Chapter 153: Gods Fighting, Players Opening Boxes

"Anyone with a boat, private message me; I'll pay 3 points of Sacrificial Power as fare to take me out to sea to watch the battle. Don't bother messaging if you're on a homemade raft; I can't sit on that, afraid the waves are too big."

"Need 5 more people for a multi-person flying vehicle, 10 points of Sacrificial Power per person, 40 minutes of flight endurance; looking at the map, we should be able to reach the viewing point after transferring across about five islands; those interested, private message me."

"Epic battle between powerful clans, live viewing not to be missed; the large ship is about to depart, pay to board, and I'll take you to experience the epic battlefield."

"Looking for a support player with a Light Shield function; free ride to the war zone, come join quickly."

The great battle between Shu Yan and the Ascension Clan attracted a massive number of players.

The shores of the Misty Coast were already packed to capacity.

Solo players formed teams here, while guild groups gathered here.

But in the eyes of all players, watching the battle was secondary; scavenging leftovers from the battlefield was the key to this journey.

The scene was like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, with various modes of crossing the ocean appearing one after another.

Flying vehicles, sailing vessels, multi-functional carriers, swimming, rafts, riding controlled sea creatures, monster-riding style players... among them, the most eye-catching was undoubtedly the figure swimming forward while riding a good brother.

The first batch of players possessing flying vehicles arrived in Shu Yan's domain five hours later; looking up, they could see the Shu Yan scene shrouded in white mist.

This batch of players immediately started their live streams, then piloted their flying vehicles through the mist and entered within.

The scene presented before their eyes made the first arrivals shout with exhilaration.

In the footage, cultivators trod upon flying swords, clad in spiritual armor, surrounded by brilliant spiritual light as they flew through the air; raising a hand, they drew upon the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to outline spells, or swung the immortal swords in their hands, sending forth streaks of sharp sword qi that pierced the sun like a long rainbow, slashing toward members of the Ascension Clan; wherever the sword qi passed, ripples spread across space.

On the other side, members of the Ascension Clan manipulated their spiritual roots to gather elemental power for combat.

A massive fire elemental life form condensed, threw back its head, and roared at the sky, its entire body burning with raging flames; wherever it passed, the air was scorched until it twisted and distorted.

Water elements gathered into a surging water dragon, weaving through the clouds in the scene; cold mist permeated the surroundings, condensing into sharp ice spikes that fell like raindrops.

Wind elements transformed into invisible blades, whistling as they sliced through space.

A rock giant condensed from earth elements took heavy steps, each one causing the ground to tremble slightly; it raised its huge arm, and countless rocks flew like cannonballs toward the cultivator camp.

The scene could be described as gods fighting; just as many players entered the scene, they were blown out of the white mist by the lingering energy waves.

Unlucky players were even killed on the spot by the backlash.

This made the players dare not advance rashly; they cowered and hid in the mist at the edge of the scene, occasionally poking their heads out to take a look, shouting about how thrilling it was.

Just then, an old man with white hair but a vigorous spirit caught the players' attention.

He tightly gripped an immortal sword emitting a dark blue glow in his hand, runes flashing on the blade; behind him, numerous sect disciples were arranged in a neat sword formation, everyone's eyes firm and resolute.

The old man held the sword in his right hand and formed a sword seal with his left before him.

Immediately, the sect disciples behind him scattered; the sword formation bloomed like a flourishing illusory lotus, with petals formed of biting sword qi continuously spreading outward.

As his momentum soared, the old man looked coldly at the members of the Ascension Clan ahead, endless hatred churning in his eyes:

"Although we living beings of the lower realm lack the power of you from the upper realm, we also have our own dignity and way of survival; yet you treat us as parasites to be exploited at will, weaving lies to trample upon our lives—shameful, detestable." The speaking old man's body trembled slightly, the anger in his eyes seeming ready to erupt.

"The heavens and earth of the cosmos have been stirred into a mess by you; how many seniors who sought immortality have become vessels for you to breed offspring? They ascended to the heavens with hopes of eternal life, only to die in agony, all because of your greedy selfish desires." The killing intent in the old man's eyes continued to rise; as he spoke, his gaze swept over the once-vibrant mountains and rivers, now scarred and desolate, a trace of sorrow emerging in the depths of his eyes.

"Do not think that because you stand high above, you can rule everything; we living beings of the lower realm will not sit idle and await death; even if we exhaust our last shred of strength, we will drive you evil demons out of the cosmic world and sever the path to ascension."

