Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Zhong Yi, famous across the Forum as the “Genius Cultivator,” has built a following by publishing knife-running guides and customized “Poop Guns” designed to frustrate opponents who loot their users.
• His advice has helped make him the spiritual leader of “Rat” players—those who avoid fights and scavenge for loot. His livestream draws both admiring newcomers and longtime viewers who tease him into demonstrating his combat skills.
• After viewers ask him to show what he can do, Zhong Yi agrees to play aggressively with a teammate. He joins Zhou Yue’s team for a Top Secret match at Ascension Base.
• Zhou Yue refuses Zhong Yi’s suggestion to lower the difficulty. After thirteen failed extractions, he is determined to win and has equipped an exceptionally expensive, heavily armored loadout. Zhong Yi gears up too, though more cautiously.
• Zhou Yue impatiently urges Zhou Qiaoling to finish preparing, but she is still adjusting her weapon to bring her equipment cost just under the match limit.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhong Yi is an experienced guide-maker and Rat icon, but he is wary of being baited into proving his fighting ability. He gives in partly because his viewers have sent gifts and want a change from knife-running.
• Zhou Yue appears increasingly desperate after repeated failed extractions. His refusal to lower the difficulty and lavish gear suggest a gambler’s resolve to recover his losses.
• Zhou Qiaoling is meticulous and focused on optimizing her weapon and loadout, even as Zhou Yue grows impatient. Her love of loot and weapon modification also underpins Zhong Yi’s “Poop Gun” series.
• The livestream audience splits between newcomers who admire Zhong Yi and longtime viewers—nicknamed “Little Haters”—who enjoy teasing him. They suggest several possible teammates and play styles before Zhong Yi joins Zhou Yue’s group.

Significant themes

• Online fame and performance: Zhong Yi’s reputation as a great cultivator contrasts with his cautious, scavenging play style, and viewers pressure him to perform the image they expect.
• Risk and obsession: Zhou Yue’s costly equipment and insistence on another difficult match show how repeated failure can drive someone toward riskier choices.
• Community and humor: Forum guides, in-game nicknames, livestream gifts, and teasing create a shared culture among players, turning Zhong Yi into a symbol for the Rat play style.

Plot points and events

• Zhou Yue, Zhong Yi, and Zhou Qiaoling start a Top Secret run at Ascension Base. Zhou Yue chooses Luna, while Zhong Yi—eager to prove himself—takes Vyron. Zhou Qiaoling picks Hive Medic to save on medicine.
• The team spawns near the core zone. Zhou Yue spends lavishly on stamina drugs, outpacing Zhou Qiaoling, and celebrates finally reaching the area after previous runs with another teammate repeatedly left him stuck in less important zones.
• As Zhou Yue breaks through a glass barrier, a tier-seven [Reaper] sniper kills him instantly. The enemy squad is already positioned to ambush them.
• Zhou Qiaoling initially heads back toward the enemy, apparently to dump the team’s gear, but turns around when caught. Zhong Yi vows to fight on and impresses Zhou Yue by accurately reading the enemies’ positions from their footsteps.
• Zhong Yi’s plan collapses when he misses with his cannon and crashes into a wall with his jet-assisted move. The team is wiped out in under three minutes and returns to the Special Operations Office.
• Shaken by losing his expensive gear, Zhou Yue switches to a minimal tier-three kit. Zhou Qiaoling then replaces her own knife-run setup with tier-six equipment and a powerful rifle, declaring she will protect the others next round.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Yue begins excited and confident, but the sudden loss of his top-tier kit leaves him demoralized. His friends’ familiar habits—Zhong Yi’s clumsy execution and Qiaoling’s thrift—remain a source of teasing.
• Zhong Yi wants to prove he can play the demanding Vanguard role. His game sense and enemy tracking are genuinely strong, but poor aim and movement undermine his tactical insight.
• Zhou Qiaoling starts out focused on saving money and nearly abandons the team’s gear, yet ends the chapter by making an unexpectedly generous commitment to protect Zhou Yue and Zhong Yi.
• The trio’s banter, mockery, and attempts to reassure one another show their easy familiarity, even amid frustration and failure.

Significant themes

• Different playstyles and accommodation: The group accepts habits they cannot change, relying on humor rather than trying to force one another to play differently.
• Skill versus execution: Zhong Yi can read the battlefield well, but knowledge alone cannot compensate for poor mechanical performance.
• Risk and loss: Zhou Yue’s costly preparation makes his instant defeat especially painful, while Qiaoling’s final decision suggests a shift from thrift toward loyalty.

Plot points and events

• Zhou Qiaoling shocks Zhong Yi and her brother, Zhou Yue, by arriving with a full tier-six kit—an astonishing expense for someone famous for saving every Spirit Stone.
• She says she wants Zhou Yue to face hardship courageously instead of giving in after a run of failed extractions. Her words restore his confidence, and he buys an expensive tier-six Havoc armor set.
• Zhong Yi is moved by the siblings’ exchange and joins them with his own high-tier equipment. When Zhou Yue runs short of funds, Zhong Yi supplies him with powerful guns, including a Reaper loaded with red bullets.
• The trio spawns at the vulnerable dormitory and sets up defenses, catching an enemy team preparing to attack. Zhou Yue’s shooting—especially a decisive Reaper shot—turns the fight in their favor, and he eliminates all three opponents.
• Afterward, Zhou Yue tells Qiaoling to take two loot boxes. But he discovers that her “full kit” was actually his tier-six armor and helmet reduced to one durability point, plus a cheap, heavily modified rifle loaded with green bullets. Qiaoling admits she used the stunt to motivate him.

