Cyber Soul Banner

After a day of research, Lu Ze roughly understood how to use the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

As he expected, every time a cultivator died in the game, an additional soul would appear within the banner.

However, these souls were extremely weak.

They could be used to enhance cultivation, but the gains were minimal—about the same as the increase from the demonic value generated by a cultivator's death.

In simple terms, it was like a double XP card.

Of course, as a treasure marked by the system as red-tier, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner had more to offer.

It could be used for spell attacks, though its power was limited by the strength of the souls, making it practically useless.

But Lu Ze soon discovered that the more times a cultivator died in the game, the stronger the resulting soul would become.

Moreover, by consuming spiritual energy, Lu Ze could grant these souls "intelligence."

This discovery thrilled him.

If he created games with NPCs in the future, these intelligent souls would be incredibly useful!

They’d be like top-tier NPCs loaded with advanced AI!

The immersion would be off the charts!

Of course, it was still too early to think about that.

Forget about the size of the illusion realm—right now, the souls in the Ten Thousand Souls Banner were too weak, and the intelligence they developed was far from complete.

They needed nurturing!

Only after dying a few more times would they become qualified NPCs!

[Demonic Value +1.2]

Hearing the system prompt in his mind, Lu Ze chuckled and muttered:

"Senior Brother Zhong, oh Senior Brother Zhong, you truly are my good senior brother..."

......

......

Two days after the release of Is This Cultivator or Not? Descend 100 Floors!

When Lu Ze had previously released Escape from the Demon Sect and Spiritual Plants vs. Zombies,

the disciples had gone wild.

This time,

the disciples went wild again.

But the game's popularity remained sky-high.

There was no helping it—disciples cared about their pride.

Especially since players had to choose a sect when entering the illusion realm.

Once collective pride came into play, things took a turn.

In Lu Ze’s past life, there was a notoriously addictive mini-game called Sheep a Sheep, which initially grouped players by region.

Good grief, the competition was fierce—everyone wanted to represent their region.

The same logic applied here.

The forum for Is This Cultivator or Not? Descend 100 Floors! was buzzing with heated discussions among the disciples.

[Fellow Daoists! I’ve finally broken through the 20-floor barrier!]

[Congratulations... May I ask how many times you died?]

[A hero’s origins need not be questioned; success cares not for attempts!]

[This illusion realm is better watched than played.]

[True. Yesterday, my senior brother encountered a stage identical to Elder Yang’s. Today, he went out to slaughter cat demons to prove his Dao.]

[Rather than testing one’s judgment of traps, it’s more a trial of Dao heart.]

[Last night, thunder roared atop Thunderpeak… I fear the Grand Elder might’ve also fallen victim to this illusion realm…]

[When it comes to the illusion realm, Senior Sister Li reigns supreme! Her record remains unbroken!]

[Glory to the Lingxiao Sect!]

[Honestly, this realm really tests micro-movement skills. After Floor 30, there are many pure spike traps—harder than any puzzle.]

[I can’t even imagine how brutal Floor 100 will be…]

[Huh? There’s a new announcement? An update to the illusion realm?]

[I see it too… A map editor? What’s this?]

......

......

Lihuo Peak, Spirit Jade Pavilion.

Elder Zhao hadn’t just paid lip service to granting Lu Ze the treatment of a true disciple—Lu Ze had even moved from the communal dormitory to a private villa, living quite comfortably.

Lately, he’d been making excuses to skip his shifts at the Artifact Refining Pavilion.

Mainly because he feared someone might snap and seek revenge…

In his past life, plenty of people had rage-quit and smashed their keyboards.

After Nangong Yuan’s improvements, Lu Ze could now remotely push updates from within the sect.

After uploading most of the high-quality maps from his past life, he decided to add a map editor to prolong the game’s lifespan.

In his previous world, I Wanna had thrived precisely because of player-created maps.

Sure, they were hard, sadistic, and torturous.

But they had a dedicated fanbase.

As the forum said, it was all about precision.

[Spike Jumping] would become the core skill for the elite.

