Lu Ze knew plenty of games in the "tower climbing" genre.
But when it came to time sinks, the first thing that came to mind was Rogue-lite games.
The reason was simple -- they had high replay value.
What made roguelike games most appealing was their "high randomness."
From the map to the monsters, and even the player’s attributes and skills, everything was randomly generated.
In typical single-player games, players might go through three or four playthroughs at most after beating them.
But with Rogue-lite games, even after clearing the hardest difficulty, players would joyfully repeat the experience hundreds or thousands of times.
Every new run was a brand-new experience.
Among countless roguelike games, Slay the Spire was a milestone "masterpiece."
It cleverly combined deck-building with roguelike elements, pioneering the roguelike card game genre!
Before it, no one thought a roguelike could be done this way.
Just like, at this very moment, no one in the entire cultivation world imagined that card games could be linked to "tower climbing."
After writing down the four characters Slay the Immortal Tower, Lu Ze gathered his spiritual sense and began constructing the world.
"Should I go with the first generation or the second generation…"
Lu Ze stroked his chin, thinking it over.
Compared to the first generation's high satisfaction, Slay the Spire II had its satisfaction severely reduced due to overbalanced mid-game numbers, causing its reputation to plummet.
Later, the game company outright opposed the players and championed certain ideologies, leading to a complete collapse in reputation and falling from its pedestal.
Setting aside matters outside the game, Lu Ze always believed a game should serve the players and make them feel good.
Balancing numbers in a single-player game was one thing, but adopting a strategy of nerfing popular classes instead of buffing weak ones seemed like a poor move to Lu Ze.
After much deliberation, Lu Ze decided to base his illusion realm on an early version of Slay the Spire II.
That way, it would have satisfaction, a multiplayer mode, and the popular character the Crown Prince.
He would also enhance the graphics.
Even if all the other 748 illusion realms combined forces, they might not be a match for Slay the Immortal Tower, let alone beat it.
---
---
Outside.
Most of those attending the Illusion Alliance Exchange were cultivators with some real skill.
Since the remnants of the Heavenly Dao had been in charge of illusion realms for a year, cultivators had gradually gotten the hang of it after repeatedly studying the realms Lu Ze had previously developed.
From the fifth day after the first theme was announced, cultivators began finishing their works one after another, and new illusion realms started appearing in public view.
The forums buzzed daily with discussions about these new realms.
[Finished Beast Tower Defense in three days? That quality is pretty high!]
[It’s trash, just leftover ideas from Plants vs Zombies.]
[Flying Sword Chronicle too, amazing graphics, but the gameplay is just the same old Demon Sect Escape formula…]
[No helping it, the whole cultivation world’s realm artists have to follow Lu the Demon’s lead.]
[I think Zhong’s true disciple’s Brave the Demon-Suppressing Tower has its own path, and it’s pretty interesting.]
[You played Brave the Demon-Suppressing Tower too? Its battle design has a bit of Lu the Demon’s flair, no wonder he’s from the Lingxiao Sect!]
[Not impressed, I’d rather play Han’s true disciple from the Qingshan Sect’s Linglong Tower Wonderland. I think it’s up to par with Lu the Demon.]
[Linglong Tower Wonderland is from the Qingshan Sect? Strange, when did they produce such a realm artist?]
[Don’t say that. Linglong Tower Wonderland is just a collection of Lu the Demon’s ideas, but Zhong’s true disciple has really carved his own path.]
[Always going on about Lu the Demon, as if every realm in the world is his offspring. Where’s Lu the Demon’s own realm, huh?]
[Lu the Demon registered late, so he can’t make battle realms. He’s probably still planning.]
[What? If tower climbing isn’t about combat, how does it work? What did Lu the Demon choose in the end?]
[I heard he chose a board game realm. My guess is only board games were left in that slot.]
[This time, Lu the Demon’s going to stumble…]
---
---
Eighth day after the theme announcement.
At the Xianyun Villa, by Xianyun Lake.
"This is strange. Why hasn’t that rebellious disciple of mine come out yet?"
Nangong Yuan frowned, gazing toward the center of the lake.
On the vast platform, fewer than a hundred cultivators were still working on their realms, their tasks unfinished.
The 749th illusion realm tower stood at the edge, completely still, showing no signs of activity.
"Elder Nangong, rest assured! Junior Lu said his realm has infinite solutions. He’ll definitely take first place in this competition!"
Zhong Yi spoke confidently.
At this, Nangong Yuan’s face instantly darkened. "Bah! Don’t jinx my disciple!!"
Zhong Yi was confused. "???"
"My good disciple, how’s the battle going today?"
Ever since Lu Ze praised Zhong Yi’s realm, Zhao Wendao couldn’t stop smiling.
Every half hour, he eagerly asked Zhong Yi for updates.
After all, with illusion realms in vogue now, earning Lu Ze’s approval meant greater benefits from the remnants of the Heavenly Dao in the future.
"It’s dropped a bit from yesterday… Just as Junior Lu predicted, there’s some lack of staying power?"
Zhong Yi grinned, unbothered.
He came to this exchange genuinely for the sake of exchange, with no desire for high scores.
At the very least, Brave the Demon-Suppressing Tower had earned high praise from over ten thousand cultivators, which boosted Zhong Yi’s confidence.
As Lu Ze had said, using numbers to simulate combat was an excellent solution.
But the clearing method was limited by the numbers, so after finishing the game once, players were unlikely to play it a second or third time — that was the lack of staying power.
Zhong Yi had already started thinking about the "second generation" solution that Lu Ze had mentioned.
"How many people have entered your realm now?"
Zhao Wendao asked again.
"Reporting to Master, it’s currently eighteen thousand. I’m very satisfied with this result."
Zhong Yi answered with a smile.
No sooner had he spoken than a sneer rang out behind him.
"Tsk, satisfied with less than twenty thousand? The Lingxiao Sect really isn’t all that impressive!"
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
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!
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
