Player Testers
Pale Continent, Grass Valley Forest.
The Dark Red wasteland is bisected here by a winding emerald-green river.
The riverbank is covered with "star moss" that emits a soft, fluorescent glow, making the riverbank Reflection like a dream.
The river water was so clear you could see the bottom; transparent fish swam in it, and the water murmured softly.
Several flat boulders were used as natural tables and benches.
Yang Xiu squatted beside the makeshift stove set up on the riverbank, staring intently at the bubbling broth in the pot.
The soup has an enticing milky white color, with mushrooms picked along the way and evenly cut pieces of meat bubbling inside, and the aroma is a blend of crisp, herbal notes that fills the air.
"Tsk, boss, where did you learn this cooking skill from?" The Stone Statue statue sat cross-legged on the rock, an empty bowl in front of it, staring longingly at the pot. "I remember when I first started working with you, the thing you cooked—it was a disaster, a black blob, and Eaglehead almost thought you were concocting a new kind of poison, but for survival, I still ate it. I remember it vividly."
As he spoke, the Stone Statue statue exaggeratedly patted its heart, as if startled by the memory.
Eaglehead, who was wiping his dagger nearby, didn't even look up when he heard this. "It wasn't just 'almost,' I was prepared to die. I chose poison over starvation, and I actually almost did."
A burst of barely suppressed laughter erupted from the group.
Yang Xiu stirred the pot with a wooden spoon, not turning his head. "Shut up. Having something to eat isn't enough to shut you up. This is called learning by doing. The Monster World has so many strange and wonderful ingredients; instead of figuring out how to make something delicious, are you going to just eat dry rations every day?"
"Exactly!" Black Snake, sitting not far from Yang Xiu, immediately chimed in, her hands supporting her chin, her purple eyes curving into crescents. "Boss is amazing at everything he does. Last time, his 'Rock Fruit Stewed Beast Ribs' was so delicious I almost swallowed my tongue."
"You're just hungry," Dusk Shadow, who was in charge of scouting in the team, suddenly interjected. "When you're hungry, even tree bark tastes good. You know what, back in the Death Space Trial, there was nothing to eat, but here in the Monster World, the tree bark is tastier than the rations you can get from the Shop, so eating tree bark isn't hard."
"The boss's cooking is really delicious." Black Snake glared at him defiantly.
"I can't stand people who are obsessed with love." Dusk Shadow shook her head helplessly, giving up the argument.
Yang Xiu couldn't help but shake his head and smile, picked up a spoon to taste it, and sprinkled some crushed salt crystals on top.
The warm campfire illuminated his sharply defined profile; at this moment, the heavy pressure that lingered in the Death City was temporarily left behind on the riverbank.
"Speaking of which, boss," a slightly hoarse but amused voice rang out. It was Rejuvenation, the team's medic, carefully processing several freshly harvested glowing grasses to check for any toxins, "Your cooking skills seem completely untrained. Some of the seasoning combinations and the control of the heat—it's like you have a recipe book. But the problem is, we're with you every day, and we haven't seen you acquire any recipes."
Yang Xiu paused almost imperceptibly as he scooped the soup.
These guys are clearly not stupid.
His culinary skills couldn't have been learned by himself; they were all simple recipes developed by Forum Spiritual Chef who enjoyed cooking and sharing them with other players.
Teach them how to use readily available ingredients to make a delicious meal.
But he clearly couldn't answer.
"I learned it in a dream." Yang Xiu, without changing his expression, ladled a large spoonful of meat broth into the bowl of the Stone Statue beside him. "Just eat yours, stop asking so many questions."
The Stone Statue chuckled as it took the bowl, not caring about the heat, and eagerly took a big gulp. A slightly exaggerated look of happiness immediately appeared on its face. "Mmm, worth it! Just for this soup, this exploration was totally worth it!"
"Come and eat, everyone." With Yang Xiu's command, the team members all crowded forward.
The atmosphere during the meal was relaxed and pleasant.
Everyone gathered around the stove, enjoying the rare peace and delicious food, chatting as they went.
They talked about the thrills of their last exploration of the Monster World, the new exchange items in the Death City, and the funny things a team member did.
