Weapon Spirit Valley

Emperor Tomb Village, before the Primordial Containment Wall.

Qi Sheng stood with his eyes closed, his consciousness traveling through the real world's internet in search of suitable recruits.

Without exception, the members of the player groups he joined all treated him as a scammer.

Most chose to delete the link he posted, then kick him out of the group chat.

Qi Sheng had no desire to explain himself. He simply moved on to other potential recruits, casting a wide net.

The fifty slots were soon handed out, divided among players from three groups.

Just then, the Guide Water Orb suddenly appeared:

[Boss, there's one hardcore player among this batch of recruits!]

"How hardcore?" Qi Sheng turned toward the Guide Water Orb and asked irritably.

[After the players complained about the pain settings last time, didn't you lower the default pain level for players entering the game for the first time to the minimum of 10%?]

Qi Sheng had made that adjustment himself, so naturally, he remembered.

Back then, Li Zheng and the other first-batch recruits had complained in the game that the pain feedback was too realistic, making him realize this was a problem he had to address.

After all, fearlessness was one of the main reasons players were powerful, and overly realistic pain feedback ran counter to that principle.

After careful consideration, he had set the initial pain feedback to 10%.

He had not set it to 0% because pain was essentially feedback on the body's condition. Having pain would allow players to notice changes in themselves promptly and hone their combat skills while hunting, rather than doing nothing but charging in recklessly.

[After checking the game's features, one of the players recruited this time voluntarily turned his pain feedback up to 100%.]

"That's definitely hardcore."

Curious, Qi Sheng's head abruptly transformed into a mass of scarlet flames. Fire spread down from the top of his head, enveloping his entire body in a roaring blaze.

After switching to Emperor Zhao Form, his view shifted to the Guide duplicate accompanying the "hardcore player" Guide had mentioned.

The sky seemed steeped in thick ink, stripped of its former brightness. Only an eerie crescent moon hung on the horizon, casting mottled light and shadow.

Black winds howled across the land, whipping clumps of willow-catkin-like ash into the air.

Crack!

With a crisp snap of bone, Li Tie broke the arm of the Cursed Soldier in front of him, then decisively activated his petrified form. A layer of pitch-black material instantly coated his body, allowing him to withstand the attacks of two other Cursed Soldiers coming from either side.

Throughout his journey, Li Tie had been immensely satisfied with this game's realism.

The successive battles had also taught him the proper way to use the Gargoyle's Petrification ability.

He discovered that the game had no such thing as skill cooldown restrictions. He could activate and deactivate Petrification whenever he wanted.

Guide explained that the game had two energy bars: vitality and mental power.

Using active skills consumed one of these two forms of energy.

For example, the Gargoyle's Petrification ability consumed vitality each time it was used, while the Eagle-Headed Demon's Grudge Chant and Bonefire's Inkflame consumed mental power.

Without skill cooldown restrictions, choosing the right moment to use a skill became particularly important.

The Cursed Soldiers became Li Tie's training partners.

Petrify, release, counterattack... whenever a Cursed Soldier attacked, Li Tie activated Petrification to withstand the damage, then released it between their attacks to strike back. He soon grew familiar with the rhythm of using the ability.

After several exchanges, his heavy punches had dismantled the three Cursed Soldiers blocking his path into a scattering of broken bones.

After absorbing the energy that condensed upon their deaths, he successfully reached level 4 and clearly felt another significant improvement in his physique.

Picking up the damaged war hammer the Cursed Soldiers had left on the ground, Li Tie continued east.

Half an hour later.

After crossing a hillside, Li Tie saw a valley before him. A thick layer of black ash covered the ground, and the smell of scorched earth in the air grew pungent.

To his surprise, several weapons floated in the air before the valley, roaming about as though alive.

He headed down the slope, and as he entered the valley, a line of text drifted across his vision.

[Challenger notification: Domain Node area "Weapon Spirit Valley" discovered.]

Along with the notification, the map automatically appeared. The fog cleared from his location, revealing the label "Weapon Spirit Valley" in gold lettering.

After walking a little farther, his gaze settled on a battle-axe ahead, its surface coursing with crimson energy.

[Strength Savage (First-Generation Primordial)]:

Hunting Level: 10

Guide analysis: A special monster that commands Primordial Power, evolved from a portion of Emperor Zhao's slaughter power. It has developed rudimentary intelligence and craves battle and slaughter.

His gaze shifted to the blue-green war saber floating beside the battle-axe, and another analysis appeared:

[Shatter (First-Generation Primordial)]

Hunting Level: 10

Guide analysis: A special monster that commands Primordial Power, evolved from a portion of Emperor Zhao's slaughter power. It has developed rudimentary intelligence and craves battle and slaughter.

After checking the attributes of the floating weapons ahead one after another, Li Tie was surprised to discover that they were all the exceedingly rare first-generation primordials Guide had mentioned.

Although their Hunting Levels had reached 10, Li Tie did not retreat. Instead, he took the initiative to walk into Weapon Spirit Valley.

The floating Artifact Spirits reacted then, shooting toward him and hovering to a stop after surrounding him.

Li Tie had expected them to gang up on him, but he discovered that the Artifact Spirits did no such thing.

The crimson battle-axe leading them floated up before him and trembled slightly. The other four Artifact Spirits surrounding Li Tie immediately withdrew, clearing a space.

"Guide, what does this mean?"

[My analysis is that it's challenging you. It wants a one-on-one clash between real men.]

"Interesting!"

Li Tie tightened his grip on the battered iron hammer, stepped forward, and swung it down hard at the battle-axe.

Metal clashed and sparks flew. The war hammer in Li Tie's hands shattered, sending metal fragments flying, while the Artifact Spirit battle-axe's surface remained completely undamaged.

Boom!

The battle-axe launched its attack then. A violent crimson current surged into his face as the battle-axe rose high and came cleaving down toward Li Tie's head.

Crack!

The remaining half of the war hammer Li Tie raised shattered instantly, leaving only its handle. The battle-axe continued downward without losing momentum.

Petrification!

Li Tie shifted his body to the right and decisively activated Petrification.

Clang!

Turning sideways, he took the battle-axe's cleaving strike on his shoulder. Overbearing energy seeped into his body, and the intense pain brought a savage grin to Li Tie's face, excitement unmistakable in his eyes.

Instead, the pain roused the ferocity deep within him.

He let go of the war hammer, now reduced to a broken handle, and released Petrification before smashing his fist hard at the battle-axe.

But to Li Tie's surprise, the other four weapons watching the fight shot toward him at that moment, instantly piercing his body.

[Challenger notification: Player has died. 10 points of Sacrificial Power deducted. Entering a one-hour respawn cooldown!]

As the notification appeared, the scene before Li Tie's eyes shifted into shades of gray.

An hour later, Li Tie appeared at Emperor Tomb Village's Respawn Point.

"Guide, wasn't this supposed to be a duel? Why did the other Artifact Spirits suddenly attack me?"

Faced with his question, Guide fell briefly silent before offering an analysis:

[You were attacked by the other Artifact Spirits after dropping the broken war hammer in your hand, so the duel most likely requires you to be holding a weapon. Once you discard your weapon, you are no longer the target of the Artifact Spirit's challenge.]

"So that's how it works."

After understanding the reason, Li Tie considered heading back to Weapon Spirit Valley for another fight.

But the weapons on the Ancient Battlefield were all badly damaged and could not withstand even a single round of attacks from an Artifact Spirit. What he needed now was a high-quality weapon.