The gap between True Disciples was greater than the gap between a human and a dog

"Senior Brother Zhong, there's something wrong with this trial."

The moment she exited the Illusion Realm, Mu Yawen wore a troubled expression, her tone serious.

"How so?"

Zhong Yi, on the other hand, looked as though he hadn't had his fill yet.

If Mu Yawen hadn't stopped him, he would have kept attempting the trial.

After dying a dozen or so times, he felt he had started to get the hang of it.

If he ran again, breaking five hundred steps probably wouldn't be a problem.

"The beast in there... I can't kill it!"

"..."

Zhong Yi felt his head beginning to throb.

"Have you considered the possibility that you're not supposed to kill it...?"

"We belong to an honorable Righteous Path sect! How could we encounter a demonic beast and not kill it?"

Mu Yawen countered with complete conviction.

"..."

Zhong Yi was momentarily at a loss for words.

"Junior brother, this trial was tailored for outer disciples to train their survival skills."

"I see! Since outer disciples can't defeat a beast at that cultivation level, they can only run away!"

"Yes, exactly."

"Then why not have them come to Quenching Gold Peak to temper their bodies first? A hard fist is the only argument that matters!"

"...Forget I said anything."

"But this trial is quite distinctive. Running away is fun. No wonder it's so popular."

"Oh? So Junior Brother Mu tried running too? How far did you get?"

Zhong Yi raised an eyebrow, feeling a little smug.

He was just about to boast that he had nearly reached the five-hundred-step mark when Mu Yawen suddenly answered:

"Five hundred and three steps."

"..."

"What about you, senior brother?"

"By the way, why hasn't Junior Sister Li come out of the Illusion Realm yet? Could she have run into a problem?"

Zhong Yi hurriedly changed the subject.

Beside them, Li Moran's delicate brows were slightly furrowed, as though she had encountered some difficulty.

"Looks like Junior Sister Li's life on the run isn't going smoothly either!"

Zhong Yi felt reassured again.

Normally, no matter how bitter or difficult a test was, he had never seen the slightest change in this junior sister's expression.

Yet now she was actually frowning in Demonic Path Escape?

Sure enough, even geniuses had their weaknesses.

That made his loss to Junior Brother Mu understandable too.

They were both wanderers fallen on hard times, and Zhong Yi immediately felt somewhat comforted.

Just then, Li Moran suddenly opened her eyes.

Clearly, she had just exited the Illusion Realm.

"Junior sister, how was it?"

Zhong Yi hurriedly asked with a cheerful smile.

"I found no traces of the Demon Path in this Illusion Realm. It should be the work of an expert."

Li Moran nodded calmly as she spoke.

"You looked a little uncomfortable just now. Did you run into some trouble during the trial?"

"I wouldn't call it trouble."

Li Moran hid nothing, answering calmly:

"It's just that after three thousand steps, the road starts changing extremely quickly... Then forks appear without any hints, and choosing the wrong one means death. I was just a little puzzled."

"...How many did you say? You ran three thousand steps???"

Zhong Yi thought he must have misheard.

He had thought he was hot stuff for running five hundred steps, only for his junior sister to run three thousand?

The gap between True Disciples was greater than the gap between a human and a dog!

"If you mean my final score... it was five thousand three hundred steps."

There was not a trace of boasting on Li Moran's face. She answered as though it were nothing out of the ordinary.

"Senior brother, I remember first place on the leaderboard was only 4,000 steps."

Mu Yawen reminded him.

Zhong Yi had exited in such a hurry that he hadn't even noticed there was a leaderboard.

When he opened it, he saw that Li Moran's name had already taken first place.

Second place was an inner disciple he happened to know, a Golden Core Stage cultivator whose score was over three thousand nine hundred steps.

Third place was an outer disciple he didn't know. Outer disciples couldn't be above Foundation Establishment, yet this one had scored over three thousand eight hundred steps.

Fourth place, fifth place...

The more Zhong Yi looked, the more he felt that his smug self from a moment ago had been a clown.

