He Is Just an Advanced Minor Monster in the Tutorial

Of the countless scenes suspended above the Boundless Sword Domain, most had stalled at Yamauchi Shigenori.

It wasn’t that this enemy was particularly difficult to defeat. The cultivators simply hadn’t grown accustomed to the rhythm of offense and defense in Sekiro.

In his previous life, even among players who had played Dark Souls, quite a few had been beaten several times by Yamauchi Shigenori before they finally caught on. The sword cultivators were no different.

On the one hand, they felt that the enemy before them posed no real threat. On the other, they completely overlooked the fact that all their swordsmanship had been reduced to zero.

Charging in recklessly would earn them an immediate lesson in humility from a single deflection.

Focusing only on defense, meanwhile, would leave them entirely at the mercy of their opponent.

Thus, even Chen Yuan, the Grand Elder of the Boundless Sword Sect, was stuck before Yamauchi Shigenori.

A large number of cultivators had gathered around Chen Yuan’s illusory scene on the viewing platform above the Boundless Sword Domain. They pointed at the battle within and discussed it animatedly.

“He died again! Elder Chen is having it rough!”

“This… Such crude swordsmanship, and Elder Chen still can’t dodge it?”

“This is Old Demon Lu’s illusion. What does cultivation have to do with it? True Disciple Zhong of the Spirit Sky Sect is genuinely at the Soul Formation Realm, but couldn’t even defeat a Qi Refining cultivator inside the illusion.”

“It’s no longer a matter of cultivation. The openings in those moves are so obvious, yet Elder Chen seems completely unable to notice them!”

“They say this illusion cuts off one’s comprehension of the sword dao… Is it really that drastic?”

“That can’t be right! I saw that some disciples of the Boundless Sword Sect cleared it on their first try…”

…

Listening to the cultivators’ various criticisms of Chen Yuan, and seeing the expression on his face as Yamauchi Shigenori hacked it red, Lu Ze was in an excellent mood.

The methods they had used against the Spirit Sky Sect a few days ago had finally come back around to bite them.

In truth, Chen Yuan’s performance wasn’t all that terrible. He was about on the level of an ordinary player.

The cultivators watching the scenes from outside, however, had not been affected by the Soul-Fear Tugging Emotions Formation. Their comprehension of the sword dao remained extraordinarily high, so naturally they looked down on an opponent like Yamauchi Shigenori.

As a result, they had no idea what kind of misery Chen Yuan was enduring inside the illusion.

With a beaming smile, Lu Ze walked past Chen Yuan’s illusory scene and looked toward another area that had attracted considerable attention.

It was Li Moran’s illusory scene.

Faced with Yamauchi Shigenori, Li Moran was no longer able to win as easily as she had in the previous illusions.

She had already failed three times. At present, she stood not far from the narrow path guarded by Yamauchi Shigenori, her eyes closed as she pondered something.

Lu Ze wasn’t surprised by Li Moran’s failures.

Once all comprehension of the sword dao was stripped away, the deeper one’s original understanding of it, the greater the impact.

Judging from her current state, however, she was clearly beginning to adapt and evolve.

Of course, in the eyes of the surrounding cultivators, this caused her reputation to gradually approach that of Chen Yuan.

“The talent True Disciple Li displays in illusions… doesn’t seem as heaven-defying as the rumors claim.”

“She’s already failed three times. I thought True Disciple Li would be the kind of genius who killed her opponent on the first encounter…”

“Perhaps it’s because Old Demon Lu’s illusion cuts off one’s comprehension of the sword dao?”

“People make it sound so mysterious. How could something like that be severed so easily?”

“Hmph. Even if my comprehension of the sword dao were sealed, I still wouldn’t fail to see through the heavy blade of some country bumpkin!”

…

Lu Ze couldn’t simply pretend he hadn’t heard those remarks.

“Are all of you fellow Daoists questioning Lu’s illusion?”

Lu Ze suddenly appeared behind them, smiling pleasantly.

The cultivators turned around, their faces turning green with fright.

“Old Demon Lu… True Disciple!? Why are you…”

“Of course not! We wouldn’t dare!”

“How could that be? Heh heh…”

…

Lu Ze’s vicious reputation within the illusions had spread far and wide. Now that the age of illusions had arrived, who would dare provoke this walking calamity?

