What If He Put a Unique Spin on Swinging a Sword, Too?

Numinous Ascent Peak, Enforcement Hall.

Qian Yutang was a Steward of Numinous Ascent Peak. Having followed Ding Mingcang for decades, he had not seen him this furious in a very long time.

He knew Ding Mingcang had a terrible temper. Even while brewing tea, he was trembling with fear, terrified of being implicated.

Qian Yutang smiled ingratiatingly. "Elder Ding, why get so worked up? He's only an Outer Disciple. You can deal with him however you please."

"Hmph! He actually dared to establish a Sect Covenant? I'd like to see where he gets his confidence!"

Ding Mingcang took the teacup and drained it in one gulp, his eyes burning with fury.

A mere Foundation Establishment disciple dared to speak to him like that?

Had it not been for the fact that Numinous Ascent Peak had been full of sect disciples at the time, he could have crushed Lu Ze into a cripple with a flick of his hand.

Unfortunately, with so many eyes watching, he could not go too far and had no choice but to endure it.

According to the intelligence gathered afterward, this brat named Lu Ze had apparently posted a notice before coming to the Enforcement Hall, calling upon every disciple who had played "Demonic Path Escape" to come here.

Clearly, the other party had planned everything in advance.

"What a cunning brat!" After learning of this, Qian Yutang cursed angrily. "We absolutely cannot let him turn things around this time... A disciple like him will be a scourge if he remains in the sect."

"Turn things around?"

At those words, Ding Mingcang revealed a sly smile.

"From the moment he agreed to let me choose the topic, he was doomed to never turn things around again."

"What do you mean?"

Qian Yutang did not understand.

Ding Mingcang was utterly confident.

The day he demanded the right to choose the topic, he had already devised a plan.

"Hehe, sword practice is not like movement techniques. If it is sword practice, then it must involve fighting."

"Once it returns to the core theme of combat, how can he exploit loopholes with those petty tricks of his?"

"Does Spirit Cloud Sect lack illusion realm trials related to sword practice? They were all created by Grandmasters of earlier years. What right or ability does a Foundation Establishment disciple have to surpass works of that caliber?"

"Furthermore..."

"The reason 'Demonic Path Escape' succeeded was because the combat logic he designed was especially outstanding."

"Since I have expressly forbidden the development of combat-related functions, how can he possibly turn things around?"

"He is destined to lose."

Artifact Forging Hall.

Lu Ze had moved from his previous small room into a private pavilion.

It had every living necessity, as well as props and Artifacts for creating illusion realms.

Ding Mingcang had set up a Barrier around the pavilion.

Without his permission, Lu Ze could not leave, and no one else could enter.

"You brat, you really never give anyone peace of mind!"

"I was only away for half a month, and you went and caused such a massive disaster!!"

"You even went and made a Sect Covenant! You... ow!!"

A furious scolding came through the Sound Transmission Jade Slip in Lu Ze's hand.

It was his master, the Sixth Elder of Spirit Cloud Sect, Nangong Yuan.

By the rules, Lu Ze was not permitted to communicate with anyone else.

It was said that Nangong Yuan had pulled some strings to secure this chance to communicate.

Of course, Ding Mingcang was monitoring it as well, to prevent cheating.

"Just enjoy yourself out there, old man. Don't worry, your disciple knows what he's doing."

Lu Ze curled his lips helplessly.

If he kept listening, his ears would grow calluses.

"You brat... Forget it, forget it. You're from my Artifact Forging Hall, after all. I can't let outsiders bully you."

The old man spoke in a tone of exasperated disappointment.

"Since you have such backbone, I'll give you every illusion realm in the sect related to sword practice for you to study and observe."

"You will have to figure out the methods within them on your own. It would not be appropriate for me to say too much..."

Nangong Yuan hesitated, as if he wanted to say more.

"Thank you, Master."

Lu Ze understood.

It had to be that old bastard Ding Mingcang, who had forbidden any discussion of related matters to prevent Elder Nangong from giving him hints.

Though the sect illusion would not help him much, it was still better than nothing for comparison.

"Master, do you think I can win?"

Lu Ze grew interested and suddenly asked.

"..."

On the other end of the Communication Jade Slip, there was a long silence.

The answer spoke for itself.

After a long while, Nangong Yuan finally said with a stream of curses:

"You brat... now you finally realize you've caused a huge mess and are starting to worry about winning or losing?"

"Just go do it. I'll find a way to handle the Sect Covenant."

"What's there to ruin about that little bit of cultivation you have?"

After hearing that, Lu Ze did not feel comforted in the slightest.

He only felt as though he had been scolded.

"So even Master thinks I can't win?"

