Discovery of the Primordial

Chapter 43: Discovery of the Origin

Qi Sheng sat cross-legged on the altar, multiple split-screen displays floating before him, broadcasting live footage of players battling fiercely in the Gloomy Cave.

After two consecutive days of offense, players had successfully advanced to the third underground level.

The number of Iron Shell Bugs here had significantly increased, accompanied by a large number of controlled Dungeon Clan lifeforms, greatly intensifying the combat.

While the player death rate rose, so did the profits.

To the players' delight, the quality of spirit ore in the third underground level was far superior to the first level they had explored.

The primary spirit ore in the first layer was Energy Stone of spirit ore level 1, whereas the rock walls of the third layer yielded predominantly Yuan Energy Stones of spirit ore level 2. Each stone, when sacrificed to Di Zhao, provided a return of over 10 points of Sacrificial Power.

The only drawback was the increased difficulty in extraction.

The rock walls of the third underground level were exceptionally hard, making ordinary mining shovels ineffective. Higher-grade mining tools needed to be purchased from the shop.

Combat expenses, resurrection costs, equipment replacement, monster drops... Since the quest to purify the Gloomy Cave was issued, Qi Sheng's income had seen a marked improvement.

The Sacrificial Power he skimmed daily could recruit 60 players.

His total daily income into the Sacrificial Power Pool was around 200,000, but besides the Sacrificial Power he skimmed, he wouldn't touch the portion belonging to the players unless under special circumstances.

Before launching the player recruitment plan, he had carefully considered whether to utilize the players' Sacrificial Power.

Essentially, the Sacrificial Power balance players saw was just a number. The Sacrificial Power wasn't stored within the players themselves. When they used Sacrificial Power, it was drawn from the Sacrificial Power Pool beneath Emperor's Tomb Village, converted into corresponding energy or items, and then transmitted to the players.

Therefore, the Sacrificial Power earned by the players was in his hands.

However, players could withdraw this portion of Sacrificial Power at any time, spending it on shop purchases, Star Vein upgrades, or body-tempering level increases.

Excessive consumption could lead to a situation where, if he had heavily utilized the Sacrificial Power, there would be no inventory to cover the players' withdrawal needs when they wanted to use it.

The Sacrificial Power Pool he controlled was like a bank, and Sacrificial Power could be understood as real-world currency.

When players deposited Sacrificial Power, it also consumed Sacrificial Power. The difference was that he couldn't earn profits through lending, so he couldn't leverage it. He had to replenish whatever he spent.

To avoid the problem of excessive depletion of Sacrificial Power inventory, he chose not to touch the portion belonging to the players unless absolutely necessary, only using the portion that belonged to him after skimming.

"Boss, they're fighting again!"

The Guider's voice interrupted Qi Sheng's thoughts.

He looked up at one of the screens before him. Hundreds of players were engaging with Dungeon Clan lifeforms leading the Iron Shell Bugs, and battle immediately erupted.

Players switched to monster forms and engaged the Iron Shell Bugs head-on.

Through days of observation, Qi Sheng noticed that players employed tactical strategies in small-scale battles. However, as the scale expanded, they became disorganized, engaging in head-on confrontations like brutes, resulting in utter chaos with everyone targeting different objectives.

The local voice chat during these times was equally chaotic.

"Brothers playing with fire, stop throwing fireballs randomly, okay? If your eyesight is bad, I can get you glasses. Don't blame me if I fight back if you hit me again!"

"The brother in front is really fierce, charging into the Iron Shell Bug swarm and using Taunt. He didn't even last 3 seconds before turning into black smoke. Isn't that just asking to die, hahahaha."

"Don't push me, I'm low on health and need to heal. Please, don't push! If you advance further, I'll really die!"

"Hahaha, I picked up three Iron Shell Bug essences. It was worth dying for this wave."

The overly chaotic scene inevitably led to friendly fire.

In reality, players would respond politely to minor bumps and collisions, but in the game world without any constraints, players' true natures were unleashed. Grievances were met with immediate curses, and grudges led to direct combat.

Furthermore, after killing monsters, only Sacrificial Power and evolution points were obtained directly. However, the shell essence dropped after refining Iron Shell Bugs needed to be picked up.

Faced with loot lying on the ground, players wouldn't bother asking about ownership and would decisively move to pick it up.

As various conflicts intensified, players, while fighting the Iron Shell Bugs, would also engage in combat with other players.

However, amidst these internal skirmishes, the players' primary targets remained the Iron Shell Bugs and the Dungeon Clan lifeforms.

The fierce battle continued. Under the command of the Dungeon Clan warriors, the Iron Shell Bugs fought fearlessly, and casualties on both sides continued to mount.

The players' advantage lay in the rapid follow-up of reinforcements. Players in the rear would quickly fill the gaps left by fallen comrades and continue the fight.

From a macro perspective, the players advancing underground resembled a long queue. Although the third underground level had multiple branching paths that diverted players in different directions, those in the first two levels were essentially waiting in line to enter the fray.

These waiting players, besides browsing forums or watching live streams of the front-line battles, would also pick up pickaxes to mine ore, passing the time until it was their turn to charge forward.

The rapid follow-up of reinforcements made the players' progress underground appear remarkably steady.

One group fell, another replaced them, slowly whittling down the Iron Shell Bugs and Dungeon Clan lifeforms.

The players' ability to respawn infinitely had limited effectiveness against the overwhelmingly powerful Evil Spirit warriors, but against evenly matched Iron Shell Bugs, it was practically unbeatable.

Judging by the current progression, conquering the Gloomy Cave was only a matter of time.

The battle on the screen lasted less than 20 minutes before concluding. The passage ahead was cleared at the cost of 692 player deaths.

Ahead lay another fork in the road, where players would split and continue their advance.

A new split-screen display, following the players, appeared before Qi Sheng.

"Boss, we've found the Origin!"

Hearing the Guider's alert, Qi Sheng turned his head to look at a screen on his right.

The monster in the screen was bound and imprisoned in the cave by special iron chains, just like the Taunt. It resembled an oversized salamander with a large tail, a rounded head, and a layer of glistening mucus covering its body. It glared ferociously at the player, revealing two rows of sharp teeth.

Analysis information was quickly fed into Qi Sheng's mind.

[Eat Qi (First Generation Origin)]:

Hunting Level: 12

Special Ability: Eat Qi

Ability Analysis: Can automatically filter energy particles from the air through breathing, replenishing mental energy and vitality.

Guider Notes: The specific replenishment effect is influenced by the energy particle content of the region. For example, areas with stronger moon phases generally have higher energy particle content in the air, leading to faster recovery of mental energy and vitality through breathing.

Containment Tip: Killing a Primal Monster will automatically complete containment. Participants in the kill will share a massive reward.

Seeing that it was a Primal Monster, Qi Sheng immediately perked up.