Chapter 138: Rule Spirit Root, Misfortune Diverted Eastward

At the same moment the player made contact with the Heavenly Soldier, Qi Sheng's consciousness, together with the Guide's, descended as well.

According to the Guide's feedback, within this lifeform called the Heavenly Soldier lingered a wisp of rule power.

Driven by curiosity, he followed the gradually dissipating qi-and-blood trail in the air, tracing back in the direction the Heavenly Soldier had come from.

After the Guide carried his consciousness across two sea regions, they arrived at a sea area whose waters were an emerald green.

The parsed information named this sea area: Thousand Army Sea.

There, they found the starting point from which the burning qi-and-blood trail's aura had spread—a massive island.

【Boss, this island clearly isn't an original territory of Monster World. It should be a domain brought in when some other force descended, and it has now fully merged into Monster World, becoming part of it. After the island merged into the world, it also brought along some new elemental energies.】

After parsing the island's information, the Guide gave its feedback.

Qi Sheng nodded upon hearing it.

He wasn't surprised that the merging of worlds would bring new elemental energies.

When the Guide had once taught him how to understand Beneath Di Zhao's power of rooting the self in its origin, it had touched on this very subject.

It said one could think of Monster World as an open-type world; originally, its domain nodes were linked together, forming a completely sealed space.

But after Di Zhao fell, the tight connections between the domain nodes broke apart, causing Monster World to become an open-type world—and fully exposed it to the eyes of Outer Realm forces.

From then on, Monster World became like a new force made up of countless puzzle pieces (domain nodes).

Any outside force with the ability could merge its own world into Monster World, pry open the seams between domain nodes, and slot its own world in.

During this process, some of the new world's core elements would also merge into Monster World.

Suppose the original Monster World had no fire element. Once a world carrying a fire-element generation framework merged into Monster World, that fire-element framework would also merge into Monster World's base framework, and from then on Monster World would birth fire-element energy as well.

One could say Monster World was growing every single moment.

Any force with the means would merge core plates of their Homeworld into Monster World to help it grow, thereby creating a home-field advantage.

This also caused Monster World's spirituality to grow ever stronger, and the world elements it nurtured ever more numerous.

All manner of strange and bizarre elements filled the world between heaven and earth.

But this model wasn't something every force could pull off.

To carry a single core plate of a world into Monster World required an utterly terrifying expenditure of energy.

Like the Blaze Clan, who spent a thousand years just to successfully build a massive one-use teleportation array for their entire tribe's migration—carrying a world plate along was simply beyond them.

Being able to take this step already qualified one as a potential powerful race.

He had once asked the Guide a question: assuming Monster World kept growing larger and new rule elements kept multiplying, would the Four Gods' control over Monster World weaken?

The Guide's answer was negative.

It said that although Monster World had become an open-type world, the highest authority rule over Monster World always belonged to Di Zhao, followed by the Four Gods themselves.

It was like a game that had any number of mods added to it—the ownership of the game always remained in the hands of the game's developer.

So no matter how Monster World grew, the Four Gods would always remain the holders of the supreme authority; if they recovered their full strength, they could even easily delete those foreign rule powers.

But the Guide also said at the same time that there was absolutely no need to do so.

Monster World growing stronger was, in essence, a good thing; once the world's intensity rose, the energy generated by its operation would only increase.

The only headache was that the number of powerful enemies was also growing.

Thoughts churning, Qi Sheng's consciousness followed the Guide deeper into the island.

The scenes along the way left him deeply astonished.

This place was like a massive assembly-line arms factory, with multiple breeding bases built upon it, each one filled with an enormous number of cultivation chambers.

More importantly, he discovered here multiple spatial passages connecting to Outer Realm worlds.

What moved about the island was a special kind of lifeform, half energy and half flesh and blood, its body like a ball of flame condensed from qi and blood.

Once his parsing ability activated, the relevant information of one of these creatures surfaced in Qi Sheng's mind.

【Heavenly Spirit Root】:

Hunt Level: 205

Target Introduction: A member of the Ascension Race from the Ascension World. In its early stage of life it cannot grow through normal means; it must parasitize the flesh and blood of other living beings, absorbing growth qi and blood and energy. Upon reaching maturity it breaks out of its cocoon, completing a second evolution of life and entering a mature stage where it can grow freely.

……

"Ascension Race?"

Driven by curiosity, Qi Sheng continued to follow the Guide's consciousness as it moved swiftly across the island.

