Chapter 132: Liberation Squad, Master of Elegance

"The Elegance Palace is forming a team; applicants must have a Nascent Soul rank of 30+, and possess a vehicle capable of traversing dense forest terrain."

"Elegance Palace seeking mercenaries; team average Nascent Soul rank 35+, equipped with multi-person vehicles; a Stone Statue stream player at level 30+ is acceptable, must carry a Taunt Nascent Soul—though combat may not occur, just in case."

"Solo squads welcome; depart once full at 20 members; no vehicles provided; advance on foot."

"Need a talkative member in the team; the journey is long, so we're here to chat our way through—let’s journey together to the holy land of wool-pulling: the Elegance Hall."

Colorful Mist Coast space exit.

Players organized into slaughter squads and advanced along the map route toward the node space of the Elegance Hall.

This leg of the journey is relatively long, requiring nearly a day and a half to reach.

The dense forest terrain is rugged; players without vehicles, or those whose vehicles cannot adapt to the forest environment, require even longer to arrive.

Yet all players assembling teams were filled with anticipation for this journey.

Although players in the livestream chat mocked Lu Xing, they all acknowledged his contributions to exploring this route.

From first recording monsters, spiritual plants, and spiritual ores in the bestiary, to later uncovering the Serpent Ancestor ruins through clues and launching the Serpent Ancestor Trial Tournament, to now the Elegance Hall.

Though they mocked him, many players still gave Lu Xing tips and donations.

All of them followed the map routes Lu Xing had pioneered.

After the massive player force surged into the dense forest, they initiated a carpet-style push; monsters and spiritual plants along the way became mere embellishments to their journey.

Along the way, some players encountered powerful monsters and perished, their souls returning to Emperor Tomb Village.

One and a half days later.

A large group of players arrived deep within the dense forest.

Following the visuals from Lu Xing’s livestream, they bypassed towering trees, activated the space spirit runes, and entered the Elegance Hall node space one by one.

Before them stretched a heavenly staircase reaching straight to the heavens.

Teams who already understood how to enter the Desire Gate promptly set off.

Passing through the Desire Gate, these players, like Lu Xing, were affected by Elegance Power and fell into the Elegance Illusion.

Once spiritual contamination reached its critical threshold, the purification system automatically activated, expelling all Elegance Rule energy that had seeped into the players’ bodies.

Liberated players looked up at the utterly corrupted alien lifeforms ahead, their eyes gleaming.

"Amitabha, let this monk help you escape the sea of suffering and reach the Western Pure Land" (one player said, drawing a Forceful Axe).

"Holy shit, guys, check my analysis screenshot—this alien was originally level 89, now it’s dropped to 32 from overconsumption. How much essence did they drain?"

"Greed, anger, delusion, pride—all are calamities. When will clear skies return? Seeing such a tragic sight, I can’t bear it anymore—witness my Great Heavenly Dragon, liberating all beings!"

…

Players freed from Elegance Power’s influence all struck out.

Facing the players’ assault, the alien lifeforms trapped in the Elegance Illusion couldn’t even muster the thought of resistance.

Even pain failed to pull them from the illusion.

Ultimately, they were absorbed by the extraction system, becoming players’ evolution points and sacrificial power.

Primordial Altar.

At this moment, Qi Sheng was also monitoring the players’ activities in the Elegance Hall.

He found it both absurd and amusing.

It felt to him as if players were hunting in someone else’s hunting ground.

The Elegance Clan could be understood as spiders weaving a trap net, capturing flying insects (lifeforms) with this vast web, while players simply walked right in to snatch the prey.

The key point: the lifeforms entangled in the Elegance Net had long since lost the power to resist.

The players’ behavior was akin to picking dishes from someone else’s bowl.

Watching his sacrificial power income continuously rise, Qi Sheng felt delighted.

He didn’t care what the Elegance Clan behind the Elegance Hall thought.

In this world, strength always speaks. Since players found this place and have the ability to claim a share, this is their rightful reward.

As for retaliation from the Elegance Clan, he didn’t care—and clearly, the players cared even less.

Cut back to the Elegance Hall.

