Forget it, I'll go for it

“First, do this… then do that…”

“Play this card, then this one…”

“Tch… no choice, I have to take this hit of damage!”

…

The Ghost Eel’s mechanic was that, each round, upon taking damage for the first time, it would generate a shield.

The challenge lay both in the player’s deck’s offensive capability and in the order of targets they chose to focus fire on.

Zhong Yi took a heavy blow at first, but quickly calmed down and began to mend his ways.

In the end, after losing a massive chunk of HP, he managed to take down all four Ghost Eels.

“Damn, how am I supposed to get past these five elites…”

Zhong Yi stared at his remaining health bar—a mere 20 points—and felt a wave of hesitation.

After the Ghost Eels died, three orbs of spiritual energy burst from their bodies.

The middle orb shimmered with a faint purple glow.

“There’s loot!?”

Zhong Yi perked up.

The first gray orb was still spirit stones, but more than what the regular mobs dropped.

The second purple orb was a magical artifact. Zhong Yi obtained a [Vajra Pestle], which increased his character’s Strength by one.

The third gray orb was another three-card choice. When Zhong Yi opened it, a dazzling golden card appeared before him.

[Demonic Form (3 Spirit): At the start of your turn, gain 2 Strength.]

“Whoa! The drop rate for elites is this high!?”

Zhong Yi exclaimed. Without a second thought, he immediately stuffed [Demonic Form] into his deck.

The golden card back, the badass card art, the awesome-sounding card name…

“This has got to be the most OP card for the Iron Armor Sect cultivator!!”

Zhong Yi declared.

He’d taken a beating, but the rewards were solid. Zhong Yi was in a great mood now.

“Next…”

Zhong Yi checked the map again.

To the right was a campfire.

To the left was a monster room, with a question-mark room behind it.

“Fellow cultivators, I think I’ll try my luck at the question-mark room…”

Zhong Yi licked his lips.

The encounters in the question-mark room could contain some truly great stuff!

Whether it was a rare artifact or 100 spirit stones, those were top-tier choices.

Sure, his HP was low, but the difficulty of the monster rooms was clear enough. It wasn’t that bad.

He’d lose maybe six or seven HP a round, which he could handle.

“Screw it. Great rewards come to the bold! I’m going to be greedy!”

Zhong Yi made up his mind and headed left.

“I don’t believe a single mob could take down all 20 of my HP!”

As he kicked open the door to the monster room on the left, a massive [Fossil Tracker] silently stood in the center of the path, extending countless tiny tentacles.

“…”

“Is this supposed to be a card game?”

“Can I undo this move?”

“…”

“Such rotten luck!!!”

…

The difficulty of the [Fossil Tracker] was that the player needed to focus on defense.

But after being traumatized by the [Ancient Statue], Zhong Yi had only picked up attack cards.

He met his demise at the hands of the [Fossil Tracker], yet instead of feeling disheartened, he found the dungeon even more interesting.

Because every round broadened his understanding of the dungeon, and stirred his burning desire to nail it on the next attempt.

Even in failure, there were plenty of reasons to keep playing.

Like that golden card he’d never gotten to use.

Like that sword in the stone that hadn’t been unlocked yet.

Like the promising ‘Fragile’ build…

…

With that thought, Zhong Yi excitedly started another run.

“One more go!”

…

…

The foundation of Lu Ze’s dungeon was truly astonishing.

Even without any advertisements within the various dungeons, word of mouth on the forums had already attracted a fair amount of attention.

In just half a day, tens of thousands of cultivators had entered [Slayer Immortal Tower] one after another.

On the forums, discussions about [Slayer Immortal Tower] were buzzing.

[Old Demon Lu made a new dungeon, have you guys played it?]

[Of course… but it’s so hard]

[It’s really tough! Can’t even get past the first floor!!]

[That monster in the jungle is ridiculous… The mob is tougher than an elite!]

[Jungle… don’t even bring it up. I’ve developed a phobia of statues now]

[The first floor wasn’t that bad. I thought I was a genius after beating it, but the second floor taught me who’s boss]

[How are you supposed to play the Iron Armor Sect cultivator? Someone teach me!]