Spiritual power surged around the old man, the light growing ever brighter, as if declaring his determination and courage to the evil demons of the upper realm.

"Today's battle concerns the survival of all things; we have no choice but to fight with our lives!" As the protagonist, Da Ri raised his arms and shouted at this moment, his voice like a great bell, echoing throughout this world.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Countless cultivators standing in the rear shouted in unison, their voices shaking the clouds; there was not a shred of hesitation in those cries, nor half a point of retreat.

These words sounded nonsensical to the members of the Ascension Clan.

They indeed farmed a large number of minor worlds, but the problem was that the scene beneath their feet had nothing to do with them; how had they become hated?

If we fight, we fight; where do all these excuses come from?

In the eyes of the Ascension Clan, the grief and indignation in the leading old man's eyes seemed somewhat like a serious illness.

The players shared the same thought.

They all felt that the Shu Yan Clan's cultivators truly had personality, voluntarily descending to build a domain field next to the Ascension Clan, yet acting so aggrieved and even finding an excuse for invasion; it was simply outrageous.

The pre-battle declaration was played out so awkwardly.

This was also the first time players had seen a faction that required a justified cause before fighting.

But unlike the players and the Ascension Clan, in the eyes of all living beings within the story's background framework, the sins of the Ascension Clan truly existed.

In their eyes, they had been deceived and parasitized by the upper-realm Ascension Clan; the so-called cultivation was merely farming the Ascension Clan seeds within their bodies.

This battle was their gamble on the future of the world, a fight to defy heaven and change their fate.

If they lost this battle, the mountains and rivers would be utterly destroyed, and the world would enter the next cycle of reincarnation, continuing to be controlled by the Ascension Clan.

Their souls would forget their memories, reincarnate and be reborn, once again becoming flesh-and-blood parasites controlled by the Ascension Clan.

This battle was both for the present and for the future.

Regarding this issue, curious players asked the Guidance.

Upon learning the truth of the event, the players immediately laughed themselves crazy.

"Damn, I was saying a few days ago that post mentioned he explored a scene full of mages, so how did it turn into a cultivation world? Turns out the previous book was cut; this is the power system from the new book."

"The Guidance says Shu Yan has already cut five books; this is the newly started sixth—pah."

"I hate eunuchs [unfinished authors] and bad-ending dogs the most; for this battle, I want to support the Ascension Clan."

"I support no one; I just want to wait for a fortune dropping from the sky and open a big treasure chest."

Through the Guidance's explanation, the players finally realized that the cultivators in the Shu Yan scene were all created characters; in the memories implanted into them, the Ascension Clan was the undisputed great villain.

What appeared to be a great battle between cultivators and the Ascension Clan was, more accurately, a war between Shu Yan, who pulled the strings behind the scenes, and the Ascension Clan.

The abilities Shu Yan mastered also made the players exclaim in awe.

Monster Grand Stage; if you have cheats, bring them; here comes another powerful cheating faction.

The Guidance's explanation also made players understand why, during the battle, mysterious energy occasionally altered the rules of heaven and earth to assist the cultivator camp, helping them dodge fatal threats; in reality, behind the scenes, Shu Yan was holding the pen and controlling everything, strengthening the cultivator camp by modifying the plot.

The protagonist's halo truly existed.

From the initial exchanges, it could be seen that the Ascension Clan held an absolute advantage in combat power.

But the world under the Shu Yan scene could have its rules modified at any time; even in a situation of absolute disadvantage, various comebacks against the odds could be staged; core characters all possessed the protagonist's halo that allowed them to fight above their level, experiencing various explosions of growth during combat.

At this moment, a player in the regional voice channel said puzzledly:

"Brothers, I don't understand one thing: since the old eunuch Shu Yan has enough ink power reserves to boost the protagonist and other characters' strength, why choose to upgrade them during the battle instead of boosting their combat power first before fighting the Ascension Clan? Is this necessary?"

To this question, a player immediately gave an answer:

"Idiot; the old eunuch Shu Yan has obviously studied how to write a good book; the setting of gaining growth during battle can enhance the story's tension, create suspense for the story, even various plot twists, strengthening emotional impact, thereby mobilizing readers' emotions... once you understand that the core of his storytelling is spreading readership, you can understand why he laid the groundwork for the Ascension Clan's invasion in advance and made the characters grow during battle."

