Chapter 153: Gods Fight, Players Open the Box

"Those with boats, PM me—pay 3 Shou Shou Jili for passage to watch the battle; don't PM if you're on a homemade raft, I won't board, too rough."

"Need 5 more for multi-passenger flying vehicle—10 Shou Shou Jili per person, 40-minute flight endurance; map shows five island stops before reaching the viewing point—PM if joining."

"Epic-level great clan battle—live viewing not to be missed; grand ship departing soon—pay to board, and experience the epic battlefield firsthand."

"Need someone with a light shield for support—free ride to the battlefield, hurry and join."

……

The war between Shu Yan and the Ascended Clan drew a massive influx of players.

The Rainbow Mist Coast was already packed to capacity.

Solo players formed teams here; guild squads assembled here.

But in every player's eyes, watching was secondary—the real key to this trip was looting the battlefield.

The scene resembled the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, with all manner of sea-crossing methods appearing in turn.

Flying vehicles, sailing vessels, multi-functional transports, swimming, rafts, riding sea creatures, players riding beasts… the most eye-catching was undoubtedly the figure riding his good brother as he swam forward.

The first group of players with flying vehicles arrived in the Shu Yan domain five hours later, and upon looking up, they could see the Shu Yan scene shrouded in white mist.

These players immediately launched livestreams, then piloted their flying vehicles through the mist and into it.

The scene before them made the first arrivals cry out in delight.

In the scene, cultivators stood on flying swords, clad in spiritual armor, surrounded by dazzling spiritual light as they flew through the air; with a gesture, they summoned heavenly and earthly spiritual energy to shape spells, or swung their immortal swords, sending forth sharp sword qi like long rainbows piercing the sun, each slash causing ripples across space.

On the other side, members of the Ascended Clan manipulated their elemental roots to gather elemental forces for battle.

A massive fire elemental being coalesced, tilted its head back, and roared, its entire body engulfed in blazing flames, warping and distorting the air wherever it passed.

Water elements coalesced into surging water dragons that darted through the scene's clouds, spreading icy vapor that condensed into sharp ice spikes falling like rain.

Wind elements became invisible blades, howling as they sliced through space.

Earth elements formed a rock giant that trudged forward with heavy steps, each footfall causing the earth to tremble slightly; it raised its massive arms, hurling countless rocks like cannonballs toward the cultivator ranks.

The scene was nothing short of gods fighting—many players who entered the scene were immediately blasted out of the white mist by stray energy waves.

Unlucky players were outright killed by the residual waves.

This made players hesitant to advance, hiding nervously at the mist's edge, occasionally poking their heads out to glance, crying out in excitement.

At this moment, an elderly man with white hair but sharp, vigorous eyes caught the players' attention.

He gripped tightly a sword emitting a deep blue glow, its blade inscribed with flickering runes; behind him, numerous sect disciples stood in a neat sword formation, each with resolute, unwavering eyes.

The elder held the sword in his right hand and formed a sword seal with his left.

Instantly, the sect disciples scattered, the sword formation blooming like a phantom lotus, its blades of piercing qi extending like petals.

As his aura surged, the elder gazed coldly at the Ascended Clan members before him, his eyes churning with boundless hatred:

"Though our beings of the lower realm lack your upper realm's power, we still possess our own dignity and way of survival—you treat us as disposable parasites, weave lies to trample our lives—shameful, hateful." The elder's body trembled slightly, his fury seeming ready to burst forth.

"You have turned the Zhou Tian lands into a mire of chaos—how many elders who sought immortality became vessels for your offspring? They ascended with hope of eternal life, yet died in agony, all because of your greedy desires." The elder's killing intent surged higher; as he spoke, his gaze swept over once-vibrant mountains and rivers now reduced to ruin, a trace of sorrow rising in his eyes.

"Don't think your lofty position lets you rule all—we of the lower realm will not sit idle; even if we exhaust our last ounce of strength, we will expel you demons from the Zhou Tian world and sever the path to ascension."

The elder's spiritual energy surged, his glow intensifying—as if declaring his resolve and courage to the demons of the upper realm.

"Today's battle concerns the survival of all things—we must fight with our lives!" The protagonist, Da Ri, raised his arm and shouted, his voice ringing like a great bell, echoing across heaven and earth.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Countless cultivators standing behind roared in unison, their cries shaking the clouds—no hesitation, no retreat in their voices.

To the Ascended Clan members, these words made no sense.

They did indeed breed many mini-worlds, but the scene beneath their feet had nothing to do with them—why the hatred?

