The Underground Melee

The Underground Melee

"Damn, another Monster Soul suited for Mage Stream damage dealers. Black Armor Snake players are not taking this well."

"Haha, this Monster Soul is great! Eagle Head Demon + Bone Fire + Eat Qi. It'll massively improve our staying power. I'm very happy with this Primal Monster. Frontline, hurry up and kill it!"

"At last, we can ease the problem of running out of mana. Thanks to nature for this mana-restoring Monster Soul. Mage Stream is getting stronger and stronger!"

"Don't move! Let me get in one hit before you attack."

A level 12 Primal Monster posed no threat whatsoever to players at this stage.

The scene descended into chaos in an instant.

The rewards for killing a Primal Monster were shared, and even landing a single hit earned Sacrificial Power. The players charged toward the monster like mad, quickly killing and containing Eat Qi.

When the players at the rear learned through the livestream that someone up front had successfully contained a Primal Monster, they grew extremely excited—especially those who specialized in ranged damage.

Compared with hunting evil spirits or monsters, containing a Primal Monster benefited all players, giving them another Monster Soul they could socket.

The only thing they disliked was that they hadn't taken part in the hunt, costing them a share of the Sacrificial Power rewards.

The successful hunt also increased Qi Sheng's steady Sacrificial Power income.

After that brief interlude, the mission to purify the Gloomy Cave continued.

To Qi Sheng's delight, the information returned by Guidance showed that, besides Eat Qi, there was another Primal Monster somewhere on the third underground level.

As long as the players kept exploring, it was only a matter of time before they contained that one too.

A corner of the Gloomy Cave's third level.

Li Zheng and his friends stared helplessly at the long queue.

Just a week ago, they'd been lamenting how few players were on their server.

They never imagined they'd have to queue just to enter the mine.

Even so, they much preferred having more players on their server. For them, the Bricklayers, it was a great thing.

Ever since guilds led by big spenders like the Fan Zui Group had appeared, they'd had no trouble selling Sacrificial Power.

The big spenders bought as much as they could produce.

Last time, they'd sold 50 points of Sacrificial Power to the Fan Zui Group's leader, "Wosinie Die," earning 5,000 credits.

After that, the price of Sacrificial Power had soared. Li Zheng had decided to stop selling it for the time being and focus on getting stronger before worrying about profits.

To Li Zheng, investing Sacrificial Power in becoming stronger was a sure bet.

Only by growing stronger could they hunt more powerful monsters and earn more Sacrificial Power.

While waiting in line, he kept busy, leading his friends in furiously striking the nearby rock wall with their Pickaxes to search for Spiritual Ore.

The players around them were doing the same, chipping away at the walls. The clanging of metal rang out without pause.

Mining Spiritual Ore was the safest way to earn rewards in the game. The downside was that it took some luck. On a lucky day, you could dig out several pieces embedded in the rock wall; on an unlucky one, you might toil all day without finding anything.

Unlike the predictable rewards from Grinding and Leveling, mining depended heavily on luck.

That was why many new players chose it as their first source of income. After all, even the weakest Blood Corpses in the Waning Crescent Moon scenario were around level 10. New players struggled to hunt them and needed a team to take them on.

"Heh, got another one."

A chunk of rock broke away, revealing a glowing white Energy Stone. Eat Earth looked pleased with himself.

"Don't get cocky. Your old man's about to dig up a level 2 ore." Killing Intent stood on Li Zheng's other side, swinging his Pickaxe faster.

Just then, a wave of shocked cries came from the back of the queue.

Li Zheng and the others stopped mining and turned to look, wondering what had happened.

[Challenger Notice (Regional): Congratulations to the player who obtained the level 5 Spiritual Ore "Soul Crystal" through mining on the third underground level of the Gloomy Cave, becoming the first to obtain a level 5 or higher Spiritual Ore. Bonus reward: 500 Sacrificial Power.]

Soul Crystal: An ore formed when mineral deposits absorb the dissipating spiritual power of the dead. It can nourish and repair damaged souls.

How to use: Forge, consume (consuming it grants Body Tempering experience), Sacrifice

The notice made Li Zheng and the others realize that someone farther back in the queue had struck it rich mining.

The Soul Crystal mentioned in the notice was level 5 Spiritual Ore. More importantly, it could be consumed directly to increase Body Tempering levels.

That was hugely tempting to players.

At this stage, increasing one's Body Tempering level was extremely difficult. Unlike Astral Veins, whose upgrade costs rose gradually, each level from Body Tempering 1 to 10 required 10,000 Sacrificial Power to advance.

This was the first time players had learned in the game that they could gain Body Tempering experience by consuming special resources.

"Talk about lucky. Too bad it wasn't me." Watching the regional channel fill with buy offers in cash, Eat Earth couldn't help sounding envious.

After the interruption, Li Zheng and the others were about to resume mining when they noticed that the commotion at the back of the queue wasn't dying down. It was getting worse. Some players had even transformed into monsters and started fighting one another.

"Damn, something's not right!"

The uproar made Li Zheng think of a possibility. He immediately turned to Eat Earth.

"Eat Earth, send your perception over and take a look."

Eat Earth nodded. His body twisted as he changed into an Eagle Head Demon, then sent sound waves spreading toward the back of the queue. His consciousness followed the waves through the crowd to the center of the commotion.

What he saw made his heart pound.

The cracked rock wall, where chunks had been knocked away by Pickaxes, was studded with purple crystals that shimmered in the flickering firelight.

Eat Earth withdrew his consciousness and immediately turned to Li Zheng.

"Brother Li, there's a whole wall of level 5 Soul Crystal ore. At least twenty pieces, maybe more deeper inside."

"No wonder it's so chaotic. They're fighting over Spiritual Ore." Family Shared Godfather nodded in understanding, then looked at Li Zheng. "Brother Li, what do you think?"

"What else? We take it. Di Zhao never said whoever finds it gets to keep it. If we get our hands on it, it's ours."

"I'm a college student. I have to get one of those Soul Crystals."

After a brief exchange, Li Zheng and the others promptly transformed into monsters and charged toward the fighting crowd.

Many other players had the same idea. Tempted by the rewards, they transformed into monsters and joined the scramble.

Large numbers of players were beaten into submission and dispersed into black mist.

Meanwhile, more and more players heard that large amounts of level 5 Spiritual Ore had appeared on the third underground level. They kept streaming in, one group after another—when one died, another took their place.

The fighting even spread from the Gloomy Cave to the players queued outside the mine.

It started when a Fan Zui Group player was killed by members of the Shen Yi Guild while fighting for the ore. The player immediately contacted the guild leader, Li Siyu, for help.

Soon, members of the two guilds clashed outside the mine.

Players on good terms with either guild joined the fray, and an all-out brawl broke out.

The first large-scale civil war since Monster World launched had begun.