Black Snake quietly placed the largest piece of meat from her bowl into Yang Xiu's bowl. Yang Xiu glanced at her, but she turned back to talk to the team members next to her as if nothing had happened, only the tips of her ears turned slightly red.
At this moment, Yang Xiu felt as if he had returned to the time when he fought alongside his brothers in the Temple Guild.
There weren't so many life-or-death choices, nor were there heavy, suffocating responsibilities; it was simply about being with a group of trustworthy companions, sharing food, and joking around.
I wish it could always be like this.
He lowered his head and took a sip of the soup in his bowl.
The delicious and warm flavor melted in my mouth, yet it was always tinged with a trace of indescribable melancholy.
In this moment of relaxation, Yang Xiu suddenly felt a slight burning sensation between his brows.
Immediately following, a powerful pressure descended, accompanied by a stream of information appearing in the mind:
[Leader of the Monster Soul Squad: Yang Xiu.]
[War Information Repository access is being opened ---- Distributed Beacon Node binding in progress ---- Assigning: Legion Imprint.]
The sudden notification made Yang Xiu, and he almost dropped the bowl in his hand.
His teammates immediately noticed his unusual behavior.
"Boss?" Eaglehead instantly became alert, and the dagger quietly slid into his hand.
"What's going on? Something's happened?" The Stone Statue put down the bowl and reached for the shield beside it.
The Black Snake immediately moved closer to Yang Xiu, its purple eyes flashing with cold light as it warily scanned the surrounding riverbank and glowing forest.
Yang Xiu raised his hand, signaling everyone to calm down.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and carefully Perception the sudden changes occurring within his body.
In his field of vision, a complexly shaped purple brand was slowly rotating and taking shape.
Unlike previous Bliss Imprints, it has a more intricate structure, with its core resembling a constantly expanding and contracting miniature nebula, where countless tiny points of light twinkle.
Countless faint purple energy tendrils extended from the edge of the brand.
Ultimately, it attaches itself to the mark of Bliss and merges with it.
This made Yang Xiu realize that A Le had come up with something new again.
But he had no idea what the purpose of this brand was.
In the player system, once all functions are enhanced, they become completely mastered as if by instinct.
However, all the enhancement options for Bliss Player require a learning process, and the Legion Imprint distributed this time didn't even come with an instruction manual.
Quest items? Special rewards?
"A Le —what are you up to now?" Yang Xiu muttered to himself, feeling utterly confused.
Just then, the brand on his forehead suddenly burned.
A massive flood of information rushed into my mind.
[Item: Legion Imprint]
Core function: Consume Bliss Points to generate preset war units. The number and type of units generated are limited by the points reserves.
Available unit templates: Basic Evil Spirits, Scythe Insectoid, Shadow Weaver ---- (329).
Note: Legion Imprint units cannot be precisely commanded; they fight autonomously throughout the entire battle, automatically adjusting their combat mode based on the battle situation. Only simple, large-scale command deployments are possible.
Additional Note: When a unit is killed in battle, a portion of the points can be recovered.
The moment the information flow stopped, Yang Xiu instantly realized that this was clearly a new product launched by the inventor A Le.
And these "Bliss Player" were the testers of this new invention.
Just like the Demon Mark that was launched at the time, A Le's mind was always full of all sorts of whimsical ideas, and he would quickly put them into practice.
He was familiar with the types of soldiers mentioned in it.
It is clearly a Bliss Legion unit from A-Le Training Camp.
He could understand why he couldn't Control.
The Bliss Legion's units operate based on commands fed back from the war information database, running in a fully automated mode, requiring no commander at all.
Therefore, it is clear that A Le's next plan is to combine the use of Bliss Player and Bliss Legion.
Suddenly realizing what was happening, Yang Xiu opened his eyes, his body swaying violently.
The flood of information made him feel dizzy; A Le's information transmission technology was still outdated.
Perhaps in A Le's eyes, they were just a bunch of consumables and didn't need to be treated gently.
"Boss!"
His teammates quickly gathered around him, and Black Snake supported his arm, looking somewhat nervous.
"I'm fine," Yang Xiu waved his hand.
He processed the information in his mind, then said, "The evil god gave me a new tool." Yang Xiu carefully chose his words and began to recount the details.