[Is the Iron Armor Sect cultivator even playable? So many cards require burning, if I burn them all, what am I supposed to play with??]

[Maybe the early characters are too weak? Would it be easier with new characters later?]

[I’ve unlocked the first four. Just started playing as the Outer Realm Demon Prince... it seems strong? But it’s so complicated, I don’t get it]

[I feel like the Iron Armor Sect cultivator is actually the strongest? The Hunter and Soul Cultivator are both pathetic! Especially the Soul Cultivator…]

[Don’t panic, everyone. I just unlocked the fifth character, the Faulty Spirit Puppet, and it’s a pretty adorable little thing]

[The last unlock is bound to be the strongest! Fellow Daoist, go scout the way for us!]

…

…

At the Celestial Pavilion of Leisure Cloud Manor, Rakshasa watched the complaints flooding the forums with glee, the smirk on his face growing wider.

The four of them had known about the Heart Demon’s arrangement for the three propositions in advance, and had already made their own plans.

The highly acclaimed [Wonder Pagoda Wonderland] currently trending was his own painstaking creation.

Rakshasa had originally been an elder of Qingshan Sect, and even after being forced to resign due to public pressure, he still had plenty of private dealings with them.

He had handed the dungeon over to his disciple, Han Xian, to publish under Han Xian’s name.

With the current low evaluation of [Slayer Immortal Tower], Rakshasa was the primary beneficiary.

Because the rewards the Heart Demon had prepared were real.

Even if a Dream Alliance elder won them, the Heart Demon would still hand them over.

Which of the four elders didn’t covet that priceless Supreme Soul Crystal?

With Rakshasa now far ahead, the expressions of the other three were turning sour.

“Lord Alliance Leader! It looks like that kid really overreached this time… The feedback on [Slayer Immortal Tower] is terrible! It seems my [Wonder Pagoda Wonderland] is the victor this time!”

Rakshasa came eagerly to Heart Demon to boast.

“That would be for the best.”

Heart Demon nodded, showing no emotion on his face, though inwardly he somewhat agreed with Rakshasa.

The popularity of Lu Ze’s dungeons could easily be gauged from the forum’s tone.

Right now, [Slayer Immortal Tower] seemed too difficult, and the cultivators were all complaining.

Lu Ze’s high-difficulty dungeons, [Is This The 100th Floor? Was He A Cultivator], [Four People In A Row], and [Digging For Ascension], none of them had been big hits!

Without the sect’s mandatory requirements, very few cultivators would have even tried them.

This also proved that high-difficulty dungeons were highly unpopular!

Heart Demon frowned slightly.

He could think of this, and Lu Ze certainly could too.

So why design such a difficult dungeon?

Before he could think any deeper, Rakshasa continued smugly in his ear:

“Lord Alliance Leader, my disciple also signed a spirit contract with Lu Ze… If Lu Ze loses, he’ll willingly take one strike from my disciple!”

Heart Demon’s interest was immediately piqued upon hearing this.

Lu Ze was only at the Nascent Soul realm. How could he possibly withstand a strike from a Nascent Soul realm cultivator?

One full-power strike, and they would be either dead or crippled.

This was clearly a golden opportunity to eliminate a major threat!

"Then this time, we must win."

[Today is the hardest and most painful day since I resumed writing—or, really, since I started writing at all.]

[A relationship of several years has fallen apart. Since I opened my eyes, I’ve been crying, my head splitting with pain. I can’t eat, and even holding my mouse makes my hands tremble.]

[I sat in front of my computer from afternoon until now—eight hours—just to finish these two chapters… and this is after I roughly outlined the plot last night.]

[I thought to myself, my love is gone, but I can’t lose my career too… So I forced myself to keep writing, gritting my teeth.]

[I’m sorry if these two chapters aren’t as interesting. It’s because that lively soul of mine is tired, exhausted, and taking a rest.]

[I will do my best to hold back my grief and ensure the updates continue, because I’ve worked so hard for so long. I’m only a million words short of the finish line. I want to use writing to escape this crushing pain… but I’m not sure if sadness will outrun the tip of my pen.]

[This June truly is a trial for me.]