Xiao Hongzhi was also baffled.
Illusion Trial?
Demon Sect Escape?
I have no clue either!
As a senior inner disciple, he had never even heard of such a thing.
While inner disciples could freely access the training grounds and use the Illusion Tower at will,
it wasn’t exactly some miraculous, wildly popular attraction.
The Illusion Trial was just… practical.
For example, disciples lacking combat experience could spar with phantom beasts inside to gain experience and avoid getting killed in the real world.
Or some course assessments would set up challenges there to prevent injuries.
Or the few battle-crazed enthusiasts who enjoyed testing themselves against the lingering will of past experts…
Practical? Sure. But hardly a hotspot.
The only truly valuable ones were the illusions featuring powerful demons or legendary cultivators.
But those required expensive spirit stones to unlock—far beyond the means of ordinary outer disciples.
Normally, the illusion training area was deserted, with barely anyone coming or going.
Yet now, these outer disciples were emerging with exhilaration, as if they couldn’t get enough.
From the sound of it, they were even planning to go back and spend spirit stones on temporary tokens to continue the trial?
Some even wanted to grind through the night?
"Are the outer disciples just that inexperienced… or are they just that hardworking?"
Xiao Hongzhi shot a puzzled look at his junior brother.
Even with limited exposure, how could a mere Illusion Trial leave them so awestruck?
Especially one for practicing the rudimentary "Cloud-Shattering Steps."
He’d heard of this particular illusion—apparently, it was a practice project by a disciple from the Artifact Refining Pavilion who was just learning to construct realms.
Makes sense. Why would any expert go through the trouble of crafting a realm for such a basic movement technique?
A student’s first attempt—quality was to be expected.
From what he gathered, it was just jumping back and forth between two mountains to familiarize oneself with the technique. Nothing more.
The more Xiao Hongzhi thought about it, the weirder it seemed.
Even outer disciples wouldn’t be so impressed by something this… basic. Were they?
Unless…
They were just that dedicated?
Hiss—
Xiao Hongzhi sucked in a sharp breath, suddenly feeling the pressure.
Disciples of the Lingxiao Sect were notoriously competitive.
Now that he knew even outer disciples were grinding tirelessly, sipping tea here felt almost shameful.
"But what about all that talk earlier? Spirit stones, spirit beasts, treasures… even escaping demon sect pursuers?"
His junior brother’s confusion deepened.
"Senior Brother Xiao, have you ever heard of an Illusion Trial like this?"
"Maybe… we should check it out?" Xiao Hongzhi suggested.
"My thoughts exactly."
……
……
Half an hour later.
The two stood in stunned silence after exiting Demon Sect Escape.
"Senior Brother, how far did you get?"
"Only three hundred steps… You?"
"A bit worse—just over two hundred."
Xiao Hongzhi’s expression was complicated as he glanced at the excited outer disciples around them.
Before leaving, he’d checked the leaderboard.
He’d been smug about his three hundred steps—until he realized he didn’t even crack the top hundred!
The top scorer, some Zhang Ming, had reached an absurd two thousand-plus steps.
But here’s the thing—
Outer disciples were all at the Qi Refining stage.
He was a Golden Core cultivator!
A Golden Core inner disciple, losing to outer disciples in a trial?
By a landslide?
How was he supposed to face anyone after this?!
"Senior Brother… is there something wrong with this Illusion Trial?"
Yang Zhuo was utterly frustrated.
"Not necessarily."
Xiao Hongzhi shook his head.
His experience was broader, after all.
"What we entered wasn’t our true bodies. The illusion trial can restrict cultivation realms… The mighty one who created this trial must have tampered with it."
Xiao Hongzhi was right.
Lu Ze had indeed done exactly that.
Once players entered the game, their cultivation would be suppressed to the Qi Refining stage.
The divine abilities granted by innate talent and cultivation would all be rendered useless.
Otherwise, whoever had a higher realm would dominate, and players would quickly lose interest.
Why bother playing the game?
Might as well go outside and train to break through instead.
Lu Ze needed to maximize the player base.
Whether they were mighty figures who could traverse the heavens or ordinary Qi Refining cultivators, he wanted them all.
With his own Qi Refining cultivation, naturally, he couldn’t suppress a Golden Core expert’s realm.
Fortunately, the great master who developed the illusion trial had already perfected the necessary techniques—Lu Ze only had to borrow them.
"So that’s how it is. No wonder."
His junior brother suddenly understood.
"No!"
Xiao Hongzhi shook his head firmly and channeled spiritual energy into the token again.
"If we inner sect disciples lose to outer sect disciples, it’ll become a joke."
"I will reclaim first place!"
……
……
"Have you heard? The Artifact Refining Pavilion released a new illusion trial. They say inner sect disciples got crushed by outer sect ones!"
"No way! The gap between inner and outer sect is way too big for that."
"How could it be fake? Even Xiao Hongzhi from Qingfeng Mountain lost! And he lost badly—now he’s fuming!"
"Xiao Hongzhi lost? A Golden Core expert defeated by a Qi Refiner?"
"What an embarrassment! I’ll go restore the inner sect’s honor right now!"
……
News of Xiao Hongzhi’s defeat in the illusion trial spread like wildfire.
More and more inner sect disciples flocked to the Artifact Refining Pavilion to experience Demon Sect Escape.
But once they entered, not a single one could tear themselves away.
Inner sect disciples had more ways to communicate.
Their telepathic channels were in chaos.
"Damn, this trial is full of tricks! Beast Taming Peak disciples, assemble!"
"Tsk… This batch of outer sect disciples is shockingly strong!"
"So fun! This trial is amazing!"
"Fun? Aren’t you supposed to be fighting?"
"Hahaha! I finally broke 2,000 steps! The top spot is within reach!"
"2,000 steps? The leader’s already nearing 3,000!"
"Outer sect prodigy Zhang Ming, at Qi Refining realm, has traversed 3,000 steps… Over a hundred inner sect disciples have fallen. Everyone, come quickly—let’s suppress him and salvage our inner sect’s dignity!"
"Zhang Ming? Why have I never heard this name before?"
"What 3,000 steps? I don’t get it at all."
"Stop wasting time! You’ll understand once you get here!"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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.
agon king storylines. At the start, I obtained the "Ultimate Lackey System" - the more I act as a lackey, the stronger I become. What else could I do? I chose to become the personal henchman of the ultimate villain, Su Muwan. I provoke all sorts of chosen ones, snatch away their opportunities, and commit every evil deed imaginable. You ask who's behind me? Hmph! You're not worthy of knowing my lady's name! ...... ....... I am Su Muwan, the eldest daughter of the Su family. Since childhood, I've possessed extraordinary talent in martial arts, which led to my arrogant and domineering personality in my past life. I was even foolish enough to repeatedly challenge those favored by heaven, ultimately resulting in a tragic death. In this life, I must behave and absolutely cannot walk the same path again!! However... SLAP!! "So you're the Dragon King, huh?!" When I saw my little lackey swagger over and viciously slap the Dragon King who was hiding his identity, I felt my heart sink. Su Muwan's suspended heart finally died as she watched Qin Luo, her utterly loyal lackey, standing before her. She fainted on the spot from shock. Heaven is determined to destroy me!! (Pure love 1v1, light-hearted, no angst, single female lead, villain, reincarnation, lackey)
