Hermit in the Mountains

After a moment of contemplation, Liu Zhengbang made his decision.

He has already lost the initiative in the path of destiny, and now that there are new options, he might as well take a different path.

The Earth God, Temple Keeper, Money Shop Manager, and Hermit of Wandao City.

Any road could ensure the safety of his family.

He looked at Liu Yunzhong with a firm gaze, "I hope my cousin will keep his promise. I can stay and help you take over Luoyang."

"My family needs to be sent to Wandao City ahead of schedule."

"Brother, rest assured, I have arranged for a team to pick up your wife and settle her in Wandao City first." After saying that, Liu Yunzhong stood up and extended his right hand.

"It's a pleasure working with you!"

Liu Zhengbang stood up and extended his right hand to shake hands, "Watching your performance, cousin."

Liu Yunzhong released his grip. "Brother, I will arrange for someone to go to Luoyang to see you as soon as possible, and at the same time, to pick up my sister-in-law and the others and leave."

"To avoid any unforeseen complications, I'll go back and make a plan first, and we can talk again next time."

As soon as they finished speaking, their minds left the virtual world of myriad paths and returned to their physical bodies.

On the other side of the virtual world, in an office of Wandao Mansion, Zhang Yuanfu breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the continuous influx of new users in the backend.

No matter how much the non-Daoist cultivators who were expelled complained, it had no effect on him, since he couldn't hear or see them anyway.

No cultivator can resist the allure of the virtual world.

If others can use it, but you can't, you'll have 98% fewer cultivation resources and external intelligence sources than others.

Purchasing various cultivation resources in real-world cities is more expensive.

Since non-Daoist cultivators have their information sources blocked, as long as they don't publish the latest pricing catalog of the God of Wealth's Mansion, the actual prices of many resources can be flexibly adjusted to earn more from the price difference.

If you can't accept it, and no one is forcing you to buy it, you can go to the wild to find it.

If the resources you find in the wild are not suitable for your cultivation needs, you can sell them at a lower price.

In short, whether you're buying or selling, they'll always take a cut of the price.

They form chambers of commerce in the virtual world; all they need to do is set a uniform rate of increase or decrease—it's a simple matter of a single sentence.

There are plenty of clever people in the world, and this method quickly became popular all over the planet.

In some cases, the government takes the lead in issuing pricing lists to prevent private chambers of commerce from disrupting the market and to avoid conflict among monks.

Some markets are formed by several factions, and the price fluctuations can be terrifying, sometimes several times the original amount.

Zhang Yuanfu was aware of the resource pricing power exercised by various local forces, but he did not intervene in any way.

What is the relationship between external pricing power and the virtual Wandao Realm?

He can only manage his own small plot of land.

Dao cultivators all know about the pricing power of resources. Even when trading with outsiders, they know the true price and won't be ripped off.

The newly revised resource pricing power in various regions can also subtly encourage non-Daoist cultivators to switch to Daoist cultivation methods.

Ordinary people would prefer to cultivate the Dao Seed Method.

External economic and intelligence means, along with various activities in the virtual world, have allowed the Daoist method to gradually become the mainstream cultivation system.

Zhang Yuanfu was looking at the various activity plans submitted by the planning department.

He carefully read through the event plan, titled "The Challenge of Ten Thousand Talents".

The four groups of challenges—Tao Seed, Tao Root, Tao Seedling, and Tao Tree—are open to all races and levels of cultivation.

The challenge is divided into regional competitions and a grand final.

Regional competitions are held in various virtual cities, selecting the top 100.

Participants from all regions gathered at Wandaoshan to participate in the finals.

In virtual martial arts competitions, even if you are killed, you will not die; at most, your soul will be weakened and you will need to recuperate for one or two months.

Participating cultivators can spar with geniuses from all over the world and improve their combat experience.

You might even get a reward.

It can also be an opportunity to make friends and expand one's network.

Being weak for a month or two is definitely not a bad thing.

Zhang Yuanfu's eyes lit up after watching the "Ten Thousand Talents Challenge".

