"Senior Brother? Senior Brother!"
Zhong Yi suddenly heard someone calling him.
A moment's distraction sent the Corn Cannon's shell wide. A Red-Eyed Barbarian Zombie slipped through, lumbered straight up, and smashed the Tall-Nut wearing a Pumpkin Head to pieces with one punch.
A gap tore open in the battle line.
Defeat came crashing down like a landslide.
Knowing the battle was lost, he simply withdrew.
"Junior Brother Mu? What is it?"
A few bloodshot veins showed in Zhong Yi's eyes, a rare sight.
"Senior Brother Zhong, you posted on the Forum last night, then vanished for the entire night. Everyone thought your cultivation had gone awry and something had happened to you, so I..."
Seeing that Zhong Yi was fine, Mu Yawen hurried to explain.
She had changed names alongside Zhong Yi back then. Only she knew Genius Cultivator's real identity.
"An entire night?"
Zhong Yi looked out the window. The sunlight was painfully bright.
He froze.
Hadn't he only just started studying Endless Mode?
How had an entire night passed already??
"Senior Brother Zhong, were you working all night because you couldn't clear Hard Mode?"
"No, I cleared Hard Mode ages ago. I just never expected an even more outrageous Endless Mode after it."
At the mere mention of Endless Mode, Zhong Yi's scalp prickled.
Hard Mode was child's play compared to that thing!
The first few levels were fine, not much different from before.
But when several Barbarian Zombies appeared at once in the fifth level, Zhong Yi sensed something was wrong with this mode...
After that, combo skills from all kinds of Zombies came one after another.
The most disgusting were the Juggling Zombies.
He remembered that in Survival Mode and Adventure Mode, the bombs carried by Juggling Zombies only exploded once they reached the middle.
In Endless Mode, some Juggling Zombies had bombs that exploded in a single second.
Once one went off, it took out a huge swath of plants, leaving a hole in the formation that he had no hope of filling...
And then there were the Barbarian Zombies.
Those things were already every player's nightmare.
Yet Endless Mode even had Red-Eyed Barbarian Zombies with absurdly inflated stats. They smashed straight through his defenses...
He had played more runs than he could count.
Before he knew it, morning had arrived.
Endless Mode was hard.
But he found himself enjoying it, just a little.
It felt like reaching the pinnacle of a cultivation realm, hovering on the brink of a breakthrough while searching tirelessly for the right opportunity.
"Senior Brother Zhong, hurry and check the Forum. Everyone's been waiting ages for your guide."
"I'll post it right now, then get back to Endless Mode... I refuse to believe it really goes on forever!"
In the days that followed,
more and more disciples discovered Endless Mode.
In the words of his previous life, these disciples were the game's "core players."
Most players were still quietly working through the hard stages in Survival Mode.
From Outer Disciples to Sect Elders,
everyone was playing.
The Forum had become a gathering place for core players, and Endless Mode dominated the discussion.
Fellow cultivators, which level have you reached in Endless Mode?
I went down at level five. This is way too hard.
Red-Eyed Barbarian Zombies are ridiculous. They just won't die!
Instant-Burst Juggling Zombies are disgusting too.
I'm starting to think Junior Brother Lu never intended for us to beat it...
Fellow cultivators, I have a brilliant plan! Put a Tall-Nut and Pumpkin Head at the front of each lane, then fill the rest with one Torch and seven Gatling Shooters. Once this divine formation is complete, even a god descending from heaven will be helpless against it! Do you agree?
First, you need enough Spiritual Energy.
Planting the same Purple Plant repeatedly costs more Spiritual Energy.
I feel like stockpiling more Spiritual Energy in the first three levels is crucial!
Forget Gatling Shooters. Shooters just don't cut it. You need lobbers!
Bullshit! Gatling Shooters plus Torches are an unbeatable formation!
Why doesn't anyone like mushrooms?
The Mushroom Family can go sit at the Demon Path's table.
Hahahaha! I've devised a perfect formation without a single weakness! With this formation alone, I can breeze through hundreds of levels and still have tens of thousands of Spiritual Energy left over! The core of the formation is Star Fruit. Just fill every space with—
Meanwhile, Lu Ze was in the Artifact Forging Hall, cheerfully reading posts on the Forum.
One player in particular, called Starfruit Emperor, had posted a formation centered on Star Fruit. It brought back a few amusing memories from Lu Ze's previous life.
Of course, he knew the guy was talking out of his ass.
The backend data showed that nobody had reached level ten yet. Anyone claiming to have cleared hundreds of levels was obviously bluffing.
Seeing the disciples enthusiastically debate their formations left Lu Ze gratified.
He had worried that the difficulty might be so outrageous that everyone would stop playing.
If that happened, adjusting the difficulty on the fly was always an option.
Now it seemed he had worried for nothing.
For one thing, entertainment was so scarce in this world that Plants vs. Zombies had no substitute at all.
For another,
what storms hadn't cultivators weathered?
Every cultivator had a will of steel. They faced plenty of setbacks in their daily training.
Losing a few games was no big deal.
Lu Ze finally put his worries to rest.
Since the Spirit Cloud Sect's disciples could take this much,
he had plenty more options for future games.
He could crank up the difficulty with a few Soulslike games. The Demonic Value would come pouring in.
What a beautiful sight that would be. Just thinking about it made him grin.
Speaking of Demonic Value, Lu Ze had not expected Plants vs. Zombies to generate such a respectable amount.
It was not far behind Demonic Path Escape.
For one thing, the sect had promoted it this time, so almost every disciple was playing.
For another, the management, including Elders and stewards, had joined in too.
After all, Plants vs. Zombies had gameplay that appealed to young and old alike, across every age group.
The Demonic Value provided by stewards and Elders was far beyond what ordinary disciples could contribute.
Still, Lu Ze knew Plants vs. Zombies would not sustain itself forever.
Once players cleared every stage outside Endless Mode, the game would start gathering dust.
Only a small number of core players would remain hooked on Endless Mode.
Quenching Gold Peak, Body Forging Valley.
"Senior Brother, are you sure your cultivation hasn't gone awry?"
"Quite sure."
"Then why did you slice the Spirit Fruit I offered you in half just now?"
"...Next time, hand it to me. Don't throw it."
Zhong Yi was mortified.
He had spent nearly seven days chopping fruit. The moment he saw one flying through the air, his hand moved before his brain did.
He couldn't help it. Force of habit.
Now that I think about it, maybe my cultivation really has gone a little awry... Junior Brother Lu's Illusion Realm is terrifying!
Zhong Yi thought to himself.
And it was not just that he cut fruit on instinct. Lately, even when he took a brief nap, he dreamed of all kinds of plants.
As he was thinking this, a Tall-Nut suddenly appeared before him.
Zhong Yi thought his cultivation really had gone awry and he was starting to hallucinate.
He rubbed his eyes, only to find that the Tall-Nut was real. Even its dopey eyes looked lifelike.
"What's that?"
"Our new Body-Training Rock, made here at Quenching Gold Peak. The idea is to make every disciple as tough as Wall-nut Taoist!"
"Badass."
"But we've changed our goal lately."
"To what?"
"To become Barbarian Zombies! Take every attack head-on and flatten our opponents with one punch apiece!"
"..."
Zhong Yi suddenly felt
that he might not be the only one losing his mind.
Before you continue