If You're a Cultivator, Descend a Hundred Levels

While Yang Zhengxin was still reeling, Lu Ze's voice came from outside.

"Elder Yang, why not project the Illusion Realm for everyone to enjoy?"

Yang Zhengxin agreed without a second thought. "Gladly! Let everyone see how I clear every trap you designed in a single run!"

"Elder Yang, I'm afraid that might be difficult."

Lu Ze struggled to hold back his laughter.

Clear it without dying once?

If you manage that, I'll hand you my cheat outright. I won't even need this system anymore!

With a few adjustments, Lu Ze projected Yang Zhengxin's view of the Illusion Realm into the air.

Everyone could see it clearly—not just the disciples and elders attending the Martial Arts Exchange inside the Nurturing Spirit Hall, but also the Spirit Cloud Sect disciples watching from outside.

An uproar swept through the crowd.

"'If You're a Cultivator, Descend a Hundred Levels'? What does that mean?"

"Just seeing the title makes me want to prove I can do it... Junior Brother Lu certainly knows how to name things."

"Though the lettering is kind of ugly."

"How could it have a hundred levels? Didn't he spend less than four hours making it?"

"It's probably just a gimmick. Does eating an Immortal Pill guarantee you'll become immortal?"

"Fellow Daoist, you're not from the Spirit Cloud Sect, are you? Junior Brother Lu doesn't rely on gimmicks in his Illusion Realms. He's made one with endless levels, let alone a hundred."

"Really? He's made Illusion Realms before?"

"More than that. They're hugely popular with the sect's disciples."

"That explains it... When I arrived at the Spirit Cloud Sect this morning, I saw disciples walking around with their eyes closed, holding Illusion Towers. I couldn't figure out why..."

The lettering of If You're a Cultivator, Descend a Hundred Levels really was abstract.

The whole game had an abstract art style, so Lu Ze thought the lettering suited it.

He had even chosen a down-to-earth name for the game.

A game prompt appeared in Yang Zhengxin's Illusion Realm.

You have stumbled into a mysterious Secret Realm. Due to unknown rules, your cultivation has been severely restricted.

Everything here is strange.

Avoid all traps at all costs! Touch one, and you will die instantly.

Experts have placed Soul Gathering Arrays in certain locations. Activate one, and you can revive there after death.

Find the exit while dying as few times as possible!

Yang Zhengxin scoffed at the instructions in the sky.

"Ridiculous. I'm a cultivator of the Refining Void Realm. Your traps couldn't harm a hair on my head! Adding revival Formations is like painting legs on a snake."

Lu Ze reminded him with a smile, "Elder Yang, this Illusion Realm suppresses cultivation. Cultivators of every realm are on equal footing here."

"Hmph. It makes no difference."

Yang Zhengxin brimmed with confidence.

"With traps, what matters is whether you can see through them."

"As long as I can, what difference does my cultivation make?"

"With my experience, how could the schemes of youngsters like you fool me?"

Lu Ze kept fighting back a laugh. "You're right, Elder Yang. As long as you can see through them... Let's begin!"

When he pictured what was about to happen, he thought holding in his laughter was a feat worthy of a god.

"I've no patience for any more of your nonsense!"

Yang Zhengxin clasped his hands behind his back and proudly selected Start.

A line of text instantly appeared in the upper left corner:

Random Level: One

In Lu Ze's previous life,

the original I Wanna game was called I Wanna Be the Guy, and there was only one official version.

But fans had poured their passion into making countless spin-offs, including many high-quality ones.

As the series matured, its three most popular styles became:

Jump Stab, endurance, and Trap I Wanna Maps.

Of those,

Jump Stab focused on honing technique. Though it was the hardest, it was not suited to tormenting someone early on.

Endurance drew on the Danmu games that had a distinct audience in his previous life. Lu Ze figured Danmu games would not be especially popular in this world on their own, so he had not rushed to make one.

Trap I Wanna Maps, meanwhile, were famous for their wildly inventive, outrageous traps.

They fit the theme Yang Zhengxin had proposed perfectly.

Lu Ze carefully selected over five hundred excellent Trap I Wanna Maps he had played in his previous life, ranked them by difficulty, and scattered them among the levels at random.