"If I'm not mistaken, the protagonist in the story should possess a cheat similar to combat growth; the groundwork was set up in advance, and only then was ink power injected; otherwise, the story would undoubtedly appear extremely abrupt; secondly, having a large stock of ink power also means that when unexpected emergencies occur, there is the capability to modify the plot to respond."

Regarding the old eunuch Shu Yan's abilities and settings, the players launched into fierce discussion.

Eating melon [spectating] is fun for a moment; eating melon continuously is continuously fun.

The new faction had just appeared, and players had already bestowed upon it two nicknames: Old Eunuch Shu Yan and King of Bad Endings Shu Yan.

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

While watching the battle, the players did not forget the core purpose of this trip.

As more and more players arrived, some began pushing toward the main front line, attempting to find an opportunity to sneak in and deliver a finishing blow.

This method was entirely feasible according to the Guidance's description.

Between players, damage values were calculated to determine ownership of rewards after a monster was killed.

But between players and external living beings, the issue of ownership did not exist.

As long as one hit the target using Soul Soul abilities, a characteristic connection could be established with the opponent.

When the opponent was killed by another life form and their life stabilization structure collapsed, as long as the target was within the absorption range of the Guidance's avatar, the player could absorb the opponent's life energy, converting it into Evolution Points and Sacrificial Power fed back to the player.

This meant they could completely use the method of stealing finishing blows to kill powerful life forms several levels above them.

Therefore, in the eyes of players, wars between powerful clans were a treasure trove of resources; as long as one was bold enough, getting rich in one wave was not impossible.

But getting close to the main battlefield was extremely difficult.

The players' average combat power level was too low; before they could even approach the battlefield, they would be torn apart by surging elemental torrents or suddenly appearing sharp sword qi.

Realizing they could not approach the main battlefield, the players changed strategies, craning their necks and waiting for a treasure chest to drop into their laps.

At this moment, the players resembled farmers waiting for a rabbit by a stump, eagerly hoping a weak rabbit would voluntarily deliver itself to their door.

Time passed; the players gradually formed an encirclement within the mist, occasionally poking their heads out of the mist to observe the direction of the war.

Some players even set up drifting raft stalls outside the scene's mist, selling various freshly made spiritual foods.

Southwest direction of the battlefield, 12 kilometers away.

A multi-person carrier warship was sailing on the sea surface; on board was a fixed team composed of 13 players.

The wild wind whistled freely across the sea surface, blowing the cartoon bear-printed ship sail until it snapped loudly.

The players on the ship were watching the great battle between the Ascension Clan and the cultivators via live stream.

"Once I have money, I must buy a multi-person flying vehicle; this broken ship sails too slowly, delaying my path to riches," the burly man standing on the deck said at this moment.

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

"I noticed that too; last time when the Lord of Fortune's shop opened, those who were fast ate the meat, while those who arrived late could only pick up the leftovers; therefore, investing Sacrificial Power in a fast-moving vehicle is very necessary; as the worldview expands in the future, the importance of fast-moving vehicles will continue to rise."

"Agreed; that strategy post from back when 'Nightfall Approaches' happened now seems truly ahead of its time; it predicted in advance that speed equals profit; squads from other families with high speed arrived at the battlefield very early; if this were a resource grab, by the time we arrived, we wouldn't even get a sip of soup; the bastards who arrived early would have already snatched all the resources."

"Stop complaining; having a boat is good enough; those players crossing the sea on homemade rafts or swimming to get there are truly miserable; I saw in the regional voice channel that a newbie actually planned to swim over to watch the battle; I'm afraid he'll be eaten by fish on the way."

While paying attention to the live stream footage, the squad members chatted in the voice channel, their hearts longing for the opportunity to get rich after arriving at the battlefield.

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

All the players looked up in shock, only to see a lingering shadow speeding toward them from the distance.

"Holy crap, Captain, dodge quickly, this is coming straight for us!"

The faces of the squad members turned deathly pale, and the leading captain decisively used his consciousness to maneuver the warship and reverse its course.

The power output of the vehicle ship immediately surged to maximum.

The figure descending from the sky moved with incredible speed, striking directly toward them.

Boom!

Accompanied by a thunderous crash, the figure smashed into the sea surface merely a few meters from the ship's railing.

In an instant, the seawater erupted like detonated explosives, surging outward to form a water wall dozens of meters high; white foam surged toward the vessel with the force of toppling mountains and overturning seas, instantly submerging the deck.

The hull was violently shoved sideways by the massive impact force, the sails straining taut in the gale as if about to tear apart, while some custom decorations placed on the deck slid across the tilting surface, skidding horizontally.

