Item Offensive

Chapter 23: Item Offensive

Upon seeing the Primal Monster, the players decisively charged.

But as they entered the cave, all the players' expressions changed.

Countless fragmented images suddenly appeared in their minds, a mental illusion woven from their memories rapidly generating.

In the illusion, the Mocking Monster transformed into a detestable object, igniting an uncontrollable rage in their hearts.

Seeing this, Qi Sheng, hidden behind the scenes, chuckled silently. He then decisively cut off his subtle perception of the players, switching to the Guider's clone perspective for external observation, preventing himself from falling into the mental illusion the players were experiencing.

According to the analysis from the Guider, the Mocking Primal possessed the ability to weave mental illusions, which the players' current mental strength was utterly incapable of resisting.

The most terrifying aspect of this ability wasn't the illusion itself, but the emotional manipulation.

He could imagine the players' experiences within the mental illusion. The Mocking Primal would transform into the existence they hated most, perhaps a father-killer, or maybe the neighbor's husband, but it didn't matter... At this point, the players, with bloodshot eyes, lunged towards the Mocking Primal.

The Mocking Primal, at this moment, opened its mouth, revealing sharp fangs, and swallowed the approaching players one by one.

This ability reminded Qi Sheng of the anglerfish in reality, the deep-sea anglerfish, which used the luminous lure protruding from its head to attract other fish.

In comparison, the Mocking Primal's ability was even more terrifying.

As long as one entered the range of the Mocking Primal's ability, they would be uncontrollably drawn towards it, becoming a lured target.

To resist the mental illusion, one would need either a mental strength far superior to the Mocking Primal's or the enhancement of a Primal ability that could resist mental manipulation.

The players who entered the cave were wiped out by the Mocking Primal in less than a minute.

And the Mocking Primal, having not eaten for a long time, only ate emptiness. All the deceased players would have their life essence extracted by Hyperdimension, then sent back to Emperor's Tomb Village by Yan Ming, and undergo Life Reshaping underground.

[It seems Ice Blade's gift to you wasn't just energy crystals.]

At this moment, the Guiding Water Orb appeared beside Qi Sheng, forming an arm and resting its chin on its hand as it analyzed.

"You think this Primal was imprisoned by Ice Blade as a gift for the next Di Zhao?"

[Precisely. Not just the Mocking Primal; I also sensed the aura of several Primal Monsters within the dark cave. Ice Blade's intentions are obvious. After all, besides Di Zhao, no one can absorb and fuse the abilities of a Primal Monster. I can't think of any other reason for him to imprison them.]

[Although this guy is crazy and warlike, his loyalty to Di Zhao is indeed commendable.]

"Compared to me?" Qi Sheng turned his head to look at the Guider, a smile appearing on his face.

[Compared to me, he's far behind. I am Di Zhao's most loyal subordinate. Boss, are you doubting my loyalty?]

Without answering the Guider, Qi Sheng's gaze shifted back to the monster world.

An hour later, at the revival point of Emperor's Tomb Village.

White light flashed consecutively as players, having finished their revival cooldowns, logged into the game.

"Holy crap, can you guys imagine what I went through in the illusion? I was fucking cuckolded by that giant beetle. The problem is, when I was in the illusion, it even felt reasonable. Thinking about it now, it's so goddamn absurd."

"This game is so scary, it can actually extract memories and turn them into skills."

"My experience is even more absurd. In the illusion, the giant beetle held my head down and forced me to eat shit. It made my rage meter skyrocket, and I just wanted to turn around and smash its head in with a punch."

After reviving, the players chatted about their experiences in the mental illusion, calling it unbelievable.

After idle chatter, they began to consider how to get revenge.

What was clear was that the Mocking Primal's ability was to pull targets within a certain range into a mental illusion based on their memories. Therefore, melee combat was not feasible. Only players with the Bone Fire Life Soul could deal damage to the Mocking Primal.

As the players discussed how to fight, a player from the "Toddler Squad" offered a suggestion:

"Who says we have to fight with monster abilities? Although the Black Armor Snake and Stone Gargoyle forms can only engage in melee, aren't there plenty of Torches and ranged attack items in the mall? We can completely stand outside the cave and throw ranged items inside to slowly chip away at its health until we kill the Mocking Primal. This guy is bound by chains and can't move, so it can't resist our ranged assault at all."

This idea was immediately met with widespread approval from the players.

Following that, they began purchasing ranged attack items from the mall.

Torch, Rock-Splitting Bow, Iron Crossbow... The players' Sacrificial Power wasn't enough to afford high-quality items, so they could only purchase ordinary items crafted from Sacrificial Power.

As the players swept the shelves, the Challenger System automatically deducted 30% of the profit, bringing Qi Sheng a revenue of 339 points of Sacrificial Power.

Subsequently, dozens of players left Emperor's Tomb Village and headed towards the dark cave.

Upon reaching the second level underground, the player team immediately launched a ranged assault on the Mocking Primal imprisoned in the cave.

Players with the Bone Fire Life Soul threw fireballs, while other players took turns throwing various ranged items into the cave, bombarding the Mocking Primal.

During this time, muffled roars from the Mocking Primal could be heard continuously from within the cave.

This only made them more excited, their hearts anticipating the Sacrificial Power revenue that would come after the Mocking Primal's death.

However, the smiles on the players' faces gradually disappeared as time went by.

The Mocking Primal was far more resilient than they had imagined. Half an hour of bombardment had still not killed it.

Many questioning voices appeared in the voice channel:

"Is something wrong? How has it not died after half an hour? This Mocking Primal's HP bar is too thick."

"Is there a possibility that our attacks aren't even breaking its defense? And this game doesn't have a forced -1 HP setting, so our assault just now was likely ineffective output."

"Holy crap, don't! I've already chugged three bottles of Spirit Potion, and if this thing doesn't die, I'll be at a massive loss."

The idea that they couldn't break its defenses sent many players into a rage.

This was especially true for players using the Bone Fire form. Their levels were generally between 5 and 7, and their spiritual energy intensity could only sustain an offensive for a short period before they had to stop and buy "Spirit Potion" from the shop to replenish their consumption, then re-engage in battle.

A low-level Spirit Potion cost 5 points of Sacrificial Power. Half an hour of bombardment had already incurred significant costs.

If they couldn't kill the taunting monster, it would undoubtedly be a complete loss.

After half an hour, the taunting roars continued. The cave was already engulfed in flames, and the black smoke mixed with heatwaves choked the players, forcing them to retreat repeatedly.

The players' mentality gradually shifted from optimistic to despair.

One player, staring at the raging flames within the cave, muttered:

"A Torch costs 1 point of Sacrificial Power, a Spirit Potion costs 5 points of Sacrificial Power, a Rock-Splitting Bow costs 50 points of Sacrificial Power, and an arrow costs 1 point of Sacrificial Power... We've already invested over 1000 points of Sacrificial Power, right? I threw in everything I earned from a whole day of mining yesterday..."

These words sent the players nearby into an emotional breakdown.

But none of the players stopped.

With such high sunk costs, they were like gamblers who had lost too much, unwilling to accept the loss and choosing to fight to the death.