The appearance of the extraordinary-grade Three Tribulations Sword Art had sent the Boundless Sword Domain into a frenzy.
Nearly every cultivator had gathered around Chen Yuan in the center.
Like the moon surrounded by stars, Chen Yuan basked in the adoration of the crowd, showing off the Three Tribulations Sword Art in his hands without the slightest restraint.
It was both a way to win face for the Illusion Alliance and an opportunity to bring glory to the Boundless Sword Sect and himself.
Since it benefited everyone, he was naturally more than happy to do it.
Now that the Soaring Spirit Sect stood above the rest of the world, who wouldn’t want to defeat them at least once?
“A red opportunity, an ancient sword art… In that case, the best illusionary realm of this Dao-Seeking Sword Ruins trial should be…”
“Smack!”
Before Chen Yuan could finish speaking, a black shadow shot out from the corner. He reacted swiftly, cutting it down with a single stroke of his sword.
Lu Ze knew perfectly well that he had no chance of successfully ambushing a Void Refining cultivator like Chen Yuan. Thus, he simply tore the sword art in two and hurled the other half straight into the face of a Boundless Sword Sect disciple.
“Ow!”
The Boundless Sword Sect disciple’s face was struck red by the crumpled half of the basic sword manual, and he let out a howl of pain.
“This kind of trash is worthy of being called an opportunity?”
Lu Ze let out a cold laugh and looked calmly at Chen Yuan.
Anger smoldered in Chen Yuan’s eyes, yet he still didn’t dare lose his temper.
“Lu Zhenchuan must be joking… Over the past few days, quite a few cultivators have received opportunity rewards. If you don’t believe me, you can ask everyone here.”
Suppressing his anger, Chen Yuan smoothly redirected the question toward the crowd.
After all, everyone had benefited from the arrangements. Quite a few nodded in agreement.
“That’s right! I received a high-grade magic treasure myself. If that isn’t an opportunity, then what is?”
“Perhaps True Disciple Li was simply unlucky?”
“Opportunities come in all sizes, Brother Lu. Aren’t you making too much of a fuss?”
…
Repeat a lie often enough, and people will take it for the truth.
Unfortunately, Lu Ze wasn’t buying it.
“Heh. Opportunities bestowed by the Heavenly Dao never produce trash.”
With that single sentence, everyone present obediently fell silent.
Whoever else said those words would have provoked the entire crowd.
But Lu Ze was the one exception.
Because it seemed that his illusionary realms had truly never produced such worthless opportunities…
“Or should I ask… whether the Heavenly Dao would really give you a basic sword manual as an opportunity?”
The moment those words left his mouth, Chen Yuan panicked.
No one doubted whether Lu Ze could summon the remnant of the Heavenly Dao and have it verify the truth.
There had simply been far too many bloody examples of him doing exactly that…
“Lu Zhenchuan, surely such a trivial matter is not worth troubling Lord Heavenly Dao with?”
Just as the atmosphere grew tense, Ling He appeared within the Boundless Sword Domain, smiling obsequiously and putting on an almost humble air.
“Everyone, what Lu Zhenchuan said is correct. This basic sword manual was not an opportunity bestowed by the Heavenly Dao. It was indeed placed in the illusionary realm by the Illusion Alliance.”
“And it is not the only one. The Illusion Alliance also placed many high-level cultivation techniques, sword arts, and magic treasures inside the illusionary realms to serve as rewards for the cultivators.”
“Of course, please do not misunderstand us. Our intention was to encourage everyone to immerse themselves in the illusionary realms and comprehend the sword path. There was absolutely no ill will!”
“That basic sword manual was originally prepared for low-level rogue cultivators, so they could quickly learn the sword path. Yet it somehow ended up in the hands of True Disciple Li. It seems that my reward-allocation technique still needs improvement… We have made fools of ourselves before everyone.”
Ling He’s tone was sincere, and every word was carefully chosen.
His explanation quickly won the understanding of the surrounding cultivators.
“So that’s how it is… It does make sense.”
“So the opportunities we obtained were not all bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, but were rewards from the Illusion Alliance?”
