Dark Cavern

Emperor Tomb Village.

A flash of scarlet light swept past, and Qi Sheng appeared before the underground crystal Containment Wall.

As he looked at the Bonefire Life Soul imprisoned in the fourth containment cell, the relevant information automatically surfaced in his mind:

[Inkflame]:

Primordial Ability effect: Consume mental power to release mentally controllable Deathflame, dealing continuous burning damage to the target (actual damage depends on the strength of the user's mental power).

Sacrificial Power output: 10/hour.

He raised his right hand, and a mass of ink-black flames formed in his palm.

After containing Bonefire, he had recovered the fourth piece of his lost Emperor Zhao power. His strength had increased, and he had gained the ability to control Inkflame.

Another piece of good news was that the players had discovered a lost Domain Node.

If he could reclaim this domain, Emperor Tomb Village would expand, and he would gain a new domain ability.

Just then, Guide's latest feedback surfaced in Qi Sheng's mind:

[Notice: Received sacrificial offering "Hollow Valley Grass." Gained 155.7 Sacrificial Power. Deducted 30% of Sacrificial Power Returns. Paid Challenger 109 Sacrificial Power.]

"Not bad."

As his words fell, scarlet flames spread from between his brows to cover his entire body.

After switching to Emperor Zhao Form, he looked through the spatial barrier at the group of players exploring the cavern.

Dark Cavern.

After entering through the narrow opening, they found a whole other world inside.

The farther down they went, the wider the space became, and several forks lay ahead.

While exploring, the Kindergarten Squad players stumbled upon a rock face embedded with numerous crystals glimmering with faint purple light.

When they focused their gazes, Guide's analysis surfaced in their minds:

[Name: Energy Stone]:

Spirit Ore level: 1

Description: Low-grade spirit ore containing abundant refined energy. Can be consumed for sacrifices, armed vehicle construction, and other uses.

Black Ball: Hahaha, this place is great. We found more spiritual resources.

Cute Kid: Let's get to work. Time to dig up some resources.

Drunken Milk: The question is, how are we supposed to mine?

As they prepared to tackle the crystal-studded rock face, they ran into a problem.

The rock was hard, and extracting the Energy Stones would not be easy. They had no tools on hand to use.

[Mining equipment is available in the shop section of the function panel. You can purchase it with Sacrificial Power.]

Following Guide's tip, the Kindergarten Squad players called up their function panels and entered "mining equipment" in the shop page's search bar. Three items promptly appeared.

[Mining Pickaxe (durability: 100)], [Crystalbreaker Pickaxe (durability: 2,000)], [Gravity Pickaxe (unlimited)].

These three items cost 1, 100, and 1,000 Sacrificial Power, respectively.

They had killed quite a few Cursed Soldiers along the way, but each had only yielded 3-6 Sacrificial Power Returns. They could not afford the second-tier pickaxe at all and could only choose the most basic Mining Pickaxe for 1 Sacrificial Power.

Once purchased, a pitch-black Mining Pickaxe automatically appeared in a slot in each player's Spatial Inventory.

Just as the players were about to get to work, they saw Iron Hammer, who stood at the front, take a distinctive pickaxe out of his Spatial Inventory.

The pickaxe was crystalline blue from end to end. When he took it out, it was like a star descending to earth, its faint blue glow dazzling in the dim light of the mine. Sparkling specks could be seen flowing along every pattern etched into its surface.

The pickaxe's head was carved into the shape of a sharp eagle's beak. Iron Hammer gripped it and gave it a test swing, trailing a streak of light.

Realizing that Iron Hammer had used the 109 Sacrificial Power from the earlier sacrifice to buy the second-tier pickaxe, everyone raised their middle fingers at him.

Iron Hammer: Same rules as always. Even though I bought the second-tier pickaxe, we'll tally up the crystals we dig out and split them evenly. I won't keep all the profits.

Only then did the other players nod in satisfaction.

The group then began working on the Crystal Wall, but after some hammering, they soon realized something was wrong.