As time passed, more and more players entered the Elegance Hall.

After brief disorientation, they activated the Liberation Cultivation Mode.

Turn the view to a corner: a player squad was fiercely attacking an alien lifeform with a bull’s head, hunting level 78.

It possessed a mountain-sized body, but under Elegance Power’s corruption, it had visibly withered; its dark scales were cracked, its hollow eyes and gaunt Iron Face rendered it utterly emaciated.

Analysis data revealed its original hunting level was 98.

But under Elegance Power’s corruption, its vital energy had severely depleted, reducing its hunting level to 78.

And the corruption state continued to worsen over time.

Player attacks struck the bull-headed alien, yet it retained a vacant, dazed expression, completely unaware it was under assault.

After a barrage of firepower, the squad realized their attacks couldn’t penetrate its defense; members erupted in curses, then launched even more desperate assaults.

Throughout the Desire Space, numerous alien lifeforms existed, similar to the bull-headed one, with high hunting levels.

After prolonged corruption, their hunting levels had dropped, their essence, energy, and spirit severely depleted; killing them yielded only rewards matching their current hunting level.

Meanwhile, recently arrived alien lifeforms retained high hunting levels and powerful bodily regeneration, making it difficult for ordinary players to break their defenses.

Most players would voluntarily abandon such targets, swiftly switching to easier kills.

Yet some refused to give up, hoping the massive sacrificial power reward would justify the effort, continuing their relentless attacks, attempting to wear down high-hunting-level aliens through attrition.

During this time, a player accidentally discovered a method to kill high-level alien lifeforms and alerted the regional voice channel:

"Guys, if your squad has a Blood Burn Nascent Soul, use it now—this Nascent Soul grants true damage!"

Players in the functional support stream were stunned, then immediately tried activating the Blood Burn trait.

As the player who gave the tip had said.

The Blood Burn Nascent Soul’s trait burns the target’s vital energy, granting bonus attributes—but during this process, it also drains the target’s vital energy.

Though not percentage-based damage, the drained vital energy directly inflicted damage.

At this moment, functional support stream players wept with joy.

Output stream players couldn’t break defense, yet they, as supports, had succeeded.

In the outside world, applying “Blood Burn” to an enemy would be extremely dangerous—the strengthened enemy would become fiercer.

Many players had already tried the Blood Burn tactic and largely deemed it too restrictive.

It could only be used against targets far weaker than oneself; otherwise, it granted the enemy a “Rage” buff, drastically increasing team pressure.

As for weak targets, why bother with functional support players? Output stream players could easily handle them alone.

Thus, while Blood Burn output was theoretically viable, it proved practically useless.

Forum players generally believed the Blood Burn Nascent Soul trait could only be used as a buff for allied melee players.

But in the Elegance Hall scenario, players had no need to worry about this issue.

All alien lifeforms affected by Elegance Power were like beasts with their teeth pulled and claws cut off, tamed into lambs.

They showed zero reaction to Blood Burn attacks.

Precisely because of this, Blood Burn became the highest-damage Nascent Soul trait in the Elegance Hall.

Ignoring defense and directly burning vital energy—in other games, this would be understood as true damage, bypassing defense entirely to inflict massive damage.

Second, the Black Armor Snake Nascent Soul also shone brightly in the Elegance Hall.

Its physical attack’s poison effect could be directly applied to the target’s body.

Its only drawback: the Toxic trait’s damage was affected by the target’s physical strength, falling short of Blood Burn’s output.

As more and more players flooded into the Elegance Hall’s branch node scenes, some began advancing toward the second layer space.

Within the second layer space, numerous corrupted alien lifeforms also existed.

In this process, players were nothing short of a Liberation Squad—wherever they walked, they liberated.

The voice channels were even livelier:

"Tsk tsk, look at this poor child, lost in desire and unable to escape… Open wide, swallow this Ink Flame Fireball from this monk, to aid your rebirth."

"The Elegance Clan has done terrible harm—look at these pitiful creatures… That old turtle constantly wriggling its body—that’s you. Let me purify your sinful body and send you to Elegance Bliss."

