He Really Dared to Come?

During the half month Lu Ze was gone.

All was calm within the Spirit Cloud Sect.

The Enforcement Hall stepped up its patrols day by day, punishing disciples who neglected cultivation to obsess over Demonic Path Escape with particular severity.

No one knew how many Mini Illusion Towers it had confiscated.

Even so, the disciples kept playing in secret.

Some even formed teams to defy the Enforcement Hall, using every trick they could think of to outwit it.

The wager between Lu Ze and Ding Mingcang remained a hot topic throughout the sect.

"It's been half a month. I wonder how Brother Lu's new game... his new Illusion Realm is coming along."

"Do you really think Brother Lu created Demonic Path Escape?"

"You weren't there that day. Lu Ze stood up to Elder Ding with such spirit... Would he have made such a bold claim if he hadn't designed it?"

"Not necessarily. Maybe he just wanted Elder Ding to back down."

"I heard from a disciple at the Artifact Forging Hall that Lu Ze had only three days to complete his assignment: a movement-technique Secret Realm for Outer Disciples."

"Three days? How could he possibly have made Demonic Path Escape?"

"So the real designer must be someone else."

"Even if it is true, there's nothing he can do. I refuse to believe there's another Illusion Realm like Demonic Path Escape anywhere in the world."

"Whether it's true or not, I hope he makes it... Otherwise, none of us will get to use a Mini Illusion Tower again."

"I just hope Elder Ding doesn't permanently seal Demonic Path Escape away as contraband..."

The days passed.

Ever since an apple had struck him and sparked an idea, Lu Ze had felt as though the clouds had parted before his eyes.

After combining Fruit Ninja's controls with the tower-defense gameplay of Plants vs. Zombies, he felt this game would be an absolute sensation.

These people from ancient times had never tasted anything good.

Demonic Path Escape alone had kept a crowd of Golden Core and Nascent Soul Cultivators hooked day and night.

Now he was bringing over one of the most classic tower-defense games from his previous life. He could hardly imagine the result.

In his previous life, even veteran players who had grown up gaming had been awestruck when they first encountered Plants vs. Zombies.

How much more so would these people be?

As a game designer in his previous life, Lu Ze had studied the stats and level designs of many classic games in detail.

In this life, he also had a prodigious memory, so making it was not too difficult.

Plants vs. Zombies had many levels in its story mode.

Lu Ze spent a week recreating it in full.

After that came the changes needed to fit this world.

The plants barely needed changing.

Even in a world of cultivation, their roles were easy to understand.

The faces on the plants needed even less explanation.

Calling them "spirit plants" would answer every question.

Lu Ze would not even need to say it. The cultivators would take them for spirit plants at a glance.

The Zombies required more work.

Quite a few elements were too modern and had to be changed.

He replaced newspapers with fragments of ancient scriptures, football uniforms with generals' armor, and Jester outfits with performers' costumes...

All told, production took about half a month.

Players had only two things to do in this Illusion Realm—

First, slash away every plant and fruit they did not need.

Second, place the plants they did need wherever they wanted to grow them.

Lu Ze could not wait to try it himself.

And the experience really was good.

He had changed the sunlight players collected in the original into Spiritual Energy that gathered automatically.

The time once spent collecting sunlight and choosing cards was now spent swinging a sword above the Spirit Field, cutting apart unwanted plants and fruit.

That took care of sword practice.

It took care of gameplay.

And it gave players a reason to keep going.

The only fly in the ointment was that players died too slowly in this game.

It earned him a little too little Demonic Value.

"Forget it. I'll call it charity."

Lu Ze sighed.

He could not worry about that now.

His priority was to beat Ding Mingcang and pave the way for his future gaming empire.

Besides.

In the long run, Plants vs. Zombies was bound to earn him a stellar reputation, and his player count would soar.

Once he had enough players, he could reap a hefty harvest.

With that settled, he stopped fretting over gains and losses.

After finishing the main levels, Lu Ze began making minigames and Survival Mode...

Soon, the agreed-upon day arrived.

To everyone's surprise.

Ding Mingcang did not settle the matter quietly. He made a grand spectacle of it.

He openly announced that today, at the Sect Plaza, he and all the disciples would examine Lu Ze's new Illusion Realm together.

Many disciples whispered that Elder Ding was "fishing."

Anyone who showed up might have their name recorded by the Enforcement Team and find themselves singled out for inspections from then on.

Suspicions were one thing.

When the day came, the disciples still made their way to Lingxiao Plaza to see the new Illusion Realm for themselves.

Before long, the roads leading to Lingxiao Plaza were packed with sect disciples.

"Fellow cultivators, are you all going to wait for the new Illusion Realm Trial?"

"At this point, you still believe Lu Ze designed it?"

"If you don't, why are you going to the plaza?"

"I don't! I'm going to watch him make a fool of himself!"

"Come now, am I the only one hoping Junior Brother Lu sends Elder Ding to Repentance Valley to reflect on his mistakes?"

"Shh... Walls have ears."

"I just hope there's a new Illusion Realm to play."

"Huh? What Illusion Realm? I just saw the crowd and came to see what was happening."

Soon, Lingxiao Plaza was a sea of heads. Disciples who arrived late had to queue outside.

A vast open space lay at the center of the plaza.

Of the Spirit Cloud Sect's seven Elders, only Elder Nangong of Glazed Fire Peak was away from the sect. The other six had taken their seats beside the open space early.

At its center stood an enormous Illusion Tower, large enough to admit half the sect's disciples into its Illusion Realm.

The disciples around it whispered among themselves.

"All six Elders are here. Something big is about to happen!"

"Why hasn't anything happened yet?"

"Isn't it obvious? The star of the show hasn't arrived."

"Where's Junior Brother Lu? Why isn't he here yet?"

"Does he dare show his face? There's no way he made Demonic Path Escape!"

"Then who did?"

"I heard Elder Ding suspects the Demon Cult..."

"How could the Demon Cult have someone with such talent? He must be mistaken."

"Well, it wasn't Lu Ze."

"If I were him, I'd have crippled my own cultivation and left the sect in private... Better than losing face here."

"Junior Brother Lu... Junior Brother Lu is here!"

"He really dared to come?"

A stir ran through the crowd as everyone looked up.

Led by two Enforcement Hall disciples, Lu Ze flew toward the plaza from far away.

Countless gazes followed him, some awestruck, some puzzled, some mocking.

Yawning, the black-haired youth slowly walked to the center of the open space.

He seemed utterly untouched by the clamor around him.