Just fight already—why all these excuses?

To the Ascended Clan, the elder's grief and rage seemed utterly delusional.

Players shared the same thought.

They too thought the Shu Yan cultivators were truly eccentric—having voluntarily descended to build a domain right next to the Ascended Clan, yet acting so wronged, fabricating an invasion pretext—absurd beyond belief.

The pre-battle speech was painfully awkward.

This was the first time players had seen a faction wage war with such a need for righteous justification.

But unlike players and the Ascended Clan, within the story's narrative framework, the masses saw the Ascended Clan's crimes as real.

In their eyes, they had been deceived and parasitized by the upper realm's Ascended Clan; their cultivation was merely feeding the Ascended Clan's seeds within their bodies.

This battle was their gamble to defy heaven and rewrite their world's fate.

If they lost, Shanhe would be destroyed, the world would enter another cycle, continuing under the Ascended Clan's control.

Their souls would forget their memories, reincarnate, and again become fleshly vessels controlled by the Ascended Clan.

This battle was for today—and for the future.

Curious players asked the Guide for clarification.

Upon learning the truth, the players burst into laughter.

"Damn, I knew that thread a few days ago said the scene was full of mages—how'd it turn into a Xiu Xian Shi Jie? Turns out the author switched novels—this is the power system from the new book."

"The Guide says Shu Yan has switched five books already—this is the newly opened one, damn it."

"I hate abandoned novels and bad endings—I want to support the Ascended Clan in this fight."

"I support no one—I just want a divine opportunity to drop from the sky and open a giant treasure chest."

……

Through the Guide's explanation, players learned that the cultivators in the Shu Yan scene were all created characters, implanted with memories in which the Ascended Clan was the undisputed Dafan Sect.

What seemed like a war between cultivators and the Ascended Clan was more accurately a war between the behind-the-scenes controller, Shu Yan, and the Ascended Clan.

Shu Yan's abilities left players awestruck.

Monster stage, if you've got a cheat, come on—another powerful cheating faction has arrived.

The Guide's explanation also made players understand why, during battle, the cultivator side occasionally received mysterious energy shifts altering the rules of nature to help them evade deadly threats—behind it all, Shu Yan was writing, manipulating the plot to strengthen the cultivator side.

The protagonist's halo truly exists.

From the initial exchange, one can see that the Ascending Clan holds an absolute advantage in combat power.

But in a Within Shu Yan scenario, the world's rules can be modified at any time. Even an absolute disadvantage can be overturned again and again. Core characters all carry the protagonist's halo that lets them fight above their level, and they experience explosive growth mid-battle.

At this moment, a puzzled player asked in the regional voice channel:

"Brothers, I don't get one thing. Since Within Shu Yan Old Eunuch has enough Painful Painful Minghun reserves to boost the protagonist and other characters' strength, why choose to power them up during the fight instead of strengthening them first and then fighting the Ascending Clan? Is there a reason for doing it this way?"

This question got an answer on the spot from another player:

"Dummy, Within Shu Yan Old Eunuch clearly studied how to write a good book. A setup where characters grow during combat heightens the story's tension, builds suspense, allows for all kinds of plot twists, strengthens emotional impact, and stirs up the readers' emotions… Once you understand that the core of his storytelling is spreading readership, you'll get why he laid the groundwork for the Ascending Clan's invasion in advance and had the characters grow through battle."

"If I'm not wrong, the protagonist in the story should have a cheat power similar to combat-growth. He set up the foreshadowing first, then injected the Painful Painful Minghun — otherwise the story would feel way too abrupt. Also, having a large Painful Painful Minghun stockpile means he can modify the plot on the fly when unexpected incidents pop up."

The players launched a heated discussion about Within Shu Yan Old Eunuch's abilities and setup.

Watching the drama is fun for a moment, and watching it forever is fun forever.

The new faction had barely appeared before players had already given it two nicknames: Within Shu Yan Old Eunuch and Within Shu Yan King of Botched Endings.

This was also the sixth being or faction to earn an honorary nickname from the players.

While spectating, the players didn't forget the core purpose of this trip.

As more and more players arrived, some began pushing toward the main battle line, trying to sneak in a finishing blow.

This method was entirely viable according to the Guide's description.

Among players, damage numbers determined who got credit — and thus the rewards — for killing a monster.

But between players and outside beings, no such credit system existed.

As long as you hit the target with a Painful Painful Minghun ability, you could establish a trait link with it.

