Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

"I shattered your shackles, yet you only see the new mark on your hand!"

"I gave you an entire forest, yet you only fuss over the gain or loss of a single seed!"

"This timid, ungrateful mindset, this inability to seize opportunities, is the root cause of your failure!"

"You aren’t questioning me; you’re insulting your own potential for success!"

The shills in the crowd started chiming in:

"Exactly! The master is enlightening you!"

"You were given a heavenly opportunity and you’re still not satisfied. You deserve to be poor!"

The merchant’s blood rushed to his head. He instantly began to repent, regretting that he had failed to grasp the master’s deeper meaning.

’That’s right. If I want to walk the path to success, what’s a small sacrifice like this?’ 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

’This is just the first step!’

He lowered his head in shame, mortified that he had just accused the master of selfishness.

As Dong Changsheng watched all this—watched his master make these people see the light and give them the courage to march toward "success"—he felt more and more resolute.

’I want to be a person just like my master!’

’Just like him, I’ll awaken the world, bring compassion to the people, and teach everyone the path to success!’

’I will spend my entire life repaying my master for his kindness in recognizing my potential!’

Lin Qingfeng recorded this entire performance from Dong Changsheng’s master and posted it directly to the sect channel, instantly setting off a firestorm of discussion among the players.

The players gathered around the purple crystal were doubled over with laughter.

"Holy shit! Doesn’t this whole spiel seem familiar?"

Lin Qingfeng turned to Shi Gandang beside him. "When we log off later, give me your phone."

Shi Gandang eyed him warily. "What for?"

Lin Qingfeng: "I’ll cover the cost of your gear!"

Shi Gandang thought for a moment. "Forget it. You can just give me the money. You’re not getting my phone."

Lin Qingfeng: "Hurry! I’m putting you on the grand path to success! First, I’ll help you take out a few hundred thousand in loans against your family’s name."

Shi Gandang: "..."

Shi Gandang stared at him, speechless. "Does your family run a loan company? What’s in it for you?"

Lin Qingfeng considered this. "Good point. My family doesn’t do loans. Never mind."

Lin Qingfeng: "Let’s not mention this again."

Hmmm...

...

Inside the Crystal Illusion Realm, Dong Changsheng knew his master wasn’t a Cultivator and that the so-called "Luck Transfer Talismans" were nothing but fakes.

But for his master to guide countless people toward the path of success as a mere mortal—this heaven-defying talent was something he worshipped.

’It doesn’t matter if those people ultimately succeeded or not. At least they took action for the sake of success. That, in itself, is the greatest success of all!’

The incident occurred after one of the sermons.

A middle-aged man in ragged clothes burst through the crowd and fell at the master’s feet, tears and snot streaming down his face.

"Master! Give me back my hard-earned money! You liar! I listened to you and invested everything I owned into that business you mentioned, and now I’ve lost it all! My wife and children have left me!"

The master’s expression shifted slightly, but Dong Changsheng had already stepped in front of him.

"That’s not how you should behave!"

"Is your family being ruined the main point here? Master showed you the direction to success and gave you the courage to strive for it. That’s what’s most important!"

The man, trembling with rage at this twisted logic, looked up and roared, "He made me lose everything! Is that the path he pointed out?"

"No, I already told you the point of this matter. It’s not about your family being ruined, okay!

Why can’t you understand? It’s that Master gave you a chance to better yourself!

You failed to seize it, so that’s your problem!

And now you dare come back and slander Master? This is repaying kindness with malice! You really can’t act like this!"

Seeing Dong Changsheng act this way, his master nodded in satisfaction.

’It worked!’

The man completely lost it. Screaming, "I’ll kill you, you liar!" he swung his fist at Dong Changsheng’s master.

Dong Changsheng immediately blocked the blow, his expression unchanging as the man’s fist landed on his chest.

But it did hurt his chest a bit, so he threw a few punches back at the man.

Unexpectedly, just from these few retaliatory punches, the man was sent flying backward. He slammed into a wall, his sternum caved in, and he passed out on the spot.

Dong Changsheng, however, glanced at the unconscious man with an innocent look and explained to the surrounding crowd:

"You all saw it. He hit me so many times, and I was fine.

I just tapped him lightly and he fell over. How can you blame me for that?

He’s just not very sturdy. A person can’t be this unreasonable!"

The followers gasped. A few people in the crowd even showed looks of fear and doubt.

After all, a man’s life had just been snuffed out.

At this moment of wavering faith, the master’s face was calm.

To him, the death of this man—who had no power, no influence, and whose money he had already squeezed dry—was nothing more than eliminating a bit of noise.

He patted Dong Changsheng’s shoulder approvingly, then turned to face all the followers. As if worried that words alone might not be enough, he moved his fingers and did something.

"Did you all see that?!"

He pointed at the man on the ground.

"This is a failure! This is the only reaction a failure can muster when faced with the grand path to success—impotent rage!"