But before he could give a detailed explanation...
Stone Statue, Black Snake, Rejuvenation, Dusk Shadow —all team members froze simultaneously, the same imprints appearing in their minds.
"A mistake?" The Stone Statue was the first to speak. He rubbed his temples, feeling a burning sensation there. "I have another brand in my brain too?"
"Me too," Eaglehead replied quickly, then frowned slightly as he rapidly scanned the information flooding his mind.
Black Snake released Yang Xiu's hand, closed his eyes to Perception the presence of the mark, and when he opened them again, his purple eyes held a hint of confusion. "What exactly is this Legion Imprint?"
"Looks like it's not unique; everyone received it. Is the content similar to what I just said? It consumes points to generate units for combat, but you can only issue macro-level commands and can't Control precisely. You can also recover some points if you die?"
The team members nodded in agreement.
"So, is the evil god above planning to give each of us a private army? Is he preparing to change our growth model?" the Stone Statue asked, looking puzzled.
"That sounds reasonable, but the limitations are quite significant. The generated units can only issue macro-level commands, making us feel more like support units. The units generated by the Legion Imprint are the core combat force, transforming us from frontline soldiers into support units."
Rejuvenation smiled bitterly upon hearing this, "Then most of the Bliss Points we earn in the future will probably have to be poured into this bottomless pit."
"Not necessarily." Black Snake blinked. "If they really are as formidable as the information says, their hunting efficiency might be even higher, increasing our speed and safety in completing missions, and we might even earn more points."
Just as Yang Xiu about to speak, a tremor suddenly came from the newly acquired imprint in his mind.
A brand new mandatory task appears in the next second:
[Detected that all members of the Monster Soul Squad have activated Legion Imprint, triggering an Adaptability Test mission: Within 72 hours, please use the Legion-generated units to kill a total of 1000 monsters of various types (kill counts for team members are calculated independently).]
[Mission Rewards: Bonus points will be awarded based on the final kill contribution, along with Legion Points (Legion Points can be used to upgrade Legion Imprint and unlock more powerful units)]
[Failure Penalty: Death.]
The instructions were clearly reflected in the minds of every team member.
"They're here." Yang Xiu let out a breath. "The Evil God Sect is active. Each person has a thousand monsters. We need to find an area with a high concentration of monsters within three days."
"How's it here?" Dusk Shadow immediately took out a map and pointed to a marked point. "Low-threat zone, mainly worm-type monsters, many of them, relatively enclosed terrain."
"That's it." Yang Xiu made the decision. "Let's pack up and leave immediately. It'll be a good opportunity to test how well the new toy performs."
With their objective clear, the team immediately switched from a brief rest to action mode.
Two hours later, they arrived at the outskirts of Howling Valley.
A gray-black mist shrouded the narrow valley, flanked by rugged, weathered rocks. An unsettling wriggling sound emanated from within the valley, and a faint, sour, putrid odor filled the air.
"Let's begin." Yang Xiu stopped on a relatively open slope and glanced back at his teammates.
Everyone wore serious expressions, but there was no fear in them.
Without further hesitation, he focused his consciousness on the rotating purple brand between his brows.
[Sponging Unit: Scythe Insectoid Assault Trooper, Quantity: 50, Cost: 2500 Points.]
The moment the thought arose, a portion of the Bliss Points in Yang Xiu's balance were deducted.
Immediately afterward, on the open ground in front of him, the air rippled like water, and dense purple energy rapidly gathered and shaped.
In the blink of an eye, fifty Bliss Insect Race units, each over half a person's height, with carapaces shimmering with a purple luster and forelimbs transformed into sharp bone scythes, appeared neatly before him.
They knelt silently on the ground, their compound eyes flashing with Dark Red red light, awaiting the next command.
The generation process is incredibly fast and consumes very few points.
Each one is worth only 50 points.
Seeing this, the other team members also tried it.
For a moment, purple light flashed frequently around the high slope.
Evil Spirits warriors, Scythe Insectoid, and elusive shadow weavers were summoned.
The Evil Spirits warrior made his entrance with heavy steps and an overwhelming sense of power.
