Three hours later.
Inside the cavern, flames blazed.
Taunt's roars continued, but most players had exhausted their Sacrificial Power and could no longer keep attacking.
Just as the players were about to give up in frustration, Taunt's roars inside the cavern gradually weakened, until all signs of life finally ceased.
Though they dared not approach, hope stirred in the players' hearts.
Over ten minutes later, a notification sounded in the minds of every player who had participated in the battle:
[Challenger notification: Second-Generation Primordial Monster "Taunt" slain. Participants share a reward of 20,000 Sacrificial Power and gain permission to unlock their next Star Meridian Inlay slot for free (limited to level 0-3 Star Meridians).]
To the players, the sound was wonderfully sweet.
They all opened the Star Meridian Enhancement panel from their function menus to inspect the newly contained Origin Primordial Life Soul.
[Taunt (Second-Generation Primordial)] Monster trait: Releases a mental shock wave centered on yourself. Targets struck will experience numerous scenarios adapted from their own memories within a short period, with the caster becoming part of those altered memories (only effective against intelligent life above level 1). Guide's tip: After using this ability, you cannot imagine what role you will play in the target's memory illusion. You might be their father's killer, or the man next door their wife is cheating with, but none of that matters... look, they're already charging at you with bloodshot eyes. Hurry and block! Purchase cost: 3,000 Sacrificial Power.
Compared with a First-Generation Primordial Life Soul, the price of a Second-Generation Primordial Life Soul had tripled, reaching 3,000 Sacrificial Power.
The description also included an additional line containing a tip from Guide.
Despite its steep price, Taunt's Life Soul was already a must-have second Life Soul in the eyes of Gargoyle players.
It was easy to imagine how powerful the combination of Petrification and Taunt would be in actual combat.
Beneath Emperor Tomb Village.
From the players' post-battle discussions, Qi Sheng gathered two important pieces of information.
When discussing Taunt's monster trait, the players could not help complaining that the game lacked a Star Meridian Inlay trial function that would let them test combinations of abilities.
To Qi Sheng, this idea was entirely feasible.
He could use Yan Ming's spatial abilities to create a simulated setting, allowing players to freely edit their own Star Meridians within it, then experience simulated battles using the abilities they had configured.
As more Primordial Monsters were contained in the future, the Simulated Star Meridian function could significantly improve how players developed, combined, and applied monster abilities and traits.
The second important piece of information was that the players felt the game needed something like a forum to facilitate communication and even let them share guides and help one another.
Qi Sheng felt this function was very necessary.
With chat modes such as regional and party channels, discussions of strategies could not be saved.
A forum, however, could archive guides and other content posted by players, making them available for later players to consult and providing tremendous help for future development.
But before adding these two functions, he needed to make preparations.
With an idea in mind, Qi Sheng immediately instructed Guide to create an in-game forum function, then contacted Yan Ming and explained his requirements for the Simulation Space in detail.
Once Yan Ming went off to work, Qi Sheng sat cross-legged on the Sacrificial Altar and began considering a question.
How could he retrieve the Energy Crystals from the underground palace in the Dark Cavern ahead of time?
His main body certainly could not go, since every second it spent outside incurred an enormous cost.
While speaking with Yan Ming about the Testing Space earlier, he had suddenly found inspiration when he mentioned the need to create a customizable Simulation Body for players.
Back then, he had had no way to do it, but now he possessed the Challenger System, created from the combined rule powers of the Four Devoted Servants. He could absolutely control a player's body to explore outside.
Creating a clone for himself, however, was not feasible.
After merging with Emperor Zhao's Self-Fixated Origin, he could project his consciousness outward, but could not divide, separate, or even copy it.
With an idea in mind, Qi Sheng immediately took action.
He closed his eyes, and the Challenger System appeared in his mind.
From among the players in Death Cooldown, he selected one player's flesh-and-blood body and spent Sacrificial Power to accelerate its reconstruction.
Flesh Reconstruction mainly consisted of three parts.
First, the Universal Extraction function created by the Vassal Servant Ultra-Dimensional extracted all the dead player's matter. Then the Spatial System created by Yan Ming brought it back to Emperor Tomb Village, where the village's Territory Trait reconstructed it at a 1:1 ratio. Next, Guide reimplanted the Datafication system. Finally, Spatial Power teleported the reconstructed flesh-and-blood body from underground to the Respawn Point on the surface of Emperor Tomb Village.
The entire process resembled an assembly line. Just 10 Sacrificial Power could drive the reconstruction process, with no additional energy loss along the way.
Even if a player's Monster Form reached level 100, the price of Flesh Reconstruction would not change.
When he opened his eyes again, his consciousness had already switched to the selected Player Body.
But this was not perfect control through a fusion of consciousness; it was more like remotely controlling a marionette.
His main body then called to Yan Ming in the underground space and specified the destination coordinates.
A Spatial Teleportation Array instantly appeared beneath the Player Body’s feet. The surrounding space twisted and shifted, and after a brief sensation of weightlessness, he arrived inside the palace on the fifth underground floor of the Dark Cavern.
Ice Blade's broken body stood ahead.
Walking around Ice Blade's broken body, Qi Sheng came to the Spirit-Gathering Array, crouched down, and touched the golden crystal with his palm.
At once, surging energy flowed continuously through the Player Body, which served as a relay, into the Sacrificial Power Pool beneath Emperor Tomb Village.
Above the nearly empty Sacrificial Power Pool, it was as though floodgates had opened. Torrents of golden energy poured down, purified in midair into crimson energy that mingled with the other Sacrificial Power.
Some energy was lost during the conversion.
The reason lay in the unique nature of Sacrificial Power.
The Energy Crystal Ice Blade had left behind was extremely pure, but it fell far short of the purity of Sacrificial Power, which could transform into all things. It needed purification and refinement before it could become Sacrificial Power.
The purification array Nine Yin had left behind now operated at high speed.
One minute later, the golden crystal was drained and turned transparent.
Qi Sheng also received feedback from Guide:
[Sacrificial Power Pool]: Stored Sacrificial Power: 13333842.
Absorbing the Energy Crystal had brought him more than 13 million Sacrificial Power.
With this wealth added to his reserves, he could significantly accelerate player recruitment.
Rising to his feet, Qi Sheng walked toward the rear of the palace.
Beyond the Burial Ground, a layer of moss resembling flesh covered the ground. Ahead lay the area where the Domain Node Crystal floated. He could see a huge fleshy growth extending black tendrils that coiled around the Domain Node Crystal.
Just then, the fleshy growth formed from the Dark Tide's corrosive energy seemed to sense his presence, and a black tendril shot toward him at tremendous speed.
The physical capabilities of his player avatar gave him no time to react. The tendril struck Qi Sheng in the chest, hurling him backward and finally pinning him to a load-bearing pillar in the palace.
Then, starting from the Player Body’s chest, the tendril rapidly spread to the rest of its body.
After an intense wave of nausea and dizziness, the Player Body corroded and dissolved, while the Challenger System guided Qi Sheng’s consciousness back to his main body.
[The Player Body you controlled was only level 8 in strength. Clearly, the task of occupying the Domain Node cannot be accomplished with this avatar.]
Hearing this, Qi Sheng nodded.
The Dark Tide Core occupying the Domain Node Crystal clearly possessed self-awareness and would attack nearby life. The task of purifying the node could only be left to the other players working together.
He was already thoroughly satisfied to have brought back 13 million Sacrificial Power from this outing.
Before you continue