"Holy shit, killed it for over 3,800 sacrificial power—so delicious! This big fat sheep… Pfft, the master of this sinful body is finally freed—I’m so happy! After all, saving one life builds more merit than erecting seven-tiered pagodas."

"I’ve always envied other players’ luck, but now there’s an open hidden scene—I’m going to kill, kill, kill, and reclaim every lost sacrificial power!"

"Mortal, your eyes are dark, your body emaciated—I sense your inner torment. Let me use my spiritual power to liberate you. No need to thank me."

"This scene is incredible—nothing but monsters that won’t fight back. Isn’t this a hidden game bonus?"

"Thank you, brother explorer, for your great kindness—I’ll go to your livestream and flood it with sacrificial power. Logically, hidden scene rewards should belong to you—you were the first to discover it, so you should’ve been the first to reap the benefits. But this guy, after reaching the second scene, chickened out, called it too evil, and ran off. I can only say: cowardly butterfly, you nailed it—he found the softest squash."

…

During this time, Qi Sheng’s earnings soared.

In just one hour, players generated over four million sacrificial power for him.

As more players continued to flood in, his income kept rising.

The Elegance Hall was a hidden bonus for players—wasn’t it the same for him?

【According to the Law of Happiness Conservation, if you and the players are both happy, clearly someone else has lost happiness.】

"Don’t care," Qi Sheng said calmly.

…

Elegance Hall, Main Hall.

The palace stood in a void, surrounded by darkness and star stones; the magnificent hall was the only source of light here.

The four sides of the palace extended multiple energy ribbons, generating a vast number of branching spatial nodes.

Each branching node domain further extended multiple transmission channels connecting to the outside world, serving as gateways for external lifeforms to enter the branching node spaces.

The exterior of the palace was constructed from crimson-purple Ji Le energy, its surface covered in intricate runes and patterns.

The main structure of the palace soared into the clouds, its apex touching the spatial heavens, its base rooted in an unknown abyss.

At the exact center inside the palace stood a massive altar, upon which sat a towering figure in meditation.

Its body was slender, with meridians faintly visible beneath its purple skin; its head had no fixed form, constantly shifting and changing over time.

Having absorbed the Ji Le power of countless beings, any lifeform that beheld it would see a different visage.

Across its chest spread complex energy stripes, each representing a forbidden knowledge; behind it stretched a pair of broad, powerful wings, feathers varying in shades of purple, their edges shimmering with dazzling light that pulsed with its breath.

Thin strands of crimson-purple mist drifted in from outside the palace, merging into the towering body within, its strength growing steadily through this process.

And it was none other than the master of the Ji Le Palace: Ji Le.

At that moment, Ji Le, who had been meditating with closed eyes on the altar, suddenly opened its gaze, baring sharp, jagged teeth, its forked tongue lashing out into the air and swaying.

After a brief silence, it gazed forward, speaking with a grave tone:

“Xie Yu—the third branching scenario on the Pale Continent has malfunctioned. The production of Ji Le power has dropped drastically. Go investigate.”

As its words ended, a figure with identical purple skin materialized just before Ji Le.

It bowed respectfully to Ji Le, then transformed into a streak of light, heading toward one of the ribbons connected to the branching node.

After the subordinate departed, a mad gleam surfaced in Ji Le’s eyes.

It had been in this world for an immeasurable span of time, yet it had never dared to leave this isolated space.

It had never imagined it would sink into such a desperate predicament.

Recalling its former vows, it now saw them as a joke.

Once, it had been the supreme sovereign of five great worlds, establishing Ji Le Shendian in each, where countless devotees reveled through the nights in its domains.

Swollen with arrogance, it grew unsatisfied with its current realm, seeking a super-world to build the Ji Le Zhudian, using it as the central world to branch out and ultimately forge a Ji Le Empire spanning multiple worlds.

In its relentless search, it joyfully discovered the Monster World.

At that moment, it believed it had found its ultimate goal.

But after leading its clan to descend upon it, it realized how foolish its ambitions had been.

The world’s intensity far exceeded its expectations; what it perceived was merely a corner of the world, far from its entirety.

