Another Shipment Big Brother, Send More Warmth

Watching the sect disciples enjoying themselves immensely, Lu Ze felt deeply gratified.

Indeed, a masterpiece shines brightly no matter where it is.

Swinging a sword while simultaneously selecting spots to plant might have been somewhat challenging for players in his previous life.

But for these cultivators, who wielded blades and swords as effortlessly as breathing, it was child’s play.

Lu Ze had replaced the sunlight that players had to manually collect in his past life with automatically absorbed spiritual energy. Now, the only operations left were slicing fruits and planting spiritual crops.

Thus, the tedious task of gathering sunlight was transformed in this world into cutting down unwanted fruits and spiritual plants.

As for the various zombies and sentient spiritual plants, the cultivators understood them even better.

In a way, these cultivators grasped the game’s lore more intuitively than players from his past life ever could.

When it came to puzzle games like this, cultivation level hardly mattered.

At the moment, the slowest progress Lu Ze observed was from the true disciple Mu Yawen.

Even after Zhong Yi’s guidance, this guy still managed to pull off the bizarre strategy of planting sunflowers in the front line to block zombies.

Yet, far from finding it dull, Mu Yawen was thoroughly engrossed.

For him, the cycle of planting, harvesting, and watching his spiritual crops battle was a unique kind of joy.

Li Moran, the esports prodigy who had dominated "Demon Sect Escape," picked up the game quickly as expected but didn’t outpace the other disciples by a significant margin.

The real surprise was the chatterbox Zhong Yi.

While everyone else was still familiarizing themselves with the mechanics in the first level,

this guy hadn’t died even once and had already breezed into the second major stage.

The second stage took place at night.

The spiritual field no longer naturally generated energy—all of it had to be produced by sunflowers or mushrooms.

With energy reserves plummeting and the number of spiritual plants exceeding the card slot limit,

players now had to consider not just basic formations but also energy management and deck planning.

The difficulty escalated step by step.

These design choices thrilled Zhong Yi.

Swinging his sword, planting spiritual crops, and chattering nonstop—

"The night field doesn’t produce energy, but sunflowers aren’t efficient enough… What? There’s a Sunshroom that generates energy too?"

"A small Sunshroom costs 15 energy and produces 10 per cycle… Takes about ten breaths to grow into a big Sunshroom, which then yields 25 energy…"

"This! The Sunshroom’s returns are insane! We can ditch the sunflowers!"

"But before the Sunshrooms mature, there isn’t even enough energy to plant a Peashooter…"

"Eh!? A Puff-shroom!? It… costs zero energy!?"

"This design, with each element interlocking… Absolutely brilliant!!"

"Junior Brother Lu’s ingenuity is beyond mortal comprehension!"

Zhong Yi exclaimed as he played, completely unaware that Lu Ze was watching his every move with silent amusement.

As Zhong Yi had noted, "Plants vs. Zombies" truly excelled in its meticulously crafted levels.

Each stage was slightly harder than the last, introducing new mechanics or challenges.

And with every level, players unlocked a new plant.

As the difficulty rose, so too did the player’s arsenal.

Buckethead Zombies too tough early on?

Drop a Wall-nut to stall them.

Pole Vaulting Zombies leaping over your defenses?

Tall-nuts stop them cold.

Ladder Zombies scaling your tall-nuts?

A Magnet-shroom would teach them humility…

…

This gradual, addictive progression kept players hooked.

Especially when their carefully cultivated plants, fueled by a steady stream of energy, clashed with the zombie hordes—it was pure satisfaction.

The 2D visuals of his past life had been impressive enough.

But in the immersive illusionary realm of the cultivation world, the spectacle was downright breathtaking.

After blazing through over a dozen levels, Zhong Yi finally hit a wall.

The new armored General Zombie (the equivalent of the football zombie from the original game) gave him a serious headache.

That metal armor was absurdly durable—even with two Peashooters, a Snow Pea, and a Wall-nut barricade, he struggled to hold the line.

When another wave of zombies emerged on a different lane amid the scarce nighttime energy, his defenses crumbled instantly.

This was Zhong Yi’s first defeat—

far later than the other disciples.

Instead of frustration, he was even more enthralled, experimenting with all sorts of new strategies.

Finally, with the help of a Hypno-shroom, he claimed victory.

Watching the armored zombie, after mistakenly eating the Hypno-shroom, turn on its fellow undead left Zhong Yi in awe of the game’s design once more.

"Such ingenuity… Junior Brother Lu is a genius among geniuses!"

"Marvelous, simply marvelous!"

The man himself stood nearby, listening to the praise with a straight face.

[Host has impressed righteous cultivator Zhong Yi with his skills, earning the other’s admiration. Randomly acquiring one of the target’s abilities.]

[Reward obtained: Twenty years of martial arts experience.]

"Another drop?"

Lu Ze’s brow arched.

This true disciple Zhong Yi was practically a gift that kept on giving!

A shame both rewards so far were martial arts experience.

If only he could luck out like with Li Moran and land something more extraordinary.

……

……

Outside the illusionary realm,

in the sect’s plaza,

the Second Elder, who had been meditating with closed eyes, suddenly opened them.

"Time’s up!"

He rose to his feet—

only to find that

not a single disciple below had emerged from the illusion. All remained utterly absorbed.

Ding Mingcang was dumbfounded.

It was just an illusion about slicing fruits.

How could so many Lingxiao Sect disciples be this addicted??

The outer disciples, unfamiliar with illusions, were one thing.

But these inner disciples had trained in all sorts of mental realms!

Slicing fruits?

Someone had even designed a cultivation method involving carving talismans on tofu!

Yet he’d never seen them this engrossed!

"Ahem…"

He cleared his throat.

"One hour has passed!"

This time, he infused his voice with a trace of spiritual energy, enough to jolt the mind.

Only then did the disciples below reluctantly withdraw from the illusion.

"Old Ding, why drag me out too?"

Beside him, Zhao Wendao wore a dark expression, clearly displeased.

He’d been in the middle of an intense battle with the final zombie wave, ready to go all out—

when Ding Mingcang’s mental shock made him fumble, misplacing a Wall-nut.

His central lane collapsed as a result.

"This…"

Faced with Zhao Wendao’s reproach, Ding Mingcang was even more stunned.

Even the Grand Elder was playing??

What kind of illusion was this…

If Zhao Wendao couldn’t clear it in an hour,

he didn’t need to ask whether any disciples had succeeded.

His expression turned complicated as he surveyed the crowd below.

"Grand Elder… did that kid deliberately make the illusion tedious and drawn out?"

Ding Mingcang ventured.

"Tedious? Hmm… it is a bit lengthy."

Zhao Wendao stroked his beard cheerfully, reminiscing about the thrill of cultivating an entire army of spiritual plants to battle the zombies.

For the first time in an illusionary realm, he’d experienced the joy of nurturing growth.

Ding Mingcang's expression instantly turned grim.

Judging by Zhao Wendao's reaction, this illusionary realm was far more complex than it appeared on the surface.

He and Lu Ze were bound by a sect contract.

If they lost, he would have to face seclusion in Reflection Valley!

The humiliation would be unbearable!