Once the target was killed by another life form and its stable life structure collapsed, as long as the target was within the Guide avatar's absorption range, its life energy could be absorbed and converted into evolution points and Shou Shou Jili fed back to the player.

This meant they could absolutely kill powerful beings many levels above them by sneaking in finishing blows.

So in the players' eyes, wars between powerful clans were a treasure trove of resources. With enough guts, getting rich overnight wasn't impossible.

But getting close to the main battlefield was extremely difficult.

The players' average combat level was too low — before they could even approach the battlefield, they'd be torn apart by oncoming elemental torrents or sudden bursts of sharp sword Qi.

Finding they couldn't get close to the main battlefield, the players changed strategy, craning their necks as they waited for treasure chests to fall into their laps.

At this moment the players looked just like the farmer in the story of waiting by a stump — staring eagerly for a weakened rabbit to deliver itself.

Time passed. The players gradually spread their encirclement through the fog, poking their heads out now and then to check the war's progress.

Some players even set up raft stalls drifting on the waves outside the scenario fog, selling freshly made spirit food.

……

Southwest of the battlefield, 12 kilometers out.

A multi-person vehicle ship was sailing across the sea, carrying a fixed party of 13 players.

Gale winds howled wildly across the sea, snapping the sail emblazoned with a cartoon bear.

The players on the ship were watching the livestream of the Ascending Clan versus the cultivators.

"Once I've got the money, I'm definitely buying a multi-person flying vehicle. This crappy ship is way too slow — it's costing me a fortune." The burly man standing on the deck spoke up at this moment.

A small tag hovered above his head, marking him as the captain of this player squad.

"I noticed that too. Last time the Lord of Benefits' shop opened, the fast ones got the meat, the latecomers only got scraps. So investing Shou Shou Jili in a fast vehicle is really necessary. As the worldview expands in the future, the importance of fast transport will only keep growing."

"Agreed. Looking back now, that strategy guide post by Nightfall really was ahead of its time — it predicted early on that speed equals profit. Other squads with fast vehicles reached the battlefield long ago. If they're scrambling for resources, by the time we get there we won't even get a sip of soup — the early arrivals will have looted everything."

"Stop complaining. Having a ship is already good. The players crossing the sea on homemade rafts or swimming over are the real miserable ones. I saw in the regional voice channel some newbie actually planning to swim over to spectate — they'll probably get eaten by fish on the way."

While keeping an eye on the livestream, the squad chatted casually in the voice channel, hoping in their hearts for a chance to get rich once they reached the battlefield.

Just then, a whistling sound of breaking wind came from the sky.

The players looked up in shock and saw a blurred afterimage streaking toward them from afar.

"Holy shit, Captain, dodge now! It's coming right at us!"

The squad members went pale. The captain decisively used his consciousness to steer the warship and change course.

The vehicle ship's power was immediately maxed out.

The figure attacking from the sky was extremely fast, charging straight in.

Boom!

With a tremendous crash, the figure slammed into the sea just meters from the ship's side.

In an instant, the seawater exploded like detonated explosives, surging upward into a wall of water dozens of meters tall. White spray came crashing toward the ship with overwhelming force, instantly flooding the deck.

The hull was shoved violently to one side by the massive impact. The sail pulled taut in the gale, seeming ready to tear at any moment. Some custom decorations placed on the deck slid across as the ship tilted, shifting sideways on the deck.

"Pah pah pah — got a mouthful of seawater. What the hell just ambushed us?"

"Lucky I hugged the mast quick — otherwise that hit would've sent me flying over ten meters."

Just then, a Challenger notification chimed in the squad chat channel.

【Challenger Notice: Sustained external damage. Armed vehicle durability reduced by 32.54%. Remaining durability: 67.46%.】

The sudden attack left the players on the ship dumbfounded. Once the rocking hull gradually steadied, they came to the ship's edge and looked down at the still-turbulent sea.

"What was that? Did any of you see clearly?" a player in the squad asked with a blank expression.

"It was flying too fast — I could only tell it looked like a humanoid creature. We almost got hit by it. Let's fish it out and make it pay us."

The captain looked at the Guide hovering beside him:

"Guide bro, did you see what that thing was?"

【A Within Shu Yan cultivator, blown here from the battlefield.】

The Guide avatar said, pointing forward. A light-screen image instantly generated ahead.

The image showed several Earth-Ascending Clan members channeling earth elemental energy to forge a yellow-brown energy warhammer. Together they pushed with force, slamming it viciously into Within Shu Yan "Within Shu Yan · Cultivator."

