Are You a Foot Fetishist

With Li Moran's defeat, Zhou Qiaoling directly chose to signal surrender.

If it were the usual time, Zhou Yue would never miss the chance to beat up his dear sister.

But thinking of how Lu Ze had just infiltrated the Righteous Attack Bridge Team to hit from behind, and how he played the sneaky "foot-trimmer" during their one-on-one sparring matches...

Zhou Yue put that idea aside.

Otherwise, who knows how the outside world would judge the Lingxiao Sect...

Anyway, Li Moran and Shen Yan accepted their loss and quit the game, leaving just one "rat" behind—it wasn't too outrageous.

Zhou Qiaoling had struck gold and tried to sneak it through, only to be caught by Lu Ze inside the soldier's crate.

"Ah! This shield-soldier crate actually spawned a [Recovery Heavenly Cauldron]? What a lucky shield-soldier~~"

Lu Ze knowingly retrieved the [Recovery Heavenly Cauldron] from the soldier crate and deliberately waved it in front of Zhou Qiaoling, making her so anxious she nearly fumed.

Zhou Yue was 10 million short of the promotion line, and a [Recovery Heavenly Cauldron] was worth 7 million—immediately filling the gap.

Lu Ze directly gave the [Recovery Heavenly Cauldron] to Zhou Yue.

As repayment, the twelve crates scattered in the garden were all devoured by Zhou Qiaoling on his behalf, since Zhou Yue and Zhong Yi absolutely refused to touch those dirty loot bags.

"Junior Brother Lu, what were you thinking back then? At such a formal sparring occasion, how could you..."

Zhou Yue trailed off.

"It's fine. If I got caught, I'd just give it away~"

Lu Ze shrugged nonchalantly.

At the time, his Initial Saint Value had already maxed out. Winning or losing didn't matter, since he wasn't chasing rankings—so he just chose the easiest method.

"Aren't you afraid Junior Sister Li might..."

Before Zhou Yue could finish, Zhong Yi interrupted:

"How could that be? Junior Sister Li is naturally aloof and wouldn't mind... Right, Junior Brother Lu? Huh? Junior Brother Lu?"

Zhong Yi called out twice but got no response from Lu Ze.

Turning around, he saw the other person frozen in place.

A moment later, Lu Ze suddenly transformed into a righteous alliance crate.

[Mirror Master Lu Ze has exited the Illusion Realm!]

"Hiss..."

Zhong Yi shuddered involuntarily.

"Strangely feels a bit cold?"

...

Lihuo Peak.

Above the Lingyu Pavilion, ice and snow converged, illuminating the night sky as brightly as day.

"Senior Sister Li, Senior Brother Zhong just praised you for having a good temperament and said you wouldn't mind what happened in the Illusion Realm... uh hehe..."

Lu Ze grinned awkwardly and scratched his head, quietly starting to deploy various charms and barriers around himself.

"Everything Senior Brother said in the Illusion Realm was the opposite."

Li Moran shot him a glare, instantly shattering all the barriers Lu Ze had just set up.

"Alright, alright... Same as always? If I block all your ice swords, you'll let me off?"

Luzeimally stared at the countless ice swords in the sky and resignedly shielded his head.

"Just don't hit my face this time, okay?"

"I won't hit your face..."

A strange curve tugged at the corner of Li Moran's lips.

With a "whoosh," one ice sword stabbed toward Lu Ze's foot.

"???"

Lu Ze was shocked.

"Senior Sister Li, are you into feet?"

"What?"

Li Moran's expression instantly soured.

Isn't that my line?

She clenched her fists slightly, and the sky filled with profound ice swords doubled again.

The Lingyu Pavilion was instantly swallowed by a blizzard.

"Damn, you're serious..."

...

...

The first stage ended, producing a total of 201 qualifying spots.

Notably, aside from losing to Lu Ze's foot attack in the first match, Li Moran evacuated from all other matches—and went on a killing spree.

Her ranking shot straight to first, pushing [Dusk] down.

According to those who faced her that night, Lady Li was unusually ferocious...

The second stage moved away from the random ranking point-grabbing model and shifted to a team battle phase.

The 201 players formed teams freely, competing for points in a team format.

The competition in this stage was even fiercer, because ultimately only six teams would enter the final round.

Compared to the randomness of the first stage, the second stage introduced a Heavenly Immortal Stone snatching mechanism.

The Heavenly Immortal Stone was the equivalent of the previous life's Mander Brick.

In normal mode, carrying a Heavenly Immortal Stone out of the match allowed you to draw a skin.

In the previous life's official design, the team that successfully decrypted it would win directly.

Those who decrypted it twice would advance immediately.

This was designed to force battles via brick-breaking, though in practice, its effect wasn't as huge as expected.

Lu Ze modified this mechanism slightly.

Unsealing the Immortal Stone—equivalent to decrypting the Mander Brick in the previous life—would not lead to an instant win.

Instead, like an airdrop in PUBG, it granted powerful equipment (Liu Tao and AW).

It also gave the entire team a buff.

Additionally, the Immortal Stone itself was set as a high-value red item worth 2 million.

...

On the cultivation world side, most players formed teams based on their sect or faction.

The consensus was to team up with fellow disciples or other independent cultivators.

"I'm already satisfied with reaching the second stage using the running-knife playstyle! As for the battles ahead, I won't participate further... Wishing you all, may your martial fortune flourish!"

Zhong Yi left behind this remark and lightly withdrew from the second stage.

He had joined the competition just to set an example for running-knife players.

With that goal achieved and the upcoming matches being aggressive combat zones, he naturally didn't want to drag others down.

Zhou Qiaoling felt the same.

Upon learning she couldn't leisurely loot and feast, she directly chose to bail out—since she'd already had her fun.

She could still claim the first-stage reward—a win-win deal.

Lu Ze, Zhou Yue, and Li Moran naturally formed a team together.

Originally, Li Moran didn't want to team with Lu Ze.

She wanted to settle the score from last time in the match and have a fair fight with him.

But Lu Ze wanted to team with Li Moran.

The reason was simple: convenience.

He could just go AFK in the match and still win—how great was that?

So Lu Ze privately set up a custom room and sparred with Li Moran several times head-on, fulfilling her wish.

In the end, the three teamed up.

At first, Lu Ze planned to name the team [Initial Saint Gate], only to find the name was already taken.

That just showed how widespread the followers of the Initial Saint were.

Finally, they used [Trim Your Jade Feet] as their match name.

With two powerful players like Zhou Yue and Li Moran in the team, Lu Ze didn't need to exert any effort.

He'd just open "Thirteen Kingdoms" at the start, switch back to eat loot bags after they cleared the map, and laze around.

His days were almost as comfortable as a boss who hired double bodyguards.

...

Luofeng Continent, Illusion Alliance Base.

"Dammit!!"

Huang Yuwen exited the Illusion Realm and punched the wall in fury.

"Why is this grand formation utterly useless? I can't even beat those two from Lingxiao Sect!"

He was the famed [Dusk] in the Illusion Realm, a minor guardian well-known before the competition, recruited by the Illusion Alliance at a hefty price.

"Young friend, why the rush? The Ten Directions Soul-Drop Grand Formation is operating at less than one-tenth of its efficiency..."

The eye-masked mind demon's voice was sharp and ridiculous at this moment.

"It's enough to just advance to the finals. What difference does it make whether I come in first or sixth?"

"If I reveal too much too soon, it might arouse suspicion and cause trouble instead..."

"When we reach the finals, there will be plenty of chances to teach the Lingxiao Sect a lesson I won't hesitate to hand out!"