Ascending the Hall

Numinous Ascent Peak, Enforcement Hall.

"Second Elder, I've brought him here as you asked."

Wang Tai bowed with utmost respect.

"Bring him up."

Ding Mingcang waved a hand impatiently.

The sect had been far from peaceful lately.

Inner and Outer Disciples were obsessed with the Illusion Realm Trial, and an expert had broken through but still refused to show himself...

All of it left Ding Mingcang uneasy and irritable.

He had a nagging feeling the two matters were connected.

"Come up!"

At Wang Tai's summons, Lu Ze appeared in the center of the Enforcement Hall.

The floor at the center of the hall lay recessed, with row upon row of seats arranged above it.

Standing there now, he looked every bit a prisoner on trial.

"You're the one who made 'Demonic Path Escape'?"

Ding Mingcang stared at Lu Ze with a face full of suspicion.

At a glance, he could tell Lu Ze was only at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

That was far from what he had expected.

He had thought the creator would be a cultivator in the Nascent Soul Realm at the very least.

"I am."

Lu Ze made no attempt to hide it and nodded outright.

Ding Mingcang's face darkened as he turned to Wang Tai.

His meaning was clear:

You brat, did you grab some random person to fob me off?

Wang Tai was sharp about such things and hurried to explain:

"Elder Ding, Lu Ze really did do this... Even if he didn't, he's definitely involved! I entrusted the Outer Disciples' Illusion Realm Trial directly to him. I never interfered!"

With that, he summoned a Recording Orb and showed Ding Mingcang the footage of Lu Ze admitting it.

After watching the recording, Ding Mingcang reached a verdict in his mind. He pointed at Lu Ze and slammed the table as he rose. "Lu Ze, do you admit your guilt!?"

Ding Mingcang did not speak loudly, but his voice pierced through the hall, carrying a pressure that nearly made others want to submit.

It was a method he used to interrogate prisoners.

Wang Tai, who was also standing in the center, dropped to his knees at once. He lowered his head and trembled beside Lu Ze.

Protected by his Immortal Body, Lu Ze felt less pressure, though he still frowned. "This disciple doesn't know what crime he's committed."

"How dare you!"

Ding Mingcang flew into a rage.

In all his years at the Spirit Cloud Sect, he had never seen anyone so defiant.

"You made a plaything that wreaks havoc on the Dao Heart and threw the entire sect into turmoil. What are you plotting!?"

"Elder Ding, I made the Illusion Realm entirely according to Senior Brother Wang's requirements. I had no selfish motives."

Lu Ze answered without the slightest change in expression.

"No, no, no!"

Beside him, Wang Tai's face turned green at the words.

"E-Elder Ding! None of this has anything to do with me! Nothing at all!"

"Good. Very good!"

So furious that he laughed, Ding Mingcang clapped his hands.

Then he brought his palm down on the table before him.

A vast surge of Spiritual Energy poured through the table and into the entire Enforcement Hall.

"Raise the hall!"

Ding Mingcang's shout rang out.

His voice pierced across all of Numinous Ascent Peak.

"Boom—!!"

The ground shook.

The entire Enforcement Hall rose dozens of meters into the air.

The surrounding walls turned transparent, revealing the scenery outside with perfect clarity.

Lu Ze frowned.

"Raising the hall" meant exactly what it sounded like: the whole Enforcement Hall rose.

Now everyone outside could hear whatever was said within, allowing them to learn the outcome of the judgment.

The Enforcement Hall took this measure only when handling major incidents or utterly vicious criminals.

He had not expected the Second Elder to make such a spectacle of this matter.

Lu Ze raised his head.

Ding Mingcang glared at him, the pressure in his voice growing stronger.

"I'll ask you again."

"You made 'Demonic Path Escape,' harmed the sect disciples' Dao Hearts, and corrupted the atmosphere of cultivation..."

"Do you admit your guilt!?"

Outside the Enforcement Hall.

The crowd of Outer and Inner Disciples who had come to see their idol stopped in their tracks when the Enforcement Hall suddenly rose before them.

Hearing Ding Mingcang's accusation, the disciples looked at one another.

The crowd instantly erupted into chaos.

"What's going on? Elder Ding arrested the senior?"

"He's going to punish him too???"

"If the senior gets punished, does that mean we won't be able to play 'Demonic Path Escape' anymore?"

"That can't happen!"

The walls of the airborne Enforcement Hall held a hidden trick.

From inside, the view out was clear.

From outside, however, no one could see in.

Unable to tell what was happening within, everyone grew frantic.

Just then, a distinctly youthful voice came from inside:

"This disciple made the Illusion Realm to help my fellow Outer Disciples cultivate the Cloud Shattering Art."

"Inside the Illusion Realm, no Cultivation Method can be used except the Cloud Shattering Art."

"The various stages were designed partly to help users master the Cloud Shattering Art and partly to encourage everyone to spend more time cultivating."

"This disciple doesn't know what crime he's committed."

At those words, the Outer and Inner Disciples grew even more astonished.

"No way... The person who made 'Demonic Path Escape' is one of us?"

"He sounds pretty young."

"His voice sounds familiar somehow..."

