Chapter 139: Gods Fighting, Pet Settings

"Front row selling my homemade spiritual melon seeds, peanuts, eight-treasure porridge, beer, drinks, and mineral water. How can you miss the snacks during such exciting moments?"

"Go, Ancient God Clan! Blast the invaders and protect my arena!"

"So thrilling! Switching to immersive mode to watch the live stream from a first-person perspective is way more satisfying than watching a movie."

"Stop fighting! Don't fight anymore! The little fish and shrimp in the sea are all living beings!"

"I think the Ancient God Clan and the Ascended Clan are still far inferior to us players. If I didn't want to see what happens next, I would definitely fly over there to intervene and suppress both sides."

……

The clash between the Ancient God Clan and the Ascended Clan attracted a massive influx of players into Yu Yun's live stream.

This was also the first time players witnessed a confrontation between powerful figures in the Monster World.

This battle also caught Qi Sheng's attention.

In the live broadcast, a historic battle was unfolding over the vast blue sea.

After the initial clash left the twelve Ascended Clan members at a disadvantage and forced them back, a spiritual root attribute seal appeared above each of their heads. Within the intricate stripes lay endless mysteries related to the attributes of the world; at this moment, as if endowed with life, they pulsed continuously, emitting dazzling light.

Like an engine with the accelerator stomped to the floor, an elemental roar resonated within the bodies of the Ascended Clan members.

Elemental ripples radiated from the spiritual roots floating above their heads. Their bodies seemed kissed by the scorching sun, blooming with Xiong Xiong flames. Fire elements in the heavens and earth automatically outlined themselves before the Fire Spiritual Root, forming a complex fire formation. A fire dragon, coalesced from the flames, broke free from the array and soared toward the Ancient God's arm.

The flames carried a heat that purified everything; wherever they passed, the air ignited, forming a sea of fire.

Immediately after, an Ascended Clan member with a Water Spiritual Root seal floating above their head struck out.

Accompanied by the flickering of the Water Spiritual Root, countless blue light particles rose from the sea, turning into surging, ceaseless currents that gathered in the sky into towering waves.

Like the wrath of the Sea God, the massive waves carried overwhelming momentum, launching a fierce assault on the Ancient God's arm.

Water droplets following the waves condensed in mid-air into sharp water blades, like ten thousand swords slicing through the surrounding air.

At this moment, the sky roared, dark clouds gathered and churned, and brilliant, shimmering purple lightning emerged from within.

In the heavens and earth, lightning bolts writhed like snakes in the air. Every flash was accompanied by deafening thunder; terrifying energy brewed within the thunderclouds, and even a sliver leaking out released destructive power.

With the flickering of the Thunder Spiritual Root seal, endless pillars of divine punishment, bound within the rolling thunderclouds, poured down.

The world in the live broadcast seemed like an overexposed photograph, obscured by the flashing light.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Thunder rolled across the sky. Every lightning column, like the sharpest sword in the world, carried irresistible pressure, tearing through the sky to strike the Ancient God's arm directly. Every thunder strike attempted to tear through the Ancient God's arm's defense, seeking to annihilate it under the endless power of divine punishment.

The sky, the islands, and the ocean trembled under the torrent of terrifying elements.

The air seemed to tear apart, forming countless fine spatial rifts visible to the naked eye.

Next came the power of the Earth Spiritual Root and the Yin Spiritual Root.

As the Earth Spiritual Root flickered, the land deep beneath the seabed trembled, as if the earth in the deep sea was responding to the Earth Spiritual Root's call.

Thick earth veins surged from beneath the ground, piercing the sea surface to transform into solid tentacles that twisted toward the Ancient God's arm.

The Yin Spiritual Root flickered, and the power of darkness quietly descended. Like the curtain of night, it swallowed the world's light, bringing silence and despair, pressing directly down upon the Ancient God.

The Ancient God's arm rising from the depths of the island suddenly clenched into a fist. A surge of power generated a lava-colored barrier centered on the fist.

Boom!

Under the bombardment of the multi-elemental torrent, the Ancient God's arm shattered with a crash after only a few seconds. The energy barrier covering the Death Arena Island shook violently, seeming ready to shatter at any moment.

Just as the island was about to be submerged by the elemental torrent, a crimson figure shot up from the depths of the island into the sky.

With one punch thrown, the elemental torrent was pushed back an inch.

Then came the second punch, the third punch... This figure flew toward the sky against the elemental torrent, using a powerful physique to withstand the crushing elements, shattering them bit by bit.

