Chapter 143: 70,000 Newbies, Noobs Bumping Heads

The Bliss Main Brain, a replica of the Zerg Overmind, left Qi Sheng stunned.

At this moment, this purple mountain was slowly writhing; consciousness piercing through the flesh barrier could see Bliss warriors wrapped inside, connected by countless tentacles.

Just like the Evil Eye Gao Ta, this was another replica imitation.

It appeared to be a Zerg Overmind, but was actually flesh mecha, with a Bliss warrior controlling the main brain lying inside.

The only difference from the Evil Eye Gao Ta was that the Bliss Main Brain was not composed entirely of energy, but also incorporated a large amount of flesh and blood matter.

As the flesh writhed, the ability fluctuations released by Bliss Power rippled through the flesh body, like a prelude nurturing life; tiny cells split, combined, and mutated at astonishing speeds, following built-in troop blueprints to gradually construct complex life forms.

What made Qi Sheng surprised was that the Bliss Lord had obviously conducted in-depth research into the life structure of the Zerg Overmind.

During the gestation process, a strange biological resonance was generated within the main brain's body, automatically stamping obedience marks into the minds of the newly formed lives.

Just then, the abdomen of the Bliss Main Brain opened, and a massive amount of purple energy spores gushed out.

After landing, Bliss Power was rapidly injected, and the nourished spores grew quickly.

Just as Qi Sheng thought the Bliss Lord finally had a decent replica result, an absurd scene appeared.

A large number of Bliss Zergs collapsed screaming immediately upon birth, their bodies exploding into scattered purple mist.

The breeding lasted ten minutes.

After guided calculation, the survival rate of the Bliss Zergs was less than 10%; a massive number of Bliss Zergs died violently and prematurely right after birth.

The cause was related to the incomplete life structure.

The Bliss Zerg warriors generated by the Bliss Main Brain simply could not withstand the violently infused energy; the growth process was like pulling seedlings to help them grow, causing the Zerg warriors to have their bodies burst by energy before even entering maturity.

"Does this... have any meaning?" Seeing this scene, Qi Sheng felt utterly speechless in his heart.

【Boss, from a long-term perspective, it is very meaningful. Theoretically, the way to progress is not limited to innovation; imitation and learning can also bring progress. Starting from copying and imitation, then gradually developing one's own characteristics, is a very smart choice and a shortcut to growth.】

【But the current Bliss Lord is still in the starting stage of imitation, having not even learned the skin of the Black Tide or the Zerg Tide. He only replicated the form without the core essence, so the massive resources invested in the early stage have yielded no effective return.】

"Are you saying the Bliss Lord might actually succeed in the future?"

Facing the question, the Guide nodded:

【Whether it is the Black Tide or the Zerg Tide, establishing their current army structure was also a process of gradually absorbing experience from war and perfecting it, finally forming the current Catastrophe-level structure. So this path is undoubtedly correct, but wanting to walk it through is not easy; there are too many factors affecting success or failure.】

【Insufficient resources, unexpected crises, R&D bottlenecks... these are all potential factors affecting success. More importantly, walking this path involves many nodes that are difficult to break through; these nodes need to be compensated for with the power of Rules.】

【For example, the Zerg's pheromone collection and evolution ability is granted by the power of Rules. For the Bliss Lord to succeed, he must create similar Rules. Mere imitation with Bliss Power is far from enough; the process is like the ascetic creation of the Touch of Pain, requiring the forging of Rules capable of bearing functional special effects before there can be further progress.】

【So this path of imitation and replication is feasible, but wanting to walk it through is very hard; there are too many problems to overcome.】

"Are there any other replicated army structures nearby?" Qi Sheng asked at this moment.

【Yes.】

As the Guide's voice fell, Qi Sheng's consciousness jumped to a purple lighthouse east of the snowfield.

After the Analysis Ability was activated, relevant information floated in Qi Sheng's mind.

【Bliss Divine Lamp】:

Analysis Introduction: The Bliss Divine Lamp, made by the Bliss Lord imitating the Blue Lantern Clan, can modify certain world rules within the covered area for a short time.

Blue Lantern Clan?

This was a racial faction Qi Sheng had never learned about.

But what could be confirmed was that this race's comprehensive strength must be very strong.

The previous two replica units were both Catastrophe-level powers spanning Cross Multiple Worlds. Since this faction's structure was valued by the Bliss Lord, it proved there must be something powerful about it.

After all, the Bliss Lord does not imitate the weak.

The modification of world rules displayed in the analysis information made Qi Sheng feel very curious.

