Primordial: Taunt

Chapter 22: Origin: Taunt

My consciousness bypassed the golden crystal, guided by Guider, sweeping through every corner of the fifth level of Gloomy Cave.

Besides the husk of Ice Blade and the Black Armor Army who died fighting alongside him, Qi Sheng also discovered a dug-out tomb in a corner of the great hall, containing a large number of corpses.

[These corpses likely belonged to Ice Blade's kin. After hiding underground, they eventually perished due to a lack of food and other resources, remaining buried here.]

"What about the Dungeon Clan? What is their origin?"

[They are likely subterranean life forms controlled by Ice Blade's kin through some means. They can survive by consuming ore, so they don't have to worry about food shortages. After Ice Blade's kin died, they continued to follow the commands implanted in their minds, directing the Iron Shell Bug to excavate underground spirit ore and feed it into the smelting furnace to continue charging the golden crystal.]

Guider's analysis seemed perfectly reasonable to Qi Sheng.

His consciousness swept towards the back of the hall, where a fist-sized, pale blue crystal floated, covered in pitch-black fungal threads. Beside it was a pulsating, heart-like mass of flesh.

"Is this a Domain Node?"

[Correct. You can think of it as a core puzzle piece of the monster world. It is the countless core puzzle pieces that form the main framework of the monster world.]

As Guider explained, the analyzed information fed back into Qi Sheng's mind.

[Domain Node: Gloomy Cave]
Territory Type: Resource
Territory Trait: Spiritual Proliferation
Trait Description: Continuously imbues spirit ore-type resources.
Domain Status: Corrupted by Black Tide energy (Unoccupied)

After reading the analysis, Qi Sheng's gaze shifted to the pulsating pitch-black mass of flesh next to the crystal.

This was the corruption core.

To seize this Domain Node, the node crystal must be purified, and the corrosive roots completely removed.

However, achieving this would not be easy.

Guider had previously analyzed the black armored soldiers standing inside and outside the palace, discovering that the remains of these fallen warriors were also corrupted, transforming into Evil Spirits similar to Cursed Soldiers.

Furthermore, the hunting level of the Cursed Soldiers here was generally above level 25.

Fortunately, the remains of Ice Blade had not been controlled by the corrupting power of the Black Tide.

More accurately, Ice Blade's remains had fought until they were utterly spent, leaving only an empty husk. The Black Tide's corrupting power could not animate an empty shell.

Even if thrown into the altar for refinement, no Sacrificial Power could be extracted.

If Ice Blade had been in its prime, its hunting level might have been over 500, possessing the power to move mountains and overturn seas. Players would have been utterly incapable of resisting.

After investigating the information on the fifth level of Gloomy Cave, Qi Sheng's consciousness returned to Emperor's Tomb Village with Guider.

As for the energy crystal Ice Blade left for the new Di Zhao, he had no intention of retrieving it.

Not because he didn't want to, but because he lacked the initial capital.

His mode of exploration outside Emperor's Tomb Village differed from that of players. Players enjoyed free play plus an in-game shop with microtransactions like Star Vein and body tempering.

He, however, had to enter a "pay-as-you-play" mode.

When the four great retainers infused the remaining Sacrificial Power into Emperor's Tomb Village, the controllable Sacrificial Power exceeded 80 million. This allowed him to conceal his aura as Di Zhao while exploring, preventing him from being discovered by Evil Spirits.

It was also during that time that he took in Eagle Head Demon, Black Armor Snake, and Stone Gargoyle.

But now, he only had a five-digit amount of Sacrificial Power. Concealing Di Zhao's inherent aura required Sacrificial Power calculated by the second, costing over 1000 Sacrificial Power per second. His reserves could not withstand such consumption.

The task of occupying the Domain Node could only be left to the players.

Although this investigation yielded no tangible gains, Qi Sheng already felt a sense of anticipation.

The energy storage crystal left by Ice Blade could refine at least tens of millions of Sacrificial Power. This would be enough to recruit ten thousand players, greatly accelerating early development.

