Chapter 36: I am not the only one who has gone astray

“Senior Brother? Senior Brother!”

Zhong Yi suddenly heard someone calling him.

In a moment of carelessness, a Cob Cannon’s projectile missed, and a Red-Eyed Barbarian Zombie slipped through, walking straight up and smashing a Tall-nut wearing a Pumpkin Head into pieces with one punch.

The battle line was instantly torn open.

The army collapsed like a falling mountain.

Knowing that the situation was hopeless, he simply withdrew.

“Junior Brother Mu? What is it?”

There were a few rare streaks of blood in Zhong Yi’s eyes.

“Senior Brother Zhong, you suddenly disappeared for an entire night after posting on the forum last night. Everyone thought you had suffered a Qi Deviation, so I...”

Seeing that Zhong Yi was fine, Mu Yawen quickly explained.

He had changed his name along with Zhong Yi and was the only one who knew °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the true identity of the Genius Cultivator.

“One night?”

Zhong Yi looked out the window, the sunlight was very dazzling.

He was instantly stunned.

Hadn’t he just started researching Endless Mode not long ago?

How had an entire night passed??

“Senior Brother Zhong, were you trying to clear Difficult Mode but kept failing?”

“No, Difficult Mode was cleared long ago. I just didn’t expect there to be an even more abnormal Endless Mode afterwards.”

When he mentioned the words “Endless Mode,” Zhong Yi felt his scalp tingle.

Difficult Mode was child’s play compared to this thing!

The first few levels were fine, not much different from before.

But when several Barbarian Zombies appeared simultaneously in the fifth level, Zhong Yi felt that this mode was not right...

And after that, various zombie combination attacks came one after another.

The most disgusting was the Juggling Zombie.

He remembered that in survival mode and adventure mode, the bombs in the Juggling Zombie’s hands would only explode when it reached the middle.

In Endless Mode, sometimes a Juggling Zombie would appear that would instantly explode in one second.

Once it exploded, a large area would be killed or injured, and the gap in the formation simply couldn’t be recovered...

And there were Barbarian Zombies.

Originally, this thing was a player’s nightmare.

In Endless Mode, there were even Red-Eyed Barbarian Zombies with even more exaggerated stats, directly breaking his defense...

...

He played an unknown number of rounds.

Unconsciously, time had somehow reached morning.

Endless Mode was very difficult.

But, he actually enjoyed it a little.

This feeling was like being at Great Perfection in a certain Realm, on the verge of Breakthrough, constantly searching for an opportunity.

“Senior Brother Zhong, hurry and check the forum. Everyone has been waiting for your guide for a long time.”

“I’ll go post it now, and then continue grinding Endless Mode... I don’t believe it’s truly endless!”

...

...

In the time that followed.

Endless Mode appeared in the view of more and more Disciples.

In the words of his previous life, these Disciples were the “core players” of the game.

Most players were still quietly playing Difficult levels in survival mode.

From Outer Sect Disciples to Sect Elders.

Everyone was playing.

The forum had become a gathering place for core players, and the main topic of discussion was Endless Mode.

“Fellow Daoists, which level have you reached in Endless Mode?”

“I gave up at the fifth level, it’s too hard.”

“The Red-Eyed Barbarian Zombie is too abnormal, it’s impossible to kill!”

“The instant-exploding Juggling Zombie is also very disgusting.”

“I always feel that Junior Brother Lu didn’t intend for us to clear it at all...”

“Fellow Daoists, I have an excellent plan! At the beginning of each lane, put Tall-nuts and Pumpkin Heads, and behind them, have one Torchwood and seven Gatling Shooters. Once this divine formation is complete, even a Heavenly God descending will be helpless! Do you all agree?”

“Firstly, you need enough Spiritual Qi.”

“If you repeatedly plant the same type of purple spiritual plant, the Spiritual Qi cost will increase.”

“I feel that how to accumulate more Spiritual Qi in the first three levels is very crucial!”

