The Optimal Solution

As soon as the third challenge was announced, the cultivators by Xianyun Lake erupted into an uproar.

"Am I seeing things?? Making the Supreme Elder of the Emotionless Sect shed tears??"

"How is such a thing possible??"

"Even Old Demon Lu couldn't pull that off!"

"If the Illusory Alliance can't afford the rewards, they simply shouldn't offer them! Why resort to such underhanded tactics?"

"Unfair! This is unfair!"

...

Facing the collective protest of the cultivators, Rakshasa seemed to have anticipated it all along.

"Everyone, please hear me out."

Rakshasa's voice was steady, suppressing the cultivators' discontent with ease.

"The proposal we made, to make Elder Guo weep, is merely the ultimate vision of the illusion..."

"If no one can accomplish it, it doesn't mean this challenge has no victor."

"In that case, Elder Guo's judgment will prevail. With the discerning eye of the Emotionless Sect's Supreme Elder, there should be no error."

This explanation had been arranged by the Heart Demon beforehand.

Everyone knew that Guo Yunfeng would never shed tears for love, nor would she cry because of an illusion.

Thus, the determination of victory would naturally fall into Guo Yunfeng's hands.

In this way, the results could be manipulated at will.

They could decide who would take first place.

They could make Lu Ze finish last with no effort at all.

No one could find fault with it!

With these words, the once restless cultivators gradually calmed down.

Since making Guo Yunfeng cry was not a mandatory requirement, the difficulty of the illusion had greatly decreased.

All that mattered was catering to Guo Yunfeng's tastes.

"Junior Brother Lu, this challenge... is utterly despicable."

Zhong Yi frowned, hesitating as if he wanted to say more.

"Oh? What do you mean?"

Lu Ze asked with a smile.

"Cultivators who have reached the Unity stage through the Emotionless Path... it can be said that their seven emotions and six desires have long been severed. They cannot shed tears."

Zhong Yi's expression was serious, his voice lowered.

"If so, on the surface, the challenge is about whose illusion can make Elder Guo cry, but in reality, it's all based solely on Elder Guo's word!"

"If Elder Guo has formed some kind of agreement with the Illusory Alliance, then victory or defeat is entirely the Illusory Alliance's dictatorship!"

"Given the actions of the previous two challengers, I'm afraid..."

Zhong Yi's eyes were full of worry.

He knew that the Illusory Alliance would hinder Lu Ze from obtaining the Taixu Soul Crystal, but he hadn't expected their methods to be so cunning and malicious!

The cunning part was that, on the surface, the reasoning and rules of the third challenge were logical and completely justifiable.

Thus, even if the Illusory Alliance openly manipulated the rankings, no one could find a flaw!

"Senior Brother Zhong, do you think I too cannot move Elder Guo?"

Lu Ze asked unhurriedly in return.

"It's not that I don't believe in your abilities... it's simply that no one in this world can achieve this!" Zhong Yi let out a bitter laugh and shook his head.

"Making someone who has mastered the Emotionless Path to such an extent weep over love? That's as difficult as making a rooster lay eggs or making an iron tree bloom!"

Lu Ze blinked. "Actually, spells that make a rooster lay eggs are quite simple, Senior Brother Zhong. Would you like to give it a try?"

"???"

Zhong Yi's mouth twitched involuntarily, then he straightened his expression. "However, if Junior Brother Lu can create another illusion on the same level as 'This Demon Cultivator Isn't So Cold,' it might truly move Elder Guo—who knows..."

"'This Demon Cultivator Isn't So Cold'?"

Lu Ze raised an eyebrow, and a flash of insight struck him like lightning. In an instant, everything clicked.

No wonder the Illusory Alliance was willing to pay the price of the Taixu Soul Crystal to lure him offline.

No wonder the exchange had to use the Illusory Alliance's Illusion Tower.

No wonder the Illusory Alliance chose love as the final challenge.

All of it was for the technique he had used in "This Demon Cultivator Isn't So Cold"...

The ultimate technique of embodying the Dao and directing the illusion's progression!