It had intended to establish a clan territory in one corner of this world, developing gradually and expanding.

But the ensuing transformations of the world filled it with dread.

A burning crimson sun rose from the horizon, spawning infinite Xie Sui; an oppressive pressure nearly suffocated it, and its once-proud Ji Le Army crumbled like a joke before the terrifying Black Black Tide, utterly defenseless.

The aura radiating from the terrifying figures controlling the Black Black Tide made it feel as insignificant as an ant.

This filled it with profound humiliation, yet not a single thought of resistance arose within it.

Even more terrifying scenes soon appeared.

Four figures, accompanied by countless powerful warriors, emerged from the other side of the horizon, engaging in massive battle against the terrifying beings it could never hope to oppose.

During the conflict, even the residual energy waves from the battle gave it the illusion that it could be killed at any moment, forcing it to realize the terrifying place its entire clan had migrated to.

The peak combat power here could crush it and its clan effortlessly.

The aftereffects of the battle destroyed the “Supreme Shendian” it had built; to escape the sweeping waves engulfing the world, it could only construct an isolated space using Ji Le power for refuge.

As time passed outside, it had repeatedly extended its perception outward to observe the world’s changes.

After the Cataclysm War ended and the world regained vitality, it still dared not leave its isolated space.

It knew how pitifully weak its strength appeared to those terrifying figures; its dream of conquering the world became one of hibernation and development, awaiting the right moment to emerge.

During this time, it built countless spatial node scenarios centered on its isolated space.

It extended its tendrils into every region of the Monster World to harvest the Ji Le power needed for growth.

Fortunately, its actions never drew the attention of world-class powers; the powerful lifeforms of the Monster World provided it with far more Ji Le energy than it had ever commanded during its rule over the five worlds.

Yet it could never forget the scenes of the Cataclysm War; each recollection filled its heart with overwhelming helplessness.

Once, it had been like an ant trapped at the bottom of a well, believing the few feet of sky above was the entire world—until it leapt beyond the narrow well that had confined its vision and imagination, and only then did it realize the vastness of the world.

The terror of the Monster World filled it with helplessness, yet it refused to accept mediocrity.

Possessing the Ji Le Rule, it believed that one day it would stand atop the world, rivaling the moon itself.

Just now, it sensed an anomaly in the third branching domain on the Pale Continent.

The drastic reduction in Ji Le power was very likely caused by external invasion.

This stirred a flicker of fear within it.

Over these years, countless Monster World lifeforms had entered the Ji Le Palace, yet none had escaped the erosion of Ji Le power.

Any faction capable of resisting the corruption of the Rule was likely subordinate to those terrifying beings at the pinnacle of the Monster World.

If that were true, its situation had become perilous.

If those terrifying beings turned their attention to it, its current strength offered no possibility of escape.

It would Iron Face a dimensional-level strike.

Thinking of this, Ji Le could not help but take a deep breath, countless thoughts flashing through its mind.

When the mental image returned to the Cataclysm War, its fear grew so intense it considered fleeing this place entirely.

The ability to casually destroy world-shattering power—even watching from afar shattered its pride and confidence, plunging it into deep inferiority.

This inferiority could not be repaired even by Ji Le power.

And it had indeed tried.

To rid itself of the haunting, demonic images invading its mind, it channeled Ji Le power, attempting to overwrite its inner sense of worthlessness with perfect, constructed visions.

But no matter how it altered its memories, the scenes of the Cataclysm War never faded.

Taking a deep breath, Ji Le made its decision.

If the subordinate failed to return, or brought back news of those terrifying beings, it would flee immediately and rebuild the Ji Le Shendian once the crisis passed.

As long as it retained the Ji Le Rule, even if all its current splendor were destroyed, it could be rebuilt.

As for returning to a minor world, it refused.

Having witnessed the vastness of the world, how could it willingly return to the dark depths of a well?

It believed that one day it would become a dominant force in the Monster World, standing on equal footing with those terrifying figures it regarded as nightmares.

“This world will have a place for me!”

Today’s ten-thousand-character chapter is complete.

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(End of Chapter)