"I didn't expect Senior Brother Lu to still remember me. I am truly flattered..."

The newcomer was named Zhang Ming.

Back when Lu Ze was creating his first Illusion Realm, 'Demon Sect Escape', this fellow had taken the top score in one fell swoop, drawing countless Inner Sect Disciples to compete for high scores and bringing significant fame to the Illusion Realm. Thus, Lu Ze had some impression of him.

Counting it up, he had actually played a small part in the success of Lu Ze's great cause.

At that time, Zhang Ming was just an Outer Sect Disciple at the Qi Refinement Stage.

Now he had entered the inner Sect, and his cultivation had reached the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. His aura was full, showing faint signs of an imminent Breakthrough to the Golden Core Stage.

"About to break through to the Golden Core? Not bad, not bad."

Lu Ze nodded with a smile, took out a Medicinal Pill from his storage ring, and tossed it toward Zhang Ming.

"Take it. It'll be of some help to your Breakthrough."

"The Opportunity Senior Brother Lu bestowed upon me is already something I can't repay in this lifetime... How can I accept more favors? I cannot take this!"

Zhang Ming hurriedly waved his hands and tried to hand the pill back to Lu Ze.

"Me? Giving you an Opportunity?"

Lu Ze looked bewildered.

Only after Zhang Ming's explanation did he finally understand.

Zhang Ming was a lucky fellow who had risen with the tide of the Illusion Realm era.

Calling him lucky wasn't entirely accurate; after all, judging from his performance in 'Demon Sect Escape', it was clear that this man's talent for Illusion Realms was quite remarkable.

Moreover, he could endure hardship and was willing to use his brain.

In the subsequent competitive Illusion Realms, he became a fairly well-known minor expert. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Through the Illusion Realms, Zhang Ming met many high-level Cultivators and built up a bit of a network.

Later on, the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao took over the Illusion Realms, allowing Cultivators to comprehend the Dao within them.

He struck luck again and received some rewards.

An originally mediocre Outer Sect Disciple who could see the end of his path at a glance was now among the elite of the Inner Sect Disciples.

Saying that Lu Ze had given him this Opportunity was actually quite reasonable.

Since 'operation xianyuan zhou' was released, Zhang Ming's life had become even more comfortable.

In other competitive Illusion Realms, like 'immortal demon conflict' or 'Naraka: Bladepoint', high-level Cultivators didn't have an urgent need for rank; they just valued Zhang Ming's skill and wanted to have fun playing together.

But 'operation xianyuan zhou' was different.

Money was a hard requirement!

Especially for those high-level Cultivators who were both unskilled and addicted—they would go bankrupt at the drop of a hat!

Looking for Zhang Ming now involved a demand for profit.

And there were quite a few such Cultivators!

Consequently, Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, and Magic Treasures in the real world began to serve as payment for hiring Zhang Ming.

With these resources, Zhang Ming's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, and his path of cultivation grew much broader!

Cultivators even started calling people like Zhang Ming 'Dao Protectors'.

Just like how great Sects in reality would protect their scions' paths, he protected his clients so they could comfortably harvest resources and Spirit Stones.

"Dao Protector?"

After hearing Zhang Ming's story, Lu Ze couldn't help but feel a bit amused.

Wasn't this just the boosting and escorting services from 'delta force' in his previous life?

According to Zhang Ming, some chambers of commerce were already recruiting 'Dao Protectors' like him at high prices and were establishing Dao Protector Guilds.

Good grief, boosting shops have opened in the Celestial Cultivation World...

"Senior Brother Lu, should I not be doing this?"

Seeing Lu Ze's amused expression, Zhang Ming couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.

"It's nothing. Just stay true to your heart."

Lu Ze shook his head and stuffed the pill back into Zhang Ming's pocket.

"Going from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core is as easy as taking a nap for me; I never had the chance to use this pill. Don't be polite, just take it."

"...Thank you, Senior Brother Lu."

...

...

"Escorting... boosting..."

On the way back from the Spirit Moon Tower, Lu Ze kept thinking about what Zhang Ming had said regarding Illusion Realm Dao Protectors.

Is the existence of escorting and boosting right?

In his previous life, whether it was escorting or boosting, it was heavily criticized among ordinary players.

But right now, Lu Ze didn't plan on a blanket ban.

For one, the Cultivators seeking escorts were all powerful high-level Cultivators, and these people were a major source of Demonic Path Points.

