Release the Spirit Ore Come at Me if You Dare

"You damn... I'm over here! Don’t hit the wrong target!!"

Chen Feng's lips twitched in frustration, wishing he could transform into a sword cultivator and rush forward to take the damage himself.

Lu Ze was blasting away at precious spirit mines—precious spirit mines!

Once his own family’s spirit stones were depleted, he’d have to rely on these mines to survive!

At this moment, Chen Feng hadn’t yet realized that Lu Ze was doing this on purpose.

He simply assumed the other had misfired.

He commanded his troops to charge straight ahead.

But Lu Ze didn’t even spare them a glance. The three Shadow Rhinos under his control poured their firepower relentlessly into the spirit mines!

Chen Feng watched helplessly as cracks spread across the mines, bit by bit reducing them to rubble.

"BOOM—!"

"No!!"

"BOOM—!!"

"Stop it!!!"

"BOOM—!!!"

"Leave the mines alone—come at me instead!!!!"

Chen Feng’s cries were heart-wrenching, his hands trembling.

Right now, he’d rather Lu Ze’s bombardment was aimed at his own forces instead of the mines.

This was pure, gleaming spirit stone wealth—the very economy that decided victory or defeat!

Finally, it dawned on him. Lu Ze wasn’t targeting him—he was targeting his spirit stones.

"You little... don’t you dare run!!!"

Furious, Chen Feng ordered his main force to chase the Shadow Rhinos.

But in terms of mobility, how could they possibly match the Shadow Rhinos?

Lu Ze had no intention of engaging. He casually steered the rhinos away, leaving destruction in their wake.

The mines had to be destroyed.

Especially the ones farthest from him.

At its core, [War Mode] was a battle of economies.

How to develop faster, how to cripple the enemy’s growth, how to minimize losses...

The spirit mines near his own sect? Lu Ze could easily contest those.

The distant ones? He wouldn’t just let them thrive.

Remotely controlling the Shadow Rhinos, he left a trail of explosions wherever he went.

Meanwhile...

Another squad began harassing the other factions...

......

Outside the battlefield.

The spectating disciples erupted in uproar.

The atmosphere was electric.

Zhong Yi, the commentator, was practically glowing with excitement, exclaiming in awe.

"What’s Lu Ze doing? Did the rhinos hit the wrong spot?"

"Wait—he’s doing this on purpose!!"

"Lu Ze is blowing up the mines! Lu Ze is blowing up the mines!"

"With the mines gone, the Profound Blade Sect’s income is halved!!"

"Chen Feng has realized Lu Ze’s plan—he’s chasing, Lu Ze is fleeing! Chen Feng can’t catch up!!"

"Lu Ze is still destroying mines!!!"

"The secondary mine near the Lingxiao Sect’s gate is gone too!! Lu Ze’s gone mad—he’s even attacking his own allies!"

"What’s happening? Battles are breaking out everywhere!"

"Good heavens! How is Lu Ze controlling three squads for harassment at the same time?"

"The Heavenly Profound Sect and Cloud Immortal Palace were prepared—Lu Ze’s forces aren’t enough to break through..."

"Oh no! The Heavenly Profound Sect and Cloud Immortal Palace are chasing Lu Ze down. He’s retreating while fighting—seems like the harassment failed..."

"What!? Lu Ze’s assassins have infiltrated their bases... they’re targeting the laborers!!"

"Holy—! The laborers were Lu Ze’s real target all along!!"

"Guo Yunwen and Li Yuluo have realized something’s wrong... they’re pulling back! But it’s too late!!"

"By the heavens! The Heavenly Profound Sect and Cloud Immortal Palace’s economies are crippled!!"

......

Lu Ze’s tactics left everyone present gasping.

Not a single direct fight—just relentless, underhanded tricks.

And yet, he’d successfully stifled the economies of multiple factions.

Meanwhile, Lu Ze himself...

Held control of two major mines, his economy soaring far ahead!

And despite appearing to be repelled in several skirmishes, the losses inflicted on the other sects far exceeded his own.

This performance sparked heated debates among the disciples.

"Who is this Lu Ze? Is he really from the righteous path?"

