Cultivating the Great Era

Lu Ze himself did not even realize just how massive of an impact the launch of the proxy feature would bring to the cultivation world.

His original thought was simply that knife running would further increase player retention.

Some aggressive players only wanted to fight and had no time for knife running.

Some rat players specialized in knife running, but gradually grew bored of it after their assets increased.

With the proxy feature, the knife running business emerged.

In Lu Ze's eyes, this was exactly the same path as those Dao Protectors.

The boss would get illusion realm spirit stones, the knife runner would get real spirit stones, and he would get an endless stream of players...

But Lu Ze had overlooked one thing.

Not everyone could be a Dao Protector.

But knife runners were different.

Anyone could be a knife runner.

And in the cultivation world, spirit stones were not merely currency; they were resources used for cultivation.

Normally, Lu Ze interacted with sect geniuses who lacked neither spirit stones nor resources.

But to the bottom tier of the cultivation world, every single spirit stone was incredibly precious!

For rogue cultivators without a sect to rely on, this was even more true.

Because they did not even have a stable means to acquire spirit stones.

So when the profession of knife runner appeared, the first to boil over with excitement were these rogue cultivators wandering at the bottom.

Knife running is real!! I ran for a day and earned ten spirit stones!!!

You can really earn money in the illusion realm? Then it must be just as difficult as being a Dao Protector, right...

It is not hard! As long as you know the map, anyone can learn it!

It is actually just manual labor that takes time. Those high-level cultivators spend spirit stones to buy our time.

Do not look down on people! Thirty years on the east side of the river, thirty years on the...

Bah! We are just Qi Condensation cultivators. What else do you want when our time can be exchanged for spirit stones?

It is strange... I often hear you guys say the creator of this illusion realm is a demon, so why would he do such a good deed now?

One thing is one thing. In other illusion realms we call him Old Demon Lu, but for Operation Xianyuan Continent... at the very least we have to call him Sage Lu!!

...

...

At the junction of the Nine Continents.

Tianxuan Sect, sect forbidden grounds.

In a mysterious grand formation that used the Nine Continents as its field and the Tianxuan Sect as its core, an old man in his twilight years sat at the center.

As the gentle moonlight spilled down, the old man suddenly opened his eyes, his gloomy gaze looking at the ground.

Sect Master... what is the matter that you suddenly summoned this old man?

The figure of First Elder Chi Shengtian suddenly appeared in the forbidden grounds.

The old man looked up at the sky, his voice hoarse: The Golden Age of Cultivation... is arriving.

...

The news of the Golden Age of Cultivation quickly spread from the Tianxuan Sect.

The managers of the five great sects were all very confused.

In the current era, talents emerged in large numbers and geniuses competed for glory.

Coupled with the prevalence of illusion realms, cultivation was indeed easier than before.

But it was still not enough to be called a Golden Age of Cultivation.

The so-called Golden Age of Cultivation was not determined by just a few top-tier geniuses, but depended on the entirety of the cultivation world as a whole.

Usually, only when spiritual energy was so abundant that even bottom-tier cultivators would not worry about resources, and the entire cultivation world advanced by leaps and bounds with surging destiny, would they enter a Golden Age of Cultivation.

At that time, there would be countless opportunities in the world, and cultivation would enter a virtuous cycle.

The current cultivation world was clearly still some distance away from a Golden Age of Cultivation.

However, the news was a divination deduced by the reclusive Sect Master of the Tianxuan Sect, so no one would question it.

...

...

Lihuo Peak, Lingyu Pavilion.

Lu Ze had been very leisurely lately.

Ever since the proxy feature went online, he felt more and more that he had made a brilliant move.

Knife running could be exchanged for spirit stones, and countless rogue cultivators without talent or aptitude enthusiastically fell into the pit of Operation Xianyuan Continent.

These players could only provide less than 1 point of demonic path value in other illusion realms, but in Operation Xianyuan Continent, the starting point was 10 points!

The growth rate of demonic path value had taken off!

Going at this rate, in another half a year, he would be able to break through to the Soul Formation Realm.

When that time came, he might really be able to block Li Moran's sword strike.

Lu Ze lay on his bed, scrolling through the forums for a while as usual.

One should always listen to the voices of the players. He could not act like those arrogant planners and designers from his past life.

Of course, whether he actually listened or not depended on the situation.

These past few days, the hottest topic on the forums was knife running.

Due to the existence of the matchmaking mechanism, the more aggressively one played, the more bankrupt they became.

Therefore, there was no small number of players who needed knife runners.

This job of knife running was incredibly popular.

The price also dropped all the way from the initial fifty spirit stones for a ten-million run, down to single digits.

This was a price that even disciples of ordinary sects could afford.

But for those rogue cultivators with nothing to rely on, it was a considerable fortune.

Good heavens, is no one calling me Old Demon Lu anymore?

Lu Ze looked at the screen full of praise for him on the forums and felt a bit unaccustomed to it for a moment.

He took out some delicacies as usual and invisibly entered Zhong Yi's live stream.

This was his daily digital snack.

Now, Zhong Yi's stream had added a new segment—

Saving Private Bankrupt.

He was even the one who helped come up with this name.

Poverty alleviation under the jinx effect created explosive entertainment value, making Zhong Yi's reputation even louder.

Right at this moment, the system's voice suddenly rang in his ears:

[The Era of Great Strife has arrived... A surge of holy merit power is about to descend upon the righteous domain!]

[Mission: The host must immediately proceed to the target area, plunder the righteous path's karmic luck, and prevent a righteous cultivator from achieving sainthood!]

[Mission Reward: Upgrade the Myriad Soul Banner]

"..."

Lu Ze took a deep breath.

Without a doubt, this was absolutely the most difficult mission he had received since acquiring this scam of a Demonic Path System.

Plunder the righteous path's karmic luck and stop the other party from becoming a saint?

This wasn't something he could just bluff his way through by casting a simple illusion!

Even if he wanted to do that, there simply wasn't enough time.

According to the system's description, this so-called holy merit power was about to freaking descend at any moment...

"Which sect managed to produce such an overpowered freak?"

Lu Ze muttered in his heart, already calculating how to make life a living hell for this person in the future.

However, when he opened the system to check the exact coordinates, he was instantly dumbfounded:

[Target Area: Lingxiao Sect]