When the sky-full of elements was shattered into scattered points of elemental light rain, the burly figure stood suspended in mid-air, arms crossed, gazing at the twelve warriors of the Ascended Clan, standing proudly.

As the viewing distance closed, the players in the live stream finally saw the face of the crimson figure.

It possessed a humanoid structure, nearly three meters tall, bare-chested, with skin the color of dragon bile blue, branded with intertwined crimson and red spiritual patterns. On the Zheng Zhong Xin Yin of its chest was printed a ferocious crimson beast. Sunlight spilled from the horizon, outlining the power surging beneath the skin, as if every muscle contained the weight of Shanhe and the might of gods.

The developed pectoral muscles rose and fell with deep breaths, rolling thunder rumbling in waves, like an ancient giant beast murmuring in its sleep, or a dormant volcano, foreshadowing the power about to erupt.

His broad, powerful shoulder blades were like two Shanfeng; his arms were thick, with muscles coiling like giant pythons. His abdominal lines were distinct, six-pack abs as perfectly carved, and a championship belt hung on his tight, powerful waist, like a pillar connecting heaven and earth, supporting the coordination and balance between his upper and lower body. His thigh muscles were forged like steel, displaying unparalleled beauty of power.

Relying solely on his flesh and blood body, he stood there like a continuous range of mountains, his heavy momentum and pressure crushing down upon the Ascended Clan.

The figure, surrounded by crimson energy, raised his eyes to scan the Ascended Clan warriors. His gaze held not a shred of emotion, while the flames at the bottom of his eyes gradually rose with the surging of his muscles.

The analysis ability activated, and the warrior's information floated into Qi Sheng's mind:

【Tian Beng】:

Hunting Rank: 358

Target Analysis: Champion fighter with 29 wins in the Ancient God Arena, a super warrior born from endless slaughter, containing the power of the Battle Soul rules within his body.

……

Surging killing intent rose within Tian Beng.

Bang!

A crisp sound rang out. Endless scars left by countless battles appeared on Tian Beng's skin, old wounds intertwining with new marks. The aura of slaughter shot up to the sky, forming a visible bloody light and shadow behind him.

In the light and shadow scene, countless figures fought, grappled, and roared.

Finally, it transformed into a mountain of corpses, with only one figure standing proudly atop the ladder of corpses, looking down upon the earth.

"We... want him!" At this moment, the leader of the Fire Spiritual Root pointed a finger toward the figure floating on the sea in the distance.

Sensing the oppressive momentum on Tian Beng, the Ascended Clan warriors clearly realized Tian Beng's strength and chose to negotiate via consciousness communication.

Facing the communication, Tian Beng did not turn his head to look at Yu Yun's location; the killing intent on his body continued to rise.

Just then, an old voice rang out in the sky above:

"Tian Beng, this matter has nothing to do with us. Retreat."

Upon hearing this, Tian Beng slowly raised his head to look at the sky. A ferocious smile appeared on his face, and the flames of battle in his eyes seemed ready to burst forth:

"Old man, don't meddle. This is my fight."

"As you wish." The mysterious energy in the sky dissipated at that moment.

After the Ancient God retreated, Tian Beng slowly raised his right hand and clenched his fist fiercely toward the Fire Spirit Root leading the Ascension Clan.

Crack!

The air was squeezed into an explosion; the airflow shockwave instantly slapped the Fire Spirit Root in the face.

The Fire Spirit Root's head snapped back, and his body flew backward several meters before stabilizing his stance.

"Ascension Clan, right? I've wanted to test you for a long time. I hope you can entertain me."

Realizing negotiation was futile, the Spirit Roots atop the twelve warriors of the Ascension Clan shone simultaneously.

As the Wind Element Spirit Root flickered, a light breeze transformed into a violent hurricane, gathering from all directions.

It was as if the air of the entire world had awakened at that moment, forming an irresistible force that spun and rose, finally encircling Tian Beng to coalesce into a massive tornado. Like a roaring beast of nature, it tore at Tian Beng's flesh and blood body with a momentum that could destroy heaven and earth.

The rotating airflow grew faster and faster; the diameter of the tornado storm expanded several times within seconds, frightening Yu Yun, who was watching the battle, into decisively diving underwater to create distance.

Gods fighting—terrifying indeed.

In a war of this magnitude, even watching posed extreme risks; Yu Yun could only keep increasing the distance to avoid being erased by the aftershocks.

