Illusion Realm

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Illusion Realm (幻境)
Type	Artificial illusion space / game-like training environment
Creator	Lu Ze pioneered the networked game format; other Illusion Crafters later created their own realms
Affiliation	Spirit Cloud Sect; later accessible throughout the Cultivation World
Status	Active; all Illusion Realms are networked, and Spiritual Energy Authority is open to qualified creators
First Appearance	2

Power Progression

Stage	Development	Effect
Sect trials	Illusion Realms provide scored cultivation trials, including traps and combat challenges.	Results can be measured against explicit standards. 2
Lu Ze’s early creations	Named realms gain home pages, distinct rules, and game-like objectives.	Illusions become interactive entertainment as well as trials. 17 26 65
Heavenly Dao integration	The Fragment of the Heavenly Dao joins the Illusion Tower network and optimizes its realms.	Participation can nourish spiritual energy and aid comprehension, though excessive optimization initially strains the energy supply. 120 143
Great Illusion Era	Illusion Tower cultivation results are doubled, while competitive modes sustain player participation.	The network draws cultivators on a much larger scale. 150
Expanded construction scale	Lu Ze’s strengthened divine sense permits realms up to 10,000 meters in diameter.	Large, fully mapped competitive worlds become possible. 255 257
Open Spiritual Energy Authority	The Fragment allows other creators to seek Heavenly Dao nourishment for their realms.	Quality governs rewards; substandard creations can shatter and cost their creators cultivation. 285
Universal networking	The Fragment connects every Illusion Realm to the network and opens access to anyone.	Lu Ze no longer controls public distribution exclusively. 331
More responsive characters	Lu Ze acquires Myriad Spirits Bestow Life and develops increasingly sophisticated sentient NPCs.	Characters can be given intelligence without finding and repeatedly refining a matching Cybersoul, although sentient NPCs greatly increase spiritual-sense demands. 332 424
Memory and Dao restrictions	Lu Ze adapts the Fearful Soul Entanglement Array for effects on memory and consciousness, then uses a modified formation in Sekiro.	Players can experience sword training without relying on their existing cultivation and sword understanding; extending such effects outside the realm remains more limited. 553 562 566

Background / History

Illusion Realms originally served as sect training trials, distinguished from ordinary cultivation by their explicit scoring systems. Higher-level trials could involve traps and monster combat, while lower-level disciples often regarded their limited trial opportunities as less worthwhile. 2

Lu Ze transformed the format into named, interactive worlds with distinct rules, interfaces, modes, rankings, and rewards. His early realms drew criticism for appearing frivolous or simple—such as a Spirit Field defense scenario involving airborne fruits and plants—but later proved capable of attracting large numbers of disciples. 26 44

Following the integration of the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao into the Illusion Tower, the Illusion Realm became a broader networked environment. The Fragment could optimize the realm, purify spiritual energy, and assist cultivators in comprehending the Heavenly Dao’s will; however, its optimization also caused unsustainable spiritual-energy consumption until Lu Ze disabled Ray Tracing across the Cultivation World. 120 143

The Artifact Forging Hall later doubled the cultivation results gained through the Illusion Tower, prompting cultivators to flood into the network and marking the beginning of the Great Illusion Era. 150

The Spiritual Energy Authority was eventually opened to all creators. Realms that satisfy the Fragment’s standards may receive Heavenly Dao spiritual-energy nourishment, while failed creations can shatter their Illusion Crystal Stones and inflict cultivation loss or other punishment upon their creators. 285

The Illusion Alliance’s rise brought competing realms and disputes over originality. Its Heavenly Dao Mystic Realm allowed real-world cultivation to dominate combat, whereas its later Eight Directions Venerables adapted the rules of Naraka: Bladepoint and attracted players with Spirit Stone rewards. After the Heavenly Dao’s ranking event, Eight Directions Venerables placed second but lost players when its participation rewards ended. 256 342 380 384

The Fragment subsequently connected every Illusion Realm in the world to the network and made them accessible to anyone, ending Lu Ze’s exclusive control over public access. Heavenly Dao rewards and punishments continued to shape the field: after many Illusion Alliance members were punished, its leader urged them to learn the principles of Lu Ze’s designs rather than plagiarize them. 331 340

Later realms demonstrated uses beyond conventional trials. To the Moon Realm contributed to Guo Yunfeng’s advancement to the middle stage of the Refining Void Realm; Palworld was built in response to a crisis at the Beast Taming Sect; and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was designed to hone swordsmanship through restricted abilities and demanding opponents. 489 494 562 573

Functions and Mechanics

Illusion Tower and Illusion Crystal Stones

Illusion Crystal Stones store completed realms and are inserted into Illusion Towers for access. Spiritual Sense enters the illusion space through a cultivator’s token. 65

• Illusion Towers can host individual realms and serve as construction spaces for creators. 65 288
• Realm scale is constrained by the creator’s divine sense; after reaching the Nascent Soul Realm and strengthening his divine sense, Lu Ze could create spaces up to 10,000 meters in diameter. 255
• Large realms may contain full maps, distinct regions, and extensive interactive environments. 257 259
• A display spell can show glimpses of a realm when someone focuses Spiritual Sense on its Illusion Crystal Stone. 562
• The network supports forums, updates, and broad public access. Where outside communication is severed, a local network can still permit nearby players to share a realm by passing its crystal directly. 170 331 345

