"No... there are only four days left until the Heavenly Dao's Illusion Realm rewards are revealed! If this continues, we'll lose for sure!"

Blood Crow said with a gloomy expression.

"How about... we increase the Spirit Stone rewards a bit more?"

Rakshasa suggested.

"Increase it again!?"

Blood Crow's voice tightened a bit.

The resources provided by the Illusion Alliance were limited; any excess had to come from their own pockets.

To obtain the Heavenly Dao rewards, the two had already thrown in their life savings, scattering Spirit Stones as if they cost nothing.

But even for Void Refining Stage Cultivators, resources were not infinite.

"Increase it! Otherwise, wouldn't our previous investments be for nothing?"

Rakshasa gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

"Then we must increase the difficulty of claiming it... otherwise our ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) chances aren't great! Let's make it so the Cultivators must stay for a full six shichen before they can claim it!"

Blood Crow proposed again, and quickly gained Rakshasa's approval.

"But... besides the rewards, could there really be something wrong with our Illusion Realm?"

"Could it be that... the drop rate of our red items is too low?"

A flash of inspiration struck Rakshasa, and he suddenly spoke.

"Surely not... the results of the Heaven and Earth Four Symbols' deduction showed that red items must be rare to..."

Blood Crow frowned, feeling somewhat hesitant.

Many details of the Illusion Realm they created were finalized based on the Heaven and Earth Four Symbols.

"But our red item drop rate is simply too low!"

Rakshasa shook his head.

"In the most famous livestream for operation xianyuan continent, that one called Genius Cultivator... he can pick up a bunch of Small Reds in just three Knife-runs."

"His teammate is even more exaggerated—some Nimble Little Zhou—who can get several Big Reds in a single night!"

"With the drop rate of operation xianyuan continent being so high, why should ours be so low?"

Hearing Rakshasa's prompting, Blood Crow couldn't help but hesitate.

The Heaven and Earth Four Symbols couldn't completely deduce all the secrets of operation xianyuan continent; perhaps it really was incorrect information?

"Think about it, if it's so hard for players to get a red... who would be willing to keep staying in the Illusion Realm?"

Rakshasa continued to persuade him.

"Could it really be the drop rate? If we do this... should we inform the Alliance Leader?"

Blood Crow was finally moved, but still hesitated.

"No need!"

Rakshasa narrowed his eyes and shook his head, then looked at Blood Crow.

"If we truly form a bond with the Heavenly Dao, does Brother Blood Crow want another person to share it with?"

Blood Crow was startled, then understood perfectly.

"Fine!"

"Then we'll raise the red drop rate... let the Cultivators have their fill of reds!"

...

...

The forum Lu Ze established wasn't just for discussing the Illusion Realms he built.

This thing was like the forums or Tieba of his previous life; whenever a topic became concentrated, a section would automatically be partitioned off.

Lu Ze didn't go to research whether eight directions venerable was up to any new tricks every day; he only needed to peek at the forum to get a good grasp of the situation.

Strangely, after the fourth day, the players' complaints grew louder by the day.

【Holy crap! What kind of match is this? Why is it full of Big Reds!】

【I rummaged through a trash heap and found a Heaven Rank Cultivation Technique hidden inside...】

【Wait, I killed a Qi Refining mob and it dropped an Immortal Artifact???】

【See for yourselves, there are more Small Reds than Small Blues!!】

【Even so, the Spirit Stones they give are just too many... but I want to go to Xianyuan Continent for a Knife-run!!】

【There's no other way; between Spirit Stones in the Illusion Realm and those in reality, you have to choose one!】

...

Looking at the wave of complaints on the forum, Lu Ze was instantly amused.

Raising the Big Red drop rate?

Which little Genius came up with this idea?

Originally, seeing the map design of eight directions venerable and the marketing strategy of handing out Spirit Stones online, Lu Ze thought the Illusion Alliance had an expert guiding them behind the scenes.

But as soon as the change to drastically increase the Big Red drop rate came out, Lu Ze couldn't hold it in anymore.

This is what it means when they say your reputation is built by your competitors...

The reason why getting loot makes players excited is because it's rare.

The reason it's rare is because the drop rate is low, not because the Cultivation Technique is powerful or the Immortal Artifact has a grand backstory...

Once Big Reds are everywhere, their collection value will plummet, and the entire Looting system will collapse.

This single change was enough to pronounce a death sentence for the game.

"Can't they be started simultaneously?"

Looking at the players' complaints on the forum, Lu Ze stroked his chin, some ideas forming.

The reason why a second Illusion Realm couldn't be opened lay with him.

The games he developed weren't of the idle type.

So it was rare for players to need to open multiple Illusion Realms at the same time.

If it did happen, it was usually similar to watching a livestream and screen-peeking, involving some ulterior motives.

So, Lu Ze had set a rule in the Illusion Realm logic:

Once a match begins, players cannot enter other Illusion Realms.

But at this moment...

Special circumstances call for special treatment.

Lu Ze happily removed this rule from his Illusion Realm, only distinguishing between the livestream Illusion Realm and the game environment.

...

...

Luofeng Continent, Illusion Alliance base.

"Brother Rakshasa is brilliant!!!"

Seeing the player data skyrocket for two consecutive days, Blood Crow was so excited he almost jumped up.

By now, the number of players in eight directions venerable had reached as many as 380,000!

According to the deductions of the Heaven and Earth Four Symbols, the number of players in operation xianyuan continent was only a mere 500,000.

Although it didn't look like they had caught up yet, the two knew very well that these 380,000 Cultivators were snatched from those 500,000!

As everyone knew, Lu Ze's Illusion Realm was incompatible with others during a match, so the number of players in eight directions venerable had already surpassed operation xianyuan continent!

"Hehe, this also relies on Brother Blood Crow's financial power..."

Rakshasa was equally delighted in his heart.

In terms of the number of Cultivators, eight directions venerable already held a major advantage.

In the evaluation rules for the Illusion Realm rewards, the ranking was determined based on the situation in the final week.

With their continuous efforts over the last four days, victory was already in sight.

It's just that the Spirit Stone consumption was quite high.

With 380,000 Cultivators coming to eight directions venerable every day to pluck wool, this figure was no small amount.

The savings Rakshasa and Blood Crow had accumulated over a hundred years were almost drained; if they sold anything else, it would have to be their Lifebound Treasures...

"Hehe, compared to the Heavenly Dao's rewards, it's nothing."

Blood Crow waved his hand and said magnanimously.

The first-tier rewards given by the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao were resources that even billions of Spirit Stones couldn't buy.

As long as they took the top spot and crushed operation xianyuan continent, whatever he had to pay would be worth it!

"The decision to raise the Big Red drop rate was truly a stroke of Genius! Look at the Cultivators' current momentum... tsk tsk!"

Blood Crow watched the still slowly rising number of players, feeling more and more comfortable.

"By the time they finish claiming the rewards, six shichen will have passed... even if they return to operation xianyuan continent, they couldn't possibly stay there for that long!"

Rakshasa was full of confidence.

In the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao's evaluation criteria for Illusion Realms, besides the number of players, the duration of stay was equally important.

Out of the 12 shichen in a day, eight directions venerable would take up half.

How could they possibly lose?