Seeing the viewing distance increase, the netizens in the livestream room cursed loudly:

"Holy crap, what are you doing? I'm asking you, what are you doing? Pulling away at such an exciting moment! Get closer for me immediately!"

"I want to see rivers of blood! Don't retreat! Even if you have to use the guidance view to pull us over, do it!"

"So exciting! I just saw the analysis info from the guidance: a champion fighter with 29 wins. How many corpses must have paved the way for that? The one speaking just now must have been from the Ancient God Clan, right? Is a 29-win fighter really that arrogant, ignoring even the Ancient God?"

"Ahhh, even in the small black room, it's this happy! I want to watch up close! Cowardly streamer, get closer immediately (Donation: 5 Shou Shou Jili)."

"It's clear that multi-win fighters hold high status in the Ancient God's eyes. They ignore the Ancient God directly, and the Ancient God even compromised. Truly awesome."

"Too brutal! Flesh pushing through the elemental torrent. I love watching this. Fight!"

Just as the players were discussing heatedly in the livestream room, a figure tore through the hurricane tornado and revealed itself.

Flashing in and out of existence, the figure arrived before the Fire Spirit Root; a thick arm instantly pierced through the Fire Spirit Root's back from his chest, then withdrew after clenching into a fist.

The Fire Spirit Root's body collapsed with a boom, yet reassembled instantly in mid-air.

The champion fighter's figure leaped rapidly through the air; every strike he delivered crushed one of the Ascension Clan warriors.

At this moment, a Heaven Spirit Root acted, using the powerful force of reversing heaven and earth to instantly envelop all members of the Ascension Clan present, shifting them several kilometers away.

"Rune Divine Pillar!"

Accompanying the Heaven Spirit Root's shout, twelve figures gathered together.

A brilliant shadow of a divine pillar manifested behind them; the twelve Ascension Clan warriors each flew toward one of the pillar's grooves.

With the twelve Spirit Roots in position, the divine pillar shadow materialized. Elemental energy throughout heaven and earth was instantly pulled and gathered by an invisible force; the sky around the divine pillar turned into a colorful mist.

Tian Beng, the Ancient God champion fighter, also closed in at this moment.

His tightly clenched right fist suddenly struck out; at the same time, the divine pillar released a torrent of twelve elemental forces gathered together, pouring down.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The collision between peak physical body and ultimate elemental power caused fine cracks to appear in space with every impact, yet they vanished in an instant.

If this were in a Small World, such world-destroying power could tear the entire world apart, forming an irreparable spatial wound.

But in the Monster World, spatial wounds repair instantly alongside the world's operation, completely insufficient to shake the world's foundation.

Terrifying power swept in all directions centered on the battle point; the sea surface turned into a boiling hot pot, with steam constantly rising.

Yu Yun could only continue retreating while enduring the curses from the livestream room.

At this moment, on the Spirit Root Divine Pillar, every ray of light contained the power of natural laws.

The twelve Spirit Roots were like stars embedded in the sky; every flicker could switch a type of elemental power. Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, water, fire, wind, earth... all elemental forces of all things obeyed the divine pillar's command, bestowing elemental forms through the power of dominion.

Tian Beng represented another extreme; the peak of physical power allowed him to ignore the sweeping torrent of elemental forces that could easily annihilate all things. Every step he took while floating in mid-air could shake the world; every punch he threw was enough to tear the void apart. Unquenchable battle-fire burned in his eyes, and an endless aura of slaughter radiated from his entire body.

He interpreted power as truth with his flesh and blood; his existence was invincibility itself.

In the new round of confrontation, the divine pillar flickered. Wind and clouds surged across heaven and earth; thunder and lightning clashed. Countless elemental forces gathered into one brilliant torrent after another, surging toward Tian Beng. If released in a Small World, this power would be enough to destroy stars and rewrite the rules of heaven and earth.

Yet not a shred of fear appeared in Tian Beng's eyes.

His body, with fists tightly clenched, darted through the elemental torrent like lightning. Every punch precisely shattered a stream of elemental forces; the power, enough to shake Shanhe, made the elemental torrents appear inferior before him.

His body, tempered a thousand times, continued to expand during the battle, growing to ten meters in the blink of an eye.

As the battle escalated, a torrent of blood qi, hot as blazing flames, overflowed from his body, sweeping across this realm like a violent storm.

The blood qi waves and elemental waves crushed against each other, cutting the world into two distinct realms; the collision of ultimate combat power instantly reached its climax.

The standoff between the two forces was like the prelude to the apocalypse.