【Boss, the Blue Lantern Clan likely possesses a special Rule power similar to a World Rule Modifier, which can also be understood as generating a self-defined world.】

【For example, if the Blue Lantern Clan hopes this world has no Fire Element, then the Fire Element energy within the range covered by the Divine Lamp's rules will be removed. Or if the world rules are modified so that cultivation causes strength to regress, then this regulation becomes the core logic of the world's operation. However, such rule modification is limited to the range covered by the Divine Lamp's rules and is not permanent; once the covered range is lifted, the original world rules will automatically restore.】

Hearing the Guide's explanation, Qi Sheng became even more curious:

"If the rules within the Divine Lamp's covered range are modified so that Blue Lantern Clan members are immortal and indestructible, would that mean the Blue Lantern Clan would never die in wars with other races?"

【That's right, but such modification obviously has a cost. The higher the intensity of the setting, the more massive the resources consumed during the duration. If it were arbitrary modification without limits, theoretically the Blue Lantern Clan would be absolutely invincible within the Divine Lamp's covered range, with no faction capable of opposing them.】

"This is truly a cheat, and it's the Feng Ling Xie Yue Ying cheat." Hearing the Guide's explanation, Qi Sheng thought of a modifier used specifically for game cheating before his transmigration.

The Blue Lantern Clan was very much like a cheating faction mastering a "Rule Modifier."

After deeply analyzing the structure of the Bliss Divine Lamp, this too was an inferior imitation.

The released energy could only briefly distort space, but could not clearly modify the spatial settings within the covered range; it was purely a toy.

After the analysis ended, Qi Sheng's consciousness followed the Guide shuttling across the snowfield.

Besides the experimental base built by the Bliss Clan here, a large number of low-level monsters also lived on the snowfield.

Winter Fury Bears, Winter Giant Wolves, Ice Crystal Butterflies, Glacier Beasts, and so on.

After roughly understanding the situation of this area, Qi Sheng decided to open a Newbie Village space right here.

To raise the intensity of the Bliss Lord's experimental base.

After leaving a mark, Qi Sheng's consciousness returned to the Di Zhong Village space and contacted Yan Ming to begin construction of the new space.

The construction of this new space also required cutting the area of the Di Zhong Village space. When building the main city, he had left one-third of the area undeveloped for this space division.

Regarding the consumption for space construction, after the Guide's calculation, it required consuming 9.7372 million Shou Shou Jili.

The settings of the new space were similar to the Colorful Mist Coast space, providing only a blank space scene without offering any extra services.

The only functional building was the teleportation plaza connecting to the Di Zhong Village space.

With abundant Shou Shou Jili available to use, the rest was left to Yan Ming to handle; he did not need to worry.

Once the space construction was completed, he would launch the next round of recruitment.

This time, 70,000 player slots would be distributed externally.

Regarding player choices, he already had a clear target among the alien races.

At this stage, the player legion already possesses capabilities for naval and land warfare, but there is a significant weakness in air combat capabilities.

For this recruitment of alien race players, his primary consideration is air combat capability.

Secondly, human race players remain the core recruitment target.

……

Three days later.

The Challenger notification rang out in the minds of all players.

【Challenger Notification (All Channels): Game version update. This update opens a new exploration map: Winter Snowfield.】

(Scene Video)

Winter Snowfield:

Scene Introduction: The far north, far from the noise of the world, a new exploration scene isolated from the rest of the world. In this scene, ice and snow are the masters of the world; cold and silence are the eternal stages.

The opening of the new exploration scene sparked heated discussion among players on the forum.

Old Daoist Qingyangzi: Wow, looking at the update background image, I like this scene. Heavy snow, aurora over the snow, and a brilliant starry sky. More importantly, it's another scene without any cowardly Butterflies. Exploration-focused players are overjoyed.

Debt Has a Head, Debt Has a Master: I'm not going. Besides the Cang Star Sea Battle and the Defend the Homeland Battle where I went to the Colorful Mist Coast, my favorite is still the dark-style Di Zhong Mountain Range region. I love the gloomy, dim, and corrupt environment. I want to fight the Insect Tide and the Black Tide for another ten years. My only wish in this life is to take down the two big bullies of the Newbie Village.

Ate Since Childhood: Judging by the video in the expansion pack for the new scene, the monster strength doesn't seem high, not as good as the Di Zhong Mountain Range region, and not suitable for hunting and leveling up. I feel like a batch of new slots is about to open, as if it's a space built specifically for newbie players.