“That’s hard to say. Some may have been given by the Illusion Alliance, while others may have been rewards from the Heavenly Dao…”
“I refuse to believe anyone would be willing to put a Heaven-grade sword art into an illusionary realm. That must have been bestowed upon me by the Heavenly Dao!”
“It’s hard to say about the others, but that Three Tribulations Sword Art must be an opportunity from the Heavenly Dao, right? Even the Illusion Alliance might not be able to produce such a peerlessly rare sword art…”
…
Listening to the cultivators’ discussion, Ling He finally relaxed.
Just as the Heart Demon had said, the Illusion Alliance had never claimed that the cultivators’ rewards were opportunities bestowed by the Heavenly Dao.
That had all been the cultivators’ own speculation.
Now that they had benefited from the arrangements, they had begun arguing in defense of the Illusion Alliance. That made it even more difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood.
“It was our oversight, and it has affected True Disciple Li’s reputation… How about this? In my personal capacity, I will give True Disciple Li a Heaven-grade superior sword art as compensation for her cultivation in the illusionary realm. What do you say?”
Seeing that the situation was gradually calming down, Ling He extended his hand and offered a sword art of considerable quality.
“I don’t want it,” Li Moran said coldly.
“Exactly! My Senior Sister Li could write a dozen sword arts of this quality in her sleep… It should at least be Elder Chen’s Three Tribulations Sword Art before—”
Lu Ze was just about to fan the flames when Li Moran spoke again.
“I don’t want that one either.”
“...What a wasteful woman.”
The corner of Lu Ze’s mouth twitched slightly.
He looked coldly at Ling He and Chen Yuan before him. He understood the situation perfectly: the Illusion Alliance and the Boundless Sword Sect had clearly reached an agreement long ago.
The former wanted to use the Dao-Seeking Sword Ruins to build its reputation and seize the destiny he had accumulated through the path of illusionary realms.
The latter wanted to secretly manipulate the competition and use the opportunity to step on the Soaring Spirit Sect.
Still, when it came to this matter, the Illusion Alliance had handled things far more cleverly than before.
Although they had deliberately created the illusion that opportunities bestowed by the Heavenly Dao had descended into the illusionary realms, they themselves had never said a word to that effect.
Everything had been spread by the cultivators among themselves.
Thus, even if Lu Ze truly summoned the remnant of the Heavenly Dao, all he could do was expose the Illusion Alliance’s actions. The remnant would have no reason to punish them.
And now that the Illusion Alliance had taken the initiative to admit the truth, there was even less reason to do so.
Of course, even if there had been grounds for punishment, Lu Ze had no intention of wasting the remnant of the Heavenly Dao’s power over such a trivial matter.
As for the Three Tribulations Sword Art…
Based on what Lu Ze knew of the Illusion Alliance, there was a very high chance that it was the result of a deal between the alliance and Chen Yuan, rather than an opportunity left behind by the remnant of the Heavenly Dao.
After all, when it came to financial power, the Illusion Alliance was truly formidable.
Now that countless cultivators believed the Three Tribulations Sword Art was a genuine opportunity bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, should he expose it?
Lu Ze felt there was no need.
If he exposed the truth, then everyone under the heavens would know that the Illusion Alliance was willing to place such treasures inside its illusionary realms. That would only cause countless people to flock toward them.
After all, compared with opportunities bestowed by the Heavenly Dao—things so distant and unattainable—a confirmed, known supreme treasure would naturally inspire far more pursuit.
That would actually be a bad thing.
On the contrary, if he didn’t expose them, the treasure would be credited to the Heavenly Dao.
And throughout the entire world, the illusionary realms most likely to attract opportunities from the Heavenly Dao all came from Lu Ze’s hands.
In other words, when all was said and done, this would actually benefit him.
The prerequisite was…
That he could defeat Sword Slashing the Stars this time.
Lu Ze naturally had not the slightest doubt that he could do so.
The journey from the Soaring Spirit Sect to the Boundless Sword Sect would not normally take five days.
The only reason it had taken so long was that Lu Ze had spent the time creating an illusionary realm along the way. He had only set out for this place once it was complete.
And in terms of the sword path, Lu Ze was certain that this illusionary realm could not possibly lose.
Because it was called—
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
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."
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?