"He doesn’t understand gratitude, he doesn’t understand progress. He only knows how to complain and destroy, so his life was destined to be a tragedy!"

"But Changsheng, my good disciple, possesses the ’heart of the strong’!

He endured the attack of the weak without wavering.

He wasn’t defending me, but the ’Success’ and ’Truth’ that we all pursue together!"

"You must remember, the road to success will always have stumbling blocks like this.

Will you be like him, consumed by your own incompetence? Or will you be like Changsheng, firm in your beliefs, and sweep away all obstacles?"

The wavering followers, incited by his words and the spread of an invisible ripple of energy, found the doubt in their eyes replaced by fanaticism.

The master’s face also grew a shade paler.

Listening to his master’s words, Dong Changsheng was moved to tears.

He felt more and more that his master was the heavens! The earth! The one and only truth!

He decided he had to repay his master!

Repay his master for the gift of a new life!

The first time he repaid this debt was when his master casually complained that the city prefect’s son was bullying people with his authority and had been disrespectful to him.

Upon hearing this, Dong Changsheng used the rhetorical techniques his master had taught him to incite the fanatical followers, fabricating charges and getting them to lead the charge in jointly reporting the prefect’s son for treason.

The matter escalated until the emperor actually dispatched an imperial envoy to investigate thoroughly.

That very night, his master’s face turned pale with fright. The trouble his disciple had stirred up was beyond his ability to handle, so he hastily fled the city with him under the cover of darkness.

They later heard rumors about what happened to the prefect’s family, but that was no longer their concern.

The second repayment occurred while they were on the run. The master seemed to have taken a liking to a wealthy merchant’s daughter.

To repay his master, Dong Changsheng learned of this and spread rumors everywhere that the merchant was a "jinx," hoping to cause the family’s downfall. Then, his master could stage a "hero saves the damsel" scene and win the beauty’s hand.

When the master found out, he remembered the merchant’s intricate connections with the government. His own ability wasn’t enough to fully manipulate the officials, and this could even lead to a greater disaster.

So, once again, he fled in the middle of the night with his star pupil, abandoning the fervent followers he had worked so hard to cultivate in that area.

By the third repayment, the master seemed to have finally achieved some goal and made a show of wanting to retire and live a peaceful life, hoping his disciple wouldn’t cause any more trouble.

But Dong Changsheng believed his master’s grand path to success could not be allowed to gather dust.

’I must build an eternal enterprise for my master!’

So, he "donated" all of his master’s hidden savings, bribed a Vassal King to get his master the empty title of "National Preceptor," and reported his master’s path of "helping others succeed" to the imperial court, requesting it be established as the national doctrine to benefit the world.

This time, he had stirred up a hornet’s nest of cosmic proportions.

The court deemed this an act of spreading heresy to delude the masses, an instance of Court Disorder, and a plot of rebellion.

The emperor was furious and issued a nationwide arrest warrant.

From then on, his master was doomed to a life on the run, hunted by heavily armed soldiers.

When Dong Changsheng tried to find his master again, he discovered that this time, his master had truly vanished, and he hadn’t taken him along.

He had only left a note and some travel money.

"You have graduated. It’s time for you to make your own way in the world. There’s a Daoist temple on Qingxu Mountain near Anhe City. Go there, and perhaps you’ll find your own opportunity."

"Please, please, do not come looking for me ever again!"

"PLEASE do not try to repay me ever again!!"

"I’ve received your good intentions!!! That’s enough!!!"

He didn’t understand why his master didn’t take him along this time.

’But I haven’t finished repaying his kindness yet!’

’Master held no grudges and even gave me another opportunity, while I’ve only offered my humble efforts in return.’

’How can I be so ungrateful!’

’This debt must be repaid, whether he wants it or not!’

The illusion ended with Dong Changsheng standing alone on a crowded street, looking around in a daze, unable to find that familiar figure ever again.

His Heart Demon was born from this endless search and sinking regret.

For the rest of his life, he was never able to find his master again, never able to repay the kindness of being taught the grand path to success.

This unfulfilled "repayment of kindness" became an eternal, unbreakable obsession in his heart.

Obsessed with repaying kindness, yet he personally pushed his benefactor into the abyss;

Craving success, yet he ultimately achieved nothing, living his life in vain...

On the Asking Dao Ladder, Dong Changsheng’s figure came to a halt on the fiftieth step. His eyes were shut tight, his face contorted in pain and struggle, trapped by his Heart Demon, unable to break free.

...

[Reality]

[Gossip]

The renowned sociological research institute "Lighthouse" released its annual observation report, for the first time listing "virtual spiritual leaders" as a social phenomenon worthy of attention.

The report pointed out that some controversial figures with large followings in the real world are attempting to extend their influence into the holographic virtual world.

The report anonymously cited the case of a "gray-listed" user who spent an enormous sum of money to purchase only limited-function game access.

The report analyzed that Ashen Heaven Group’s motive for this move is a mystery. It does not seem to be commercially driven, but rather more like a "sociological experiment" with an unknown purpose.