System Upgrade?
Lu Ze's previously idle brain suddenly sprang to life.
"What did you just say?"
Lu Ze abruptly turned to look at Shen Yan.
"Huh? I need an illusionary realm to comprehend the Sword Dao..."
"Not that, the line before."
"???"
Shen Yan was baffled by Lu Ze's question. After thinking for a moment, he hesitantly replied,
"I'm not skilled in the Sword Dao, but I have a natural affinity for hammer-type weapons?"
"Yes, that's the one."
Lu Ze snapped his fingers, then dropped his usual playful demeanor and looked at Shen Yan seriously.
"Brother Shen, I don't think you and the hammer are truly in harmony yet."
Shen Yan was taken aback. "That can't be, right? All the elders say..."
"The Sword Dao emphasizes the unity of man and sword. Brother Shen, do you feel... united with it?"
Lu Ze pointed at the massive hammer in Shen Yan's hand.
"This..."
Shen Yan didn't know how to respond.
He had never considered this question before.
"What do you mean, Brother Lu?"
"If Brother Shen's hammer techniques reach the state of unity between man and hammer, I’d be more than willing to design an illusionary realm to temper your Sword Dao."
Lu Ze's expression was utterly sincere.
"Otherwise, if your hammer techniques aren't yet mastered and you switch halfway to the Sword Dao, ending up proficient in neither... I’d feel guilty!"
With that, he even put on a pained expression.
Seeing Lu Ze like this, Shen Yan had no reason to doubt him.
"Brother Lu makes an excellent point!"
He nodded thoughtfully, staring at his hammer in deep contemplation.
"But how can I tell if I’ve reached the state of unity between man and hammer?"
"Simple."
Relieved that Shen Yan believed him, Lu Ze relaxed, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"I can design a trial illusionary realm to test your unity with the hammer. However..."
Shen Yan grew curious. "However what?"
"However, this illusionary realm might be quite challenging. If it affects Brother Shen’s mental state..."
Lu Ze trailed off, sighing dramatically.
"Oh, that’s all?"
Shen Yan laughed, completely unfazed.
"Don’t worry about that! My Dao heart is unshakable. My master says I’m a born prodigy—no trial, no matter how difficult, can shake my resolve in the slightest."
"Besides..."
"My master once said that if anyone could shake my Dao heart, I should bring them straight to him!"
Lu Ze forced a smile. "Heh, good, good..."
In his mind, he thought:
That person is definitely going to be me.
"So it’s settled? Once I pass the unity trial, you’ll design the training environment for me?"
Shen Yan’s eyes shone with hope.
Lu Ze nodded. "Yes, it’s a promise."
......
Returning to his guest quarters, Lu Ze immediately got to work crafting the illusionary realm.
When the system issued the "shake the Dao heart" mission, he had recalled a "classic" game from his past life—
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy.
But Lu Ze preferred its other name: Digging for Ascension.
You like hammers, huh?
Want to test your unity with the hammer?
Perfect fit.
Compared to games like I Wanna or It Takes Two, Digging for Ascension stood out for its utterly inhuman control scheme.
Whether in the games of his past life or the illusionary realms of this world, players generally didn’t reject the feel of the controls too much—because they aligned with their expectations and habits.
Struggling? Practice more. Bad at it? Train harder. Skill comes with time.
But Digging for Ascension was a whole different kind of torment.
Its controls and physics were downright anti-human.
You had to fully immerse yourself in that nonsensical, borderline-unplayable system to make progress.
So, skill didn’t matter here.
At least not until you’d internalized the janky controls.
Even the best players had to suffer through an adjustment period.
Lu Ze refused to believe anyone could remain unshaken by this game.
Even if Shen Yan’s will was truly unbreakable and Digging for Ascension failed to crack him,
Lu Ze had a backup plan.
He could mix in some "souls-like" elements into a sword-training game.
But he suspected that, given Shen Yan’s genius mindset, souls-like challenges would be the least effective at shaking his Dao heart.
Death after death wouldn’t faze him—he’d just revive and grow stronger.
What would get to him was hitting a wall with no clear path forward.
