Can We Actually Battle Now

When Xiao Hongzhi returned to his residence, night had already fallen.

Following his usual routine, he sat cross-legged on his bed and began cultivating his techniques.

After completing just one minor cycle of energy circulation, he felt an inexplicable restlessness in his heart.

"No! I simply can't accept losing to a Qi Condensation cultivator!"

Xiao Hongzhi halted his cultivation and punched his thigh in frustration.

"If this mental block isn't resolved, it may become a hindrance in the future... Today, I must break through it!"

The defeat at the hands of Zhang Ming weighed heavily on him.

How could a Golden Core cultivator possibly lose to someone at the Qi Condensation stage?

The ever-determined Xiao Hongzhi retrieved a miniature Illusion Tower from his storage ring, along with the illusion crystals he had purchased from Lu Ze.

"Fifteen minutes... no! Just seven and a half!"

"If I can survive for half that time without dying, it will be enough to surpass Junior Brother Zhang's record."

"This way, there'll be no delay!"

Nodding to himself, Xiao Hongzhi channeled spiritual energy into the Illusion Tower and began playing Demon Sect Escape.

……

……

"Cock-a-doodle-doo~"

A loud rooster's crow echoed from the peak of the Beast Taming Summit, signaling the break of dawn.

Xiao Hongzhi withdrew from Demon Sect Escape, blinking in confusion at the sunlight streaming through the window.

A single round of Demon Sect Escape shouldn't take more than seven and a half minutes.

How had it suddenly become morning?

He had only just started playing—no, cultivating—hadn't he?

Most importantly, he still hadn't surpassed Zhang Ming's score.

"A sin, truly a sin..."

Xiao Hongzhi muttered remorsefully to himself.

Now, with less than an hour left before his lecture, there was no time to rest.

As a Golden Core cultivator, missing a night's sleep meant nothing.

But skipping an entire night of cultivation made him feel as though he had lost a day's worth of progress.

"Ah, there's nothing to be done in this half-hour... Might as well continue the trial. Surpassing Junior Brother Zhang sooner will finally put this matter to rest."

He dove back into Demon Sect Escape.

……

……

Artifact Refining Pavilion, Cultivation Hall.

Lu Ze rubbed his eyes as he stepped out of the control room.

He, too, had stayed up all night.

After witnessing the Lingxiao Sect disciples' enthusiasm for Demon Sect Escape the previous day, he felt the difficulty was lacking.

So, he spent the night drastically increasing the challenge beyond the 3,000-step mark.

He also added two new features: [Duel] and [Forum].

A purely single-player experience, even with a leaderboard, would eventually grow stale for the disciples.

But with [Duel], things were different.

The competitive drive it sparked far surpassed the appeal of a simple ranking system.

However, given current technical limitations, Lu Ze could only implement local [Challenge] matches.

For now, that was more than enough.

As he exited the control room, he noticed a group of outer sect disciples energetically playing Demon Sect Escape.

Even some inner sect disciples had pulled all-nighters here.

It wasn't that they couldn't afford their own miniature Illusion Towers—it was just that the atmosphere here was unbeatable.

Lu Ze nodded in satisfaction.

Though the demonic energy provided by the outer sect disciples was negligible, he wasn't picky.

Besides,

these disciples were his best marketing tools.

He walked to the central Illusion Tower and inserted the updated illusion crystal.

Soon, the Cultivation Hall buzzed with excitement.

"Whoa, since when was there a [Duel] feature?"

"I've trained day and night, breaking past the 1,000-step mark! Who dares face me?"

"Show up on the leaderboard first, brother."

"Any fellow cultivators below 1,000 steps? Let's spar!"

"Wait, you can team up for duels? Who's carrying? I'll pay!"

"Hey! Who was that just now? Fight fair—dismount your spirit beast!"

"Damn it! Which sneaky disciple used hidden weapons mid-duel?"

"Brothers, hear me out. Cultivation is about tempering one's character. How can we let a mere trial ruin our harmony? Resorting to underhanded tactics for victory makes us no better than the demonic... OW! Who the hell threw a rock at me? Fine, if you play dirty, don't blame me for this flying dagger!"

……

Lu Ze had made some adjustments based on games from his past life.

Like before, dueling players ran side by side on separate tracks.

But now, he scattered special combat items at random points along both lanes.

Stones, throwing knives, even chamber pots.

Further in, the items grew deadlier—trap-summoning talismans, for instance.

Stone Talismans conjured slowing rock formations, while Wood Talismans summoned vines to briefly immobilize opponents.

The more vicious ones, like Fire and Wind Talismans, unleashed traps far more dangerous than the obstacles on the main path.

With timing and placement left entirely to the players, the competitive intensity skyrocketed.

Watching the Cultivation Hall descend into "scholarly" chaos, Lu Ze felt a swell of pride.

If this kept up, his mission would soon be complete.

……

……

Thunder Lord Peak, Lecture Hall.

Zhao Wendao frowned as he surveyed the disciples before him, his long white brows knitting together.

Today's attendance seemed... sparse?

As the Lingxiao Sect's Grand Elder, his lectures were always packed.

His reputation was sterling, and his teaching style engaging—so why did the hall feel so empty today?

"Fewer disciples than usual, it seems?"

Zhao Wendao stroked his beard.

"Word is, a new illusion trial has been released. Many inner sect disciples are struggling to master it and are likely busy seeking breakthroughs," answered Xiao Hongzhi, bowing from his seat.

"I see."

Zhao Wendao nodded, assuming some senior expert had left behind a trial shadow for disciples to challenge.

In the inner sect, only certain core courses were mandatory.