Qi Sheng, sitting cross-legged on the altar, closed his eyes. After switching to Di Zhao's form, his perspective shifted to that of the players.

Gloomy Cave.

After another round of intense battle, the players began to clear the battlefield.

They picked up the loot on the ground, then summoned the sacrifice mode from their function panel, throwing all the carapaces into the altar to refine them into Sacrificial Power.

After days of fighting, the players had become familiar with the combat rhythm of the Iron Shell Bug.

The Iron Shell Bug had two attack methods: spitting silk to entangle its target, then dragging it closer to tear it apart with its scythe-like mandibles.

The interval between spitting silk was the best opportunity to launch an attack.

With more combat experience, players who were familiar with the rhythm could now skillfully dodge the silk.

The only thing that gave players a headache was the narrow terrain within the cave. When facing a swarm of Iron Shell Bug, skill offered limited improvement to combat power. The only way to win was through fierce charging.

After each battle, it was the players' happiest time of harvest.

The physical enhancements from leveling up, the gains in Sacrificial Power from sacrificing loot, the joy of victory after united cooperation… these were all parts of happiness.

After clearing the battlefield, the remaining players continued their exploration downwards along the cave tunnel, entering the second underground level.

The second level was relatively spacious, with large areas of excavated rock walls visible.

Magically, the rock walls were covered in a layer of pale green crystal. Focusing their gaze, analysis information appeared:

[Gathering Spirit: Absorbing the energy of heaven and earth, continuously nurturing spirit ore...]

Realizing that the spirit ore in this cave was a renewable resource, the players didn't show much emotional fluctuation and continued to follow the team deeper into the cave.

After killing several more Iron Shell Bugs along the way, they stopped before a cave that was clearly man-made.

Muffled roars could be clearly heard from within the cave.

Li Zheng from the Grinding Player guild took the lead, throwing the torch he was holding into the cave.

The torch traced an arc through the air before landing inside the cave, rolling a few times and illuminating the interior.

At the end of the cave, eight chains were nailed to the rock wall, restraining a giant monster at their ends.

It resembled a beetle, its body covered in layers of white scales with intricate patterns that, at first glance, looked like a grimace. A pair of massive pincers were constantly waving, and its exposed crimson eyes glowed like two burning lanterns in the dim light.

No matter how many years this monster had been imprisoned, it was still alive.

[Taunt (Second Generation Primal)]

Hunting Level: 29

Guider Analysis: A special monster that controls the "Taunt" Primal Power, possessing the ability to weave mental illusions, driving targets within its range into a state of extreme madness, causing them to attack Taunt uncontrollably.

Hint: Upon being hit by the Taunt ability, the target will experience a plot with heavily modified memories based on their own past, with the caster (Taunt) becoming a part of the manipulated memories, an object of hatred.

Looking at the monster's analysis information, the most excited person on the scene was undoubtedly the player who chose Stone Gargoyle.

Marble: Hahaha, the perfect choice for the second soul of Stone Gargoyle! Taunt to draw aggro, then activate petrification to resist damage. It's even more perfect than the Eagle Head Demon + Bone Fire build. I can already foresee the rise of Stone Gargoyle.

Is This Okay: The spring for Stone Gargoyle players has arrived so suddenly. Taunt + petrification, the strongest defensive build of the version is out.

Class Monitor: Although the petrification skill can greatly increase damage resistance for a short period, its drawback is also fatal: you can't move once activated. Now, with the addition of the Taunt skill, it's simply invincible. If it could also reflect damage, this build would be amazing to think about.

The regional voice channel was buzzing with discussions about the characteristics of the "Taunt" ability.

Whether it was Eagle Head Demon or Black Armor Snake, they already had suitable second soul choices for the current stage, but Stone Gargoyle did not.

The second-generation Primal Monster imprisoned in the cave gave these Stone Gargoyle players hope for a rise.

"Kill!"

Someone shouted, and the players swarmed towards Taunt.

(End of Chapter)