Chapter 156: Catastrophe Expedition, Ultimate Evil

Colorful Mist Coast, Oracle Secret Forest.

E Jiu led over two hundred warriors through the secret forest, searching for any huntable targets.

Constant slaughter allowed their strength to grow rapidly.

Just as the commander had predicted, the Upper World indeed possessed a far more massive supply of resources than their homeland world.

As they advanced, the air they exhaled resembled ethereal mist, twisting and coiling in the atmosphere to form fleeting, peculiar shapes, capturing energy particles from the air before returning them into their bodies.

In this world, every ripple of the body (breath) could bring a slight increase in strength.

Furthermore, the living beings of this world were brimming with qi and blood, far more delicious than the creatures raised in their homeland world.

The only concern was the mysterious Blood Moon Domain to the north of their newly established clan grounds; they dared not rashly enter it, clearly sensing an aura of ultimate evil dissipating within the domain.

Each approach brought a terrifying sense of encountering a natural predator, causing even their breathing ripples to nearly cease.

It was precisely under this nearly suffocating oppression that they had never entered the blood-colored domain to explore.

However, the nearby alien factions were all targets for their hunting.

In just these few days, the Evil Battle Squad he led had already slaughtered three small clans, and the absorbed qi and blood had significantly boosted their strength.

This sensation was exquisite, even making E Jiu feel as though he were breaking free from shackles and welcoming a life advancement.

After a thorough search, they failed to find any prey.

E Zhan led his clansmen to a clearing filled with blooming flowers and stopped, retrieving piles of spiritual plants from his spatial item.

The released qi and blood shattered the spiritual plants, turning them into spiritual essences with slight impurities, which were then absorbed into their armor along with the inhalation and exhalation of qi and blood ripples.

Instantly, the armor surrounding their bodies erupted with flowing light, its strength gradually increasing.

This was one of the two growth methods of the Evil Armor Clan.

As gaseous lifeforms, their strength growth was divided into two parts.

These were armor growth and life growth.

They swallowed qi and blood to convert it into life energy, then crushed spiritual plants to extract spiritual substances that amplified the strength of their armor.

One trended toward a mental strength growth system, while the other resembled a body-tempering growth system.

Before long, E Jiu and his clansmen had crushed all the recently plundered spiritual plants and absorbed and digested them with their armor.

The flowing light erupting from the armor subsequently dissipated, its strength having gained a significant boost.

Just as E Jiu prepared to lead his clansmen to continue exploring southward, he suddenly sensed something amiss and abruptly looked up at the sky.

He saw several birds with brilliant colors flying overhead; after circling a few times, they quickly departed.

This was already the third time.

E Jiu was very familiar with these birds.

When they had previously fought against the group of beings escorting the stone tablet, those beings had released such birds to assist in combat; the characteristic of emitting light to heal wounds had left a deep impression on him.

This gave him a bad premonition.

If these birds were spiritual beasts raised by the clan of the beings who had escorted the stone tablet back then...

Then their circling and watching from above just now likely meant they were scouting the environment and had already discovered their intrusion.

After a brief moment of thought, E Jiu made a decision without hesitation:

"Retreat first; we may have been targeted."

After issuing the command, E Jiu decisively turned around, leading his clansmen to sprint back in the direction they had come.

But they had not run far when several black shadows shot forth from behind at extreme speed, dragging trails of afterimages.

E Jiu immediately sensed danger and vibrated the air to shout:

"Prepare for battle!"

The running clansmen stopped one after another; at that moment, a black shadow suddenly pounced on an Evil Armor Clan warrior, its body solidifying in mid-air as the dagger gripped in its hand flashed with cold light.

"Still trying to run? Do you know the true value of extreme speed?"

As the words fell, the pouncing Assassin-build player suddenly accelerated without any foothold in the air, the dagger viciously striking the neck of the Evil Armor Clan warrior.

Instantly, a Forbidden Blade Mark appeared above the struck warrior's head, injecting a toxic attribute into his body.

The qi and blood flowing within the armor was stained with a touch of green.

After landing one strike, the Assassin-build player decisively activated the Twilight Shadow trait and retreated.

Other Assassin-build players also launched their surprise attacks at this moment, condensing physical forms to begin their offensive.

"We've held them; hurry over and support us."

After completing his attack, one Assassin-build player decisively shouted in the Warband chat channel, immediately receiving numerous slightly excited responses from other players.

Behind them, a vast army of players was advancing.

Upon learning that Evil Armor Clan warriors had been found, the players appeared exceptionally excited; those who ran fast quickly pulled ahead of the main force, rushing urgently to the battle site to provide support.

As more and more players surged forth, E Jiu immediately sensed danger.