"Pah, pah, pah, I swallowed a mouthful of seawater; what the hell ambushed us?"

"Luckily I was quick-eyed and fast-handed enough to grab the mast, otherwise that hit would have sent me flying over ten meters away."

Just then, a Challenger Notification rang out in the squad chat channel.

[Challenger Notification: External damage received. Armed Vehicle Durability reduced by 32.54%. Remaining Durability Percentage: 67.46%.]

The sudden ambush left the players on the ship utterly bewildered; once the swaying hull gradually stabilized, they rushed to the ship's edge to gaze at the still-churning sea surface.

"What was that? Did any of you get a clear look?" a player in the squad asked with a bewildered expression.

"It flew too fast; I could only make out something like a humanoid creature. I nearly got smashed by it. Let's fish it out and make it pay compensation."

At this moment, the leading captain looked toward the Guide hovering beside him:

"Brother Guide, did you see clearly what that thing was?"

[A Shuyan Cultivator, flown in from the battlefield.]

As the Guide avatar spoke, he extended a hand to point forward, and instantly a light screen image materialized before them.

In the image, several members of the Earth-Root Ascended Clan mobilized earth element energy to generate an earth-yellow energy warhammer, exerting force together to slam violently into the Shuyan Cultivator.

Under the impact of this tremendous power, the armor on the Shuyan Cultivator shattered inch by inch; he opened his mouth and coughed up blood, his body becoming like a cannonball fired from a barrel, flying out of the scene where his life activities were instantly frozen, continuing to shoot toward the distance.

The squad players, who had been complaining just moments before, all jumped ship and leaped into the water upon seeing the playback of the light screen image.

"We're rich, we're rich! We were just complaining about moving too slowly, never expecting opportunity to arrive so soon."

"Hahaha, this is exactly what the forum calls a fortuitous encounter; when fortune strikes, it's hard not to get rich."

"What's the use of speed? Good luck is the key to getting rich. In the future, when we have more Star Vein Slots, we must definitely inlay a Soul Soul with added luck attributes."

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

After searching beneath the sea surface for a while, they located the still-sinking body of the Shuyan Cultivator, and several of them worked together to drag it onto the vehicle.

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

[Shuyan · Body Refining Cultivator]:

Hunting Rank: 89 (Critical Injury Near Death)

Target Analysis: A cultivator-system warrior created by the Shuyan Scene. Having detached from the Shuyan Scene and lacking Ink Power infusion, his life activities are frozen, rendering him unable to move freely.

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

But a problem lay before them.

Should they use a Control Soul Soul to capture him, generating a personal portable brother, or kill him to obtain Evolution Points and Sacrificial Power?

The squad captain initiated a vote in the voice channel.

The final result was 8 votes in favor of control and 5 votes in favor of killing.

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

She had crafted silver-white, waterfall-like long hair using an Armed Plating, stood about 1.7 meters tall, and wore the popular Star Chen Law Robe style of Armed Gear frequently discussed on the forum.

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

"Heehee, thanks Captain, thanks brothers."

The female player known as Yin Zi did not hesitate; she approached the frozen Body Refining Cultivator, stood firm, and released her Control Soul Soul upon him.

The Body Refining Cultivator, having detached from the Shuyan Scene, had already lost his self-awareness; after consecutively drinking three bottles of Mental Recovery Potions, the Control Soul Soul encountered no obstacles in imprinting a Control Brand within his mind.

But a problem arose accordingly.

Without Ink Power, how could they drive the Body Refining Cultivator to act?

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

Within the Shuyan Scene, they are incredibly real.

But after leaving the scene, it is as if they have entered another dimensional world, fundamentally unable to act autonomously.

Facing this problem, the squad members 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 cause, Qi Sheng opened partial permissions for players to use Sacrificial Power, and subsequently, the Guide avatar conveyed this news to the players.

In other words, the player controlling the Body Refining Cultivator could use Sacrificial Power as a substitute for Ink Power to drive the cultivator's actions.

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

"Guide, since Sacrificial Power can function as Ink Power, and Ink Power can freely weave its life structure, can I modify the settings of this Body Refining Cultivator?"

Facing the inquiry, the Guide avatar hovering beside her nodded:

[You can understand this Body Refining Cultivator as a lump of modeling clay whose material cannot be changed, with a strength at Hunting Rank 89. You can mold the clay into whatever form you desire by injecting Sacrificial Power. There is only one limitation: the Body Refining Cultivator is a one-time-use life form and cannot resurrect after death like a player.]