Passing through building after building, and even entering Ru Xiao Shi Jie to inspect them, the situation of the Ascension Race gradually became clear in his eyes, and he understood exactly what that Heavenly Soldier who had fled to the Azure Star Sea had gone through.

This foreign, merged-in island could be regarded as the Ascension Race's arms factory for nurturing offspring.

But unlike the terrifying Black Tide or the combat Bug Tide's mass-spawning methods, the Ascension Race's way of raising offspring could be understood as elite cultivation.

Their special life structure meant Ascension Race members were extremely fragile in their early growth stage and needed to obtain nutrients for growth through parasitism.

To this end, the Ascension Race had captive-raised living beings from multiple worlds and fabricated a monstrous lie.

Namely, the lie of ascending to Xian Jie.

And the so-called Xian Jie was this very massive island.

Mature-stage Ascension Race members would break out of their cocoons here, completing their second evolution of life.

The entire island was connected to 23 small worlds, and the living beings of each small world were captive-raised flesh-and-blood incubators.

Through detailed investigation, one could find—

Members of the Ascension Race would, from time to time, release countless offspring seeds into these 23 small worlds.

The seeds were nearly invisible; once they entered a small world, they would merge into the air, automatically searching for living beings newly born in that small world and fusing with them.

Once parasitism by the seed was complete, a spirit root would be born within the living being.

That is, in the eyes of the small-world beings, the seed of cultivation—and the cornerstone of ascending to immortality.

During this process, several special cases also existed.

For example, when a living being is first born, multiple Ascendant Race seeds fuse into its body, resulting in a case of multiple spiritual roots.

The cultivation and growth process of such living beings becomes extremely slow, because the larger number of Ascendant Race seeds within the body compete for qi, blood, and energy, causing the cultivation progress to be several times slower than that of cultivators with a single spiritual root.

In essence, in the Ascendant Race's eyes, any clansman who has not successfully ascended does not count as a true clansman.

One can understand the small worlds as life incubators, a massive structure resembling a womb.

After the Ascendant Race invests hundreds of millions of descendant seeds, only those that successfully hatch from the incubator are regarded as true clansmen.

During this process, the Ascendant Race also pours various resources into the small worlds to assist the flesh-and-blood parasitic bodies of the small worlds in growing rapidly.

Yet this phenomenon is regarded by the lower-realm living beings as a blessing bestowed by immortals.

But all living beings within the 23 small worlds do not know that all of this is a false lie.

This parasitic growth model has two characteristics.

The first characteristic is internal gu-raising.

The Ascendant Race seeds are all competitors with one another; only a few among them can truly transform into Ascendant Race clansmen, while the vast majority will sink into the captive worlds.

The second characteristic is external absorption.

The harder the lower-realm living beings strive, the faster the Ascendant Race seeds grow.

Longevity, Xian Jie... all of this is a lie woven by the Ascendant Race to allow their seeds to grow better, with the purpose of making the captive parasitic bodies strive toward the goals they have set.

Qi Sheng is temporarily unclear when the Ascendant Race descended upon Monster World.

But what can be confirmed is that the Ascendant Race's strength is extremely formidable.

They tore off a core continental plate from the world they were on, descended carrying a massive stretch of territory, and used this territory as the core to begin their development.

What is outrageous is that, apart from the world-core territory, the Ascendant Race also dragged along the spatial tunnels connecting the 23 small worlds, bringing them all with them.

But Qi Sheng can completely understand the logic behind the Ascendant Race's behavior.

Their special bodily structure destined that their offspring cannot grow on their own during the larval stage; they must parasitize within potential living beings and grow along with them.

The current Monster World can be called a battlefield of gods; the Ascendant Race simply cannot find suitable parasitic bodies in Monster World.

Even if they could find some, they would not necessarily be opponents.

And the Ascendant Race's lies cannot deceive the members of those powerful factions either.

Especially those Catastrophe-level factions that wage war across multiple worlds — the conception of an Ascendant Heaven Realm is like a joke in their eyes; their level of cognition completely crushes the Ascendant Race.

So they could only move their parasitic-body breeding farm to Monster World and continue cultivating descendants here.

The entire island covers five domain nodes of Monster World, drawing energy from the nodes and the air to irrigate the small worlds, thereby assisting the growth of the small worlds' living beings.

In Qi Sheng's eyes, this behavior is simply that of a bandit — siphoning Monster World's resources to cultivate the small worlds' living beings.

