Domain Node

Chapter 10: Domain Node

Ancient Battlefield.

Bones piled up like mountains.

At this moment, a ball of ink-black flame streaked across the sky in a lunar arc, soaring over the bone pile and precisely striking a Cursed Soldier. Instantly, raging flames engulfed the Cursed Soldier.

Before long, ten figures leaped over the bone pile and approached the still-burning, but now extinguished, Cursed Soldier.

"Hahaha, the martial skill fusion is incredible! From now on, I won't need to see to kill my targets."

The speaker was a young man around 20 years old. In his human form, ink-black flames swirled around him, and his expression was smug.

Seeing this, Li Zheng and the others couldn't hide their envy:

"Damn, the weakest in combat power, the Eagle Head Demon, has become the meta with the Bone Fire form."

Through the guidance's demonstrations and explanations, Li Zheng and the others already knew that in human form, they could combine and use the power characteristics of various monsters. However, they were still shocked by this display.

The Eagle Head Demon's monster characteristic was Wailing.

When activated, it presented a sensory perspective radiating outwards from oneself in the mind, with an initial range of 50 meters, expanding to 100 meters after level 5.

The Bone Fire's ability characteristic was the manipulation of death flames.

When combined, they could lock onto units within a 100-meter radius through perception, without needing line of sight, for precise long-range strikes.

This was the first time Li Zheng and the others witnessed the power of fused monster characteristics.

"It's good, but unfortunately, my Body Tempering level is 0. In human form, I can only use the characteristics of two monster forms but cannot inherit their attributes. Using two abilities simultaneously makes me a bit dizzy," Chi Tu couldn't help but complain before continuing, "I just asked the guide, it takes 10,000 Sacrifice Power to go from Body Tempering 0 to 1. For the early game, we should focus on monster forms. My mental strength in human form simply can't handle frequent use of monster skills."

After analyzing the power characteristics of different monster forms, only Chi Tu and Hao Wan Bu Ke, the players who chose the Eagle Head Demon as their initial form, embedded the Bone Fire Life Soul onto their Star Vein as their second monster form.

Li Zheng and the others decided not to embed new monster forms for now.

According to the guide's explanation, the cost to upgrade the Star Vein level would gradually increase with each level.

Therefore, they could wait until a suitable monster characteristic appeared before embedding the second Life Soul, and continue to fight in the Black Armor Snake form for the early game.

The rewards for killing the Bone Fire also made Li Zheng and the others look forward to acquiring new Primal Monsters.

It was foreseeable that in the later stages of the game, each player could combine various monster characteristics to create different playstyles and Star Vein combinations. Just thinking about it was exciting.

Just as Li Zheng and the others were exploring ways to fuse monster abilities, another group of players entered the game and began pushing west from Emperor's Tomb Village.

A massive team of 30 players mowed down the Cursed Soldiers blocking their path like cutting through grass.

At this moment, another Cursed Soldier rose from a pile of remains ahead.

Instantly, the 30 players pounced like hungry tigers, leaping towards the newly risen Cursed Soldier.

Drunk Milk: "Brothers, make way! I haven't gotten a single one after fighting Cursed Soldiers all the way. You guys are going too far."

Black Ball: "This one's mine. Whoever snatches it is my son!"

Iron Hammer: "Cute Kid, you're already level 2, and you're still snatching? Have some decency! I'm not paying back that 200 I owe you!"

The scene instantly descended into chaos. Players who spotted a Cursed Soldier acted like famished wolves, and soon the Cursed Soldier was dismantled into a pile of bones.

Black Ball, who had snatched the Cursed Soldier, was overjoyed, while the other players wore looks of dejection.

However, the feeling of snatching monsters to level up and working together to grow and explore gave them a long-lost sense of joy.

"This game is amazing. I thought the hype was exaggerated. How could there be a game with 100% realism? I'm convinced now."

"Indeed, the attribute boost feedback from leveling up is so satisfying. Here, I can experience a superhuman feeling, leaping several meters high."

Just then, Cute Kid, the leader, suddenly spoke, "Brothers, the regional announcement just said a team of players killed a Primal Monster and received generous rewards. Let's go find a Primal Monster too."

Saying this, Cute Kid turned to the guide water ball following beside him.

"Guide, where are there any Primal Monsters nearby that we can kill?"

[Primal Monsters are scattered throughout the monster world. Although their numbers are vast, they are free individuals with no specific territory restricting their movements. They can be encountered anywhere. Perhaps you'll run into one after taking a few steps.]

Realizing that Primal Monsters were special monsters that spawned randomly, Cute Kid felt a bit regretful.

