Chapter 102: Meditation World

Overwhelmed by a flood of private messages from players seeking advice, Xia Sheng posted an explanation thread on the forum.

【Here is the practical combat test for the Painful Painful Minghun you all want—come see it quickly.】

Poster: The One Who Got Hit by a Dog

Content:

There have been too many private chats recently; I can't keep up and had to enable blocking. I'm posting here to introduce the Painful Painful Minghun to everyone.

Also, regarding the invitations from major guilds asking us to join, I will reply once I'm done with my current tasks.

Now, let's get to the main topic.

Everyone has seen the ability introduction for the Painful Painful Minghun; I will mainly explain its actual performance effects.

The damage effect of this Painful Minghun is divided into two layers: Pain Feedback and Mental Shock.

The key lies in Pain Feedback; as Old Deng explained, this is an emotional damage feedback. You can also understand it as true damage. No matter how high your defense is, it is useless. Even if a gargoyle activates its petrification form, the released Painful Touch can still reach the soul directly. Only one's own willpower can resist it. If you cannot withstand it, you will suffer an emotional collapse and die as your consciousness perishes.

This is a secret technique Old Deng researched specifically to counter the Hei Chao Xie Sui.

He stated that intelligent spirits are the key to controlling the Hei Chao Xie Sui. Even when he releases the Painful Touch against ordinary Hei Chao Xie Sui, the pain instantly transmits to the connected intelligent spirit, causing true damage that ignores distance.

Achieving the effect of decapitating the enemy general.

Next, let's discuss the combat performance of the Painful Minghun.

My current Star Vein combination is Bone Fire (Ink Flame) + Eagle-Head Demon (Resentful Chant) + Breath Eater + Pain (Special).

The first test target was a Giant Crab of level 7 hunting in the Colorful Mist Coast.

Without activating the Painful Painful Minghun, if I throw an Ink Flame fireball, the Giant Crab will quickly counterattack after feeling the pain, or decisively flee.

But after activating the Painful Painful Minghun, as long as my Ink Flame fireball hits the Giant Crab, it will be accompanied by the Painful Tendrils effect. The Giant Crab will flip over and struggle continuously, completely losing the ability to escape or counterattack.

Thus, it can be seen that the effect of a Faxiliu Sect output can be accompanied by the effect of the Painful Painful Minghun.

After this, my adopted son also conducted tests.

He chose the melee system, with a Star Vein combination of Po Sui Blade + Forceful Axe + Soul-Departing Spear + Pain, and selected the Blade form as his main weapon.

Through multiple combat tests, it was found that:

When only activating the Po Sui Blade and Forceful Axe, the damage dealt does not carry the Painful Touch effect of the Painful Painful Minghun.

However, as long as the main body inherits the Soul-Departing Spear, which can deal Mental Shock damage, every basic slash carries Painful True Damage.

This Star Vein combination is fierce; it can be called a four-layer special effect attack.

It carries Physical Damage, Mental Shock Damage, Po Sui Yin (Defense Break), and Pain Feedback (Emotion). With four layers of damage, combined with the output effect of the Painful Painful Minghun, it is stronger than my Faxiliu Sect. The downside is that the body is too fragile, unable to strike from ultra-long range like the Faxiliu Sect.

Below is the recorded video. There is no detailed commentary, so please watch it yourself in conjunction with the introduction above.

(Attachment: Recorded Video.)

Comments:

Night is Approaching:

After watching the video, I just want to say: decisively choose a Faxiliu Sect Star Vein, don't hesitate.

The melee Star Vein combination in the video can cause multi-layered damage, and the output is indeed high, but the problem is that this combination is too fragile. It requires very high personal combat skills, and its effect is limited against the Insect Tide and the Hei Chao Xie Sui.

But the Faxiliu Sect is different; it perfectly adapts to the Painful Painful Minghun, allowing one to build a "Pain Warlock" school around the Painful Painful Minghun.

From the video, it can be confirmed that the Painful Painful Minghun needs to be triggered by consuming a Painful Minghun that uses mental energy.

The Soul-Departing Spear and Bone Fire in the video are both like this.

Here are three suggestions for you:

1. Do not take the single-target damage route; take the area-of-effect magic route. The Painful Painful Minghun is a mental transmission attack. Theoretically, area-of-effect magic can cause group pain effects, equivalent to a crowd control skill. The area damage of area-of-effect magic is very well suited to the Painful Painful Minghun.

2. Do not build your Star Vein combination around damage output; instead, make control the core. The higher the damage output, the lower the benefit from pain.