Then using the small worlds' living beings to hatch Ascendant Race members, forming a complete parasitic-cultivation cycle system that continuously creates elite warriors for the Ascendant Race.

Every successfully hatched Ascendant Race warrior has a combat level of no less than 170.

This cultivation system even has an internal-external dual-cycle recovery system built in.

In the external cycle, one can see that every cultivation tank is equipped with instruments that break down flesh and blood tissue. When a new-generation Ascendant Race member breaks out of its shell, the remaining flesh and blood that has yet to be absorbed and digested is gradually dissolved and shredded by the instruments, and finally poured back into the small worlds, transforming into energy that dissipates between heaven and earth.

Squeezing out the last bit of value from the parasitic bodies.

The internal cycle system is the framework system of the small worlds; the spiritual substances within all deceased living beings will dissipate and feed back into the world, ensuring that spiritual substances do not leak out.

In this way, even though the strife and slaughter within the small worlds will cause some living beings to die, it will not affect the reduction of the world's substances.

Combined with the external energy irrigation, the internal-external cycle system ensures the healthy operation of the breeding farm.

In the very central region of the island, Qi Sheng saw a runic divine pillar.

The pillar was entirely forged from a dark-gold material, with a faint ghostly light flowing across its surface.

Upon the divine pillar were carved intricate and ancient runic trajectories, and a massive black stone was inlaid at its top.

Around the base of the divine pillar were carved twelve ring-shaped grooves, each groove containing a rune corresponding to a power system: Gold Spiritual Root, Water Spiritual Root, Wood Spiritual Root, Fire Spiritual Root, Earth Spiritual Root, Ice Spiritual Root, Wind Spiritual Root, Thunder Spiritual Root, Yin Spiritual Root, Yang Spiritual Root, Heaven Spiritual Root, and Earth Spiritual Root.

The analysis ability activated, and the information of the runic divine pillar flooded into his mind.

【World Rule Trait: Spiritual Root】:

Rule Analysis Introduction: Through the Spiritual Root Divine Pillar, newly born living beings can be granted an elemental spiritual-root talent. Thereafter, living beings who receive the blessing of runic power can obtain special ability bonuses corresponding to this attribute.

……

Through the analysis introduction, Qi Sheng gained a deeper understanding of the Ascendant Race.

The Ascendant Race mastered a world-rule power that could implant elemental traits into newly born living beings.

After all Ascendant Race members' seeds are born, they receive a blessing here, mastering a random spiritual-root attribute, and only then are they cast into the 23 small worlds, allowing the descendant seeds to freely seek out parasitic bodies and complete life fusion.

In other words, the Ascendant Race also descended upon Monster World carrying a cheat from their Homeworld.

The elite-oriented cultivation route prevents the Ascendant Race from mass-producing troops like Catastrophe-level factions, commanding endless combat units.

But the Ascendant Race's combat power is truly terrifying.

Every Ascendant Race warrior is an extremely powerful being — placed in the small worlds, they could be called immortals descending upon the world, and are simply not something the small worlds' living beings can contend against.

And that being named Tian Bing was clearly a parasitic body cultivated within one of the small worlds.

For some reason, it slew the half-mature Ascendant Race member within its body that possessed the blessing of rule power, escaped from the cultivation assembly line, and flew toward the Azure Star Sea Area before crashing down heavily wounded.

And the lingering wisp of rule aura on Tian Bing's body was clearly the rule spiritual-root aura left behind after the Ascendant Race member within its body died.

"Yet another new faction has appeared; this world is getting more and more chaotic."

【A system that creates combat units through parasitism and breeding — this is also my first time seeing it. This Ascendant Race clearly had already built this complex assembly-line cultivation system before descending upon Monster World. Perhaps the resources of their Homeworld could not sustain the continuous operation of this cyclical cultivation system, so they had been searching for a new world that could provide massive resources, and finally, through constant searching, found Monster World, and descended here carrying the rule power and core territory of their Homeworld, establishing a new Ascendant Race land.】

"Let them come, then; one more Ascendant Race in the current Monster World is nothing major."

After thoroughly understanding the Ascendant Race's situation, Qi Sheng's consciousness followed the guidance and returned.

……

Azure Star Sea Area, Dream Island.

Unable to break through Tian Bing's defense even after controlling his good brothers to bite with all their might, Yu Yun once again dragged the Tier-75 Tian Bing ashore.

Realizing he could not open the treasure chest by force, Yu Yun fell into deep thought.