Character developments

• Zhou Yue recovers from discouragement and regains his fighting spirit, then proves his skill in the ensuing battle. His trust in his sister is undercut when he discovers her gear trick.
• Zhou Qiaoling shows affection and concern for her brother, but expresses it through mischievous manipulation rather than genuine generosity.
• Zhong Yi is touched by the siblings’ bond and commits to the fight with expensive gear. His confidence in his own combat ability gets a comic check when Zhou Yue points out how poorly he performed.

Themes and character interactions

• The chapter contrasts resilience and defeatism: Qiaoling’s speech reminds Zhou Yue to confront setbacks rather than surrender to them.
• It also plays with the tension between appearance and reality: her impressive kit looks like a costly show of support but is actually nearly worthless.
• The siblings’ teasing, Zhong Yi’s earnest response, and Zhou Yue’s gratefulness-turned-outrage create the chapter’s central comedy and camaraderie.

Plot points and events

• Soon after escaping an ambush in the dormitory, Zhong Yi, Zhou Yue, and Zhou Qiaoling try to leave through the West District Gate. A fully equipped squad is waiting there and kills them, costing Zhou Qiaoling a valuable haul.
• Zhou Yue realizes the same player, Destroy Spirit Cloud, killed him in both of their last two matches. Zhong Yi investigates and discovers that several Azure Peak Sect players are streaming with the explicit goal of targeting the Spirit Cloud Sect. They appear to be watching Zhong Yi’s stream to anticipate the group’s movements.
• The attackers boast about their victories on the Forum and publicly sell Zhong Yi’s in-game identity token—an especially provocative insult.
• Zhou Yue wants to confront the offending disciple outside the game, but Zhong Yi insists the feud should be settled within the Illusion Realm. The group recognizes they may be outnumbered and ambushed again.
• Rather than switch off his stream and avoid the snipers, Zhong Yi decides to exploit the situation. He selects the unusual Specialist character Urururu, preparing to fight dirty in response to the Azure Peak Sect’s tactics.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhong Yi, usually mild-mannered, becomes openly furious at the stream-sniping and public humiliation. He takes charge and reveals a colder, more ruthless side as he plans a counterattack.
• Zhou Yue is hot-tempered and eager to retaliate, but his bravado is checked by a lack of spirit stones and the practical danger of facing multiple squads.
• Zhou Qiaoling mourns her lost loot and points out that the group could be outnumbered, adding a cautious perspective.
• The three debate whether to seek outside help, confront the enemy beyond the game, or face them themselves. Zhong Yi insists they reclaim their own honor in the Illusion Realm.

Significant themes

• Revenge and fair play: The chapter frames Zhong Yi’s decision to use dirty tactics as a response to the enemy’s deliberate cheating and humiliation.
• Public reputation and provocation: Livestreams, Forum boasts, and the sale of Zhong Yi’s token turn a game rivalry into a public contest of sect pride.
• Loyalty and self-reliance: Zhou Yue argues that the group must restore its own standing rather than leave the matter to others.
• Escalating sect rivalry: The Azure Peak Sect’s targeting grows out of an existing feud with the Spirit Cloud Sect, intensifying tensions between them.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Ze watches Zhong Yi’s stream and confirms that players from Azure Peak Sect have deliberately coordinated their matchmaking to target Zhong Yi’s team. He adjusts the Illusion Realm’s matchmaking rules to prevent repeat targeting, but holds off on activating them so Zhong Yi’s group can settle the score.
• Zhong Yi switches to Ululu and a semi-automatic sniper rifle, revealing a plan that Lu Ze recognizes as an attempt to camp the bridge. He assures Zhou Yue and Zhou Qiaoling that their chances are excellent—unless the boss, Witch Mulan, spawns at the Ascension Platform.
• The match’s world seed confirms that Mulan has spawned there. Knowing she can threaten the entire bridge, Lu Ze removes her from the match, partly to see Zhong Yi’s strategy unfold and partly because Azure Peak Sect’s coordinated targeting is unfair. The deletion also returns one of the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao’s avatars to its source.
• Meanwhile, Azure Peak Sect disciple Han Xian organizes several players to hunt Zhong Yi’s team. His group and another squad cooperate to eliminate a separate team, then pretend to fight each other to avoid suspicion.
• Han Xian learns that Zhong Yi’s trio has gone straight to the bridge and is jumping among the crates. He dismisses Zhong Yi’s threat and prepares to confront them.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ze remains an observer rather than openly intervening, but quietly uses his administrator powers to counter an unfair advantage. His familiarity with games lets him quickly identify Zhong Yi’s intended tactic.
• Zhong Yi shows unexpected strategic confidence, keeping his plan secret from his teammates. His notorious “Crow’s Mouth” makes Zhou Yue and Zhou Qiaoling doubt their prospects when he names the one condition that could ruin the plan.
• Zhou Yue and Zhou Qiaoling trust Zhong Yi’s tactical judgment despite being nervous about his prediction.
• Han Xian is smug and hostile toward Zhong Yi, whom he regards as a weak but irritatingly famous opponent. He directs the ambush and underestimates Zhong Yi’s ability to fight strategically.
• The Fragment of the Heavenly Dao reacts when Lu Ze removes Mulan, revealing that the boss was one of its avatars.

Significant themes

• Strategy versus skill: Zhong Yi’s strength lies in planning, not conventional gameplay ability.
• Fair play and exploitation: Azure Peak Sect manipulates matchmaking to gang up on opponents, prompting Lu Ze to consider safeguards.
• Reputation and underestimation: Zhong Yi’s poor reputation as a player leads Han Xian to dismiss him, even as Zhong Yi prepares a calculated counterattack.
• Hidden intervention: Lu Ze balances letting players resolve their conflict with quietly removing an unfair obstacle.