But it was too late to retreat; a group of Golem-build players charged over, forcibly dragging them into a Taunt Domain.

This instantly panicked E Jiu; he wanted to break free from the emotional control but found himself utterly unable to resist the anger rising from the bottom of his heart, even though he knew this anger lacked any emotional logic and was entirely caused by external interference.

Under the delay tactics of the Golem-build players, more and more players arrived at the scene.

"Hahaha, we've caught you now, right? The stone tablet was a flaw, was it? Now let me see what your flaws are?"

"I didn't expect Light Spirit Feathers could be used for aerial reconnaissance; once I've saved enough money, I'm buying one too, so useful... though recruiting a Sky Feather Clan teammate wouldn't be bad either, even cheaper."

"Cunning villain, committing arson, murder, and robbery the moment you arrive in the Monster World; do you even have us players in your eyes? Take this Super Fireball!"

"The Soil-Eating Clan knelt down begging you; plundering resources and leaving would have been enough, yet you slaughtered the entire clan; that's too excessive."

"I just love evil factions like you; killing you brings zero guilt. Later, we'll tear up your clan grounds too, letting you know you came to the wrong place."

The players arriving one after another all appeared exceptionally excited.

Before this, they had already searched near the location where the stone tablet was plundered for a long time.

The result was that after searching several loops, they still couldn't find the departing Evil Armor Clan warriors.

Finally, a player in the Warband channel suggested letting players who owned Light Spirit Feather pets conduct aerial reconnaissance to search.

After numerous Light Spirit Feathers were released, it wasn't long before news returned that they had been found.

Now that the encirclement had formed, this team composed of over 200 Evil Armor Clan warriors was trapped with no escape.

Accustomed to fighting under conditions of numerical and combat power disadvantages, the players felt no pressure whatsoever in this confrontation of absolute superiority.

Amidst laughter and scolding, only E Jiu and six of his clansmen remained in the Evil Armor Squad, struggling desperately.

But this persistence was more like a death throes struggle.

Facing an impasse that was impossible to break through, E Jiu felt the fear brought by death.

The rhythm of his breathing ripples was disrupted; he felt like a lonely boat tossing in a violent storm, Suishi about to be smashed into the seabed by giant waves.

Facing a life-or-death crisis, E Jiu suddenly knelt on the ground.

"I am willing to offer resources to beg for my life."

E Jiu vibrated the air, emitting the same sound the Soil-Eating Clan Chief had made when begging him at that time.

He did not know the specific meaning of this sentence, but he understood it was obviously used when begging for mercy, perhaps it could be used to save his life.

This was also the reason he had memorized this sentence back then.

Seeing E Jiu kneel and beg for mercy, the players' expressions instantly became extremely disgusted.

"This is the most cowardly clan I've ever seen in the Monster World; everyone usually makes memes about the Heavenly Fire Dharma King, but he would rather die than abandon his clansmen to leave alone; the courage to live and die with his clan deserves praise; that is a real man; trash like you should just go die."

"Bah, what did you do when the Soil-Eating Clan Chief begged you? You still want us to spare you? Dream on."

"I've seen so many alien races, but none as disgusting as you; if someone like you were given to me to control, I'd feel disgusted having you follow me around."

Facing E Jiu's plea for mercy, the players without hesitation focused their fire and killed him.

After doing all this, the players continued advancing north, beginning their search for the Evil Armor Clan grounds.

According to parsed information, this faction had only recently descended into the Monster World; the specific location of their descent was unclear.

But it was certain that they must be in the fog-covered regions on the map.

If it were a known region where the fog had dispersed, a new faction would be marked on the map the moment they descended.

Therefore, to find the Evil Armor Clan, one had to explore the fog zones.

The players scattered to search based on E Jiu's movement trajectory, preparing to plunder this new faction clean.

In their eyes, new factions all had a significant characteristic: they generally brought their family assets when descending, just like the Heavenly Fire Dharma King, who brought a large amount of energy crystals upon arrival, which were eventually divided between them and the two bullies of the Novice Village.

The Evil Armor Clan was obviously the same.

When introducing the Heavenly Fire Clan, the Guide had once said a sentence that was widely circulated on the forum.

The meaning of this sentence was that weak clans descending into the Monster World generally underwent one-way teleportation; they had no intention of returning from the start, so they inevitably brought their entire families, taking all their foundational resources with them.

Therefore, a newly descended faction equaled an unopened treasure chest of wealth.

Primordial Sacrifice Altar.

Discovering that a large number of players had temporarily abandoned battlefield looting to change their hunting target to the newly descended Evil Armor Clan, Qi Sheng didn't mind.

