Chapter 11: Gloomy Cave

Emperor Tomb Village.

A scarlet light flashed, and Qi Sheng appeared before the underground crystal wall containment barrier.

Gazing at the Bone Fire Soul trapped in the fourth containment cell, relevant information automatically surfaced in his mind:

【Ink Flame】:

Primordial Ability Effect: Consumes spiritual energy to release deathly flames controllable by consciousness, inflicting continuous burning damage on targets (specific damage is influenced by the user's spiritual energy strength).

Sacrificial Power Output: 10 per hour.

Raising his right hand, a ball of ink-black flame formed in Qi Sheng's palm.

After containing the Bone Fire, the lost power of Di Zhao reclaimed the fourth puzzle piece; his strength increased, and he gained the ability to control the Ink Flame.

Another piece of good news was that the players had discovered a lost domain node.

If this domain could be reclaimed, the area of Emperor Tomb Village would expand, and he would also gain a new domain ability.

Just then, the latest feedback from the Guide appeared in Qi Sheng's mind:

【Notification: Received sacrificial offering "Empty Valley Grass," gained 155. Sacrificial Power; extracting 30% Sacrificial Power revenue, paying the Challenger 109 points of Sacrificial Power.】

"Not bad."

As his voice fell, scarlet flames spread from between his eyebrows to envelop his entire body.

After switching to the Di Zhao form, his gaze pierced through spatial barriers to look at the group of players currently exploring the cave.

Gloomy Cave.

Entering through the narrow entrance, one found a world within.

The deeper they went, the larger the space became, with multiple forked paths lying ahead.

During their exploration, the Kindergarten Group players accidentally discovered a rock wall embedded with numerous crystals shimmering with a faint purple glow.

Upon focusing their gaze, analytical feedback from the Guide surfaced in their minds:

【Name: Energy-Infused Stone】:

Spiritual Ore Grade: 1

Description: A low-grade spiritual ore rich in refined energy, usable for sacrifices, crafting armed vehicles, and other consumptive purposes.

Black Ball: Hahaha, this place is great; we've found spiritual resources again.

Meng Wa: Let's get to it; it's time to mine resources.

Zui Nai: The problem is, how do we mine?

Just as they prepared to act on the crystal-embedded rock wall, they encountered a problem.

The wall was hard; extracting the Energy-Infused Stones was not easy, and they had no tools at hand to use.

【The Mall section of the Function Panel contains mining equipment, purchasable with Sacrificial Power.】

Hearing the Guide's prompt, the Kindergarten Group players summoned their Function Panels one after another, entered "mining equipment" into the search bar on the Mall page, and immediately, three items appeared on the screen.

【Pickaxe (Durability 100)】, 【Crystal-Breaking Pickaxe (Durability: 2000)】, 【Gravity Pickaxe (Infinite)】.

The selling prices for these three items were 1 point of Sacrificial Power, 100 points of Sacrificial Power, and 1000 points of Sacrificial Power, respectively.

Along their journey, they had killed quite a few Cursed Soldiers, but each Cursed Soldier only provided 3-6 points of Sacrificial Power revenue; they simply couldn't afford the second-tier pickaxe and could only choose the most ordinary 1-point Sacrificial Power pickaxe.

After the purchase was successful, a pitch-black pickaxe automatically appeared in their spatial inventory slots.

Just as the players prepared to get to work, they saw Tie Chui, who was walking at the very front, take out a pickaxe from his spatial inventory that was unlike the others.

This pickaxe was entirely crystal-blue; after being taken out, it seemed like a star falling into the mortal world, its faint blue light appearing dazzling under the dim illumination of the mine, with tiny sparkles flowing along every pattern and trajectory on its surface.

The head of the pickaxe was carved into the shape of a sharp eagle's beak; Tie Chui gripped it tightly and gave it a test swing, dragging out a trail of flowing light.

Realizing that Tie Chui had used the 109 points of Sacrificial Power he just obtained from the sacrifice to buy the second-tier pickaxe, everyone simultaneously raised their middle fingers at him.

Tie Chui: Old rules; although I bought the second-tier pickaxe, the crystals mined will be tallied and shared equally among everyone; I won't monopolize the profits.

Hearing these words, the other players finally nodded in satisfaction.

Subsequently, the group began working on the crystal wall; amidst the clanging and banging, they quickly realized something was off.