Loves Milk Tea: Mind-Soul controllers are overjoyed. There are new monsters to capture again. All good brothers go into the pot; the old die to make way for the new.

Slacking Captain Arrives: After watching the scene video, the monster strength in the parsed information is all very low, and the monster density isn't high either. Going there to play a snow picnic, setting up a tent for a bit of fun is fine, but developing is out of the question. My evaluation is that it's not as good as the Di Zhong Mountain Range and the Colorful Mist Coast.

Big Sword Chop Chop Chop: Is anyone forming a party to go watch the aurora in the snow? Everyone brings one type of Spirit Material; I'll bring pots, pans, and bowls. Let's go together for some fun.

The opening of the new scene attracted a large number of players to head there via the teleportation array.

Qi Sheng set the fee for each teleportation at 5 points of Shou Shou Jili.

The investment in the new scene also means that the recruitment of new players can begin.

……

Earth, Tianyu City.

The city is composed of multiple islands suspended in the sky connected together.

The main body of the islands is formed by piecing together several huge floating rocks. The main island and sub-islands are arranged in a staggered and orderly manner, connected by exquisite bridges and floating walkways, forming a complex yet orderly sky traffic network.

The islands are also planted with lush vegetation; various plants from Earth can be found here.

At the very center of the main island stands a magnificent floating palace. It is the symbol of Tianyu City and the spiritual faith of the Tianyu people. Embedded at the top of the palace is a blue energy bead brought from the Zi Xiao Shi Jie. Whenever night falls, the bead emits a soft and warm light, illuminating the entire island like a bright pearl embedded in the sky curtain.

This is also the energy core that supports the floating state of the suspended islands.

Below the islands lies an endless sea of clouds. Standing at the edge of an island and looking down, one can see the sea of clouds churning.

When the clouds and mist disperse, one can see the surging ocean.

Although the islands never occupied human territory, they restricted flight paths. The Human Federation required them not to fly over any human city to block the sun.

Therefore, they have always been moving over the great ocean.

The main residents of the city are Tianyu people with significant influence within the Earth Alliance.

Their body structure is similar to humans, except for a pair of magnificent and powerful wings growing on their backs.

The feathers of the wings are divided into three colors: gray, white, and silver, corresponding to the You Nian Qi, adolescence, and adulthood of the Tianyu people respectively.

The average lifespan of Tianyu clan members is close to 250 years, making them one of the longer-lived racial factions in the Earth Alliance.

In appearance, the Tianyu people perfectly conform to human aesthetics.

Facial contours are generally exquisite, with broad and slightly protruding foreheads, clear brow bones, and white eyebrows that are distinct and slightly arched upwards. The distance between the eyebrows is moderate, giving an air of heroism.

At this moment, in a residential building covering over a hundred square meters on a sub-island of Tianyu City.

Beep!

The green light on the game pod lit up. Nutrient fluid was discharged through the Kong Dong, and the hatch rose accordingly.

Yu Ling bent down and stood up.

After the soft tubes connected to his body automatically detached and retracted, he walked out of the game pod, took off the game suit, and changed into the clothes laid out nearby.

Due to the presence of wings, the clothing was designed to be relatively loose, especially with open designs on the back and shoulders to ensure the wings could spread and flap freely.

After grinding continuously for a week of warfare, selling all game supplies and equipment, Yu Ling decided to have a good meal.

He sat down on the sofa, raised his right arm, and a smart holographic screen that could be touched popped up on his watch.

After opening the food delivery app, he began to place an order.

The food delivery system in Tianyu City was no different from that of the Human Federation; orders were received and prepared by chef robots, then precisely delivered by flying robots.

In the past, the Tianyu people had professions like chefs, but after integrating into the Earth Alliance, technology iterated and updated rapidly, and many professions that once existed had been replaced by robots.

And they, this group of new Tianyu people born on Earth, basically had no suitable job positions.

If asked what the meaning of their existence is, a major factor is creating purchasing power and providing the driving force for the economic cycle.

This is a society that, in Yu Ling's eyes, is nearly class-solidified.

The only thing that allows ordinary people to enjoy the dividends of the era is the Star Network society built by the Moon Eater Clan, especially the virtual game world.

This is also the main source of income for the vast majority of ordinary Tianyu people.

However, compared to the small clans of the Earth Alliance, the Tianyu people provide technology through cooperation and collect patent fees, generating substantial foreign exchange revenue every year. The welfare level of residents is also relatively high, so they do not need to worry about survival issues.

After finishing the food delivery order, Yu Ling sat down at the computer desk placed in the living room.