Key plot points and events

• Zhong Yi reveals his bridge-camping tactic to Zhou Yue and demonstrates a new firing position using Uluru’s Artifact. Placed beside a crate and wall gap, the half-sized Vajra barrier creates a protected high-ground lookout over the area outside Ascension Base’s core zone.
• Zhou Yue realizes the bridge can be held from three coordinated positions: Zhong Yi’s Uluru Position, the bridge entrance, and the ascension mission point.
• The group puts the plan into action. With high ground, strong cover, and an exposed approach, they ambush players crossing the open area. Zhou Yue kills three fully equipped rushers from the Centrifugal Hall.
• Zhou Qiaoling asks to loot the fallen players’ bags. Zhou Yue reluctantly lets her go, despite her eagerness to capitalize on the kills.
• In the Azure Peak Sect’s illusion world, Han Xian dismisses the bridge defenders as weak and decides to challenge them. His junior warns him that their strategy—and especially the Uluru Position—is dangerous, but cannot explain exactly where it is.
• Han leads his squad toward the outer area. When he peeks out of the rat path, two shots hit him between the brows, knocking him down.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhong Yi shows himself as a confident and inventive tactician, turning a familiar bridge position into a powerful, previously unseen ambush setup.
• Zhou Yue quickly understands the strategy and becomes impressed by Zhong Yi’s ingenuity. His hostility toward Azure Peak Sect remains intense, though the first players they kill do not appear to belong to it.
• Zhou Qiaoling is playful and opportunistic, eager to loot the fallen enemies; Zhou Yue’s permission reflects his indulgence toward his younger sister.
• Han Xian is arrogant and eager for recognition. He ignores his junior’s warning and pays for his confidence, while the junior is visibly anxious about the threat.
• Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue work in close tactical partnership: Zhong Yi devises the position, while Zhou Yue recognizes its wider strategic use and executes the ambush.

Significant themes

• Terrain and tactical innovation: A seemingly familiar location becomes dominant when used in a new way.
• Overconfidence and its consequences: Han’s dismissal of the warning leads directly to his being shot.
• Teamwork and coordination: The bridge defense succeeds because multiple positions cover one another.
• Conflict and vengeance: Zhou Yue’s desire to eliminate Azure Peak Sect shapes his determination, even as the ambush initially catches unrelated players.

Key plot points and events

• Zhong Yi, Zhou Yue, and Zhou Qiaoling kill Han Xian with a coordinated bridge-camping setup. Zhou Yue’s precise sniper fire knocks Han down, and Zhong Yi finishes him with Urururu’s long-range Patrolling Flame.
• The trio celebrate the tactic: Urururu’s incendiary grenade, defensive barrier, and ultimate make the character exceptionally suited to holding a bridge, while Zhou Yue’s SR-25 complements the strategy.
• Lu Ze watches the livestream and recognizes that Zhong Yi has effectively created the foundations of bridge camping. He predicts the tactic will become notorious and thinks Zhong Yi has not yet become ruthless enough.
• Han Xian’s team struggles to locate the “Urururu spot,” receiving only confusing directions from an outside disciple. Their attempts to peek or challenge Zhou Yue are punished; his well-timed jumping shots make him hard to hit while letting him maintain accuracy.
• With Zhou Qiaoling applying flank pressure and Zhong Yi repeatedly using Patrolling Flame, Han Xian’s team loses lives and retreats to a rat tunnel. They call for reinforcements, only to hear that the bridge entrance is proving just as dangerous.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhong Yi grows proud of his tactical ingenuity and happily accepts Zhou Qiaoling’s title for him: “the father of bridge camping.”
• Zhou Yue demonstrates exceptional marksmanship and uses the SR-25 effectively, turning the defensive position into a lethal trap.
• Zhou Qiaoling enthusiastically supports her teammates, praising Zhong Yi and contributing pressure from the flank.
• Han Xian shifts from confidence to anger and desperation as his team repeatedly falls for the setup. His teammates’ impatience and difficulty understanding the position compound their losses.
• Lu Ze observes the team’s success with amused foreboding, anticipating the backlash that bridge camping will eventually bring.

Significant themes

• Tactical innovation: Character abilities, weapons, terrain, and timing combine to create a highly effective strategy.
• Teamwork versus frustration: The campers coordinate smoothly, while Han Xian’s side struggles to communicate and respond.
• The cost of reputation: Zhong Yi takes pride in becoming the “father” of a tactic that Lu Ze expects players to resent.

Key plot points and events

• Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue identify the remaining enemies as two squads from the Azure Peak Sect: one in the Rat Passage and another in the Black Hall. Zhou Yue’s squad has already eliminated the garden squad and is controlling the battlefield.
• Zhou Yue dominates the fight with the powerful Uluru Position, while Zhou Qiaoling unexpectedly proves highly effective defending the bridge. Her motivation, however, is mostly the prospect of looting the defeated players’ gear.
• At the match’s final fifteen minutes, Zhong Yi delays taking the Ascension mission. He accepts it at the last possible moment, then cancels it. This means the Ascension extraction point will activate at the deadline, giving his team a potential escape without forcing them to leave their advantageous position early.
• Han Xian realizes the Spirit Cloud Sect has effectively trapped his squads. He proposes that they refuse to extract and attack when Zhong Yi’s team finally has to move toward the extraction point. The Azure Peak players agree to risk a last stand rather than suffer a one-sided defeat.
• Zhou Yue anticipates this possibility: the enemies might pull the Lever and attack instead of extracting, threatening his team as they leave the bridge. Zhong Yi starts looking for a way to prevent that plan.
• A highlighted message from Realm Master Lu Ze offers a solution: pull the enemies’ Lever for them now.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Yue grows increasingly confident as he shuts down repeated attacks, while recognizing that Qiaoling’s defense helped make his success possible.
• Zhou Qiaoling shows real combat skill, but her gleeful focus on looting reveals a comically mercenary side. She admires Zhong Yi’s strategy, though he doubts her praise is sincere.
• Zhong Yi demonstrates patience and strategic cunning, using mission timing to shape the enemy’s choices. He is also forced to reconsider his plan when Zhou Yue points out its vulnerability.
• Han Xian shifts from anger and humiliation to calculated desperation, seeking a final chance to restore his side’s dignity. His teammates respond differently: one is puzzled, another endorses a reckless last stand.
• Lu Ze’s message intervenes at a critical moment, suggesting a new tactical move.

