"A demonic cultivator?"
The young girl's pupils dilated slightly before quickly returning to normal.
Su Di'er tilted her head, pointed a finger at Zhong Yi, and blinked.
"You... a demonic cultivator?"
"Yeah, that's right. I know it's inconceiv..."
Zhong Yi's habit of being a chatterbox struck again, the cost being a sharp drop in his Behavior Score in the top right corner.
During story trigger sequences, the system was particularly sensitive to a player's roleplaying performance, so Zhong Yi hurriedly shut his mouth.
"Oh..."
Su Di'er nodded, looking at him thoughtfully.
"So, do you eat children?"
"Uh?"
Zhong Yi was stunned.
"Mom used to tell me that children who don't sleep get caught and eaten by demonic cultivators."
The corners of Su Di'er's mouth curled up, revealing a mischievous grin.
"I don't eat them!!!"
Zhong Yi rubbed his forehead, somewhat speechless.
The girl pouted. "Then what kind of demonic cultivator are you..."
"Listen, I'm not joking."
Zhong Yi sighed, keeping a straight face and speaking seriously.
"Demonic cultivators aren't good people."
"And the Righteous Path are good people? You mean the people who killed my little brother!?"
At the mention of her brother, Su Di'er's eyes reddened, and her voice involuntarily grew louder.
"But I..."
Zhong Yi was momentarily at a loss for words.
That bunch from the Demon Suppression Division cultivated righteous techniques to eradicate demons, yet they committed atrocities devoid of conscience.
"At least you wouldn't kill women and children, would you?"
Su Di'er wiped the corners of her eyes, her shoulders trembling slightly.
"If... if it were you..."
"At least my brother wouldn't have..."
The girl's soft sobbing made Zhong Yi feel particularly tormented inside.
What is justice? What is evil?
Is the Righteous Path always just?
Is the Demonic Path always evil?
The questions that had troubled him in reality not long ago now resurfaced in this illusion.
The figures of Li Ang and Su Di'er overlapped with the demonic cultivator youth and the mortal girl in the dungeon.
"If the Righteous Path is just running dogs like them... then I would rather become a demon!"
Su Di'er looked at Zhong Yi's hesitant gaze without backing down an inch.
Just then, the Main Quest in the top right corner refreshed.
[Main Quest: Take an Apprentice (Accept Su Di'er's request to become your disciple)]
Zhong Yi frowned.
Since this was the Main Quest, it meant that Li Ang, the protagonist, had already intended to take her as a disciple at this point in time.
However, Zhong Yi was ultimately a righteous cultivator bursting with a sense of justice. He sighed and said:
"No matter what, I cannot agree to let you fall into the Demonic Path."
Su Di'er was relentless. "Then teach me some ways to kill people. I want to kill them with my own hands!"
"Su Di'er, ordinary methods are useless against cultivators."
"Then lead me into the Dao! Righteous Path or Demonic Path, I don't care."
"You cannot enter the Demonic Path! You cannot..."
Facing the girl's stubborn gaze, Zhong Yi waved his hand in distress.
As he spoke, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Zhong Yi's mind.
Yesterday, while wandering around the small town, he had encountered many side quest clues that seemed to be of great use!
For example, the little beggar told him that a certain household had found a heavenly treasure capable of improving a mortal's constitution...
Wasn't that obviously prepared for Su Di'er?
And that martial arts tournament for marriage, with the female cultivator who was undefeated in the ring.
If he could get her cultivation technique, wouldn't that pave a righteous path for Su Di'er?
And he had only wandered around casually to find such opportunities.
Given his understanding of Lu Ze, this kind of clever design was definitely not limited to just one solution!
In other words, he didn't necessarily have to teach the girl to enter the Demonic Path!
"I might just need a little time... but believe me, I can definitely become as strong as you!"
Su Di'er spoke incoherently in her anxiety.
At this, Zhong Yi nodded slightly. "And I need... a drink."
The girl froze for a moment, then quickly understood Zhong Yi's meaning, standing up with joy.
"Don't move, let me get it~ let me get it!"
Watching Su Di'er skip into the kitchen, a genuine smile appeared on the corner of Zhong Yi's mouth.
"No, not wine... milk!"
"Oh..."
"Change yours to milk too. Children aren't allowed to drink alcohol!"
...
...
To tell a story through a game, simply following the pacing of a movie is not enough.
For this reason, Lu Ze had implemented numerous designs.
For instance, designing the small town as an open world, planting many side quests and special events.
Even the gangs in the town and the forces of wealthy families had clear planning.
Furthermore, the mid-game Main Quest turned the part about teaching Mathilda to be a killer—which wasn't detailed in the movie—into the game's core gameplay:
Nurturing and raising.
In the new inn, after accepting Su Di'er's request to become an apprentice, the illusion would enter a much more interesting phase.
At this point, the Main Quest would update to:
[Main Quest Updated: Raise Su Di'er to Level 30 (Early Qi Refining Stage)]
As for how to raise Su Di'er to Level 30, how to train her, and what cultivation techniques to teach...
Lu Ze made no specific requirements in the mission.
The purpose of this was to encourage players to explore the illusion and increase player freedom.
For example, Zhong Yi's intuition was one of the most interesting solutions Lu Ze had pre-set.
Obtaining spirit elixirs through side quests to improve Su Di'er's constitution, then obtaining techniques through other quests to guide her cultivation.
Apart from that, players could also spend a fortune directly at the restaurant owner to buy spirit elixirs and techniques.
As for money, it could only be earned by taking on tasks.
Of course, if players didn't want to choose either of the two laborious methods above, that was fine too.
The most straightforward approach—teaching Su Di'er demonic cultivation techniques—was also feasible.
It was just that the outcome would be rather miserable, generally leading quickly to a BE (Bad Ending).
This novel and bold setting quickly sparked heated discussions among cultivators.
On the Illusion Forum, players shared their experiences one after another.
[Fellow Daoists, can anyone provide a guide for raising Su Di'er?]
[Just buy them directly from the restaurant owner! Body Tempering Pills are ten taels each, and elementary techniques are thirty taels a copy!]
[Ten taels? That's enough to buy my life!]
[To give Su Di'er a good future, I can only desperately take on missions...]
[The genius cultivator's method works best. Go find side quests and random events in town. The probability of stumbling upon pills and techniques isn't low.]
[Currently known: The little beggar in the alley west of the teahouse triggers a spirit elixir quest if you buy him a meal; the martial arts ring in the downtown area seems to yield a righteous cultivation technique suitable for women from the female cultivator... Are there any other clues?]
[Why go to all that trouble? Can't you just choose to teach Li Ang's own technique?]
[??? Fellow Daoist, we cannot willingly degenerate!]
[Sigh, I tried the method of teaching demonic arts... Within a few days, Su Di'er suffered Qi Deviation and turned into a lunatic...]
[Going insane is actually a mercy. In my illusion, she was controlled by her inner demons and marched right into the Demon Suppression Bureau to throw her life away... When I found her, she was down to her last breath. She lay in my arms, asking if her brother would think she was dirty when she saw him again. She was crying, asking me if she was going to turn into a monster that eats children...]
[Stop, I'm about to have a breakdown! Fellow Daoists, whatever you do, don't cut corners and teach Su Di'er demonic cultivation techniques! No matter how hard it is, you have to get her a righteous cultivation method!]
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!
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
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?!