After waking the screen, he glanced at the time in the bottom right corner.

Tonight, the first round of qualification distribution for "Dark Lands" is about to begin.

The Tianyu people possess 100,000 qualification slots.

There are still 2 hours and 56 minutes until the slot distribution time.

He opened the group chat app; a vast number of players were discussing the topic of qualification distribution within the group.

Most were blasting the Eclipse Clan's hunger marketing strategy; releasing only 100,000 in the first round was like a drop in the bucket for the Sky Feather Clan, whose population exceeded 7 million, utterly unable to satisfy the demand.

Yu Ling also detested this deeply, joining the group chat to fiercely criticize the Eclipse Clan.

If there were class divisions among the races of the Earth Alliance, then the Eclipse Clan was undoubtedly the race standing at the apex.

The education received since childhood could not avoid the Eclipse Clan.

Smart city systems, the Star Net network, node intelligent brains... the Eclipse Clan were the guides leading the Sky Feather Clan toward modernization, carving out a path of technological growth for the Sky Feather Clan.

Like other Sky Feather Clan members, Yu Ling's emotions toward the Eclipse Clan were also very complex.

On one hand, the Eclipse Clan helped the Sky Feather Clan take root on Earth, providing massive technical and resource support; they could be said to be the Sky Feather Clan's benefactors.

On the other hand, it made him feel his confidence was bruised.

Education within the clan made them proud of the Sky Feather Clan's history, knowing the Sky Feather Clan had once been the existence at the top of the food chain in their world.

But reality was that looking up, one could see the bright moon hanging high in the sky, knowing that was truly the apex of the world, an existence not at all surpassable through mere pursuit.

This complex emotion made the Sky Feather Clan people generally both love and hate the Eclipse Clan.

But no matter how much they cursed, when the Eclipse Clan opened new technologies for purchase, they would still buy and use them without hesitation.

Take, for example, the Dark Lands launched this time.

This was the first round of qualification snatching within the Sky Feather Clan.

Yu Ling could basically confirm that every clan member would participate in this snatching.

Because every Sky Feather Clan person was a loyal player of virtual games.

Virtual games were also their Sky Feather Clan's greatest form of entertainment; the daily average online game rate was as high as over 85%, and the largest foreign exchange expenditure annually was the consumption of buying virtual products within games.

In the group chat, time flew by rapidly.

Time arrived at 12 o'clock midnight.

The midnight bell rang echoing over the city.

"Let me win!"

With his muscles tensed and ready, Yu Ling, aided by a percussion massager, made his fingers turn into shadows as he frantically struck the virtual keyboard.

At this moment, the official website interface of the Dark Lands popped up a prompt:

【This round of qualification snatching has ended; it is regrettable that you failed to obtain the purchase qualification for "Dark Lands".】

"Damn, I still didn't snatch it!"

Throwing the percussion massager onto the table, Yu Ling, like a deflated ball, slid down his body while sitting in the chair.

Although he had been mentally prepared, the moment he received the clear answer, he still felt extremely depressed.

Regarding the game "Dark Lands," he had been looking forward to it for five years.

Knowing this game would be the sole top-tier virtual game for the next twenty years, or even longer, with no game able to match it.

Entering the game first meant being able to establish an advantage in advance.

Such an important head-start opportunity, yet he had missed it.

"So annoying!"

Thinking that he had already disposed of all equipment and items in "Conquest," and that there would probably be no games to play for a recent period, Yu Ling's mood plummeted.

Opening the group chat, he discovered the group members had already started blasting.

Flying Tyrant: Eclipse Clan, I f*** you f***, 100,000 spots, treating us like beggars, might as well not release them at all; I suggest this round's distribution be directly withdrawn, who are you looking down on?

Sky Feather Earth-Stepping Art: So angry I beat my cousin to a pulp; why couldn't this broken qualification be snatched by me? Next time, let me enter the game first; I'll kill any Eclipse Clan player I see. Don't ask why; it relieves the anger.

Sky Feather Clan's Top Looks: Brothers, what do we do now? How do we get through the upcoming period?

Flying Mount's Usefulness: Group owner, come out! Yesterday you told us to sell our "Conquest" equipment at a discount; what do we do now? The next round of qualification distribution is probably a month away; what do we play during this time?

After reading the group members' posts, Yu Ling, as the group owner, typed and spoke at this moment:

Dumb Bird Flies First (Group Owner): Hahaha, I snatched the qualification; did none of you snatch it?