There was no doubt that killing a Heavenly Soldier would bring him massive wealth.

But the problem was an ant trying to shake an elephant—his strength alone could not kill a Heavenly Soldier; this exceeded the upper limit of what he could penetrate.

Yet how could he bear to leave like this?

He took out his battle axe again and approached the Heavenly Soldier, slashing violently.

After his palms went numb from the shock, he retracted the axe and sat dejectedly on the ground, summoning his guild list.

Yu Yun: Brothers, give me some advice—I can't open this wealth chest because my level's too low. (Screenshot of Heavenly Soldier analysis. jpg)

Mang Mang Xingxing: You deserve to die. Where'd you find this chest? Any more nearby? Give me one too.

Lu 174: My advice is to put the chest back where you found it. You can't handle this thing—if you can't break its defense, it's never meant for you. Return it to nature; let it find someone worthy.

Luo Feng Yuhuo: Try feeding it a gene seed—see if it kills. If one isn't enough, shove in a handful. If it still doesn't work, ignore me. Or switch your Painful Painful Minghun—embed a Blood Burn Painful Painful Minghun to deal true damage. If it works, send me a red packet.

Mei You Xiao Shuo Ke Kan: Give me coordinates—I'll lend a hand. Quickly form a team!

Mo Li Linglongyue: Obviously switch your Painful Painful Minghun. Before you do, transcend all your fish brothers—don't waste them. Send me one to taste. (Funny. jpg)

Ji Ren Baoxiao: Give me coordinates—I'll help. I know how to open treasure chests!

…

Seeing his guild friends suggest switching Painful Painful Minghun, Yu Yun turned his head toward the brothers gathered around his feet.

"Hey, looks like our bond's run its course."

To successfully break defense, Yu Yun decided to follow his guild friends' advice: dismantle his Cao Kong Lao Yin and replace it with a Blood Burn Painful Painful Minghun for true damage.

He summoned his Star Vein panel—and just as he prepared to strip his Painful Painful Minghun, a sudden flash of inspiration struck his mind.

"Huh… what if I try controlling it?"

Although controlling a target with a much higher Hunting Level was extremely unlikely.

But the key point was the Heavenly Soldier was already in near-fatal condition, his spiritual consciousness severely damaged—perhaps success was possible.

Without hesitation, he closed the Star Vein panel, knelt down, and stared into the Heavenly Soldier's eyes.

The Cao Kong Lao Yin's ability activated—nearly invisible spiritual threads radiated from him, wrapping around and seeping into the Heavenly Soldier's body.

When his spiritual vision penetrated the Heavenly Soldier's mind-sea, the scene before him stunned Yu Yun.

The Heavenly Soldier's spiritual mind-sea was like a shattered world ravaged by endless storms, its spiritual energy nearly exhausted.

But what followed was wild elation.

To control a target, the Cao Kong Lao Yin had three judgment criteria: one's own spiritual strength, the target's spiritual strength, and the Cao Kong Lao Yin's level.

Hunting Level, however, was primarily determined by the target's overall combat strength.

Theoretically, a target with high Hunting Level could still have low spiritual strength—such targets were easily captured and controlled.

The Heavenly Soldier's current state proved exactly that.

His body still brimmed with rich blood essence, keeping his Hunting Level at 75—but his spiritual consciousness was nearly extinguished. This state was perfect for implanting a Cao Kong Lao Yin.

As the spiritual threads continuously poured into the Heavenly Soldier's body, they automatically formed the Cao Kong Lao Yin within his mind-sea.

Soon, his spiritual energy could no longer sustain output.

Yu Yun immediately opened his eyes, killed one of his brothers—still in good condition but now worthless—with his battle axe, and stored it in his spatial satchel.

He reclaimed the freed spiritual energy, resumed output—and soon reached the limit again.

He had no choice but to keep reducing the number of his brothers, summoning the Shangcheng panel to buy spiritual recovery potions, and drinking them nonstop to restore his state.

But even after sacrificing all his brothers, he still fell short of completing the Cao Kong Lao Yin.

Victory was within reach—how could he give up now?

He summoned the Star Vein panel and dismantled his third and fourth Painful Painful Minghun, leaving only the Cao Kong Lao Yin in his first Star Vein slot and the Dusk Shadow Painful Painful Minghun in the second.

He poured all the evolution points gained from dismantling into the Cao Kong Lao Yin.

The Cao Kong Lao Yin reached level 34.