Under the impact of this immense power, the cultivator Shu Yan's armor shattered inch by inch; he opened his mouth, coughed blood, and his body, like a cannonball fired from a barrel, shot out of the scene, his life activities instantly frozen in mid-air as he continued to streak toward the distance.

The squad players, who had been complaining just moments before, saw the replay of the light and shadow scene and immediately jumped off the boat into the water.

"We've struck it rich, we've struck it rich! Just a moment ago we were complaining the speed was too slow, but who knew the opportunity would arrive so quickly."

"Hahaha, this is what the forums call a 'fated opportunity.' When such an opportunity arrives, it's hard not to get rich."

"What's the use of speed? Luck is the key to getting rich. In the future, when I have enough Star Vein slots, I must embed a Painful Painful Minghun that boosts the Luck attribute."

The squad members spoke up one after another in the voice channel, sounding exceptionally excited.

After searching beneath the sea surface, they found the body of the cultivator Shu Yan, which was still sinking continuously; the group worked together to drag it onto their vehicle.

With the Analysis Ability activated, relevant information floated into the minds of the players.

【Shu Yan · Body Refining Cultivator】:

Hunting Grade: 89 (Near Death, Severely Injured)

Target Analysis: A warrior of the cultivation system created by the Shu Yan scene; having left the Shu Yan scene, his life activities are frozen due to the lack of Mo Li infusion, rendering him unable to move freely.

After reading the analysis content, the squad players cheered and jumped for joy.

But one problem stood before them.

Should they use the Cao Kong Lao Yin to capture him and generate a personal good brother, or kill him to obtain Evolution Points and Shou Shou Jili?

The squad captain initiated a vote in the voice channel.

The final result was eight votes in favor of control and five votes in favor of killing.

With the vote concluded, the captain looked at a female player in the squad.

She had crafted a waterfall of silver-white hair using her armor plating; she stood about 1.7 meters tall and wore the popular "Xing Chen Fa" robe-style armor from the forums.

"Yin Zi, you are the only functional support in the squad; you will control this Body Refining Cultivator."

"Hehe, thank you, Captain, thank you, brothers."

The female player known as Yin Zi did not hesitate; she approached the frozen Body Refining Cultivator, stood before him, and released the Painful Painful Minghun to control him.

Having left the Shu Yan scene, the Body Refining Cultivator had already lost his self-awareness; after drinking three bottles of mental recovery potion in succession, the Painful Painful Minghun imprinted the Cao Kong Lao Yin into his mind without any obstruction.

But a problem arose immediately after.

Without Mo Li, how could they drive the Body Refining Cultivator to act?

Essentially, the Body Refining Cultivator is neither a purely flesh-and-blood life form nor an energy life form, but a special life form composed of rule-based power.

Within the Shu Yan scene, they were incredibly real.

But after leaving the scene, it was as if they had entered another dimensional world, completely unable to act on their own.

Facing this problem, the squad chose to seek help from the Guide.

The Guide, in turn, fed this problem back to Qi Sheng, who was observing from behind the scenes.

Upon learning the reason, Qi Sheng granted the players partial permissions to use Shou Shou Jili; subsequently, the Guide's avatar conveyed this news to the players.

In other words, the player controlling the Body Refining Cultivator could use Shou Shou Jili as Mo Li to drive the Body Refining Cultivator to act.

After listening to the Guide's avatar's explanation, the female player "Yin Zi" in the squad couldn't help but ask curiously:

"Guide, since Shou Shou Jili can serve as Mo Li, and Mo Li can freely weave its life structure, may I modify the settings of the Body Refining Cultivator?"

Facing the inquiry, the Guide's avatar floating beside her nodded:

【You can understand this Body Refining Cultivator as a piece of clay that cannot change its material; its strength is at Hunting Grade 89. You can mold the clay into the form you desire by injecting Shou Shou Jili. The only restriction is one: the Body Refining Cultivator is a one-time life form and cannot resurrect after death like players.】

The Guide's answer made the entire squad extremely excited.

"Yin Zi, mold a succubus for me!" a player in the squad immediately said.

"Pah, I want to mold a healer; then our squad won't lack healing anymore, and we can save a huge amount of potion expenses."

"Good, good, good, that's a great idea; let's mold a healer. Although it's one-time use, as long as it's protected well, it can be used for a long time."

Yin Zi's idea immediately gained the approval of the other players in the squad.

Subsequently, Yin Zi asked the Guide's avatar how to set up the Mo Li-composed Body Refining Cultivator.

Qi Sheng had already provided a solution to this problem and built a simulation test panel.