Significant themes

• Strategy and control: Victory depends not just on aim, but on manipulating objectives, timing, and the opponent’s available choices.
• Fairness and information boundaries: The livestream suppresses spoilers and position callouts to preserve the Illusion Realm’s integrity.
• Pride versus survival: Han Xian’s side considers mutual destruction preferable to being defeated without making the enemy pay.
• Humor and personality: Tactical intensity is balanced by Qiaoling’s greed for loot and the teasing exchange over Zhong Yi’s “sinister” cleverness.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Ze proposes a final extraction-lever strategy: pull the last lever at the ten-minute mark, forcing the Azure Peak Sect team to attack before Zhong Yi’s group can extract.
• Zhou Qiaoling is chosen to pull the lever in Blue Hall because she has smoke. Zhong Yi offers her a knife skin, and Zhou Yue adds a gun skin to persuade her.
• After pulling the lever, Qiaoling is caught between Wyvern and a sniper. Badly wounded and seemingly trapped, she prepares to die—until she spots a valuable twelve-slot “big red” seal.
• The prize revives her determination. She fights her way through Black Hall, knocks down Qing Feng, loots Luna’s crate, and escapes with several guns. She returns safely and trades the guns for the big red.
• Qing Feng’s death and the activated final lever leave Han Xian’s team with no way to wait out the timer. Zhou Yue alone holds off their four-route push, allowing Zhong Yi’s team to reach the Ascension Platform.
• Han Xian attempts to salvage his team’s valuables by carrying them to the backpack-drop extraction, but Zhou Yue shoots him and extracts, declaring that no one from the opposing team will escape.

Character developments

• Zhong Yi recognizes the value of Lu Ze’s tactical advice and leads his team through the plan.
• Zhou Qiaoling shifts from frightened and resigned to bold and resourceful when valuable loot is at stake. Her successful escape reveals unexpected combat potential.
• Zhou Yue is fiercely protective of his sister, bargaining with cosmetics to keep her on task. He also proves capable of holding off the enemy alone.
• Han Xian goes from confident planner to furious and helpless as his team loses fighters and options.

Character interactions

• Lu Ze’s advice shapes Zhong Yi’s strategy, while Zhong Yi, Zhou Yue, and Qiaoling negotiate rewards to get Qiaoling to pull the lever.
• Zhou Yue worries intensely about Qiaoling and tries to rescue her, but she insists he stay back; the valuable loot ultimately motivates her to fight her way out.
• After witnessing her success, Zhou Yue and Zhong Yi realize that Qiaoling may be most effective when sent after valuable objectives.
• Zhou Yue’s final taunt to Han Xian underscores the complete reversal of control.

Significant themes

• Strategy and timing: The last-lever plan turns the extraction clock into a weapon.
• Greed as motivation: Qiaoling’s desire for rare loot transforms panic into action.
• Teamwork and trust: The group relies on each member’s role, even while using playful rewards to secure cooperation.
• Reversal of expectations: Qiaoling’s apparent helplessness gives way to a decisive escape, while Han Xian’s careful plan collapses.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Ze’s latest reward permanently increases the Demonic Value he earns when righteous cultivators die in Demon Path Secret Realms by 10. This should let him advance through the cultivation ranks by relying on the players of Immortal Abyss Continent Operation, rather than fighting cultivators himself.
• Lu Ze credits Senior Brother Zhong Yi’s bridge-camping tactics with bringing a wave of new players to the game. Zhong Yi’s guide has also made bridge-camping squads and the Uluru character popular at the Ascension Base.
• Zhong Yi asks why enemies can communicate in Naraka: Bladepoint but not in Immortal Abyss Continent Operation. Lu Ze explains that the latter allows multiple squads to extract together, so unrestricted communication could enable collusion and unfair victories.
• Zhong Yi proposes helping the game’s “Rats”—players who focus on survival and extraction—by giving them a signal for cooperation. His impassioned vow triggers his Grand Dao Truth Incantation, sending wish power into Lu Ze’s Illusion Crystal Stone. The resulting rule change doubles the chance that players who misuse the signal for treachery will be placed in difficult matchmaking against similarly dishonest players.
• Lu Ze suggests a simple signal—two slow shots followed by three quick ones. Zhong Yi likes it and immediately prepares to spread it through the Forum.
• Zhong Yi also asks why Lu Ze deleted the credit he’d added to his bridge-camping guide. Lu Ze insists he doesn’t want fame, then protests when Zhong Yi offers to make the credit anonymous, demanding instead that Zhong Yi claim the discovery himself.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ze is pleased to have found a dependable source of Demonic Value and prefers to stay out of trouble. He uses his control over the Illusion Realm pragmatically, but avoids public credit and fame.
• Zhong Yi proves both an inventive tactician and a well-intentioned advocate for Rat players. In reality, his words can become law, a power that manifests when his vow triggers a golden lotus and wish power. He is eager to share his ideas—and to credit Lu Ze, whether Lu Ze wants it or not.
• Their easy, teasing rapport is central to the chapter: Lu Ze explains the game’s design, helps Zhong Yi refine his proposal, and then tries to dodge recognition. Their conversation ends on an amused contrast between Zhong Yi’s altruistic Rat signal and his notorious bridge-camping tactics.

