Finally Cleared the Game

The following days passed in a whirlwind.

The disciples of the Lingxiao Sect went wild with excitement.

And Lu Ze? He was raking in demonic cultivation points like never before.

In his past life, thanks to the save-and-load feature, players who fell could simply reload and resume from their highest checkpoint.

But here? No such luck.

Falling meant starting over from scratch—

Which, in other words, meant dying all over again.

To make matters worse, Zhao Wendao had issued a decree: every disciple from each peak had to clear Four Must Survive. This sent Lu Ze’s profits skyrocketing.

Especially after the four elders joined in.

Zhao Wendao, in particular, couldn’t let go of his failure to beat the game.

Every day, he dragged the other elders along to jump, fail, and repeat.

As a result, Lu Ze harvested thousands of demonic cultivation points daily—just from the elders alone.

Breaking through to the Golden Core realm was now within reach.

“Guess I’ll have to consider the elders as part of the target audience for the next game…”

Lu Ze mused, stroking his chin.

……

……

Days turned into weeks.

The Lingxiao Sect disciples gradually shifted from frenzied to… eerily disciplined.

If someone suddenly shouted “Three, two—” on the road, a crowd would halt, waiting for the final “Jump!”

Their coordination had reached an almost terrifying level.

But no one worked harder than Zhong Yi’s team.

After all, the group had three stubborn hotheads.

Zhong Yi refused to believe a trial of teamwork could defeat him.

Zhou Yue refused to accept that his cursed fate still haunted him even in an illusion.

Mu Yawen refused to admit she couldn’t carry all three of them through the trial.

They spent the most time playing—and got the closest to the end.

At this moment, Mu Yawen was steering a horse-drawn carriage at breakneck speed down a floating skyroad.

With every few feet traveled, the path behind them crumbled into oblivion.

One mistake, and they’d plunge into the abyss—back to square one.

If Zhou Yue or Zhong Yi took the reins? Instant death.

The former would trigger some bizarre, unforeseeable disaster.

The latter would somehow steer the carriage straight back to the starting point.

Even Zhou Qiaoling’s driving skills weren’t up to par.

But to everyone’s surprise, Mu Yawen—the clumsy, often laughable Mu Yawen—turned out to be shockingly reliable behind the wheel.

Steady as a rock!

Unfazed even as the road collapsed behind her!

She took sharp turns without slowing down!

“Brother Mu, I—”

“Zhong Yi! Lift Zhou Yue higher! Don’t let him touch the carriage!!!”

Zhong Yi immediately hoisted Zhou Yue overhead, terrified he’d accidentally trigger some hidden trap.

“Phew…”

Zhong Yi exhaled in relief, grinning at Mu Yawen, who was focused on driving.

“With Brother Mu here, we’ll definitely—”

“Zhou Yue! Cover his mouth!!!”

Zhou Yue promptly clamped a hand over Zhong Yi’s lips.

One held the other’s back; the other muffled his speech.

The scene was downright absurd.

But it was necessary.

Zhou Yue’s bizarre luck wasn’t the only problem.

Zhong Yi’s mouth was a disaster waiting to happen.

Somehow, in this ridiculous formation, they made it through the winding path unscathed.

Next came a puzzle—a complex Bagua diagram.

For Zhong Yi, this was child’s play. He solved it in no time.

A mysterious force lifted them into the air.

They climbed across giant golden scrolls until finally—

They reached what seemed to be the end.

A vast, open platform.

Flanked by statues of immortal sages, their faces stern and righteous.

At the far end stood a massive iron gate, glowing with golden light.

“Finally! We’re finally—”

Zhou Yue leaped forward in joy—

Only for the steps beneath him to vanish.

“WAAAH!!!”

Thankfully, this had happened too many times before.

Their reflexes were honed to perfection.

No one plummeted all the way down—sparing them a rage-inducing restart.

“Hahaha! This time, nothing can stop us!”

Zhong Yi couldn’t contain his excitement, charging ahead.

Then, a narrator’s voice echoed around them.

“You’ve reached the end, have you?”

“Look at you—so confident, so hopeful.”

