"No... there are only four days left until the Heavenly Dao's illusion rewards are revealed! If this continues, we will definitely lose!"
Blood Crow said with a gloomy expression.
"How about... we increase our spirit stone rewards a bit more?"
Rakshasa suggested.
"Increase it again!?"
Blood Crow's voice tightened a notch.
The resources provided by the Illusion Alliance were limited. Any excess had to come out of their own pockets.
To obtain the Heavenly Dao's reward, the two had already risked their life savings, throwing out spirit stones as if they cost nothing.
But even for Void Refinement Realm cultivators, resources were not infinite.
"Increase it! Otherwise, wouldn't all our previous investments be for nothing?"
Rakshasa gritted his teeth, making up his mind.
"Then we must raise the difficulty to claim them... otherwise, our chances are slim! Let's make it so that cultivators have to stay in for a full twelve hours before they can claim the reward!"
Blood Crow proposed again, quickly gaining Rakshasa's approval.
"But... apart from the rewards, is there really something wrong with our illusion?"
"Could it be... that the drop rate for our red items is too low?"
A flash of inspiration hit Rakshasa, and he spoke up suddenly.
"That can't be... The deduction results from the Heaven and Earth Four Symbols showed that red items need to be rare to..."
Blood Crow frowned, feeling a bit hesitant.
Many details of the illusion they created were finalized based on the Heaven and Earth Four Symbols.
"But the drop rate of our red items is simply too low!"
Rakshasa shook his head.
"The most famous live stream for Immortal Abyss Operation, hosted by some Genius Cultivator... he can pick up a bunch of small reds just by doing three knife runs."
"His teammate is even more exaggerated. Called Smart Little Zhou, he can drop several big reds in a single night!"
"With the drop rate in Immortal Abyss Operation being so high, why should ours be so low?"
Hearing Rakshasa's instigation, Blood Crow couldn't help but hesitate.
The Heaven and Earth Four Symbols couldn't completely deduce all the secrets of Immortal Abyss Operation. Could it really be misinformation?
"Think about it. If it's so hard for players to get a red drop... who would still want to stay in the illusion?"
Rakshasa continued to persuade him.
"Is it really because of the drop rate? If we do this... shouldn't we inform the Alliance Leader?"
Blood Crow was finally somewhat tempted, but still hesitated.
"No need!"
Rakshasa narrowed his eyes and shook his head, then looked at Blood Crow.
"If we truly form a karmic bond with the Heavenly Dao, does Brother Blood Crow really want another person to share it with?"
Blood Crow was startled for a moment, then understood perfectly.
"Alright!"
"Then we'll raise the red drop rate... let the cultivators get red drops to their hearts' content!"
...
...
The forum Lu Ze established wasn't solely for discussing the illusions he created.
It was just like the forums or message boards from his previous life; whenever a topic became concentrated, it would automatically be divided into its own sub-forum.
Lu Ze didn't spend every day researching whether Venerable of the Eight Directions had come up with any new tricks. He only needed to take a peek at the forum to get a good grasp of the latest developments.
Strangely enough, after the fourth day, the players' complaints grew louder day by day.
[Holy crap! What kind of match is this? How come it's full of big reds!]
[I rummaged through a trash pile and found a Heaven-rank cultivation method hidden inside...]
[No wait, I killed a Qi Condensation mob and it dropped an Immortal Artifact???]
[See for yourselves, there are more small reds than small blues!!]
[Even so, they're giving out way too many spirit stones... I want to go to the Immortal Abyss Continent for a knife run!!]
[It can't be helped. We have to choose between the spirit stones in the illusion and the ones in reality!]
...
Looking at the wave of complaints in the forum, Lu Ze was instantly amused.
Increase the drop rate for Red-tier loot?
Which little genius came up with this idea?
Originally, seeing the map design of "Venerables of the Eight Directions" and their marketing strategy of giving away spirit stones online, Lu Ze thought the Illusion Alliance had an expert guiding them behind the scenes.
But as soon as the update to drastically increase the drop rate of Red items came out, Lu Ze couldn't hold back his laughter.
This is what they mean by saying a good reputation is given by your competitors...
The reason why getting loot excites players is because it is rare.
It is rare because the drop rate is low, not because the cultivation technique is incredibly overpowered or the immortal artifact has a deep lore background...
Once Red items flood the market, their collection value will plummet, and the entire loot-farming system will collapse.
Just this one change is enough to pronounce a death sentence on the game.
"Can't launch them at the same time?"
Reading the players' complaints on the forum, Lu Ze stroked his chin, getting some ideas.
The reason they couldn't open a second illusion realm lay with him.
The games he developed didn't have idle-farming mechanics.
Therefore, players rarely needed to open multiple illusion realms simultaneously.
If they did, it was basically like stream-sniping, involving somewhat crooked intentions.
Thus, Lu Ze had set a rule in the illusion realm's logic:
Once a match started, a player could not enter other illusion realms.
But right now...
Special circumstances require special treatment.
Lu Ze cheerfully removed this rule from his illusion realms, only making a distinction between the live-streaming realm and the gaming environment.
...
...
Luofeng Continent, Illusion Alliance Base.
"Brother Rakshasa, you are brilliant!!!"
Looking at the player data that had been skyrocketing for two consecutive days, Blood Crow was so excited he almost jumped up.
At this moment, the number of players in "Venerables of the Eight Directions" had already reached over 380,000!
According to the deductions of the Heaven and Earth Four Symbols, the player count for "Operation Xianyuan Continent" was merely a paltry 500,000.
Although it seemed they hadn't caught up yet, the two of them knew very well that these 380,000 cultivators were snatched right from those 500,000!
As everyone knew, Lu Ze's illusion realms repelled other realms during a match, so the active player base of "Venerables of the Eight Directions" had already surpassed that of "Operation Xianyuan Continent"!
"Hehe, this also relies on Brother Blood Crow's financial power..."
Rakshasa was equally delighted in his heart.
In terms of the number of cultivators, "Venerables of the Eight Directions" already held a massive advantage.
In the evaluation rules for the illusion realm rewards, the rankings were determined based on the situation in the final week.
Having exerted their strength continuously over the last four days, victory was already in sight.
It was just that the consumption of spirit stones was a bit high.
With 380,000 cultivators coming into "Venerables of the Eight Directions" to exploit the freebies every day, this figure was no small amount.
The wealth that Rakshasa and Blood Crow had accumulated over a century was almost completely hollowed out; if they had to sell anything else, they could only sell their natal magical treasures...
"Hehe, compared to the rewards from the Heavenly Dao, this is nothing."
Blood Crow shook his head and said magnanimously.
The top-tier rewards given by the remnant spirit of the Heavenly Dao were resources that couldn't be bought even with billions of spirit stones.
As long as they took the first place and took down "Operation Xianyuan Continent," any price he had to pay would be worth it!
"The decision to increase the drop rate of Red items was truly a stroke of genius! Look at the momentum of the cultivators now... tsk tsk!"
Blood Crow watched the still slowly rising player count, feeling increasingly comfortable in his heart.
"By the time they finish claiming the rewards, twelve hours will have passed... Even if they return to 'Operation Xianyuan Continent,' they won't be able to stay there for that long!"
Rakshasa was brimming with confidence.
In the evaluation criteria set by the remnant spirit of the Heavenly Dao for the illusory realm, the duration of the players' stay was just as important as the total number of players.
Out of the twelve shichen in a day, The Eight Directions Venerable would occupy half of their time.
With an advantage like that, how could they possibly lose?
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."
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
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.”