After receiving the reply, Yin Zi placed her hand on the Body Refining Cultivator, and a setting modification panel instantly popped up in her mind.

The process of reshaping the Body Refining Cultivator was not like molding a face in a game; instead, it involved setting the appearance and attributes of the Shu Yan Warrior through text descriptions. This was the underlying architecture of the Shu Yan Warrior and could not be changed unless one obtained the three rule-based powers of "Holding," "Pen," and "Book," implanted the Challenger System, and then made modifications.

In the blank input box, Yin Zi typed a line of text:

【Human appearance, female, height 1.65 meters.】

After the text was entered, the remaining Mo Li display in the upper right corner of the interface read: 99.997%.

In the interface, the original Body Refining Cultivator's form twisted and changed, transforming into a female character 1.65 meters tall.

However, the facial features were very abstract because no detailed settings had been applied.

Subsequently, the player "Yin Zi" began adding detailed descriptions, setting up the healer with greater precision.

Before long, a woman with the same silver, waterfall-like hair as Yin Zi was generated; beneath her stunningly beautiful face, a few stray strands of hair were added, playfully scattered on both sides of her Bai Xi, snow-white cheeks, making her features appear even more exquisite.

After several changes to the pupil design through text description, the eyes were set to deep purple.

As for attire, she wore a white robe outlined with silver threads forming complex and exquisite runes; intricate metal armor was depicted on her shoulders and elbows, with a unique design resembling a phoenix spreading its wings to take flight, adding a touch of heroism without losing feminine grace.

A white belt was tied around her waist, and in her hand was a staff that could amplify abilities when casting spells.

Next came the ability settings; text was added to the template to inject abilities such as Healing Spell, Meditation Recovery, and Group Healing Spell, along with the detailed manifestation effects of each ability.

Driven by curiosity, Yin Zi attempted to write in "Resurrection Spell" and its related ability description.

A Challenger Prompt instantly popped up in her mind:

【Challenger Prompt: Insufficient Mo Li energy to constitute the target ability; unable to generate the Resurrection Spell.】

Glancing at the remaining 19.53% Mo Li, Yin Zi typed the words: Body Enhancement Spell.

The prompt for insufficient ink power sounded again.

She had no choice but to modify the Body Strengthening technique's settings, weakening the described effect of the ability; this time, the ability successfully formed as an Energy Within the Horse within the Nai Ma's body.

With less than 0.5% of ink power remaining, he spent this remaining Shou Shou Jili on adding decorative items to the Nai Ma and named her: Nai Ma.

Once the ink power was fully depleted, Yin Zi used her consciousness to tap the "Generate" button in the template.

Instantly, the Challenger Prompt rang out:

【Challenger Prompt: Generate template life? Cost: 3942 Shou Shou Jili.】

Seeing the screenshot Yin Zi posted in the voice channel, the entire squad was startled.

"Why so expensive? 3942? That's enough to upgrade our vehicle."

"I could understand 394, but 3942 is ridiculous—I feel pain just looking at it."

"I really want the Nai Ma as support, but I don't want to pay—what should I do?"

Faced with the exorbitant cost of setting modifications, the squad discussed and pooled together a sum of Shou Shou Jili to transfer to Yin Zi.

With the Nai Ma, this money would surely be earned back eventually.

Upon receiving the team's transfer, Yin Zi gritted her teeth and pressed Generate.

Instantly, the body cultivation cultivator lying on the ground reshaped his life structure under the drive of Shou Shou Jili, transforming into a breathtakingly beautiful woman—yet the critical state on her panel remained unchanged.

This was another massive expenditure.

Since the money was already spent, they couldn't afford to quit halfway.

The squad pooled more funds to buy recovery potions, spending a total of 12,942 Shou Shou Jili to change the critical state in the analysis data to weakened.

At this point, a new problem emerged.

They discovered their created "Shu Yan · Nai Ma" still could not move.

After consulting the guide, they learned that Nai Ma's underlying architecture still operated under the rules of Zhi, Bi, and Shu, requiring external force to activate movement.

They could inject a sum of Shou Shou Jili into her body to serve as the energy source driving Shu Yan Nai Ma.

This made the squad erupt in curses.

Compared to other players who had accidentally found a "Good Brother" they could freely command, the one they'd found was nothing but a gold-sucking beast.

This meant future control would always cost money.

But after initial control tests, the squad's faces brightened again.

Because the Shou Shou Jili cost for control was low, and unrelated to the strength of the abilities Shu Yan Nai Ma released.

According to the guide's calculation, the cost was 37 Shou Shou Jili per hour.