He placed no restrictions on the players' development in the Monster World; he only needed to set the general direction for development, leaving the rest for the players to freely choose their exploration and growth models.

Seeing that the players still hadn't found the Evil Armor Clan, he immediately had the idea to assist them.

After all, letting players spend a large amount of time searching meant the real-time one-hour Sacrificial Power revenue curve was sliding downward.

Guided by the Guide, his consciousness descended into the Colorful Mist Coast space and began searching.

With the Guide's assistance, the search process was effortless.

The Evil Armor Clan warriors left traces or auras on the ground as they moved.

After analysis and investigation, a glowing path appeared in Qi Sheng's mind.

Before long, his consciousness descended upon the Evil Armor Clan's territory.

Before the territory's main gate stood two towering black stone steles, carved with many bizarre patterns and stained red with fresh blood.

Following the winding black stone path forward, the buildings on both sides were all shaped like giant suits of armor; overlooking the entire territory from high above, it resembled an armory for a race of giants, with every structure cast from metal and many connected by bridges spliced together from massive black stone blocks.

As his consciousness swept over, he could see large numbers of blood slaves imprisoned and confined.

These blood slaves were mostly creatures living nearby, detained as a food reserve.

The main hall in the very center of the territory was shaped like a coiled, enraged beast; its roof consisted of sharp black triangular cones stacked layer upon layer, resembling the fangs of a colossal beast. The hall's entrance comprised two massive bone doors, their surfaces relief-carved with ferocious ghostly faces, features twisted as if emitting a silent roar. The door knockers were two skull heads, within whose hollow eye sockets faint nether flames flickered.

Inside the hall, thick black stone pillars supported the dome, their bodies wrapped in terrifying snake-shaped reliefs with clearly distinguishable scales, mouths agape to reveal sharp fangs. Upon the dome were painted blood-red patterns: scenes of blood demons devouring souls, and forging scenes where twisted limbs and flesh were cast into armor. The overall colors were dark and gloomy, all painted with the fresh blood of living beings.

At this moment, eighteen Evil Armor Clan creatures, each over four meters tall, were discussing the profits gained from their recent plundering.

Qi Sheng had no interest whatsoever in their conversation; his consciousness, following the guidance, returned to Emperor Tomb Village.

The Guiding Clone also began providing path clues to the players at this time.

Two hours later, the players located the Evil Armor Clan's territory.

Its specific location was 13.5 kilometers west of the Evil Moon Domain, where nearby mountain forests had been heavily logged to clear an open space.

Within the territory, towering bronze furnaces blazed, and Evil Armor warriors were smelting the metal used for constructing their lands.

Learning the exact coordinates, the players flocked toward the Evil Armor Clan's territory.

With each additional player, Courage Value increased by one; once over a thousand players had gathered, they could hardly wait to launch an assault on the Evil Armor Clan's territory.

This battle also served as the players' probe into the Evil Armor Clan's combat strength.

The great war lasted less than half an hour before concluding, yet during this fight, the players gathered a vast amount of intelligence regarding the Evil Armor Clan.

Major guilds began laying out plans targeting the characteristics of the Evil Armor Clan's combat system.

When the player legion attacked a second time, its scale had reached fifty thousand; mixed within were large numbers of low-level novice players hoping to fish in troubled waters.

The sudden war immediately left the Evil Armor Clan stunned.

During this period, the players also discovered a weakness of the Evil Armor Clan.

Compared to the ferocity displayed by other factions in battle, Evil Armor warriors simply dared not fight to the death.

If they could dodge, they absolutely would not withstand a blow head-on.

In the players' eyes, this fighting style could entirely be called a weakness.

Before this, all they had encountered were Black Tides and Insect Swarms—combat units that feared no death; even members of factions like the Heavenly Fire Clan and Black Wind Clan fought with their lives on the line.

Only the Evil Armor Clan exhibited a fighting style that was vicious in attack yet dared not engage directly.

Thus, even though the Evil Armor Clan held an absolute advantage in combat power, the players displayed overwhelming dominance in momentum.

In this engagement, the most fierce chargers were undoubtedly the Giant Python Clan and Night Demon Clan players.

Learning that a War Cultivation Mode was available to experience, many players from these two clans whose primary Soul ranks were below level 20 decisively followed the veteran players.

Even if they died in a single strike after joining the battle, their charge was filled with immense passion, accompanied by shouts and cheers throughout.

After players from these two clans joined the fray, the player legion forcibly pushed forward against Evil Armor warriors whose levels were far higher than their own.

This sensation of passionate combat seemed to activate the battle genes within the players of these two clans.

Seeing so many melee players, as well as Stone Statue Stream players appearing, the veteran players felt immensely gratified.