The divine pillar stood still; surrounding elemental forces surged and churned. The ultimate essence of elemental energy, like spiritual snakes, coiled around and moved along the divine pillar.

The Spirit Root imprints continuously issued elemental commands to the world; the elemental forces of this realm were entirely extracted and gathered.

Tian Beng leaned forward, carrying towering blood qi, transforming into a towering, immortal mountain to resist the elemental impact. During this, his muscles bulged as if they could burst the sky; every inch of his skin was inscribed with the glorious traces of past bloody battles. His aura was like a surging tsunami, rolling up blood waves to slap forward.

Enveloped by blood qi, Tian Beng resembled a burning crimson meteor, dragging a long tail of blood qi flames, carrying boundless power and killing intent, advancing inch by inch toward the front. Space was forcibly torn open, creating black cracks one after another.

At this moment, the twelve Spirit Roots on the divine pillar shone simultaneously; elemental energy was summoned. In an instant, the wind and clouds changed color. The fire element gathered and compressed first, appearing out of thin air like a surging sea of molten lava, sweeping toward Tian Beng from all directions. Wherever it passed, space twisted and deformed, and all matter was burned to nothing. The water element followed, transforming into massive ice prisms; each ice prism seemed capable of piercing stars, raining down upon Tian Beng like a storm behind the fire waves.

Then came the earth element, the yin-yang elements, the wind element, the metal element...

Tian Beng swung his coiled fist, bringing forth a crimson arc of light capable of splitting heaven and earth, forcibly cutting into that elemental frenzy, splashing up an energy light rain more dazzling than stars.

Amidst a roar, the light around Tian Beng blazed intensely.

Veins like coiled dragons wound beneath his skin; his muscles expanded to their limit; a layer of strange golden patterns appeared on his skin, moving across his body surface as if alive.

He threw another punch; colliding with the surging blood qi and colorful elemental torrent, black spatial cracks spread outward from the collision point like a spiderweb, extending far into the distance.

"Hahaha, kill!"

The intensity of the elemental torrent grew higher and higher, while Tian Beng's combat power continued to grow step by step.

The power of the Battle Soul poured endlessly into his body, and as Tian Beng fought, his laughter grew more excited.

He pushed his blood qi to its absolute limit; a thick, deep crimson light rose over his skin like an indestructible war armor. Facing the oncoming torrent of elements, he threw punch after punch, each one raising a violent wave of blood qi. Where they collided, crackling explosions rang out, and after the energy impact, motes of spiritual light scattered across the sea surface in sheets.

Below, the great sea itself collapsed downward under the clash of the two forces, until the seabed trenches were exposed, unable to heal for a long time.

This sight left the players in the live broadcast room stunned.

They all knew the combat strength at the peak stage of the Monster World was extremely high; they were currently only at the newbie village stage and could not possibly contend with those peak strong clans.

Yet this battle overturned their imagined model of peak combat.

The world-shattering power made them even feel an overwhelming sense of their own insignificance.

They could not imagine what would happen if their player legion fought against one of these sides; they would likely be thrown into a small dark room instantly, unable to last even a single second.

But what followed was anticipation for the future.

This meant that in the future, they too could grow into powerful existences comparable to gods.

The future is promising.

"The view is pulled so far away, it's almost impossible to see clearly; it's very uncomfortable. Such an exciting battle cannot be watched up close."

"The Champion Fighter is so fierce! This isn't just a clash of flesh and elements; it's the peak collision between a warrior and a mage. Just looking at the Champion Fighter tells us the melee Xiliu Sect will be stronger in the future, while the Faxiliu Sect is only strong in the early stages."

"Have you realized a very serious problem? The forces clearly standing at the peak of the Monster World are only the Terrifying Black Tide and the Battle Insect Tide; all other forces, no matter how strong, must fall behind. Especially the Terrifying Black Tide, which is the strongest opponent in our player background. So can you imagine how terrifying the peak combat strength of the Terrifying Black Tide is?"

"I'm so looking forward to flying in the sky and diving underground in the future; that is the power players should have. I really want to borrow their power to play around with."

"I hope to obtain such power within my lifetime. I was recently thinking of switching to the Faxiliu Sect, but seeing the Champion Fighter's performance, I suddenly don't want to switch anymore. The feeling of having an invincible body is too shocking."

"Why is the view still pulling back? I'm furious! Now I can only see the collision of lights. Can you be a bit braver? If you're afraid of dying, why play the game? I'll give you 10 points of Shou Shou Jili to move closer (Donation: 10 points of Shou Shou Jili)."

