Sacrificial Power Surges

Chapter 24: Sacrificial Power Surges

3 hours later.

Inside the cave, flames burned fiercely.

The roars of Taunt continued, and most players had exhausted their Sacrificial Power, unable to sustain their output.

Just as the players were about to give up in frustration, the roars of Taunt within the cave gradually weakened, eventually falling silent.

Although they dared not approach, the players felt a flicker of hope.

More than ten minutes later, a notification chimed in the minds of all players who had participated in the battle:

[Challenger Notice: Upon defeating the second-generation Primal Monster "Taunt", all participating players will share a reward of 20,000 Sacrificial Power and gain the right to freely unlock the next Star Vein slot (limited to 0-3 level Star Vein).]

This announcement was music to the players' ears.

They eagerly summoned their Star Vein enhancement panel from the function options to check their newly acquired Origin Souls.

[Taunt (Second-Generation Origin)]

Monster Trait: Unleashes a mental shockwave centered on itself. Targets hit will experience a large number of memory alteration scenarios based on their own memories, with the caster becoming a part of the altered memories (only effective against intelligent lifeforms of level 1 and above).

Guider Hint: After releasing this ability, you can't imagine what role you'll play in the target's memory illusion. You might be their father's killer, or perhaps the neighbor's shady friend, but none of that matters... Look, he's already charging at you with bloodshot eyes, quick, parry!]

Purchase Cost: 3000 Sacrificial Power.

Compared to the First Generation Origin souls, the purchase price of second-generation Origin Souls had tripled, reaching 3000 Sacrificial Power.

An additional Guider hint had been added to the description.

Despite the hefty price, the Taunt soul was already considered a must-have second soul for Stone Gargoyle players.

The combination of Petrify and Taunt promised to be incredibly powerful in actual combat.

Underground of Emperor's Tomb Village.

From the players' post-battle discussions, Qi Sheng gathered two crucial pieces of information.

When players discussed Taunt's monster trait, they couldn't help but complain about the lack of an in-game experience function for Star Vein combinations, which would allow them to test their ability synergies.

Qi Sheng believed this idea was entirely feasible.

He could utilize Yan Ming's spatial abilities to create a simulated environment where players could freely edit their Star Vein configurations and then engage in simulated combat with their edited abilities.

As more Primal Monsters were collected in the future, the simulated Star Vein function would significantly enhance players' development, combination, and application of monster abilities.

The second important piece of information was that players felt the game needed a forum-like function to facilitate communication and collaborative strategy guides.

Qi Sheng deemed this feature highly necessary.

Unlike chat modes such as regional, team, or other channels, strategy guides couldn't be saved.

However, a forum could archive player-posted guides and other content, making them accessible to later players and greatly aiding future development.

But before adding these two features, he needed to prepare.

With an idea in mind, Qi Sheng immediately instructed Guider to create the game's built-in forum function. He then contacted Yan Ming, explaining in detail the requirements for creating the simulation space.

After Yan Ming left to attend to his task, Qi Sheng, who was sitting cross-legged on the altar, began contemplating a problem.

How could he retrieve the energy crystals from the underground palace in Gloomy Cave in advance?

His main body could not possibly go there, as every second his main body was away incurred a massive cost.

When he had spoken with Yan Ming earlier about the testing space and the need to create customizable simulated bodies for players, inspiration struck him.

There was no other way back then, but now, with the Challenger System forged from the power of the four attendant rules, he could control a player's body to explore.

Creating a clone of himself was not feasible.

After fusing with Di Zhao's self-identity origin, his consciousness could extend outwards but could not be severed, separated, or replicated.

With an idea, Qi Sheng immediately took action.

He closed his eyes, and the Challenger System appeared in his mind.

He selected the flesh and blood of a player who was in death cooldown, consuming Sacrificial Power to accelerate the reshaping process.

The so-called flesh and blood reshaping was divided into three main parts.

First, the attendant Hyperdimension's "All Things Extraction" function would refine all the matter of the deceased player. Then, Yan Ming would send it back to Emperor's Tomb Village via the created spatial system. Using Emperor's Tomb Village's territory trait, it would be reshaped 1:1. Next, Guider would re-implant the Data System. Finally, spatial power would be used to teleport the reshaped flesh and blood from underground to the resurrection point on the surface of Emperor's Tomb Village.

The entire process was like an assembly line, requiring only 10 Sacrificial Power to initiate the reshaping process, with no additional energy loss.

Even if a player's monster form reached level 100, the cost of flesh and blood reshaping would remain unchanged.

When he opened his eyes again, his consciousness had switched to the body of the selected player.

However, this was not a perfect control after consciousness fusion, but rather a remote control akin to a puppeteer.

His main body then contacted Yan Ming, who was in the underground space, and informed him of the teleportation coordinates.

Immediately, a spatial teleportation array appeared beneath the player's feet, and the surrounding space twisted and distorted. After a brief sensation of weightlessness, he arrived in the palace on the fifth level underground of Gloomy Cave.

Before him lay the remains of Ice Blade.

Bypassing the remains of Ice Blade, Qi Sheng knelt before the Spirit Gathering Array, placing his palm on the golden crystal.

Instantly, surging energy, using his player body as a conduit, was continuously transferred to the Sacrificial Power Pool beneath Emperor's Tomb Village.

Above the depleted Sacrificial Power Pool, it was like a floodgate opening. A torrent of golden energy poured down, purifying in the air and transforming into scarlet energy, mingling with other Sacrificial Power.

The transformation process incurred some energy loss.

This was related to the special nature of Sacrificial Power.

The energy crystal left by Ice Blade was pure, but not pure enough for Sacrificial Power to transmute all things. It required refinement before it could be converted into Sacrificial Power.

The purification array left by Nine Yin operated at high speed.

After 1 minute, the golden crystal was drained, turning transparent.

Qi Sheng also received feedback from the Guider:

[Sacrificial Power Pool]:
Stored Sacrificial Power: 13333842.
...

Absorbing the energy crystal brought him over 13 million points of Sacrificial Power.

This influx of wealth meant the player recruitment process could be significantly accelerated.

Standing up, Qi Sheng walked towards the rear of the palace.

He passed through the Burial Ground, the ground covered in a flesh-like moss. Ahead was the area with the floating Domain Node crystal. He could see a massive tumor, its black tentacles wrapped around the Domain Node crystal.

Just then, the tumor, condensed from the corrosive energy of Black Tide, seemed to sense his presence. A black tentacle shot towards him with extreme speed.

His player avatar's physical capabilities were insufficient to react in time. Qi Sheng was struck in the chest by the tentacle, sent flying backward, and finally impaled on a load-bearing pillar of the palace.

The tentacle then began to rapidly spread from his avatar's chest to other parts of its body.

After a wave of intense nausea and dizziness, the player avatar was corrupted and dissolved. Qi Sheng's consciousness was guided back to his main body by the Challenger System.

[The player avatar you controlled only had Level 8 strength. The mission to occupy the Domain Node clearly cannot be completed with this clone.]

Hearing this, Qi Sheng nodded.

The core of Black Tide that had invaded the Domain Node crystal apparently possessed self-awareness and would attack nearby lifeforms. The mission to purify the node would have to be completed by other players working together.

He was already satisfied with bringing back 13 million Sacrificial Power from this excursion.