Unsealed, but the Profound Body Promotion Failed

The instant the ban notice popped up, Jiang Liu's heart stopped. His face went deathly pale, and panic filled his eyes. He froze completely.

By the time he came to his senses, he had already been kicked out of the Cultivation Era.

"I'm banned? They banned me?"

Jiang Liu blinked, his expression blank with confusion. His mind was as empty as if struck by lightning.

What grounds did they have to ban me?

How could they ban me?

Oh, right. This was a game. Getting banned was perfectly normal, wasn't it?

Hadn't Li Dongze mentioned before that he wanted to test whether trying something rated eighteen-plus would get him banned?

Getting banned for violating the game's content rules was perfectly normal. Jiang Liu, you've played so many games—how could you forget that?

Well, look where that got you. You kept doing thousands of pulls at a time. Even an idiot could see something was off. Did you really think the official staff were blind?

Even games made by mortals had anti-cheat systems. What more could you expect from immortals?

Jiang Liu, you absolute dumbass. Couldn't you have shown a little restraint?

Once he came to his senses, Jiang Liu was filled with regret. How could he have forgotten that bans were a thing?

There was nothing more devastating than official punishment. He was done for this time.

How many days would he be banned?

The number of days didn't matter. What mattered was his 0.1-fold-discount Welfare Version client!

He'd gotten that client by exploiting a bug. If they took it away, then he'd really be...

Huh?

The 0.1-fold-discount Welfare Version client?

Wait, something wasn't right!

He was playing the Welfare Version of the Cultivation Era. It wasn't even on the same server or client as the official version. What right did they have to ban his account?

Why could the official-version staff ban his 0.1-fold-discount Welfare Version account?

The clients were different. Could they really ban him across platforms?

Besides, what data of his was abnormal?

He'd just been doing normal pulls. He hadn't used cheats or exploited any bugs. What right did they have to say his data was abnormal?

Li Dongze's bugged robe had abnormal data and nobody did anything, but the moment he did some pulls, they punished him?

When Jiang Liu first saw the ban notice, he'd panicked. Now that he'd calmed down, the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

The official staff were punishing a player across platforms!

He wouldn't stand for it!

He'd file an appeal!

He'd submit feedback through the official channels!

Feedback about what? That he was playing the 0.1-fold-discount Welfare Version of the Cultivation Era?

Wouldn't that be walking right in and confessing?

Forget it. Forget it.

"What am I supposed to do?"

Jiang Liu scratched his head, looking utterly lost.

He'd gotten the Welfare Version client by exploiting a bug in the first place. How could he dare go challenge the official staff to their faces?

His account had been banned, so all he could do was wait.

If he was lucky, they'd ban him for a few days and then pretend nothing had happened.

If he wasn't, they'd take back his Welfare Version client and send him crashing from heaven to earth.

I was wrong. I really know I was wrong. I was too brazen. I'll never do thousands of pulls at a time again.

Whenever Jiang Liu thought of how recklessly he'd acted while pulling, he couldn't help regretting it. In just one day, he'd done tens of thousands of pulls and spent hundreds of thousands of Spirit Stones like water.

There wasn't a second person in the whole region who could match him!

Who else would they investigate? Who else would they ban?

"How long am I banned for?"

Jiang Liu looked remorseful and tentatively tried to enter the Cultivation Era again, but he was kicked out before he could even get into the game. His heart was burning with anxiety.

He couldn't get into the game and had no mind to cultivate. All he wanted to know was how long they'd ban him for this first offense.

"Brother Ze."

He woke Li Dongze again and asked, sounding a little anxious, "You said last time that you wanted to try something rated eighteen-plus in the game. Did you?"

"Huh?"

Li Dongze turned to look at Jiang Liu, his expression awkward, with a hint of guilt. "Why are you asking?"

"You did!"

Jiang Liu could tell from Li Dongze's expression what had happened. Delighted, he hurriedly asked, "You got banned, didn't you? For how long?"

He'd known Li Dongze wouldn't be able to resist giving it a try. That guy wouldn't dare do it in real life, but in the game, he acted without hesitation.

"Just a few hours. Why are you asking?"

Li Dongze replied awkwardly, looking at Jiang Liu in confusion. Then, as if he'd suddenly figured something out, his eyes lit up and he burst out laughing. "You got banned too? Was it for trying something eighteen-plus?"

"It was the City Lord's daughter, right? Did you only manage to touch her hand? Hahahaha!"

Jiang Liu: "..."

Did he think Jiang Liu was as lecherous as he was? If Jiang Liu had only broken the rules by trying something eighteen-plus, would he be this worried?

A few hours? That wasn't so bad.

Jiang Liu let out a small sigh of relief and silently prayed they wouldn't find anything. Punishing him across platforms wasn't proper procedure. Couldn't they just pretend nothing had happened?

That day,

his heart stayed in his throat the whole time. He was so restless that even his emotions felt unstable.

This was so nerve-racking. Whether it was a death sentence or a few days in jail, they could at least give him an answer!

Finally,

after the night had passed, Jiang Liu heard the familiar, welcome system voice again. He was so excited he nearly cried out.

[After review, no abnormalities have currently been found in your game data.]

[After review, you have not used cheats or maliciously exploited game bugs or engaged in other prohibited actions.]

[Your account has been unbanned. The official staff remind you to follow the game rules and not to use cheats or maliciously exploit game bugs.]

No, thanks. Even if he came across other bugs, he wouldn't dare touch them. That was too scary.

Jiang Liu let out a long breath of relief. Getting banned in other games was one thing; he could always switch to another game.

But the Cultivation Era was different. Getting banned in the Cultivation Era was practically the same as dying.

After this ban, he no longer dared to act so recklessly. He'd have to be more careful with his spending in the game. He absolutely couldn't do more than ten thousand pulls a day!

While his account was banned, he'd thought it over carefully and roughly calculated how many pulls he'd done. The first round of a few thousand pulls had been fine. It was after the second round that things went wrong.

With both rounds combined, he'd gone over ten thousand pulls. That was probably a hidden limit. Once he crossed it, he'd be singled out for extra scrutiny.

Ten thousand pulls a day meant spending several hours just pulling and sorting his inventory. That was manageable, right? It wasn't that big a cutback.

Jiang Liu silently reassured himself as he cautiously logged into the Cultivation Era.

The familiar game interface appeared before him. Everything was unchanged.

He carefully bought a random item from the Mall. Only after confirming that the 0.1-fold discount was still there did he finally relax.

"Nothing happened. Nothing happened, and that's all that matters. That scared the life out of me. I'd better not do any more pulls for the next few days."

Jiang Liu murmured with lingering fear. It took him a while to calm his trembling heart.

That nearly scared me to death. I'd better promote my Dharma Body to calm my nerves.

He opened his inventory. It was packed with Dharma Artifacts and spells—he looked more like a wholesaler than anything else. Getting banned had been perfectly normal.

Before the ban, he'd already drawn ten Supreme Spiritual Roots, one of each element, and met the requirements to advance to the Five Elements Dharma Body. He'd even gotten plenty of extra Water Spiritual Roots and Metal Spiritual Roots.

After using the ten Supreme Spiritual Roots, he eagerly opened the character screen and tapped the Dharma Body promotion button.

The next second,

another dark red notification popped up, stopping his heart.

[Your cultivation level has not reached the Foundation Establishment Stage. You cannot bear the Five Elements Profound Body. Promotion failed.]

Jiang Liu: "?????"

Nothing was going right!