Idle Cloud Villa, Floating Pavilion.
“Our Emotionless Sect has never been one to owe favors, nor are we inclined to do things for others... I fear you will all be disappointed.”
The white-haired, sharp-eyed old woman spoke with indifference as she looked at the Illusion Alliance members.
【Heart Demon】calmly took a pinkish-white crystal from his storage ring and placed it before the old woman.
“This is what your Emotionless Sect needs... the Tear Crystal of the Mortal World.”
【Heart Demon】 pushed the Tear Crystal forward.
The expressionless old woman’s eyes showed a rare flicker of emotion.
The Tear Crystal of the Mortal World.
It was formed from a highly cultivated master who, trapped by worldly ties, ultimately failed to ascend to immortality.
Within it lay the countless emotions and regrets of that master, making it an unparalleled treasure for cultivators specializing in the Path of Emotionlessness.
The old woman was named Guo Yunfeng, the supreme elder of the Emotionless Sect, who had long severed all seven emotions and six desires.
Naturally, she had no need for the Tear Crystal to aid her own cultivation and advancement, but the young woman beside her did.
“Is this the Tear Crystal of the Mortal World? If I refine it, can I break through to the Nascent Soul Stage?”
A sweet-faced young woman blinked curiously.
Her name was Liu Mengli, the contemporary saintess of the Emotionless Sect.
The Emotionless Sect cultivated through emotion, and the most difficult stage for them was the Nascent Soul Stage.
Liu Mengli’s unique constitution required the aid of the Tear Crystal; otherwise, her breakthrough would be several times harder than for other cultivators.
“Speak, then. What do you want?”
Elder Guo’s gaze returned to calm as she looked at 【Heart Demon】.
“Simple. Just two small favors,” 【Heart Demon】 said, raising two fingers.
“First, in regard to Lingxiao Sect’s Lu Ze’s illusion realm, no matter how well it is crafted... you, Elder Guo, must give it the worst possible evaluation.”
“Why should I, a judge of illusion realms, involve myself in your disputes with other illusion masters?” Guo Yunfeng asked, puzzled.
“Because the theme of the illusion realm is... emotion,” 【Heart Demon】 replied with a smile.
Before the exchange began, he had set up three levels for the challenges from low to high.
The first challenge was built around illusion realms, cutting off all approaches to other types.
But Lu Ze, with his brilliant creativity, cracked it with the board-game illusion realm “Slaughter Immortal Tower.”
The second challenge centered on secret realms, stepping entirely outside the illusion realm’s domain.
Unexpectedly, Lu Ze cleverly twisted an auction into a casino, solving it with “Auction King.”
The third challenge was 【Heart Demon】’s ultimate trump card—
A direct, impossible task!
“The condition for completing the third illusion challenge is making Elder Guo weep,” 【Heart Demon】 finished.
As soon as he spoke, Elder Guo snorted and cut in:
“Hmph, you don’t need to mention that. I’ll never shed a single tear.”
She found the demand utterly contemptible.
As the strongest figure in the Emotionless Sect, she had long since severed all seven emotions and six desires.
A mere illusion realm making her cry?
That was an insult to the Dao she cultivated!
If not for the Tear Crystal of the Mortal World, she would have left immediately upon hearing 【Heart Demon】’s third challenge!
“Of course... this challenge will not be cleared by anyone,” 【Heart Demon】 said with a grin.
That was why he was so confident.
With Guo Yunfeng present, nothing in this world could move her to tears.
So this challenge...
Was unsolvable!
Even Lu Ze couldn’t do it!
What made this move truly brilliant was that, since “emotion” was involved, Lu Ze might once again use the technique from “This Demon Isn’t So Cold.”
The very technique that could gather countless paths into one point!
This was the true goal behind 【Heart Demon】’s massive expense in hosting this exchange!
“And the second request?” Guo Yunfeng nodded, giving her tacit approval to the first condition.
After all, this was a trivial matter.
Any illusion realm about “emotion” was pretty mediocre in her view.
Not that she was being forced to weep within it...
Of course, making her cry was something even a knife at her throat couldn’t achieve.
“The second request is even simpler... just give a few compliments to the Illusion Alliance’s illusion realm.”
“Deal.”
...
...
Two days later.
The day the third challenge was announced.
At the shores of Idle Cloud Lake, even more people had gathered than before.
Besides cultivators, many royal heirs of the Great Qian Empire had joined.
Not long ago, the grand spectacle of “Auction King” had drawn widespread curiosity about the exchange, and many noble visitors came to witness Lu Ze’s Illusion realm.
However, the number of participants on the lakeside platform had noticeably dwindled.
First, because Lu Ze had won twice, and the others knew they had no chance, most had dispersed.
Second, because everyone sensed the challenges were becoming increasingly difficult.
Rather than embarrass themselves by failing a challenge in public, it was better to sit among the spectators and watch.
“Brother Lu, I think... the Illusion Alliance’s third challenge will be utterly insane,” Zhong Yi said, frowning.
The Illusion Alliance’s challenges were clearly aimed at Lu Ze.
By the second challenge, they had already stepped outside the illusion realm to use secret realms.
Who knew what outrageous methods the third challenge would demand?
“It’s fine. I said before, in their territory, the Illusion Alliance has the right to set the rules. But within the illusion realm, it’s my domain,” Lu Ze replied calmly, shaking his head with a faint smile.
Rather than guessing the challenge, he was more curious about why the Illusion Alliance had gone to such lengths to lure him to this in-person event.
Both previous challenges had been aimed precisely at him.
If it weren’t for the wisdom accumulated from billions of people across his previous life, he might have fallen into their trap.
It was clearly the work of the alliance leader, 【Heart Demon】.
Given 【Heart Demon】’s cunning, hadn’t he considered the possibility that Lu Ze might solve all the challenges?
Why would he still risk using the Primordial Soul Crystal as bait to tempt Lu Ze to come here in person and craft an illusion realm?
As Lu Ze mused, the figure of 【Rakshasa】 appeared.
Beside her stood the white-haired old woman, Guo Yunfeng.
“The third challenge is announced! The Supreme Elder of the Emotionless Sect, Elder Guo, will participate!”
“Elder Guo follows the Path of Emotionlessness but has stalled in her cultivation because no earthly emotions remain to refine...”
“Therefore, this challenge asks you all to design an illusion realm that allows Elder Guo to experience the presence of ‘emotion’!”
As she spoke,
Golden characters slowly appeared in the air.
【Challenge: Love】
【Duration: 7 days】
【Requirement: Move the Supreme Elder of the Emotionless Sect, Guo Yunfeng, to tears】
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
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?!
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
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!
