Back to My Old Trade

Lu Ze's eyes lit up when he saw the mission rewards.

Others would be unable to discover his Demonic Son System identity?

That was exactly what he needed most right now!

Otherwise, the moment he used spiritual power, the anomaly would be exposed. He simply would not be able to stay here!

As for the mission itself—

He did not need to kill anyone. He only needed to keep the sect disciples from cultivating in peace?

This kind of thing...

He might actually be able to pull it off!

Lu Ze was delighted.

As a game designer in his previous life, he immediately came up with a bold idea.

He would return to his old trade in the Cultivation World—

Game development!

The artifact-crafting techniques of Tianxuan Continent were extremely advanced.

As one of the five great immortal sects, Spirit Cloud Sect stood at the very pinnacle in this regard.

Inner Disciples had a Tower Climbing Trial, where their Spiritual Sense entered special Artifacts to battle.

During the trial, the visuals could even be projected outside for other disciples to watch.

Lu Ze had seen his senior brothers climbing the tower several times. Even then, he had thought it looked remarkably like the games from his previous life.

Its visuals and level of detail were unbeatable, but in terms of gameplay, there was almost nothing.

Just killing monsters.

Back then, he had thought this technology seemed perfect for making games.

For that reason, he had spent the past three years quietly studying its mysteries.

The mission issued by the system now seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Although Spirit Cloud Sect was brimming with martial virtue, everyone still needed entertainment.

Spirit Ball and Cuju were immensely popular among younger disciples, while Mahjong and Go were ways for the Elders to pass the time.

Compared with those traditional forms of entertainment, video games would be a dimensionality-reduction strike.

If they became addicted to games, how could they still have the mind to cultivate in peace?

Nothing wrong with that!

With his mind made up,

Lu Ze began considering which game would be most suitable for getting his fellow disciples hooked.

"Lu Ze, have you prepared the equipment for the Outer Disciples' Body Cultivation Class three days from now?"

A voice interrupted Lu Ze's thoughts.

He looked up.

It was the Artifact Forging Hall's second senior brother, Wang Tai.

His tone was as unfriendly as ever.

"The Illusion Tower has already been calibrated." Lu Ze did not take it to heart and answered truthfully, "I just don't know where the Illusion Crystal Stone for the Outer Disciples' movement technique training is."

"Figure it out yourself."

Wang Tai sneered and left without even looking back.

He had always been dissatisfied that the Elder had made an exception and accepted Lu Ze as an Outer Disciple.

"Alright."

Lu Ze agreed cheerfully.

Was this not a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity?

He had been worrying that no one would play the game even if he made one!

Lu Ze knew Wang Tai disliked him. Over the past three years, Wang Tai had suppressed him plenty.

Now that the Artifact Crafting Hall Elder had gone traveling, this guy had become even more excessive.

There definitely were Illusion Crystal Stones. Wang Tai had likely hidden them away just to make things difficult for him.

There were none, huh?

Then he would make one himself!

"Since it's meant to train movement techniques, I'll start with a Parkour Game."

Lu Ze nodded and mused to himself.

The more he thought about it, the more suitable the theme seemed.

In his previous life, there had been countless Parkour Games that had once swept the world.

"Temple Escape," "Daily Cool Run," "Skiing Adventure"...

Too many to count.

When had Parkour Games first become popular?

When mobile games had just begun to rise.

It truly bore more than a few similarities to this world, which had yet to be baptized by video games.

Having selected his target, Lu Ze did not dare be careless and immediately began creating it.

With the Illusion Tower, constructing the game environment was extremely simple.

Lu Ze was only at the Qi Refining Stage. His Spiritual Sense was not yet sufficient to construct a truly grand and vast Illusion Realm.

Fortunately, Parkour Game environments were all quite small. Even at the Qi Refining Stage, he could construct them.

As for level design,

With his extraordinary memory and game design experience from his previous life, that was not difficult either.

The only thing that troubled him was music.

The importance of music to a game went without saying.

It was not just the BGM that set the atmosphere. All kinds of sound effects that enhanced impact and the thrill of rewards were also crucial to making a good game.

Fortunately, this was Spirit Cloud Sect, where strange and unusual Artifacts were everywhere.

The sect had an item called an Imagery Instrument, which could extract images or sounds from one's mind.

