Their Illusion Is Not as Fun as Mine

"Junior Brother Lu! Junior Brother Lu~"

Just as Lu Ze was waiting for Chi Shengtian's visit, a familiar voice suddenly called out from outside the Lingyu Pavilion.

"Why are so many people looking for me lately..."

Lu Ze pouted and went to open the door for Zhou Qiaoling.

"Senior Sister Zhou, what brings you here?"

Seeing Zhou Qiaoling and the three teammates behind her, Lu Ze asked curiously.

"She’s here to spar with you," Zhou Yue couldn’t hold back a laugh and said cheerfully.

Not long ago, the Grand Elder had issued a sect-wide decree requiring all disciples to clear the Nightmare difficulty three times. The disciples had been wailing in agony, utterly tormented.

Zhou Qiaoling had just been scared out of her wits by a vengeful ghost and angrily decided to come "spar" with Lu Ze.

As she put it, it was better to spar sooner rather than later.

If they waited too long, she might not get the chance...

"Oh, I see," Lu Ze blinked, immediately understanding.

Coincidentally, he was curious about his current strength, so he nodded and said, "Sure, let’s do it."

"Don’t worry, Junior Brother Lu. With me and Old Zhou here, nothing will go wrong!" Zhong Yi patted Lu Ze’s shoulder reassuringly.

"You jinx! Are you cursing him? Who’s going to get hurt?" Zhou Yue laughed and punched Zhong Yi playfully.

"Hehehe... Come on, let’s go!" Zhou Qiaoling eagerly rubbed her hands together. She had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Just then, a chill descended from the sky.

Zhou Qiaoling looked up and waved excitedly. "Ah! Senior Sister Li, are you here to watch me beat up Junior Brother Lu?"

The graceful figure in the air smiled and nodded.

With Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue working together, a small sparring barrier was quickly set up.

"Haha, come on, Lu... huh?"

As Lu Ze revealed his aura, Zhou Qiaoling froze.

"What the—?! How are you already at the Nascent Soul stage???"

......

......

Lu Ze finally received the rare treasure Chi Shengtian had gone to great lengths to obtain—

A spiritual flower called "Secret Ocean Concealing Heaven."

It was said to bloom only once every thousand years, with a flowering period of just half an hour, and the harvesting process was extremely complex.

Chi Shengtian had used a sect treasure to forcibly alter the fate of one such flower a hundred years in the future, bringing it into the present.

The entire process had been immensely costly, both in resources and effort.

This alone spoke volumes about his sincerity.

Such a heavenly treasure was equally troublesome to refine.

Lu Ze asked his master, Nangong Yuan, to craft a specialized cauldron and even invited Elder Lin from Danqing Peak to personally refine the pill for him.

According to Lin Qingxuan’s calculations, the resulting pill would increase Lu Ze’s spiritual sense strength by thirty percent.

Considering his unique constitution, the actual boost would likely be even higher.

"In other words..."

"Ten-thousand-meter space."

At this thought, Lu Ze narrowed his eyes slightly.

With a spatial range of ten thousand meters in diameter, he had many more options for games.

......

......

News of Lu Ze’s breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage spread like wildfire.

The fact that he had thoroughly beaten Zhou Qiaoling was simply too entertaining.

Lu Ze’s rapid cultivation progress and formidable strength quickly drew envy from many.

Before this, illusions had been seen as an unorthodox and insignificant path in the eyes of most cultivators.

Even though Lu Ze had popularized them, most people assumed he was just in it for the money.

Of course, no one knew exactly how many spirit stones Lu Ze had earned from his illusions—otherwise, they would’ve been green with envy long ago...

But when it came to cultivation, things were different.

Creating illusions to gain the favor of the Heavenly Dao’s remnants, thereby obtaining opportunities to advance?

Many cultivators specializing in illusions privately voiced their dissatisfaction.

"This Lu Ze... wasn’t he just an average talent before? How did he suddenly rise so quickly?"

"Rumor has it he formed a bond with the Heavenly Dao, which led to his transformation?"

"There’s gossip from the Tianxuan Sect saying it’s related to the remnants of the Heavenly Dao from ancient times..."

"The Heavenly Dao’s remnants favor illusions? So they granted Lu Ze power and talent he shouldn’t have?"

"Hmph, I’ve long mastered the art of illusions... Why should he get all the benefits?"

"Say, if we also created an illusion, could we gain the Heavenly Dao’s favor..."

"Honestly, the Tianxuan Sect really... If they’d opened this up for bids back then, that Lu kid wouldn’t have stood a chance!"

"Humph! When it comes to illusions, I’m no worse than him!"

"If this Heavenly Dao opportunity had fallen to one of us, wouldn’t we..."

......

For a time, undercurrents surged across the cultivation world.

......

......

Lu Ze remained oblivious to all this, spending his days assisting Nangong Yuan in refining the pill.

Strengthening his spiritual sense was his top priority.

After a month, Lin Qingxuan finally handed Lu Ze a top-grade pill.

The moment Lu Ze swallowed it, he felt an intense and unmistakable expansion of his spiritual sense.

Eagerly, he entered the Illusion Tower to test it out.

The range of illusions he could create had indeed reached ten thousand meters!

Without exaggeration, below the Soul Formation stage, no one could rival him in terms of spiritual sense.

"What game should I make next to torment my dear senior brothers..."

Just as Lu Ze stroked his chin in thought, he received a jade slip message from Zhong Yi.

"Junior Brother Lu, come to the Qingyun Pavilion immediately! It’s urgent!"

......

......

Qingyun Pavilion, Thunder Lord Peak.

"Junior Brother Lu, look... In the past seven days, so many cultivators have suddenly started selling illusion crystals. They’re clearly targeting you... and their intentions are far from friendly!"

Zhong Yi handed Lu Ze a collection of illusion crystals of varying sizes.

After hearing Zhong Yi’s explanation, Lu Ze understood the "urgent matter" he referred to.

Over the past few days, several renowned cultivators had begun emulating Lu Ze by creating illusions and distributing them for free.

Among them were even experts at the Nascent Soul and Soul Formation stages.

They had formed a group called the "Illusion Alliance," boldly promoting their illusions everywhere.

They had even encroached upon Lu Ze’s illusion forums.

When Lu Ze casually checked the most popular forum for "Immortal-Demon War," he saw multiple posts about the Illusion Alliance’s illusions right on the front page.

"Senior Brother Zhong, are you worried that my audience will be divided, or that I’ll lose the Heavenly Dao’s favor?"

Lu Ze asked unhurriedly.

Zhong Yi nodded, his expression grave. "Junior Brother Lu, you might not know this... but these people seem to have coordinated their efforts. All their illusions are about unrestricted real-body combat—the kind of thing cultivators love most!"

Lu Ze smiled. "Then Senior Brother needn’t worry."

With that, he leisurely raised three fingers.

"First, the illusions they make won’t catch the Heavenly Dao’s eye."

"Second, my cultivation has nothing to do with the Heavenly Dao. It’s all thanks to my own hard work and effort."

"And third..."

A cold glint flashed in Lu Ze’s narrowed eyes.

"Their illusions will never be as fun as mine."