Lu Ze himself didn't even realize how much impact the launch of the Proxy Function would have on the cultivation world.

His original thought was simply that Knife-runs would further increase player retention.

Some Aggressive Players only wanted to fight and had no time for Knife-runs.

Some Ratty Players specialized in Knife-runs but gradually got bored after their assets piled up.

With the Proxy Function, the Knife-run business emerged as the times required.

In Lu Ze's eyes, this was essentially the same path as that Dao Protector thing.

The bosses get Illusion Realm Spirit Stones, the Knife-runners get real Spirit Stones, and he gets a steady stream of players...

But Lu Ze overlooked one thing.

Not everyone can be a Dao Protector.

But Knife-runners are different.

Anyone can be a Knife-runner.

And in the cultivation world, Spirit Stones are not just simple currency; they are resources that can be used for cultivation.

Usually, Lu Ze interacted with Sect Prodigies who lacked neither Spirit Stones nor resources.

But for the bottom tier of the cultivation world, every single Spirit Stone is incredibly precious!

This was even more true for Loose Cultivators who had no Sect to rely on.

Because they didn't even have a stable means of obtaining Spirit Stones.

So when the profession of "Knife-runner" appeared, the first to boil with excitement were precisely these Loose Cultivators wandering at the bottom.

"Knife-running is for real!! I ran for a day and earned ten Spirit Stones!!!"

"You can really make money in the Illusion Realm? Then it must be as difficult as being a Dao Protector..." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"It's not hard! As long as you know the maps, anyone can learn!"

"It's actually just manual labor that takes time. Those high-level Cultivators spend Spirit Stones to buy our time."

"Stop looking down on people! Thirty years east of the river, thirty years..."

"Pah! We're just Qi Refining Cultivators. If we can trade time for Spirit Stones, what else is there to think about?"

"Strange... I often hear you guys say the person who made this Illusion Realm is a devil, so why would he do such a good deed now?"

"One thing at a time. In other Illusion Realms, we call him Old Devil Lu, but for operation xianyuan zhou... we have to call him Saint Lu!!"

...

...

The boundary of the Nine Provinces.

Heavenly Mystery Sect, Sect Forbidden Land.

A mysterious grand formation used the Nine Provinces as its base and the Heavenly Mystery Sect as its heart. In the center sat an old man who looked like a candle flickering in the wind.

As the faint moonlight spilled down, the old man suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the ground with a gloomy gaze.

"Sect Master... why did you suddenly call this old man here?"

The figure of Grand Elder Chi Shengtian suddenly appeared within the Forbidden Land.

The old man looked up at the sky, his voice hoarse: "The Great Era of Cultivation... is coming."

...

The news of the Great Era of Cultivation quickly spread from the Heavenly Mystery Sect.

The managers of the Five Great Sects were all very puzzled.

In ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) this age, talents emerged in large numbers, and Prodigies vied for brilliance.

Combined with the prevalence of the Illusion Realm, cultivation was indeed a bit easier than before.

But it was not yet enough to be called a "Great Era of Cultivation."

A so-called "Great Era of Cultivation" is not decided by a few top-tier Geniuses, but by the entirety of the cultivation world.

It usually only enters a Great Era of Cultivation when Spiritual Qi is so abundant that even bottom-tier Cultivators don't worry about resources, and the entire cultivation world advances rapidly with soaring Luck.

At that time, there will be countless Opportunities in heaven and earth, and cultivation will enter a virtuous cycle.

The current cultivation world is clearly some distance away from a Great Era of Cultivation.

However, the news was a divination result deduced by the Heavenly Mystery Sect's reclusive Sect Master, so no one would question it.

...

...

Lihuo Peak, Lingyu Pavilion.

Lu Ze had been very leisurely lately.

Since the Proxy Function went online, he increasingly felt that he had made a brilliant move.

Knife-runs could be exchanged for Spirit Stones, so countless Loose Cultivators without talent or Aptitude flocked to operation xianyuan zhou.

These players could only provide less than 1 Demonic Path Point in other Illusion Realms, but in operation xianyuan zhou, they started at 10 points!

The growth rate of Demonic Path Points has taken off!

If it continues at this rate, in another half a year, he could Breakthrough to the Soul Transformation Realm.

At that time, he might actually be able to take Li Moran's sword strikes.

Lu Ze lay on the bed and browsed the forum for a while as usual.

One must always listen to the voices of the players; he couldn't be like those arrogant planners and designers from his previous life.

Of course, whether he actually listened or not depended on the situation.

In these past few days, the hottest topic on the forum was knife-running.

Due to the matchmaking mechanism, the more aggressive one was, the more bankrupt they became.

So there were quite a few players who needed Knife-runs.

The job of knife-running was extremely popular.

The price also dropped from the initial fifty Spirit Stones for ten million, all the way down to single digits.

This was a price that even a Disciple of an ordinary Sect could afford.

But for those Loose Cultivators with nothing to rely on, it was a significant amount of wealth.

"Good grief, no one calls me Old Devil Lu anymore?"

Looking at the screen full of praise for him on the forum, Lu Ze was momentarily a bit unaccustomed to it.

He then brought out some delicacies as usual and entered Zhong Yi's livestream room while invisible.

This was his daily 'Digital Pickles' for his meals.

Now Zhong Yi's livestream had added a new segment—

Saving Private Bankrupt.

He was the one who helped come up with this name.

The poverty alleviation under the 'crow's mouth' effect had explosive entertainment value, making Zhong Yi's fame grow even louder.

Just then, the System's voice suddenly rang in his ear:

【The Era of Great Conflict is approaching... A wave of Karmic Saintly Power is about to descend upon the Righteous Path Domain!】

【Mission: The host must immediately head to the target area, plunder the Righteous Path Luck, and prevent the Righteous Cultivator from becoming a Saint!】

【Mission Reward: Upgrade Ten Thousand Soul Banner】

"..."

Lu Ze took a deep breath.

Without a doubt, this was definitely the most difficult mission since he obtained this pit-of-a-Demonic Path System.

Plunder Righteous Path Luck and prevent the other party from becoming a Saint?

This wasn't something he could fool his way through by creating an Illusion Realm!

Even if he wanted to do that, there wasn't enough time.

According to the System's description, this Karmic Saintly Power was about to freaking descend immediately...

"Which Sect produced such a badass person?"

Lu Ze muttered quietly in his heart, planning to give this person a hard time in the future.

However, when he opened the System to check the specific location, he was instantly dumbfounded:

【Target Area: Lingxiao Sect】