Hearing he had snatched the game qualification, the group members instantly switched to full blasting mode, all expressing why he deserved to snatch the qualification and suggesting he apply for a refund.

But a brief moment of showing off could not ultimately conceal the truth of the facts.

When the group members demanded he provide a screenshot of the subscription, Yu Ling confessed the truth, only to be furiously blasted by the group members again.

Just as Yu Ling was preparing to join the roasting, a link popped up on the group chat interface.

Conquest Loyal Player: Brothers, this link can download the cracked version of Dark Lands; it's a link just released on the forum; many people have already finished downloading and experienced the game; hurry up and download it yourselves (Attachment: Link Address).

The sudden link made Yu Ling pause in confusion.

Flying Mantis: Re-posted from the forum? Probably a scam link sent by that bunch of beasts from the Breaker Clan?

Sky Feather Clan's Top Looks: I downloaded it; it's very fun; the bank card automatically zeroed out; it is indeed the cracked version download link of the genuine Dark Lands; everyone hurry and download, I beg you.

Flying Tyrant: Too fun; I just entered the game and instantly leveled up to 100; it even gifted me a Dragon-Slaying Treasure Blade; if you're a brother, come into the game and chop me.

Conquest Loyal Player: Brothers, I really downloaded it (Screenshot: Download Screenshot); with the Star Net monitoring, what the hell is there to fear about scams? The Breaker Clan's online scams use rhetoric to make you transfer money; they can't possibly directly swipe your balance; so what if I downloaded it? If it's truly a scam, then let me have a good chat with the scammer to kill some boring time; you all download and try; the forum is discussing it.

After reading the group members' discussion, Yu Ling clicked the link without hesitation.

After the webpage popped up, he decisively clicked the download in the center of the page; immediately, a download percentage progress bar popped up in the top right corner.

Yu Ling's thought was very simple: even if there was a 1% possibility, he had to download and try; what if it worked?

But deep in his heart, he still did not hold much hope.

Even if this link truly allowed downloading the cracked version of Dark Lands, it would soon be banned by the Star Net intelligent brain, and the downloaded cracked game would also be deleted.

Unless the unknown existence releasing the cracked version possessed Star Net permissions higher than the Star Net itself, but was that possible?

After clicking download, Yu Ling entered the Sky Feather Forum.

He discovered many posts were hotly discussing the cracked version link information, among which many players stated they had really downloaded the game.

But without a screenshot, there is no way to tell if these bastards are telling the truth or lying.

Just as the game download progress reached 80%, a forum post caught Yu Ling's attention.

【Why can't the link be downloaded? It says the quota is exhausted and new download qualifications haven't been opened. What's going on?】

Clicking the post, he found many players discussing the issue of the link being un-downloadable.

This made Yu Ling feel somewhat relieved; luckily he was quick-witted and struck first. Whether true or false, at least he hadn't missed out.

When the game download reached 93%, a group member who had already experienced the game content brought explosive news:

Loyal Conquest Player: Brothers, it's real, absolutely true. I entered the game to clear the wilderness first; we'll team up once I'm higher level.

This news caused the chat group to instantly explode; all members were howling, appearing infinitely excited.

Yu Ling also excitedly clenched his fist.

Although he had many doubts in his heart, such as why the Star Net wasn't conducting monitoring and management.

But none of that mattered; being able to enter the game was a good thing, even if he could only experience it for a short time before getting his account banned.

The remaining 7% of progress made Yu Ling feel extremely agonized.

Finally, the prompt sound of the game download completion rang out.

Yu Ling decisively transmitted the game content to the game pod and pressed the adaptation key on the virtual keyboard.

Not long after, the game pod lit up with a green light indicating adaptation was complete; Yu Ling decisively stripped off his clothes and ran toward the game pod.

……

【Player Yu Ling enters the game.】

【Player Yu Zhen enters the game.】

【Player Fei Yu enters the game.】

The prompt sounds of players entering the game kept ringing in Qi Sheng's mind, and the prompt frequency grew faster and faster.

He decisively blocked the information prompts in his mind, changing them to a stream of information sweeping through his mind.

With a raised hand, a three-dimensional projection model of a Sky Feather Clan player appeared before him.

【Challenger Name: Stupid Bird Flies First】:

Main Form: Sky Feather Clan

Racial Talent: None

Body Tempering Level: 0 (Inherited Painful Painful Minghun Attributes: 0)

Star Vein Inlay (Level: 1):

Slot One Inlay: Scattered Arrow.

……

In this round of recruitment, he had distributed a total of seventy thousand quotas.