There were rumors that Lu Ze could see through everyone’s illusion information. If he caught them and decided to make their lives difficult, they would be in serious trouble…

“Not to worry. Unless all of you enter Lu’s illusion and experience it yourselves, you naturally won’t understand its mysteries.”

Lu Ze smiled faintly and slowly extended his right hand.

In almost an instant, a massive formation rapidly took shape around him, enveloping the entire viewing platform.

“Within this formation, anyone who wishes to may temporarily sever their comprehension of the sword dao and experience the wonders of the illusion.”

This formation was a modified version of the Soul-Fear Tugging Emotions Formation.

It had already been used in the illusion livestream. All cultivators watching the broadcast could choose for themselves whether to cut off their comprehension of the sword dao and watch in an immersive manner.

Transplanting it into reality had been somewhat troublesome, but Lu Ze had still managed it.

The only difference was that it could not be enforced as forcefully as it was within the illusion. The cultivators could freely break the formation’s restrictions on their comprehension of the sword dao.

Otherwise, if he could wave his hand and turn a sword cultivator into a blank slate, the ability would be far too overpowered.

Still, Lu Ze couldn’t help thinking that once he grew stronger, perhaps he really would be able to bring the illusion’s methods fully into reality…

The cultivators severed their comprehension of the sword dao with some hesitation.

In an instant, the scenes within the illusions appeared completely different to them.

The sword techniques that had originally seemed slow and leisurely suddenly became dazzlingly fast.

The trajectories of the blades, which had once been easy to follow, became impossible to predict.

Yamauchi Shigenori, who had originally looked like a mere minion, now seemed as imposing as Mount Tai. Every move pressed down on the spectators until they could barely breathe.

“Holy crap! True Disciple Li is actually fighting someone like this?”

“She dodged again! Amazing!”

“That deflection and counterattack was incredible! As expected of the Sword Immortal of the Spirit Sky Sect!”

“It looks like Yamauchi Shigenori has been completely seen through!”

…

When Li Moran opened her eyes again, both her movements and her bearing were different from before.

Two thrusts, a horizontal blade to defend, then a decisive counterattack with a returning slash…

The entire sequence flowed as smoothly as moving clouds and flowing water.

Yamauchi Shigenori’s broad blade swept up a heavy gale, yet it could not even touch the hem of Li Moran’s robes.

After just a few breaths, she claimed Yamauchi Shigenori’s second life.

“Damn, she got used to it that quickly? That’s absurd…”

Lu Ze muttered a quiet complaint about Li Moran’s talent.

Still, Yamauchi Shigenori’s obstacle was ultimately limited for the players.

Some cleared it on their first try. Quite a few who died two or three times could get through. Even those who hadn’t quite figured out the mechanics would probably pass after dying seven or eight times.

Any more than that…

They would have to start looking for the problem within themselves.

After all, this was merely an elite enemy from the beginner tutorial, included only to help players familiarize themselves with the basic deflection mechanics.

Not long after Li Moran killed Yamauchi Shigenori, a round of cheers rose from the other side, where Chen Yuan’s scene had attracted the largest crowd.

Lu Ze turned his head.

Sure enough, after dying for the eighth time, Chen Yuan had finally figured out how to use deflections to defeat Yamauchi Shigenori and successfully clear the stage.

Lu Ze glanced at his health bar.

The old man was covered in wounds, so apparently he was still, at heart, a terrible player.

The terrible player himself clearly didn’t see it that way.

“Hmph. Even with my cultivation sealed, this old man is still more than these mortals can handle.”

Chen Yuan stood atop Yamauchi Shigenori’s corpse and took a swig from his medicine gourd, restoring his health.

“Earlier, this old man merely held back on purpose to test the enemy, which is why I died a few extra times… What kind of leader is he? He was nothing special!”

The formation Lu Ze had deployed outside was connected to the livestreaming illusion. At once, quite a few cultivators watching the broadcast began sending comments to praise him.

[As expected of Elder Chen!]

[Elder Chen is mighty!]

[Once Elder Chen comprehends the Dao of the Sword anew, this illusionary realm won’t be able to stop you.]

[Why wait five days? If you ask me, we can clear the illusionary realm today!]

…

Just as Chen Yuan was feeling smug, a striking, colorful barrage message drifted across the sky.

[Realm Master Lu Ze: Elder Chen, don’t get ahead of yourself. He’s only a slightly stronger trash mob in the beginner’s tutorial…]