Significant themes

• Game rules and fair play: The chapter explores how communication limits prevent collusion, while a new signal encourages cooperation without making abuse consequence-free.
• Creativity and unintended consequences: Zhong Yi’s tactics reshape the player base and game meta, while his wish power subtly alters the Illusion Realm.
• Fame versus contribution: Lu Ze would rather remain uncredited, even as his ideas and influence help shape the game.
• Contrasts between reality and the Illusion Realm: Cultivation is suppressed inside the game, bringing characters’ innate tendencies to the fore—such as Zhong Yi’s apparent “crow’s mouth” and Zhou Yue’s bad luck.

Plot points

• Mu Yawen enjoys playing the ordinary-difficulty Zero Dam as a shield-wielding Deep Blue, steadily saving supplies toward her goal of earning 100 million Spirit Stones.
• Zhou Yue, short on money after repeated losses, joins her for a run. He expects a conventional fight but discovers that ordinary-dam players often signal one another, share loot, and avoid combat while each pursues their own goals.
• Mu Yawen generously gives Zhou Yue her valuable loot. Selling it earns him enough to qualify for top-secret runs.
• Zhou Yue persuades Mu Yawen that the top-secret Ascension Base is vastly more profitable. She equips her unused tier-six armor and goes with him.
• Three days later, Zhong Yi returns from a Secret Realm and finds Mu Yawen stripped of her gear and staring at him like a desperate gambler. Realizing Zhou Yue has lured her into the costly runs, he angrily vows to confront him.

Character developments and interactions

• Mu Yawen is cheerful, generous, and content with the cooperative, low-pressure routine of ordinary dam. Her eagerness to reach her savings goal makes her susceptible to Zhou Yue’s promise of quick riches.
• Zhou Yue is both a skilled player and a desperate, repeatedly impoverished one. Frustrated by his rival Said and unable to afford high-end runs, he accepts Mu Yawen’s help—then exploits her ambition to fund his return to top-secret runs.
• Zhong Yi is absent on a Secret Realm mission during the run but returns as Mu Yawen’s concerned senior. His reaction highlights his protective attachment to her.
• Mu Yawen and Zhou Yue move from teammate and benefactor to a transactional partnership, while Zhong Yi’s final outburst turns the episode into a comic confrontation.

Significant themes

• Different play styles and communities: Ordinary dam is defined by mutual signals, shared loot, and players minding their own business rather than fighting.
• Scarcity and temptation: Even powerful or experienced players can be driven by poverty, while the promise of fast wealth can undermine a relaxed routine.
• The game’s cruel incentives: The game is designed to frustrate players—especially skilled ones—and make them keep playing for rewards.
• Generosity versus self-interest: Mu Yawen shares freely; Zhou Yue accepts her kindness but quickly redirects her toward a riskier way to earn money.

Key plot points and events

• Zhou Yue and Mu Yawen admit they have burned through their fortunes playing Top-Secret Ascension, even selling their storage boxes to fund “one last run.” Zhong Yi scolds them for reckless aggressive play, which is costly even when it succeeds.
• Zhou Yue blames Zhong Yi’s bridge-camping tactic for making extraction nearly impossible: the strategy has spread, and bridge campers now appear in almost every round.
• Mu Yawen urges Zhong Yi to check the Forum. Some players praise him as a life-saving teacher or even a parent, but other threads curse bridge campers and call for players to team up against them. Zhong Yi realizes the praise and insults are both reactions to his influence; Zhou Yue laughs at the resulting “parent” jokes.
• The game’s popularity continues to grow. Its “rats” and bridge campers attract players, while its weapons inspire real-world artificers to develop spirit-gun artifacts. Similar tactics also seem to be making righteous cultivators more adept at exposing Demon Path infiltrators.
• Lu Ze grows concerned that the Demon Path may genuinely be regaining strength, since several strange system warnings have coincided with real crises. He resolves to keep Demon Path missions confined to the Illusion Realm and protect his comfortable life in the Spirit Cloud Sect.
• Lu Ze heads out to buy food and is recognized by an excited inner disciple, Zhang Ming.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhong Yi is pleased by the Forum’s praise, but must confront the disruptive consequences of the bridge-camping tactic he created.
• Zhou Yue and Mu Yawen are shown as reckless, financially ruined players; Zhou Yue both resents Zhong Yi’s tactic and finds the backlash against him hilarious.
• Lu Ze shifts from dismissing his Demon Path system’s warnings to taking them seriously, while choosing to oppose Demon Path schemes rather than aid them in reality.
• Zhang Ming’s enthusiastic greeting sets up a new encounter.

Significant themes

• Strategies can spread beyond their creator’s control, producing both praise and widespread resentment.
• Risky ambition can turn costly even for skilled players.
• The boundary between the Illusion Realm and reality is increasingly blurred: game tactics influence cultivation, weapons development, and the detection of infiltrators.
• Lu Ze’s desire for a peaceful life conflicts with signs of a larger Demon Path threat.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Ze recognizes Zhang Ming, an inner disciple who had once topped the rankings in Lu Ze’s first illusion realm. Zhang Ming explains that the illusion realms helped him build skill, connections, and eventually a prosperous career as a “path guardian”: high-level cultivators pay him to escort them through competitive games.
• Lu Ze gives Zhang Ming a pill to help with his impending Golden Core breakthrough. Zhang Ming initially refuses out of gratitude, but Lu Ze insists.
• Lu Ze considers whether to allow escort work and decides it benefits everyone: clients get help, escorts earn resources, and Lu Ze gains more activity and demonic value. He then looks for a way to support “knife runs” without allowing account-renting abuses.
• The next day, Lu Ze introduces a possession feature for Immortal Abyss Continent Operation. A proxy can play solo on another player’s account, but is limited to two kills per match, cannot be used while the account owner is playing that game, and pays a 10% fee on acquired supplies.
• Players celebrate the feature, seeing it as a chance for ordinary cultivators to earn money. Zhou Qiaoling offers to do a knife run for Zhou Yue at a wildly unfair exchange rate; he catches on and refuses. Zhong Yi recognizes the feature’s importance and predicts Lu Ze may be hailed as a saint.

