Origin Altar.
Summoning the function panel, Qi Sheng began browsing the content posted by players.
After two days of development, the number of players exchanging posts on the forums had steadily grown.
The hottest topic was the discussion of the latest building in Emperor's Tomb Village, the Test Tower, and its functions.
The Test Tower included 729 types of Origin Source abilities known to Yan Ming. In a simulated environment, players could slot in various types of Monster Souls and combine them to build the growth path they wanted.
After two days of testing, players had already developed a number of powerful builds and shared them on the forum.
At that moment, Qi Sheng was browsing the most popular strategy post.
[I've spent two days playing around in the simulator. Here are a few Star Vein builds I put together to share with everyone.]
Posted by: Black Night Long
Post: It's too crazy outside, fighting over monsters. This newbie is trembling in fear, so I spent two days testing builds in Newbie Village. Here are three powerful combinations to share with everyone. Since my Body Tempering level is 0, the highest simulation option only lets me slot in eight Monster Souls, so each build combines eight Monster Souls. Once my level is higher, there'll be room to expand and strengthen all three builds.
First up is a build centered around the Stone Gargoyle. I call it the "Immobile Undying Flow."
(Attachment: video file.)
Qi Sheng clicked the video, and a projection instantly appeared on the forum interface.
In the video, the player named Black Night Long was slotting in Star Veins.
He filled the eight Star Vein slots one by one with Stone Gargoyle (contained), Taunt (contained), Revival, Thorns, Ice Bone, Bloodthirst, Fire Sickle, and Black Armor Snake (contained).
Once he had finished setting up the Star Veins, Black Night Long turned toward the camera:
"First, I'll show everyone what each Origin Source ability does, so you can better understand how they perform in the simulations."
The camera zoomed in on the Star Vein enhancement interface:
Petrification (Active): After using this ability, you enter a petrified state in which you cannot move, greatly reducing damage from all forms of attack. The specific effect depends on your physical attributes.
Taunt (Active): Release a Spirit Shockwave centered on yourself. Targets hit will experience a large number of memory-altering scenarios based on their own memories (the area of effect can be controlled) for a short time. The caster will become part of the altered memories (only effective against intelligent life of level 1 or above).
Revival (Passive): Activate your life potential, greatly increasing your body's self-healing efficiency. The specific effect depends on the monster's level.
Thorns (Passive): Protected by the power of thorns, you reflect some of the physical damage you take back at the attacker. The specific effect depends on your body's strength.
Ice Bone (Passive): When you take damage, you inflict a freezing effect on the target, slowing its movements.
Bloodthirst Brand (Passive): Centered on yourself, the Bloodthirst Brand continuously absorbs Qi and Blood lost by nearby targets and converts it into healing energy to repair your body. Its range depends on your body's strength.
Fire Sickle (Active): Continuously burn nearby units, centered on yourself. The damage dealt depends on your body's strength.
Venom (Passive): Physical damage of any kind inflicts poison, dealing continuous damage to the target. The specific effect depends on the Black Armor Snake's form level.
"My idea behind this build is to use Taunt to draw aggro and lure nearby targets into attacking me, then activate Petrification to greatly reduce the damage I take. Revival provides continuous healing, Thorns reflects damage, and Bloodthirst Brand absorbs the Qi and Blood of nearby injured units to keep healing me. Ice Bone controls the area, while Fire Sickle and Venom deal continuous damage."
"I want to highlight the Black Armor Snake's Venom trait. It causes all physical damage to inflict poison. Thorns reflects some of the physical damage I take, so combining Black Armor Snake with Thorns lets me poison attackers while taking hits."
"Next, I'll demonstrate it in a simulated battle."
As he finished speaking, Black Night Long opened the simulation interface, summoned 100 Blood Wolves, and entered battle mode.
As the ferocious Blood Wolves charged at him, Black Night Long decisively activated Taunt. A mental illusion automatically formed around him, and the wolves' eyes instantly turned red.
Next, he activated Petrification. A layer of black substance covered Black Night Long's body, putting him in a state where he couldn't move.
