The next day.
Linxian Peak, Law Enforcement Hall.
"How did things go yesterday?"
The moment Qian Yutang appeared, Ding Mingcang immediately grabbed him and asked.
"Bad news... After the disciples cleared the previous stage, there’s a new one."
Qian Yutang feigned seriousness, but as soon as he saw Ding Mingcang’s face darken, he quickly waved his hand and added:
"Don’t panic, Elder! The good news is, the new stage is extremely simple. I heard the disciples cleared it with ease."
"Really?"
Ding Mingcang’s furrowed brows instantly relaxed.
"Absolutely true!" Qian Yutang nodded emphatically. "Apparently, that kid worked overnight to design the new stage, completely unprepared for how quickly the disciples would clear it!"
Hearing this, Ding Mingcang felt much more at ease.
"If it was rushed, it must be shoddy work. It probably won’t win any favor later."
"But letting him keep exploiting loopholes to refine the stages is no good. Go to the Artifact Refining Pavilion and warn him—no more changes to the illusion realm!"
"And one more thing..."
"Visit Danqing Peak and the Sword Inquiry Peak. Coordinate with their stewards to expedite the addition of new courses. It must be done quickly!"
"Seeing swordplay and spiritual herbs being disgraced by some ordinary disciple must have infuriated them."
"Once academic pressure increases, the disciples will naturally have no time to waste on illusions..."
……
……
Thunder Lord Peak, Qingyun Pavilion.
"DAMN IT!!!!!"
A violent shockwave erupted within Qingyun Pavilion as Zhong Yi’s roar echoed.
The surrounding barrier trembled violently, on the verge of collapse.
[The zombies ate your brains...]
Staring at the floating words in the air, Zhong Yi was furious.
Even if the stage was labeled "Hard Mode," this difficulty was downright absurd!
The first three stages were manageable—just slightly stronger zombies than the normal version.
But after the third stage, the sheer number of enemies was on a whole other level!
Annoying ice chariot zombies and acrobat zombies kept harassing him.
The spawn rate and frequency of enemies had multiplied.
By the fifth stage, there were even barbarian zombies with boss-level strength!
In just a short while, his brains had been eaten over a dozen times!
Where did that leave the dignity of a [Genius Cultivator] like him?
Zhong Yi was seething.
He opened the forum, only to find it flooded with despair.
[This Survival Mode is insane! Has anyone cleared it yet?]
[Barbarian zombies in the daytime stage? I dread to imagine what comes next...]
[Feels like fighting a Nascent Soul monster right after reaching Foundation Establishment.]
[Wasn’t Survival Mode supposed to be fun? Only a saint could enjoy this!]
[Lu Ze must be doing this on purpose!!]
[Calling the Genius Cultivator—only he can save us now!]
……
Zhong Yi, who had been on the verge of losing it, saw how highly he was regarded on the forum and instantly reignited with fighting spirit.
"Fellow disciples, wait for me to conquer this challenge and return to aid you all!!"
……
……
Late at night.
[Evil Path Value +1.2]
[Evil Path Value +10]
[Evil Path Value +1.2]
[Evil Path Value +10]
……
The endless stream of system notifications was music to his ears.
Lu Ze lay in bed, thoroughly pleased.
"This master-disciple duo is truly a gift!"
Now, advancing from early to mid Foundation Establishment required a whopping 50,000 Evil Path Value.
Without the contributions from this treasure pair, reaching that point would’ve taken ages.
The forum post rallying disciples to call for the "Genius Cultivator," declaring only he could save them, was actually Lu Ze’s alt account.
All to provoke Zhong Yi into obsession.
If he didn’t get obsessed, how else would Lu Ze level up?
The original Hard Mode wasn’t nearly this brutal.
Lu Ze had redesigned it based on Endless Mode’s difficulty.
All to ensure disciples died repeatedly, feeding him Evil Path Value.
As for whether some might quit from frustration...
Lu Ze wasn’t worried.
First, cultivators in this world had never seen anything so entertaining—once hooked, they wouldn’t leave even if driven away.
Second, his difficulty balancing was precise.
Brutally hard, utterly sadistic, but never impossible.
So even after countless failures, players would stubbornly persist.
And once they finally cleared Hard Mode...
They’d discover Endless Mode waiting for them.
That was the real trap.
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
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?!
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
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!