Heavenly Dao Spiritual Energy

The Fragment of the Heavenly Dao acts as the Illusion Realm’s server-like core and can enhance the effects of participation. 143

• Playing may strengthen spiritual energy and facilitate comprehension of the Heavenly Dao’s will. 143
• Cultivation gains from the Illusion Tower were doubled during the beginning of the Great Illusion Era. 150
• Spiritual-energy supply depends on a realm’s quality; superior realms receive purer nourishment. 285
• The Fragment requires continual player deaths, encouraging Lu Ze to develop sustainable competitive modes. 150 155
• Cultivators may also gain personal insights or fortuitous opportunities through experiences within a realm. Such results are not guaranteed for every player or every challenge. 489 553 554 605
• The Fragment can rank creations and distribute rewards, while penalizing realms it judges inadequate. In one Illusion Alliance group, twenty-two of thirty creators were punished. 340 343 380

Customization and Creation

The Illusion Realm supports editable worlds, player-made content, and extensive visual modification. 59 139

• Map Editor — permits custom map creation. 59
• Mod Editor — can be used to create moves, spells, and entire worlds. 139
• Modules — expand gameplay and can incorporate elements such as spells or cultivation methods, though player-created modules may not always integrate cleanly. 150
• Visual upgrades — Advanced Textures and Ray Tracing substantially improve visual quality, but Ray Tracing places excessive strain on the system’s spiritual-energy supply. 139 143
• Cybersouls — Lu Ze uses constructed souls to test realms and populate characters. 257 290
• Intelligent characters — Myriad Spirits Bestow Life offers Lu Ze a means of granting intelligence to NPCs without first finding a suitable personality to copy. Each sentient NPC in a large narrative realm nevertheless multiplies its spiritual-sense requirements. 332 424
• Memory-based worlds — the Dreamweaving Sect’s dreamweaving array can construct an interactive realm from a person’s memories, allowing its people and events to be explored and changed. 463 465
• Consciousness effects — Lu Ze finds that an altered Fearful Soul Entanglement Array could influence memory and consciousness as well as emotion, though fully exploiting it demands more Spiritual Sense than he possesses at the time. 553

Rule Enforcement and Balance

Lu Ze’s realms commonly restrict real-world cultivation, physique, and techniques in favor of game-specific systems. 257 269

• Combat rules can separate freely controlled actions from special actions that require precise inputs. 257
• Numerical damage is independently calculated to prevent a player’s physical technique or pose from creating unfair advantages. 257
• In Naraka: Bladepoint, combat is built around Basic Attacks, Charged Attacks, and Blade Vibration, while mobility is unrelated to a player’s real-world body. 263 269
• Jiang Lingfeng and Du Cheng temporarily bypassed these restrictions by using a formation that isolated and fed false information to the Heavenly Dao spiritual-energy connection. 273
• Other creators’ unrestricted combat realms can favor high-level cultivators so heavily that weaker players have little reason to enter. 256 550
• Rules need not always remove cultivation: the limited-time “Gods Fight” event briefly allowed each player to bring one spell below the Nascent Soul stage into a match. 178
• Immortal Abyss Continent Operation uses dynamic difficulty, analyzing player data and behavior so its NPCs can match strong players with strength and weak players with weakness. 353
• Sekiro temporarily seals cultivation and Dao understanding. A modified formation also lets livestream viewers choose to cut off their sword understanding for a more immersive experience; outside the realm, they can break that restriction themselves. 562 566

