Chapter 155: The Sorrow of Earth-Eating, The Bone Fire Mission

Meng Yuan Chu Altar.

According to the guidance feedback, Qi Sheng received a set of data.

Since the pet function went online these past days, 22,392 pets have been adopted.

Ranked by adoption count, they are:

First place: Fat Peach (12,594)

Second place: Light Spirit Feather (5,923)

Third place: Treasure-Seeking Rat (2,594)

Fourth place: Colorful Fruit (799)

Fifth place: Filth (482)

With its low price and financial attributes, Fat Peach's adoption count is higher than the other four combined.

Regarding subsequent growth, Fat Peach's adoption count trend continues to expand.

However, the setting that pet cultivation requires continuous investment of Shou Shou Jili has made many players hesitate; many players still prefer to spend resources on improving their own strength rather than allocating a portion of Shou Shou Jili to cultivate pets in hopes of future returns.

Qi Sheng's next plan is the creation of the cultivator function and the search for a second batch of pet templates.

Secondly, through the perspective of his guidance clone, he constantly monitors the war between the Ascended Clan and the Shu Yan.

This war has changed flavor after the players appeared.

The two clans fight fiercely within the scene, while the players lie in wait in the mist surrounding the scene, ready to ambush.

Through these days of effort, the scale of Shu Yan warriors controlled outside the scene via Painful Painful Minghun has expanded to 103, and 38 Ascended Clan members have been finished off and killed; the harvest is indeed abundant.

Especially the Shu Yan warriors.

These free pets with customizable ability settings are the goal sought by countless control-style players.

The two clans' warriors exhaust each other's reserves, while the players profit from it.

Through the data feedback from these days, Qi Sheng also discovered that the number of Painful Painful Minghun inlays skyrocketed by 127.5% during the great battle between the Ascended Clan and Shu Yan.

This Painful Painful Minghun, always considered to be of T4 tier strength, became a version meta Painful Painful Minghun during the two-clan war.

Its popularity only declined slightly after the pet function went online.

At this moment, both the Ascended Clan and Shu Yan have noticed the existence of the players.

From the perspective of both factions, the players' behavior is obviously incomprehensible.

They lie in wait in the mist enveloping the scene, peering out to observe the war's direction; whenever a dying warrior falls near them, they swarm out, launching a fierce assault until the dying warrior is killed.

Or they drag the dying Shu Yan warriors away from the scene.

These strange behaviors initially did not attract the attention of the two clans; they merely thought this clan's life was truly bold, daring to wait for an opportunity to snatch food amidst the two-clan war.

But as the players increased, both clans realized something was wrong.

This group waiting to ambush has even almost stuck their chopsticks into the battlefield.

They have already launched several charges toward the center of the battlefield.

This kind of suicide attack left them confused, but more so, angry.

However, both clans' focus is on the other clan, so they have no time to mind this group of ants causing trouble.

The players in their eyes cannot affect the war's direction; they just find them annoying.

Through observation these past days, Qi Sheng also deeply investigated the hundreds of thousands of projection-connected worlds established by Shu Yan, roughly understanding why Shu Yan descended into this area.

In his analysis and observation, he discovered that within the small worlds connected by Shu Yan's projections lies a Xiu Xian Shi Jie controlled by the Ascended Clan.

Therefore, the interests of the two likely clashed.

Shu Yan collects Ink Power output in these small worlds through storytellers, literati, and other story spreaders.

The stronger the reader and the higher their mental strength, the more Ink Power is generated during reading.

But during this process, Shu Yan discovered a problem with the Ink Power output from the projection-connected small worlds; frequently, high-quality (high Ink Power output) readers would mysteriously disappear.

Driven by curiosity, it used the projection connection to enter the small world with its consciousness to launch an investigation.

Gradually learning the truth behind these small worlds, it turned out the high-quality readers hadn't disappeared; they had been body-snatched by the Ascended Clan from the upper world.

In fact, Shu Yan didn't care if readers were body-snatched; if the Ascended Clan that completed the body-snatching could become loyal readers of the stories, it would be too lazy to care about the safety of the Xiu Xian Shi Jie beings.

But the Ascended Clan that completed the body-snatching didn't read its stories; this was a big problem in Shu Yan's eyes.

For every high-quality reader lost, a portion of the Ink Power revenue decreased.

To protect the readers in the small worlds and to obtain more Ink Power output, Shu Yan had already prepared to go to war with the Ascended Clan at this time.

The first step of the war plan was actually not to directly start the war, but a preliminary probe.

