Chapter 24: Sacrificial Power Surge | Monsters Are Coming
Three hours later.
Inside the cave, flames were still raging.
The Taunt continued to roar, but most of the players had already exhausted their sacrificial power and could no longer maintain their attacks.
Just as the players were about to give up in frustration, the Taunt's roaring gradually weakened until it finally fell silent.
Though no one dared to approach, the players' hearts were filled with anticipation.
Ten minutes later, a system notification sounded in the minds of all players who had participated in the battle.
[Challenger Notice: You have slain the Second-Generation Primordial Monster 'Taunt.' All participants share a reward of 20,000 sacrificial power and gain free access to unlock the next Star Vein embedding slot (limited to Star Veins level 0-3).]
The voice sounded like heavenly music to the players' ears.
They quickly summoned the Star Vein enhancement panel from the function menu to check the newly acquired Primordial Monster Soul.
[Taunt (Second-Generation Primordial)]
Monster Trait: Releases a mental shockwave centered on itself. Targets struck will experience rapid memory-rewritten scenarios based on their own memories, with the caster becoming a figure within the altered memory (effective only against intelligent lifeforms above level 1).
Guide's Tip: After releasing this ability, you cannot imagine what role you'll play in the target's memory illusion, perhaps their father's killer, perhaps the annoying neighbor Old Wang, but that doesn't matter… Look carefully, they're already charging at you with bloodshot eyes. Defend yourself quickly!
Purchase Cost: 3000 sacrificial power.
Compared to First-Generation Primordial Monster Souls, the purchase price for Second-Generation ones had tripled, reaching 3000 sacrificial power.
Additionally, there was now a special tip from the Guide included in the description.
Though expensive, the Taunt Monster Soul had already become a must-have second soul for Gargoyle-form players.
The combination of Petrification and Taunt promised terrifying power in real combat.
—
Underground, in Emperor's Mound Village.
From the players' post-battle discussions, Qi Sheng gathered two important pieces of information.
When discussing the Taunt's monster traits, the players couldn't help but complain that the game lacked a Star Vein combination trial feature that would allow them to freely test ability combinations.
In Qi Sheng's opinion, this was entirely feasible.
He could use Yan Ming's spatial abilities to create a simulation environment where players could freely edit their Star Veins and test them in simulated battles.
As the number of Primordial Monsters contained increased in the future, the Star Vein Simulation feature would greatly enhance players' ability to experiment with combinations and develop new strategies for monster abilities.
The second important piece of information was that players felt the game needed a forum-like function for better communication and strategy sharing.
Qi Sheng also believed this was a necessary addition.
Compared to region, team, and other chat channels, strategies shared in chats could not be preserved.
However, a forum would allow players to archive guides and strategies for future reference, greatly benefiting long-term development.
Before adding these two features though, he needed to prepare.
With the ideas formed, Qi Sheng immediately ordered the Guide to begin developing the in-game forum function. Then he contacted Yan Ming to explain in detail the requirements for building the simulation space.
Once Yan Ming set off to begin preparations, Qi Sheng sat cross-legged on the altar, pondering another issue.
How to retrieve the Enerstones from the underground palace in Shadowed Cavern in advance.
His main body couldn't go, every second of travel consumed massive energy.
When discussing the simulation space with Yan Ming earlier, he had mentioned creating customizable simulation bodies for the players, which suddenly inspired him.
Though it had been impossible in the past, now that he possessed the Challenger System crafted from the power of the Four Retainers' rules, he could fully control player bodies for external exploration.
As for creating a clone for himself, that was not possible.
After fusing the Emperor's Sign Trace of Origin, his consciousness could be projected but could not be split or duplicated.
With the plan formed, Qi Sheng acted immediately.
Closing his eyes, the Challenger System surfaced in his mind.
He selected a player currently in death cooldown and consumed sacrificial power to accelerate the flesh reconstruction process.
Flesh reconstruction involved three major steps.
First, the Transdimensional extraction function created by the retainer extracted all matter from the dead player, then Yan Ming's spatial system transported it back to Emperor's Mound Village. The village's territory traits restored the body on a 1:1 basis. The Guide then reinstalled the data system, and finally, spatial power teleported the reconstructed body from the underground back to the village's surface resurrection point.
The entire process functioned like an assembly line, costing only 10 sacrificial power to complete with no extra energy loss.
Even if a player's monster form reached level 100, the cost of flesh reconstruction would not change.
When he opened his eyes again, his consciousness was already inhabiting the selected player's body.
However, this wasn't perfect control through fusion, but more like remotely controlling a puppet.
His main body then summoned Yan Ming in the underground space, relaying the teleportation coordinates.
Instantly, a teleportation array appeared beneath the player's feet, and the surrounding space twisted. After a brief sense of weightlessness, he arrived in the palace on the fifth floor beneath the Shadowed Cavern.
Before him stood Iceblade's remains.
Moving past Iceblade's remains, Qi Sheng knelt before the Spirit Gathering Formation and placed his palm on the golden crystal.
Surging energy immediately began transferring through the player's body into the sacrificial power pool beneath Emperor's Mound Village.
The nearly empty pool now roared like a floodgate, with torrents of golden energy pouring in, being purified mid-air into crimson energy, merging with the rest of the sacrificial power.
Some energy loss occurred during the conversion.
This was due to the special nature of sacrificial power.
Although the Enerstones left by Iceblade were extremely pure, they still could not match the absolute purity of sacrificial power and required refining to be converted.
The purification array left by Nine Yin was now operating at full speed.
One minute later, the golden crystal was fully drained, turning transparent.
Qi Sheng received feedback from the Guide:
[Sacrificial Power Pool]
Stored Sacrificial Power: 13,333,842.
—
Draining the Enerstones brought him over 13 million sacrificial power.
With this massive income, player recruitment could now accelerate significantly.
Standing up, Qi Sheng moved toward the back of the palace.
Past the bone-covered ground, where the floor was layered with flesh-like moss, he reached the area where the Territory Node crystal hovered. A giant fleshy tumor extended black tendrils that coiled tightly around the node crystal.
At that moment, the tumor of Black Tide Corruption sensed his presence, and one of its black tendrils shot toward him at lightning speed.
With the player avatar's physical capabilities, there was no time to dodge. The tendril struck his chest, launching him backward until he was pinned against a support pillar of the palace.
The tendril then rapidly spread from his chest to the rest of the body.
After intense nausea and dizziness, the player's body was completely corrupted and dissolved, while Qi Sheng's consciousness was retrieved by the Challenger System and returned to his main body.
[The player body you controlled only had level 8 strength. Clearly, conquering the Territory Node isn't something this puppet can handle.]
Upon hearing this, Qi Sheng nodded.
The Black Tide core occupying the Territory Node clearly possessed its own consciousness and actively attacked nearby lifeforms. The task of purifying the node would have to be handled by groups of players working together.
But being able to bring back over 13 million sacrificial power from this trip was already more than enough.