【Demonic Path Value +1.2】
【Demonic Path Value +1.3】
…
The continuous sound of demonic path values being credited stirred an uncontrollable smile on Lu Ze’s lips.
He had made some “optimizations” to the game from his previous life.
For example, there was no save or load function—if a player fell, they had to start climbing all over again.
In the original game, chains had no collision detection on vertical objects like walls or ladders.
But in this illusionary realm, the chains could get caught on those objects.
…
Actually, in the original game, players wouldn’t die unless they fell into lava or an abyss with no bottom.
To accumulate demonic path values, Lu Ze had changed that.
Falling to the ground now triggered death and rebirth.
The illusionary realm had only been released for less than an hour, yet the demonic path values were skyrocketing.
These cultivators were too impressive—they died so often it was almost ridiculous.
Lu Ze specifically bought some dishes from the dining hall at Lihuo Peak.
He ate while watching the operations of Zhong Yi and the other three, chewing with great relish.
After half an hour of struggling, the four had finally started to take on the semblance of a team.
Because Zhou Yue’s idea of counting down from 3 to 0 was too abstract, the two of them had dueled in the game for a while before Zhong Yi finally secured command.
By now, after more than a dozen attempts of returning home, they had finally crossed the four trap beams, passed a long staircase filled with spike traps, and arrived at a new platform.
Thinking about the next new platform, they knew it would require all four of them working together to jump across one obstacle after another suspended in midair.
With several failures behind them, the four now looked well-trained.
They stood side by side at the edge of the cliff.
“Same as before, listen to my command! I’ll count down 3-2-1, then we jump!” Zhong Yi said seriously, emphasizing once again.
“Got it!”
The other three responded in unison.
“Alright! Get ready!”
Zhong Yi measured the distance between the floating stones and the platform with his eyes, then took a deep breath.
“Three, two, one…”
“Jump!”
At his command, all four leapt forward in perfect unison, landing right in the center of the floating stone.
“Again!”
Zhong Yi measured the distance with his eyes once more.
“Three, two, one…”
“Jump!”
Their figures repeated the previous action.
By now, they were beginning to taste the sweetness of cooperation, smiles gradually creeping onto their lips as they waited for Zhong Yi’s next command.
“Again!”
Encouraged, Zhong Yi’s gaze swept over the distance to the next wooden plank, and habitually he shouted:
“Three, two, one…”
“Small jump!”
“?”
“!”
“%￥……&……&*@#￥”
Only when the other three were midair did they realize that Zhong Yi had added the word “small” before the jump.
Zhong Yi’s judgment was indeed correct.
This time, the gap between obstacles was much shorter.
But their limbs moved before their brains did.
The three had jumped out at the previous rhythm!
They overshot by a mile!
Only Zhong Yi himself landed perfectly in the narrow center of the wooden plank!
“Zhong Yi, what the hell… why did you suddenly say ‘small jump’!!”
“Senior Brother Zhong pulled me!!”
“Zhou, your foot is on my face!!”
The other three dangled in midair, clawing wildly and flailing their arms, desperately trying to grab onto something to hold onto.
"Don’t struggle! I’m pulling... I’m pulling!!"
Zhong Yi’s face flushed bright red.
He was the second position in the team.
Sandwiched between Zhou Yue and Mu Yawen.
At this moment, the two on either side were both tugging fiercely on the chains.
The immense force kept dragging him downward.
“Zhong Yi, pull me first!”
“Senior Brother, the junior brother and junior sister are falling!!”
“Stop arguing! I’m about to be pulled down by you all... ahhh!! We’re falling!!”
The four of them were in utter chaos. In the end, just as Lu Ze had expected, the only survivor, Zhong Yi, was also dragged down.
Miserable screams echoed through the air.
Interspersed with the polite yet quarrelsome greetings between Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue.
Lu Ze couldn’t help but laugh until he spat food all over the table.
……
……
Above Lihuo Peak.
“I heard Zhou Yue and Zhong Yi are both in the Artifact Refining Pavilion?”
“Heh, that sounds about right. Lu Ze made a new trial team illusion. I sent those two to set an example.”
“Then Zhou Yue must have taken first place.”
“I’m not so sure. When it comes to team cohesion, Zhong Yi beats everyone hands down!”
Zhao Wendao and Lin Qingxuan arrived together, boasting about their respective disciples.
The two made their way to the Artifact Refining Pavilion, landing before the Illusion Hall’s entrance.
“By the way, is there anything new in this illusion this time?” Lin Qingxuan asked.
He wasn’t particularly interested in ‘Immortal Realm Conquest.’ His only daily pleasure was tending his vegetable garden in ‘Spirit Plant vs. Zombies.’ Apart from that, he hadn’t found any new fun for quite a while.
“I heard from Lu Ze that the challenge requires four people to work together to escape from the Demonic Realm... Apparently, even one person dragging behind will fail.”
Zhao Wendao replied.
“Heh, what’s so difficult about that? Do you really think Zhou Yue would hold Zhong Yi back?”
“They’re all true disciples. That kind of tacit understanding is a given. Otherwise, why would I send them as role models?”
The two elders laughed and chatted as they entered the Illusion Hall.
This new illusion, personally crafted by Lu Ze, had gained fame thanks to ‘Immortal Realm Conquest.’
With Zhao Wendao himself promoting it within the Lingxiao Sect and establishing it as a team course,
countless disciples flocked here.
Even disciples from other sects traveled thousands of miles to participate.
By now, the Illusion Hall was packed to the brim.
“Wow, it’s quite lively. There’s definitely a team atmosphere.”
Lin Qingxuan looked around at the groups of four seated at each table, sighing with emotion.
“But these disciples don’t look so well. Look at this one... Ouch! His face is flushed red!”
Zhao Wendao murmured in confusion.
From what he saw, many of these usually polite and gentle disciples frowned deeply.
Some looked pale as death, others flushed bright red.
Very strange.
“Odd, very odd...”
Zhao Wendao stroked his beard and sent a divine sound to Lu Ze in the control room.
“Lu Ze, project the illusions of the disciples for Lin Elder and me to see.”
“Got it~”
Lu Ze confidently adjusted the settings on the illusion tower.
Instantly, the real-time scenes of the four-person teams appeared above each small table.
“This…”
Zhao Wendao and Lin Qingxuan both widened their eyes in shock.
In most illusions, there’s one disciple lying on the ground while three others hang suspended in the air, wildly flailing their arms.
Sometimes, four people would fall from great heights together, exchanging fierce curses.
Other times, they’d be grabbing iron chains and brawling within the illusion...
...
The whole scene—
If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was disciples from the righteous and demonic sects clashing.
The two elders exchanged uneasy glances.
“Are you sure... this is supposed to be a team-building illusion?”
Lin Qingxuan looked at Zhao Wendao with a strange expression.
Zhao Wendao was speechless for a long moment.
He had no idea what kind of mischief Lu Ze was up to this time!
“I’m going to ask Lu Ze!” Zhao Wendao said, his teeth grinding in frustration.
He thought Lu Ze had dragged out that hellish trial, *“If You’re a Cultivator, Descend a Hundred Floors,”* to torment the disciples again.
Just then—
Two intense and familiar bursts of spiritual energy exploded on the back mountain.
Shouts of alarm rose from the disciples nearby.
“Not good! Zhou Zhenchuan and Zhong Zhenchuan are fighting!”
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.”
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
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."
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.