The spiritual threads resumed output, pouring into the Heavenly Soldier's mind-sea.

Finally, a dark red spiritual imprint solidified above the Heavenly Soldier's mind-sea, its glow stabilizing after a fleeting shimmer.

Instantly, Yu Yun's mind filled with the Heavenly Soldier's sensory perception.

"Hahahaha! I'm rich! I'm rich!"

He never expected his attempt to actually succeed—he had captured a level 75 Hunting creature.

A new brother appeared, catapulting his power far beyond every other player's.

With this brother, his Shou Shou Jili output would surge dramatically—far more devastating than controlling a swarm of silver-tailed fish.

But soon, Yu Yun froze in shock.

No matter how he controlled it, the Heavenly Soldier remained unconscious, unable to awaken.

He suddenly realized: although control was complete, the controlled Heavenly Soldier was still critically wounded and near death—unable to wake.

"Shit, no way."

Realizing that if the Heavenly Soldier never woke, all his sacrificed brothers and dismantled Painful Painful Minghun would be wasted, he panicked.

He immediately pulled out healing potions from his spatial satchel and fed them to the Heavenly Soldier.

But after seven bottles of healing potions, the Heavenly Soldier showed no sign of awakening.

Realizing seven low-grade healing potions could not restore the Heavenly Soldier, he summoned the Shangcheng panel and spent 2000 Shou Shou Jili to buy twenty medium-grade healing potions at once.

Watching bottle after bottle poured into the Heavenly Soldier's mouth, Yu Yun ached with grief.

Saving money was hard—these were all the growth resources he'd earned through day and night of struggle.

But the Heavenly Soldier's body was like a bottomless pit—downing bottle after bottle of medium-grade healing potions still showed no sign of awakening.

Yet the analysis panel confirmed his condition had entered weakness—proving the healing potions were effective.

Soon, the 20 bottles of intermediate recovery potion were completely consumed.

Having invested so much already, quitting now would be a total loss—he decisively opened the guild chat channel:

Yu Yun: Brothers, lend me some money—the treasure chest is open, we need funds to activate wealth (screenshot of control target. jpg).

Dawn Spirit Forever: Damn it, you promised we'd team up and share, so why are you hoarding it all? Remember to pay back double (specified red packet: 800 Shou Shou Jili).

Hyper Electromagnetic Cannon Eternal: I'll return triple—thanks, boss (specified red packet: 500 Shou Shou Jili).

Dragon God Supreme: If I hadn't known you for three years, you could kneel and bang your head on the ground till your skull cracks and I still wouldn't lend you a single coin—get your good brother to take us leveling right now (specified red packet: 1200 Shou Shou Jili).

Jing Tao TNT: You really have the nerve to ask, hoarding like this deserves to die—remember to add interest when you pay back (specified red packet: 300 Shou Shou Jili).

……

With support from his guild brothers, Yu Yun quickly gathered 5000 Shou Shou Jili.

He immediately summoned the Shangcheng interface, bought one bottle of advanced recovery potion worth 500 Shou Shou Jili, and poured it into the Heavenly Soldier's mouth.

After the potion's effect faded, he bought another bottle and repeated the process.

As for buying ten bottles at once, he couldn't bring himself to spend it.

Although items purchased from the Shangcheng can be sacrificed to recover Shou Shou Jili, only seventy percent is returned—each advanced healing potion results in a loss of 150 Shou Shou Jili.

Finally, after the sixth bottle of advanced healing potion was poured into the Heavenly Soldier's mouth,

the weakness marker on the Heavenly Soldier vanished.

He attempted to switch to the Heavenly Soldier's perspective to control it—the Heavenly Soldier suddenly opened its eyes, but its gaze was vacant, devoid of any life.

Thinking his investment had finally paid off, Yu Yun let out a long breath.

But then he realized a serious problem.

The target controlled by the Cao Kong Yin is not part of the player system, so it cannot be brought back to Dizong Village.

This means that if he dies, he will permanently lose this powerful Heavenly Soldier.

Second, if the Heavenly Soldier dies in battle, it cannot be revived like pets in other games.

"Shit, it's a one-life mode."

Yu Yun's expression froze—he realized he had made a terribly serious mistake.

If his good brother dies before earning back his investment, all his effort will be wasted.

More importantly, he cannot return to the Dizong Mountain Range because the teleportation array is located in the Color Mist Coast Newbie Village space.

The Heavenly Soldier cannot follow him into the Newbie Village space, so he cannot reach the Dizong Mountain Range.