In the past, it had been difficult to find an outer disciple who could surpass an inner disciple in anything.

Let alone surpass a True Disciple.

Now Demonic Path Escape had made it happen.

Moreover,

Whether inner or outer disciples—and even he himself—they were all deeply captivated by Demonic Path Escape.

He could hardly wait to play another round!

"Among any three people, one can surely be my teacher! It seems even a True Disciple isn't necessarily superior in everything!"

Zhong Yi couldn't help exclaiming.

"Senior brother, our junior sister really is superior in everything..."

Mu Yawen reminded him.

"..."

Zhong Yi glared at Mu Yawen. He was beginning to regret inviting her along, while she had absolutely no idea what she had done wrong.

"Senior brother, look! The leaderboard changed!"

At Mu Yawen's prompting, Zhong Yi and Li Moran both opened the leaderboard.

First place had actually gone to a player called "Nameless," with a score as high as five thousand six hundred steps!

"Damn, there's another expert! Our sect really does harbor hidden dragons and crouching tigers!"

Zhong Yi couldn't help crying out.

Li Moran stared at the first-place score, a gleam shifting in her eyes.

She had never liked being beneath anyone, even in a game.

She had originally planned to finish this assignment and return to Sword Inquiry Peak to continue practicing swordsmanship.

Now, however, she was rather reluctant to leave so soon.

"Speaking of which, you don't have to use your real name in this trial...?"

Seeing that everyone except this player called Nameless had used their own name, Zhong Yi sank into thought.

By tomorrow,

The news that True Disciple Li Moran had broken five thousand steps on her very first attempt would surely become a hot topic throughout the sect.

If people then discovered that he, a fellow True Disciple, had only managed five hundred steps...

"Hiss..."

Zhong Yi sucked in a cold breath.

"No, I have to change my name too!"

"?" Mu Yawen looked puzzled. "Why do you need to change your name, senior brother?"

"I mean my name in the trial... Zhong Yi doesn't sound imposing enough."

Zhong Yi casually made up an excuse.

"Then I'll change mine too."

"Suit yourself."

Seated in the Control Room, Lu Ze wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Only when he saw Li Moran enter the game again did he breathe a sigh of relief.

That was close!

The fat sheep nearly got away!!

He had deliberately entered the game just now and achieved a score a little higher than Li Moran's.

As the game's designer, he naturally knew the correct way to clear it.

Although the Illusion Realm blocked all abilities derived from cultivation and root bone, the most basic physical gifts remained.

The Myriad Manifestations Xuan Demon Immortal Physique granted him exceptionally strong innate gifts. Combined with the experience from his previous life, reaching that level wasn't difficult.

As long as he kept giving Li Moran a little incentive and ensured she logged in every day, his grand undertaking of immortal cultivation would progress that much faster.

He watched the three players' game screens with keen interest.

Li Moran went without saying.

In his previous life, she would have been a bona fide beautiful esports prodigy. Without the Myriad Manifestations Xuan Demon Immortal Physique, Lu Ze wouldn't even have been confident he could beat her.

Though Mu Yawen lacked a little flair, she made up for it with focus and was having the time of her life.

As for Zhong Yi.

Of the three, he liked playing Demonic Path Escape the most, but he was also the worst at it.

Every time this guy died, he would talk to himself in the game, analyzing his mistakes and the ingenuity of the level design...

An absolute chatterbox.

Each time these three died, they contributed varying amounts of demonic value.

Mu Yawen contributed the least, and Zhong Yi the most.

Once accumulated, those numbers would absolutely be staggering.

Of the three, Zhong Yi was the one Lu Ze had the highest hopes for.

Given how terrible this guy was and how much he loved playing anyway, he alone could contribute several hundred points of demonic value a day...

Just as he was feeling secretly pleased with himself, a system notification suddenly sounded in his ears:

The host has won over Righteous cultivator Zhong Yi through skill, inspiring admiration in him. One of his abilities will be acquired at random.

Reward obtained: ten years of martial arts experience