Watching Zhou Yue's maneuvers, Zhong Yi was momentarily dazed.

If it weren't for the nickname 【No Breaking, No Standing】 floating above Zhou Yue's head, Zhong Yi would have even thought Mu Yawen was the one logged in.

Zhou Yue glared at Zhong Yi with a dark expression: "What are you laughing at! Is it not just a problem with this crappy Magical Artifact?"

"Laughing because you've been possessed by Junior Brother Mu..."

Zhong Yi shook his head, caught between laughter and tears, and picked up the 【Mingju-15】 in his hand to perform a crisp demonstration of the operations.

He grabbed a handful of 【5.56 Type Spiritual Bullets (Rank 1)】 from the table, and with a thought, the spiritual bullets instantly vanished into the small formation beneath the protruding magazine.

"Whoa!?"

Zhou Yue's eyes lit up as he watched, experiencing a flash of Epiphany.

"If you treat the spiritual bullets as Talismanic Incantations, then this Magical Artifact is a talisman launcher... just like this!"

Seeing the look in Zhou Yue's eyes, Zhong Yi felt a surge of satisfaction, and his movements became even faster.

Bullet chambered!

Gun held in both hands!

Trigger pulled!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Pale white flames flickered at the muzzle.

Three finger-sized pits instantly appeared on the wall behind the Asala Loose Cultivator.

The Asala Loose Cultivator in front of them froze like a crashed machine for a moment, then turned its muzzle toward Zhong Yi.

"Are you just scratching my itch!?"

Zhong Yi's face turned red: "Ahem, it seems... something went wrong with the steps? Hehehe..."

Zhou Yue covered his forehead, trying hard to stifle his laughter: "What the hell was I even expecting..."

"But, thanks for waking me up anyway!"

With that, Zhou Yue picked up the third gun on the table, chambered a round, and fired cleanly.

Two spiritual bullets accurately hit the center of the Asala Loose Cultivator's forehead, while the third bullet missed into the air because the Asala Loose Cultivator had already collapsed.

"Tsk tsk, I knew this Magical Artifact was made by a little Genius... it's an absolutely unprecedented experience!"

Zhou Yue looked at the gun in his hand with disbelief, growing more fond of it by the second.

For a Cultivator, whether it was guns or shooting, it was all very novel.

Actually, in the Early Stage of the Illusion Realm's development, Lu Ze had considered making Operation Xianyuan Continent entirely a product of a Cultivator's worldview.

Replacing firearms with various weapons, adding Sect styles to skills, and incorporating martial arts and Cultivation Techniques into combat interactions...

The actual result was that it felt very mediocre.

Just as Zhou Qiaoling had imagined, it became an ordinary "Secret Realm exploration" mode.

Although the experience of scavenging for resources was still a plus, the overall combat experience wasn't as fun as Naraka: Bladepoint.

In fact, Naraka: Bladepoint's audience for the battle royale gameplay wasn't as broad as FPS battle royales like pubg.

A crucial point was that for melee gameplay, the TTK (Time to Kill) was too long.

This led to a situation where, except for extreme conditions like fighting a gold weapon with bare hands upon landing, highly skilled players were almost invincible!

Ambushed?

Once the hitstun ends, they can counter-kill you even with a sliver of health.

Poor equipment? 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

A white-tier blade can still outplay a gold-tier blade.

This resulted in the player base becoming more and more elite as time went on.

Every single one of them was a skilled operator.

Conversely, pubg could still sustain a large number of casual players.

Because the TTK was extremely short, even professional players could be killed by a common player camping in the grass, and someone with a level-3 helmet, level-3 vest, and fully-kitted airdrop weapons could still be killed by someone of a lower tier.

This situation was even more pronounced in delta force!

What do you mean, Level 5 helmet, Level 5 vest, fully-modded M14 Master?

Go talk to my leg-shredder gun!

What do you mean you don't know how to shoot?

Anyone can go 'rat-tat-tat'!

In Lu Ze's previous life, delta force had a much larger and more diverse player base than pubg.

Aggressive rushers, knife-running rats, camping snakes, and loot-stealing teammates...

Playing for a day was like seeing all walks of life.

This was the most important reason why delta force became popular!

Scavenging, fighting, or extracting weren't that important; the diverse player culture was the top priority!

After realizing this, Lu Ze abandoned the pure cultivation-style scavenge-fight-extract model.

He needed to integrate FPS gameplay!

Create a short TTK to diversify the player base!

That was why he came up with this design plan.

To promote the firearm element, he combined modern-style guns with cultivation Magical Artifacts, hitting the Cultivators right in their sweet spot;

He even specifically designed the world background for Operation Xianyuan Continent, shoving the setting of "Thin Spiritual Qi, Artifact Cultivation Dominance" in the players' faces...

With such a combination of moves, paired with a perfect xinshou jiaocheng, Lu Ze was very confident that the Cultivators would quickly immerse themselves.

Clearly, the situation was exactly as he expected.

Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue didn't find it jarring at all; they even thought this way of fighting was both novel and interesting.

"This 【Double-Barreled Mammoth】 is only good for making a loud noise, right? It's way too slow!"

"Tsk tsk, the 【Mingju-15】 is still better... By the way, are there Type 14 or Type 13 models? How did Junior Brother Lu come up with so many new things!"

"Whoa!? Red Wolf even has a signature personal Magical Artifact?"

"A three-round burst of fireballs... Hahaha!! I actually find such a low-tier Spell quite exciting?"

"There's even an ultimate move? Hmm, using a Spiritual Artifact to stimulate the Spiritual Veins in the legs, greatly boosting the Physical Body Realm... seems pretty good?"

...

Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue were like children who had never seen the world, chattering away incessantly.

They had to try out every single starter weapon in the barracks, completely ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ forgetting the guidance prompts to continue moving forward.

"Seriously... it's just a bunch of Foundation Establishment Stage junk, I don't get what there is to be so excited about."

Zhou Qiaoling rolled her eyes.

She couldn't understand how Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue, who were Geniuses among Geniuses, could be interested in these things.

At the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Stages, ordinary people were still learning how to circulate their Cultivation Techniques, while those two could probably Breakthrough just by breathing or sleeping...

How could they be as excited as children in an Illusion Realm over some Magical Artifacts and Spells that simulated Foundation Establishment Cultivators?

She just couldn't wrap her head around it...

Zhou Qiaoling helplessly walked out of the barracks, following the direction of the quest marker.

All she wanted to do now was finish this damn xinshou jiaocheng.

To her, Operation Xianyuan Continent was simply boring to death!

It was just like being reluctantly sent by her Master to a Secret Realm for training on a normal day!

If Zhou Yue hadn't promised to buy her a newly released outfit in Naraka: Bladepoint, she wouldn't have come to this crappy Secret Realm even if she were beaten to death...

As she was thinking, the quest objective at the top of her vision suddenly updated:

【Please open the Immortal Master's Secret Casket ahead】

Following the guidance, a small green box suddenly appeared in Zhou Qiaoling's field of vision.

*Hiss...*

For no reason at all.

Zhou Qiaoling's breathing quickened slightly.

Her eyes instantly brightened.