When not in use, they could choose to place her idle, injecting Shou Shou Jili only when needed to activate control.

Attempting to control Nai Ma to release a group healing spell, the cold-faced Shu Yan Nai Ma raised her staff and swept it through the air, showering healing light—suddenly, a green rain of light formed above them, falling onto their bodies and seeping inward, leaving a warm current surging through their veins.

After releasing the ability, Yin Zi immediately noticed Nai Ma's internal energy had decreased.

Just as she worried the consumed energy would require Shou Shou Jili to replenish, faint green luminescence appeared on Nai Ma's surface; her Neng Li Lao Yin automatically drew in ambient energy to restore the loss.

This eased the squad's minds.

Fortunately, the "Meditative Recovery" setting had taken effect—if not, this investment would have been a disaster; if energy recovery required constant payment, they simply couldn't afford it.

During this time, the happiest were the squad leader who played the statue stream, and Yin Zi.

The leader gained a free mobile healing spring, saving huge medical expenses on future hunts, while Yin Zi gained a controllable, powerful Nai Ma, boosting her support capability by several tiers.

The squad's combat power grew significantly after this unexpected stroke of fortune.

The only concern now was one issue: how to protect Nai Ma's life.

As players, they were all regulars in the Black Room; an hour-long cooldown spent browsing forums or watching livestreams would pass easily.

But the situation had now changed.

Nai Ma was an unresurrectable controlled life—they had to protect her strictly, or all their early investment would be wasted.

Excited, the squad debated whether to still proceed to the battlefield between the Ascended and Shu Yan clans.

From livestream videos, they discovered that hiding within the mist surrounding the Shu Yan scene was perfectly safe.

So they ultimately decided to continue sailing toward the war zone—perhaps more opportunities awaited them there.

The squad leader posted this event on the forum.

Upon learning a player had truly acquired a customizable Shu Yan warrior near the war zone, forum players collectively broke down, cursing loudly, with some claiming the team had done something incredibly stupid.

They had changed the settings to Nai Ma—this was outright wasting high-end combat power.

They could have perfectly designed it as a magic class, using area-damage spells to earn massive returns.

But some players offered a different perspective.

They argued that fragile magic users venturing into Black Tide or other dense monster zones easily became primary targets; the Earth-Nian Bullies weren't amateurs—if targeted and killed, the loss would be devastating.

But a Nai Ma with group healing was different—she could easily join a large guild and receive protection from guild members.

Nai Ma's addition could elevate the entire guild's combat strength by a tier, while also earning extra income from the guild master's side jobs—her income was substantial, and her applicability far greater.

This incident drove more players to head toward the battlefield, hoping to scavenge and obtain a customizable Shu Yan warrior for themselves.

Meanwhile, on the frontlines, opportunities arrived as well.

A severely wounded Ascended clan member flew in, crashed to the ground, and fell unconscious.

Faced with this sudden treasure chest, nearby players went mad.

Skills rained down like hail upon the unconscious Ascended warrior.

The damage these abilities inflicted was negligible—utterly unable to penetrate his defenses.

Yet no player gave up; squads and teams alike competed by generating damage to claim the kill credit.

Whichever squad or team dealt the highest damage would receive 100% internal shared rewards.

All players fought desperately to output damage.

Before long, this Ascendant Tribe warrior of Hunting Level 189 was slain, and the challenger prompt rang out in the minds of the player team that had secured kill credit.

It was a team of 338 players.

After the kill, a great mass of crimson energy surged from the dead Ascendant Tribe warrior's body, splitting midair into 338 clusters that flew toward the players.

Most players in the team jumped 7 levels at once; players who had distributed their evolution points evenly across each Painful Painful Minghun also gained several levels, earning a massive haul of evolution points and Shou Shou Jili.

They really had struck it rich in one go.

At this point, the stark difference between a team and a small squad became clear.

More players meant a higher chance of successfully snatching kill credit.

Even without rival teams fighting over it, a team with a complete class composition could easily field dozens of players wielding the Blood Ignite Painful Painful Minghun, vastly improving the efficiency of finishing off near-death targets.

Small squads, by contrast, typically had only 1–2 players with the Blood Ignite Painful Painful Minghun; even without rival players competing, the damage they dealt was less than the Ascendant Tribe warrior's passive health regeneration from absorbing the world's spiritual energy.

To solve this problem, the regional voice channels became exceptionally lively.

Many small squads chose to merge into battle-group mode, increasing the number of Blood Ignite Painful Painful Minghun players and waiting for opportunity to fall from the sky.

