In the western region of Xianyuan Continent, within the Ten Thousand Ghosts Cave.
"The Nine Nether Heavenly Venerable... that useless old fool, I heard he’s been exposed?"
"So what? The [Ghost Immortal]’s demonic embryo is already complete. That waste is irrelevant now."
"True... consider it the righteous faction doing us a favor by taking care of him."
"Hehehe... with the [Ghost Immortal] in our hands, all beneath the Refining Void Realm are mere ants... The day of the demonic path’s rise is upon us!"
...
Above a massive ancient tomb, a group of minor demonic sect leaders were grandly discussing their ambitions.
Thanks to an ancient malevolent artifact they had stumbled upon, combined with the Nine Nether Heavenly Venerable’s guidance, they had successfully created a horde of powerful evil spirits—the recent "Ghost Calamity" that had thrown the land into chaos.
The terrifying strength of these spirits lay in their ability to bypass a cultivator’s spiritual defenses, directly attacking the mind, instilling fear and sapping their will to fight.
Now, with the emergence of a Ghost King, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would become nothing more than fodder for these malevolent entities!
If this continued, the [Ghost Immortal]’s power would only grow stronger.
Given enough time, they might even wipe out the righteous factions entirely!
The thought filled them with exhilaration.
Originally, their plan had been to collaborate with the Nine Nether Heavenly Venerable, pretending to teach righteous disciples how to counter ghostly threats.
They would then arrange a joint examination for the five great sects, sending the disciples into a prearranged barrier.
There, the demonic path’s pre-placed [Ghost Immortal] would devour them all, fueling its evolution...
"Pity that useless old man got exposed."
"What’s there to fear? The [Ghost Immortal] is complete. Let’s find a Nascent Soul cultivator right now to celebrate its birth!"
"What about the intel the Nine Nether old fool sent earlier about the Lingxiao Sect?"
"Oh? There’s someone named Zhou Yue who’s coming to Xianyuan Continent for disaster relief soon..."
...
...
Seven days later.
Lingxiao Sect, Hall of Nurtured Spirits.
"...Elder Zhao, that’s everything I encountered in Xianyuan Continent."
Zhou Yue held a black, embryo-like evil entity in one hand and dragged a group of bound demonic cultivators with the other as he reported to Zhao Wendao.
"So this is the source of the Ghost Calamity? But I heard... it ignores spiritual energy and directly affects the mind?"
Zhao Wendao pinched his chin, deep in thought.
"Ignore spiritual energy? Affect the mind? Oh... I did feel a slight chill down my spine? Hmm, about the same as when your sanity drops to 85 in Phantomville?"
Zhou Yue paused, then turned his head as if recalling before concluding.
What mind-ignoring attack?
All he remembered was the black creature called the [Ghost Immortal] giggling foolishly while he felt only a slight coldness.
When he first heard the name [Ghost Immortal], his expression had darkened, fearing it might be on the level of a "Ghost Buddha." He hadn’t held back, striking with full force immediately.
And then... he slapped it to death in one hit.
"Ho! So that rebellious disciple’s illusionary realm actually has this effect?"
Nangong Yuan puffed out his chest, preening with pride.
"Who would’ve thought... So Lu Ze really created that illusionary realm to counter the Ghost Calamity?"
Zhao Wendao stroked his beard, smiling thoughtfully.
"Zhong Yi, relay my orders... Every member of the sect, whether disciple or elder, must pass the [Nightmare] difficulty at least three times!"
...
...
As for this unexpected "surprise," Lu Ze’s reaction was simple: Perfect!
He hadn’t thought that far ahead—originally, he was just completing a system task.
But in hindsight, it made sense.
How could a mere [Ghost Immortal] compare to the supreme immortal formation gifted by the system?
Those who had played Phantomville were practically immune to the psychological terror of ghostly entities.
The mastermind behind the "Ghost Calamity" had been captured, but the evil spirits had already evolved.
So it wasn’t just the Lingxiao Sect—after learning that Zhou Yue was completely immune to the [Ghost Immortal]’s attacks, all major sects and even rogue cultivators sprang into action.
Phantomville instantly became an illusionary realm every cultivator had to experience.
From trembling in fear at first, cultivators soon grew accustomed to it.
As long as they avoided the [Ghost Immortal] difficulty, the other levels weren’t much scarier than the original Phasmophobia.
Just a bit more intense.
Before long, led by Zhong Yi and other strategy experts, guides emerged—methods to identify ghosts without evidence, kite spirits in open fields, and optimized clearing routes.
The players evolved rapidly.
During the recent Ghost Festival, Lu Ze launched a special event, temporarily removing the player limit per session.
The result? Over a hundred players crowded into a single haunted house.
They strutted with confidence, playing instruments, singing, sipping tea, and debating philosophy—turning the eerie atmosphere into a lively gathering.
Many joked that Phantomville had become Humanville...
...
...
For an illusionary realm like Phantomville, the demonic energy it generated for Lu Ze in such a short time was staggering.
Because in the beginning, cultivators were most susceptible to fear.
In just over a month, he had achieved what would’ve taken three months otherwise.
Now, the demonic energy was enough for Lu Ze to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm!
"Finally, Nascent Soul..."
After his quiet breakthrough, Lu Ze examined his inner self, testing the limits of his illusionary realm’s range with his divine sense.
Six thousand meters—three times farther than the Golden Core Realm’s two thousand.
"Only six thousand? No wonder treasures that enhance divine sense are so rare..."
Lu Ze clicked his tongue in disappointment.
If others heard him, they’d surely accuse him of humble-bragging.
After all, an illusionary realm’s range wasn’t the same as divine sense range.
When crafting a detailed, lifelike world, even some Nascent Soul cultivators struggled to maintain a six-thousand-meter illusionary realm!
But for Lu Ze, it still wasn’t enough.
Neither the MMORPGs—the pinnacle of online gaming—nor the large-scale battlefield games ideal for farming demonic energy could be contained within a mere six kilometers.
Even battle royale or survival games would feel cramped at this scale.
"Guess I’ll have to trim the maps and make do."
Lu Ze put away his illusionary tower and withdrew his divine sense, shrugging.
He couldn’t wait until the Nascent Soul Realm to start these projects.
If necessary, he’d release scaled-down versions—earning coins... no, demonic energy was the priority.
Just as he was about to embark on his grand plans, the communication jade slip beside him lit up.
To his surprise, the caller was none other than Chi Shengtian, the Grand Elder of the Tianxuan Sect.
Lu Ze smirked. Speak of the devil...
"Young friend Lu... Young friend Lu!"
"I’ve found it—the heavenly treasure that enhances divine sense, just as I promised!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