The Shadow Weaver is ghost-like, its body neither real nor ethereal.
Within minutes, the hill, which originally housed only fifty-odd people, was occupied by more than five thousand purple-type troops.
They automatically form loose formations according to the characteristics of different troop types.
The Scythe Insectoid led the way, the Evil Spirits Warriors stood in the center, and the Shadow Weavers spread out on both wings like deadly Poison Thorn.
A cold and chilling atmosphere permeated the air, completely out of place with the chaotic and corrupt ambiance of the valley below.
Yang Xiu roughly calculated that the cost of generating the basic unit type in the Legion Imprint would be 820,000.
For a team of their caliber, this is entirely within their budget, and could even be considered quite inexpensive.
Once the unit is locked onto, a "recycle" option will appear, allowing you to directly decompose the unit back into Bliss Points.
Moreover, there is no cost to the existence of any unit.
It seems that once they are generated, they can exist indefinitely until they are destroyed or actively recycled.
This method of rapidly building up an army is indeed quite efficient.
A Le has given every Bliss Player a "portable war factory" that allows them to mass-produce troops at any time.
As long as you have enough points, you can deploy an army to fight at any time.
Therefore, it is highly likely that A Le intends to use the Bliss Legion in the training camp for war to generate resource benefits.
And they were the test subjects for the Bliss Legion before they were deployed to the war.
Whether generating units for combat is cost-effective depends on their performance in battle.
"Is everyone ready?" Yang Xiu's voice drew the team members' attention back.
After receiving a positive response, he no longer hesitated.
The consciousness connection imprint issued its first practical command to the silent purple ocean below:
[Kill!]
The moment the command was issued, it was as if an invisible switch had been pressed.
Thousands of purple units moved simultaneously.
The Scythe Insectoid transformed into streaks of purple afterimages, swiftly plunging down the slope and disappearing into the gray-black mist, the shrill whistling of bone scythes cutting through the air instantly becoming a continuous chorus.
The Evil Spirits warriors followed closely behind with synchronized steps, like a moving purple fortress, crushing the twisted vegetation along the way.
The Shadow Weavers, like melting ink, seep into the shadows of the rocks and appear throughout the valley in the next moment, their shadow energy silently weaving into nets or coalescing into thorns.
The efficient harvesting unfolds instantly.
The valley echoed with the piercing screech of corrosive worms being sliced into pieces, mixed with the crisp sound of other monster bones being smashed.
Where the purple tide passed, silence quickly followed.
Yang Xiu and his team stood on the high slope, overlooking the almost one-sided hunt.
What comes to mind is the radiation range centered on oneself.
According to the prompt, they must be within this area for the units generated by the Legion Imprint to engage in effective combat.
As the kill count on the mission panel rapidly increased, the points earned also grew automatically.
Throughout the entire process, they did nothing except issue the initial "charge" order.
The units generated by the legion execute killing commands efficiently, entirely based on signals automatically released within their bodies.
They can even coordinate spontaneously: the scythe soldiers attract and divide the enemy, the Evil Spirits warriors crush them head-on, and the shadow weavers control the finishing blows.
When encountering small groups of enemies, they are quickly annihilated. When faced with a dense swarm of worms, they quickly adjust their formation, with the Shadow Weavers first weakening the enemy in an area, followed by the rest of their forces.
This hunting efficiency truly astonished the members of the Monster Soul Squad.
They even demonstrated tactical awareness, knowing how to use the narrow terrain of the valley to encircle or prioritize attacking monsters that were trying to release sonic interference, distinguishing between kill priorities.
"Unbelievable, these units really don't need our command." Rejuvenation murmured, his expression complicated. "This might not be a good thing; our value in the God Eye will be greatly reduced."
The Stone Statue was quite excited. "Who cares? We can't decide what the future holds, as long as it works for now. Look at this monster-killing speed, a thousand monsters will be gone in another hour or so. These points were well spent!"
Upon hearing this, Black Snake raised his head and looked at Yang Xiu, asking in a low voice, "Boss, do you think this is a good thing?"
Yang Xiu silently gazed at the valley.
With this brand-new model, Bliss Player can receive the protection of the Bliss Legion. From a purely utilitarian perspective, this is undoubtedly a fantastic thing.