Character developments

• Zhang Ming has risen from an obscure outer disciple to a successful Foundation Establishment cultivator on the verge of Golden Core. His skill and effort, alongside opportunities created by the illusion realms, made him an in-demand paid escort.
• Lu Ze continues to expand his illusion-realm business pragmatically. Rather than banning escort work, he creates rules to make proxy play profitable while limiting its potential for abuse.
• Zhong Yi shows insight into how the new feature could help less-privileged cultivators.
• Zhou Qiaoling remains mischievous, trying to turn Zhou Yue’s need for help into a profitable deal; Zhou Yue is still financially desperate but refuses once he realizes the terms.

Significant themes

• New opportunities through innovation: The illusion realms create unexpected careers and help lower-ranked cultivators advance.
• Balancing profit and fairness: Lu Ze supports a new market while imposing safeguards against unfair play.
• Changing social status: Gaming skill becomes a source of income, connections, and cultivation resources.
• Humor and exploitation: The chapter’s jokes about escort services and Zhou Qiaoling’s proposed deal contrast with the real economic opportunities the feature provides.

Character interactions

• Lu Ze and Zhang Ming share a warm, respectful exchange: Zhang expresses gratitude, while Lu Ze treats his success as well-earned and gives him a pill.
• Lu Ze reflects on the broader effects of escorts and discusses the idea of knife runs with himself before implementing a regulated proxy system.
• Zhou Qiaoling teases Zhou Yue with an exploitative offer; he rejects it, and she mocks his past choices.
• Zhong Yi’s enthusiasm contrasts with Zhou Yue’s and Qiaoling’s banter, as he focuses on the feature’s wider benefit to ordinary cultivators.

Key events

• Lu Ze’s loot-running proxy feature creates a thriving business. Players who need resources hire others to gather loot, and Rogue Cultivators—especially those with few ways to earn Spirit Stones—flock to the work.
• The job is simple but time-consuming, letting low-level cultivators trade labor for valuable resources. Public opinion of Lu Ze shifts: some now jokingly call him “Saint Lu” for helping ordinary cultivators.
• At Sky Profound Gate, the dying Sect Master declares that the Age of Great Cultivation is near. Though the Five Great Sects doubt the world is ready, they trust the prediction because it comes from the Sect Master’s divination.
• Lu Ze enjoys the success of the feature: it attracts many players and rapidly increases his Demonic Value, bringing him closer to the Transformation God Realm. He also watches Zhong Yi’s popular “Rescue the Bankrupt Soldier” livestream segment.
• The system announces an urgent mission: seize an approaching surge of Righteous Path fortune and prevent a righteous cultivator from becoming a saint. The target is the Spirit Cloud Sect, leaving Lu Ze stunned.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ze is pleased with the proxy feature’s success and its benefits to both his growth and struggling cultivators. But the new mission threatens to disrupt his relaxed routine, and he immediately begins wondering who the potential saint is.
• Rogue Cultivators gain a practical source of income and resources, responding with gratitude and renewed enthusiasm for Lu Ze.
• The Sky Profound Gate Sect Master emerges as a powerful prophetic figure, while Grand Elder Chi Shengtian appears to hear his warning.
• Zhong Yi benefits from the livestream’s new rescue segment, which Lu Ze helped name.
• The Five Great Sects are puzzled by the prophecy but defer to the Sect Master’s authority.

Significant themes

• Access and opportunity: A new system lets ordinary, resource-poor cultivators benefit from an economy previously dominated by the powerful.
• Cultivation as a collective process: The Age of Great Cultivation requires prosperity and progress across the entire world, not merely exceptional geniuses.
• Irony and shifting reputations: Lu Ze, often condemned as a demonic figure, is praised as a benefactor even as his system orders him to obstruct a righteous saint.
• Competing fortunes: The coming age promises broad advancement, but the system frames it as a struggle over who controls the Righteous Path’s emerging fortune.

Chapter Summary

Lu Ze learns that the Spirit Cloud Sect may be about to produce a saint. Although his system offers a tempting reward for interfering with the person earning Heavenly Dao merit, he refuses—especially because the candidate could be someone he knows, such as Zhong Yi. He heads toward Qingfeng Pavilion, but senses an extraordinary brightness outside.
A vast Sage Manifestation spreads across the world: auspicious clouds, rosy light, revived nature, and the resonance of the Dao. Cultivators gather at the Spirit Cloud Sect, while other sects react with awe, congratulations, envy, or resentment. Zhong Yi, seeing the news during his livestream, immediately guesses that Lu Ze is responsible.
The Spirit Cloud Sect’s leaders and Elders speculate about which disciple has earned the Heavenly Dao’s recognition. Zhong Yi, Li Moran, and Lu Ze are the main candidates because they are absent from the Great Hall. As the clouds drift east toward Glazed Fire Peak, the crowd’s guesses focus mostly on Zhong Yi and Li Moran. The chapter ends with a young man in white emerging from the Spirit Jade Pavilion at the heart of the phenomenon, strongly suggesting that Lu Ze is the one being recognized.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Lu Ze resists the temptation to pursue a system reward, showing that his personal ties and reluctance to harm an acquaintance outweigh his ambition. He also jokes about being a demon cultivator, contrasting his self-image with the sacred merit involved.
• Zhong Yi is widely regarded as saintly because of his character and teachings. He recognizes that Lu Ze is likely behind the manifestation.
• Huang Xiao and the Spirit Cloud Elders are excited and eager to identify the sect’s newly recognized figure, debating the merits of their disciples.
• Zhou Yue and Mu Yawen discuss the likely candidates. Mu confidently favors Zhong Yi, while Zhou points out that Zhong Yi once predicted Lu Ze might become a saint.
• Other factions respond differently: Sky Profound Gate sends congratulations, Azure Peak Sect’s Zhang Yuxian reacts with jealousy, and Qin Ming recognizes the phenomenon as connected to Lu Ze.