……

The battle continued, but the players could no longer see the combat scene.

They could only see the sky dyed half blood-red and half colorful.

The two forces collided and canceled each other out.

Just as the players wanted to use a money offensive to make the live-streaming Yu Yun gather the courage to move closer, the colorful energy in the sky instantly vanished.

Twelve members of the Ascended Clan simultaneously activated the power of the Divine Pillars, instantly disappearing from the air and appearing at the edge of the horizon. Then, after several more flashes, they vanished completely, fleeing the Ghost Shadow Sea Area.

Tian Beng, fighting to his heart's content, wanted to pursue them, but was blocked by an invisible force.

An old voice rang out again:

"Tian Beng, the Ascended Clan will eventually be our target, but not now. If you charge into the Ascended Clan's territory, you will surely die."

"I fear not death in battle." Tian Beng looked up at the sky, his long hair dancing in the wind, the killing intent rising in his eyes not yet extinguished.

"Return; there will be a chance in the future." The hoarse voice carried an undeniable majesty, and a terrifying pressure instantly enveloped Tian Beng.

Facing the Ancient God's pressure, the killing intent in Tian Beng's eyes still surged, but he chose to compromise.

He raised his hand to shatter the invisible barrier released by the Ancient God before him, then transformed into a streak of crimson light, falling deep into the Death Arena Island.

The great battle ended there.

Discovering the energy in the air had dissipated, the players expressed their dissatisfaction with the Ancient God Clan and the Ascended Clan in the live broadcast room, stating they had not seen the river of blood they wanted.

But through this battle, the players could also initially see the combat strength comparison between the Ancient God Clan and the Ascended Clan.

At least in this battle, the Ancient God Clan held an absolute advantage.

The true Ancient Gods never made a move; they only sent out one Champion Fighter to repel twelve warriors of the Ascended Clan.

One can imagine how powerful the Ancient God Clan members behind the scenes must be.

As for whether the Ascended Clan still has hidden trump cards and stronger combat units that did not make a move, it cannot be analyzed or judged for now.

The players launched a heated discussion in the live broadcast room, transforming into combat strength analysts, comparing the combat strength already displayed by the two clans, and judging and analyzing which faction was truly stronger.

But soon, the players were attracted by other elements in the live broadcast footage.

They discovered that Yu Yun in the live broadcast footage was riding a humanoid lifeform, with a bridle woven like kelp tied around the neck of this humanoid lifeform. He gripped the bridle tightly with one hand, while the humanoid lifeform beneath him carried him across the sea in a freestyle swimming motion.

Under the various "?" questions from the players in the live broadcast room, Yu Yun, who had already received quite a few donations, still chose to show his good brother to the live broadcast room.

When they saw the analysis information of Tian Bing, the players in the live broadcast room were instantly stunned:

"Huh? The display in the top right corner of the live stream shows you are only level 37. Where did you catch a level 75 lifeform? How is this success possible?"

"You must be cheating, right? Level 37 catching level 75? That's turning the world upside down! The level difference is more than double. Is there a channel to report cheaters? I want to report this cheat dog."

"Brother, share your technique. Where did you find the bug? I'm willing to pay to learn."

"You are even more outrageous than the Ancient God Champion fighting the Ascended Clan. Isn't this an ant catching an elephant as a pet and even putting a bridle on the elephant? It has me completely baffled."

"Brothers, pay attention to what the analysis information mentions: Tian Bing is a flesh parasite of the Ascended Clan. Now look at where this guy is. I seriously suspect the Ancient God Clan fighting the Ascended Clan was caused by this kid diverting the disaster eastward."

"Good heavens, the culprit has been caught! It's you, kid, who tricked the Ancient God Clan. I just donated 1 point of Shou Shou Jili to you; give me my money back!"

……

The news of Yu Yun successfully capturing a level 75 lifeform sparked heated discussion on the forum.

Players who learned this news all expressed their inability to understand how a level 37 player could capture and control a level 75 lifeform.

Regarding the strength of controlling the Painful Painful Minghun, the forum players gained a new understanding.

Before this, forum players unanimously believed that controlling the Painful Painful Minghun belonged to a category with a high floor but a low ceiling.

It could only control a group of monsters far weaker than oneself to fight, which was less efficient for killing than embedding Painful Painful Minghun to improve output efficiency.

But the appearance of Tian Bing allowed players to see the ceiling of control breaking through imagination.

Regarding this issue, Yu Yun did not hide anything.

After all, his success was entirely due to luck; there was no exclusive secret that could not be shared.