"When did our sect produce a monster like that?"

"An expert broke through on the Back Mountain of Glazed Fire Peak last night. Could it be the same person?"

Inside the Enforcement Hall.

The more confidently Lu Ze spoke, the more contempt Ding Mingcang felt.

"To help the Outer Disciples cultivate?"

"Heh. What a fine excuse—cultivation!"

"Then tell me: aside from getting the disciples hooked on amusement, does 'Demonic Path Escape' have any other effect?"

Ding Mingcang pressed him.

Before Lu Ze could answer, a chorus of disciples' shouts rose from beneath the Enforcement Hall.

"This disciple is Zhang Ming of the outer sect! After cultivating through 'Demonic Path Escape,' I've brought my Cloud Shattering Art to perfection!"

"This disciple is Wang Haozhi of the outer sect! My Cloud Shattering Art has reached major accomplishment!"

"This disciple is Li Tianyi of the outer sect! My aptitude is poor, but thanks to 'Demonic Path Escape,' I've cultivated the Cloud Shattering Art to major accomplishment!"

The Outer Disciples' hoarse cries passed through layer after layer of obstacles and echoed through the Enforcement Hall.

Lu Ze smiled faintly.

His announcement had not gone to waste after all.

Ding Mingcang frowned and looked at the attendant beside him. "Why is it so noisy outside?"

The attendant replied, "Outer and Inner Disciples seem to have gathered below."

"How did they find out?"

Ding Mingcang wondered, but remained unmoved.

He was interrogating Lu Ze for more than disrupting the sect's atmosphere.

More importantly, the enormous quantity of Illusion Crystal Stones sold was no small matter!

So many Spirit Stones had changed hands without passing through him?

Someone had carved a hefty share of profit right out of his palm!

After all, apart from the sect's official transactions, every other channel had to give him a cut.

But whoever made this Illusion Realm did not understand the rules at all.

Naturally, he did not believe Lu Ze was the one who had made it.

He would have to put the screws to Lu Ze and force him to reveal the person behind him!

So what if the Outer Disciples testified and pleaded for him?

They were only the lowest-ranking people in the sect!

"Other Illusion Realm Trials could achieve the same result. That doesn't prove there's anything exceptional about you."

Ignoring the shouts of the Outer Disciples below, Ding Mingcang continued.

"Instead, the 'Demonic Path Escape' you made for the Outer Disciples has left the Inner Disciples obsessed with it and neglecting their cultivation... How do you explain that?"

Lu Ze was speechless.

Now he understood what it meant to beat a dog with any stick at hand.

For something like that...

Ask the Inner Disciples!!

Outside, the Inner Disciples exchanged glances, each seeming about to speak but holding back.

They had dealt with Ding Mingcang more often than the Outer Disciples had.

They knew how terrifying he could be.

If he set his sights on them, life would become difficult from then on.

None of them dared be the first to stick their neck out.

Just then, Xiao Hongzhi gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

"This disciple is Xiao Hongzhi of Thunder Peak. I became obsessed because my resolve was weak. The Illusion Realm itself is not to blame..."

"And 'Demonic Path Escape' doesn't just help with the Cloud Shattering Art. It benefits other movement techniques too. After experiencing it, I gained insight and made considerable progress in my movement technique. I ask the Elder to judge fairly!"

"Our obsession with the Illusion Realm shows that our Dao Hearts are unsteady. I am willing to face the wall and reflect on my mistakes to strengthen my Dao Heart. Please spare our senior brother, Elder!"

The other Inner Disciples looked at one another.

A moment later, they cupped their fists and stepped forward, one after another.

"This disciple is from Danxin Peak..."

"This disciple is from Ten Thousand Beasts Peak..."

Their words were not baseless.

Though they did not know why, quite a few of them really had made substantial progress with their movement techniques.

At first, crediting "Demonic Path Escape" had only been an excuse for their obsession with the game.

But when so many others reported the same thing, the disciples began to believe it themselves.

Lately, some had even started spreading the dubious idea that grinding themselves to the bone as they had before seemed rather pointless.

They already cultivated enough each day, so it would do no harm to cultivate a little less...

When Lu Ze heard that the Inner Disciples were defending him too, he nearly laughed.

He had made "Demonic Path Escape" purely for fun.

He had used a mature game system from his previous life to earn Demonic Value for himself.

Apart from the Cloud Shattering Art, it had nothing whatsoever to do with cultivation.

Lu Ze assumed the Inner Disciples were saying all this only so they could keep playing the game.

He looked up at Ding Mingcang.

The man's expression had visibly soured.

An Inner Disciple carried far more weight than an Outer Disciple.

But if he failed to put the person who made the Illusion Realm in his place, it would hurt his future business badly.

After a moment's hesitation, Ding Mingcang still refused to let it go. "Movement techniques, movement techniques... So what if they've improved? Is there nothing else to the path of cultivation?"

His words struck the onlookers outside silent as crows and sparrows.

Ding Mingcang looked smug as he continued, staring at Lu Ze:

"Or are you saying..."

"You can recreate every aspect of cultivation this way?"

He had thought it was a killing blow.

But to his surprise,

Lu Ze merely nodded.

"Of course I can."