As time went on, more low-HP lives flew in, and more teams completed their finishers.

These teams all fulfilled the expectations they'd arrived with, striking it rich.

During this period, some teams also implanted Cao Kong Lao Yin into near-death Shu Yan warriors, keeping them protected at the team's center, successfully capturing high-level warriors that could be customized.

But Ascendant Tribe members, even near death, were hard to implant Cao Kong Lao Yin into, because their spiritual force was simply too powerful—low-level Control Painful Painful Minghun couldn't possibly interfere and control them.

A weakened body did not mean a shattered spirit.

The Heavenly Soldier previously controlled had suffered a collapse of its spiritual consciousness sea, drastically weakening its spiritual intensity; only then were players able to successfully implant the Control Painful Painful Minghun.

And players wanting to control Shu Yan warriors also had to clear this threshold.

But after consulting the Guidance, players had already found a solution.

That was to drag the near-death Shu Yan warrior out of the Shu Yan scene; without the rulebook's boost, the Shu Yan warrior would have its consciousness ripped away in an instant, body frozen in place.

This gave players the chance to easily implant the Cao Kong Yin.

Even if brought back into the Shu World scene after Control was complete, the control effect still held—the Shu Yan warrior's consciousness now had an extra remote control inside.

Unless Shu Yan actively modified the scene settings, expending Ink Power to pull the Shu Yan warrior back.

Otherwise, the control process would constantly clash with the player's control.

Having learned from the Guidance that control would conflict, players had all wised up, leaving the Shu Yan warriors implanted with Cao Kong Lao Yin outside the scene and not letting them enter.

Lest Shu Yan modify the settings and steal away their hard-won "good brother."

But spectating wasn't all benefit—occasionally there were dangerous moments too.

Sometimes the treasure chests that flew in weren't necessarily in a weak, near-death state; they might only be lightly wounded and sent flying.

But players, eager to snatch kill credit, would just dump skills blindly—before Analysis even activated, the skills flew out first.

One player team was slapped into black mist and dispersed by an irritated Ascendant Tribe warrior.

Fortunately, that Ascendant Tribe warrior paid no heed to the other players; after completing the kill, it turned and returned to the battlefield, once again clashing with the Shu Yan cultivators.

Three days later.

A total of 38 Shu Yan warriors had been implanted with Cao Kong Lao Yin by players, becoming the players' wage slaves.

The fierce battle within the scene continued.

During this time, a capture-guide post on the forum also racked up tons of likes.

【Lately everyone's been stealing last-hits and catching pets on the battlefield. As someone who's already caught a level-98 Shu Yan warrior, this Chosen One has put together some solid intel gathered from the Guidance.】

Poster: TafeMiao

Content:

No fluff—straight to the capture goods. Learn these and your success rate goes up.

1. Have the Control Painful Painful Minghun (core key—without it, you might as well forget catching pets).

2. Have team protection (the importance of a friends-and-family squad goes without saying; without one or battle-group support, even if it flies right in front of you it'll be snatched away in a second. Though this is a game, there's no such thing as first-come-first-served—when it's time to scramble, you tell me whether other players will give you face.)

3. Prepare spiritual-recovery potions—spiritual force consumption during the control process is huge.

4. Take the Shu Yan warrior out of the Shu Yan scene (Shu Yan warriors inside the scene have self-awareness; with their spirit intact, you can't catch them—unless you have powerful spiritual-impact force to shatter their consciousness).

5. Prepare health-recovery potions—restore the near-death state to merely weak, after which they'll slowly self-recover (potions cost a fortune; the higher the Hunting Level, the more potions consumed. To heal the Shu Yan warrior I just caught, I burned through my entire fortune and even took on debt. Thinking about having to work off the debt later, I really want to run qvq.)

6. Pinching settings requires touching the Shu Yan warrior—modify settings through text description, and each setting consumes Ink Power (specific Ink Power cost can be seen in the top-right of the settings interface; the higher the Hunting Level of the Shu Yan warrior, the more Ink Power consumed when re-setting, and the more functions you can add).

The information provided in this post was all dry goods the OP had gathered and organized after consulting the Guidance.

It resolved the confusion of many players wanting to capture pets.

As the great battle in the Shu Yan scene turned white-hot, the players' emotions surged along with it.

To quote a certain forum player: "Fight! I want to see rivers of blood!"

……

Just as Shu Yan had predicted, this war had bogged down into a war of attrition; by modifying scene settings, the Ascendant Tribe, holding the advantage, still couldn't crush the entire scene.

