Chapter 117: Final Wish

Meng Yuan Chu Altar.

Qi Sheng was flipping through the latest strategy posts refreshed on the forum.

After the Infant Group players successfully contained the San Shi Painful Painful Minghun, the forum launched simulation tests and reviews on the new Painful Painful Minghun.

As the 25th Meng Yuan Chu monster contained by players, San Shi seemed merely an inconspicuous first-generation Meng Yuan Chu.

But the appearance of the San Shi Bow filled a gap in the Monster World's class classification.

That was the Ranged Physical Damage Taoliu Sect.

After testing by the forum's strategy faction players, the San Shi Painful Painful Minghun's strength was extremely high; its Meng Yuan Chu trait effect could cut all attacks and turn them into multi-layered assaults.

Even for magic-type players, inlaying it could produce miraculous effects.

For example, the Ink Flame Fireball of the Bone Fire Painful Painful Minghun, after inlaying San Shi, could activate cutting the fireball into multiple projectiles for area-of-effect strikes.

Before this, Ink Flame attacks could only increase output frequency, but every fireball fired was a single-target attack; however, San Shi could cut the Ink Flame into a group fireball spell.

In terms of power, the San Shi Painful Painful Minghun's rule trait allowed cut abilities to retain 20% of their effect, and no matter how many pieces were cut, they could all maintain 20% of the effect, while the specific number of cuts was influenced by the San Shi Painful Painful Minghun's level.

Or with the Bind Painful Painful Minghun, adding San Shi could turn a single-target immobilization into a group immobilization effect.

The only thing that troubled magic-type players was that after the San Shi Painful Painful Minghun's level increased, the added primary attribute was not Spirit Strength, but Physical Constitution.

In the strategy faction players' reviews, using San Shi as the main weapon required no arrows to be loaded when drawing the bow each time.

It would automatically draw the player's Blood Qi value, condensing it into Blood Qi arrows for release.

Whether in the primary attribute bonus ratio or the consumption of the San Shi Bow trait usage, it matched the Wuliliu Sect more closely.

This caused many magic-type players to wail endlessly.

A Painful Painful Minghun whose trait effect was so compatible with magic types, yet in attribute bonuses and trait consumption, was incompatible with magic-type classes.

After half a day of testing, the three Star Pulse combinations with the highest like rates on the forum were:

The first combination, proposed by "Night is Coming," was: Spirit Weapon Burst Style.

The matched Painful Painful Minghun were: San Shi + Li Man Axe + Shattered Blade + Soul-Departing Spear + Extreme Speed.

This Star Pulse Taoliu Sect focused on explosive output; the San Shi Bow provided ranged single-target or group output, the Li Man Axe increased physical damage values, the Shattered trait boosted numerical damage, and the Soul-Departing Spear created mental shock.

It possessed both ultra-high output damage and could also inflict mental damage; the test results were excellent, with output efficiency not inferior at all to mainstream magic-type strength.

Finally, pairing it with Extreme Speed allowed one to fire over ten arrows in a second at critical moments, causing explosive damage.

The second combination, proposed by the forum strategy faction player "Super God Little Chick," was: Functional Divine Arrow.

The matched Painful Painful Minghun combination was: San Shi + Bind + Black Armored Snake (Fierce Poison) + Forbidden Blade.

Although this Taoliu Sect ranked second in likes, its comprehensive strength was even higher than the Burst Style proposed by "Night is Coming."

It was especially suitable for team battles.

The effect was to deal group special effect output through San Shi arrows.

In the demonstration footage, after "Super God Little Chick" drew the bow, he shot ten Blood Qi arrows, each hitting one of the ten targets ahead.

The hit targets were simultaneously restricted by Bind, and subjected to the stacked damage effects of Fierce Poison and Forbidden Blade; the performance in testing was outstanding, with sustained output and functionality far surpassing the Spirit Weapon Burst Style.

The third-ranked Taoliu Sect was proposed by the forum strategy faction player "Reading to Support the Family": Extreme Speed Ranger.

The matched Star Pulse combination was: San Shi + Extreme Speed + Twilight Shadow + Breath Eater.

This combination was inferior to the previous two Star Pulse combinations in output, but superior in mobility.

Its feature was using the Twilight Shadow Painful Painful Minghun to move quickly, then upon revealing, unleashing a set of high-frequency burst damage with Extreme Speed, then switching back to Twilight Shadow to flee, using the Breath Eater trait to recover the Blood Qi loss caused by output, and waiting for an opportunity to strike again.

This combination was more like a ranged version of an assassin, very suitable for players who lacked skill but wanted to move with the elegance of an assassin.

The three combinations each had their own pros and cons, but their performance in the reviews was superior to other combinations.

This also attracted many players to change their Star Pulse combinations.