That is, the first clash between the Shu Yan Clan and the Ascended Clan.

If the preliminary clash revealed that the Ascended Clan's combat power was far beyond what it could counter, Shu Yan would likely close the book and flee, switching to another region to start a new book.

After all, this wasn't the first time Shu Yan had closed the book.

Records on the Rule Book prove that Shu Yan has always closed the book if it couldn't win, never staying.

Except for the first two times the Black Tide descended, which swallowed its revenue from closing the book, the other two times it managed to recover most of the revenue.

During this preliminary clash, Shu Yan confirmed that the Ascended Clan's combat power was something it could counter.

Thus, it initiated the second step of the plan, which is the protracted war currently underway after cutting off combat power supply.

So, what seems like a sudden war actually has logic behind it.

Simply put, Shu Yan stuck its chopsticks into the Ascended Clan's farm to grab food, and finding the portion of food reduced, it prepared to forcibly snatch it.

This is the guess Qi Sheng made based on known clues.

But as for what the specific truth is, he was too lazy to spend Shou Shou Jili to investigate deeply.

Whether the Ascended Clan or Shu Yan wins, he doesn't care; he only cares about how much benefit these two clans can bring to himself and the players.

During this period, a newly refreshed forum post made Qi Sheng find it very interesting.

The poster collected players' views on known factions through the replies and like counts in the post, compiling a set of impression tags that players held for each faction.

Extreme Joy Clan: A rising new star, has an inspirational clan leader who loves to spread joy, a happiness machine, the lord of benefits, offering my Extreme Joy power.

Terrifying Black Tide: A madman addicted to devouring everywhere, the strongest AI in the Monster World, the faction where Di Nian the Bully resides, military units as numerous as ox hairs, terrifying war-growth capabilities, impossible to kill, simply impossible to kill, rumored to be the strongest faction in the Monster World.

Battle Insect Clan: Hungry, hungry, hungry, eat, eat, eat, killing requires no reason, either fighting or on the way to fight, getting fiercer with every battle, more like a killing machine than the Black Tide, a heartless killer.

Ancient God Clan: Mysterious Ancient Gods never act, champion fighters are awesome, pleasing the Ancient Gods is serious business, when will the Ancient Gods come to take me, the arena must not close, a workplace opened by lottery draw, rewards distributed based on performance.

Retro Tide Legion: Food is great, benefits are great, the next round of Retro Tide Legion slots is coming soon, a hunger-training camp, group fights every day, the place where the Grind King Team became famous, as long as you work hard, resources will be maxed out for you.

Mechanical Overlord: Suddenly descended with a snap, gave us a good beating, ruthlessly stripped the land bare, a faction from the neighboring continent, sounds quite powerful according to the guidance description.

Ascension Clan: Farm owners, the farming faction of the Monster World, the Ascension Clan is here to cut leeks again, nurturing seedlings starts with spreading resources, cutting one crop only to have another, crop after crop without end, defeated by the champion fighters.

Soul Return Clan: Perfect soul usurpation is too disgusting, this child cannot be allowed to live, luckily we players cannot usurp souls, otherwise it would be too terrifying, the Retro Tide Legion's number one hostile faction, abilities are too disgusting, suggest the official ban.

Shu Yan: Dead eunuch, king of unfinished works, cut the book again and again, when will the new book open?, custom fighters get good reviews, whatever combat power system you want, just slap your head and it appears, possesses three types of rule powers, but sooner or later they will belong to us players.

Through these tags given by players, one can intuitively see the players' attitudes toward the various factions.

Only three factions can make players feel good: the Retro Tide Legion, the Extreme Joy Clan, and the Ancient God Clan.

Because these three factions have indeed brought benefits to players, allowing many players to make a fortune.

Especially the Retro Tide Legion, which is the place players most want to go to.

Compared to the benefits given by other factions, the Retro Tide Legion's systematic cultivation provides maxed-out resources throughout the entire process; this can be seen in the live streams of the Grind King Team.

The rule support from the War Divine Seal makes countless players yearn for it.

Among these known powerful factions, the ones with the most negative reviews are the Black Tide and the Soul Return Clan.

The Black Tide controlled by Di Nian the Evil Spirit is the only faction that has made players suffer setbacks multiple times; even in resurrection battles, they cannot defeat Di Nian the Evil Spirit, and its terrifying growth speed makes players shout that it must be nerfed.

This is also the first faction players encountered in the Monster World, and it remains the one they have never been able to take down.