“Don’t use Gatling Shooter anymore, the shooter series really isn’t good, you still have to look at the throwers!”

“Nonsense! Gatling Shooter + Torchwood is absolutely a divine formation!”

“Why does no one like mushrooms?”

“The mushroom Family and the Demonic Path sit at the same table.”

“Hahahahaha! I have already researched a perfect formation with no flaws whatsoever! With this formation alone, you can easily clear hundreds of levels, with tens of thousands of Spiritual Qi remaining, simply inexhaustible! The core of the formation is the Starfruit, as long as you plant it everywhere...”

...

At this moment, Lu Ze was happily reading the posts on the forum in the Refining Hall.

Especially the player named “Starfruit Emperor,” whose statements about a Starfruit-centric formation made him recall some interesting anecdotes from his previous life.

Of course, he knew that this guy was bragging.

Because the backend data showed that no one had reached the tenth level yet, so claiming to have cleared hundreds of levels was clearly bragging.

Lu Ze was very pleased to see the Disciples enthusiastically discussing various formations.

Originally, he was worried that the difficulty might be too abnormal, and everyone would stop playing.

If that were the case, it wouldn’t be impossible to adjust the difficulty temporarily.

Now it seemed he had been overthinking.

On one hand, entertainment products in this world were too scarce; Plants vs. Zombies had no substitute.

On the other hand.

What kind of trials and tribulations had Cultivators not experienced?

Cultivators all possessed iron wills, and they encountered many setbacks during their usual Cultivation.

Losing a few games was no big deal.

Lu Ze completely relaxed.

Since the Lingxiao Sect Disciples’ endurance was so strong,

There would be many more game choices in the future.

Bringing in some high-intensity Soul Roaming would definitely make the Demonic Path value skyrocket.

That scene was so beautiful, he felt thrilled just thinking about it.

Speaking of Demonic Path value, what Lu Ze didn’t expect was that Plants vs. Zombies also contributed a considerable amount of Demonic Path value.

It was actually not much worse than Demon Sect Escape.

On one hand, there was Sect promotion this time, so almost all Sect Disciples were playing.

On the other hand, the management, such as the Elders and deacons, also joined in.

After all, Plants vs. Zombies was suitable for all ages in terms of gameplay, appealing to everyone.

The Demonic Path value that deacons and Elders could provide was not comparable to that of ordinary Disciples.

However, Lu Ze knew in his heart that Plants vs. Zombies was not a long-term solution.

Once players cleared the levels beyond Endless Mode, this game would start to gather dust.

Only a small number of core players would remain immersed in Endless Mode.

...

...

Quenching Gold Peak, Body Refining Valley.

“Senior Brother, are you sure you haven’t suffered a Qi Deviation?”

“Very sure.”

“Then why did you slice the spiritual fruit I offered you just now?”

“...Next time you hand it to me, don’t throw it.”

Zhong Yi was embarrassed.

He had been chopping fruits for almost seven days, and when he saw a fruit flying in mid-air, his brain reacted before his hands did.

There was nothing he could do, it was just habit.

‘Thinking about it this way, I really seem to have suffered a bit of Qi Deviation... Junior Brother Lu’s Illusion Realm is actually so terrifying!’

Zhong Yi thought to himself.

He didn’t just subconsciously slice fruits; lately, when he occasionally rested, he even dreamt of various spiritual plants.

As he was thinking, he suddenly saw a Tall-nut appear in front of him.

Zhong Yi thought he had truly suffered a Qi Deviation and was starting to hallucinate.

He rubbed his eyes and found that the Tall-nut was actually real, and even its naive eyes were lifelike.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the new Body Refining rock made by our Quenching Gold Peak, intended to make all Disciples as hard as the Nut Daoist!”

“Awesome.”

“But recently our goal has changed.”

“Changed to what?”

“Changed to Barbarian Zombies, enduring all kinds of attacks, one punch each head-on!”

“...”

Zhong Yi suddenly felt.

He wasn’t the only one who seemed to have suffered a Qi Deviation.