Among them were players like Meng Wa, who had always been anticipating the Ranged Physical Taoliu Sect, and now finally had the opportunity to change classes.

And the San Shi Bow had only one flaw: its accuracy rate.

For players who had experienced archer and other ranged physical damage classes in other virtual games, they only needed brief training to skillfully use the San Shi Bow as a weapon.

But for players who had never encountered it, achieving precise hits on targets still required a certain amount of practice time.

And the appearance of the San Shi Bow also gave player legions a new growth direction in combat classes.

Accompanied by the increasing number of contained Meng Yuan Chu monsters, the choices for growth Taoliu Sects were presenting a trend of diversified development.

Besides the major systems of Attack, Defense, and Function, every system had spawned different Wanfaliu Sects, each with its own advantages.

And this was precisely the development trend Qi Sheng wanted to see.

The challenges players would face in the future were extremely arduous.

The Terrifying Black Tide, the Battle Insect Race, the Mechanical Legion, the Ancient God Clan... perhaps other more factions yet to appear were emerging in the Monster World; only through the development of a diversified combat power system could they cope with strong enemies of different styles and characteristics, adapting to combat under complex environments.

Although it had been over two months since the server opened.

In Qi Sheng's eyes, the development of the player legions was still only in its initial stage, with much more combat power construction needing expansion.

For example, the "Armed Vehicle" function, which was already interfacing with the Challenger System.

Others included the All-Purpose Automatic Cultivation System, the Skill Guidance System, and the Pet System, currently in planning, and so on.

But the creation of these functions required consuming massive Shou Shou Jili expenditures, and also needed certain technical support; some content had to rely on players to explore and collect.

For instance, the All-Purpose Automatic Cultivation System required a special organ capable of perfectly adapting to all cultivation Gong Fa.

One also had to add an automatic operation program on the basis of this organ, allowing players to drive the "All-Purpose Organ" by burning Shou Shou Jili, keeping it in a state of absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, bringing continuous body-forging experience amplification to the player.

This setting could significantly accelerate the player's body-forging level increase, thereby speeding up the player's growth rate.

In the future, increasing the body-forging level would become very difficult; every 10 levels would be a bottleneck, and the Shou Shou Jili required to consume afterwards would increase several-fold.

Without an all-automatic cultivation Gong Fa to accelerate growth speed, players wanting to match Star Pulse combinations of dozens of Painful Painful Minghun would be severely limited by the speed of body-forging level increase.

But Qi Sheng was currently powerless regarding this function.

After asking Nine Yin, who controlled the Power of Purification, he learned that without a reference template, creating an all-automatic cultivation system would require consuming astronomical amounts of Shou Shou Jili.

With the current amount of Shou Shou Jili produced by players, it is simply insufficient to support it.

Thus, many conceptual settings remain in the idea stage.

At this stage, the consumption of Shou Shou Jili must also prioritize player recruitment, domain division, special events, and other content.

The creation of all new features must be based on whether they match the current Shou Shou Jili production value of the players.

……

Colorful Mist Coast, Great Yan Clan Territory.

As dawn was just breaking, Xia Sheng and Jiang Cheng were already awake.

Standing before the old house dedicated to the gods, they began stretching exercises, their minds already prepared to welcome the Old Man's new round of torment.

Through these days of arduous cultivation, they had cultivated the Painful Painful Minghun bestowed by the Old Man to level 12, their strength rising at a rapid pace.

Next was the Body Tempering level; under the infusion of wealth accumulated by the Old Man, their Body Tempering levels had both reached level 5, the speed of improvement comparable to riding a rocket.

The only drawback was that the process was extremely painful.

After finishing a set of stretching gymnastics, Xia Sheng felt puzzled in his heart:

"Huh, why hasn't the Old Man come yet?"

"Could it be he overslept?" Jiang Cheng took a bite of a Spirit Fruit retrieved from his spatial bag, chewing as he offered his guess.

"Impossible. Do you really think the Old Man disappeared to sleep? He can go several days without sleep... Could something have happened to him?"

Thinking of this, the two exchanged a glance, then decisively ran toward the dilapidated house nearby.

Although they called him "Old Man" on their lips, through these days of contact, they could feel the Ascetic's care and importance toward them; he had spared no resources accumulated over the years, spending them on them without hesitation, which made them develop affection for the Ascetic as well.

Thinking of the Ascetic's increasingly weak appearance these days, they immediately had a bad premonition.

The Old Man probably didn't survive last night, sleeping and never waking up.

Pushing open the old wooden door, they saw the Ascetic sitting cross-legged on the wooden bed, his face deathly pale.

Through analysis feedback, it could be discovered that the Ascetic was in a state of extreme weakness.

This made Xia Sheng and Jiang Cheng immediately feel something was wrong.

The Old Man's condition has worsened again; at this rate, he probably won't hold out much longer.