Qi Sheng, observing from behind the scenes, also noticed at this point that Shu Yan's consciousness had already connected to the small worlds on the Ascendant Islands, beginning to spread its own story.

Storytellers, minor chroniclers… the literati of Xiu Xian Shi Jie were suddenly struck with inspiration, writing out the plot Shu Yan had created.

This passage depicted how the Upper Realm beings farmed all living things, spreading lies of ascension to harvest the Lower Realm's masses.

So-called ascension was, in essence, a plot by the Upper Realm beings, their ultimate goal being to hatch the offspring implanted within the Lower Realm beings' bodies.

And at the opening of this story, the synopsis contained this passage:

If the Heavenly Realm were truly as wonderful as the legends—a realm of supreme goodness and beauty—then why have the ancestors who went there never descended to tell of it in person?

Is it that the Heavenly Realm holds unspeakable taboos, binding them beneath that sky?

Or is it that the so-called beauty is merely an illusory facade, hiding an unknown truth behind it, leaving the ancestors unable to speak, forced to linger helplessly—even if they wished, they could not cross that invisible gulf.

As for the truth, we have only heard rumors, and have never witnessed it with our own eyes.

Perhaps, ascension is a scam!

……

The seeds of doubt have already been planted in the Lower World; all Shu Yan needs to do now is wait for those seeds to sprout and grow.

Gradually cutting off the Ascendant Clan's combat power supply.

When the time comes, the Ascendant Clan's combat units will continue to be downsized.

What Shu Yan, now at a disadvantage, needs to do is hold out in a war of attrition, investing large amounts of Ink Power upfront to maintain the battle situation. As one side weakens and the other strengthens, it will be able to completely devour the Ascendant Clan and obtain a massive resource of Ink Power.

And Ink Power energy is the core framework of the "Book World."

If this strategy succeeds, Shu Yan will grow into a more powerful consciousness-type lifeform, and the cultivator army it creates will also see a significant boost in combat power.

But which of the two factions ultimately wins, Qi Sheng does not care.

He only focuses on the changes in the players' gains.

Over these three days, by picking up scraps from the war, many players saw their gains skyrocket, their strength improved considerably, and quite a few players obtained controllable powerful creatures with implanted marks.

This made him increasingly feel that the free capture function, one of the pet mode settings, is very necessary.

It can indeed give players a significant boost in combat power in a short period.

The current stage of the pet system's development is nearing completion; Super Dimension is currently interfacing with the Challenger System for testing.

If the test results are perfect, he will release the pet function to all players within the next few days.

Completely solving the problem of players being unable to bring captured "pets" back to the Newbie Village space, while also providing players with a high-growth, distinctive pet cultivation mode.

This free pet capture incident also made Qi Sheng begin to consider a question.

Could some of Meng Yuan Chu's abilities be expanded and crafted into distinctive systems similar to the pet function?

In the upcoming pet system, the free capture function setting is built upon the underlying framework of "controlling" Meng Yuan Chu monsters within the Containment Wall.

Every other contained Meng Yuan Chu monster possesses boundless potential, and all of them wield rule-type abilities.

These Meng Yuan Chu abilities are sufficient to serve as a core, supporting a complex functional system.

For example, using the Qi-Eating Painful Painful Minghun as the core framework, could an idle cultivation system from the early conceptual stage be built?

Or using domain-type Painful Painful Minghun such as Bloodthirst and Sluggishness as cornerstones, could a set of formation function settings be built?

These ideas took root in Qi Sheng's mind.

But at the current stage, launching the pet system first is his next plan.

When many of these concepts will be put into practice still depends on the speed at which players produce Shou Shou Jili.

Players have only been in Monster World for a little over four months, yet they can contend with many small factions that have developed over long ages — truly rapid growth, already exceeding his expectations.

As for calamities like the Black Tide.

Or super factions like the Ascendant Clan and the Ancient God Clan, Qi Sheng is not in a hurry to deal with them.

Just as Yan Ming once said to him during a lesson:

"The road ahead is long; setting your heart toward the heavens is not wrong, but being overambitious, vainly attempting to ascend in a single step, unrealistically chasing a realm beyond reach — in the end it is like building a castle in the air, with a foundation that is hollow and unsteady; this path will absolutely be difficult to walk."

Therefore, only by moving forward steadily, step by step, can one break through Po Chong Chong obstacles.

The world is vast; Qi Sheng has always believed that on the future main stage of Monster World, there will surely be a place for him and the player army.

(End of this chapter)