After understanding the reason, the players sighed at his dog-shit luck for having picked up a strong one.

And Yu Yun's explanation also gave the forum players a new understanding of controlling the Painful Painful Minghun, making them feel that the potential ceiling for controlling the Painful Painful Minghun was very high.

Theoretically, as long as a powerful enemy is beaten to critical health, and then their mental strength is weakened through a mental shock, one can successfully capture a monster much stronger than oneself.

Perhaps the actual operation presents difficulties, but once successful, a monster branded with the Cao Kong Lao Yin cannot possibly defect.

Besides discussions on controlling the Painful Painful Minghun, another topic's popularity keeps rising on the forum.

The confrontation between the Ancient God Champion and the Ascended Clan allowed many players to witness the late-game strength of melee, sparking a wave of outlooks on late-game melee power.

Prior to this, the ratio of players in the Wanjialiu Sect among the Faxiliu, support, and physical archetypes was: 53.74%, 23.56%, and 22.7%.

Physical players were the smallest archetype, which included assassin builds and ranged DPS builds; truly melee players accounted for less than 15%.

Especially Stone Statue build players, who were the smallest archetype among all mainstream Star Pulse combinations.

There were three reasons affecting the low number of melee players.

The primary reason is that melee players must face combat directly and bear the obligation of tanking damage for the team.

And the game setting includes 10% pain feedback.

【189】 This posed no pressure for many players, yet many still found it unbearable and unwilling to stand at the very front of battle to take hits.

For many players this was no pressure at all, but plenty of others would find it unbearable, unwilling to charge to the very front of the fight and take the hits.

Often, melee players were beaten to a pulp at the front, while Faxiliu players behind could output damage with ease.

In team battles, melee players easily became the scapegoats for defeat, under immense pressure.

Secondly, in the current Star Pulse library, the comprehensive strength of Faxiliu Painful Painful Minghun always exceeded melee, and the number of playable archetypes was also greater than melee.

Analyzing from strength and playability, the Faxiliu Sect was also superior to the melee archetype.

Finally, there was the daily Shou Shou Jili expenditure.

Melee players had to spend considerable Shou Shou Jili every day to purchase healing potions; especially Stone Statue players, who spent 30%-60% of their Shou Shou Jili earnings on buying medicine daily, often requiring other team members to share the cost just to keep up with the growth speed of other players.

It was precisely these various drawbacks that caused the proportion of melee players to never rise.

Only when powerful melee Painful Painful Minghun appeared would the ratio of melee players rise slightly, but it would drop again once powerful Faxiliu Painful Painful Minghun emerged.

Many players switched between different archetypes, playing whichever was strong.

Those who could truly persist in playing the melee archetype always accounted for a low proportion among the player base.

But this time, the Ancient God Champion's domineering debut and fierce performance when fighting the Ascended Clan gave melee players a glimpse of spring for the melee archetype.

To become as powerful as the Ancient God Champion was not seen as unfeasible by melee players.

A formidable physique could be granted through Painful Painful Minghun growth; the torrent of blood qi struck with a wave of the hand could be replaced by a Gao Qi Painful Painful Minghun; embedding auxiliary Painful Painful Minghun for resistance and damage absorption into future Star Pulses, they could fight with the same domineering spirit as the Ancient God Champion.

Even their growth ceiling could be higher than the Ancient God Champion's, after all, there would be even more Painful Painful Minghun to choose and embed in the future.

Theoretically, as players, their growth potential had no upper limit.

This was the reason melee players were so excited after watching the video clips.

Mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, polar ice fields... a physical body could cross endless oceans, traverse vast deserts, climb extreme peaks, and melt freezing glaciers; as long as the body was strong enough, the concept of life-restricted zones did not exist.

Many extremely dangerous scenes Faxiliu players could not enter, but melee players could conquer nature with their powerful physiques.

The appearance of the Ancient God Champion unexpectedly gave a shot in the arm to melee players.

This battle let them see the future and gave them strong motivation to improve their strength.

After the great battle between the Ancient God Champion and the Ascended Clan concluded, Qi Sheng, located at the Meng Yuan Chu Altar, was reviewing player discussions on controlling Painful Painful Minghun.

He saw clearly the enthusiasm players held for controlling Painful Painful Minghun.

Players who liked controlling Painful Painful Minghun all shared one trait: they liked controlling monsters to fight and disliked doing things themselves.

But controlling Painful Painful Minghun had a series of drawbacks.