Among them, forty thousand Human Clan players, twenty thousand Sky Feather Clan players, and ten thousand Gills Fish Clan and Abyss Fish Clan players.

Newbie players were randomly dropped into the Resurrection Squares of the three major spaces.

Most of the players were dropped into the newly opened Winter Snowfield scene.

In observation, these newbie players quickly walked out of the newbie village space and began exploring the world, all being shocked by the realistic scene before their eyes.

Especially the newbie players whose initial login locations were in the Colorful Mist Coast space and the Winter Snowfield space.

They couldn't see the scene modeling inside the white space and were still complaining that the game newbie village was too crude.

But once they exited the newbie village space, they were instantly shocked by the scene before their eyes.

Regarding the game Dark Land, nearly all players held very high expectations.

But after entering the game, they discovered they had still underestimated the powerful technology of the Moon Eater Clan; this was actually a virtual game with no difference from real-world physical performance.

The regional voice channels were flooded with the exclamations of newbie players.

New players arriving should have been the moment for veteran players to show off and display their extraordinary power, but soon the veterans discovered something was wrong.

The forum refreshed with a bunch of posts buying Shou Shou Jili.

Especially the Sky Feather Clan players who had just entered the game; they hadn't even started experiencing the game content yet, but had already started buying Shou Shou Jili.

This made many Human Clan paying veteran players feel very unhappy.

During this period, the price of Shou Shou Jili had already undergone a round of skyrocketing.

The reason was that the Arms Dealer Guild and the Alchemist Guild suddenly began bulk-buying Shou Shou Jili on the forum at prices higher than the market rate.

This caused the cost for many paying players to acquire Shou Shou Jili to skyrocket straight up.

It also caused players who originally wanted to sell Shou Shou Jili to no longer sell easily; they all began to wait and see, expecting the Shou Shou Jili price to continue rising so they could obtain higher returns.

There was even a batch of investor players appearing in the game.

They bought Shou Shou Jili from other players, hoarded it in their hands, waited for the price to continue rising, and used it as a financial product.

Facts proved that this batch of players all earned considerable real-world returns from several rounds of Shou Shou Jili price increases.

Now, the already scarce Shou Shou Jili saw a new round of price increases due to the arrival of new players, making paying players feel very uncomfortable.

Unlike the Gills Fish Clan and Abyss Fish Clan, the Sky Feather Clan newbies were originally paying players in other games.

After a preliminary exploration to understand the game quality, realizing this would be an irreplaceable virtual game in the future and would be their "Main World" for the next few decades, they immediately chose to invest early and accelerate their growth progress in the game.

This behavior also provoked dissatisfaction from many paying veteran players.

But there were also many veteran players who cheered and jumped for joy because of this, such as the Gills Fish Clan and Abyss Fish Clan, two groups that solved real-world difficulties through game grinding.

In their eyes, the higher the Shou Shou Jili price, the better.

Qi Sheng had conducted statistics: the real-world returns produced by the 5,000 game qualifications distributed to the Gills Fish Clan and Abyss Fish Clan in the early stage already accounted for 27.82% of the Abyss Fish Clan and Gills Fish Clan's usual seafood sales revenue.

According to the current upward trend of Shou Shou Jili, the 15,000 Abyss Fish Clan and Gills Fish Clan players who entered the game will produce returns in the future that exceed the profits brought by exporting seafood.

The problem of Gills Fish Clan and Abyss Fish Clan seafood being hard to sell and lacking foreign exchange revenue is no longer a problem.

As for the Tianyu Clan recruited this time, what Qi Sheng valued was their aerial combat ability, meant to compensate for the shortcomings of the early phase.

As for the later phase, players will all possess the ability to fly through the sky and burrow through the earth, so aerial combat won't be an issue at all.

This recruitment was also a kind of assessment — he'd observe the Tianyu Clan players' performance before considering whether to continue issuing game slots afterward.

As for what the Tianyu Clan players who failed to grab a game slot would think if the priority recruitment were later cut off, he didn't care.

His gaze shifted at this point to the Frost Snow Plains, beginning to observe how the newbie players performed in the new scene.

The area near the Frost Snow Plains starting point was now packed to bursting; the great newbie army surged forward in full force, kicking off a steamroll mode.

Gnawing on trees, having snowball fights, eating snowballs, shrieking at the top of their lungs… the newbie players who had just entered the Frost Snow Plains scene were like over-energetic, pent-up teddy dogs, frolicking everywhere.

After running the data, Qi Sheng discovered that among this batch of Tianyu Clan players entering Monster World, the Painful Painful Minghun with the highest initial selection rate was the Scatter Launcher Spirit.

