All Players Quest

Emperor's Tomb Village, Origin Altar.

With Guidance drawing it along, Qi Sheng's consciousness passed through a chain of volcanoes and followed the departing Evil Spirit Warrior to the northern region of the Emperor's Tomb Mountain Range.

The Evil Spirit Warrior stumbled onto a platform atop a tower. Several black tentacles extended from the Dark Red eyes overhead and pierced its body. Its wounds began healing at a visible rate.

"Looks like the journey didn't go smoothly." A slit opened in the Dark Red eyes, and a hoarse voice came from within.

"I didn't lose," Di Nian said in a low voice, hearing the eyes' teasing remark.

"Winning or losing doesn't matter. I can still sense the Tidal Rebellion Legion warrior's presence. He isn't dead."

"I know. He's stronger than I expected, but if a group of creatures that control rules hadn't gotten in my way, I would've killed him."

"Creatures that control rules? I sensed no other lifeforms during your battle."

"A group of mysterious creatures with frail bodies. Somehow, they can briefly make me lose control to anger and attack them against my will."

The Dark Red eyes fell silent for a moment before replying:

"You must have encountered Primal Monsters. They are extremely unusual creatures. According to intelligence shared by other nodes, Primal Monsters may have evolved from the original power of Di Zhao, the creator of this world. Each one is the embodiment of a rule, and none can truly be killed. Even if one dies, it will be reborn somewhere in this world in the future."

"I see. But aside from their rule powers, these Primal Monsters don't seem very strong."

"You're wrong. Never underestimate the strength of this world. According to intelligence from other nodes, Primal Monsters vary greatly in strength. The most powerful can even kill the commander-class warriors of my people, or even our King-class warriors."

"King-class?" The explanation from the Dark Red eyes startled Di Nian.

"The dungeon world you once helped conquer was merely a low-energy world. It can't compare to the one beneath our feet. By my judgment, your strength here ranks in the lower middle tier, or even below it. Don't overestimate yourself. You're young, but too arrogant. This world may be where your growth ends."

"What do you mean?" Di Nian asked coldly.

"My people have already lost countless leader-class warriors trying to conquer this world. You will most likely be one of them... But as your strategist, I hope to see you become a commander-class, or even King-class, warrior of my people."

Di Nian took a deep breath.

"I understand."

"Beneath the tower is an infinite source of power. I'll draw energy from it to create warriors for you and help you conquer the nearby domain nodes. Until then, wait patiently."

As the words fell, the Dark Red eyes blinked.

At once, surging black miasma spread upward from the tower's foundations. Black flames engulfed the tower, and great volumes of miasma converged and compressed in the furnace at its center, quickly forming hideous, fearsome evil creatures that fell from the air like dumplings from a pot.

At that moment, Qi Sheng's consciousness followed Guidance down beneath the tower.

From their conversation, Qi Sheng realized that the tower had been built atop a Domain Node.

What he wondered was what kind of property this Domain Node had.

Although intelligent evil creatures could use a Domain Node's energy, they couldn't use its domain properties.

He cared more about powerful domain properties than the energy itself.

For example, Emperor's Tomb Village's "Flesh Reshaping" property was a crucial part of the player recruitment plan.

As his consciousness sank into the ground, Guidance's analytical ability activated.

A flood of data poured into Qi Sheng's mind, then was translated into text he could understand.

[Domain Node: Heavenly Abyss]

Territory Type: Rule-based

Territory Property: Myriad Phenomena Furnace

Property Description: Smelts abilities with matching attributes, causing their effects to undergo wondrous changes.

Domain Status: Occupied by Black Tide

From the analysis alone, Qi Sheng couldn't tell what this Domain Node's property actually did. He would have to wait until it merged with Emperor's Tomb Village to learn its specific function.

What caught his attention was that this Domain Node was a rule-based domain.

Compared with resource domains like Gloomy Cave, rule-based nodes were far more powerful.

[Boss, you're drooling over it.]

"Of course. I'm definitely taking this rule-based node."

[Too bad your main body can't leave at will. Every second you're outside consumes a massive amount of Sacrificial Power. You'll have to wait until the players are strong enough before you can take it.]

"Even if we can't take this one for now, it's time to reclaim Gloomy Cave's Domain Node... Let's head back."

As Qi Sheng spoke, Guidance drew his consciousness toward Emperor's Tomb Village.

The moment his consciousness returned to his body, Qi Sheng sent a message to all players:

[Challenger Notice (All Players): The players' first battle against an intelligent evil creature has triggered a hidden quest for all players: Purify the Node.]

Quest Description: Go to the fifth underground level of Gloomy Cave and purify the Domain Node crystal corrupted by Black Tide energy (destroy it).

Quest Reward 1: Emperor's Tomb Village expands and connects to Gloomy Cave, allowing players to enter Gloomy Cave directly from Emperor's Tomb Village and mine spirit ore.

Quest Reward 2: Players who take part in purifying the Domain Node crystal receive generous contribution rewards (Astral Veins activation permission, increased Body Tempering level, Sacrificial Power).

Note: Contributions to this Domain Node purification quest will be determined by actions including killing monsters and damaging the corrupted crystal. Specific rewards will be distributed according to contribution points after the quest ends.

The appearance of an all-player quest immediately drew everyone's attention.

The forums were abuzz with discussion about the quest.

Realizing there was profit to be made from this all-player quest, the major guilds began organizing their members, all eager to earn a handsome reward.

Lone Players were no exception. The promise of direct access from Emperor's Tomb Village to Gloomy Cave was a huge draw for them.

Usually, they had to set out from Emperor's Tomb Village and walk for about an hour to reach the mine. If they were unlucky and got trapped by Iron Shell Bugs and died, they'd have to spend another hour traveling after logging back in. It was a real headache.

Qi Sheng had noticed this problem too.

Other games solved travel delays with features like teleportation.

But he couldn't do that.

A Teleportation Array couldn't be used endlessly just because it had been built. Keeping one active consumed Sacrificial Power every second. He would only consider charging for teleportation once the player base was large enough.

But if the players completed the all-player quest, Emperor's Tomb Village would have a convenient direct route to Gloomy Cave from then on, saving them a great deal of travel time.

Half an hour after the all-player quest was announced.

Players scattered across the Emperor's Tomb Mountain Range began heading toward Gloomy Cave on the Crimson Plains.