Yesterday, while testing the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, Lu Ze exhausted too much spiritual energy and mental strength.
Utterly exhausted, he slept soundly.
But when he woke up, he was stunned—
"What the hell? Why did my Demonic Path points spike so much?? What the hell were these guys doing???"
Lu Ze thought he must be seeing things.
After the initial peak on the first night, the growth rate of Demonic Path points had slowed considerably by the second day.
Yet overnight, the increase had surpassed even the first night's surge...
"This doesn’t make sense. I didn’t release any new levels..."
Lu Ze was utterly baffled.
He had just taken a nap—how could he suddenly gain so many Demonic Path points out of thin air?
Then he opened the forum for Cultivator’s Descent: 100 Floors.
[Fellow Daoists, has anyone succeeded yet?]
[This is torture!! After designing it, you have to clear it yourself???]
[I managed to make one, but it’s too simple—no way it’ll stump Junior Brother Lu...]
[Is there no justice left in this world?]
[I feel like we’ve been tricked by Junior Brother Lu again...]
[I, though lacking in talent, designed an extremely difficult level. I’ve died 300 times and still haven’t cleared it... Once I do, Junior Brother Lu will taste our suffering!]
[Your determination is admirable, Fellow Daoist!]
[I’ll keep pushing... I swear I’ll make Junior Brother Lu pay in blood!!]
"......"
Lu Ze was speechless.
No wonder his Demonic Path points had skyrocketed overnight.
Turns out his dear senior brothers had all tried to screw him over—only to screw themselves instead...
The rule he had set wasn’t meant to torment them.
It was a standard restriction attached to all level-editing tools for dungeon-crawlers.
What’s the point of a level if even its creator can’t clear it?
Yet this fair-but-brutal rule had utterly wrecked these righteous cultivators.
And it wasn’t just his fellow disciples.
Judging by the system’s Demonic Path records, even elders from several sects had joined in.
Oh, and Zhong Yi.
The value "1.2" stood out like a sore thumb, impossible to miss.
Lu Ze took a peek inside the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
Sure enough, Zhong Yi’s lingering soul had grown even more robust...
......
At the temporary residence of the Qingshan Sect disciples in Fenghuo Pavilion—
"Damn it... DAMN IT!!!"
Yang Zhengxin roared, hurling the Mini Illusion Tower to the ground in fury, smashing it to pieces.
The spiritual energy around him condensed into a ferocious flaming beast.
"Master!?"
Xu Huoyao, his true disciple, rushed in upon hearing the commotion.
Seeing Yang Zhengxin’s haggard face and vacant eyes, he was shocked:
"You... what happened?"
After Yang Zhengxin explained, Xu Huoyao finally understood.
Yang Zhengxin had wanted to teach Lu Ze a lesson by designing an insanely difficult trap level.
But after finishing the map, he was forced to clear it himself before it could be submitted.
The ordeal had broken him.
After dying over a hundred times, he still couldn’t beat his own traps...
Finally, he snapped and destroyed the Mini Illusion Tower.
Watching his master slump to the floor in existential despair, Xu Huoyao felt a pang of sympathy.
He immediately thumped his chest and vowed:
"Hmph! That Lu Ze brat is far too arrogant! Don’t worry, Master—I’ll design one myself and find a way to humiliate him!"
......
Half an hour later.
"Damn it... DAMN IT!!!"
Xu Huoyao bellowed, smashing his own Mini Illusion Tower to the ground.
Now master and disciple sat back-to-back, slumped on the floor, staring blankly at the sky at a 45-degree angle, questioning their life choices.
"Senior Brother... what’s going on?"
A voice called from outside the door...
......
After internal discussions, the Qingshan Sect unanimously decided to never touch that cursed illusion game again.
They would swallow this bitter pill and move on.
Their two strongest—the elder and the true disciple—had performed terribly in Cultivator’s Descent: 100 Floors.
Though a few disciples had done decently, they still lagged far behind other sects.
Low rankings were fine—after all, the game wasn’t an official event in the martial exchange.
Now, they needed to focus on securing a good position in the actual competition.
"Master, that kid is cunning and twisted... If he’s allowed to design illusions, it’ll be disastrous for us!" Xu Huoyao spat bitterly.
His temper had always been fiery, and he’d suffered greatly in the game, fueling his hatred for Lu Ze.
"Hmph, I’m well aware. We won’t let them have their way," Yang Zhengxin sneered.
"Rest assured—since ancient times, the sect designing the secret realm has never been allowed to choose its theme."
"To prevent cheating, the theme is decided by the other four sects... You needn’t worry."
"I’ll make the rounds and coordinate with the other elders to lock in a theme in advance... They won’t refuse."
Yang Zhengxin was confident—after all, the other sects had also suffered in the game.
Lu Ze’s illusion techniques were no mystery.
No flashy skills—just a uniquely devious mindset.
If given a favorable theme, and if Lingxiao Sect got insider hints, the other sects would be reduced to mere spectators.
With a triumphant grin, Yang Zhengxin declared: "Ideally... we’ll make it impossible for him to complete the illusion!"
"But... what condition could restrict him so severely?" Xu Huoyao pondered.
Judging solely by Cultivator’s Descent: 100 Floors, Lu Ze’s techniques weren’t advanced.
But he’d heard Lu Ze had also created Escape from the Demon Sect and Plants vs. Zombies: Spirit Edition—both illusions showcased masterful craftsmanship.
What kind of illusion could Lu Ze possibly fail to complete?
"Simple."
Yang Zhengxin smiled.
A smile brimming with confidence and malice.
"The scope of the illusion..."
"That’s his fatal weakness!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