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

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

"Pah, I want to mold a healer; then our squad won't lack healing anymore, saving us a huge expense on potions."

"Good, good, good, that's a great idea; let's mold a healer. Although it's one-time use, if protected properly, 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 avatar how to set up the Body Refining Cultivator composed of Ink Power.

Qi Sheng had already prepared a solution for this problem, setting up a simulation test panel.

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

The process of reshaping the Body Refining Cultivator was not like character creation in a game, but rather defining the appearance and settings of the Shuyan Warrior through text descriptions; this is the underlying architecture of the Shuyan Warrior and cannot be changed unless one obtains the three rule powers of Execution, Pen, and Book, implants them into the Challenger System, and then performs modifications.

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

[Humanoid form, female, height 1.65 meters.]

After the text was entered, the remaining Ink Power displayed in the top right corner of the interface read: 99.997%.

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

However, her facial features were extremely abstract because no detailed settings had been applied.

Subsequently, the player "Yin Zi" began adding detailed descriptions, making more refined settings for the healer.

Before long, a woman was generated with the same silver, waterfall-like long hair as Yin Zi; beneath her exquisite beauty, a few stray strands of hair were added, playfully cascading down both sides of her snow-white cheeks, further accentuating her delicate features.

After several textual modifications to the eye design, her pupils were set to a deep purple.

Regarding attire, she wore a white law robe, with complex and exquisite runes outlined in silver thread; intricate metal guards were depicted on her shoulders and elbows, unique in design, resembling a phoenix about to spread its wings, 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 effects when casting abilities.

Next came the ability settings; text was added to infuse the template with abilities such as Healing Art, Meditation Recovery, and Group Healing Art, along with detailed performance effects for each ability.

Driven by curiosity, Yin Zi attempted to write in "Resurrection Art" along with its corresponding ability description.

Instantly, a Challenger Notification popped up in her mind:

[Challenger Notification: Insufficient Ink Power energy to constitute the target ability; unable to generate Resurrection Art.]

Glancing at the remaining 19.53% Ink Power, Yin Zi typed: Body Strengthening Art.

The notification regarding insufficient Ink Power sounded again.

She had no choice but to modify the settings for the Body Strengthening Art, weakening the described performance effects of the ability; this time, the ability successfully formed as a brand within the healer's body.

With less than 0.5% of Ink Power energy remaining, she expended this portion of Sacrificial Power on adding decorations to the healer and gave her a name: Nanny.

Once the Ink Power energy was depleted, Yin Zi used her consciousness to tap on "Generate" within the template.

Immediately, a Challenger Notification rang out:

[Challenger Notification: Confirm generation of template life form? Required consumption: 3942 points of Sacrificial Power.]

Seeing the screenshot of the notification that Yin Zi posted in the voice channel, the entire squad was instantly startled.

"Why is it so expensive? 3942 is enough for us to refurbish and upgrade our vehicle."

"I could understand 394, but 3942 is excessive; just looking at it makes my heart ache."

"I really want a healer support, but I don't want to pay; what should we do?"

Faced with the exorbitant cost of setting modifications, the squad members communicated for a while, pooled together a sum of Sacrificial Power, and transferred it to Yin Zi.

With a healer, this money would sooner or later be earned back.

Having received the transfer from her teammates, Yin Zi gritted her teeth and pressed Generate.

Instantly, the Body Refining Cultivator lying on the ground had its life structure reshaped under the drive of Sacrificial Power, ultimately transforming into an exquisite woman, though the Near Death status on the panel had not yet disappeared.

This was another massive investment.

Since the money had already been spent, naturally they could not give up halfway.

The squad members pooled money again to buy recovery potions, consuming a total of 12942 points of Sacrificial Power to change the Near Death status in the analysis information to Weakness.

At this point, a new problem emerged.

They discovered that the "Shuyan · Nanny" they had created was still unable to move.

Only after asking the Guide did they learn that the Nanny's underlying architecture still operated according to the rules of Execution, Pen, and Book, requiring external force to drive her actions.

A sum of sacrificial power could be injected into its body to serve as the energy source driving the Shu Yan healer.

This caused the entire squad to curse loudly.

Compared to players who had previously stumbled upon a "good brother" they could command at will, what these players had found was essentially a gold-swallowing beast.

This meant that all future control would cost money.