With that in mind, Digging for Ascension was undeniably the best choice.
Lu Ze activated the Illusion Tower and began constructing the virtual space.
First, he replaced the terrain with a cultivation-world aesthetic.
Then he crafted a pot and a hammer.
After a moment’s thought, Lu Ze summoned Zhong Yi’s digitalized soul and tossed it into the pot.
"You—go test it!"
......
The original Digging for Ascension was a 2D game, so Lu Ze couldn’t copy it outright.
The best approach was to have someone test the mechanics firsthand.
Zhong Yi’s digitalized soul became the perfect guinea pig.
Honestly, Zhong Yi was such a reliable senior brother.
Illustrations, testing, modeling—the guy excelled at everything.
Then again, among this batch of powerful cultivators, he’d died the most, leaving behind the strongest digitalized soul.
Extremely useful.
After repeated adjustments and tests, Lu Ze felt the physics system was finally ready.
Though digitalized souls had no faces,
somehow, Zhong Yi’s movements radiated an aura of utter exhaustion...
Lu Ze climbed into the pot himself to test the controls.
After tweaking a few minor issues, he finalized the design.
The rest was straightforward.
He polished the background, adding some signature scenery from the Tianxuan Sect.
Soon, the illusionary realm was complete.
Lu Ze took out the communication jade slip Shen Yan had given him.
"Brother Shen, the illusionary realm is ready."
"What?? It’s only been three days!"
Shen Yan’s voice from the other end was stunned.
"I did it all for your training, Brother Shen! Shall we meet now?"
Lu Ze’s tone was earnest.
"I’ll come find you right away... Oh, Brother Lu, your illusionary realms always have interesting names. What’s this one called?"
"It’s called..."
"Digging for Ascension."
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
+【Epic Battles!】 "Your Highness, they say Linxi Temple is miraculous. Won’t you make a wish?" "A wish? It should be making wishes to me." "That may be so, but since you’re already here..." "..." "Fine. Then grant this princess a consort to play with." "He must be obedient, devoted, and utterly infatuated with my body—so much so that he’d kneel and kiss my feet." "Your Highness, that’s not a consort. That’s a dog." "Then add clever, witty, heroic, ambitious yet pragmatic..." "Hmm, that’s enough for now. I’ll add more later." After tossing out these words half in jest, Princess Anle departed the temple—only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Bodhisattva statue smiling at her. Meanwhile, Yang An, fresh out of university, was having a very bad day. Good news: He’d transmigrated into another world with a cheat granting tenfold combat power. Bad news: He’d immediately fallen into the clutches of a certain villainess. Good news: Said villainess possessed peerless beauty and royal status. Bad news: She was absolutely monstrous!!! In the frozen wilderness, Yang An knelt beneath Qin Guo’er’s feet, drenched in sweat despite the cold. Desperately clutching her porcelain-perfect foot—the very one poised to crush his throat—he could only think: How do I survive this?! Need answers NOW!
ial death, also known as "shè sǐ" in Chinese, generally refers to... well, never mind, it's not important. My name is Ye Cheng, and I'm about to experience social death firsthand. ... 【Host, your mission is to confess your love to the young lady of the Dongfang family, the current student council president, in a way that will be unforgettable for everyone at the freshman ceremony!】 【Host, assist the girl with a sprained ankle in front of you to reach the infirmary, and fulfill the wicked thoughts in your heart!】 【Host, act on your desires and punish the arrogant young lady before you mercilessly!】 【Host, follow your instincts—abandon shameful surrender, begging, or groveling, and ruthlessly criticize the domineering, ill-mannered young lady in front of you!】 【Host...】 Ye Cheng: "Here, here, you take this host role—I quit!" Wait, why is the girl with a sprained ankle the daughter of a mafia boss? And what kind of punishment method is this for the arrogant young lady? Also, who the heck said anything about wicked thoughts in my heart? Come out here, let’s settle this one-on-one!!! ... The haughty student council president, the scheming mafia princess, the fragile yandere young lady, the airheaded maid-in-waiting, the mixed-blood loli/...