Di Nian the Evil Spirit has even been called Di Nian the Bully during countless encounters with players.

The Soul Return Clan has many negative reviews because this faction's soul usurpation ability makes players feel extremely repulsed.

Especially when members of the Grind King Team were heading to the Phase Two training camp, a Four-Eyed Clan warrior killed and then usurped by a Soul Beast smiled at the Seeing Gui Tong and shouted the words "Brother Clan," which many players found hard to accept.

They believe this faction is too evil and that if they get a chance in the future, they must wipe them out completely.

Colorful Mist Coast, Oracle Plain.

This is a plain area hidden deep within the forest, shrouded in clouds and mist, with many reclaimed fields carefully divided into square shapes; the spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathers here, the fields lie by mountains and water, surrounded by lush forests.

Under the long-term nourishment of spiritual energy, the fields have begun to trend toward becoming spiritual fields.

But these spiritual fields are not rule resources of domain nodes; they are a type of natural spiritual field.

The soil in the spiritual fields appears pale green; spiritual grains serving as food are planted in the fields, emitting a refreshing fragrance that attracts colorful flying insects to dance gracefully among the fields.

At the end of the fields stands an ancient village with rows of farmhouses.

The farmhouses are built from a mixture of rock and yellow earth; after years of weathering, their surfaces are mottled and worn, the roofs covered with thick thatch; although simple, they can still shield against wind and rain, providing a warm haven for the creatures living here.

In front of every farmhouse, a small vegetable garden is enclosed by a bamboo fence, planted with various seasonal vegetables, full of green vitality.

As the sun sets, cooking smoke rises gently from the village, intertwining with the clouds and mist in the forest, forming a warm and peaceful pastoral landscape.

At this moment, a player team of 52 people is advancing toward the area where the spiritual fields are located.

"The spiritual wine brewed by the Stone Earth Clan is too delicious; this stuff would definitely sell for a high price on the Trading Hall, but unfortunately we don't even have enough for ourselves." Thinking that they would soon be able to drink the spiritual wine brewed by the Stone Earth Clan again, the captain at the very front of the formation couldn't help but sigh in the voice channel.

"Captain, can we set up an industrial chain? We use Shangcheng resources to exchange with the Stone Earth Clan for spiritual wine, then sell it on the Trading Hall; I feel it would be a considerable source of income."

Hearing the teammate's suggestion in the voice channel, Fang Zhi couldn't help but shake his head:

"I thought of this long ago, and even asked the Stone Earth Clan leader, but their spiritual wine production is very low; it simply cannot supply the consumption of the Trading Hall. Doing this kind of business once is fine, but it cannot last long."

Speaking, Fang Zhi raised his head and looked forward.

His vision pierced through the gaps in the dense forest; the spiritual fields ahead were within sight.

This area was discovered by accident while their squad was chasing a fleeing monster.

At that time, seeing a large number of low-level spiritual plants planted in the fields, they were extremely excited and prepared to start harvesting.

But to Fang Zhi's surprise, a large number of Stone Earth Clan members suddenly surged out of the village at the end of the spiritual fields.

At that moment, they were startled and all prepared for battle.

But what they did not expect was that the Stone Earth Clan members swarming toward them all knelt down before getting close, constantly kowtowing to them; the Stone Earth Clan leader at the head even expressed willingness to offer resources, praying to escape slaughter and plunder.

This made Fang Zhi completely lose any desire.

As a player, although he could act without restraint in the game, his principles and worldview still existed.

In this game with such an incredibly realistic sense of immersion, he could even see a look of pleading in the eyes of the elderly Stone Earth Clan leader.

Such a delicate emotional expression had too strong an impact; Fang Zhi immediately compromised, even feeling that he really wasn't a good person, how could he have such a bastardly thought of plundering.

Facing the plea, he immediately told the Stone Earth Clan leader that there would be no excessive behavior; they were just passing through.

Learning all this, the Stone Earth Clan obviously breathed a sigh of relief, then welcomed them into the village, bringing out their self-brewed spiritual wine and various delicacies to treat them.

To this, Fang Zhi did not refuse; he led his brothers to have a big meal here and exchanged a batch of Shangcheng supplies.

Whenever they passed by while hunting nearby in the future, they would come to the village where the Stone Earth Clan was located to grab a meal, then leave a batch of resources.

After multiple contacts, they got along well.

During this time, he also asked the Stone Earth Clan leader about some situations regarding their race.