While elders like him regularly held lectures, attendance wasn't enforced.

Disciples were free to manage their own cultivation schedules.

Yet Zhao Wendao's lectures had always been in such high demand that disciples fought for seats.

Today's turnout was a blow to his pride.

Had his recent teachings grown dull?

Were disciples really choosing illusion trials over his wisdom?

Silently, Zhao Wendao vowed to bring out his most prized insights next time, reclaiming his title as the sect's most popular lecturer.

"Hongzhi, judging by your complexion, you burned the midnight oil again?"

Zhao Wendao suddenly chuckled, studying Xiao Hongzhi's face.

"Ah... yes," Xiao Hongzhi replied hastily, lowering his head.

"Even as a Golden Core cultivator, you must balance work and rest. The path of cultivation should not be rushed!"

Zhao Wendao nodded approvingly and motioned for him to sit.

Xiao Hongzhi was a regular in his class—a standout talent among inner sect disciples, known for his diligence.

"This disciple understands!"

Xiao Hongzhi hurriedly took his seat, avoiding Zhao Wendao's gaze.

He had stayed up all night.

But not cultivating—just obsessively playing Demon Sect Escape.

Relieved that Zhao Wendao didn't press further and resumed lecturing, Xiao Hongzhi exhaled quietly.

Focusing, he joined the usual silent chatter—disciples exchanging messages through divine sense during class.

The teacher on the stage had profound cultivation and naturally knew at a glance that the students below were communicating through spiritual sense transmission.

But the elders were well aware of the character of the Lingxiao Sect disciples. They were sure that the students were gathering together to discuss academic matters and share insights in order not to disrupt the teaching atmosphere. Therefore, they wouldn't come in to interfere.

On normal days, the students were indeed discussing their insights on cultivating the Tao.

However, today, all the spiritual sense transmissions in the whole class were about "Escape of the Demon Cult".

"Is 'Escape of the Demon Cult' really as interesting as you said?"

"Not only interesting, it's simply addictive!"

"I even suspect it's a means used by the demons to disrupt our Taoist minds..."

"Nonsense! Such exquisite design can never be the work of those vulgar demons!"

"I heard that our inner - sect disciples lost to the outer - sect disciples in it?"

"How disgraceful! Let me regain our honor today!"

"What you all said makes me eager to try."

"I heard from someone who came back from the Artifact Refining Pavilion this morning that 'Escape of the Demon Cult' has added a battle function today, allowing you to challenge other fellow Taoists."

"Why doesn't my 'Escape of the Demon Cult' have this function?"

"I heard that you need to go to the Artifact Refining Pavilion and ask Junior Brother Lu, who is in charge of management, to update the illusion crystal."

"Great! Finally, I can compete with you all!"

...

Hearing these various remarks, Xiao Hongzhi felt extremely eager.

He couldn't wait to go to the cultivation hall right now to update "Escape of the Demon Cult".

He had stayed up all night practicing hard last night and could now easily run two thousand steps.

He was just worried about having no place to show off his skills.

Now that he heard he could battle with others, he was extremely excited.

He had always been a diligent and studious person. He always sat in the front row during Elder Zhao Wendao's classes and always felt that he couldn't get enough of what the elders taught.

This was the first time he was so looking forward to the class ending earlier.

...

...

In the following days, an abnormal phenomenon occurred in the Lingxiao Sect.

The attendance at the elders' classes, which were always very popular, was getting lower and lower, and even the most popular Grand Elder was not an exception.

The enthusiasm of the outer - sect disciples for taking on tasks soared. As long as it was a task that could earn spirit stones, they would scramble for it no matter how dirty or tiring it was.

The inner - sect disciples, who were known for their intense competition, suddenly stopped competing.

At the same time, the outer - sect disciples were all short of spirit stones.

It was really puzzling.

Lu Ze, the initiator of all this, was not surprised at all.

The launch of the [Battle] and [Forum] functions was like a dimensionality reduction strike for the people in this world.

It pushed "Escape of the Demon Cult" to a new level.

Today was the fifth day since "Escape of the Demon Cult" was launched.

After today, the task would be completed.

That meant he no longer had to live furtively.

Thinking of this, Lu Ze heaved a sigh of relief.

In the past few days, when updating "Escape of the Demon Cult" every day, he had to be extremely careful to avoid being noticed.

He also had to set up formation talismans around to shield his aura.

Otherwise, if others sensed his demonic aura full of blood and evil, he might not have enough lives to pay for it.

As long as the task was completed and others couldn't discover his demonic identity, he could rest easy.

Thinking of this, Lu Ze was in a great mood.

In the past few days, with the joint efforts of the inner - sect and outer - sect disciples, his demonic value had increased rapidly.

His cultivation had also reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.

He only needed 200 more points of demonic value to advance to the Foundation Establishment stage.

"Hey, what's this?"

While cleaning the cultivation hall, Lu Ze suddenly saw a notebook lying in the corner.

He originally thought it was a fellow disciple's cultivation notebook, but when he got closer, he found it was a diary.

Lu Ze didn't have the intention to peek at others' diaries as it was not a gentleman's behavior.

But just then, a gentle breeze blew from outside the hall, making the diary pages flutter. Lu Ze could clearly see the contents on it.

[April 7th: Escape.]

[April 8th: Escape.]

[April 9th: Escape.]

[April 10th: Xiao Hongzhi, Xiao Hongzhi! How could you be so degenerate! You're the hope of the whole village. You can't go on like this!]

[April 11th: Escape.]

"..."

Lu Ze suddenly thought.

Had he gone too far?