An advanced version of the Transformation Dao Technique!

Thanks to Zhong Yi's inadvertent reminder, Lu Ze suddenly understood everything.

The leader of the Illusory Alliance possessed extraordinary means, seemingly capable of analyzing the mystical techniques of others.

Clearly, they intended to decrypt the secrets of "This Demon Cultivator Isn't So Cold" by examining the traces he left within the Illusion Tower!

"Junior Brother Lu, what's wrong? Why that expression?"

Zhong Yi looked at Lu Ze puzzled, utterly confused by his suddenly enlightened demeanor.

It couldn't be that he had been possessed by Li Moran and achieved enlightenment just through idle chatter, could it?

"Nothing, thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother."

Lu Ze shook his head and replied with a faint smile.

"So, Junior Brother Lu, do you plan to create another 'This Demon Cultivator Isn't So Cold'?" Zhong Yi immediately became somewhat excited.

Although Su Di'er was a heartache that would forever remain in every cultivator's soul, there was no denying that the illusion was incredibly addictive and irresistible!

"Of course not."

Lu Ze dismissed Zhong Yi's idea.

Now that he knew the Illusory Alliance's intentions, he certainly wouldn't let them have their way.

The skills Lu Ze had acquired from the system, such as the "Fear Soul Bind Chart Formation," could never have their mysteries uncovered by others.

Even the remnants of the Heavenly Dao couldn't see through them.

But the technique of embodying the Dao used in "This Demon Cultivator Isn't So Cold" was something he had comprehended on his own, without the system's protection.

It was indeed possible for the Illusory Alliance to steal it.

Therefore, under no circumstances would he use this technique within the Illusory Alliance's Illusion Tower.

"You're right... If the judge were the young woman behind Elder Guo, it might be possible."

Zhong Yi rubbed his nose a bit awkwardly, consoling himself.

"Oh, why do you say that, Senior Brother Zhong?" Lu Ze couldn't help but grow curious.

"At Elder Guo's age, she has probably long been disillusioned with 'love.' Even if Junior Brother Lu carved flowers out of thin air, she wouldn't feel anything," Zhong Yi replied helplessly.

"That's because what Senior Brother Zhong refers to isn't love, but rather romantic infatuation," Lu Ze struck the crucial point with a single remark, causing Zhong Yi to give a start.

"True love transcends gender and age... it appeals to everyone."

Watching Zhong Yi's expression of sudden realization, Lu Zhe found it amusing.

"Ah, never mind... I forgot Senior Brother is a typical straight man. He probably doesn't get it."

Zhong Yi: "???"

As for this challenge, Lu Ze already had an answer in mind.

In his previous life, there were no shortage of games themed around "love."

Especially the GALGAME genre, which stood as its own category, almost always revolving around love, with no lack of tear-jerking masterpieces among them.

However, when facing Guo Yunfeng, who had cultivated the Emotionless Path, Lu Ze did not plan to use GALGAME as the template for his illusion.

Because the "love" in GALGAME was mostly filled with the youthful elements of "romantic infatuation."

Choosing such an illusion would be like making an 80-year-old woman in his past life play a Japanese-style GALGAME—completely out of tune.

But when it came to love...

Almost instantly, the name of a game locked itself in Lu Ze's mind:

"To the Moon."

Lu Ze chose "To the Moon" as the blueprint for his illusion for two reasons:

First, as a tear-jerking masterpiece that had made countless tough men weep in his previous life, "To the Moon" truly achieved a universal appeal, transcending age and gender, captivating everyone.

With the support of the fear-binding soul formation granted by the system, Lu Ze was about eighty percent confident that he could move even the Supreme Elder of the Heartless Sect.

Secondly, to prevent the Phantom Alliance from stealing the secrets of the Dao-Transforming Art, Lu Ze decided to avoid open-world, multi-ending immersive games.

To the Moon adopts a spectator perspective, using an omniscient viewpoint to explore the protagonist's past, which perfectly fits the requirements of a linear, single-ending format.

It could be said that To the Moon was almost the optimal solution to this problem.