Leisurely Cloud Manor, Floating Tower Pavilion.
“Alliance Leader, this move… brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!”
White Crane was full of praise for the inspiration behind the second task.
Only now did he understand why the exchange had three tasks in total, yet Heart Demon had only revealed the first one for them to prepare in advance.
Heart Demon had planned it all from the very beginning.
If they still couldn’t defeat Lu Ze with illusions even after fully restricting illusion types, then continuing to focus on illusions would be pointless.
Secret realm and illusion realm seemed like just a one-word difference, but in reality, they were worlds apart.
For one, Lu Ze’s wildly imaginative settings in illusions—like characters with flesh and blood, or bizarre and fantastical worlds—could not be easily replicated in a secret realm.
Second, Lu Ze’s greatest asset, the remnants of the Heavenly Dao, would have no way to interfere with matters in the secret realm.
And the reasoning was perfectly logical:
The question-setter was not a cultivator, but an ordinary person.
An ordinary person couldn’t enter an illusion realm, so it was only reasonable to require a secret realm, right?
“Elder Blood Crow… how are the arrangements for the auction going?”
Heart Demon showed no reaction to White Crane’s flattery, instead turning to look at another elder.
“Rest assured, Alliance Leader. Boss Qian is an old friend of mine… Matters in the Great Qian Dynasty were all settled last night.”
Blood Crow replied with utmost respect.
He couldn’t help but admire Heart Demon’s plan.
Shifting the task to a secret realm was already a masterstroke, a stroke of genius.
But Heart Demon had an even more ruthless follow-up.
Only allowing those within the Great Qian Dynasty to participate!
Even if the Spirit Cloud Sect wanted to help, covering the costs to join the auction, they couldn’t reach that far.
And even if they managed to, they could never rival Qian Wancai’s connections and reach!
The most brilliant part was that the Flying Cloud Trading Company’s prized treasure would be sold off by them first.
That single item alone was worth a full thirty percent of the total warehouse value!
Add in some other scattered treasures…
With one big push, they could sell off nearly half the warehouse’s value.
That meant, unless Lu Ze could sell off every remaining item in the warehouse, he couldn’t win this task!
And let’s be honest, the warehouse was mostly filled with cheap, shoddy goods.
Who at the auction would possibly be interested in that?
Blood Crow truly didn’t believe anyone in this world could sell off an entire warehouse of junk!
“In that case, let’s all get to work on the secret realm.”
Heart Demon lifted his head, his gaze deep and piercing as he looked into the distance through the window.
For some reason, a lingering unease still gnawed at his heart.
He then added a final instruction:
“Keep a close watch on the Spirit Cloud Sect’s movements…”
“The moment they try to reach into the Great Qian Dynasty for help, catch them in the act.”
“We cannot afford to lose this time.”
...
...
By the bank of Leisurely Cloud Lake.
With the announcement of the second task, the cultivators were a mix of excitement and concern, buzzing with discussion.
“Didn’t they say it was an illusion exchange? Why the sudden switch to a secret realm?”
“Boss Qian is an ordinary man; he can’t enter an illusion realm, so of course he can’t judge its quality.”
“Strange, then why pick an ordinary person to set the question?”
“Because he’s the sponsor of the exchange… Personally, I think that’s total nonsense—the real reason is to target Brother Lu.”
“And shouldn’t they? Otherwise, he’d scoop up everything, and we’d be left with nothing!”
“This is supposed to be an exchange of ideas, everyone competing on their own merits. Such underhanded tactics are simply too low.”
“I thought the Illusion Alliance was so generous they must be decent people… But with behavior like this, I’m afraid I’ll have to pass!”
“You can’t say that—secret realms and illusion realms are basically the same at their core. Before the age of illusions came, weren’t we all masters of secret realms? Now it’s back to our roots, so let’s show Lu Ze what we’ve got!”
“What’s there to make out of an auction venue?”
“Yeah, there’s nothing fresh about it… So Lu Ze’s specialty of clever tricks won’t work either; this is a fair competition for everyone.”
“Agreed! Since it’s fair, it tests our skills and foundation…”
“Ha! A secret realm means it’s far from fair… With my level of skill, competing with a junior is hardly equitable.”
“If I can’t beat a junior in a secret realm, then I’ve wasted my hundreds of years of life!”
…
The switch from illusion realm to secret realm drew mixed reactions among the landscape masters.
Many righteous cultivators who found the Illusion Alliance’s methods disgraceful chose to withdraw and leave. In an instant, the number of masters by Leisurely Cloud Lake dwindled further.
Zhong Yi was furious about it.
“Junior Brother Lu, don’t stop me—they’ve gone too far!”
Zhong Yi gritted his teeth; if not for Lu Ze holding him back, he would already be demanding an explanation from Rakshasa.
“Switching from illusion realm to secret realm with such opaque rules… it’s blatantly targeting you!”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Lu Ze shook his head calmly.
He had been prepared for this even before coming to the exchange.
“This is their turf, so they have the right to set the rules.”
Lu Ze looked up with a faint, knowing smile, meeting Rakshasa’s smug gaze without flinching.
“But when we get to the illusion realm… that’s my turf.”
“Huh??”
Zhong Yi stared at Lu Ze in disbelief, wondering if he’d heard correctly.
“But… isn’t this round supposed to be decided by the secret realm?”
“It’s a secret realm, sure…”
Lu Ze winked, the corners of his mouth curling into a confident grin.
“But in some cases, secret realms and illusion realms aren’t that different.”
Lu Ze understood Heart Demon’s intentions better than anyone.
Shifting the battlefield to a secret realm would impose heavy restrictions.
Things like the basic mechanic of dying and resurrecting, or wild, freewheeling concepts and designs, or grand world views with richly detailed NPCs…
But what if the illusion realm wasn’t built on anything especially unrealistic?
What if every design in the illusion realm could be achieved in reality through magical techniques?
Then the line between illusion realm and secret realm would almost vanish.
“They finally found the right direction to target me, but…”
Lu Ze smiled slightly.
“They picked the wrong topic.”
Because when it came to the theme of an auction, Lu Ze knew a game that could be perfectly replicated in a secret realm—
Bidding King.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
