Did Old Deng not divine before taking the stage

This scene left all the onlookers utterly dumbfounded.

"Am I seeing things? Those three words just..."

"Yeah, whoosh—it flew past and instantly wrecked Elder Yang!"

"You can even play it like this???"

"Ahem, didn’t Elder Yang say he’d clear it in one go...?"

...

The discussions from outside reached Yang Zhengxin’s ears, making him extremely uncomfortable.

"Ridiculous! Since when do illusionary realms operate like this?!" Yang Zhengxin roared after respawning at the starting point.

"Elder Yang, your words are mistaken," Lu Ze replied with a smile, shaking his head.

"Did you forget the earlier warning? [Everything here is filled with strangeness.]"

Hearing this, Yang Zhengxin fell silent.

Indeed, many traps in secret realms disguise themselves in inconspicuous ways.

But this was the first time he’d seen one masquerading as text.

Still unwilling to concede, Yang Zhengxin argued, "But dying from a mere touch is just..."

Lu Ze continued with a patient, earnest tone:

"This junior designed it this way to instill a sense of reverence for unknown dangers in our disciples."

"If Elder Yang finds it unsuitable, we can change the one-attempt rule to a time-based challenge. How does that sound?"

Lu Ze said this deliberately.

The priority now was to trick him into grinding for task completions.

As long as Yang Zhengxin stopped fixating on the number of deaths, he’d keep playing.

And with each run rewarding 8 points of Demonic Path value? Absolutely worth it.

"Fine... then make it the duration of one incense stick," Yang Zhengxin agreed after some thought, finding the reasoning somewhat acceptable.

What truly concerned him was his pride.

He’d boasted about clearing it in one go, only to be instantly killed by a trap right after starting—hardly a dignified look.

Now that Lu Ze had offered a time-based alternative, how could he refuse?

"One incense stick? Elder Yang, are you sure you don’t want to add more?"

"Enough nonsense. I’ve seen through your tricks—one incense stick is more than enough for these underhanded methods!"

"Well... if you insist."

Lu Ze grinned as he walked to the center of the Spirit Nurturing Hall and lit an incense stick.

The challenge resumed.

Yang Zhengxin took three steps forward, glancing back repeatedly, wary of the three words [Is a Cultivator] ambushing him again.

Once more, he arrived beneath the high platform.

Taking a deep breath, he executed a swift double jump, landing atop it again.

This time, he was prepared.

The moment his toes touched the ground, he leapt once more.

Just as he’d anticipated, the words [Is a Cultivator] whooshed past his previous position.

"Hmph, I won’t fall for the same trick twice!" Yang Zhengxin snorted smugly.

Ahead lay a sunken pit, clearly testing a cultivator’s jumping prowess.

Yang Zhengxin stayed vigilant this time.

While mid-jump, he kept an eye on the mini-map in his spiritual sense, watching for sudden attacks from [Just Descend] or [One Hundred Floors].

For extra caution, he jumped again immediately upon landing.

But no more words came flying at him.

"To design a somewhat useful trap and then not follow through—what a waste!"

Yang Zhengxin scoffed and pressed onward.

Before him stretched a long, steep earthen slope.

A quick glance told him it was simple—another jumping test.

If the pit tested horizontal leaps, this slope was for vertical ones.

"The Lingxiao Sect’s current disciples are truly lacking if they consider these slopes ‘traps’! Absurd!"

Yang Zhengxin sneered.

With a double jump, he soared into the air.

His mind was already mapping out the next move:

Upon landing, he’d roll forward at high speed, accelerating toward the finish line to show these juniors what real movement mastery looked like.

Plans, however, are one thing.

Reality had other ideas.

The moment his double jump ended and his toes were about to touch down—

The slope vanished without warning.

"???"

Yang Zhengxin’s eyes bulged.

Where’s my slope??

Where’s my massive, perfectly good slope???

But the worst was yet to come.

In the newly exposed pit where the slope had been, several words lay in wait: [Hi, there!]

Complete with punctuation.

A dreadful premonition flashed through his mind.

Yang Zhengxin twisted frantically midair, trying to adjust his posture.

But the words below couldn’t resist striking first.

[Hi, there!] shot upward, piercing through Yang Zhengxin’s body and splitting him in two.

