Setting Up Ladders Was a Technical Skill

Lu Ze played however he pleased.

The disciples, however, found it dizzying to watch. They could not even understand many of his moves.

"Junior Brother Lu! The bottom lane's defenses have been breached!!"

"Wait, didn't Junior Brother Lu remove that Puff-shroom at the very front himself?"

"Oh no, the Ladder Zombies have rushed inside!!"

"Why put Pumpkin Heads around the Double Shooters and Watermelon Throwers at a time like this? Once the ladders go up, it's all over!"

"Huh? Why is Junior Brother Lu putting down Garlic?"

"This is bad. There are more and more ladders..."

"Has Junior Brother Lu lost focus? Hurry up and remove the Pumpkin Heads, then replace them!!"

Hearing the disciples' excited shouts from outside, Lu Ze's lips curled into a slight smile.

Setting up ladders was far too advanced a move for these newbies.

He had not originally intended to set up ladders.

But the timing of the second wave of Ladder Zombies was simply too good, so he decided to do it while he was at it.

Setting up ladders was a technical skill.

Once they were properly set up, the Zombies that charged into the backline during the middle stages would simply step onto the ladders and climb past.

Using the Zombies' ladder-climbing behavior actually provided the best protection for the backline.

Lu Ze did not mind letting them watch. Seeing it did not necessarily mean they could learn it anyway.

Time ticked by, second by second.

Lu Ze's formation began to take shape.

It was a fairly standard "97 cannonless" formation.

The top and bottom lanes each had four Gatling Shooters plus a Torch, while the other lanes had Winter Melons and Doom-shrooms. Two spots in the center of the pool were reserved for Ice-shrooms.

At first glance, there was nothing particularly special about it. Its firepower was also fairly unremarkable, hovering at the bare minimum needed to clear the stages. Against crucial Zombies such as red-eyes and Jesters, it relied heavily on manual control.

With a formation like this, Lu Ze was not worried that the disciples could copy it and mindlessly clear the game.

At least it would not be like the classic eight-cannon formation, which practically guaranteed a clear once deployed.

The stage count kept climbing.

Before long, he reached stage 20.

Stage 20 was a hurdle, and also the furthest stage the Spirit Cloud Sect disciples had ever seen.

From this stage onward, the number of Zombies would increase dramatically.

In Endless Mode, the Zombies that spawned in each stage were random.

At the start of every stage, the fog above the Zombie side would disperse, allowing the player to see which types of Zombies they were about to face.

When the disciples below saw both Barbarian Zombies and Ice Cart Zombies appear in stage 20, they erupted into an uproar again.

"Oh no, the barbarians are here. Is Junior Brother Lu's formation strong enough?"

"Junior Brother Lu still has ten thousand spiritual energy left! Why isn't he changing his formation??"

"With this many barbarians, isn't he going to switch to Corn Cannons?"

"I don't understand why he's using so many Doom-shrooms. It's already stage 20, and he still hasn't replaced them."

"Exactly! If he replaced the Doom-shrooms with Gatling Shooters and Torches, he should finally have enough damage."

"Using Doom-shrooms is fine. The real question is why he hasn't put Tall-Nuts in front to protect them!"

"Forget Tall-Nuts. The four frontline spirit plants on land don't even have Pumpkin Heads..."

"Isn't Junior Brother Lu being a little too confident?"

"He still has ten thousand spiritual energy. Why not replace the Sunflowers with Cattails? They're great against balloons!"

"Why hasn't he filled those two columns on land? Wouldn't it be good to put Ground Spike Kings in front?"

"Without Ground Spike Kings to puncture the carts and hold off the barbarians, Junior Brother Lu's going to have a rough time this run..."

Although the disciples admired Lu Ze's ingenuity and had been stunned by his approach to gathering spiritual energy early on, they were not optimistic about his formation now.

This formation did not seem all that different from the ones they had built themselves.

Everyone felt that the reason they could not reach so many stages was that they had not saved enough spiritual energy early on and had built their formations too late.

If they had learned Lu Ze's method of squeezing out every last bit of spiritual energy early in the game sooner, stage 20 would not have been a problem.

Their ideal formations were far stronger than Lu Ze's.

Faced with everyone's criticism, Lu Ze smiled.

His fellow disciples' questions were just like the questions clueless newbies used to post in the danmu when he watched formation videos.

Why use so many Doom-shrooms?

The value of 360-degree AOE with no blind spots—those who knew, knew.

Why not give the frontline Pumpkin Heads?

Because adding Pumpkin Heads increased their collision size, causing the Ice Cart Zombies to crush them sooner.

Why not use Ground Spike?

Two card slots, and they were guaranteed to be instantly killed by packs of giants. A pure waste of slots.

Why not fill every spot in the front?

A few more visits from giants and Jesters, and they would understand...

Of course, Lu Ze would not explain the reasons to them.

He would simply wait for them to slowly figure it out themselves.

He was not live streaming this clear to teach them. He was doing it to send Ding Mingcang to Repentance Valley for a taste of life there.

Nor did he make games so the players could enjoy themselves. He made them so they could get thrashed...

Feel free to recommend suitable games. Given the cultivation setting, the focus will be on gameplay.

For those who want to see the players get thrashed, that's coming soon.