If you don't know how to do it, can't you at least copy

Huang Xiao teamed up with Zhao Wendao and Lin Qingxuan, an elder from Danqing Peak, and the three of them started matching together.

Watching the two old friends fumbling clumsily, Huang Xiao suddenly felt comforted.

No wonder everyone outside says Lu Ze’s illusion realm is fair for all.

Look at these elder cultivators at the Refining Void stage playing like they’re just at the Qi Refining level…

Compared to them, Huang Xiao felt his own skills weren’t too shabby.

“Old Lin, can you switch characters? You’re not a kid anymore, always playing ‘Save Hutao’—isn’t that embarrassing?” Zhao Wendao couldn’t help but tease midway through the game.

“I’m the top pharmacist of Danqing Peak. If I’m not playing Hutao, then what else?” Lin Qingxuan retorted immediately.

Zhao Wendao picked Jia Nan, while Huang Xiao chose Ji Canghai.

A lineup so top-tier that even dogs would shake their heads.

Yet they still thought they were unbeatable.

Mostly because they were invading a wild area.

At this stage, those who dare to invade the wild zones are usually cultivators who lack confidence in their skills.

They quickly won the first landing match.

“Heh, these disciples… not worth the fight.”

Huang Xiao got a bit cocky, stroking his beard as he looked at Zhao Wendao.

“Old Zhao, in this illusion realm, who’s the strongest? Let’s spar with him someday.”

“Illusion realm? There’s a lone cultivator named Bai Mu…”

“Bai Mu? Bai as in ‘day’ and Mu as in ‘curtain’?”

“Right.”

“Could it be the one right in front of us…”

“???”

…

Five minutes later.

“Is this guy crazy?? If you want to kill me, just do it quickly!! What’s with this humiliating nonsense!!!”

Huang Xiao, now transformed into a soul tomb, shouted furiously.

Lin Qingxuan was flustered.

His spirit umbrella was tethering Zhao Wendao’s soul tomb, while his hand was pulling Huang Xiao’s soul tomb, trying to revive both at once.

Not far away, a young man in white stood there smiling faintly, watching the scene, sending chills down everyone’s spines.

For some reason, this “Bai Mu” kept targeting Huang Xiao and Zhao Wendao, killing them repeatedly, then just standing there waiting for Lin Qingxuan to revive them.

“Move aside!! Today I’m going to settle this with him!!!”

Huang Xiao wasn’t used to such humiliation. He activated his main character’s ultimate skill and charged forward…

…

…

Lihuo Peak, Spirit Jade Pavilion.

“Ah, that felt good!”

Lu Ze exited the illusion realm, stretching lazily, reluctant to leave.

With two massive experience boosters forming a team, he couldn’t just let the system go to waste.

So he went in to grind experience hard.

You see, personally killing righteous cultivators in the illusion realm has a chance to drop extra rewards.

Of course, the prerequisite is that the opponent respects you.

Obviously, Huang Xiao still wasn’t convinced by him.

After killing him so many times, no extra rewards dropped.

But that’s a good thing.

It meant Huang Xiao would keep entering the illusion realm to reclaim his honor.

Lu Ze could tell that even Huang Xiao was quite interested in this battle illusion.

With this push, Huang Xiao would definitely keep playing “Eternal Tribulation.”

As for Huang Xiao’s skills, they weren’t terrible, but not top-tier either.

As long as he kept playing, he’d be a guaranteed super experience booster.

Currently, “Eternal Tribulation” was still an early version.

Only the four classic weapons plus daggers were available.

The heroes were among the very first old characters, along with Wuchen, Yue Shan, and Gu Qinghan—new characters whose appearances and skills perfectly fit the world of the Heavenly Profound Continent.

Of course, before going live, Lu Ze made numerous balance adjustments.

Otherwise, situations like the Golden Longsword being outclassed by the White Dagger would be inevitable...

As for the heroes, Lu Ze didn’t cut back.

Instead, he added more.

