If You Don't Get Hooked, How Am I Supposed to Level Up?

The next day.

Numinous Ascent Peak, Enforcement Hall.

"How did things go yesterday?"

The moment Ding Mingcang saw Qian Yutang appear, he hurriedly grabbed him and asked.

"Bad news... after the disciples cleared the stage, there were new levels."

Qian Yutang put on a solemn expression. The instant he saw Ding Mingcang's face darken, he quickly waved his hands and continued:

"Don't worry, Elder! The good news is that the new levels are extremely simple. I heard the disciples cleared them with ease."

"Is that true?"

Ding Mingcang's furrowed brows immediately relaxed.

"Absolutely!" Qian Yutang nodded vigorously. "I heard that brat stayed up all night rushing to design the new levels. He probably never expected the disciples to clear them so quickly!"

After hearing this, Ding Mingcang felt much more at ease.

"Since they were rushed out, they must be shoddy work. They likely won't be well received afterward."

"But it won't do to keep letting him exploit loopholes to improve the levels. Go to the Artifact Forging Hall and warn him not to make any further changes to the Illusion Realm!"

"And..."

"Go to Sword Inquiry Peak and Danqing Peak. Speak with their Stewards and finalize the matter of adding more courses. It must be done quickly!"

"For swordsmanship and Spiritual Medicine to be so thoroughly ruined by an ordinary disciple, they must have plenty of complaints."

"Once the academic pressure rises, the disciples naturally won't have the mind to play around with some Illusion Realm..."

Thunder Peak, Azure Cloud Pavilion.

"Damn!!!!!"

A violent surge erupted within Azure Cloud Pavilion alongside Zhong Yi's roar.

The surrounding Barrier shook wildly, on the verge of collapse.

The zombies ate your brain...

Looking at the large words floating in the air, Zhong Yi was beside himself with anger.

Even if the level had been marked with the word "Difficult," wasn't this difficulty far too ridiculous?

The first three stages had been fairly standard. At most, the zombies were stronger than those in normal mode.

But after the third stage, the number of zombies was on an entirely different scale from before!

Those disgusting Ice Cart Zombies and Acrobat Zombies would constantly come after you.

The number and frequency of zombie spawns had increased severalfold as well.

After the fifth stage, even Barbarian Zombies comparable to Bosses would appear!

In just a short while, zombies had eaten his brain more than a dozen times!

Where was a Genius Cultivator like him supposed to put his pride?

Zhong Yi was utterly frustrated.

He opened the Forum and found it filled with wails of despair.

Difficult Survival Mode is way too hard! Has any fellow cultivator cleared it?

Barbarian Zombies already appear in daytime mode. I don't even dare imagine what'll show up later...

It feels like I just reached Foundation Establishment and already have to fight some Nascent Soul old monster.

Didn't they say Survival Mode was supposed to let us have fun? Anyone who can enjoy this must be a sage.

Junior Brother Lu did this on purpose, didn't he?!

Calling all Genius Cultivators! Only he can save us!

Zhong Yi, whose mindset had been utterly shattered, immediately rekindled his fighting spirit when he saw how highly the Forum was calling for him.

"Fellow disciples, wait for me to overcome this challenge. I'll return to help you all!!"

Late at night.

Demonic Value +1.2
Demonic Value +10
Demonic Value +1.2

Demonic Value +10

The system notifications chimed without end, a delight to the ears.

Lu Ze lay contentedly on the bed.

"These master and disciple sure are delivering!"

Advancing from early Foundation Establishment to the middle stage now required a full 50,000 Demonic Value.

Without the contributions of this treasure trove of a master-disciple pair, who knew how long it would have taken to level up.

The person on the Forum who had taken the lead in calling for the Genius Cultivator, shouting that only he could save them all, was actually Lu Ze's alt.

The whole point was to get Zhong Yi worked up.

If Zhong Yi didn't get worked up, how was he supposed to level up?

The original Hard Mode had not actually been all that outrageously difficult.

Lu Ze had redesigned Hard Mode according to Endless Mode's difficulty.

The goal was to get everyone killed more often and send him some Demonic Value.

As for whether any disciples would be tortured into quitting...

Lu Ze was not worried about that.

First of all, cultivators in this world had definitely never seen anything this fun. Once they got hooked, they could not be driven away.

Second, he had an extremely precise grasp of the difficulty.

It was hard, brutally so, but there was absolutely hope of clearing it.

So even if the players failed again and again, they would definitely persist without giving up.

Once they truly cleared Hard Mode, they would discover that Endless Mode was still waiting for them.

That was the real trap.