Lu Ze released the editor, leaving it to the cultivators to create their own content.

These die-hard fans would surely spread the word, bringing him a steady stream of demonic value.

Every little bit counted.

Once everyone’s understanding of the game matured, he could also release an editor for Spiritual Plants vs. Zombies and let them go wild.

Additionally,

while developing the map editor, Lu Ze stumbled upon something interesting.

The souls in the Ten Thousand Souls Banner could be summoned into the illusion realm’s constructed spaces.

When he summoned Zhong Yi’s soul…

The guy could actually work for him!

Holy cybernetic Ten Thousand Souls Banner!

This was a major discovery.

For future large-scale games, these souls could save him a ton of effort.

The only downside was that the souls still needed nurturing.

Right now, even the strongest soul—Zhong Yi’s—could only handle simple repairs.

He’d need to die a few hundred million more times.

Then Lu Ze would have himself a top-tier workhorse…

......

......

At this very moment,

the forum for Is This Cultivator or Not? Descend 100 Floors! was in an uproar.

[What’s this? We can design stages now? Just like Junior Brother Lu?]

[Hahaha! Perfect! I’ll make a stage and force Junior Brother Lu to clear it for me!]

[Count me in!]

[Me too!]

[I’d love to see how Junior Brother Lu handles our stages!]

[Just thinking about it is cathartic!!]

[I’ll pack 100 traps into one stage!!]

[Hahaha! I’m already designing mine… In this stage, even breathing is a death trap!!]

"Junior Brother Lu, let’s have a friendly exchange tomorrow…"

......

At the same time,

elders and disciples from the other four major sects attending the martial assembly also received the news.

Cloudrain Pavilion—

Temporary residence of the Wuji Sword Sect disciples.

"Disciples of the Wuji Sword Sect, heed my command! Tonight’s training is canceled. Devote all efforts to designing stages… Before tomorrow’s assembly, we’ll make the Lingxiao Sect disciples play them live!"

......

Windmoon Pavilion—

Temporary residence of the Tianxuan Gate disciples.

"Earlier, I observed the celestial signs—tonight’s momentum favors a counterattack! Yunwen, lead the disciples in designing stages. Leave no path to survival!"

......

Broken Rain Pavilion—

Temporary residence of the Cloud Immortal Palace disciples.

"Oh? We’re really allowed to make stages? Heh, perfect… Let’s design an impossible stage based on the Cloud Immortal Palace’s movement techniques!"

......

Phoenixfire Pavilion—

Temporary residence of the Qingshan Sect disciples.

"HAHAHAHA!!!"

Yang Zhengxin laughed heartily, as if a weight had been lifted.

"You’re letting me design a map? Good… GOOD!! Don’t blame me for being ruthless!"

Yang Zhengxin couldn’t stop grinning.

With over a century of experience exploring secret realms, his knowledge of traps was unparalleled.

Ever since his return, he’d felt something was off—

Why was it always that young man testing him?

Why couldn’t he be the one setting the challenges instead?

Every time this thought crossed his mind, it gnawed at him like an itch he couldn’t scratch.

And now, Lu Ze was practically handing him the opportunity on a silver platter?

“Heh… So you like playing dirty, do you? Then I’ll use your own tricks to give you a taste of torment…”

“What does a truly inescapable trap look like? Allow this old man to enlighten you…”

……

Thunder Peak, Qingyun Pavilion.

“A map editor? How intriguing…”

Zhong Yi stroked his chin.

Recalling all the trials he’d endured these past few days in Cultivator’s Descent: One Hundred Floors, a wicked idea took root in his mind.

“Heh heh… Junior Brother Lu Ze, it seems tomorrow will bring you no shortage of troubles~~”

Zhong Yi entered the map editor and swiftly crafted a fiendishly difficult level.

By his estimation, not even Lu Ze could conquer it in a short time!

Just as he was about to exit, brimming with confidence, Zhong Yi froze in disbelief.

A prompt had appeared before him:

【Clear the stage once before this map can be published.】