With the announcement of the second place, the bullet chat in the Heavenly Dao livestream room instantly erupted like a boiling pot.

【As expected, Old Devil Lu won!】

【Is this right? "eight directions venerable" spent so many Spirit Stones and yet...】

【Second place isn't bad; losing to Old Devil Lu isn't an injustice.】

【Not bad? The rewards for second place and first place are worlds apart!!】

【It shouldn't be! All the Cultivators around me are playing "eight directions venerable."】

【Is it really like what others say in private, that the Illusion Realm's Heavenly Dao is biased toward Lu Ze?】

【I feel like "operation xianyuan continent" is just more fun; it doesn't have all that messy stuff.】

【Fun is fun, but the evaluation criteria are right here; you can't just ignore the rules, right?】

【Unfair!!】

...

Cultivators who supported "eight directions venerable" and those who supported "operation xianyuan continent" argued incessantly.

Although the first place had not yet been announced, there was no longer any suspense; it could only be Lu Ze's "operation xianyuan continent."

Just as the bullet chat said,

Although there was only one rank's difference between second and first place, the rewards in the prize pool were worlds apart!

"No, this is impossible!! Absolutely impossible!!!"

Rakshasa shook his head in disbelief.

"How could we lose? Why would we lose!?"

Blood Crow's mask instantly turned a evil spirits-red, his appearance even more frenzied than Rakshasa's.

Exhausting every scheme, squandering the entire family fortune...

And now it resulted in this?

He could not accept it.

"Oh my, the two Elders should take it easy. Second place is quite good, isn't it? If you sell the rewards, you can at least recover some blood!"

Behind Blood Crow and Rakshasa, the Cultivator wearing the deer-shaped mask suddenly offered consolation.

"What the hell do you know!? Someone like you..."

Just as Rakshasa was about to explode, a beam of red light suddenly shot into the sky, dyeing the entire Heavenly Dao Illusion Realm completely red.

Everyone involuntarily looked up at the sky.

A massive red curtain slowly drew back, and on the red leaderboard, golden text was clearly written:

【Realm Master: Lu Ze】

【Illusion Realm: "operation xianyuan continent"】

【Rank: One】

"Dammit!!!"

Rakshasa cursed loudly in rage.

"Something must have gone wrong... something must have gone wrong!!"

A red light curtain shot up from the leaderboard toward the sky.

Whenever a rank was revealed, a pillar of light would light up within the crowd below; this was the way the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao announced the results.

For instance, behind Rakshasa and Blood Crow, there was a golden light curtain.

The camera of the Heavenly Dao livestream room followed the movement of this red light curtain closely, and the bullet chat became lively once again.

【As expected, Old Devil Lu takes the top spot!】

【Where is Old Devil Lu? I've been looking for ages and haven't seen him.】

【Rumor has it that Lu the First-Saint is handsome and indeed has the appearance of a Saint... It seems those were all lies? He's hidden in the crowd and can't be seen!】

【Actually, when I first saw Old Devil Lu, I thought he was quite handsome. Later, after he did so many wicked things, I felt he wasn't that handsome anymore.】

【Strange! Why is this red light curtain heading in the same direction as the golden light curtain for second place just now?】

【Wait a minute! The landing point of the red light curtain is right next to the golden light curtain!】

【Isn't that where the Illusion Alliance Cultivators are? Why would Old Devil Lu...】

...

Blood Crow and Rakshasa's resentful gazes followed the red light curtain at every moment.

It wasn't until that red light lit up from behind them that they sensed something was wrong.

That Illusion Alliance member wearing the deer-shaped mask, known as "Lu Guan," was now enveloped in a pillar of red light shooting toward the sky.

"You!? How could it be... You are Lu Ze!?"

Rakshasa realized the truth, and the Aura around his body instantly surged several levels.

"Oh my, I've been found out."

Lu Ze chuckled easily, took off the Lu Guan mask, and restored his original appearance and voice.

"Bah! Sneaking into our Illusion Alliance to gather information, not daring to show your true face... To think you even triggered a Sacred Phenomenon!"

Blood Crow's resentful gaze could be felt even through a thick mask.

Lu Ze understood.

After all, this fellow had poured in most of his life's savings...

Besides, this was only the beginning.

If they knew that the real Lu Guan was currently stripped naked and locked in a dark room by him, who knows what expressions these people would have...

"Is that so? I just saw everyone wearing strange masks and thought it was the custom of this Illusion Realm..."

Lu Ze feigned surprise.

Rakshasa gritted his teeth: "You!"