But A Le is no good person.
All its actions are profit-driven; this design is definitely not intended to reduce their burden.
Once the testing period ends, they will likely be deployed to the battlefield for more intensive testing.
When that day truly comes, he will die and be able to return to the Di Zhao.
But those brothers who followed him are unlikely to survive.
Once on the battlefield, they will inevitably become consumables.
This Legion Imprint is like a double-edged sword, incredibly sharp.
Holding it in your hand, it can cut through the Thorns in your path.
But the other end of the sword hilt was firmly tied to A Le's hand.
"Complete the task first." In the end, Yang Xiu only said this one sentence.
The mission went more smoothly than expected.
Just two hours later, when the howling in the valley completely subsided, a completion notification popped into Yang Xiu and his team members' minds.
[Adaptive Quest: Cumulative Monster Kills of 1000 (Individual) - Completed.]
[Settling rewards----]
Yang Xiu glanced at his total score. With the mission rewards and basic kill rewards during the hunt, he had earned quite a bit from this test, and the points he had spent had basically been recovered.
The other team members were in similar situations.
"Hey, this deal was a steal!" The Stone Statue chuckled as it tallied its haul.
Yang Xiu, however, was not as optimistic as him.
Such a seemingly easy way to make money must come with unknown risks.
As he pondered, Eaglehead's voice came through his ear. "Boss, the valley has been cleared. What should we do with the spawned units? The message mentioned that they can be actively recalled, and some points will be returned."
Yang Xiu snapped out of his daze and looked down.
The purple tide had ceased flowing, and the remaining war units stood silently in the valley, their bodies covered in monster slime and corrosive marks.
"Recycle it," Yang Xiu ordered.
Maintaining their existence incurs no additional cost, but having such a large group of Bliss units roaming outside is far too conspicuous.
This is Monster World; swaggering around here will only invite a brutal beating from an unknown iron fist.
Instructions were transmitted through branding.
The next moment, a strange scene unfolded.
The purple figures in the valley began to blur and become transparent, melting away as quickly as Bing Xue under the sun.
They transformed into streams of pure purple energy, which decomposed the monster remains below. Reversing their previous trajectory, they converged on the high slope and eventually disappeared into the mark between their brows.
Approximately 60% of the points were returned.
In just one minute, the valley was empty again, leaving only traces of the battle.
"This mission was really easy; it's rare for the evil god to give out such a treat," Dusk Shadow commented with a smile.
The team members nodded in agreement, and the atmosphere immediately relaxed.
After all, the gains were real and tangible, which somewhat alleviated their doubts.
Yang Xiu also breathed a slight sigh of relief. No matter what the future holds, at least for now, the "Legion Imprint" has indeed brought benefits.
He opened the rudimentary map and began planning his next exploration route.
Their original plan was to explore deeper into Howling Valley, to a plantation left behind by a lost civilization, where a large number of Spirit Plant were said to still exist.
But just as he pointed his finger at the mark on the map...
The brand between his eyebrows suddenly and intensely burned again without warning.
Immediately afterwards, a voice devoid of any emotion resounded deep within the souls of Yang Xiu and all the members of the Monster Soul Squad:
[The Monster Soul Squad has completed its initial adaptability test.]
[War sequence initiated, teleportation coordinates locked: Pale Continent, Northern War Zone, Glacier Battle Zone.]
[Teleportation countdown: 10 minutes.]
[Mission Summary: Participate in the campaign against the "Digging Copper Clan".]
[Mission Requirements: Follow the Bliss Legion and survive.]
[Note: This campaign is a basic battlefield test; those who perform exceptionally well will receive preferential resource allocation.]
[Countdown begins: 9 minutes 59 seconds ---- 9 minutes 58 seconds ----]
The sound disappeared, and the cold countdown numbers began to pulsate in my mind.
The high slope fell into Deathly Stillness instantly.
The smiles on the faces of the Destiny Squad members, who had just been discussing their gains and next steps, instantly froze.
Even Yang Xiu hadn't expected this.
The problem I was just worried about has now arrived.
"They came so fast," he muttered to himself, the last glimmer of hope in his eyes completely extinguished.