Three days later.

Just past the hour of the Rat.

A live broadcast Illusion Realm popped up in front of every Cultivator who was not currently in combat.

At the same time, all Cultivators who had created an Illusion Realm were teleported into the Heavenly Dao Illusion Realm.

"What's going on? Why was I suddenly teleported here..."

"Which expert is this? To be able to pull me from reality into an Illusion Realm!?"

"Eh? What's that floating in the sky? Subtitles??"

"This place... seems to be the Heavenly Dao Illusion Realm!!"

"I remember now, tomorrow is the day the Heavenly Dao bestows rewards!"

"Could it be... I've won!? I've won! I've won!! Hahaha!!!"

"Fellow Daoist, don't get too excited... looking at the numbers, I'm afraid all Realm Masters are here."

"In another half-hour, it will be tomorrow..."

...

Lu Ze was among them.

Moreover, he had already changed his appearance.

The moment he sensed the aura of the Heavenly Dao Illusion Realm, he realized what the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao wanted to do.

While being teleported here, he had altered his looks in advance.

"I don't know who it learned this from, making an award ceremony so flashy..."

Lu Ze complained under his breath while quietly observing his surroundings.

Most Cultivators did not have much of a guard up; many entered in their true forms.

A few Cultivators wearing strange masks stood out particularly in the crowd.

Rumor had it that the Realm Masters of the Illusion Alliance never showed their true faces, wearing masks and referring to each other by codenames.

Clearly, this group was the Cultivators of the Illusion Alliance.

The two standing in the very center, one wearing a blood-red crow mask and the other a green ghost mask, were obviously ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) core figures.

"They are likely the producers of 'eight directions venerable'."

Lu Ze thought to himself.

He felt no threat or fear toward the Illusion Alliance.

However, the level of map design in 'eight directions venerable' had improved by leaps and bounds, and Lu Ze was somewhat curious about the reason.

A soundproof barrier surrounded the gathering of the Illusion Alliance.

In the Heavenly Dao Illusion Realm, the Cultivators' cultivation was not cut off.

However, it wasn't their Physical Body cultivation, but their Divine Sense cultivation.

For most Cultivators, there wasn't much difference between the two.

Naturally, the stronger the Realm, the stronger the Divine Sense.

But that wasn't the case for Lu Ze.

With the strength of his Divine Sense plus his attainment in Illusion Realms, he was far beyond those of the same Rank.

He could break through that soundproof barrier at will.

But doing it without the people inside noticing was unlikely.

Lu Ze looked around and soon spotted several Illusion Alliance members searching for their group, and he immediately had an idea.

...

"【Lu Guan】? Your Illusion Realm is?"

"'Four Thousand Wind Travels'."

Wearing a deer-shaped mask, Lu Ze answered without his heart skipping a beat.

The real 【Lu Guan】, whom he had just crossed paths with, had already been stripped and locked away in a dark underground cell.

【Hui Zong】, who was in charge of checking, glanced at the mask markings on Lu Ze's face and then nodded to let him pass.

As soon as Lu Ze entered the barrier, he heard everyone flattering the two in the middle.

"As expected of Elder Blood Crow and Elder Rakshasa... the number of players for 'eight directions venerable' has surpassed the 400,000 mark, suppressing 'operation xianyuan continent' by a head!!"

"Once the two Elders take the top prize, their Realm will likely rise to another level!"

"When that time comes, the world of Illusion Realms will surely change!"

"If you ask me, that kid surnamed Lu just has a few more ideas... when it comes to true Illusion Realm attainment, how could he be a match for our Illusion Alliance Elders?"

...

Lu Ze quickly chimed in: "The map creation of 'eight directions venerable' is indeed brilliant, much higher than 'operation xianyuan continent'..."

A person beside him replied: "Nonsense! That was deduced by the Alliance Leader using a secret technique, otherwise..."

Before the person could finish, Blood Crow and Rakshasa in the center suddenly looked over, and the person immediately shut his mouth.

"Although the Alliance Leader gave us a lot of help, 'eight directions venerable' was able to achieve these results thanks to our own efforts."

The green ghost mask on Rakshasa's face radiated a faint Evil Qi.

"Elder Blood Crow invested his entire fortune just to keep the Cultivators..."

"And I, having seen through the essence of such Illusion Realms... increased the item drop rates; I was the one who came up with that key information!"

"Pfft!"

Lu Ze couldn't help it and laughed out loud on the spot.

He finally understood.

The Alliance Leader, relying on some secret technique for deduction, was the expert behind the scenes.

Blood Crow, who spent his fortune giving Spirit Stones to Cultivators, was the financial backer.

And this one called Rakshasa was the top-tier 'cancer' who thought of increasing drop rates to lure people in...

"What are you laughing at!?"

Rakshasa felt a surge of nameless anger, and a greenish-blue ghostly shadow struck toward Lu Ze.

Unexpectedly, before it could even get close, it was torn to shreds by an invisible force.

"Did I laugh? I didn't! I'm a profession—hahahaha!!"

Lu Ze had just held back his laughter when he recalled Rakshasa's serious expression while stating that increasing drop rates was key, and he laughed out loud again.

If the Illusion Alliance Leader found out, this guy's legs would probably be broken.

"You...!"

Anger boiled in Rakshasa's heart, and he was about to lash out when he heard Blood Crow beside him say:

"It's starting!!"

Lu Ze looked up.

In the deep starry sky, lists began to descend one by one...

...

First was the white ordinary list.

Then blue, then purple...

The higher up, the fewer the names, and the more exaggerated the rewards.

The viewers watching the broadcast were even more excited than the Realm Masters on the scene.

【Holy crap, is the difference between levels on the purple list already this massive?】

【This is only outside the top ten... I can't imagine the ones at the front!!】

【The Golden List is coming... the Golden List!!】

【This really is success on the Golden List now!】

...

Those ranked in the top ten could enter the Golden List.

For the previous lists, ten names appeared on a single list at once.

When it came to the Golden List, it was one name per list, appearing one after another.

The appearance of each Illusion Realm kept everyone in suspense.

Starting from tenth place, the volume of Cultivators gradually began to cross into units of 'tens of thousands'.

The rewards also increased level by level...

...

With the unveiling of the third-place list, the atmosphere of the comments in the live broadcast room had reached its peak.

【The top two are about to be revealed...!】

【As expected, it's a showdown between 'operation xianyuan continent' and 'eight directions venerable'!!】

【It should be 'operation xianyuan continent' taking the top spot, right? That's the work of Lu the First-Saint!】

【'eight directions venerable' gave out too many Spirit Stones; 'operation xianyuan continent' might not necessarily be able to suppress its momentum these past few days.】

【It's definitely 'eight directions venerable'! Did the Illusion Alliance spend all those Spirit Stones for nothing?】

【It's just buying people's hearts with money... Old Devil Lu disdains such methods!】

【Anyway, I received Spirit Stones, so I don't dare to comment recklessly.】

【So in the future, it won't be about who makes better Illusion Realms, but just who has more money?】

...

On the Illusion Alliance's side.

Rakshasa, who was about to make a move, was now staring intently at the Golden List overhead, even completely forgetting about his humiliation by Lu Ze just now.

"Quickly, quickly..."

Under the urgent gazes of Rakshasa and Blood Crow, a new page of the Golden List finally flipped open.

【Realm Masters: Blood Crow, Rakshasa】

【Illusion Realm: 'eight directions venerable'】

【Rank: Second】