Noticing them enter the room, the Ascetic opened his eyes at this moment.

"Old Man, your condition has worsened again." Approaching the wooden bed, Xia Sheng said with a worried expression.

The Ascetic did not answer; he reached out and unfastened the dark green bracelet on his left wrist:

"The time left for me is running out. These are the cultivation resources I have accumulated; I now give them all to you... However, there aren't many resources left inside. These days, they were basically all consumed on your cultivation. What remains can still aid your cultivation for a few days."

Hearing these words, Xia Sheng and Jiang Cheng felt a strange bitterness in their hearts.

They naturally knew the Old Man's condition; he was already in a state where his final limit was approaching.

Usually, when they joked, they would say that once the Old Man left, the inheritance would belong to them.

But when this moment truly arrived, their hearts were filled with reluctance to part.

"Old Man, how much longer can you hold on?" Xia Sheng did not take the bracelet, asking with a complex expression.

"At most, I can hold on for seven more days before my life flame burns out... But before my life burns out, there is one thing I must do."

"Old Man, tell us what it is; we will go and complete it for you."

Hearing these words, the Ascetic forced a smile onto his wrinkled face, then shook his head:

"This matter must be done by me. You are my successors; you should not go adventuring with me."

Realizing the Ascetic intended to slay evil spirits at the very end of his life, Xia Sheng immediately spoke up:

"Old Man, rest well. We will go kill the evil spirits."

"The purpose of building a ship is for sailing, not for docking. I created the Painful Touch also to resist the invasion of evil spirits. My life is about to reach its end, yet I have never ridden it to ride the wind and break the waves. Now, I wish to try to steer this old ship of mine that is about to sink, doing my utmost to dispel the evil spirits and clear a patch of darkness for the Homeworld."

As he spoke, the momentum on the Ascetic's body began to climb step by step.

His blood qi began to surge and burn, as if making a final struggle.

Seeing this scene, neither Xia Sheng nor Jiang Cheng spoke again.

They knew that stopping him at this time would not change the Ascetic's inevitable death; it was better to fulfill his wish, letting him, in his final moments, fight a hearty battle with the "Painful Touch" he had created with his own hands.

"Bearing the hatred of his clan's destruction, the Old Man has lived his whole life in pain; it is time to release his suppressed emotions," Jiang Cheng spoke in the voice channel.

"Yes, we cannot let the Old Man die carrying hatred and pain. This battle is also the moment of revenge in the Old Man's eyes. Perhaps it cannot have a great impact on the invasion of the Black Tide, but at least he has tried his utmost."

Having understood the reason behind it, Xia Sheng's eyes moistened; he reached out and took the bracelet from the Ascetic's hand, forcing a smile as he said:

"Old Man, go. Fight a battle to your heart's content. Your inheritance, we brothers will take over. Before you go, is there any last wish?"

"Erect a stone tablet in the cemetery before the Great Yan Clan Territory. May my soul return after dying in battle, to be forever with my clan members."

"Good." Xia Sheng and Jiang Cheng nodded solemnly.

"By the way... you must remember, the cultivation of the Painful Touch is a long process of climbing. Do not resist the pain; instead, regard pain as a whetstone for your own growth, and also as nourishment. Only by accepting it can you climb higher peaks."

"We understand... Old Man, why don't we go with you? We are not afraid of death."

"No need. This is my return journey; no companionship is needed... You are truly sentimental. When I chose you, it was precisely because I saw your tenacious willpower, yet I did not expect such ordinary parting and death to be expressed with such sorrow."

Saying this, the Ascetic grinned:

"Get lost. Go chase your own paths. In the future, contribute a force for me in resisting the Black Tide."

As the words fell, the momentum on the Ascetic's body climbed once more.

Under the gaze of Xia Sheng and Jiang Cheng, the Ascetic's Hunting level also rose accordingly.

The changes in his body were even more astonishing; his eyes, once turbid and weary, gradually became bright and sharp, the yellowed, blurry substances scattering completely.

Immediately, his wrinkled, loose skin gradually regained elasticity under the infusion of internal blood qi, radiating a luster from within outward, as if time had never left any trace upon it.

Accompanied by a crackling sound.

A sound like beans being stir-fried erupted from within the Ascetic's body, and his height rapidly increased.

The originally hunched figure became upright; bones and muscles were reshaped under the energy infusion following the burning of blood and qi.

As the body rejuvenated, every breath that followed seemed capable of drawing the energy of heaven and earth to infuse the body.

The originally damaged body, nourished by the burning of blood and qi, revived with new life.

It rapidly recovered to a state nearing its peak.

When the Ascetic stood up, he had become a young man of about twenty.