Significant Themes

• Merit, virtue, and recognition: The Sage Manifestation appears to reward great merit, raising questions about who truly deserves sainthood.
• Temptation versus conscience: Lu Ze’s choice not to exploit the event for personal gain demonstrates restraint and loyalty.
• Reputation and mistaken expectations: Many assume that the most visibly virtuous or accomplished disciples must be the chosen one, while the revelation points toward Lu Ze.
• Sect prestige and rivalry: The manifestation promises glory for the Spirit Cloud Sect and provokes envy and competitive reactions elsewhere.

Key events and plot points

• Lu Ze is unexpectedly identified as the source of a Heavenly Dao sage manifestation. The revelation shocks the gathered cultivators—and his master, Nangong Yuan, who quickly switches from disbelief to boasting about Lu’s supposedly sage-like nature.
• Lu Ze is just as confused. He thinks of himself as a demon-path game developer, not someone whose deeds resemble those of legendary sages.
• Zhong Yi explains the possible reason: Lu Ze’s Illusion Realm gives low-ranking cultivators, menial disciples, and rogue cultivators a way to earn spirit stones by offering things that wealthier cultivators want. It has created a path for people who would otherwise struggle to access resources.
• The crowd begins to accept that this opportunity may have earned Lu Ze the Heavenly Dao’s recognition. However, without primordial purple qi, his manifestation is incomplete, and he is only a sage-in-waiting.
• Zhong Yi encourages Lu Ze to keep widening this path through the Illusion Realm. Lu Ze realizes that this may amount to getting players to farm for money in games.
• Li Moran, watching from above, takes an interest in Lu Ze’s new game, Immortal Abyss Continent Operation, and decides to try it.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ze moves from bewilderment to understanding why his work might matter, though he remains amused by the contrast between his commercial motives and the importance others assign to him.
• Nangong Yuan goes from stunned disbelief to delighted pride, enthusiastically claiming he always knew Lu had sage-like qualities.
• Zhong Yi offers the interpretation that helps Lu and the gathered cultivators make sense of the manifestation, framing the Illusion Realm as a “celestial bridge” for the disadvantaged.
• Li Moran shifts from observing Lu at a distance to actively engaging with his work, showing renewed curiosity and anticipation.
• The cultivators’ reactions move from shock and doubt toward cautious acceptance as they consider the benefits the Illusion Realm provides to those at the bottom.

Significant themes

• Unexpected virtue and recognition: Lu Ze’s ordinary-seeming, profit-driven work produces a wider social benefit he did not intend.
• Access and opportunity: The Illusion Realm redistributes economic opportunity by allowing less powerful cultivators to earn resources from stronger ones.
• Different paths to greatness: The chapter suggests that a sage’s path need not resemble those of famous historical sages; creating new opportunities for others may also earn heaven’s approval.
• Humor and irony: Lu Ze’s disbelief, Nangong Yuan’s sudden boasting, and Lu’s comparison of his “sage path” to game-based farming contrast the grand religious significance of the event.

Plot points and events

• Lu Ze receives an unexpected mission completion and a share of a Saint’s fortune after his actions are interpreted as saintly. In reality, he had been trying to keep players engaged and earn Demonic Value.
• The reward upgrades his Myriad Souls Banner into what he calls the Cyber Myriad Souls Banner. It creates copies of cultivators’ souls for the Illusion Realm; their combat strength rises from under one percent to about one tenth of the originals’. It can also produce intelligent NPCs more easily.
• News of Lu Ze’s half-step toward sainthood spreads rapidly. Forum users jokingly rename him “Lu Chusheng” (“early-born”), irritating him enough to mute the user who coined it.
• At the Illusion Alliance base, the Elders worry that Lu Ze’s rising fortune makes their efforts futile. The Heart Demon argues they can still compete by copying his success with Illusion Realm businesses and capturing the fortune associated with them.
• The Alliance decides to launch “Eight Directions Venerables” and make it outrank “Immortal Abyss Continent Operation” within a week.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ze gains power and fortune but remains motivated by game-making and self-interest, despite others viewing him as saintly. His irritation with the players’ nickname reveals his pride and comic sensitivity.
• The Heart Demon emerges as the Alliance’s strategic voice, reassuring the Elders and redirecting their anxiety into a plan to challenge Lu Ze.
• The four Elders, especially Blood Crow, shift from despair to renewed determination after the Heart Demon’s proposal.
• Lu Ze’s relationship with the players is playful and antagonistic: they celebrate his supposed sainthood while continuing to tease him.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Lu Ze is praised for generosity, though his motives are commercial; public virtue and private intent diverge.
• Power through entertainment: The Illusion Realm is both Lu Ze’s livelihood and the source of his fortune, influence, and new defensive strength.
• Rivalry and imitation: The Illusion Alliance plans to imitate Lu Ze’s business model and compete for the same merit.
• Satire and humor: The grand status of sainthood is undercut by online nicknames, petty annoyance, and a three-day mute for a pun.