Random Level: One was the easiest. It contained plenty of maps meant to teach beginners, along with the opening sections of some outstanding maps.

Lu Ze glanced at Yang Zhengxin's level and chuckled to himself.

The old codger had drawn the opening of an excellent map.

It was not exactly hard.

But for a first-time player, it held a few surprises.

Yang Zhengxin surveyed his surroundings with contempt.

Huge blocks of color filled the entire Illusion Realm, while the flowers and grass looked distinctly cheap.

"So this is the disciple your sect calls talented at making Illusion Realms? Hah! Even an Outer Disciple from my sect could do better!"

Yang Zhengxin gave a derisive snort.

Outside, disciples from the other sects burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! That blue sky looks downright childish."

"My little brother has only just started school, and his drawings are about this good."

"What's wrong with the Spirit Cloud Sect? They actually entrusted such an important task to someone like this..."

"Absurd! Utterly absurd!"

At that moment, Chao Wendao and Nangong Yuan, the targets of everyone's criticism, stared at each other in bewilderment.

"Your disciple's work shouldn't be this bad..."

Chao Wendao's face creased in confusion.

"Could it be... he ran out of time?"

Nangong Yuan could not make sense of it either.

Although Lu Ze's first two works had art styles that differed somewhat from reality, both had been undeniably well made, each with its own distinctive charm.

Why had this If You're a Cultivator, Descend a Hundred Levels suddenly become so bizarre?

"That can't be it. He still had over two hours to polish it..."

After talking it over without reaching a conclusion, the two could only keep watching.

Inside the Illusion Realm, besides Yang Zhengxin amid the bizarre scenery, a smaller image floated in the air.

Lu Ze had added it deliberately: a view resembling an I Wanna game screen from his previous life.

The disciples watching from outside began discussing it.

"Why is there a smaller image floating up there?"

"It looks like an overhead view of the whole place."

"Is that little figure Elder Yang? Look! When Elder Yang moves, it moves too!"

"It must be there so we can see the entire level."

"Strange. Why would Junior Brother Lu be so helpful? Aren't traps better when they're hidden?"

"What's Elder Yang doing? Why does he keep running around?"

"He's probably testing things."

Yang Zhengxin often entered Secret Realms.

He had seen plenty with all kinds of restrictions.

He had extensive combat experience and a quick mind in battle.

Since Lu Ze had said his cultivation and movement would be restricted, Yang Zhengxin sensibly began testing what he could actually do.

"I can only run and jump? And push off once more in midair... Heh, do you take me for a fool? If you put a single demon beast in here, I'd have no chance at all!"

Yang Zhengxin roared.

"Don't worry, Elder Yang. I, Lu Ze, never make things difficult for others. Your current level has traps, but absolutely no combat."

Lu Ze spoke at an unhurried pace.

"I'll take your word for it this once!"

After a moment's thought, Yang Zhengxin finally moved forward.

Above his head floated the title in three lines of large characters: "If You're a Cultivator," "Descend," and "a Hundred Levels."

He paid it no mind, assuming it was merely the title.

He continued onward.

The controls felt a little unfamiliar, but for someone with his experience, that was no great problem.

Reaching a massive earthen pillar, he glanced up.

"Petty tricks!"

He snorted, full of disdain.

"Up!"

Yang Zhengxin leaped with all his strength, rising three meters into the air.

His tests had shown him that this was the highest he could jump.

Just as he reached the apex and was about to fall,

he pushed off again in midair.

The second jump carried him above the raised platform!

"You call a ledge this high a trap?"

The moment Yang Zhengxin's feet touched down, he hurried to speak.

Just then—

a sudden gust came from behind his head.

An overwhelming sense of danger surged through him.

He turned his face.

There,

the three large characters reading "If You're a Cultivator," which had been floating in the sky, came hurtling straight at him!

Yang Zhengxin had never seen anything like it. He froze on the spot.

The next instant, they smashed him apart, leaving a puddle of blood.

Revived where he had started, Yang Zhengxin stared at the crooked characters in the sky—"If You're a Cultivator," "Descend," and "a Hundred Levels." His bewildered eyes were full of question marks.

He had spent more than a century braving Secret Realms and fallen prey to countless traps,

escaping the brink of death thousands of times.

But

who the hell could have guessed that three giant characters would kill him???