Lu Ze smiled.

"Then how about we make a bet too... If I win, Master, make an item for me. How about it?"

"???"

Nangong Yuan was a little dumbfounded.

He wondered whether his disciple needed a Steward from Danqing Peak to come take a look at his brain...

"Heh, if you can win under those conditions, forget one item—even an Immortal Artifact, I'll make it for you!"

"It's a deal!"

Night fell.

Lu Ze rubbed his somewhat swollen temples.

The entire day, he had been continuously experiencing all kinds of Sword Practice Illusions.

The more he experienced, the deeper his frown became.

"As expected of the cultivators' favorite weapon. Even the illusions are this refined..."

After exiting the final illusion for practicing Swordsmanship, Lu Ze sighed.

It had to be said that these cultivators had taken Swordsmanship training to a certain extreme.

Every sort of difficulty level was available.

Though the ancients did not know how to make games, they did know how to cultivate.

While the illusion trials merely transplanted real-world ideas for Swordsmanship training into illusions, they were already refined enough.

Everything Lu Ze could think of or could not think of regarding the art of sword swinging had been included.

For a moment, even he found it rather troublesome.

There were currently two reasons restricting his creation.

First, his cultivation had only just reached Foundation Establishment, and the space his Spiritual Sense could sustain was not much larger than before.

In other words, he could not create large-scale game environments like Sekiro or Nioh.

Second was the restriction Ding Mingcang had left behind—

He could not design gameplay such as combat.

He could only make single-player games!

And the kind that could not be Multiplayer!

That immediately ruled out competitive games like Meteor Butterfly Sword.

The available options...

had instantly become far fewer!

"Sword practice... gameplay... settings..."

Lu Ze sank into thought.

It had to be admitted that Ding Mingcang was indeed a scheming old fox.

The rules he had seemingly set so casually were, in fact, extremely restrictive for himself.

Especially banning the Battle Function—it was downright fatal.

"Whatever. I'll make a few games first and figure it out later."

Lu Ze shook his head.

He decided to try making a few games before considering his next move.

Sword Inquiry Peak, Sword Inquiry Manor.

Inside a Meditation Chamber reserved for True Disciples.

"Junior Sister Li, do you have any thoughts on an illusion realm for cultivating the sword path?"

Zhong Yi asked.

Li Moran shook her head. "None."

Mu Yawen, standing nearby, laughed. "She's a sword path genius. She's never encountered a bottleneck in comprehending the sword path, so why would she need an illusion realm to cultivate?"

"That's true." Zhong Yi agreed, then continued, "Junior Sister Li, do you think he can create an illusion realm like 'Demonic Path Escape'?"

"What does Senior Brother think?"

"I think..."

Zhong Yi gave a bitter laugh and shook his head.

"Difficult!"

"With the 'sword path' as its theme, the illusion realm will inevitably lean toward 'combat.'"

"The reason 'Demonic Path Escape' succeeded was because it broke free from tedious 'combat' and used an original approach to immerse us in the illusion realm."

"I admit that Junior Brother Lu is exceptionally talented, but once he enters the field of 'combat,' it will be difficult for any illusion realm he creates to rival 'Demonic Path Escape.'"

"Elder Ding must have seen this point before making such a demand... sigh!"

Zhong Yi deeply regretted Lu Ze's predicament.

In his view, once it involved combat, it was like entering a dead end.

If it focused on fighting, the disciples could simply cultivate in the Classic Secret Realms left behind by the elders.

Those with greater strength could even directly battle the phantoms of powerful cultivators to accumulate combat experience.

It could be said that, when it came to combat, the existing illusion realms had already reached the pinnacle.

They simply could not be shaken.

And if fighting was not the theme...

Then what could swinging a sword even accomplish?

He racked his brains but could not think of anything.

"Senior Brother Zhong, why are you so dejected?"

Naturally honest and simple-minded, Mu Yawen was quite the optimist.

"I think a combat-type cultivation illusion realm made by Junior Brother Lu would be awesome... When the time comes, I'll have to spar properly with Senior Brother!"

"Have you forgotten again? Elder Ding said the Battle Function is forbidden."

Watching Mu Yawen rub her fists together in anticipation, Zhong Yi felt somewhat envious of her temperament.

His original purpose in coming to Sword Inquiry Peak had been to discuss with Li Moran whether there was any possibility of innovation in sword path cultivation.

But she was a swordsmanship prodigy. To her, all cultivation was as ordinary as breathing or drinking water.

She truly could not offer any advice.

Now, it seemed that Lu Ze's situation was extremely perilous.

"What if..."

Li Moran suddenly stopped cultivating.

"What if he makes swinging a sword original as well?"