Just after entering the game, they generally took action in their main-body form, spreading their wings one after another to soar into the high sky and gaze down at the earth.

Before long, the player army encountered several hundred giant bears.

The great battle began; the Tianyu Clan players who had taken to the sky one after another condensed their Scatter Launcher Spirits to conduct high-altitude shooting.

But without Painful Painful Minghun attribute boosts, the shooting — which consumed qi and blood — quickly made it hard for the Tianyu Clan players to maintain flight, and they tumbled from the sky, crashing into the snow.

This was a common mistake newbie players made, especially those who refused to learn the game settings and dove straight into exploration.

Painful Painful Minghun attributes were far higher than the main-body attributes players had in reality.

Using Painful Painful Minghun traits directly in main-body form would lead to excessive spiritual-power consumption causing dizziness, or excessive qi-and-blood consumption causing weakness.

In the opening battles after entering the game, quite a few players were killed by the giant bears.

Once the players had swept away the several hundred giant bears, the berserk army continued its steamroll forward.

After successively clearing several waves of giant bears, they encountered the main force of the Frost Snow Plains.

A group of strange lifeforms constructed from purple energy.

When they saw this group of monsters, the newbie players' expressions were wonderfully priceless.

Especially when they saw a monster suddenly fall down while advancing, then stagger back to its feet — they nearly laughed out loud, and the regional voice channel erupted in heated discussion:

"No way, the scene modeling is this excellent, the physics performance is perfect too — so why is the modeling of these purple-skinned monsters so trashy? Honestly can't bear to look."

"Killing me — that monster with a leg growing out of its head, the monster's own modeling clips through itself."

"The parse info says these are Blissful Evils, so it's fine for an evil to look a bit weird, right? I think this is just the game setting — the design idea is to create a lifeform with a chaotic body structure, presenting a twisted, manic feel."

"I'll accept everything you said upstairs, but can you tell me why that Blissful Evil was pinned to the ground and trampled to death by its own side's monsters?"

"Dying laughing, these Blissful Evils are way too abstract — the newbie-village monsters are already phoning it in for the players? Refund!"

……

The newbie army soon clashed with the purple tide.

But the battle itself was abstract on both sides.

On the players' side, the fighting was like a bunch of thugs brawling — no method at all — and occasionally, over disputes about stealing kills, they even hit their own people.

On the Blissful Clan's side, the Blissful Warrior atop Gao Ta was nearly frying his brain cells.

Under his control, the Blissful Evils would often suddenly freeze up and zone out mid-battle, or suddenly drop to the ground and roll around, or hit the wrong target.

The newbie players watched, dumbfounded, and shouted that the monster AI was way too low.

But the Blissful Evils' hunting levels were all 6+, and their sheer numbers far outmatched the newbie players, beating them into wailing howls; the front line crumbled at the first touch.

The scene could only be described as noobs pecking at each other.

Just as the newbie army thought their own side was about to collapse, a bizarre scene unfolded.

The Blissful Evils, scrambling forward on all fours, seemed to hit an invisible barrier — once they crossed it, they would suddenly collapse and stop moving.

After several batches fell in succession, the Blissful Evils began to retreat, watching the newbie players through the invisible barrier from afar, eyeing them covetously.

This sight left the newbie players dumbfounded, but Qi Sheng, observing from behind the scenes, understood exactly what had happened.

One of the functions of the Blissful High Tower was signal amplification; the spiritual control released by the Blissful Warrior was expanded in coverage through the tower, but once outside the spiritual-link coverage range, the Blissful Evils would lose their signal connection and freeze up on the spot.

This was also why, after falling, the Blissful Evils couldn't get up and made no movements at all.

Seeing such stupid monster AI, the newbie players now swarmed the regional voice channel to complain.

This scene was even recorded by newbie players into a video and posted on the forum.

【Veteran players, get in here and explain — what the hell is this?】

Poster: Soaring into the Clouds

Content: I, who just entered the game, was honestly blown away.

The scene modeling gets a perfect score from me, and the physics performance gets a perfect score too (no problems spotted so far), but what the hell is this (video attachment).

At first we ran into a group of giant bears, and I even thought the monster modeling was way too exquisite — pupils, fur, movements, every aspect was perfect.

Until our great newbie army, while advancing, ran into the Blissful Evils.

This group of monsters left me staring stupidly; I even had the sudden feeling I'd switched to a different game.