He respawned at the starting point once more.

Outside the Spirit Nurturing Hall,

the gathered Lingxiao Sect disciples erupted into uproarious laughter.

"HAHAHAHA!! This trap is genius!!"

"Hi, thereee~~"

"What kind of madman designs this?!"

"Thank the heavens Junior Brother Lu isn’t a demonic cultivator, or we’d all be doomed in his secret realms!"

"Elder Yang’s expression is priceless!"

...

Yang Zhengxin was livid.

But he had no rebuttal.

Objectively speaking, such illusionary traps weren’t uncommon.

Normally, he’d scrutinize everything—but the absurdly crude presentation had lulled him into carelessness.

"Plenty of time left—again!"

Yang Zhengxin charged back in.

This time, he navigated smoothly, avoiding all traps, and soon reached the end.

Lu Ze wasn’t surprised by this outcome.

The first level’s randomized stages were all beginner-tier, with only the text traps adding psychological warfare.

These were just the opening acts—not even the real challenge.

The true difficulty lay ahead.

Unaware, Yang Zhengxin assumed he’d already won.

"Hah, that was child’s play."

He strode into the blue light circle.

Upon opening his eyes, he found himself in another space.

The upper-left corner displayed: [Random Stage: Two]

"???"

Yang Zhengxin froze.

Why wasn’t it over?

"Chuckles Elder Yang, did you forget? This illusionary realm is called [Is a Cultivator Can Descend 100 Floors]. You’ve only cleared one," Lu Ze cheerfully reminded him.

Yang Zhengxin was speechless.

He desperately wanted to retort: Others just say "100 floors" for dramatic effect—you actually made it?!

But voicing that would only undermine his own dignity.

Instead, he feigned composure: "Hmph, a mere hundred floors? This elder will breeze through them."

"Then I wish Elder Yang the best of luck."

Lu Ze glanced at the current terrain and could no longer hold back.

His lips curled as he stifled laughter.

This stage was a slightly infamous classic from his past life: [I Wanna Be the Porońkusema].

Its difficulty rating wasn’t high—only 28.1 points.

But in terms of sheer trollishness...

Even battle-hardened Lu Ze had to give it a thumbs-up.

For this old fossil to land this jackpot? He should’ve asked the Qingshan Sect’s elder for a divination first.

Yang Zhengxin had learned his lesson.

Before starting, he scanned the terrain with his spiritual sense.

By now, he’d grown adept at monitoring the floating mini-map while navigating.

This stage’s layout was far more complex than the first.

Uneven cliffs and pits dotted with spikes covered the area.

Yang Zhengxin’s mind raced, quickly deducing the solution.

"Hmph, too easy."

"Just jump to the opposite platform, then high-jump to the second layer."

"The spikes on the left side move—that's the only tricky part. Just jump up without touching them! With this old man's agility, it's a breeze."

"Then leap onto the Spirit Gathering Array opposite, keep moving forward, and dodge the spikes..."

"Hah! You actually dared to let everyone study the entire terrain map? You’re looking down on this old man too much!"

Yang Zhengxin analyzed the situation, while the Qingshan Sect disciples outside listened with barely contained excitement.

"Elder Yang is brilliant!"

"Truly worthy of being an elder—he pinpointed the critical path in mere moments..."

"Tch, if not for that brat’s underhanded tricks, Elder Yang would’ve cleared it without a scratch!"

"Anyway, just be careful when you see text!"

"Look! Elder Yang is making his move!"

...

Yang Zhengxin moved.

He stepped onto the edge of the cliff, leaping at the last possible moment.

At the peak of his jump, he executed a flawless double jump.

His grace was so effortless that even Lu Ze couldn’t help but glance sideways.

At the highest point of his leap,

the usually unflappable Yang Zhengxin suddenly felt as though time had frozen.

Staring at the pit ahead, where spikes were hidden deep inside, a single question crossed his mind:

Is Lu Ze an idiot?

Why place spikes all the way in the back?

Who could they possibly hit?

The moment this thought formed, his feet touched down.

In an instant—

the spikes at the very back suddenly grew thicker and longer, engulfing the entire platform!

"???"

Yang Zhengxin.

Deceased.