Black Ball: Damn, hitting the Crystal Wall with this Mining Pickaxe sends shocks right through the web of my hand. Isn't this feedback a little too realistic?

Marble: Getting resources at all is good enough. Stop complaining and get to work. The game has only just launched, so we're in the initial progression phase. Getting as many resources as possible to improve our strength will really help our future development.

Drunken Milk: You're all so dumb. Our original forms don't have any stat bonuses. Switch to Monster Form, and digging will be easy.

As he spoke, Drunken Milk switched to Black-Armored Snake form on the spot, picked up the Mining Pickaxe in his mouth, and whipped his head at the rock face.

After a furious bout of clanging blows, Drunken Milk suddenly stopped. He slowly turned toward his dumbstruck companions, opened his mouth to spit out the Mining Pickaxe, and said with an aggrieved expression:

"I'm dizzy. I feel sick."

At these words, everyone burst out laughing, mocking Drunken Milk's foolish behavior.

But when their eyes turned to Iron Hammer, their laughter abruptly died.

The Crystalbreaker Pickaxe in Iron Hammer's hands sank into the rock as easily as cutting tofu. With just a few strokes, he could pry out a piece of ore, and two Energy Stones already lay at his feet.

Seeing everyone stop working, Iron Hammer paused and turned toward them with a bashful smile:

"Are your hands getting jolted? Feels fine to me."

He was met with a perfectly synchronized show of middle fingers.

After that little interlude, they resumed working. During this time, the Kindergarten Squad members tested the returns from sacrificing Energy Stones and found that each yielded 5-15 Sacrificial Power Returns.

Compared with killing Cursed Soldiers, mining Energy Stones clearly yielded more Sacrificial Power Returns, though it provided no Evolution Points (experience points).

Just as they were putting their backs into working on the Crystal Wall, a dull sound suddenly came from the darkness.

Everyone immediately stopped and looked into the darkness.

"Marble, activate your perception."

"Got it!"

Marble, who had chosen the Eagle-Headed Demon form, immediately activated the Eagle-Headed Demon's Grudge Chant ability.

This ability was like an instinct imprinted in his mind. It required no practice and was as simple to use as breathing.

Opening his mouth, Marble let out a lilting cry that spread through the surrounding area in waves of sound.

Images of everything within several dozen meters appeared in his mind as rippling pictures, and he made out the figure in the darkness.

It was a snail-like creature with a layer of white carapace covering its body. The tips of the tentacles extending from its shell glowed an eerie blue, like ghostly lights drifting through the deep sea.

[Iron-Shelled Insect]

Hunting Level: 8

Target description: A low-level monster living underground. It possesses a hard shell and highly flexible tentacles, and feeds on underground spiritual ores.

After the information in his mind was shared with the team channel, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Hearing a sudden noise in the dim surroundings had really startled them. Once they discovered it was only a Hunting Level 8 monster, they were no longer alarmed. They turned around and prepared to switch to Monster Form, kill it, and then resume mining.

"Something's wrong. There are more Iron-Shelled Insects behind it!"

In Marble's perception, more and more Iron-Shelled Insects entered view.

Just then, the Iron-Shelled Insects scattered to either side, and a pitch-black figure two meters tall emerged from the darkness into the torchlight.

The figure had a humanoid body, with sharply defined muscles that looked sculpted and gray-blue skin. Fine scales covered its arms, and sharp claws grew from its fingers.

[Cavernfolk]:

Hunting Level: 19

Target description: A racial faction inhabiting underground spaces, adept at controlling underground creatures in battle. Possesses level 2 intelligence. Under the control of an unknown power and has lost independent consciousness.

The Cavernfolk creature raised its head to look at them. As its gaze met the players', its pupils abruptly contracted into vertical slits.

At once, all the Iron-Shelled Insects reared up, the tentacles on their bodies writhing as they shot toward the players.

"Let's do this!"

The Kindergarten Squad members switched to Monster Form at the same moment and lunged at the Cavernfolk creature without hesitation.

As players, the word "chicken" did not exist in their dictionary.