For example, controlled monsters could not enter the Newbie Village space; controlled monsters could not be resurrected after death, and so on.

These problems were not unsolvable.

As long as he opened permissions, players could fully bring monsters branded with the Cao Kong Yin into the Newbie Village space.

But doing so carried certain risks.

All players were equipped with a purification system, so there was no issue of being marked with space tags, but living beings from the outside world did carry risks in this regard.

Out of safety considerations, he would absolutely not open this permission to players.

But this problem was not without a solution.

Previously, he had considered creating a pet function for players.

Regarding settings, the target for pets would be living beings from the Monster World; he would select some promising beings, analyze their life structures in detail, and create pet templates for players to choose and cultivate.

But the focus was not on the pet's combat power, but on the pet's abilities.

In his eyes, pets were not the core system for player army development, but were created more to fill the shortcomings of the player army.

For example, at this stage, players lacked healer-type Painful Painful Minghun and could not continuously recover health through specific methods during combat.

When they could accommodate healing-type Painful Painful Minghun depended entirely on luck, so he would seek a monster with the ability to release healing, analyze its life structure, and create it into a pet for players to cultivate and use.

As for improvements in combat power, no matter how strong the pet system was, it could not compare to the carefully designed player growth system.

Therefore, combat power was the metric he cared least about when selecting pets.

Only pet talents that matched player needs were his first consideration.

But after reading the forum discussions, he discovered players actually cared more about pets they could capture freely, rather than being limited to a few specific templates.

What players wanted more was for all living beings in the Monster World to be capturable as pets.

This setting seemed completely feasible in Qi Sheng's view.

But compared to his envisioned specific pet templates, the free-capture pet setting imagined by players had obvious flaws.

Because free-captured pets were not necessarily useful to players, and cultivating them was purely wasting Shou Shou Jili.

With that Shou Shou Jili, it would be better to improve one's own strength.

For the overall development of the player army, the free-capture pet setting actually became a burden, yielding no positive returns.

So he thought of a new pet system mode: on the basis of the free-capture setting players wanted, add a setting where pets cannot grow.

This way, free capture would not involve wasting Shou Shou Jili; whatever combat power they had when caught, that would be their combat power forever.

Additionally, the template-type pets he wanted could be added into the pet system, with template-type pets set as growable pets.

As for whether this setting was feasible, he still had to consult a professional.

Thinking of this, Qi Sheng looked up at the Guide floating beside him:

"Guide, contact Yan Ming, eighth floor."

【You got it.】

Shortly after, the Guide looked up at him, conjured an arm and gave a thumbs-up.

Beneath Qi Sheng's feet, spatial teleportation spirit patterns surfaced; after they interlaced and sketched out, a sense of weightlessness came over him, and the surrounding scene blurred.

Once the weightlessness faded and the blue spirit patterns beneath his feet vanished, Qi Sheng arrived at the eighth-floor space beneath Emperor Tomb Village.

This was the dwelling space of one of the Four Gods, Jiu Yin.

The air here was permeated with a faint fragrance, a blend of herbs and unknown flowers, calming the heart and mind.

Following a winding path blooming with pale blue flowers toward the depths stood an ancient altar carved by the weathering of years.

Above the four-sided altar sat cross-legged an aged old woman.

Her face was carved by time like ancient tree bark, wrinkles deep, yet her open eyes flickered with an unusually bright light, as if able to see through the essence of all things in the world; her hair was snow-white, casually pinned into a bun, with a few strands of silver drifting without wind.

She wore a plain yet clean and tidy black robe, with a moon imprint painted between her brows, and held a blue energy stone in her hand, its flickering echoing the runes on the altar.

She sat there quietly, her open eyes holding no color at all.

Around the altar, dense viscous black matter and orbs of various colors were constantly being generated.

With each flicker of the altar, the viscous black matter and colored orbs in the air would be instantly cleared by a green light.

But soon new black matter and colored orbs would be generated.

This black matter was precisely the various negative energies left behind in players' bodies after death.

For example, curse energy, toxic substances, and a series of aggregated residual energies, while the colored orbs represented the negative emotions produced by players.

For example, anger, fear, despair, and so on.

Once these emotions accumulated continuously, they would cause players to develop mental abnormalities, and in severe cases even lead to mental illness, or even complete madness.

Including each death, players would also produce negative energy on the spiritual level.

Each flicker of the altar would completely erase the negative energy and negative emotions on the players.

Allowing players to revive each time in a full mental state.

This altar was also the core cornerstone of the purification system within the Challenger System.