Through the Stone Earth Clan leader's narration, he finally learned that the Stone Earth Clan had secluded themselves here to avoid war as much as possible.

And their arrival can be traced back to several hundred years ago.

At that time, the Stone Earth Clan was a hegemonic power in a small world; feeling that a broader sky was more conducive to the race's development, the clan leader at that time led the clan members to descend into the Monster World.

Before descending, they even made a vow to lead the clan, starting from the upper world, toward an era of even more prosperous development.

But vows are ultimately not reality.

Having expended massive resources and manpower, they painstakingly forged a spatial transmission channel.

They had thought they could display their talents in a vast world, until they made initial contact with the creatures of the Monster World.

Only then did they realize how terrifying this world was, but it was too late to regret.

Immediately after their arrival, the Earth-Eating Clan was surrounded by local forces.

This war nearly drove the Earth-Eating Clan to extinction; ultimately, they hid in this area wrapped by dense forests, barely surviving, with remaining clansmen numbering less than 5% of those who had arrived.

This battle also made the Earth-Eating Clan completely abandon their ambition to conquer the world.

The surviving clansmen thereafter bred and multiplied here, felled trees, reclaimed wasteland, and even constructed a spirit-gathering formation near this area to obtain spiritual energy to nourish the land, making the soil more fertile.

Through the efforts of generation after generation of clansmen, the hard days gradually improved.

Most importantly, after negotiating with the strongest power in this region, the Thorns Clan, the Earth-Eating Clan obtained protection; from then on, they only needed to pay 65% of their spiritual crop yield annually to be allowed to settle here, ensuring their safety.

But good times did not last long; the Thorns Clan exited the stage of history, their clan destroyed and scattered.

The newly emerged powers raised the resource collection from 65% of the yield to 75%; basically, every hundred years or so, the managing power would change.

All the Earth-Eating Clan could do was struggle to survive in the cracks between the clashes of various clans, proving to the outside world they had no ambition by not developing combat power, willingly becoming a servant clan for other powers to farm spiritual fields.

They reclaimed the land themselves and took full responsibility for planting; it was precisely this development model of abandoning combat power construction that allowed the Earth-Eating Clan to survive safely until now.

Developed to this day, the Earth-Eating Clan's population size is still less than one thousand.

The deliberately restricted population size was both to show nearby other powers that the Earth-Eating Clan had no ambition and to save on resource expenditures; after all, the spiritual fields in the territory were only this big, could not be expanded further, and simply could not support more clansmen.

This is also the sorrow of small clans.

Without the protection of superpowers like the Anti-Tide Legion, small clans are merely "food" at the mercy of others for slaughter and exploitation, having no say anywhere.

While lost in thought, Fang Zhi led the team members through the dense forest; seeing the cooking smoke in the distance, smiles appeared on their faces, knowing they could again mooch a meal.

But soon Fang Zhi noticed something was wrong.

The spiritual plants in the spiritual fields ahead had all been harvested; not a single spiritual plant could be found.

During his last casual chat with the Earth-Eating Clan Chief, he clearly remembered the Chief saying this batch of spiritual plants would mature next month; how could they have been harvested early?

Looking up at the village at the end of the spiritual fields, the smoke in the air, upon close inspection, was also wrong; it did not seem to be cooking smoke.

"Let's go take a look."

Fang Zhi's expression changed; immediately, he ran toward the farmhouse area at the end, and his teammates behind him followed one after another.

Entering the village, the lively scene that should have been full of vitality in the past had completely vanished; only the wind remained, weaving through the dilapidated, open houses, emitting sobs like ghosts crying and wolves howling.

The first thing to come into view was the old tree at the village entrance; it still stood with its roots tangled and interlaced, but beneath the tree lay several dried-up corpses with their blood sucked dry, scattered haphazardly; their faces were twisted, eyes wide open, as if they had witnessed extremely terrifying scenes in their final moments; among them, an old man still tightly gripped a sickle, his knuckles white from the force, seemingly having resisted before death.

Moving forward along the narrow dirt road, most farmhouse doors were half-open; at the threshold of one room lay a young figure, holding a child tightly nestled in their arms; both the person and the child had their blood sucked dry.

"Beasts!"

"Who the hell did this? Attacking a peaceful power is too vicious."

Seeing this scene, the players spoke up one after another in the squad voice channel.

Team leader Fang Zhi, his face pale as iron, led the team to the center of the village.

There, an Earth-Eating Clan elder, his face full of despair and his eyes dull, was dragging corpses and piling them in the open space at the village center to burn.