However, after the initial control test, the squad members were beaming with joy again.

The cost of sacrificial power required for control was not high, and it had no relation to the strength of the abilities the Shu Yan healer released.

According to the Guide's calculations, the hourly cost was 37 points of sacrificial power.

When not needed, one could choose to leave it idle, injecting sacrificial power to activate control only when necessary.

Attempting to control the healer to release a Group Healing Art, the cold-faced Shu Yan healer immediately raised its hand and waved its staff, scattering light of healing; instantly, a shower of green light formed overhead, falling upon them and seeping into their bodies, making them feel a warm current surging within.

After releasing the ability, Yin Zi immediately noticed that the energy within the healer had been depleted.

Just as she worried that the consumed energy would also need to be replenished via sacrificial power, a faint green glow appeared on the healer's surface, and the Ability Brand within its body automatically drew in energy from heaven and earth to replenish what was lost.

This allowed the entire squad to breathe a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the "Meditation Recovery" setting took effect; otherwise, this investment would have been a huge loss, and they truly could not afford to spend money on energy recovery in the future.

During this time, the happiest were the team captain, who played the Stone Statue build, and Yin Zi.

The captain had obtained a free mobile spring, saving a large sum on potion costs for future hunts, while Yin Zi had gained a controllable powerful healer, increasing her support capabilities by several tiers.

Following this sudden stroke of luck, the squad's combat power became even stronger.

The only concern remaining was a single issue: how to protect the healer's life.

As players, they were all regulars of the black room, where an hour of cooldown passed just by browsing the forum or watching live streams.

But now the situation had changed.

The healer was a controlled lifeform that could not be resurrected; they needed to protect it strictly, otherwise, all their early investment would be wasted.

The excited squad members discussed whether they should still head to the battlefield where the Ascension Clan and the Shu Yan Clan were fighting.

From the live stream videos, they could see that hiding within the mist surrounding the Shu Yan scene was extremely safe.

Therefore, they ultimately decided to continue sailing toward the war zone, as there might be more opportunities waiting for them.

The team captain also posted about this incident on the forum.

Upon learning that a player had truly acquired a customizable Shu Yan warrior near the war zone, forum players broke down in anger and curses, with some stating they had done something incredibly foolish.

To actually change the settings to a healer was simply a waste of high-end combat power.

They could have completely customized it into a magic-based profession, earning huge profits through group damage spells.

However, regarding this, some players expressed different views.

They believed that squishy magic-based professions would easily become focused-fire targets in the Black Black Tide or other areas dense with monsters; the Di Nian bullies were not to be trifled with, and being focused down would result in a massive loss.

But a healer with Group Healing Art was different; they could completely join a large guild, receiving protection from guild members.

The addition of a healer could also raise the entire guild's combat power by one tier, during which they could earn extra wages from the guild master, resulting in decent income and greater applicability.

This incident caused more players to choose to head to the battlefield, hoping to pick up scraps and obtain a customizable Shu Yan warrior.

Meanwhile, on the front lines of the battlefield, opportunity events began to arrive as well.

A member of the Ascension Clan flew over severely injured, collapsing into unconsciousness upon landing.

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

Various skills rained down like drops upon the unconscious Ascension Clan warrior.

The damage caused by these abilities was very limited, utterly unable to break through their defense.

Yet no player gave up; squads and teams alike were competing for kill ownership by dealing damage.

At this moment, whichever squad or team dealt higher damage would secure 100% of the internally shared rewards.

All players were outputting damage as if their lives depended on it.

Before long, this Ascension Clan warrior with Hunt Level 189 was killed, and the Challenger prompt rang in the minds of the player team that had secured kill ownership.

This was a player team of 338 people.

After the successful kill, vast amounts of scarlet energy surged from the dead Ascension Clan warrior, splitting in mid-air into 338 clumps that flew toward the players.

Most players in the team leveled up by 7 ranks instantly, while those who had evenly distributed evolution points among various Fate Souls also leveled up several ranks, gaining massive amounts of evolution points and sacrificial power profits.

They had truly achieved overnight riches.

At this moment, the significant difference between a team and a squad became apparent.

A larger number of players meant a higher probability of successfully snatching kill ownership.

Even without other player teams competing, a team with a complete professional lineup could easily field dozens of players mastering the Blood-Burning Fate Soul, greatly improving the efficiency of finishing off targets on the brink of death.