Let me explain Ji De Xiang Fa here.

The effect of the Painful Painful Minghun is that Pain Feedback causes true damage. It is not affected by how much damage the Faxiliu Sect output deals, but only by the level of the Painful Painful Minghun.

Since it is a true damage build, focusing on output seems to put the cart before the horse.

For example, if you throw an Ink Flame fireball with extremely high output at a Giant Crab and it cannot withstand it, dying instantly, the effect of the accompanying Painful Touch, even if it activates, is utterly useless.

Therefore, when combining Star Veins, consider control as the main focus. The higher the damage output, the lower the benefit from the Painful Painful Minghun; it is better to just play a Faxiliu Sect damage dealer.

3. It can be discovered during testing that the mental energy consumed each time the Painful Painful Minghun is used is very low; the main consumption is on releasing the mental tendrils.

Theoretically, when your mental energy is strong enough, you can release multiple mental tendrils simultaneously, also causing group damage. If you can truly achieve this, you can even abandon all Faxiliu Sect Minghuns, including the current Faxiliu Sect core "Breath Eater," and try developing a single Painful Minghun. Instead of attaching pain damage through Faxiliu Sect output, you would output directly via the Painful Touch. Combine all other Minghuns with defensive Minghuns, focusing on the concept that others cannot kill you, while you deal true damage to others.

The most important choice is the tank build, which can withstand the maximum amount of pain, accelerating the level increase of the Painful Painful Minghun.

This Star Vein combination allows you to roam the battlefield, becoming an unsolvable tank-style Pain Warlock.

The above suggestions are for reference only. You can combine them according to Ji De Xiang Fa, but absolutely do not take the Spirit Weapon route or the Poisonous Melee route.

Is This Beaver?: Good heavens, big sister, come quickly and recruit people. Here is a potential stock. I cannot imagine the scene if this guy is recruited by another guild. Later, when conflicts arise and guild wars break out, a tank-equipped Pain Warlock charging over. Before the fight even starts, I can already imagine the scene of being tortured by pain. It feels like a muscular hunk carrying a box of gene seeds charging over, forcing us to eat them, and we have no choice but to eat them. It's too terrifying.

Frenzied Little Chicken: Oh my god. After seeing Brother Night's true damage build combination, I'm a bit scared. Area-of-effect magic with accompanying Painful True Damage, and a tank build with group true damage. Just hearing about these two schools makes them sound very formidable. I would call them the most disgusting special effect Star Vein combinations in the current version. I suggest executing them on the spot. Do not let these two lucky dogs enter other guilds. They are simply gods of internal war. The pain that players fear most is mastered by you. I suggest the official ban your accounts; the power level is too high.

Death Warlock: I suggest sending them to the Reverse Tide Training Camp. It would be a battle of war gods. A punch accompanied by the Painful Touch must be very satisfying. They will surely be kings in the cafeteria wars. Your cohort will definitely be spectacular. I am already looking forward to it. I suggest consulting in advance about moving bricks; is there a way to get in?

God King: Buddy, you have blocking enabled so I can't private message you. When you see this, contact me. Consider our God Hall Guild. The treatment is guaranteed to satisfy you. When darkness descends upon reality and I ascend the Wang Zuo, I will appoint you two brothers as Great Generals.

The thread posted by Xia Sheng sparked heated discussion on the forum.

Players who watched the video were all envious of the true damage effect accompanied by the Painful Painful Minghun.

But only the person involved and Qi Sheng, who is behind the scenes, know that this school is not something anyone can play.

Ku Xing has already traced and recorded the spiritual pattern trajectory of "Tong Ku Lao Yin" in his mental sea. If he wanted to, he could list the Painful Painful Minghun in the Painful Minghun Library for other players to purchase and use.

But the problem is that the way the Painful Painful Minghun gains growth experience is completely different from other Minghuns.

Other Minghuns gain evolution points through hunting, constantly increasing their strength, but the Painful Painful Minghun can only gain level experience by enduring pain.

To cultivate this Painful Painful Minghun to a high level, suffering will inevitably accompany you in the future.

Ordinary players groan at even 10% pain feedback; even embedding a Painful Painful Minghun offers little growth advantage, far less suited than other Star Vein combinations.

Moreover, the Painful Painful Minghun is not Meng Yuan Chu, so it cannot be directly replicated or cultivated through Shou Shou Jili—each Tong Ku Lao Yin's creation cost is simply beyond what players can afford at this stage.

