The three of them returned to the party space.
"The world is going downhill, and morals are corrupt! Since when did the culture of our orthodox cultivators become like this!!!"
Zhou Yue cursed furiously out of anger.
He couldn't help but recall the time he was baited with weapons by someone in Naraka: Bladepoint.
Since who knows when, the playstyles of orthodox cultivators in the illusions had become increasingly sinister.
It was exactly like the demonic path.
"It's all because Junior Brother Lu started this trend!!!"
Zhou Qiaoling clenched her fists tightly, wishing she could go have an offline PK with Lu Ze.
All of this had to start from Lu Ze's first competitive illusion, Immortal Realm Hegemony.
Since then, the culture of orthodox cultivators gradually went astray, and all sorts of unorthodox methods emerged endlessly.
However, having a fight with Lu Ze was no longer feasible.
Beating him was entirely impossible.
Ever since this guy entered the Dao through illusions, his cultivation soared like he was flying, and his realm had long surpassed Zhou Qiaoling's.
Rumor had it outside that on that day, Lu Ze was severely taught a lesson by the Eldest Senior Sister of the Sword Inquiry Peak, suffered heavy injuries, and went into secluded cultivation to recover.
But Zhou Qiaoling had a very good relationship with Li Moran, and the version she heard from her was not like that.
That day, she happily went to listen to some first-hand gossip, only to remember Li Moran shaking her head faintly, looking distantly toward the direction of the Glazed Fire Peak, with a faint smile on her lips.
"I couldn't defeat him."
Just this one sentence let Zhou Qiaoling know that Lu Ze's strength was unfathomably deep.
That was the number one genius of the Lingxiao Sect in the current era!
Even if he suppressed his realm, anyone who could receive such an evaluation was definitely a prodigy among prodigies.
Therefore, Zhou Qiaoling didn't even dare to call him Junior Lu or Junior Ze anymore. When they met, she clearly called him Junior Brother Lu, but it always felt like she was calling out "Senior Brother Lu".
Zhou Qiaoling only regretted that she didn't spar with Lu Ze when he was still in the Foundation Establishment stage...
"Although this method is shameless, it is indeed effective,"
Zhong Yi commented.
They had looted the entire administrative palace, fought two tough battles, and filled their backpacks to the brim, only to be wiped out by someone lying in wait?
Moreover, catching someone off guard with a premeditated plan gave too much of an advantage!
The risks and rewards were completely disproportionate; who wouldn't be tempted?
"How about... we try it too?"
Zhou Qiaoling licked her lips.
She suddenly recalled her happy days of robbing houses in Minecraft.
Gambling-style looting was a kind of joy.
Plundering wealth was also a kind of joy.
"No!"
Zhou Yue shook his head righteously.
"I am a contemporary true disciple of the Lingxiao Sect. How can I do such despicable things? Do I still want my dignity?"
"Bro, you can't give up a large amount of spirit stones just for a little face... Think about your small treasury of less than 100,000."
Zhou Qiaoling narrowed her eyes and persuaded earnestly.
"Bah! If spirit stones are gone, I can earn more. If my dignity is gone, then..."
...
Ultimately, Zhou Yue compromised.
Because Zhong Yi stated that he also wanted to experience different tactical playstyles, winning the vote two to one.
"Let's get this straight first. Old Zhong, you can't kill anyone. You can only watch from the back!"
Zhou Yue said with a dark face.
The name "Genius Cultivator" was quite famous in the illusion domain, making him the absolute number one celebrity.
On one hand, it was because Zhong Yi's live streams were doing well. On the other hand, it was because the various guides Zhong Yi posted on the forums were widely circulated, giving him students all over the illusions.
Seeing "No Breaking, No Standing" might not let people know he was a true disciple of the Lingxiao Sect, but seeing "Genius Cultivator" would definitely let them know they ran into the Eldest Senior Brother of the Lingxiao Sect.
"Whatever... you can't kill anyone anyway."
Halfway through his sentence, Zhou Yue thought of Zhong Yi's marksmanship from earlier and suddenly felt his worries were redundant.
Zhong Yi glared at Zhou Yue: "Damn you... don't look down on people!"
Zhou Qiaoling glared at Zhong Yi: "Who are you cursing at!"
"...Cough cough, misunderstanding."
Zhong Yi laughed heartily. The three of them put on the standard handyman disciple sets and entered the match once again.
"Engage, search, and evacuate once it's done!"
The familiar warning voice.
Having experienced the ambush just now, Zhong Yi also had some auditory hallucinations of extortion.
"Our drop point this time... Holy crap! Isn't this the place where we were ambushed earlier!?"