In contrast, squads typically had only 1-2 players with the Blood-Burning Fate Soul; even without other players competing, the damage they dealt was not even as fast as the Ascension Clan warrior's automatic health recovery from absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

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

Many squads chose to merge into warband Cultivation Mode, increasing the number of players with the Blood-Burning Fate Soul, waiting for opportunities to drop.

As time passed, more low-health lifeforms flew in, and more teams completed the finishing blows.

These teams all fulfilled their expectations upon arrival, achieving sudden wealth.

During this period, some teams implanted Control Brands into dying Shu Yan warriors, protecting them in the center of the team, successfully capturing high-level warriors whose settings could be customized.

However, even when near death, the Ascension Clan was difficult to implant with Control Brands because their spiritual power was too strong, far beyond what low-level Control Fate Souls could interfere with or control.

Physical weakness did not equate to spiritual collapse.

The Heavenly Soldier controlled last time had suffered a rupture in their spiritual sea, which greatly weakened their spiritual strength, allowing players to successfully implant the Control Fate Soul.

Players wishing to control Shu Yan warriors also needed to pass this threshold.

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

That was to take the dying Shu Yan warrior out of the Shu Yan scene; without the support of the Book of Rules, the Shu Yan warrior's consciousness would be instantly stripped away, freezing their body.

This gave players an easy opportunity to implant Control Marks.

After completing control, even if brought back into the Shu Yan world scene, the control effect would remain, as a remote control had already been added within the Shu Yan warrior's consciousness.

Unless Shu Yan actively modified the setting scene and consumed ink power to retrieve the Shu Yan warrior.

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

Learning from the Guide that control conflicts would exist, players had become smarter, leaving Shu Yan warriors implanted with Control Brands outside the scene and not allowing them to enter.

This prevented Shu Yan from modifying settings and stealing the "good brothers" they had worked so hard to obtain.

However, spectating was not without risks; occasionally, there were moments of danger.

Sometimes the flying treasure chest was not in a weak, dying state, but merely lightly injured and knocked back.

Yet players, eager to snatch ownership, would blindly throw skills, acting before Analysis even activated.

One player team was slapped into dissipating black mist by an annoyed Ascension Clan warrior.

Fortunately, this Ascension Clan warrior paid no attention to other players; after completing the kill, they turned and returned to the battlefield, resuming their slaughter against Shu Yan cultivators.

Three days later.

A total of 38 Shu Yan warriors had been implanted with Control Brands by players, becoming player laborers.

The fierce battle within the scene continued.

During this time, a capture strategy post on the forum received a massive number of likes.

[Recently, everyone has been stealing finishing blows and catching pets on the battlefield. As a Destined One who has already caught a Level 98 Shu Yan warrior, I have organized some solid information obtained from the Guide for everyone.]

Poster: Taffy Meow

Content:

No nonsense, straight to the capture essentials; learn this to increase success rates.

1. Possess a Control Fate Soul (the core key; without a Control Fate Soul, you can't catch a damn pet).

2. Have team protection (the importance of a friendly group goes without saying; without a friendly group or warband assistance, even if it flies right in front of you, it will be snatched away in seconds. Although this is a game, there is no such thing as first-come-first-served; when it comes to snatching, see if other players will give you Iron Face).

3. Prepare spiritual recovery potions; spiritual power consumption is huge during the control process.

4. Take the Shu Yan warrior out of the Shu Yan scene (Shu Yan warriors within the scene possess self-awareness; they cannot be caught if their spirit is intact, unless you have powerful spiritual impact to shatter their consciousness).

5. Prepare health recovery potions; restore the dying state to merely weak, after which they will slowly recover on their own (potions are extremely expensive; the higher the Hunt Level, the more potions consumed. To heal the Shu Yan warrior I just caught, I exhausted my family fortune and even incurred external debt. Thinking about working off this debt in the future makes me want to run away qvq).

6. Customizing settings requires touching the Shu Yan warrior and modifying settings through text descriptions, with each setting consuming ink power (the specific amount of ink power can be seen in the top right corner of the settings interface; the higher the Shu Yan warrior's Hunt Level, the more ink power is required for resetting, and the more functions can be added).

The information provided in this post was solid content organized and listed by the original poster after consulting the Guide.

It resolved doubts for many players who wanted to catch pets.

As the great battle within the Shu Yan scene reached a white-hot intensity, the players' moods surged along with it.

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

This war, just as Shu Yan had predicted, had turned into a war of attrition; by modifying scene settings, the Ascension Clan, despite holding the advantage, remained unable to collapse the entire scene.