"Lu Ze is a disciple of our Lingxiao Sect—how is he not righteous?"

"Blowing up mines, kidnapping laborers... and you call this righteous??"

"I swear he acts more like a demonic cultivator than the actual enemy..."

"How is Lu Ze even pulling this off? How can he attack multiple places at once?"

"Didn’t you see Brother Zhong’s replay? His hand speed is insane!"

......

In the joint command room of the Heavenly Profound Sect, Lingxiao Sect, and Cloud Immortal Palace.

Zhang Shifei: "The mine near my base is gone!!"

Li Yuluo: "My laborers have been kidnapped."

Guo Yunwen: "I’ve got it worst—my pursuit force took heavy losses..."

The three exchanged glances, each wearing a different expression.

"Screw this! Let’s just forget development and gang up on him!!"

Zhang Shifei gritted his teeth, his temper flaring.

Li Yuluo frowned slightly. "We should retaliate, but Brother Guo and I need time to recover our spirit stone losses before attacking."

"Not just that..."

Guo Yunwen shook his head with a bitter smile.

"When I chased him to the demonic faction’s base, I saw Lu Ze’s sect had built a ton of demonic arrow towers... Our early-game forces won’t break through easily."

Arrow towers were a nightmare for low-tier units.

Without tier-two spirit beasts to tank the damage, they’d need overwhelming numbers to take them down.

After some deliberation, the trio decided to focus on development, stockpiling tier-two forces before launching a joint assault.

To prevent Lu Ze from sending assassins after their laborers again, they each recruited Spirit Cranes with [Reveal Invisibility].

And considering Lu Ze’s dirty tactics, they also added Heaven-Hound Beasts with [Detection] to their ranks.

Now, neither spies nor assassins could infiltrate their bases.

Just then, a system notification flashed across everyone’s screens:

[A Spirit Vein has appeared!]

A blue marker appeared in the upper-left corner of the map.

In [War Mode], there were two types of random events.

One was the neutral village event seen in the tutorial.

Demonic factions could slaughter villages for troop rewards, while righteous factions could escort them for resources.

The other was the Spirit Vein.

Spirit Veins randomly spawned on the map, and occupying one granted a steady flow of spirit stones.

"This Spirit Vein is so close to the demonic faction’s base... Should we scout it?"

Li Yuluo sounded uneasy.

"No need. Lu Ze’s sect won’t reach tier-three anytime soon. Let’s focus on development and then crush him!"

Guo Yunwen dismissed the idea.

Spirit Veins were lucrative but a late-game objective.

Guarding the entrance were high-level rogue cultivators—ordinary forces stood no chance.

Players usually waited until they had tier-three units before attempting to capture them.

Whoever upgraded their sect to tier-three first would gain an overwhelming advantage!

......

At the same time.

Demonic Sect Base.

"Tch... Seems like dirty tricks alone won’t conquer these stubborn cultivators..."

Lu Ze muttered to himself, shaking his head.

He just couldn’t understand it.

He’d opened with arrow tower rush tactics, wiping out the Verdant Mountain Sect first.

Then he’d destroyed mines and kidnapped laborers to cripple the others’ economies.

With such overwhelming dominance, why hasn't it earned genuine admiration from others yet?

Could it really be just because the tactics are a bit unconventional and the approach a little underhanded that these righteous cultivators refuse to acknowledge it?

Fine.

Lu Ze figured that in future rankings, these so-called righteous cultivators would probably use these tricks even more eagerly than him.

He pondered for a moment.

Most likely, people just found the strategy bizarre and assumed they could pull it off too.

Even if they admitted his skill, they still wouldn’t respect him.

"Alright, alright. Guess I’ll have to show you some real finesse then."

Lu Ze chuckled.

He canceled the massive army he’d been building.

Originally, he planned to amass troops and crush them one by one with sheer force.

But now it seemed pure military suppression might not be enough to earn the rewards he wanted.

He’d have to go easy on them.

"Can’t go too hard when fishing, or the fish will scatter…"

Grumbling to himself, Lu Ze cheerfully summoned three Blood Puppets, a Soul Summoner, and a Blood Curse Master.

Their destination?

The newly spawned Spirit Qi Secret Realm!