Black Ball: Damn, hitting the crystal wall with this pickaxe makes my tiger's mouth ache; the feedback is too realistic.

Dan Zhu: It's good enough that we have resources to gather; don't complain, hurry up and work. At this current stage, which is the initial exploration phase right after the game server launched, striving to acquire resources to boost our strength will significantly help our future development.

Zui Nai: You guys are so stupid; the base form has no attribute bonuses; switch to monster form to mine, and it'll be easy.

Saying this, Zui Nai immediately switched to his Black Armored Snake form, picked up the pickaxe in his mouth, and violently whipped his head against the rock wall.

After a bout of fierce "clang-clang" smashing, Zui Nai suddenly stopped, slowly turned his head to look at his dumbfounded brothers beside him, spat the pickaxe out of his mouth, and said with a grievous expression:

"Dizzy, want to vomit."

Hearing these words, everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter, mocking Zui Nai's foolish behavior one after another.

But when everyone's gaze turned to Tie Chui, they immediately stopped laughing.

They saw that the "Crystal-Breaking Pickaxe" in Tie Chui's hand pierced into the rock wall as easily as cutting tofu; with just a few strokes, he could hook out a piece of ore, and now there were already two Energy-Infused Stones by his feet.

Seeing everyone stop working, Tie Chui halted his actions, turned his head to look at the crowd, and a shy smile appeared on his Iron Face:

"Does it shake your hands? I think it's fine."

What greeted him was a uniform response of middle fingers from the crowd.

After the interlude, they continued working; during this time, the Kindergarten Group members tested the revenue generated by sacrificing Energy-Infused Stones and discovered that each stone could produce 5-15 points of Sacrificial Power revenue.

Compared to killing Cursed Soldiers, mining Energy-Infused Stones, aside from not yielding Evolution Points (experience), clearly offered higher Sacrificial Power revenue.

Just as they were exerting all their strength to hammer fiercely at the crystal wall, a muffled sound suddenly came from the darkness.

Everyone immediately stopped their actions and looked toward the darkness one after another.

"Dan Zhu, activate perception."

"Got it!"

Dan Zhu, who had chosen the Eagle-Headed Demon form within the team, immediately activated the Eagle-Headed Demon's Resentful Chant ability.

This ability was like an instinct branded into the brain, requiring no proficiency; the process of using it was as simple as breathing.

Opening his mouth, Dan Zhu emitted a long, drawn-out cry that transformed into waves of sound radiating outward to the surroundings.

The scenery within dozens of meters nearby was presented in his mind as fluctuating images; at this moment, he saw clearly the figure in the darkness.

It was a lifeform resembling a snail, its body covered by a layer of white carapace, with tentacles extending from the shell whose tips shimmered with a ghostly blue light, like phosphorescent fires drifting in the deep sea.

【Iron-Shell Worm】

Hunting Rank: 8

Target Description: A low-level monster living underground, possessing a hard shell and highly flexible tentacles, feeding on underground spiritual ores.

After sharing the information in their minds to the team channel, everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Hearing a sudden noise in the dim environment had indeed startled them, but discovering it was merely a Hunting Rank 8 monster, they immediately stopped panicking, turning around one after another to prepare to switch into monster forms and kill this creature before continuing to mine.

"Something's wrong; there are even more Iron-Shell Worms behind!"

In Dan Zhu's perception view, more and more figures of Iron-Shell Worms entered the frame.

Just then, the Iron-Shell Worms scattered to both sides, and a pitch-black figure two meters tall walked out of the darkness, exposed under the light of the torches.

This figure had a humanoid body, with muscle lines as distinct as carvings, gray-blue skin, arms covered in fine scales, and sharp claws growing between its fingers.

【Cave Dweller】:

Hunting Rank: 19

Target Description: A racial faction surviving in underground spaces, adept at controlling underground creatures for combat, possessing Level 2 intelligence, controlled by some kind of power, and having lost autonomous consciousness.

The Cave Dweller lifeform raised its head to look at them; after its gaze met the players', its pupils suddenly contracted into vertical slits.

Immediately, all the Iron-Shell Worms seemed to raise their bodies, their tentacles dancing as they shot toward the players.

"Get them!"

The Kindergarten Group members also switched into monster forms at this moment, rushing toward the Cave Dweller lifeform without hesitation.

As players, the word "cowardice" did not exist in their dictionaries.

(End of Chapter)