Qi Sheng, observing from behind the scenes, also discovered at this moment that Shu Yan's consciousness had connected to the minor world on Ascension Island and began spreading his story.

Storytellers, unofficial historians... literati and scholars in the cultivation world suddenly felt inspiration strike, writing out the story plot created by Shu Yan.

This story depicted lifeforms of the Upper Realm farming all living beings, harvesting lifeforms of the Lower Realm by spreading the lie of Ascension.

So-called Ascension was, in essence, a conspiracy by lifeforms of the Upper Realm, with the ultimate goal of hatching offspring implanted within the bodies of Lower Realm lifeforms.

And at the beginning of this story, the introduction contained this passage:

"If the Heavenly Realm were truly as wonderful as rumors claim, a realm of utmost goodness and perfection, then why have our ancestors who went to the Heavenly Realm never descended to personally recount it?"

"Does the Heavenly Realm harbor unspeakable taboos that bind them beneath that sky?"

"Or is the so-called perfection merely an illusory facade, hiding unknown truths behind it, leaving our ancestors with bitterness they cannot speak, forced to stay helplessly, unable to cross that invisible chasm despite their desires?"

"Regarding the truth, we have only heard rumors, never witnessed it with our own eyes."

Perhaps ascension is a scam!

The seed of doubt had already been planted in the Lower Realm; all Shu Yan needed to do now was wait for the seed to sprout and grow.

Gradually cutting off the Ascension Clan's supply of combat power.

By then, the Ascension Clan's combat units would undergo continuous downsizing.

Currently at a disadvantage, what Shu Yan needed to do was endure a war of attrition, investing heavy ink power in the early stages to stabilize the battlefield; as one waned and the other waxed, it would be able to completely devour the Ascension Clan and obtain vast resources of ink power.

And ink power energy was the core framework of the "Book World."

If this tactic succeeded, Shu Yan would evolve into a more powerful conscious lifeform, and the cultivator legions it created would see a significant boost in combat power.

But regarding which of the two factions would win, Qi Sheng did not care.

He only focused on changes in player gains.

Over these past three days, scavenging from the war had caused many players' gains to skyrocket and their strength to improve considerably; furthermore, many players had obtained powerful, controllable lifeforms implanted with marks.

This made him feel even more strongly that the free capture function, one of the settings for the pet Cultivation Mode, was absolutely necessary.

It could indeed allow players to gain a significant boost in combat power within a short time.

At the current stage, the development of the pet system was nearing completion, and Super Dimension was currently interfacing with the Challenger System for testing.

If the test performance was perfect, he would release the pet function to all players within these few days.

This would completely resolve the issue of "pets" captured by players being unable to be brought back to the Novice Village space, while simultaneously providing players with a distinctive pet cultivation model featuring high growth potential.

This incident involving the free capture of pets also led Qi Sheng to consider a question.

Was it possible to expand certain Primordial abilities and craft them into distinctive systems similar to the pet function?

In the pet system about to be launched, the setting for the free capture function was built upon the underlying framework of "controlling" Primordial monsters within the Containment Wall.

Every other contained Primordial monster possessed infinite potential, and all possessed rule-oriented abilities.

These Primordial abilities were sufficient to serve as cores, supporting a complex functional system.

For instance, using the Food Qi Soul as a core framework, could one build an idle cultivation system conceived in early designs?

Or perhaps using domain-type souls like Thirst for Blood or Sluggishness as a cornerstone, could one create a set of formation function settings?

These ideas took root in Qi Sheng's mind.

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

When many of these concepts would be put into practice still depended on the speed at which players produced sacrificial power.

Players had only been in the Monster World for a little over four months, yet they could contend with many minor factions that had developed over long ages; their growth was remarkably fast, already exceeding his expectations.

As for calamity-level factions like the Black Black Tide.

Or super-factions like the Ascension Clan or the Ancient God Clan, Qi Sheng was in no hurry to deal with them.

Just as Ye Ming had once told him during a lesson:

"The road ahead is long; aspiring toward the firmament is not wrong in itself, but aiming too high and seeking to reach heaven in a single step, unrealistically chasing realms beyond reach, will ultimately be like building a castle in the air—with a floating foundation, this path is absolutely impassable."

Therefore, only by advancing steadily, taking one step at a time, could one break through layer upon layer of obstacles.

The world was vast, and Qi Sheng always believed that on the future main stage of the Monster World, there would surely be a place for him and his player legions.

(End of Chapter)