His handsome face was like a work of art carefully carved by a sculptor; his facial contours were distinct, beneath a high, straight nose lay tightly pressed thin lips, and his eyes seemed to hold stars, deep and bright. Sunlight streaming through the window fell on his skin, highlighting a healthy wheat tone. His upright figure displayed smooth, non-exaggerated muscle lines. A head of jet-black, lustrous, messy long hair cascaded over both shoulders, adding a touch of unconventionality and free-spiritedness.

"Old geezer, you're handsome!" Jiang Cheng exclaimed at this moment.

"When your master was young, I was the most handsome in the clan, but that's all in the past." A charming smile appeared on the Ascetic's face.

Saying this, he pushed the door open and left the room. Seeing this, Xia Sheng and Jiang Cheng followed him out of the room.

"Old geezer, just leaving like that?"

"Our fate ends here. What follows is the final dance of my life's end; you need not follow."

Saying this, the Ascetic turned to look at Xia Sheng and Jiang Cheng. Seeing the glistening tears in their eyes, he couldn't help but laugh heartily:

"Do not grieve for me. I have long been prepared to face death. Meeting you two promising talents at the brink of my life's end and leaving behind a legacy means this life has been worth it... Let us part here. Remember to erect a stele for me."

With these words, the Ascetic transformed into a streak of crimson light, flying straight toward the sky and speeding away in the direction opposite the sea.

"Old geezer, you're confused! The evil spirits are on the other side of the sea; you flew the wrong direction."

Facing the shouts of Xia Sheng and Jiang Cheng, the Ascetic's voice came from afar:

"There are no evil spirits within the Evil Moon Domain there, only a group of derivative evil spirits. My life is nearly over; I must at least kill one evil spirit, hahaha."

As the laughter faded, the Ascetic's figure vanished at the horizon.

After exchanging a glance, Jiang Cheng and Xia Sheng couldn't help but sigh.

At this moment, Xia Sheng said in a low voice:

"Chengzi, you said this is just a game. Why is our sense of immersion so strong?"

"I don't know. I keep telling myself it's just a game, yet I still can't help but want to shed tears. The old geezer was too good to us; so good that I can't bear him leaving." Saying this, Jiang Cheng, with red-rimmed eyes, wiped away a tear.

"Let's go find a feng shui treasure spot for the old geezer, erect a stele, kowtow a few loud times, and then leave."

"Wait, the old geezer isn't dead yet. We should at least wait a few days."

"That's true. Then let's stay two more days and erect the stele once the old geezer is about to die."

"Hmm, stay a few more days." Jiang Cheng nodded, then asked curiously:

"By the way, how much inheritance did the old geezer leave us?"

Facing the inquiry, Xia Sheng looked down at the spatial bracelet in his hand. After contacting it with his perception consciousness, the space within the bracelet manifested in his mind.

The space inside was not large, holding quite a few spiritual plants and prepared spiritual liquids.

Xia Sheng turned his head to look at the guiding water sphere floating beside him:

"Guidance, calculate the value."

【Including the full sacrifice of the spatial bracelet, the value is 133,822 Shou Shou Jili.】

After taking everything out and storing it in the system's built-in spatial satchel, Xia Sheng intended to sacrifice the spatial bracelet to Beneath Di Zhao. However, after summoning the sacrifice panel, he paused, then couldn't help but shake his head:

"What was I thinking just now? Truly beastly behavior. This is the old geezer's final memento left for us. Better to keep it forever in the spatial satchel."

"Hmm, keep it. Maybe one day in the future we can meet the old geezer again, and then return it to him." Jiang Cheng nodded at this moment as well.

"How do we meet?" Xia Sheng couldn't help but widen his eyes, seeming unable to believe such an absurd statement came from his good brother's mouth.

Facing the inquiry, Jiang Cheng analyzed with a serious expression:

"In the game settings, the Meng Yuan Chu traits are divided into ten generations. The weakest is the first generation, and the strongest is the tenth generation. Perhaps the tenth-generation Meng Yuan Chu possesses a powerful trait for resurrecting life. When we return in the future after cultivating, we can cast a resurrection spell on the old geezer, and we'll meet again."

Hearing these words, Xia Sheng appeared extremely speechless:

"Your hypothesis does have a possibility, but the problem is we don't even know where the old geezer died. How can we resurrect him? Cast a resurrection spell at thin air?"

"Damn, that's true. How about we search in the direction the old geezer flew? Maybe we can find the old geezer's remains after his battle death, put them in the spatial satchel, and wait for a future opportunity to resurrect him?"

"Do you really want to do that? The old geezer has suffered enough in this life. A quick and happy release is a good thing. Don't disturb the resting soul; let him go."

"I'll listen to you."

"So what do we do now?" Jiang Cheng asked curiously.

"Go to the Great Yan Clan cemetery ahead, find a feng shui treasure spot, dig a hole and erect a stele when the time is right, kowtow, and leave."

(End of this chapter)