Global Quest

Emperor Tomb Village, Primordial Sacrificial Altar.

Guided by the Guide, Qi Sheng's consciousness passed through the rolling volcanoes, following the departing Evil Spirit Warrior to the northern region of the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range.

The Evil Spirit Warrior staggered onto a platform on the High Tower. Several pitch-black tendrils extended from the dark red eye overhead and pierced his body, and his injuries began healing at a visible rate.

"It seems your journey didn't go smoothly." A slit opened across the dark red eye, and a hoarse voice came from within.

"I didn't lose," Di Nian said in a low voice upon hearing the eye's faintly mocking words.

"Victory or defeat doesn't matter. I can still sense the Against the Tide Legion warrior's presence. He isn't dead."

"I know. He was stronger than I imagined, but if a group of creatures that controlled rules hadn't interfered, I would definitely have killed him."

"Creatures that controlled rules? I didn't sense any other living beings during your battle."

"A group of physically frail mysterious creatures. Through some unknown means, they could briefly put me in a state where anger controlled me, forcing me to attack them against my will."

Upon hearing this, the dark red eye fell silent briefly before speaking:

"You must have encountered Primordial Monsters. They are an extremely unusual kind of creature. According to information other nodes have shared with me, Primordial Monsters very likely evolved from the source power of Emperor Zhao, the creator of this world. Every Primordial Monster is a manifestation of a power of rules and cannot truly be killed. Even if they die, they will be born again somewhere in this world in the future."

"I see. But aside from their use of the power of rules, these Primordial Monsters didn't seem particularly strong."

"You're wrong. Never underestimate how powerful this world is. According to information provided by other nodes, the differences in strength between Primordial Monsters are enormous. Powerful Primordial Monsters can even kill Marshal Level warriors of our race, or even King Level warriors."

"King Level?" Di Nian was startled by the dark red eye's explanation.

"The Dungeon World you once helped conquer was merely a low-energy world, nowhere near comparable to the world beneath your feet. By my judgment, your strength would only place you in the lower-middle ranks of this world, perhaps even lower. Never overestimate your own strength. You're young, but far too conceited. This world may be where your growth ends."

"What do you mean?" Di Nian asked coldly.

"Countless leader-level warriors of our race have already died in our efforts to conquer this world. You will most likely be one of them... but as your strategic eye, I hope to see you grow into a Marshal Level warrior of our race, or even a King Level warrior."

Di Nian took a deep breath.

"I understand."

"There is an infinite energy source beneath the High Tower. Next, I will draw on its energy to create warriors for you and help you conquer the nearby Node Domains. Until then, wait patiently."

With that, the dark red eye blinked.

Surging black mist immediately spread upward from the tower's foundation, and black flames engulfed the High Tower. Vast amounts of black mist converged and compressed inside the furnace at the tower's center, rapidly forming hideous, terrifying Evil Spirits that dropped from midair like dumplings into a pot.

Qi Sheng's consciousness followed the Guide down beneath the High Tower.

Through their conversation, Qi Sheng realized that the High Tower had been built on a Domain Node.

What made him curious was what trait this Domain Node possessed.

Although intelligent Evil Spirits could use the energy of Domain Nodes, they could not use their domain traits.

Compared with energy, he cared more about powerful domain traits.

For example, Emperor Tomb Village's trait, "Flesh Reconstruction," was a crucial part of the Player Recruitment Plan.

His consciousness sank into the earth, and the Guide's analysis ability activated.

A flood of data poured into Qi Sheng's mind before being translated into descriptive text he could understand.

[Domain Node: Heavenly Abyss]

Territory type: rule-type

Territory trait: myriad forms furnace

Trait description: fuse abilities with the same attribute to produce wondrous changes in their effects.

Domain status: occupied by the dark tide

From the Analysis Information alone, Qi Sheng could not understand exactly what this Domain Node's trait did. He would have to wait until it was integrated into Emperor Tomb Village to learn its specific functions.

What mattered to him was that this Domain Node was actually a Rule Domain.

Compared with resource domains such as the Dark Cavern, rule nodes were more powerful in their functions.

[Boss, you're drooling over it.]

"Obviously. I'm definitely taking this rule node."

[Unfortunately, your main body can't go out freely. Every second outside consumes an enormous amount of sacrificial power. You'll have to wait until the players are strong enough to take this place.]

"Although we can't take this place for now, it's time to reclaim the Dark Cavern's Domain Node... let's head back."

As Qi Sheng finished speaking, the Guide led his consciousness toward Emperor Tomb Village.

The instant his consciousness returned to his body, Qi Sheng sent a message to all players:

[Challenger notification (all players): the players' first battle against an intelligent Evil Spirit has triggered a global hidden quest: Purify the Node.]

Quest description: travel to the fifth underground floor of the Dark Cavern and purify the Domain Node Crystal corrupted by dark tide energy (shatter it).

Quest reward 1: Emperor Tomb Village will expand and connect to the Dark Cavern, allowing players to enter the Dark Cavern directly through Emperor Tomb Village to mine spirit ore resources.

Quest reward 2: players who participate in purifying the node crystal will receive generous rewards for their contributions (permission to unlock star meridians, increased body tempering levels, sacrificial power rewards).

Note: contribution points for this Purify the Node quest will be determined through a range of actions, including killing monsters and dealing damage to the corrupted crystal. Specific rewards will be distributed according to contribution points after the quest ends.

The appearance of the global quest immediately drew every player's attention.

The Forum was abuzz with heated discussions about the global quest.

Realizing there was profit to be made from the newly released global quest, the Major Guilds began organizing their members, all hoping to earn substantial returns from it.

Unaffiliated players were no exception. The reward of being able to reach the Dark Cavern directly through Emperor Tomb Village held enormous appeal for them.

Normally, anyone wanting to mine had to set out from Emperor Tomb Village and walk for about an hour to reach the mine. If they were unlucky enough to be surrounded and killed by Iron-Shelled Insects, they would have to spend another hour traveling after logging back into the game. It was a real headache for them.

Qi Sheng had noticed this problem too.

Other games used features such as teleportation to resolve the issue of time spent traveling.

But he could not do that.

A Teleportation Array could not be used indefinitely simply because it had been built. Keeping it active consumed sacrificial power every second. Only when the player population was large enough would he consider offering a paid teleportation service feature.

But as long as the players completed the global quest he had issued, Emperor Tomb Village would have a convenient passage leading straight to the Dark Cavern, saving a great deal of travel time.

Half an hour after the global quest was released.

Players scattered across the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range began making their way toward the Dark Cavern on the Blood Plains.