The "cooking smoke" they had seen was precisely what rose after burning the corpses.

Arriving in front of the Earth-Eating Clan elder who was dragging corpses and standing still, Fang Zhi blocked his path and asked in a deep voice:

"What happened here?"

The Earth-Eating Clan elder slowly raised his head, looked at Fang Zhi, and immediately recognized the other party as the foreign power that had been visiting frequently recently; clarity returned to his eyes, but the despair at the bottom of them did not dissipate; he explained in a hoarse voice:

"We were invaded; all the clan's resources were plundered clean, including the clansmen who became food for the invading power... they are all dead."

As he spoke, the Earth-Eating Clan elder's lips trembled constantly, and endless fear remained in his hollow eyes.

"Where is the Clan Chief?"

"Dead."

Hearing this, Fang Zhi's expression grew gloomy.

Afterwards, he asked the Earth-Eating Clan elder in detail about the specific situation at that time.

Learning that just half a day prior, a group of foreign powers wearing black armor had suddenly attacked; the Earth-Eating Clan Chief had intended to offer resources to pray for peace, but the attacking power completely ignored the Chief's plea, slaughtered and sucked dry all village members, and then harvested and took away all the spiritual plants in the spiritual fields.

The elder who was explaining had been arranged to hide in the food storage cellar, thus escaping death.

Learning the details, Fang Zhi gritted his teeth in hatred; afterwards, he asked the elder why they were burning the clansmen's corpses.

The elder stated that in the Earth-Eating Clan's tradition, after a clansman dies, their soul is restricted within the dead body; only by burning with fierce flames can the soul be sublimated.

The remaining ashes would be made into stone walls and sent to the cemetery; this is their way of mourning the deceased.

Learning the reason, Fang Zhi could not help but sigh:

"Brothers, lend a hand; we have the fate of knowing each other, so put in some effort."

Facing the team leader's proposal, the team members one after another expressed agreement, began searching for corpses in the village, and, suppressing their grief and anger, dragged them to the open space in the village center to burn.

Several hours later, gazing at the Xiong Xiong burning flames on the open ground, Fang Zhi sighed in his heart.

Although it was a game, seeing such a tragic scene touched his heart, even giving him a sense of powerlessness.

Turning to look at the elder standing aside, whose tears had already dried up, Fang Zhi asked:

"What are your plans?"

Upon hearing this, the elder took a gemstone radiating brilliant light from his pocket and handed it to Fang Zhi:

"It was precisely to protect this inherited object that the Clan Chief told me to hide in the cellar; now they are all dead, and I have no meaning to live alone; I wish to follow them... if possible, I would like to ask you a favor; of course, you can refuse."

"Speak." Fang Zhi did not take the gemstone, nor did he even activate analysis.

"My clan built a cemetery 16 kilometers north of this place; that is also the initial landing place of my clan's ancestors in the Monster World; I request that you send the stone walls made from my clansmen after cremation to the cemetery for burial."

"And you?"

The elder of the Earth-Eating Tribe shook his head, gazing at the flames still burning ahead, murmuring to himself.

Fang Zhi wanted to offer comfort but didn't know what to say; arguments that living is better than dying felt pale and powerless, so in the end he could only nod and say:

"Very well, we agree."

"Thank you." Saying this, the elder stood up and stuffed the brilliant gem in his hand into Fang Zhi's palm:

"Actually, I long anticipated this day would come. In this world, weakness is a sin. Leave this heirloom treasure to you."

As he spoke these words, the elder seemed to have made some sort of decision.

Not long after, the flames burned out.

The Earth-Eating Tribe elder arrived before the piled ashes and stood still; his internal blood and qi burned, transforming him into a man of fire.

Under the elder's control, the surrounding ashes converged toward him, finally merging with his body to form a stone slab nearly ten meters tall.

While sighing in his heart, Fang Zhi looked down at the brilliant gem in his hand.

【Earth-Eating Gold】:

Item Quality: 49

Item Description: A spiritual substance composite forged by the Earth-Eating Tribe over several generations; it records vast amounts of the tribe's historical information and technical data, usable for weapon and equipment forging, or for sacrifice to Beneath Di Zhao.

……

A material of quality 49 is already extremely high.

The highest quality players currently encounter is the necklace on the neck of "Tongzi," a good brother of the Hard-Work Emperor Group, which has a quality of 285.

Meanwhile, the quality of weapons and equipment commonly used by players is around 20.