Due to this combination of factors, he never opened a purchase channel for the Painful Painful Minghun.

……

Rainbow Mist Coast.

The sky gradually brightened; the seaside world awoke from slumber, night fading like diluted ink.

The changing horizon spilled warm sunlight.

Xia Sheng and Jiang Cheng began their training under the old man's guidance.

Ku Xing believed their mental strength was too low and needed to be honed through meditation.

Mental strength is the key to releasing Painful Tentacles.

The higher the mental strength, the farther the Painful Tentacles can extend and the longer they can remain active in combat.

Sitting cross-legged beside him, listening to the waves crash against the shore, Jiang Cheng and Xia Sheng strained until their faces turned red, trying to enter the meditative state the old man described.

Yet they could never grasp it.

"Eliminate distractions, slow your breathing, and try to sense the natural environment."

Ku Xing's hoarse voice echoed beside Xia Sheng and Jiang Cheng.

After many more attempts, Xia Sheng opened his eyes and looked at Ku Xing with unmistakable helplessness:

"It's impossible. I can't do it."

Hearing this, Ku Xing stepped forward and placed his palm on their crown chakras.

"Keep doing as I said."

Xia Sheng, with no choice, closed his eyes again.

He could clearly feel the old man's palm growing scorching hot.

As his breathing steadied, Xia Sheng felt his consciousness sinking, as if passing through layers of mist.

Eventually, his consciousness entered a strange world, where light and color intertwined, overflowing with endless hues.

Each color represented an energy—some blazing like fire, some cold as frost, some gentle as wind, some sharp as a blade—circling his consciousness as colored light particles.

"Open your eyes!"

At these words, Xia Sheng and Jiang Cheng immediately opened their eyes.

Instantly, they noticed the world had changed miraculously—they no longer saw the seaside, but a new world composed of countless lines and light points.

"This is the structural manifestation of mental perception pushed to its extreme—also called the Meditative World. Each light point represents a natural element; the interwoven colored lines represent the laws governing the world. You may understand each multicolored thread as a component of the world—all natural laws follow the paths traced by these threads."

"Now, use your consciousness to envelop the drifting white light points and try to consume them."

Under Ku Xing's guidance, they began using their consciousness to capture the white light points.

As they consumed more and more, they faintly sensed a slight change in their mental strength.

After calling up their attribute panel and continuing to observe, they discovered that consuming ten drifting white light points granted a 0.001 increase in mental strength.

This discovery left Jiang Cheng and Xia Sheng speechless.

While the process of honing mental strength felt novel, its growth rate was painfully slow.

It would be better to return to Emperor's Tomb Village and fight the Black Tide or the Insect Tide head-on.

The mental strength boost from raising the Painful Painful Minghun far exceeds that from training—wasting time here is putting the cart before the horse.

But remembering the expectation in Ku Xing's eyes, they forced themselves to continue training.

After a long while, Ku Xing spoke again:

"Now, I'll take you to your Mental Sea."

As he spoke, an invisible force pulled their consciousness toward their third eye.

Passing through the barrier of flesh and bone, they beheld a colorful world below, where a pond brimmed with golden liquid.

"This is your Mental Sea. Each consumed particle of mental energy expands its capacity. Whenever you use abilities requiring mental energy, you draw from this sea."

"Honing mental strength means continuously expanding the capacity of this golden ocean—the greater the capacity, the stronger your mental strength, the more mental energy you can store, and the faster you recover it."

The consciousness perspective shifted again, returning to the external world.

A new round of training began.

During this time, Xia Sheng asked Ku Xing what would happen if they consumed the swirling colored elemental particles around them.

Ku Xing's response was:

Consuming elemental particles does not strengthen the Mental Sea—it only gathers above it as an elemental seed.

For example, continuously absorbing crimson fire elements will eventually form a Fire Elemental Seed above the Mental Sea, enabling control over fire in the natural world.

The stronger the Fire Elemental Seed, the faster it accumulates fire energy and the greater its release power.

The same applies to other elemental seeds.

Mental energy is the cost required for the Fire Elemental Seed to communicate with the external world.

Xia Sheng understood this as: the Fire Elemental Seed is a phone that can only call fire elements.

The stronger the seed, the more expensive the phone, the better the signal, and the easier the connection.

Mental energy in the pool is the call fee needed to summon fire elements—the more fire gathered, the higher the cost.

When mental energy is depleted, the phone is out of credit, and you cannot connect to external fire elements—thus, you cannot release fire abilities.

