"So, Junior Brother Lu is releasing a new illusion realm again?"
Zhong Yi's eyes lit up as he immediately caught Lu Ze's drift.
"Exactly."
Lu Ze nodded slightly, taking out two illusion crystals from his storage ring and tossing them to Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue respectively.
After the Remnant Spirit of the Heavenly Dao took control of the illusion realms, cultivators could purchase new illusions directly within the realm itself. However, there was always a group of nostalgic collectors who loved to get their hands on a unique physical crystal version as a souvenir.
Therefore, every time he created a new illusion realm, Lu Ze would always produce an extra batch of sub-crystals.
"Operation Xianyuan? What kind of illusion realm is it this time?"
Zhong Yi looked at the small text on the crystal, making no effort to hide the excitement in his eyes.
"You choose your own equipment, enter a secret realm, and fight other cultivators for resources."
After a brief moment of thought, Lu Ze gave a simple explanation.
"How strange. Why does that sound just like our usual secret realm explorations?"
Zhou Yue rubbed his head and casually pointed it out.
"Not entirely."
Lu Ze shook his head, not directly denying it.
Although it seemed no different from cultivators heading into secret realms to fight for resources on a daily basis, there was actually a huge difference.
In reality, when people went to secret realms, they did so with the resolve to face death.
No one would skimp on resources or hold back their magical treasures.
After all, dying in reality meant you were truly dead.
But an illusion realm was different.
Because it was an illusion realm—or rather, a game—it was bound to present problems that cultivators had never anticipated.
For example, life-and-death teammates entering a secret realm wearing nothing but scrap metal;
For example, surviving the run, but losing all your money;
For example, bringing top-tier gear didn't guarantee a profit, and bringing nothing didn't mean a loss...
Influenced by economic conditions, this combination of various factors created the Loot, Shoot, Extract genre that became wildly popular across the world.
This point applied just as perfectly to the cultivation world.
In his eyes, the extraction genre was absolutely not as simple as cultivators just raiding a secret realm.
If the players from his previous life only wanted the thrill of combat, wouldn't the gunfights in CS2 or PUBG be much more exhilarating?
A unique economic system, resource allocation strategies, the coexistence of different types of players...
These were the true essence of an extraction game.
"Junior Brother Lu, how many people can team up in this illusion realm?"
"Up to three."
"Do you want to join us, Junior Brother Lu?"
"No, I still have some important matters to attend to. Why not find Senior Brother Mu?"
"Junior Brother Mu is currently leading the younger disciples in body tempering, so he probably can't make it. Junior Sister Li is still in secluded cultivation... Looks like we can only call Junior Sister Qiaoling."
"..."
"Hmm? What's wrong, Junior Brother Lu? Why does your expression look a bit off?"
"Nothing, it's nothing... You guys go ahead and call her."
Lu Ze couldn't help but wipe a drop of sweat from his forehead. He couldn't help but recall the time Zhou Qiaoling's cyber soul secretly hoarded night pearls.
"Alright, you two senior brothers should head back first. Operation Xianyuan will be open for entry in about half an hour."
...
...
Unlike the illusion realms of others, Lu Ze had a wide variety of illusions under his belt, complete with forum links.
This served as a natural promotional channel.
As soon as a pinned server-launch announcement was posted on the forum, the online players across his major illusion realms simultaneously received a pop-up notification.
Thousands of cultivators flooded into the illusion world of Operation Xianyuan in an instant.
Lingxiao Sect, Qingfeng Pavilion.
"It's here, it's here! The illusion crystal for Operation Xianyuan is glowing!"
Zhong Yi excitedly patted Zhou Yue's shoulder.
Beside them, Zhou Qiaoling let out a listless yawn.
"Isn't this just a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm? I don't know why you guys are so excited..."
Zhou Qiaoling rolled her eyes.
She liked playing Lu Ze's illusion realms either because the settings were entirely unique, or because she could enjoy the thrill of obtaining treasures inside.
The description of Operation Xianyuan sounded just like an everyday secret realm run.
It was neither novel, nor did it offer real treasures.
She simply wasn't interested in purely fighting for the thrill of it.
"If you ask me, Junior Brother Lu just hasn't experienced enough Heavenly Dao Secret Realms, which is why he thinks this kind of illusion is something new..."
Despite her complaints, she still entered the illusion realm together with Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue.
An animated cinematic slowly unfolded before the three of them.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