At this moment, he turned to the floating guidance water sphere beside him:

"Guidance Brother, how can I bring a target marked with the Cao Kong Yin back to Dizong Village?"

It cannot be brought back to Dizong Village, nor can it enter the Newbie Village space.

"Why is there such an insane rule!" Yu Yun flew into a rage.

【Because this thing is merely controlled, not fully yours—it's different from the weaponized life-extension mode. The target you control belongs to a different system of life than the player.】

What the guidance didn't elaborate was that the Heavenly Soldier fundamentally has no connection to the Challenger System.

This means its existence is independent of the player, and bringing it into Dizong Village carries certain risks.

After giving this answer in a lazy tone, the guidance continued:

【By the way, I must warn you—this thing still retains energy markers from other factions, which haven't fully dissipated yet. They'll fade gradually over half a month as its bodily functions operate. So it's very likely that factions will come hunting you—recommend you flee early.】

"Holy shit, enemies are going to come after me?" Yu Yun turned pale with fear.

He suddenly remembered the Heavenly Soldier's previous state.

It was very likely that it had been hunted down by a powerful faction, which caused its near-fatal injuries.

So the enemy might come after it again.

If he'd heard this news before controlling the Heavenly Soldier, he wouldn't have even lifted his eyelids.

As a player, who hasn't been in the penalty box? Die and respawn in an hour—you're still a tough guy.

No matter how powerful the faction, in his eyes it wasn't a threat—he'd curse them to his last breath.

But now it's one-life mode—his good brother is gone if he dies.

"Guidance, what should I do?"

【When the hunters come, maybe try kneeling and banging your head to beg for mercy?】

"Will that work?"

Hearing this, Yu Yun was stunned.

If it could save the Heavenly Soldier, he'd kneel and bang his head—he'd do it. This was a controlled target bought with massive Shou Shou Jili.

If bowing could preserve this wealth, he'd bow.

But the question was—would bowing even work?

"Guidance, will bowing actually work?"

【Almost certainly not. You know the Monster World's background—bowing's only effect is to make your death more humiliating.】

"Then why did you suggest I bow?!"

【Theoretically possible, but the probability is extremely low—what if it works?】

"I'm screwed. I'm going to lose everything." Yu Yun's expression turned hopeless.

At that moment, a flash of inspiration struck his mind:

"Guidance, can I take the Heavenly Soldier to the sea where the Ancient God Clan's arena is located? If the hunters enter Ghost Shadow Sea, will the Ancient God Clan possibly intervene?"

【Good idea. All major factions have territorial awareness—any powerful lifeform entering their domain will inevitably draw attention, even direct intervention.】

"Fine, we're going to Ghost Shadow Sea."

Unable to return to the Newbie Village space, Yu Yun decided to take flight with his good brother.

The target this time is the Ghost Shadow Sea, which is the territory of the Ancient God Clan.

Two days later, in the Evil Moon Domain.

On the blood-red sea surface illuminated by the Evil Moon, the Sky Soldiers moved through the waves at astonishing speed like arrows leaving a bowstring, adopting a freestyle swimming posture; their bodies were almost parallel to the sea surface, and every arm stroke cut through the water, propelling their bodies like flying fish breaking the waves, leaving behind a series of crisscrossing ripples spreading outward in all directions.

At this moment, Yu Yun stood on the back of the Sky Soldier, feeling the wild wind brush his face, and a surge of heroic spirit rose in his heart:

"What kind of ocean vehicle is this? It's not as useful as my good brother."

Just then, a water bulge rose on the sea surface ahead, and a black, hideous derivative evil spirit broke through the waves, revealing its form.

The evil spirit opened its bloody mouth filled with sharp teeth, its back resembling a serrated sword, roaring as it lunged to bite.

After focusing his vision, analysis information floated in Yu Yun's mind:

【Netherwater Demon】:

Hunting Level: 31

Target Analysis: A water-born derivative evil spirit from the Waning Moon-level Domain, possessing the special ability to control the Blood Sea.

Seeing the Hunting Level of 31, a trace of disdain appeared in Yu Yun's eyes.

If it had been three days ago, he might have avoided its sharp edge, but now, with the support of his good brother, he did not even consider such a derivative evil spirit worthy of attention.

"Good brother, ram it to death!"

Under mental control, the Sky Soldier's swimming speed suddenly increased, heading straight to crash into the Netherwater Demon.