But one aspect of this system struck Xia Sheng as utterly wasteful.

The rate at which fire elements gather depends on the strength of the Fire Elemental Seed.

As players, they had no such concerns whatsoever.

Possessing the form of bone fire, he could summon ink-flame orbs with a mere gesture, without needing the unnecessary step of connecting to fire-element seeds first to draw upon fire-element energy.

The process was truly cumbersome.

Even summoning a fireball required multiple steps.

Their player characters simply thought of it and rubbed a fireball together by hand—easy and convenient.

But Xia Sheng did not voice this thought; he obediently followed Ku Xing's training requirements.

During this time, Ku Xing mentioned a shortcut to refining mental strength.

He said one could transform consciousness into a vast net to swiftly devour external mental-energy particles, rather than slowly consuming them one by one.

But the requirement was extreme mastery over one's own consciousness.

Ku Xing explained in great detail, but in Xia Sheng's view, it still yielded less benefit than fiercely battling the Hei Chao Xie Sui and insect hordes outside Dizhong Village.

It was clear that life in this world grew and cultivated too slowly—or rather, the cultivation methods Ku Xing possessed were too weak to compare with the players' built-in cheats.

If one cultivated according to Ku Xing's way, power growth could be described as crawling like a turtle.

But NPCs also had a fast-growth shortcut: consuming spiritual resources.

For example, Ku Xing himself possessed both energy crystals and various spiritual plants—all these resources could be converted into power.

The difference from players was that Ku Xing consumed resources slowly, needing to pair consumption with cultivation to gradually devour and transform them into power.

Players, however, were different: after eating spiritual plants, they immediately gained Body Strengthening experience.

And increases in Body Strengthening experience also boosted attributes like mental strength and physical quality.

From the perspective of native life in the game, their growth was outright cheating.

But there were exceptions.

In his hometown, Dizhong Village, there were two similarly overpowered factions: one grew after devouring, the other grew stronger after fighting.

Dubbed the Newbie Village's Twin Cheats.

This was the one thing he could not understand.

From his years of gaming experience, Dizhong Village should have been a transitional area for early player growth, existing merely to help players learn the game's mechanics.

As players leveled up, the newbie village's difficulty would quickly fall behind their growth, forcing them to explore other regions.

But the Moon Eclipse Clan's "Dark Land" had a completely different design philosophy for its newbie village.

The newbie village's difficulty was outright torturous.

The two hostile factions, Hei Chao and Chong Chao, steadily increased in strength; even after players fought for so long, they had only secured three domain nodes and could never fully eliminate either faction.

In contrast, the recently opened region, Caiwu Coast, had monster strength that did not change over time.

Or rather, the change over time was negligible, almost imperceptible.

There was no scenario like Dizhong Village, where players woke up the next day to find the Xie Sui and insect hordes had leveled up after a single night's sleep.

Comparing the two regions, though Caiwu Coast's monsters were stronger, it felt more like a true newbie village.

Especially for late-joining new players, Caiwu Coast was clearly better suited for growth.

Even if they couldn't defeat the powerful monsters in the jungle, killing crabs on the shore or catching small fish with no hunting level still granted Evolution Points to raise their Painful Painful Minghun level.

As for Dizhong Village, with the two cheating-growing obstacles—Hei Chao and Chong Chao—it would become increasingly unsuitable for newcomers.

In the future, level-1 new players might face level-50 Hei Chao Xie Sui or level-50 Insect Warrior units—completely mismatched tiers.

Of course, there was another possibility.

Perhaps soon they would overthrow the Chong Chao and Hei Chao and launch exploration into wider worlds, so new players wouldn't need to fear the threats of Chong Chao and Hei Chao.

After a bout of wild speculation, Xia Sheng began looking forward to the Alchemy phase after cultivation ended.

Free Body Strengthening experience was simply too tempting.

At this rate, their power would soon pull far ahead of the main group.

Recently, many guild managers and leaders had privately messaged him, inviting him to join their guilds.

But he wasn't considering this issue for now.

At least until he completed Ku Xing's training, he wouldn't consider joining any guild, nor could he participate in guild-organized group battles.

Thinking of the generous conditions the major guilds offered, Xia Sheng's face broke into a dumb grin.

They always said games change lives—he truly had made it happen.

Smack!

A palm, crackling with force, slammed hard against Xia Sheng's skull, making him jolt in fright.

"You're slacking again!"

"Old man, I'm sorry! I'll work hard now!"

(End of Chapter)