He knew in his heart that if the first challenge was successfully held and its reputation spread, it would greatly promote the development of the Daoist method.

Prizes should be rare and irreplaceable.

Longevity Treasure, Elixir of Immortality, Cultivation Methods, Techniques, Secret Arts, Magical Weapons, Talismans, Array Plates, and Spirit Beasts are all common items.

You can add the eligibility criteria for settling in Wandao City.

Zhang Yuanfu came up with a unique reward: a place as a registered disciple of the Changsheng Sect.

If the top three or the champion are awarded a place as a disciple, it will surely ignite the competition's popularity.

They could probably punch a dog's brain out.

In the virtual world, one cannot die; countless cultivators will desperately strive to advance their levels.

However, he could only dream about the prize; he couldn't possibly bother the headmaster for a challenge match.

Things are different now. Unlike other sects, the Longevity Sect does not regularly accept disciples; it depends entirely on the mood of its leader.

He could clearly see that the Changsheng Sect had not accepted any personal or nominal disciples for a long time, indicating a contraction.

In the past, the headmaster would accept some exceptionally talented disciples, but now there seems to be no such activity.

Many people in the Longevity Cave Heaven have not yet obtained the status of a registered disciple.

Such as Shen Qingxu, Shi Yideng and others.

He predicts that the Changsheng Sect will only become more and more strict in accepting disciples in the future.

Unable to figure out what was wrong with the sect leader, Zhang Yuanfu turned his attention to his personal disciples.

He shook his head in a flash. The five direct disciples were all homebodies, too lazy to even care about trivial matters, so how could they possibly take on disciples?

Furthermore, without the headmaster's permission, the five direct disciples probably wouldn't accept any disciples, not even nominal ones.

Inside the Longevity Cave, within the Myriad Treasures Pagoda, five figures sat around a jade table.

None of the five were their true forms; they were all manifestations of divine consciousness.

Ling Xuzi broke the heavy atmosphere by speaking, "Senior Brother, what brings you to us?"

Di Yuanzi got straight to the point, "Everyone knows about the changes on Earth, so I won't go into detail."

"Many rare and precious natural treasures and innate, indestructible primordial energy must have been created in the outside world. Shouldn't we go out to train and search for treasures?"

"We can't wait for Master to arrange everything."

"Our spiritual treasures cannot rely entirely on the primordial energy bestowed by our master for improvement."

Ling Xuzi raised his hand in a gesture of respect. "Senior Brother, it seems inconvenient for the two of us to go out, isn't it?"

"There is already a solution." As soon as he finished speaking, Di Yuanzi flicked his finger, and four beams of light flew toward the other four people.

"This is the secret technique of spiritual body that I deduced."

"A spiritual body can be nurtured with rare and precious materials, and a wisp of divine soul can be separated to control the spiritual body's actions."

"The spirit body can devour rare and precious materials to enhance its combat power, which can satisfy everyone's long-term use."

"In the future, everyone will go out to experience things in their spiritual form, while their physical bodies will cultivate in seclusion in the cave, achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop."

Ling Xuzi asked in surprise, "Senior Brother, really?"

As he spoke, his divine sense immediately contacted the light spot in front of him, absorbing the memories related to the spiritual body secret technique.

Yin Yue, Zi Yangzi, and Su Xinghe also absorbed the spiritual body secret technique with their divine sense.

After absorbing the spiritual body technique, the four of them showed expressions of surprise and delight.

Yin Yue and Zi Yangzi dislike going out. With the secret technique of spiritual body, they can control their spiritual bodies to go out, while their real bodies stay in the cave to cultivate.

Su Xinghe, on the other hand, used the Spirit Body Secret Technique as a way to lure enemies and save his life; at worst, he would just self-destruct his Spirit Body.

He prefers to go out in his real body, because only by experiencing the true meaning of combat and the weight of life and death can he truly understand the significance of battle.

Fighting through a spirit body or in a virtual world is ultimately lacking; it doesn't feel like a life-or-death crisis.