“But remember: everything here—the despair, the hope—was carefully designed by me.”

Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue exchanged uneasy glances.

“This voice… it sounds just like Lu Ze…”

The narration continued.

“You may have survived by luck, but mark my words—”

“This game never truly ends.”

“The world is a vast chessboard, and I am a patient player… See you soon.”

The moment the voice faded—

The chains around their waists vanished.

“We’re free!!!”

“Finally, we’re done with this cursed trial!!”

“The rewards! Where are the rewards?!”

“Are we the first team to clear it?!”

The four of them cheered wildly, sprinting toward the iron gate.

It creaked open, revealing—

A colossal sphere of golden runes.

“That must be the exit!”

Zhong Yi bolted toward it.

Mu Yawen and Zhou Qiaoling followed without hesitation.

No one was bound by chains, so no one noticed.

At this moment, Zhou Yue was still stuck at the edge of the platform where he had first stepped on.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Zhou Yue stared at the iron trap clamped around his ankle, his face twisted in frustration.

"Wait for me!!!"

But the distance was too great—no one heard him.

With great effort, Zhou Yue pried open the jaws of the trap biting into his leg, only to stumble a few steps forward and sink into quicksand.

"..."

Meanwhile, the cheerful trio ahead had already reached the golden sphere.

They hadn’t even noticed that someone was missing from their group.

"We did it!!"

The three shouted in unison as they stepped toward the golden sphere.

A tremendous force sucked them inside.

Only then did they realize something was wrong.

"Wait… where’s my brother?"

"Brother Zhou… where did he go?"

"Did Senior Brother Zhou fall off somewhere by himself?"

At the same time.

The illusionary scene around the three abruptly vanished.

A line of text materialized before them:

[Congratulations, you’ve reached the end!]

[Time taken: 47 hours.]

"To think we spent so much time without even realizing it… By the way, where the hell is Brother Zhou?"

Zhong Yi muttered to himself.

The text disappeared.

An animation began to play.

It showed the platform leading to the finish line.

Zhou Yue was desperately running across it, shouting at the top of his lungs.

Behind him.

Boulders rained from the sky, and spikes erupted from the ground.

Soon, his cries were silenced—clearly, he was dead beyond any doubt.

Only then did Zhong Yi and the others understand where Zhou Yue had gone…

But the animation wasn’t over yet.

Along the sides of the path.

The once-sage-like statues of immortals were suddenly enveloped in a crimson glow, transforming into demonic figures.

A sinister laugh echoed through the illusion.

Far in the distance, the golden sphere turned blood-red…

……

The illusion finally ended.

The four of them exited the illusion.

"Congratulations, everyone! You’ve successfully cleared the trial!"

Lu Ze appeared beside them, clapping with a beaming smile.

This group of three core disciples had been contributing as much demonic energy as the elder group every day.

While the elders often lost their tempers and stormed off to fight, the core disciples had endured patiently, playing for an entire week.

"Junior Brother Lu Ze, did you design this illusion just to mess with me?!"

Zhou Yue roared, his voice thick with resentment.

"It’s a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding."

Lu Ze waved his hands, sweating nervously.

He truly hadn’t expected Zhou Yue to meet such a tragic end on the final platform…

It was beyond absurd.

Even he wouldn’t dare write a script this ridiculous.

"Junior Brother Lu Ze! So the ending of this illusion… we were still tricked by the demonic path in the end?! We still fell into their trap?!"

Zhong Yi’s lips twitched.

"Well… yes. So never trust the words of the demonic path!"

Lu Ze nodded solemnly.

The final twist served two purposes.

First, it followed the original story’s progression, setting up a plot hook for future developments.

Second, it made the cultivators feel like they had ultimately fallen victim, that they had still died in the end.

Even after clearing the trial, he had to squeeze every last drop of demonic energy from them.

"I can’t help but feel like you’re the narrator behind all this…"

Zhou Qiaoling muttered under her breath.

Just then, Lu Ze’s communication jade lit up.

"Unfilial disciple! Come to Thunder Peak at once. Elder Zhao Wendao wishes to see you."