"The Illusion Alliance is truly wealthy! Pulling out so many Spirit Stones just like that... It doesn't matter if you're out of money; with such a charitable deed, I'm sure Elder Blood Crow becoming a Saint is only a matter of time."

Lu Ze was not flustered at all, happily teasing them.

He said this with a smile, but in Blood Crow's ears, it hurt more than a needle piercing his heart.

First, he was out of money.

Second, this kind of behavior would never lead to becoming a Saint; conversely, Lu Ze triggering the Sacred Phenomenon was even more heart-wrenching.

Finally, he didn't even get first place...

He had lost everything, down to his underpants.

Blood Crow immediately felt his blood pressure soar; under the surge of blood and Qi, he was almost triggered into a Heart Demon, and even his stance became unstable.

"This is outrageous! You cheated!!"

Rakshasa was exasperated; a ferocious Ghost Apparition suddenly manifested behind him, and countless Killing Intent directly locked down the area around Lu Ze.

"You? Referring to me and who else?"

Lu Ze's face was full of confusion, deliberately asking to lead him on.

As long as Rakshasa dared to say a single word against the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao, this fellow could go reincarnate in another world.

"You and..."

Just as Rakshasa was about to speak, he immediately felt the gaze of a terrifying presence and instinctively shut his mouth.

He shifted his gaze and saw the countless bullet messages in the sky.

According to the feedback from the bullet chat, with the soundproofing barrier in place, the people outside didn't seem to hear what was being said inside.

A flash of inspiration hit Rakshasa; he waved his hand to wipe away the surrounding barrier and then shouted loudly:

"Lu Ze! You must have used some means to deceive the Heavenly Dao..."

"The Cultivators playing 'eight directions venerable' daily reach a full 390,000! In all the world, how many Cultivators can there be? Could your 'operation xianyuan continent' possibly exceed 400,000!?"

"Furthermore, the evaluation rules were agreed to be based on the final seven days; besides the number of people, it also depends on the immersion time in the Illusion Realm..."

"The Spirit Stone rewards of 'eight directions venerable' require staying for a full 6 hours to be collected. Even if these Cultivators visited both Illusion Realms, a day only has 12 double-hours; is it possible the time spent in 'operation xianyuan continent' could be higher than 6 hours!?"

Finally, he added loudly:

"What 'eight directions venerable' distributes are genuine Spirit Stone rewards, with records available for checking!"

"With so many Cultivators staying in 'eight directions venerable' for a full 6 hours, my Illusion Alliance couldn't possibly be lying, could we?"

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately sparked heated discussion in the bullet chat.

【What's the situation? Old Devil Lu was wearing an Illusion Alliance mask, and now they're arguing again?】

【What Rakshasa of the Illusion Alliance said makes some sense... How many Cultivators can there be who come to play in the Illusion Realm? It's definitely impossible to be a million!】

【If it's truly as Rakshasa said, that nearly 400,000 Cultivators stay in 'eight directions venerable' for 6 hours every day... I think it's indeed impossible for 'operation xianyuan continent' to have more than that.】

【black curtain! black curtain!!】

【Are you all idiots... Can't you stay in two Illusion Realms at the same time?】

【You can't! Old Devil Lu's Illusion Realm doesn't support a Divided Soul entering at the same time...】

【It was changed!!】

【When was it changed??】

【How come I didn't know???】

【Even if you can stay in both simultaneously, how could more than 400,000 Cultivators stay in 'operation xianyuan continent' for more than 6 hours every day?】

【Fellow Daoist clearly doesn't do Knife-runs; Knife-runs are addictive!】

【If I don't find a 'Red' item, I feel miserable all day. Who are you looking down on with a mere six hours?】

...

Arguments rose from all sides in the bullet chat.

Many fools, following Rakshasa's lead, actually began to question the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao.

Lu Ze watched this, his peripheral vision glancing toward the sky.

He saw that the golden light ball was gradually starting to turn black around its edges.

'You little rascal...'

Lu Ze thought to himself, caught between laughter and tears.

The people in the livestream room's bullet chat knew that the law doesn't punish the masses, so their comments became more and more unrestrained.

But only Lu Ze knew that the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao doesn't reason with you.

When it encounters something unpleasant, it just raises its hand and wipes people out.

If this continued, it might ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) really become difficult to clean up the mess.

Not only would taking action consume the Origin Qi of the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao, but bearing more killing karma would also increase its burden.

Lu Ze thought for a moment, and with a single thought, his voice rang out like a great bell, suppressing all the noise in the Heavenly Dao Illusion Realm:

"Since you want to die with a clear understanding, then I shall let you die knowing exactly why."