I Cultivated Too Long and Got Isekai’d Into a Game

Xu Tao climbed the glowing stairs, one step at a time.

Of course, the rest followed suit, chasing after him in order. They climbed up to the next floor in a single file, the capacity limit of the narrow staircase forcing them to spiral upwards.

"Hm?"

Halfway up, Xu Tao noticed an anomaly. Purple clouds started to drift down, like a fog intent on devouring everything. He could tell it wasn't dangerous, but the mystery it held wasn't to be underestimated either.

Before the clouds could touch him, Xu Tao cast one familiar technique he had been using almost constantly inside the tower—Qi Transmission Threads!

With extreme precision, the threads tapped into each of the 49 members other than himself, letting him relay detailed images from his mind to them. What he wanted to convey were two things:

"Be careful of the purple cloud. It'll probably do something."

And—

"Watch for traps. The stairs could suddenly vanish for all we know."

Both warnings bordered on paranoia, but everyone could understand his concerns. He simply didn't want them to fail to survive the next few trials.

However, his worries… came true in the worst way imaginable.

"...!"

The instant the purple mist covered him, all 49 Qi threads were cut off. Xu Tao was stunned. That could only mean one thing—he was no longer in the same "plane" as the others.

As a test, he tried to sense Zetian's presence.

She had been just three steps behind him, so it should have been easy… but to his surprise, he sensed nothing. There was no life signature anywhere within a hundred-meter radius around him!

"Did I get sent into a pocket dimension?" he wondered aloud, before staring up toward where the stairs led.

"Everyone has a clone of me with them, so they should be safe, unless..." He shook his head, dismissing the thought.

If there really was a threat his clone couldn't handle, then their deaths were already set in stone. Rushing to their side wouldn't change anything.

As such, all he could do now was focus on the task ahead.

Resuming his climb, he proceeded carefully. Not even a minute later, he arrived at a landing. Stepping off the stairs with caution, he scanned the area—only for his lips to curl into a deep frown.

"This place is… a mirror house?" Xu Tao raised a brow.

There was no mistaking it. The next floor was a mirror house—a maze made entirely out of reflective surfaces. The walls, the floor, and even the ceiling were mirrors. Even before entering, the wall ahead of him reflected his face, showing a mixture of bewilderment and curiosity.

He didn't enter immediately. First, he needed to figure out what sort of trial this was. But after glancing left and right, he realized there was no monolith present to tell him his objectives.

This sort of trial appeared from time to time, as if testing their ability to interpret the situation without guidance.

Sighing, Xu Tao braced himself and stepped forward. "No choice but to go on."

Without lowering his guard, he walked toward the mirrored path.

The moment he stepped inside, he found dozens—no, hundreds—of reflections of himself surrounding him. Seeing this, his frown deepened. Something about those reflections felt… wrong.

Although they looked like ordinary reflections, his senses warned him this wasn't so simple.

"..."

Still, he marched onward.

Step by step, he navigated the glass maze. Each step was careful and calculated. But after turning a corner, Xu Tao turned back—

"What? No way…"

—only to find that the path he had just taken was gone.

A thick pane of glass now stood there, replacing the corridor. Placing his palm against it, he quickly realized it wasn't ordinary glass. He drew back his fist, Qi gathering around it like a glove, and—

BAM!

He struck the mirror with full strength. But to his surprise, it didn't even shiver, much less crack.

"So it can't be destroyed…" Xu Tao sighed, shaking his aching fist.

Upon contact, he could feel a Dao Law infused into the mirror—keeping it pristine, untouchable by even dust, and completely unbreakable.

Then, as he stared at his reflection… the anomaly began.

The "Xu Tao" inside the mirror stopped moving, even though Xu Tao himself was still waving his hand. His instincts screamed that something was wrong. He locked eyes with the reflection, and it stared back. Their gazes held for several seconds before another change occurred.

Like ripples on water, the mirror's surface began to undulate.

The reflection slowly shifted—no longer showing his current self, but instead the image of an old saint… his appearance just before his last closed-door cultivation. The visage of the Great Elder of the Azure Dragon Sect.

"...A mirror that shows your past?" Xu Tao muttered, trying to piece it together.

His guess was close, but not entirely correct—he was missing a crucial detail.

The reflection began to move on its own, despite Xu Tao remaining perfectly still. Not only that, the "background" inside the mirror changed, revealing a familiar pavilion in the Cultivation World. His personal abode. An open space like a theatre, with nothing but a table before him.

There, his reflection prepared tea in the traditional manner.

"...No."

Xu Tao didn't need to watch further to remember this scene.

But even if he tried to avert his gaze, all the surrounding mirrors displayed it, making it impossible to avoid.

His old self heated a Yixing purple clay teapot with hot water, following the exact ceremonial steps. But just as he finished and was about to add the tea leaves, something fell into the pot with an audible plop!

The old Xu Tao raised a brow, peered inside… and found bird poop floating in the water.

"..."

Lifting his head, he saw the Three-colored Phoenix—the Azure Dragon Sect Master's prized pet—the culprit who had "ruined" the tea. In a fit of rage, Xu Tao caught the bird and punished it by turning it into fragrant roasted poultry.

"Agh…!"

The real Xu Tao placed a hand over his face, falling to his knees. "How petty! You're so damn petty, old me!"

Naturally, the Sect Master came looking for his pet soon after. Xu Tao lied through his teeth, claiming he hadn't seen it, and instead offered the roasted meat to the Master. The Sect Master took a bite, praising the taste, texture, and aroma, thinking it was just some mountain pheasant.

Hearing his compliments, Xu Tao had felt a pang of guilt.

"Who in their right mind feeds a man his own pet…?!"

This was, of course, just one incident in Xu Tao's long list of dark histories—and merely the tip of the iceberg.