He strengthened the stats of old characters—for example, Temuer’s tornado became thicker than ever before, and Jia Nan’s invisibility grew harder to detect...

Everyone was practically a Three-Body person now, which somewhat matched the cultivators’ taste for world-shattering, earth-shaking power.

There was still plenty of room left in the game mechanics.

Take the Huiyang Realm, the treasure vaults, or the Four Fiends, for example...

For players in this world, just the blade-shaking battles and the battle royale gameplay alone were enough to keep them occupied for quite some time.

If everything were crammed in all at once, players would inevitably end up confused and overwhelmed.

Fortunately, cultivators adapted quickly to battle illusions.

At this moment, complaints about quarrels and sly tactics were growing louder and louder, and Lu Ze was already preparing to release the Huiyang Realm mechanic ahead of schedule...

...

...

At Wuji Sword Sect, Illusion Sword Peak.

“Trash!!”

Jiang Lingfeng glared at the report Du Cheng had just submitted, shouting angrily as he smashed the Illusion Tower on the table to pieces.

“Where are the cultivators? Where have they all gone!?”

Du Cheng hung his head low, not daring to even take a breath.

In just one short week,

the cultivators who regularly logged into the “Heavenly Dao Secret Realm” he had personally created had massively dropped off.

Now, only a mere handful—just several dozen—remained inside.

And all of them were trusted allies of the Illusion Alliance!

“Elder Jiang, please don’t be angry... They’re just trying out ‘Eternal Calamity’ for a bit of novelty. They’ll be back soon...”

Du Cheng forced a smile, biting back his anxiety.

“Back?” Jiang Lingfeng laughed bitterly, fuming. “Do you really think they’ll come back!?”

He wasn’t stupid.

The reputation of “Eternal Calamity” was obvious to even a fool!

Even though he had spent a fortune in spirit stones and secretly hired some rogue cultivators to stir trouble, it hadn’t made the slightest splash.

“I don’t know either... That kid just reached Nascent Soul, how could he... create such a massive illusion...”

Du Cheng frowned, perplexed.

Before “Eternal Calamity” went live, Du Cheng had boasted recklessly that battle-type illusions needed to be large enough to be truly thrilling.

Relying on the support of a Nascent Soul elder, Du Cheng had dared to speak so boldly.

In fact, when the 8-kilometer diameter illusion was launched, it did shock the cultivators.

Sixty players fighting simultaneously—game experience skyrocketed.

But before even a day passed, “Eternal Calamity” went live.

Its illusion spanned nearly ten thousand meters!

A hundred players competing on the same stage!

Add to that Lu Ze’s unique art style...

It completely crushed the “Heavenly Dao Secret Realm,” reducing it to nothing more than a roadside puddle.

“Ten thousand meters... Nangong Yuan? Zhao Wendao? No, impossible.”

Jiang Lingfeng shook his head firmly.

Neither Nangong Yuan nor Zhao Wendao practiced the Divine Consciousness path.

Both Nascent Soul cultivators, there was no way their illusions could surpass the one he had created!

“Could it be the sect leader’s doing...”

Jiang Lingfeng reached a conclusion.

“Elder Jiang, what... what should I do!?”

Du Cheng’s face was pale as he wailed.

He had invested heavily in creating the “Heavenly Dao Secret Realm”!

An 8,000-meter-diameter illusion realm—imagine the amount of magical artifacts and talismans consumed! It’s no small expense.

To attract more cultivators to join in, their illusion realms were distributed for free.

Du Cheng and the others were waiting for games like "Three Kingdoms Kill" and "Immortal Demon Clash" to gain traction. Once the player base grew, they planned to make money by selling content and recoup their losses.

And if nothing went wrong, they were expecting to make a hefty profit.

Who would have thought…

It would fizzle out so fast.

They were totally wiped out!

“What do we do now?”

Jiang Lingfeng gave Du Cheng a helpless glare.

“You don’t know how to make it… but you don’t know how to copy it either?”