And the aged figure sitting on the altar was precisely one of his four great servants, Jiu Yin, who wielded the power of purification rules.

In the peak battle against the Black Tide, Jiu Yin lost her youthful appearance and became incomparably aged.

Qi Sheng had once seen Jiu Yin's former appearance through the light-screen image provided by the Guide, and was stunned at first glance back then.

Jiu Yin then possessed an unparalleled countenance, like a deep and clear spring reflecting the purest radiance in the world; her silver long hair cascaded like a galaxy, flowing softly over her shoulders, each strand emanating a cold brilliance, as if woven from the finest moonlight; her eyes were deep and bright, like two bright moons, harboring endless wisdom and tenderness, with what seemed like stars swirling within.

She wore a flowing, radiant long robe, its hem swaying gently in the wind; her crystalline body seemed condensed from the purest moonlight, possessing an otherworldly goddess-like temperament.

Smiling gently at the camera, like the gentlest moonlight in the night sky pouring down, the purification power flowing at her fingertips could soothe all the world's pain and sorrow, granting all things tranquility and hope.

The peak battle caused Jiu Yin to nearly exhaust her divine power and life force, and like them, the Guide, she was left with severe aftereffects, becoming the aged and feeble appearance she had now.

"Boss, you're here." The twilight haze and blur in Jiu Yin's eyes gradually faded as she looked up at Qi Sheng.

"Your condition looks a bit serious—no problem? Perhaps you could use your stored Shou Shou Jili to treat yourself first."

Hearing this, Jiu Yin smiled and shook her head:

"I know my own physical condition best. If I needed to consume Shou Shou Jili to sustain my life force, I would definitely apply to you, but right now I'm merely aged, not yet so serious that my life is slipping away. Maintaining this state, I can still live at least another million years."

Saying so, Jiu Yin raised one index finger, her expression serious, as if to prove she wasn't joking.

Hearing these words, before Qi Sheng could speak, the Guide floating beside him conjured an arm, counted on its fingers, then rested its chin on its hand and said doubtfully:

【Sister Jiu Yin, I calculated your physical condition for you—at most you can live another hundred thousand years; without divine power infusion by then, you'll die.】

"Shut up, don't shine your analysis rules on me." Jiu Yin turned to look at the Guide and glared.

【Okay, Sister Jiu Yin.】 The Guide decisively nodded in acknowledgment.

Jiu Yin then stood up from the altar, released the blue energy crystal stone in her hand, and the crystal immediately floated automatically above the altar, maintaining the operation of the purification system.

She looked at Qi Sheng at this moment:

"Boss, did you come this time to build the fully automatic cultivation system?"

Hearing this, Qi Sheng immediately shook his head:

"That's not urgent; there's no spare Shou Shou Jili for a fully automatic cultivation system right now. I came this time for the pet system—I need you to assist Chao Wei in building a functional setting for all-directional purification of pets…"

Qi Sheng explained in detail the pet system settings he wanted to add.

This system was divided into two parts.

Namely the pet cultivation system and the free capture system.

The pet cultivation system part would be handled by Chao Wei, requiring the Guide to assist in a detailed analysis of the monsters' life structures, so that Chao Wei could later use extraction to reshape the combinations of life structures and generate specific pet templates.

Going forward, players could grow their pets' abilities by consuming Shou Shou Jili.

Next was the pet system that allowed players to freely capture pets.

If the free pet capture setting was added to the Challenger System, the first thing to handle would be the residual energy substances, pheromones, and so on on the bodies of foreign creatures.

The power of purification rules wielded by Jiu Yin could accomplish exactly this.

Just like the disinfection procedure before entering the Emperor Tomb Village space, only after being washed by the purification system could he rest assured to let foreign beings enter.

After hearing his explanation, Jiu Yin immediately nodded:

"This isn't difficult, can be handled."

"Roughly how much Shou Shou Jili will it need?" Qi Sheng pressed.

"My part isn't difficult—it's just auxiliary operation; the purification system just needs to unfold one more node, 550,000 Shou Shou Jili is enough to handle it. The hard part is the portion Chao Wei is responsible for, which additionally requires implanting a free capture system with the Painful Painful Minghun as its core."

【Calculated wrong — this branch node needs roughly 560,000 Shou Shou Jili; 550,000 Shou Shou Jili is clearly not enough to open a branch node connecting to the purification altar.】

The Guide chimed in at this moment.

Nine Yin: ……

Today's ten-thousand-character chapter is delivered

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(End of this chapter)