It was generally used when an incident occurred, allowing witnesses to recreate the scene.

Thinking that he would have plenty of use for it later, Lu Ze simply bought one outright.

It could not be helped.

He had taken the wrong path during his first two years here. He had too many Spirit Stones, so he could afford to be willful.

Three days later.

The Training Ground outside the Artifact Forging Hall.

Early in the morning, Outer Disciples arrived in twos and threes.

"Hey, they say Illusion Realm cultivation is an Inner Disciple privilege. I never thought we'd get a chance to experience it too."

Wang Ming looked around with a face full of wonder, brimming with curiosity toward the various instruments nearby.

As an Outer Disciple with utterly ordinary innate talent, he had very few chances to enter the Artifact Forging Hall.

Not to mention Inner Disciple-exclusive Illusion Realm trials.

He had heard that the Elder in charge of the Outer Disciples had recently earned outstanding merit and had specially fought for this opportunity for them.

"I wonder what kind of challenge awaits us in the Illusion Realm..."

Wang Ming was filled with anticipation.

"What a bumpkin. You don't even know what an Illusion Realm is."

A fellow disciple beside him sneered.

"What's so special about an Illusion Realm for training movement techniques? It just gives you a higher, farther space and a few sticks of incense to time you."

Wang Ming recognized this fellow disciple. His name was Wang Ba.

One of his older brothers had entered the inner sect, so naturally he had seen more.

"Cultivating in an Illusion Realm is only interesting when it's more advanced—things like trap designs and battling demonic beasts... Giving you Outer Disciples the chance for these Illusion Realm trials is a waste. You might as well cultivate in the sect on your own."

Wang Ba made no effort to hide the contempt in his words.

The others understood, though.

Wang Ba had an older brother looking after him in the inner sect, his own cultivation was nearing a Foundation Establishment breakthrough, and his family had some wealth...

His entry into the inner sect was as certain as a nail driven into a board. Naturally, he was somewhat arrogant.

"I'm not afraid to tell you all: I already cleared the Cloud Shattering Art's Beginner Illusion. In this trial, I will definitely take first place."

Wang Ba smiled confidently.

The greatest difference between Illusion Realm trials and ordinary training was that there were clear scoring standards.

Students would be ranked according to their scores.

Under the Outer Disciple rules, the bottom five would be marked as unqualified and would need to retake the course the following year.

Ever since hearing that the Outer Disciples would undergo Illusion Realm cultivation, Wang Ba had begun making calculations.

Failing was impossible.

What he had his eye on was first place. If he even surpassed ordinary Inner Disciples...

Would he have a chance to be exceptionally admitted into the inner sect?

For this, he had begged his older brother for a chance to experience the Illusion Realm trial and had familiarized himself with the beginner movement technique Illusion Realm well in advance.

Even though his movement techniques were not particularly outstanding, it did not matter. He already knew exactly what to do at every step.

Standing out from the crowd was only natural.

Just as he was swaggering about, a figure emerged atop the platform.

Lu Ze rubbed his dark-circled eyes, yawned, and placed the Illusion Realm core into the Illusion Tower.

"The Illusion Realm has already been set up. The tokens for entering it are also in the hands of all my fellow disciples... If you're ready, you may enter on your own."

The disciples below began discussing among themselves.

"So that's Lu Ze, the one the Elder accepted as an Outer Disciple?"

"I heard he's still at Qi Refining Initial after three years of cultivation, but he's pretty talented in artifact crafting."

"What use is talent? The formations inside true Immortal Artifacts require at least Golden Core Stage cultivation to forge."

"At least he cultivates within the peak. For now, he's far stronger than you or me."

Wang Ba was deeply disdainful. "Trash is trash. Putting on Inner Disciple robes does not make him anything but trash."

Zhang Ming beside him could not help frowning. "If he earned the Elder's appreciation, he must have his own merits. If Brother Wang is unconvinced, you can enter the inner sect and compete with him yourself."

Seeing Wang Ba fly into a rage, looking like a man furiously lashing out in helplessness, Zhang Ming did not bother with him.

He took out his token and activated his Spiritual Sense.

His consciousness sank into boundless darkness.

"What exactly is Illusion Realm cultivation like..."

Zhang Ming rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

Then he stared blankly at the enormous words before him.

"'Demonic Path Escape'?? What the hell is that???"