Sacrificing this quality-49 item to Beneath Di Zhao would yield roughly ten thousand points of Shou Shou Jili.

While sighing in his heart, Fang Zhi stored the gem in his spatial satchel and decided to lead his teammates to complete the mission entrusted by the Earth-Eating Tribe elder before he departed.

Looking up at the stone slab, its size clearly made it impossible to store in the spatial satchel.

"Captain, there are resource carts in the village that the Earth-Eating Tribe used to send supplies to nearby factions; shall we use that thing to transport it?" A player spoke up in the team channel at that moment.

"Very well; since we agreed, we must fulfill it. Bring the resource cart."

Not long after, teammates pushed a resource cart specifically designed for carrying spiritual plants; a group of players worked together to lay the stone slab on the cart and escorted it toward the direction indicated by the elder.

Before exiting the spiritual field area, Fang Zhi turned back to glance at the village and couldn't help sighing again:

"I've noticed that all the tribes descending into the Monster World share one trait: they always believe a higher platform will allow their tribe to fully display its talents. Tian Huo Fa Wang was like this, and the Earth-Eating Tribe is the same."

Hearing the captain's words, a player standing beside him, wearing a straw hat, also sighed:

"Captain, I asked the Guide about your question. Actually, they were all wrong; they simply wanted their tribes to develop better, but they couldn't see the risks of a higher platform. They always believed their status in the small world reflected the truth of their strength, sufficient to achieve better development in a higher world."

"It's like deaf people seeing everyone dancing to music and thinking they're all mad; they cannot see the unknown truth, or rather, they believe everything seen within their narrow vision is the truth, and firmly insist they are not wrong. This information gap leads factions like the Tian Huo Tribe and the Earth-Eating Tribe down a path to ruin."

"Perhaps some tribes among them can rise from obscurity in the Monster World and grow into regional overlords, but the vast majority become nourishment for the growth of other factions."

Thinking of the once-bustling village wiped out overnight, the squad members felt dejected.

But they did not forget the elder's request; carrying the stone slab, they proceeded northward.

Half an hour later, the squad emerged from the lush, dense forest along a winding, rugged path; ahead lay a relatively open stretch of road, reducing the difficulty of pushing the cart forward.

Just as the player squad reached the central area of this region, countless figures clad in Shen Chuan Hou Zhong armor suddenly attacked from all sides.

Sensing something was wrong, Captain Fang Zhi immediately shouted:

"Prepare for battle!"

With those words, pure qi seeped from his pores, covering his body surface.

Then, a brilliant little bird emerged from the void, chirping as it flew upward, circling the squad.

Looking up at the approaching figures, the leading figure was Gao Da and muscular, resembling a moving black mountain.

The Analysis Ability activated at that moment.

【Evil Nine】:

Hunting Level: 54

Target Analysis: A warrior of the "Evil Armor Tribe," the latest to descend into the Monster World; its true form is a gaseous lifeform that fights by attaching to armor, feeding on the blood of other living beings and growing after absorption.

……

Seeing the analysis information and recalling the elder's words,

Fang Zhi could confirm that the ones who massacred the village were these newly arrived members of the Evil Armor Tribe.

Their faces were obscured by the black armor, visible only as eyes emitting scattered red light.

Each piece of black armor seemed cast from shadow, gleaming with a cold, dim luster under the sunlight; shoulder guards were broad as wings, etched with golden stripes; sharp armor horns resembled demon claws, brazenly extending outward; the chest plate was thick and solid, embedded with a golden ferocious beast.

Behind the leading Evil Armor Tribe warrior followed a group of warriors similarly clad in black armor.

Some warriors had helmets adorned with sharp bone spikes, as vicious as thorns; others had arm guards carved with ferocious beast faces… Though these warriors' black armor showed slight variations, all exuded a sinister aura.

They advanced like a black tide, surrounding from all directions.

Seeing this, the squad members immediately realized they had been targeted as prey.

"Brothers, we've got work to do."

Captain Fang Zhi stepped forward, pure qi beneath his feet spreading out like ripples.

Upon hearing this, the other teammates moved accordingly.

Players with combat pets immediately summoned them; magic-type players raised magic towers on the spot; support players prepared light shields; Stone Statue Flow players positioned themselves on the outermost ring of the formation… All were veteran players; the squad members clearly understood their roles in battle.

No further words were wasted; battle was imminent.

Acting like a berserk warrior, Captain Fang Zhi charged forward toward the Evil Armor Tribe warriors, throwing a punch at Evil Nine, whose level was seven higher than his own.

