I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

Location: Qiudao Town, at the foot of Kunlun Mountain

In just a few months, this once barren Gobi desert at the foot of Kunlun Mountain has been transformed into a tightly controlled semi-military town – Qiudao Town.

There is no commercial hustle and bustle here, only solemnity and order.

Armed troops patrol the streets, while drone swarms provide round-the-clock surveillance. This is the only legal "buffer zone" established by the government, and a coveted base for countless aspiring cultivators.

At 10:00 AM, at the town's central transfer plaza.

More than a dozen black buses painted with the "749 Bureau" logo slowly drove in.

Outside the cordon, the town was already crowded with family members who had undergone rigorous political vetting before being allowed to enter, official media reporters, and recruitment representatives from major state-owned enterprises.

The car door opened, and more than 340 young people, looking dazed and carrying luggage, stepped off.

They were among the first group of students who dropped out of school after being "invited" down the mountain by Gu Qing.

There was no flash of light as I had imagined—photography is strictly prohibited in Qiudao Town.

But that tangible gaze is more unsettling than a flash of light. Within that gaze lies both envy and scrutiny.

At this permitted moment, an official reporter stepped forward and handed the microphone to Wang Lei (pseudonym), a student who had dropped out of school and was walking at the front.

"Excuse me, do you have any impression of that 'dean'? Also, why did you come down the mountain?"

Wang Lei paused for a moment, his eyes somewhat vacant.

Under the power of the "Great Dream of a Thousand Autumns," his memories of the core cultivation techniques and the bloody massacre were erased. Only an extremely painful and high-pressure training experience remained in his mind, along with the profound sense of powerlessness he felt when facing a colossal black tower at the end.

"The Dean... he's like a god in the clouds, we're not qualified to look him in the eye."

Wang Lei answered instinctively, his voice trembling slightly, "As for going down the mountain... it's because we failed. We didn't pass the test of that 'Trial Tower.' We... were the defective ones who were eliminated."

"Defective product?"

A burly HR manager from a state-owned enterprise stepped across the security line, excitedly handing over a business card: "Young man! If you're willing to join our security department, your starting salary will be a million a year! And you'll enjoy the待遇 of a deputy director-level employee! Every meal of spiritual rice you eat on the mountain, every muscle you build, is priceless!"

Looking at the business card, Wang Lei suddenly felt a sense of absurdity.

On the mountain, he was a coward, terrified of the Trial Tower; he was a loser.

Down the mountain, however, he became a highly sought-after figure, a "half-immortal" whose body everyone coveted.

This immense sense of disconnect made him chuckle bitterly.

The hierarchy between immortals and mortals is cruelly revealed at this moment.

……

As news of the dropouts descending the mountain spread, the term "Trial Tower" entered the public eye for the first time, and suppressed online public opinion erupted completely.

On public platforms such as Weibo, Douyin, and Twitter, chaos ensued.

Countless bloggers claiming to be "reclusive hermits" or "successors of Wudang" are taking advantage of this trend to frantically harvest traffic. They post all sorts of dubious "Qi sensation teaching" videos, and some even claim that they have reached the seventh level of Qi cultivation and can fly by manipulating objects (in reality, it is just poor special effects editing).

However, in this world's public opinion arena, there is an absolute "truth-revealing mirror".

【Lingjing Community】

This platform, which Gu Qing directly exchanges and is fully managed by the system's AI, is not the only distribution channel, but it is the world's only authoritative certification center. It does not belong to any country, nor is it controlled by any conglomerate; it only recognizes "truth."

At this time, a blogger with millions of followers named "Master Zhang of Tai Chi" posted a video on Douyin, claiming that he had improved the "Changchun Gong" and increased its effectiveness tenfold, and accompanied it with a video of himself "exerting his power".

Subsequently, to prove himself, he confidently uploaded the video to the Lingjing Community.

Three seconds later.

[System Warning: The content contains a large amount of false and misleading information and fake special effects.]

[Judgment: Fraud.]

[Punishment: This user ID will be permanently banned and publicly announced across the entire network.]

Instantly, Master Zhang's live stream was flooded with mocking comments.

Meanwhile, in the official data disclosure area of ​​the [Lingjing Community], a set of cold data is scrolling in real time, severely shattering the public's blind confidence.

[Real-time Statistics on the Progress of Cultivation for All (China Region)]

Data source: Lingjing Community AI Omni-domain Monitoring

The number of people who have mastered the "Eighteen Body Strengthening Forms" is 30,420,000.

The number of people who have experienced a slight sensation of Qi (introduction to Changchun Qigong): 122,000

This set of data is like a heavy blow.

Of the 1.4 billion people, only 30 million endured the tedious physical training, and only 120,000 actually touched the "gate to immortality".

Ratio: 0.01%.

But humans are creatures that tend to expand very easily.

Especially when those 30 million people felt a power within them far exceeding anything they had ever felt before, an unprecedented confidence spread across the internet. They heard about the "Trial Tower" mentioned by the dropouts, and instead of being afraid, they developed a strong interest and a sense of defiance.

"Even though I don't feel any qi, I can punch through plywood! I think I'm terrifyingly strong right now!"

"Exactly! Those students from Kunlun are human too. Why can they go into the Trial Tower to fight monsters, but we can't?"

"Those who dropped out must be too cowardly! If I were in their shoes, I'm sure I could pass!"

"We strongly demand that Kunlun open the Trial Tower! We want to fight! We want to kill those monsters and demons to prove ourselves!"

