The Nine Nether Venerable was passionately arguing with netizens in a forum.
At first, countless users respected his status as a master of soul cultivation and engaged with him politely.
But no matter what others said, the Nine Nether Venerable stubbornly insisted that illusions were worthless in his presence, and those who chose illusions over his teachings were nothing but ignorant fools.
His words angered many.
If he had criticized the principles or techniques of cultivation, perhaps the game Phantom Ghost Town wouldn’t have been relevant.
But to dismiss overcoming fear?
His laughable test barrier was proof enough of his incompetence.
Not only did he attack the illusion itself, but he also insulted its players. The netizens immediately unleashed a torrent of verbal assaults.
[Nine Nether Venerable: Do you even know who I am?? I am the foremost authority on soul cultivation! No one has more say in this than me!]
[Elegant and Refined Ancestral Light: Then do you know who I am?]
[Nine Nether Venerable: No.]
[Elegant and Refined Ancestral Light: Good. Keep an eye on your family, old bastard, lest they mysteriously vanish.]
[Nine Nether Venerable: ???]
...
The Nine Nether Venerable was fuming.
Just as he was busy trading insults, Lu Ze himself appeared.
[Illusion Master Lu Ze: Very well, you shall have your wish.]
The moment Lu Ze showed up, the forum erupted.
Hundreds of replies flooded the thread in seconds.
[Holy shit, Old Demon Lu is here?!]
[No way, even Old Demon Lu wouldn’t dare play this illusion himself!!]
[First time I’m rooting for Old Demon Lu—punish this arrogant geezer!]
[Never seen the highest difficulty before—dying to watch!]
[Livestream! It has to be a livestream!]
[This old bastard’s gonna piss himself in fear.]
...
Seeing Lu Ze’s arrival, the Nine Nether Venerable’s eyes lit up.
This was his chance to prove his teachings were superior to illusions.
Since his previous test had failed, the only way left was to demonstrate his own strength—by surpassing the illusion itself.
Without hesitation, he accepted the challenge.
[Nine Nether Venerable: Fine, livestream it! Give me the highest difficulty—if my legs so much as tremble, I’ll renounce my title as Venerable!]
...
...
Lu Ze moved swiftly, ensuring the Nine Nether Venerable couldn’t back out.
He set up a dedicated livestream for him, prominently displayed at the top of the illusion game’s broadcast section.
The Nine Nether Venerable wasted no time, entering the illusion and activating the livestream.
Instantly, hordes of curious netizens flooded in.
"Hmph, it seems my reputation still draws quite the crowd."
The Nine Nether Venerable smirked in satisfaction.
His livestream title read: [Nine Nether Venerable Conquers the Highest Difficulty—Phantom Ghost Town].
Unbeknownst to him, the recommended title across all platforms was:
[Centenarian Geezer Gets Terrified—Click to Watch the Suffering Live.]
This was the Nine Nether Venerable’s first time in the illusion, and he looked utterly bewildered by the safe house’s mechanics.
Lu Ze, appearing as an administrator, stood beside him.
"Elder, are you certain you wish to challenge the highest [Ghost Immortal] difficulty? Perhaps you’d like to try a lower setting first?"
Lu Ze asked with a faint smile.
"Hah! What [Ghost Immortal] or [Earth Fiend] nonsense—just mortals exaggerating spirits! You, a cultivator, actually believe this?"
The Nine Nether Venerable scoffed, glaring disdainfully at Lu Ze.
"Isn’t this illusion just about scaring people? I fear nothing! Give me the highest difficulty—let’s see what dares call itself a Ghost Immortal. I’ll scatter its soul to the winds!"
"Elder, such words are unwise!"
Lu Ze hastily waved his hands, then set the difficulty to [Ghost Immortal].
"Elder... well, good luck."
Struggling to suppress his laughter, Lu Ze vanished into thin air.
"Good luck? Save it for your so-called Ghost Immortal!"
The Nine Nether Venerable strode confidently into the activation circle.
In the next moment, he was transported to a desolate village.
[Map: Sealed Gate Village]
[Difficulty: Ghost Immortal ★★★★★]
[Random Conditions Applied:]
[Initial Sanity: 60]
[Sanity Drain Rate: Fast]
[Discoverable Evidence: 0]
[Movement Speed: Slow]
[Paranormal Event Frequency: High]
[Ghost Movement Speed: Extremely Fast]
[Ghost Room Change Rate: Fast]
[Soul Cage: Disabled]
...
[Overall Difficulty Coefficient: 100]
[Optional Objectives:]
[1. Identify the Ghost Type]
[2. Survive One Hunt]
[3. Witness a Paranormal Event and Live]
[4. Capture a Ghost Photo]
The moment the difficulty settings appeared, the livestream audience was stunned.
[Holy hell—zero evidence to ID the ghost?!]
[Missing one piece of evidence already drives me insane... ZERO?!]
[Starting with 60 sanity... if you’re unlucky and meet a vengeful spirit, you’re dead on spawn.]
[No wonder it’s ‘Ghost Immortal’ difficulty... glad I never tried it! It’s suicide!]
[Ghost speed is max, player speed is snail... Old Demon Lu, you did this on purpose!]
[The scariest part? Soul Cage is disabled—no hiding!]
[Wonder what the paranormal events are like at this difficulty...]
[I think the closet just moved...]
...
"Pathetic tricks."
The Nine Nether Venerable ignored the floating comments, stepping off the carriage without a single tool.
Exiting the carriage meant leaving the safe zone.
With only 60 sanity, the Fear Resonance Array’s effects hit hard.
He shuddered uncontrollably—a primal, physiological terror.
After a brief hesitation, he turned back and carefully selected a few high-tier tools from the carriage’s stash.
Lu Ze had been generous, stocking only the best equipment.
He had full confidence in the Heavenly Fragment Spirit’s power—if the Nine Nether Venerable didn’t wet himself, it’d be a miracle.
Better to give him some gear... so the Heavenly Fragment Spirit could toy with him longer.
After all,
once this livestream blew over, no one would dare challenge [Ghost Immortal] difficulty for a while...
[Ghost Immortal] was a unique difficulty, separate from the original game’s design.
Beyond the randomized conditions, the paranormal events alone were enough to break players.
But the most terrifying part?
In [Ghost Immortal] mode, players couldn’t easily trigger their real-world spiritual energy to disconnect from fear.
If other difficulties set the fear threshold for involuntary disconnection at 50,
here, it was 100.
No escape.
This was true, unrelenting horror.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