Zhong Yi landed, looked around, and was instantly shocked.
Behind them were two massive carriages.
The puppet spirit horses used to pull the carriages were quietly lying on the ground since they hadn't been activated by spells.
This was the exact location of their extraction point in the previous match.
"Hehehe, isn't this a god-tier start? It saves us the trouble of tossing about!"
Zhou Qiaoling clapped and cheered.
"If we get discovered, I won't have the face to see anyone..."
Zhou Yue covered his face, wishing he could hide his ID.
"Wait, that's not right. We can spawn at an extraction point right at the start? Isn't that a bit too much of a joke..."
Zhong Yi frowned deeply, vaguely sensing something was off, but he quickly felt relieved.
"Whatever, I suppose no one would leave right at the start. They would eventually go inside to loot."
"Hehehe, so no one would expect that there are actually people who don't leave at the start, but camp here waiting for them to deliver the goods!"
Zhou Qiaoling's eyes sparkled, already starting to study nearby spots for ambushing.
"Sigh, you two shoot first. If you can't beat them, I'll make a move..."
Zhou Yue still couldn't let go of his pride. He found a small thatched hut nearby and lay down inside, not planning to show his face first.
He didn't want to have such a dark history.
...
Ten minutes passed.
Hiding behind a rock, Zhou Qiaoling grew a bit impatient: "So slow! Why hasn't anyone come yet!"
Lying in the carriage, Zhong Yi calmly pacified her: "Don't rush, wait a bit longer... Perhaps they are still looting."
Inside the room, Zhou Yue yawned: "I'll sleep for a while. Call me when someone comes."
Zhou Qiaoling couldn't wait any longer: "Whatever, I'm going to loot the grain factory next door... Ahhh!! It's been wiped clean by someone!!!"
...
Fifteen minutes passed.
Zhou Qiaoling started to go crazy: "Damn it! Why is no one here yet!"
Zhong Yi was a bit puzzled but still comforted himself: "Look on the bright side, maybe the others got some really good stuff?"
Zhou Yue slept groggily: "Old Zhong, what if nobody comes?"
Zhong Yi was full of confidence: "What are you afraid of? Worst case scenario, we just leave. The extraction point is right behind us anyway; we won't lose anything."
...
Twenty minutes passed.
"Senior Brother Zhong, the countdown is about to end. What exactly did these people get that they still aren't here? They couldn't have all died, right?"
Zhou Qiaoling yawned, finding it extremely boring.
"That's impossible, right? Even if the fighting was intense, there should always be one team left alive to evacuate."
The more Zhong Yi thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.
"Do you think it's possible that one team survived, but got wiped out by Old Sai?"
Zhou Yue cheerfully suggested a possibility.
Old Sai was the trio's nickname for Evil Lord Yide, because in the background information, Evil Lord Yide's surname was Sai, and Yide was his Dharma name.
A demonic cultivator using Righteousness and Virtue as a Dharma name felt very weird, so they just called him by his surname.
"Good thing you were the one who said that, Bro... If Senior Brother Zhong had said it, I would be scared to death."
Zhou Qiaoling patted her chest with lingering fear.
"Then... could it be that they went to a different extraction point? I remember there being some sort of no-backpack extraction point deep inside the military camp, right?"
Zhou Yue spoke up once again.
"That can't be it, right? How could anyone be willing to give up a whole backpack full of loot?"
Zhong Yi shook his head, but he still opened his map out of curiosity.
The moment the map materialized before his eyes, Zhong Yi was dumbfounded.
The green icon representing the extraction point was shockingly located on the complete opposite side of the map, near a massive building called the Wanderer's Hall.
There was not a single icon anywhere near their current location!
And right now, there were less than three minutes left on the clock!
"Crap!"
Zhong Yi slapped his forehead.
"I should have known! Junior Brother Lu would never design such an unbalanced layout... It must be that players who spawn on the west side have to extract on the east, and those who spawn on the east side have to extract on the west!!"
"Old Zhong, speak plainly."
"There's more than one extraction point, and the ones on the east and west are different... Long story short, we've been camping the wrong spot!!"
"Then let's hurry up and move..."
"Junior Sister Qiaoling, bad news. Our extraction point... is on the other side of the map."
"No way!!! I just looted a small gold item from a large medical box by the road, and it won't fit inside my Reincarnation Seal!!!"
"Cut the nonsense and run..."
"Waaah, I'm never being a dirty camper again!!"
...
Meanwhile.
Luofeng Continent, Illusion Alliance Base.
"Lord Alliance Master!"
"That kid from the Lingxiao Sect..."
"He's released a new illusion realm again!!!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
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.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
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."