At the moment of contact, as if a hot knife cut through butter, the Sky Soldier's arms, flailing in freestyle mode, instantly tore open the thick skin of the Netherwater Demon's head, piercing into the skull and flesh, moving forward continuously to carve out a channel of flesh and blood.

Within just a few seconds, the Netherwater Demon was split in half from head to tail.

The Sky Soldier's movements in the middle did not pause even slightly.

A Challenger notification sounded in Yu Yun's mind; this kill raised his Control Painful Painful Minghun level to 36.

Turning his head to look at the massive body gradually sinking into the sea bottom, Yu Yun laughed triumphantly.

"Good brother, you are truly strong!"

After two consecutive days of travel and multiple combat tests, the power of his good brother exceeded his expectations.

With a Hunting Level of 75, his good brother was nearly invincible in this sea area; especially after entering the Evil Moon Domain, the evil spirits in the sea were killed in a single strike, requiring no follow-up attacks or assistance.

He felt that with his good brother's strength, he could even face Tian Huo Fa Wang in a one-on-one duel without falling behind.

But the danger had not yet been eliminated; he must endure until the residual energy mark inside his good brother dissipates; only then would he truly possess his good brother.

He was now constantly in a state of mental tension, fearing that the enemies of his good brother would come to hunt them down.

However, through the kills along the way during these two days, he had already recovered nearly one-quarter of the cost; the efficiency of generating Shou Shou Jili from kills was astonishing.

Twenty minutes later, his good brother carried him through the domain illuminated by the Evil Moon, and a completely different sea scene appeared before his eyes.

The sea surface here was shrouded by a thick layer of mist; ghostly green fireballs floated in the air, and the wild wind converged on the sea surface, tearing out wailing sounds like weeping.

The environment here was extremely oppressive, yet Yu Yun let out a sigh of relief.

Entering the Ghost Shadow Sea meant arriving at the territory of the Ancient God Clan.

If an external enemy invaded, the Ancient God Clan would likely intervene to fight back, reducing the probability of his good brother being killed by revenge.

Summoning the map function, he located the position of the Death Arena, turned direction, and continued forward.

But this time, he slowed his forward speed.

Although his good brother's Hunting Level of 75 was insignificant in the eyes of the Ancient God Clan, even weaker than their servants.

But there was still a possibility of being killed; he could only hope the Ancient God Clan would not care about their arrival and would regard them as accidentally intruding marine creatures.

What he needed to do next was to take his good brother to start hunting in this sea area and recover the cost as quickly as possible.

Summoning the Star Pulse Panel, he purchased an Eagle-Headed Demon Painful Painful Minghun from the Painful Painful Minghun Library, embedded it in the third Painful Painful Minghun slot, and set the Evolution Point yield to 5%.

This was an important auxiliary tool for him to search for hunting targets.

Activating the Perception View, the perception range of the Level 1 Eagle-Headed Demon was a radius of 50 meters, but it could be enhanced by spiritual power strength to expand the perception range.

And the "Control" he had embedded was a Painful Painful Minghun primarily focused on spiritual power.

With the support of spiritual power strength, the Perception View reached a distance of a 160-meter radius.

Soon, he locked onto a marine creature beneath the sea surface, issued a command in his heart, and spoke aloud:

"Good brother, get it!"

Immediately, under his control, the Sky Soldier dove into the sea bottom, swimming rapidly toward the target; after a short while, having completed the kill, Yu Yun surfaced with the fish meat he had harvested, feeling delighted in his heart.

If he could protect his good brother's life, he would become rich.

His good brother was practically a money-printing machine; ordinary marine creatures could not last even one round in front of him.

Three days later.

Yu Yun kept lingering near the island where the Death Arena was located; every time an arena aircraft flew overhead, it made his heart tremble with fear.

In the past, he had desperately longed to please the Ancient Gods.

Every time an aircraft arrived at the edge of the Colorful Mist Coast, he would eagerly sign up, hoping to be selected and sent to the Death Arena.

But now, he feared being captured and separated from his good brother.

Even more, he feared his good brother would be captured together with him; that would be the end.

His good brother would become a tool to please the Ancient Gods and would inevitably die in round after round of battles.

As for fifteen wins, he felt his good brother's strength would probably never reach that stage.

Swimming along the island's coastline, Yu Yun took a piece of fish meat from his spatial bag, stuffed it into his good brother's mouth, and assisted him in recovering his stamina.

The spreading perception consciousness continued to search for targets.