Key plot points and events

• Zhong Yi warns Lu Ze that the Illusion Alliance has launched a new map and a “Grave Robbing Mode” in Eight Directions Venerables, apparently to challenge Immortal Abyss Continent Operation.
• Lu Ze agrees to inspect it, though he jokes that he wants to see how ordinary another Illusion Realm is.
• After playing, Zhong Yi praises the rival mode’s cultivation-technique combat and polished maps. Lu Ze agrees the maps are its strongest feature, but explains why the rest misses the appeal of his game.
• Lu Ze argues that Immortal Abyss Continent Operation succeeds because its varied combat styles give different kinds of players room to shine. By contrast, Eight Directions Venerables treats combat and valuable loot too much like cultivator concerns rather than game design.
• He highlights how his own flashy, instantly recognizable rare items and searching mechanics make finding loot exciting. Despite its flaws, the rival has one undeniable advantage: its Spirit Stone rewards are enormous.
• At the Illusion Alliance base, Elders Blood Crow and Rakshasa observe that Eight Directions Venerables drew five times its usual audience on launch day, but its player count then plunged. By the third day, most players were only claiming the daily reward and leaving.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ze remains confident and playful, but also shows his design expertise by explaining the principles behind his game’s appeal. He is not threatened by the rival’s imitation, though its generous rewards catch his attention.
• Zhong Yi approaches Lu Ze with sincere concern for his progress and initially views the rival mode more favorably. Lu Ze’s explanation broadens his understanding, deepening his admiration for Lu Ze.
• Blood Crow and Rakshasa are invested in the rival mode they helped create, but its rapid loss of players leaves them confused and unable to identify the problem.

Significant themes

• Substance versus imitation: Copying a popular feature does not guarantee success if the imitator misses what made it enjoyable.
• Player-centered design: A game’s appeal depends on satisfying varied play styles and creating satisfying feedback, not merely reflecting the values of its creators.
• Reward-driven engagement: The rival’s generous Spirit Stone rewards attract players, but do not appear enough to keep them playing.

Key plot points

• With only four days remaining before the Heavenly Dao announces its Illusion Realm rewards, Blood Crow and Rakshasa fear the Eight Directions Venerables will lose to Lu Ze’s Immortal Abyss Continent Operation.
• They decide to spend even more of their own Spirit Stones on player rewards and require players to remain in the realm for six hours before collecting them.
• Rakshasa argues that the realm’s low rate of valuable “red” drops is driving players away. Despite Blood Crow’s doubts about contradicting the Heaven and Earth Four Symbols’ calculations, they secretly raise the drop rate, hoping to improve their standing without sharing the potential reward with the Alliance Leader.
• The change floods players with rare treasures, prompting complaints on Lu Ze’s Forum about how common powerful drops have become. Lu Ze recognizes that making rare items commonplace destroys their appeal.
• Lu Ze removes the rule preventing players from entering another Illusion Realm while already in one. This gives his realm a way to compete for players even as the Eight Directions Venerables’ player count surges.
• Blood Crow and Rakshasa celebrate reaching 380,000 players, believing they have overtaken Lu Ze’s realm in daily participation and will win by claiming half of each player’s day. Their spending has nearly exhausted their fortunes.

Character developments and interactions

• Rakshasa is the more forceful strategist: he pushes for higher rewards, a six-hour commitment, and more frequent red drops. He also persuades Blood Crow to keep their changes secret from the Alliance Leader.
• Blood Crow begins cautious, worried about the cost and the Four Symbols’ advice, but gives in to Rakshasa’s proposals. Their apparent success makes him increasingly confident.
• Lu Ze uses the Forum to monitor his rivals’ decisions. Rather than panic over their sudden popularity, he identifies the flaw in their strategy and adapts his own realm’s rules.
• Blood Crow and Rakshasa reinforce one another’s confidence, treating their large player count and the Heavenly Dao’s prize as justification for their enormous spending.

Significant themes

• Rarity and value: The Venerables mistake abundance for a better player experience; making rare rewards common undermines their desirability.
• Competition and adaptation: The rivals’ aggressive tactics help Lu Ze spot an opportunity and adjust his system.
• Greed and risk: Blood Crow and Rakshasa wager their accumulated fortunes—and potentially their Lifebound Artifacts—on winning the Heavenly Dao’s reward.
• False confidence: Their growing player count seems decisive, but their strategy rests on assumptions about how players will behave and how the contest is judged.

Plot points and events

• At midnight, the Heavenly Dao gathers Illusion Crafters in its realm and begins revealing ranked lists of Illusion Realms, with rewards increasing by rank.
• Lu Ze disguises himself before arriving, then infiltrates the Illusion Alliance by taking the identity of one of its members. The real Lu Guan has been stripped of his belongings and imprisoned.
• Inside the Alliance’s soundproof Barrier, Lu Ze learns how “Eight Directions Venerables” became so popular: the Alliance Leader helped devise its design, Blood Crow spent a fortune distributing Spirit Stones to players, and Rakshasa increased the item drop rate.
• The rankings climb toward the top two. The audience debates whether “Immortal Abyss Continent Operation” or “Eight Directions Venerables” will win first place.
• The second-place entry is announced: “Eight Directions Venerables,” created by Blood Crow and Rakshasa.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ze uses his disguise and superior Spiritual Sense to observe the Alliance undetected. He mocks its members’ claims of creative mastery, especially Rakshasa’s pride in raising loot drops, but hides his amusement poorly.
• Rakshasa is eager to claim the top reward and is quick-tempered when Lu Ze laughs at him. The imminent ranking announcement distracts him from retaliating.
• Blood Crow is likewise focused on the results, while defending the Alliance’s success as the Elders’ own work.
• The Illusion Alliance members praise their Elders and credit their realm’s success to its design and generous rewards. Lu Ze briefly joins in the praise to fit in.

Significant themes

• Craft versus spending: The chapter questions whether popularity reflects imaginative design or can be bought through generous incentives.
• Pride and self-deception: The Alliance’s Elders boast of their contributions, while Lu Ze’s private understanding punctures their grand claims.
• Public spectacle and competition: The livestream audience eagerly follows the rankings, turning the awards into a dramatic contest between rival realms.