Secondly, Dao Protectors in the Illusion Realm wouldn't affect the experience of ordinary players as much as boosters did in his previous life.

The reason was simple.

In the previous life, boosters used rented accounts to take orders.

Imagine two Zhou Yues entering a match where the average skill level was that of Zhong Yi—could that be fair?

But in the Illusion Realm, except for Lu Ze, everyone had only one account.

The matches those Dao Protectors were in would definitely be high-pressure lobbies, or even 'cheater' lobbies.

The interests of ordinary players wouldn't be affected.

High-level Cultivators earned Illusion Realm Spirit Stones, Dao Protectors earned real-world Spirit Stones, and Lu Ze harvested Demonic Path Points from the System...

With such a virtuous cycle, why wouldn't he encourage it?

Once a cycle between Spirit Stones was formed, an industry chain would emerge, and the Illusion Realm Domain's pie would grow larger and larger, which was actually a good thing for his development.

"We have escorts, so should hatchet runners also..."

Lu Ze rubbed his chin, suddenly remembering another industry from his previous life.

Hatchet Runs.

From his observations, the demand for hatchet runners among players was quite high.

For instance, for someone like Zhou Yue who went bankrupt daily, Zhong Yi always wished he could personally do a Hatchet Run for him...

But to make the Hatchet Run path viable, account lending was inevitable.

If that happened, it could easily turn into the situation from his previous life where Dao Protectors rented 'rat' accounts to bully other 'rats'.

"Hmm, then I'll just apply some special regulations to the Laws of account transfer..."

...

...

The next day.

'operation xianyuan zhou' launched a new feature—

【Comrade Task Proxy: Possess a comrade to perform Beacon Action tasks on their behalf.】

【Note 1: While in the possession state, tasks can only be performed solo (teammates can be matched).】

【Note 2: While in the possession state, if the kill count in a single match exceeds 2, you will be forcibly kicked from the match.】

【Note 3: During the proxy task period, the original body cannot enter 'operation xianyuan zhou' (but can enter other Illusion Realms).】

【Note 4: While in the possession state, a 10% processing fee based on value will be deducted from the resources obtained from the task.】

As soon as the feature went live, it immediately caused a sensation on the forum.

Overwhelming numbers of posts were all discussing this feature.

【What's the situation? Is it springtime for us rats???】

【Only a 10% fee, and we don't even have to pay Spirit Stones? Is this still Old Devil Lu?】

【I declare! Old Devil Lu has recovered his Human Race identity for one day!!】

【Anyone helping with Hatchet Runs? I'll pay a hundred Spirit Stones for a ten million run!】

【I'll do it!】

【Which family's young master is here to experience life? Are Spirit Stones that worthless now...】

【Heavens, are you saying that we Loose Cultivators can earn money through the Illusion Realm now?】

【Who says Old Devil Lu isn't a good person? He's practically a Saint!!!】

...

...

At the same time.

In Zhong Yi's Illusion Realm world.

Zhong Yi and Zhou Qiaoling were engaging in "poverty alleviation," helping the bankrupt soldier Zhou Yue rebuild his life.

The moment she saw the new feature go live, Zhou Qiaoling's eyes lit up.

"Brother, brother, how about I possess you and help you with a Hatchet Run? Ten million Spirit Stones in exchange for ten Spirit Stones, how about it?"

"Really? Sure!"

Zhou Yue was stunned for a moment and nodded subconsciously.

Ten million in resources converted to Spirit Stones was worth far more than 10 Spirit Stones.

It didn't sound like something Zhou Qiaoling would do at all.

"Deal! Give me ten million Spirit Stones now, and later I'll stuff a few more Little Blues in for you~~"

Zhou Qiaoling clapped her hands with a giggle.

Zhou Yue immediately realized he had been tricked and his face darkened instantly: "Scram! I'd rather run it myself!!"

"Tch, when you run it yourself, it's either a 【Dancing Songstress】 or a 【Golden Bull Horn】..."

Zhou Qiaoling added mockingly with a mischievous grin.

"Old ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) Zhong, why do you look so serious... is there something wrong with this feature?"

Zhou Yue looked at the silent Zhong Yi beside him and asked curiously.

"No, not only is there no problem... it's exceptionally good, so good that I don't know how to evaluate it."

Zhong Yi shook his head, his expression somewhat excited.

He keenly realized how precious this new feature Lu Ze launched was for countless low-level Cultivators.

"Junior Brother Lu, this time..."

"Is likely to become a Saint!!!"