"Ten thousand people have petitioned for the opening of the Trial Grounds! Let us see just how difficult these so-called trials of the immortals really are!"

……

[Location: Kunlun Main Peak, Wendao Pavilion]

Gu Qing stood with his hands behind his back.

That young yet aloof face calmly gazed upon everything in this world through the sea of ​​clouds.

In front of him floated the core backend data stream of the [Lingjing Community].

Countless streams of confidence, representing arrogance, contempt, and blind self-confidence, are converging from all over the world.

"Do you think you're capable?"

Gu Qing looked at the comments clamoring to "break through the Trial Tower" and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

"More than 30 million strong and brute men—that is indeed a massive force of blood and energy. But if there is only brute force and no sense of awe, this force will only be a snack for the enemy."

He doesn't need to notify anyone or hold meetings to discuss it.

In this spiritual realm, he is God.

Gu Qing stretched out her finger and gently tapped the control panel in the void.

"System, take over all computing power in the community."

"Activate the hidden module - [Virtual Trial Grounds]".

"Since they're so eager to challenge the Trial Tower, and since they think they're better than the dropouts, let them see what real... prey is."

[Command confirmed.]

[Using system computing power... Connecting to global network...]

[Feature unlocked: Subplane projection technology (virtual reality version)]

[Pain Simulation System: Now Online (Maximum capacity locked at 30%).]

……

[Time: 24:00]

This night is destined to be sleepless.

Hundreds of millions of users noticed the change in the homepage of Lingjing Community the moment they refreshed their webpages.

There was no prior notice, no official explanation.

The interface, which originally only had a forum and cultivation techniques downloads, suddenly developed a blood-red crack in the very center.

It's like a giant eye, staring intently at everyone in front of the screen.

[New Module: Kunlun Trial Tower - Mortal Experience Version]

[Currently Open Dungeon: Trial Tower Level 1 - Void Hound (Weakened Version)]

[Connection method: Any VR device/computer screen (immersion decreases gradually)]

[Special Warning: This system projects directly from the Kunlun center and has a "psychological pain feedback" function. Those with high blood pressure, heart disease, or poor psychological resilience are strictly prohibited from entering! Consequences are at your own risk!]

"Holy crap? Kunlun officially responded?"

"A trial version of the Trial Tower? It even has pain feedback? That's intense!"

"Hahahaha! My newly mastered Iron Shirt technique is finally going to have its day! Watch me go in and wreak havoc!"

"Let Kunlun see the power of the people!"

In no time, countless excited young people around the world put on VR headsets or clicked on that blood-red icon in internet cafes and bedrooms.

They thought it was just a visually stunning action game.

They thought they were the main characters.

[Connection established...]

Welcome to the Trial Tower.

next second.

Countless people's consciousness was forcibly pulled into a desolate, dark Gobi Desert.

The cold wind was like a knife, its sharpness real and stinging against my face. The air was thick with the nauseating smell of sulfur and blood.

Before they could even see their surroundings clearly, they heard the terrifying roar that haunted the Kunlun students.

"roar--!!!"

The mist churned, and five hundred enormous, terrifying monsters, their bodies devoid of skin and covered only in dark red muscle textures, with red eyes and genuine killing intent, surged forward like a black tide.

That's not game modeling.

It was a sense of oppression from the top of the food chain that they had never experienced before.

"This...this is so realistic! The monster's saliva is spraying all over my face!"

While a player with the online name "Long Aotian" was still marveling at the graphics, a demonic dog pounced on him and bit his shoulder.

The fangs pierced into the flesh.

puff!

pain!

Real, excruciating pain!

Although the system has locked the pain threshold at 30%, for modern people who have grown up in a greenhouse, this is not a game, it's torture!

"Ouch! It hurts! It really hurts! My shoulder is broken!"

"Help! Exit! How do I exit?!"

"What kind of monster is this! I can't damage it! My Iron Shirt skill is useless!"

"Don't come any closer! Mom!! I want to go home!!"

In just ten minutes.

The forum of 【Lingjing Community】 has exploded.

This time, it wasn't excitement, but fear.

Post title: [That's not a game! That's a slaughterhouse! Kunlun disciples are fighting this kind of thing every day?!]

The poster (who is terrified and looking for their mother): "I'm not cultivating immortality anymore! It's too scary! That monster's eyes looked like it wanted to eat me alive! My neck was bitten off, the feeling of suffocation... my hands are still shaking! I peed my pants, really!"

Floor 1: "I practiced the 'Eighteen Body Strengthening Forms' for a month, thinking I was a one-punch superman, but I couldn't even last three seconds before being tackled. Is this the trial those dropouts were talking about? No wonder they dropped out!"

2nd Floor: "The key point is... the prompt says this is a 'weakened version,' with only 30% pain sensitivity. It's said the students on Kunlun Mountain are facing the original version with 100% pain sensitivity... are they gods?"

Floor 3: "I was wrong, I will never brag again. I'm sorry, big shots of Kunlun, my voice was too loud."

Looking at the screen filled with wailing, apologies, and those comments that quickly turned humble.

At the summit of Kunlun Mountain.

Gu Qing looked at the surge in "Awe" faith power, which was extremely pure, and then turned off the panel.

He achieved his goal.

That night, the 1.4 billion people below the mountain finally understood a truth:

Those dropouts they mocked were not cowards; they had simply witnessed true terror.

Cultivating immortality has never been a romantic fairy tale.

That is a road paved with blood and pain, and only those with great perseverance can tread upon it.