Missing arms and legs, arms growing out of heads, heads growing out of chests, uncoordinated limbs… aside from a few whose modeling looked somewhat normal, most of the monsters' modeling was extremely abstract — all clipping through themselves.

If it were only a modeling issue, I could understand that the setting was meant to be this way.

The Eclipse Clan deliberately designed this chaotic, disordered, abstract style — it's one of the monster systems in the game.

But the problem is the monsters' AI performance is way too bad; it feels to me like the latency is too high — actions stutter, sometimes they freeze in place, sometimes they suddenly twitch on the spot.

The attack patterns are even more abstract — they even hit their own side's monsters; I, who was trying to fight properly, couldn't help but break character laughing several times, laughed until I barely had the strength to throw a punch — way too much.

So, do the monsters in the Dark Lands have network lag too?

These monsters clearly aren't a setting issue — it has to be a design bug.

What do the veteran players think?

……

After reading the post, the veteran players also burst out laughing.

The monsters' AI in the game—how could they not know it inside out?

The learning and growth abilities of the two great tyrants of Imperial Tomb Village were nothing short of torment; they had always believed the AI's difficulty was set too high and needed nerfing.

So when they saw the newbie's rant, they were all baffled.

Until they tapped open the video and saw the footage of the Bliss Evil horde advancing—and completely lost it.

Nightfall Approaches: Hahaha, so it's a Purple Tide, huh? The Lord of Bliss really knows how to put on a show—actually cloning a Black Tide system, I spit out my drink. This wave is no loss. Newbie, farm it well—steady profits, no loss. The Lord of Bliss is known in the jianghu as the Lord of Joy, or the Lord of Benefits, meaning he can bring players joy and benefits. If it weren't for the fact that my Hunting Level is too low and the gains are far inferior to those of the Imperial Tomb Mountain Range, I'd definitely head over and farm a wave properly.

Soaring into the Clouds replied to Nightfall Approaches: What do you mean, what's this Purple Tide Black Tide stuff? I didn't get it.

Nightfall Approaches replied to Soaring into the Clouds: Come to the Imperial Tomb Mountain Range and you'll know. What you're running into now is a shoddy knockoff version—it's normal to find it abstract, because these aren't real monsters at all, they're all counterfeit goods.

Tea Dao Grandmaster: I'm drinking spirit juice by the beach right now, and you really made me spit it out. What is the Lord of Benefits trying to do? Is he crazy? Why does he have to imitate the Black Tide Calamity and put together a Purple Tide Calamity? Wouldn't it be nice to just normally develop the Palace of Joy? I get angry just thinking about how he suddenly closed up shop last time and turned away customers—I hadn't even killed to my heart's content before he shut the doors, totally disregarding how we players feel, so infuriating.

I Love Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs: I have a guess—maybe the Lord of Benefits is just too eager to improve. Think about why he's hiding inside the Palace of Bliss: he must feel his own strength isn't enough to compete with those cheaters out there. But he hasn't given up—he's endured humiliation, dragging living creatures everywhere to die happily inside the Palace of Bliss, and all the Bliss Power produced is poured into R&D. The model for imitation is the Black Tide, so the new area is probably the Lord of Benefits' tech R&D center.

xl's Little Alt Account: What you guys see is just entertainment, but what I see is the bitterness and blood of a talentless person struggling to catch up with cheaters. The Lord of Benefits is awesome. So R&D must burn a ton of energy, right? I suggest opening a few more nodes to take customers—I'll definitely show up, sacrificing myself to produce Bliss Power for you.

……

Seeing the Purple Tide army, the forum's veteran players didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

After watching the video, they not only didn't think there was a problem with the monsters' AI, but instead felt it was set too high.

In the unexplored, undiscovered parts of their world, every faction was striving to grow.

Take the Lord of Bliss, for example—he was constantly learning and improving, imitating the legion structures of powerful factions, attempting to replicate and refine them.

But without a doubt, at this stage the Purple Tide hadn't captured the essence of the Black Tide at all, nor did it possess the oppressive pressure the Black Tide should have.

Just as the newbie players said, the state of the Bliss Evil was just like network lag being too high—the combat style was overly abstract.

In response to this issue, the forum players launched a heated discussion.

Through the veteran players' explanations, the newbie players also understood the reason.

They learned that the Bliss Evil in the area were all shoddy, replicated creations—hardly monsters in any real sense.

At the same time, the news of players appearing in the Frost Snow Plains was fed back by the Bliss Warriors controlling the Purple Tide into the mind of the Lord of Bliss, who was hiding in an independent space.

(End of this chapter)