Just then, he suddenly heard a loud boom from the sky and turned his head to look.

In the eastern sky, a patch of bright blood-color surfaced, and then one figure after another emerged from the blood-colored light.

Those figures resembled burning blood-colored flames, rushing toward his location at extreme speed.

"They shouldn't be here to kill my good brother, right?" Seeing this scene, Yu Yun instantly grew tense.

【Don't doubt it, they're here for your good brother. If nothing else works, get ready to kowtow — what if it actually works?】

"Don't mess with me!"

Hearing the Guidance's answer, Yu Yun decisively issued the order, and Good Brother's swimming speed suddenly increased.

But before the incoming figures, Good Brother's swimming speed was negligible.

The blood-flame-like figures drew closer and closer, and Yu Yun's emotions tensed to the breaking point.

Just as the Ascending Race warriors were less than one kilometer from the Death Arena island.

The sky was suddenly torn apart by an invisible force, and a streak of scorching lava-color surged from deep within the Death Island, spreading to the horizon and rapidly coalescing.

It formed a colossal, unmatched energy arm that abruptly rose from some unknown depth of the island, piercing through thin clouds and light wind, clawing toward the firmament.

The arm's hue was like boiling magma, emanating an ominous aura; every inch of its skin seemed to contain a terrifying energy capable of shaking the Shanhe, with muscle textures clearly visible. Even from far away, Yu Yun could still feel that heart-palpitating heat, along with a searing and oppressive sensation from the depths of his soul.

As the arm slowly rose, the surrounding air was ignited, forming rings of distorted heat waves. The vegetation on the island, struck by this force, withered and yellowed one after another; the entire natural world submitted to this indescribable power in an instant.

The waves near the island also became turbulent and surging because of this force's fluctuation, pounding the shore with deafening roars, and large plumes of water vapor rose from the sea surface.

The colossal energy arm suddenly slapped toward the incoming Ascending Race warriors.

Boom!

Accompanied by the great roar, Yu Yun covered his ears, and he and Good Brother were instantly blown far away by the aftershock sweeping in from the sky.

Countless Ascending Race figures collided with the giant arm, and brilliant light burst from the impact points, dazzling as the sun.

Tossed into the air, Yu Yun saw this scene and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

He summoned the guild group-chat panel in midair:

Lingering Resonance Long: Brothers, one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. The bad news is that Good Brother's enemies really have come to kill us. The good news is that the Ancient God Race has stepped in — now the two sides are fighting.

Unreasonable Faction: Holy crap, start the livestream now, I want to see gods fighting.

Road Toward Southwest: You're truly a beast — you actually pulled off diverting disaster eastward. If the Ancient God Race gets crushed, you'll become a sinner of the player faction. When the time comes, even going back to the village will be hard. Our guild family and the Ancient God Race are spiritual allies; how much benefit has the Ancient God Race given us? If they really collapse, a lot of people will hate you to death.

Yi Kid: Stop the nonsense, start the livestream, I want to see the fight.

……

Under the strong demands of his guild friends, Yu Yun, who had fallen into the sea, activated livestream mode and switched the camera angle to his own perspective.

Instantly, guild friends swarmed in.

Once Yu Yun surfaced, he first steered Good Brother to approach him, then looked up at the sky.

At this moment, in the sky, the thick energy arm was locked in fierce battle with the Ascending Race warriors.

From their initial clash, the Ascending Race was clearly no match for this energy arm; every swing of the arm could easily slap an Ascending Race warrior away.

"Nice! Go, Ancient God Race!"

Seeing the Ancient God Race gaining the upper hand, Yu Yun cheered in his heart.

News of the great battle between the Ancient God Race and the foreign race spread across the forum, and immediately more and more players swarmed into Yu Yun's livestream room.

Seeing the Ancient God Race really fighting other racial factions, players one after another cheered for the Ancient God Race in the livestream room.

Recently, the frequency of flying craft coming to the Misty Color Coast to capture gladiators had been increasing.

Every trip to the Death Arena brought them considerable profits.

All players sided with the Ancient God Race from the start, hoping the Ancient God Race would win.

During this time, many players also asked in the livestream room what was happening, how the Ancient God Race had ended up fighting other racial factions.

Some players even declared they would bring their supreme might to help the Ancient God Race crush the invading faction.

(_)Ten-thousand-character update complete. Today is day 33 of the ten-thousand-character streak. See you tomorrow.

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(End of this chapter)