received 5 free Treasure Draw Tickets!】

"Five Treasure Draw Tickets?"

Curious, Zhong Yi followed the prompt to the Treasure Draw interface.

In short—another gacha system.

The grand prize was an insanely prestigious skin:

The Three Kingdoms series skin for the Talisman Master—Zhuge Liang, the Sleeping Dragon.

"These five tickets are free anyway. Might as well try my luck."

Zhong Yi swallowed hard as he stared at the skin’s preview.

"No matter what, I’m not spending another Spirit Stone…"

……

……

Whether it was the 6-Spirit-Stone skins, the membership tiers, daily login rewards, or the gacha mechanics—

These were all tactics Lu Ze had seen exploited to death by mobile games in his past life.

But there was no denying it:

This monetization scheme worked like a charm.

Strategically converting free players into low spenders, then grooming them into mid or even heavy spenders…

Even Li Moran, who had never cared for skins, broke her usual habits and bought Irelia’s Frostblade.

As for Zhong Yi? Well, he was beyond redemption.

Whether it was his lack of self-control or his inability to resist temptation…

Zhuge Liang, the most revered strategist of the Three Kingdoms, didn’t exist in League of Legends in Lu Ze’s past life—but here, he had to create him.

With his current abilities, designing an original skin was no challenge.

He simply modeled it after the Talisman Master (Twisted Fate in League), a hero from Immortal Demons’ Clash.

For the effects, Lu Ze went all out—summoning storm clouds, coiling azure dragons, and earth-shaking ultimates that made the battlefield tremble.

……

By the next morning,

Lu Ze’s 6-Spirit-Stone skin strategy had already netted him a staggering million Spirit Stones in revenue.

Moreover, thanks to the Zhuge Liang skin’s prestige, even sect elders were starting to join the game…

……

……

The growth of Immortal Demons’ Clash surpassed Lu Ze’s expectations.

Cultivators took to MOBA gameplay even more enthusiastically than players from his past life.

The most obvious example was role specialization.

Within just half a month, the "jungler" position had been fully established.

In high-level matches, it was now standard for each team to have one.

This was largely thanks to Zhong Yi’s theoretical research—though he himself often died to jungle camps…

Player skill progressed rapidly.

The once-unbeatable "super-AI" bots now seemed far less intimidating.

Zhong Yi even devised a foolproof strategy to cheese the AI, allowing players to win through macro play even if their mechanics were lacking.

……

Meanwhile,

Lu Ze’s workload never let up.

Running an online game was a long-term commitment.

Future updates, new heroes, new skins, and special modes like ARAM or Ultra Rapid Fire—

All required meticulous planning.

But it was worth it.

As expected, Immortal Demons’ Clash generated an enormous influx of Demonic Path Points.

Its player base was simply too vast.

In just half a month, the game’s contributions propelled Lu Ze past the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, straight into late-stage.

"One more step, and I’ll reach the Nascent Soul stage…"

Lu Ze murmured, eyeing the endless zeros on his cultivation progress bar.

At Nascent Soul, the scale of his illusions could expand even further.

The potential player count? Limitless.

Just then, the system’s voice echoed in his mind:

【An alternate dimension has emerged. Countless Righteous Path Cultivators are mobilizing for war, disrupting the balance between righteousness and demonic forces… As the Demonic Path’s Holy Son, you must aid the demonic cultivators of this world and ensure the Righteous Path’s crushing defeat!】

【Mission: Empower demonic cultivators. Slay 100,000 Righteous Path Cultivators within one week (Current: 0/100,000)】

【Reward: 5x Demonic Path Points (Duration: 10 days)】