The Petrification Ability activated at that moment; his body surface instantly became coated in a layer of jet black.

Bang!

His fist collided with the serrated blade Evil Nine drew from behind; Fang Zhi in petrified form stood immovable as a mountain, his legs planted on the ground as if rooted, while Evil Nine was knocked back repeatedly by the punch, red light flickering in the eyes beneath his helmet.

At this moment, Fang Zhi deactivated his Stone Form and decisively activated Taunt.

Instantly, the memories in the minds of the surrounding Evil Armor Tribe warriors pieced themselves together on their own; boundless fury rose from the depths of their hearts, and Fang Zhi's face appeared utterly loathsome in their eyes. The surging emotions drove them to launch an attack on Fang Zhi.

A Ke Bing Xue Lao Yin formed above Fang Zhi's head, and he once again activated Stone Form.

After enduring repeated weapon strikes in succession, a beam of green fluorescent light descended from the sky and connected with Fang Zhi.

The healing light of the Light Spirit Feather arrived and began restoring Fang Zhi's HP.

The other players also struck at this moment, launching a defensive counterattack around the escorted stone slab.

"Brothers, hold the line. We absolutely cannot let the stone slab be destroyed — we took the commission fee, we have to see it through."

Fang Zhi shouted in the voice channel, then activated Taunt once more, drawing the Evil Armor warriors whose minds were gradually clearing back to him, making them fight around him.

The other Stone-Form players struck from the outer ring of the party, using the Painful Painful Minghun taunt to forcibly draw the Evil Armor warriors and protect the players in the center.

Ink Flame, Spell Tower, Rushing Thunder… various magic-type offensive traits were also hurled at the Evil Armor Tribe warriors at this moment.

But in terms of numbers, they were at an absolute disadvantage.

"Guide, how many of them are there?" Fang Zhi asked.

【278.】

"Shit!"

Learning the exact number, Fang Zhi immediately sensed trouble, then shouted in the voice channel:

"Everyone, don't hold back on potions — we're fighting a war of attrition with them, we have to hold… A-Le, call over all the guild brothers to help, try to hold out as long as possible."

"Captain, I've already contacted the boss."

With the protection of the four Stone-Form players and the light shields the support players occasionally deployed, the squad stubbornly withstood the pressure, not letting the Evil Armor Tribe break through.

But as their HP drained, the squad's players gradually faltered.

On the Evil Armor Tribe's side, E-Jiu — who had successfully broken free of the taunt suppression — quickly retreated, stepping out of the taunt's coverage range, and his crimson eyes suddenly fixed on the stone slab the players were protecting in the center.

He noticed that these living beings seemed to value the stone slab in the center greatly.

Realizing he couldn't break through from the outside, he immediately got an idea, and his hoarse voice rang out:

"The stone slab seems to be their weakness. Squad 3, burrow underground and attack the slab — look for a chance to kill them."

As the words fell, a squad of Evil Armor Tribe warriors burrowed into the earth.

These words, after being translated, also rang in the players' ears, causing the squad's players' expressions to change drastically.

"Warriors to the front, Stone-Form players follow me into the inner ring to protect!" Fang Zhi roared at this moment.

The four Stone-Form players in the party decisively retreated, while the warrior players stepped forward.

The moment they reached the inner ring, the ground loosened, several figures burst from the earth, weapons in hand slashing straight at the stone slab.

At the critical moment, three light shields formed around the stone slab.

The weapons in the Evil Armor warriors' hands slammed into the light shields, sending countless golden sparks flying.

At this moment, several more Evil Armor warriors burst from the earth, the serrated blades in their hands becoming phantoms as they hacked into the magic-type players one after another.

On the spot, two magic-type players were shattered into black mist and dispersed.

Attacked from both inside and out, the party's formation was instantly scattered.

E-Jiu was clever — he had his tribesmen choose to fight around the stone slab, having discovered that as long as they feinted an attack on the slab, these living beings would defend it to the death, making it easy to find a breakthrough point.

This proved his guess was correct — this seemingly ordinary stone slab was indeed these living beings' weakness.

This Tao Da Fa made the players unable to stop cursing.

Usually they fought without any scruples, but this time they really did have a weakness.

After all, they had accepted the inheritance treasure, and the next task was to transport the ash wall.

Even though failing the quest wouldn't cost them anything, and the inheritance treasure had already gone into their spatial packs, their conscience simply wouldn't let it go.

These deceased members of the Earth-Eating Tribe had once hosted them warmly — just as the captain said, meeting was ultimately a stroke of fate.