The team continued to push west.

Along the way, whenever a Cursed Soldier appeared, everyone killed it based on their own abilities, accompanied by various shouts and curses, creating a joyful scene.

An hour later, the team passed through the Ancient Battlefield, which was covered in bones. Ahead lay a vast plain covered in blood-red vegetation. In the distance, they could see a giant stone towering on the plain, resembling the gaping maw of a monster roaring at the sky.

Opening the map, the area previously shrouded in mist became clear, and a line of text appeared: Crimson Plains.

At that moment, a prompt appeared in all players' minds:

[Challenger Notice: Discovered a Primal Domain Node. Occupying the Primal Node will grant immense rewards (shared by all participants).]

A crimson red dot appeared on the map marking the Crimson Plains region, pointing to a giant stone on the plains.

The sudden quest excited the players, signaling that generous rewards were on the way.

Without hesitation, even knowing the potential dangers ahead, the 30 players moved towards the stone statue.

Upon reaching it, they discovered the statue's open mouth was an entrance to an underground cave, covered in crimson vines that hung like a curtain.

Cute Kid: Brothers, are we going in or not?

Drunk Milk: Obviously! We came all this way, why wouldn't we go in?

Iron Hammer: Stone Gargoyle form activated! Brothers, charge with me!

After a brief exchange, all players agreed to explore the cave.

Entering the cave, their vision darkened.

Iron Hammer, leading the way, opened his shop panel and spent 1 point of Sacrifice Power to buy a torch, illuminating the path ahead.

The cave passage was narrow, only wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side. The team formed a long line as they descended.

Not long after, Iron Hammer at the front suddenly stopped and crouched down, looking at a glowing plant by his feet.

It was a plant about half a meter tall, with slender, flexible leaves like carved jade, casting specks of starlight in the darkness.

Drunk Milk: Why'd you stop? Is there something up ahead?

Marble: Did you run into a monster? What's its hunting level?

Gulu: Iron Hammer, say something! What's going on?

In response to the inquiries, Iron Hammer shared the plant's feedback information in the team channel.

[Valley Grass]

Spirituality Level: Level 2.

Spirit Plant Introduction: A low-level spirit plant unique to the Emperor's Tomb Mountain Range region. Consuming it can enhance the five senses and provide a permanent, slight amplification. It can also be used for sacrifice to obtain Sacrifice Power rewards.

Note: Sacrifice Power can be used for Star Vein reinforcement or for shopping in the store. It can be circulated among challengers.

Class Monitor: Holy crap, we found something good right after entering the cave! I'm a college student, I'm taking this one.

"Get lost!"

The others cursed Marble for his shameless request.

At this moment, Iron Hammer looked at the beginner's guide floating beside him:

"Guide, what does 'sacrifice' mean in the information?"

[You can see Sacrifice by opening the function panel. Challengers can sacrifice anything with spiritual properties to Di Zhao in exchange for Sacrifice Power rewards.]

Following the guide's instructions, Iron Hammer summoned the function panel and clicked on the Sacrifice function.

A semi-transparent altar interface immediately appeared before him. The base was built from massive black stones, its surface weathered by long periods of wind and rain, appearing slightly mottled. The body of the altar was adorned with intricately carved totems of various monsters, lifelike. In the center burned a crimson flame.

On the right side of the interface was the inventory, with 50 small slots for items.

[After placing Valley Grass into the inventory, you can drag Valley Grass with your consciousness onto the altar to perform the sacrifice.]

Iron Hammer heard this and crouched down, uprooting Valley Grass from the ground.

Summoning the spatial bag function, a black vortex appeared before him. He directly threw Valley Grass into it.

A miniature model of Valley Grass immediately appeared in the first slot of his inventory.

He summoned the Sacrifice interface again and used his consciousness to drag Valley Grass, throwing it towards the crimson flame in the center of the altar.

Upon contact with the flame, Valley Grass was instantly incinerated, turning into a mass of crimson energy that flew out of the virtual interface and merged with his body.

[Challenger Prompt: Sacrificed Level 2 Spirit Plant Valley Grass, obtained Sacrifice Power reward from Di Zhao: 109 points.]

This prompt also appeared in the team voice channel.

Iron Hammer: Brothers, I tested the sacrifice function for everyone. It turns out this function is very useful. You can throw anything you don't need into it to convert it into Sacrifice Power.

"Get lost!"

Facing Iron Hammer's shameless statement, the players behind him all gave him the middle finger and strongly demanded that the rewards obtained from the sacrifice be divided equally, even if each person only got 3 points of Sacrifice Power.

(End of this chapter)