Chapter 18: Crisis of the Future | Monsters Are Coming
The fact that Li Tie had chosen the Spirit Weapon Build quickly spread among the player community.
During this time, some players followed in Li Tie's footsteps and went to Spirit Weapon Valley, hoping to contain Primordial Spirit Weapons and obtain rewards.
The number of monsters in Spirit Weapon Valley was not large, but their levels were extremely high. The deeper one went, the higher the spirit weapon hunt level became, and the more dazzling their appearances.
After several attempts, a few teams had to retreat in defeat.
Li Tie was no exception. After containing five spirit weapons, he chose not to go any deeper into Spirit Weapon Valley.
Beyond the five spirit weapons near the entrance, the lowest hunt level of the spirit weapons inside was level 30. He couldn't withstand even a single blow, so continuing the challenge was meaningless.
However, the emergence of the Spirit Weapon Build gave many players a direction to strive for.
—
Emperor's Mound Village, underground.
Qi Sheng sat cross-legged atop the Primordial Altar, his mind swiftly processing the network data feedback transmitted by the Guide.
At that moment, the elusive Guide water orb suddenly appeared.
"Boss, I've sensed the aura of the Black Tide on Earth."
"Where?"
"Toward the North Pole."
"Go take a look, and notify Uncle Yan."
"Got it, I'm on it!"
The Guide water orb then vanished into nothingness.
Not long after, a cold, indifferent voice sounded:
"Little Qi, I'm here."
A projection screen unfolded before Qi Sheng. In the image was a room decorated in an ancient style. A round table in the center burned with a ghostly blue flame, and beside it sat a man with an extraordinary aura.
He had long jet-black hair, pale skin, and a perfectly contoured neckline highlighted by a refined cravat, but his handsome face was devoid of expression.
Mysterious and noble. This was the impression that had floated into Qi Sheng's mind when he first met Yan Ming years ago.
The man in the projection was none other than one of the four retainers of the Emperor's Sign, Yan Ming, master of spatial power.
The spatial teleportation portion of the Challenger System (Player Recruitment System) was his creation, while the Guide was responsible for the data processing and content analysis portions.
Back when they fought the terrifying Black Tide head-on, Yan Ming had lost most of the vitality in his body. Since then, he had been like a puppet, appearing extremely cold.
Qi Sheng was long accustomed to this.
Had it not been for Yan Ming and the other retainers risking their lives to save him back then, he would have died in the fearful black mist.
This time he had the Guide notify Yan Ming because he couldn't perform long-range spatial teleportation on his own, so he needed Yan Ming's assistance.
"Uncle Yan, sorry to trouble you," Qi Sheng said politely with a nod.
"Prepare yourself."
As Yan Ming finished speaking, his pupils emitted a faint icy-blue glow. A spinning ghostly blue teleportation array appeared beneath Qi Sheng's feet.
A strong sense of weightlessness followed.
Boom!
His body was wrapped in ghostly blue flames and vanished in an instant.
Once the blinding blue light dissipated, what came into view was swirling snow and an endless expanse of white. Glaciers blanketed the vast earth, merging with the azure sky in the distance to form a scene of pure magnificence.
The piercing cold winds collided in mid-air, producing a shrill howl in his ears.
The sudden drop in temperature made Qi Sheng involuntarily shiver. He immediately switched to the Emperor's Sign form.
Boom!
Crimson flames surged from his head and spread across his entire body, dispelling the cold.
He then flew into the sky, advancing in the direction indicated by the Guide's sensing.
A few minutes later, he saw a black line suspended high in the sky. As he reached out to touch it, countless thin black tendrils extended from the line, attempting to wrap around his hand.
However, under the forging heat of the Emperor's Sign Flame, the tendrils instantly disintegrated.
This discovery made Qi Sheng realize the severity of the problem.
His former home was now being corroded and invaded by the terrifying Black Tide.
Unlike the Monster World, the Black Tide's corruption on Earth was still in its initial stage and had yet to cause any ecological damage.
But in the foreseeable future, Earth would also be devoured by the terrifying Black Tide.
This reminded Qi Sheng of a prior suspicion.
During the years he was away, many alien forces had appeared on Earth. Their arrival might very well be linked to the Black Tide.
A few days ago, he had seen a discussion thread online.
The topic was why Dark Land, the virtual game, limited the number of purchase qualifications.
Logically, the Lunar Eclipse Race's virtual servers should easily support a massive player base, yet they kept restricting the quota granted to the Human Federation and other alien forces who had settled on Earth.
If it were a marketing ploy based on scarcity, it wouldn't make sense.
While the Lunar Eclipse Race did purchase resources from other races using currency, they more often gifted technology and resources to various races.
Someone had compiled statistics showing that the resources the Lunar Eclipse Race gifted to other races each year far exceeded what they spent purchasing resources from them.
In response to this issue, the poster offered a hypothesis.
He believed that the true purpose of the Lunar Eclipse Race creating the virtual game was not to profit from resource exchanges, but rather to use the near-real virtual environment for military training, in preparation for some massive crisis that might arise.
Granting game access to other races was merely a side effect, intended to serve as sparring partners.
In previous virtual games developed by the Lunar Eclipse Race, it had always been the Lunar Eclipse Race on one side and the allied forces of other races on the other, locked in conflict.
Thus, training their military forces was the main purpose, primarily serving internal Lunar Eclipse needs.
There was one piece of evidence supporting this theory.
According to historical records, when the Lunar Eclipse Race fled to Earth three hundred years ago, they had stated that their home world had been invaded by a mysterious force that led to its collapse and destruction.
Facing the apocalypse, the Lunar Eclipse Race ultimately abandoned resistance, and the surviving members escaped through spatial technology before their world collapsed, eventually establishing Lunar Eclipse City on the moon.
Other alien forces that had arrived on Earth had similar stories.
Qi Sheng had already reached a conclusion in his mind.
The apocalyptic crisis that destroyed the Lunar Eclipse Race's home world was likely caused by a Black Tide invasion. Their long battle against the Black Tide had driven their civilization from its peak into decline, and the same applied to the other alien forces.
Now, signs of the terrifying Black Tide's invasion had appeared on Earth.
This confirmed the theory in the discussion thread: the Lunar Eclipse Race was indeed training troops to confront an unknown terror.
There was further evidence to support his conclusion.
The Monster World's territory was expanding, and its terrain was constantly changing.
He had initially thought this was some unknown change caused by the Black Tide's corruption, but now he realized it was very likely that the terrifying Black Tide had devoured other worlds, merging their fragments into the Monster World, thus continuously enlarging it.
This was also the reason for the fog of exploration on the game's map function.
It wasn't that he didn't want to give every player a complete world map, but that the Monster World's terrain was changing too drastically. The old maps could no longer match the current Monster World.
"Boss, this world will gradually deteriorate in the future. You need to accelerate your player recruitment plan," the Guide said solemnly.
"We'll proceed steadily. At least for now, it won't have much impact."
"Boss, I have a question."
"Ask."
"If this world enters the climax stage of the terrifying Black Tide's invasion and evil entities run rampant, what will you do?"
"If that day comes, perhaps I'll grant the players permission to bring the Monster World's powers into reality, at least to ensure their safety in the real world… but before then, I won't disclose any information."
"Why?"
"Only players free of real-world pressure can experience joy in the Monster World and enjoy the game process. That joy is the very source of their fearlessness and creativity."