Notable Realms

Illusion Realm	Format / Core Features	Notes
Demonic Path Escape	Early named Illusion Realm	Its popularity made Lu Ze known among Spirit Cloud Sect disciples. 17 26
Plants vs. Zombies	Spirit Field defense; Adventure Mode; falling fruits and plants must be cut down	Initially dismissed by elders as an overly simple sword-based trial. 26
If You’re a Cultivator, Descend a Hundred Levels	Cultivation-suppressing descent through trap-focused levels; later gained a Map Editor	Its bizarre traps challenge movement, judgment, and composure. 50 59
Immortal Realm Supremacy	Sect-development and battlefield simulation; soldiers can level up; custom maps	Features a Severed Thought Cliff-themed home page and became a major platform for player-made maps. 65 68 191
Four Together / Chained Together	Four-player cooperative climbing challenge	Designed to test coordination; a single-player version is easily cleared without chains or teammate restrictions. 87 91 93
Three Kingdoms Kill	Card game with card packs, limited trials, skill effects, and forum strategy discussion	Monetization focuses on cosmetic or exclusive features rather than direct power advantages. 103
Getting Over It	Awkward-control climbing challenge	Players operate a character seated in a jar using a hammer; difficulty comes from intentionally unnatural control coordination. 110
Minecraft	Creation-focused open world with biomes, combat, construction, Creative Mode, modules, and Bed Wars	Became one of the network’s most popular worlds and helped launch the Great Illusion Era. 119 150
Liar’s Teahouse	Four-player deduction and bluffing card game	Uses a 20-card deck containing Human, Earth, Heaven, Demon, and Immortal cards. 170
Demonic Murder	Social-deduction game	Includes roles such as the Demonic Path-aligned [Painted Skin], which can copy other players’ appearances. 187 191
Immortal-Demon Supremacy	MOBA-style competitive realm with heroes, lanes, equipment, and advanced movement techniques	Uses redesigned characters and a five-skill hero structure; its release included a promotional animation. It later gained a Hextech Mayhem mode. 198 199 204 490
Ghost Town Terror	Horror realm with layered illusions and ghost-hunt objectives	At [Ghost Immortal] difficulty, it broke Revered Netherworld Soul psychologically and exposed his Demonic Path collusion. 249 253
Naraka: Bladepoint	Battle royale with skydiving, resource collection, team play, and a rule-based combat system	Built on a 10,000-meter map featuring Tianren City, Senluo Valley, and Hundred Refinements Cave. 257 259 263
Heavenly Dao Mystic Realm	Illusion Alliance free-combat realm that permitted real-world cultivation to shape encounters	Initially attracted combat-oriented cultivators, but its imbalance and lack of Heavenly Dao nourishment hurt retention. 256 257
This Demonic Cultivator Is Not Too Cold	Open-world assassination and role-playing realm	Contains multiple mission solutions, side quests, skill trees, Assassin Rank progression, cinematic sequences, and a Behavior score. 290 295 297 303
Eight Directions Venerables	Illusion Alliance battle royale with eight cultivation-world factions and Spirit Stone participation rewards	Placed second in the Heavenly Dao rankings; its player base declined after the rewards for online play stopped. 342 380 384
Immortal Abyss Continent Operation	Up-to-three-player loot-and-extract Secret Realm with chosen equipment, contested resources, and dynamic NPC difficulty	Illusory losses make equipment costs and extraction decisions central to play. 345 353
Brave the Demon-Locking Tower	Zhong Yi’s eighteen-floor, stat-based tower challenge with special artifacts	Praised by Lu Ze as an unusually strong early work by an Illusion Crafter. 428
Slay the Immortal Spire	Roguelike, turn-based card battles with branching routes and deck-building rewards	Players spend limited spiritual energy on cards and can add new cards after battles. 428 429 432
To the Moon Realm	Story-driven Dreamweaving Sect commission centered on a dying man’s wish	Guo Yunfeng’s experience in the realm contributed to her breakthrough to the middle stage of the Refining Void Realm. 463 489
Golden Shovel Battle	Standalone Auto Chess realm with unit traits and Hextech Augments	Launched during Lu Ze’s seclusion and immediately became popular. 489 490
Palworld	Spirit-beast world featuring Pals, gathering, bases, towers, and arena battles	Developed for the Beast Taming Sect’s crisis; recovered spirit-beast Cybersouls were used to make Pals more lifelike. 494 530 533
Sword Slashing the Stars	Illusion Alliance Sword Dao challenge against cultivator phantoms, without cultivation restrictions	Some participants gained sword insights or manuals, but the Alliance secretly planted material rewards that many mistook for Heavenly Dao gifts. 555 556 559
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice	Swordsmanship-focused combat realm that seals cultivation and Dao understanding	Thirty Sword Cultivator Cybersouls helped refine its moves; repeated deaths force players to learn deflection, perilous-attack counters, and other approaches. 562 573

Relationship with the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao

• Fragment of the Heavenly Dao — integrated into the Illusion Tower as its server-like core; it optimizes realms, supplies Heavenly Dao spiritual energy, and judges other creators’ works. It later networked all realms and instituted public rewards. 120 143 285 331 343
• Lu Ze — creator and primary administrator of his realms; he manages the Fragment’s appearance and system load. He lost exclusive control over network access when the Fragment opened it to everyone. 139 143 331
• Cultivators — players can gain spiritual-energy and enlightenment benefits, but the realms also subject them to tightly enforced rules and potentially severe psychological challenges. 143 253 269
• Other Illusion Crafters — creators can seek the Fragment’s favor and compete for rankings, but poor-quality or plagiarized work risks punishment. 285 340 380
• Illusion Alliance — a rival group whose realms, incentives, and contests compete with Lu Ze’s work; its attempts range from studying his design principles to using planted prizes to attract players. 340 342 424 556

Trivia

• Lu Ze changed the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao’s appearance into a blue-shirted, white-eyed figure resembling “HIM,” and suggested the nickname “Black Curtain.” 143
• “Black Curtain” became a rare and notorious random occurrence within Minecraft; Zhou Yue encountered it repeatedly despite its extreme rarity. 150 155
• Players and spectators often call Lu Ze “Old Devil Lu” in forum discussions about his Illusion Realms. 199 253
• Lu Ze later gave the Fragment a black cloak and red mask as its “work uniform.” 343
• Sekiro’s difficulty embarrassed experienced cultivators, including Chen Yuan, whose repeated deaths to an early samurai general became a subject of livestream mockery. 566 573