Under the Blood Wolves' ferocious assault, red damage numbers and green healing numbers appeared above Black Night Long's head at the same time.
Each time a nearby Blood Wolf bit Black Night Long, another wound appeared on its body. Poison, freezing, and burning damage indicators popped up above its head, along with white damage numbers from Thorns.
The blood lost by the injured Blood Wolves was drawn in by the Bloodthirst Brand, transforming into wisps of blood that floated toward Black Night Long. Green healing numbers then appeared above his head.
During the demonstration, Black Night Long's health bar stayed between 98% and 100%. The Blood Wolves' fierce assault posed no threat to him at all.
In less than Five Minutes, all the nearby Blood Wolves had died, and Black Night Long's health bar had returned to 100%.
Black Night Long looked toward the camera—the Guiding Water Orb—and grinned:
"This is why I call this Star Vein combination the Immobile Undying Flow. Pretty strong, right?"
The video ended there, and a flood of players commented below:
Bard: That's insane! With this build, just head wherever there are lots of monsters. You can kill nearby targets without even moving.
I Picked Black Armor Snake: I'm stunned. What kind of god-tier build is this? It's a dream come true for lazy people. Just stand somewhere full of monsters, then browse forum posts and videos while you level up.
Strongest Newbie: Holy crap, I really want to try this build. Too bad that aside from Black Armor Snake, Taunt, and Stone Gargoyle, I haven't contained the other five Monster Souls. I have no idea where to find Origin Source Monsters with these abilities.
After closing the video, Qi Sheng continued browsing the rest of the post.
Besides the most-discussed Immobile Undying Flow, Black Night Long had also shared two other builds.
He called them the Shadow Legion Flow and the One-Hit Kill Flow.
The Shadow Legion Flow was built around Shadow Summon from the Soul Repository.
Shadow Summon allowed the user to summon Shadow Warriors imprisoned by Di Zhao in the Shadow Realm to fight for him. The number and strength of the summoned warriors depended on his mental strength.
With that as the core, Black Night Long had chosen seven Monster Souls that provided group buffs.
The combat strategy was simple.
Summon a group of Shadow Warriors at the start, then apply Evil Blade (weapon enhancement), Cloud Dragon (movement speed enhancement), Evil Armor (defense enhancement), Berserk (physical attribute enhancement)...
By stacking buffs, the Shadow Warriors' combat power could be greatly enhanced, multiplying their strength several times over.
This build was another dream come true for lazy people. Once the buffs were stacked, all you had to do was watch the Shadow Warriors perform. There was no need to fight yourself.
A flood of players left comments under the video, expressing their love for the build.
The final build, the One-Hit Kill Flow, was a Star Vein build centered around the Monster Soul "Deterioration."
Deterioration greatly enhanced the effects and duration of various forms of damage over time.
The build's defining feature was that once you hit a target, you could immediately run away. The target would be afflicted by Deterioration, poison, Death Erosion, and a series of other damage-over-time effects, eventually dying as time took its toll.
In the demonstration, Black Night Long landed a single normal attack on a level 28 Fallen Sickle Monster, then immediately ran away.
Negative damage indicators kept appearing above the Fallen Sickle Monster's head. Its wounds quickly festered and spread across its body, and before long, it collapsed and died.
This post climbed to the top of the forum's popularity chart in very little time.
It sparked a keen interest in building Star Vein combinations among many players.
A flood of players followed suit, experimenting with all kinds of Star Vein builds in the simulated environment.
What disappointed the players was this:
In the simulated environment, the initial Star Vein setup only allowed them to slot in eight Monster Souls. They couldn't add more to create even stronger builds.
Moreover, most of the Monster Souls in the simulation library hadn't been contained, and players had no idea where to hunt down the Origin Source Monsters with those abilities.
Still, the emergence of all these builds gave players hope for their future growth.
The 729 Origin Source abilities described in the simulation library were only part of the power Di Zhao had broken off. Countless unknown Origin Source Monsters were still waiting for players to find and contain.
It was easy to imagine that as the game continued to update, even more complete Star Vein combinations would emerge.
Before you continue