But now they faced the siege of the Evil Armor Tribe, and with their combat power alone they simply couldn't resist.

Under the Evil Armor Tribe's relentless assault, the party kept losing members, until only four Stone-Form players remained alive.

Even the Light Spirit Feather in the sky was killed by Evil Armor warriors using some kind of ranged attack weapon.

The remaining three Stone-Form players, led by Captain Fang Zhi, kept releasing taunts around the stone slab, still gritting their teeth and holding on.

"Captain, we can't hold."

A teammate's cry rang out in the voice channel. Fang Zhi turned to look — the player beside him shed his Stone Form and was instantly focused-fired by the dense assault, turning into black mist and dispersing.

"Fuck your uncle!" Fang Zhi's eyes went blood-red as he activated Taunt once more, drawing even more firepower.

But persisting at this point was undoubtedly futile.

Before long, the other two Stone-Form teammates also turned into black smoke and dispersed.

With Fang Zhi's eyes nearly splitting from rage, the stone slab was split apart by E-Jiu in a single strike, fragments of stone flying everywhere.

Fang Zhi, his HP exhausted, also shed his Stone Form at this moment. Under the dense assault, the scene before his eyes gradually dimmed.

After killing Fang Zhi and the others, E-Jiu crouched down and picked up a fragment of the stone slab:

"Ordinary matter, utterly worthless."

In fact, their original target had never been this protected stone slab — they had wanted to devour the HP energy within these living beings.

But no matter what, once they died they turned into black mist and dispersed, making it impossible to extract even a trace of HP energy.

"Next target." E-Jiu said in a low voice at this moment.

Before long, the Evil Armor Tribe members withdrew, leaving only broken stones scattered across the ground drifting in the wind.

But what the Evil Armor Tribe did not know was what kind of existence they had provoked.

Just as E-Jiu had guessed, on this escort mission, the ash stone slab was the player squad's weakness.

But now, the weakness was gone.

……

A few minutes later, a help request post was published on the forum.

The post detailed the entire process: the squad led by Fang Zhi first encountered the Earth-Eaters, was warmly hosted, and then the Earth-Eaters' village was massacred by the Evil Armored Clan; the posting player's squad received a grave-plate escort mission but was attacked by the Evil Armored Clan en route.

The post's popularity kept climbing; after watching the edited video in the post, many players broke down.

The first half of the footage was very warm: squad players and Earth-Eaters drank and chatted happily at the village entrance; during this, the Earth-Eaters brought out various delicious spirit foods to host the player squad, and the player squad left behind Shangcheng resources.

Every time they came afterward, Earth-Eater members greeted them with smiling faces and warm hospitality.

But the second half of the video was chilling.

The village turned into a sea of fire, with black smoke rolling up.

One second, Earth-Eater members were grinning foolishly in the video; the next, they lay scattered all over the village, blood trails winding on the ground, many damaged houses teetering, surviving elders clinging to life under the shadow of death, faces filled with despair.

The former vitality and human warmth vanished like a dream or a bubble, leaving only suffocating misery.

After learning the full process, forum players who read the post flew into a rage and cursed loudly in the thread.

When Fang Zhi revived, a large number of players had already gathered at the respawn point, all speaking out:

"Bro, take me with you on this strike. It's always us players bullying others; when has it ever been others bullying us? Open a warband and pull me into the squad."

"Such kind villagers, just massacred like that. Watching the video footage almost made me cry. Add me."

"Brother, open a warband right now. I'm definitely killing this Evil Armored Clan. It's a complete reversal of heaven and earth. Has anyone asked who's the boss in the Colorful Mist Coast region?"

"I was about to log off, but after reading the post I'm shaking with rage. Add me to the revenge operation. I'll smash those Evil Armored dogs to death with my light shield."

……

Gazing at the dense, indignant crowd of players ahead, Fang Zhi felt moved.

He then decisively formed a group, batch-pulling nearby players into the warband.

The guild leader also arrived at this moment, leading hundreds of players, and joined the group.

After leaving the Colorful Mist Space, thousands of players marched in great numbers toward the location where they had been attacked.

Along the way, players kept sending private messages, wanting to join the squad.

Several major guild leaders also proactively contacted, stating they would soon arrive with guild members to provide support.

As more and more players joined successively, the warband's size kept expanding during the advance.

Players who joined the warband all had a fire burning in their hearts, swearing to wipe out the Evil Armored Clan.

(End of this chapter)