This meant the future shortage of Stone Statue Stream practitioners would be resolved.

Although recruiting alien-race players might not quickly lead to harmonious coexistence, there must be a process.

In the foreseeable future, more and more races would enter the game, and forming teams with players of other races would become a major trend in building the player legion.

After all, according to this game's background setting, all players belonged to the same faction; glory and ruin were shared alike.

Unlike previous virtual games where every race could be classified as an independent faction, engaging in mutual conquest and resource plundering.

Besides the absence of Gillfish Clan players, Sky Feather Clan players also delivered impressive performances in this battle.

Possessing flight capabilities, Sky Feather Clan players were the racial group with the smallest proportion choosing the Stone Statue Stream among all alien-race players.

What they favored most was a ranged damage-dealing stream constructed around the Scattered Arrow Soul, allowing them to accurately shoot Evil Armor warriors while flying, forcing the Evil Armor Clan to struggle against attacks coming from multiple directions.

Serving as the battlefield commander, the God King this time proactively contacted the guild masters of several major guilds among the Sky Feather, Giant Python, and Night Demon clans, hoping to launch joint operations.

His invitation received affirmative responses from the alien-race guild masters.

This battle also marked the God King's first time commanding a war involving fifty thousand people.

Having previously studied the unique characteristics of each racial group's players, the God King was filled with fervor.

Throughout the entire engagement, he consumed potions to activate maximum perception perspective, observing the frontline's advancement, while the warband's voice channel constantly echoed with the God King's commands.

Although he was a veteran player and one of the wealthiest whales in the game, the God King's Star Vein Slots were embedded with only three Souls.

Ranked first was the Eagle-Headed Demon, a single Soul whose rank had already reached level 51, serving as the core aid for his battlefield command.

Second was Spirit Devouring, providing sustainability beyond what mental potions offered.

Lastly was the Insight Soul.

In the eyes of many players, this new Soul possessed low strength.

But in his eyes, it was a divine skill.

The effect of Insight allowed one to actively release it and enter Insight Vision, capable of discovering weak points on a target; paired with the Eagle-Headed Demon's perception range radiation, it amounted to area-of-effect weakness detection.

By using Insight to find weaknesses, he could also conduct precise command for localized operations.

He could even clearly perceive under his perception perspective whether an Evil Armor warrior was already critically injured.

The fewer the qi-and-blood light spots on their bodies, the poorer the Evil Armor warrior's condition proved to be.

The Insight Soul, deemed of little use in the eyes of forum players, was far stronger in the God King's view than those version T0-tier Souls, significantly enhancing his command capability.

The only aspect that strained the God King while in command Cultivation Mode was how to coordinate cooperation between alien-race players and human players.

Especially the Giant Python Clan and Night Demon Clan.

In his eyes, these two alien-race player groups were like cannon fodder voluntarily filling the front lines.

As soon as the battle began, they eagerly launched death charges, difficult to call back no matter how much he shouted.

However, such fearless charges were not meaningless in his eyes.

Acting as battlefield cannon fodder, the Giant Python and Night Demon clans were comparable to vanguard units, bearing the brunt of engagement with the Evil Armor Clan; at the cost of their own lives, they drew fire, filled gaps in the defensive line, and prevented the Evil Armor Clan from cutting into the rear of the legion.

Under such an output environment, magic-system players and support players needed not worry about their own safety whatsoever.

He also did not need to deploy combat power to protect rear-line players, reducing the intensity of command.

Secondly, it also consumed the Evil Armor Clan's stamina and even exerted a certain deterrent effect upon them; the momentum generated by the fearless charges thoroughly ignited the battlefield's passion.

During this period, players who had not joined the warband but followed the charge began launching assaults from the flanks.

Included within were large numbers of players who enjoyed pulling stunts on the battlefield; many new stunt-based tactics made nearby players laugh helplessly.

For instance, the Gargoyle Entanglement Tactic.

By using Flowing Shadow Clone to wrap around an Evil Armor warrior, then activating Stone Statue Form, they achieved the "Covered in Burly Men" accomplishment, forcibly locking the Evil Armor warrior's movements.

Alternatively, players specializing in the Sluggish Domain entered to apply crowd control; the movement efficiency of surrounding Evil Armor warriors was immediately restricted, as if the flow of time had slowed, their actions resembling a slow-motion film, every motion becoming sluggish.

The Spirit Artifact Great Formation, which had delivered stunning performances in the previous Evil Moon War, also made its appearance; after development over this period, both the scale and momentum of the Spirit Artifact Formation had improved significantly.

The appearance of the whale player who created the Spirit Artifact Great Formation had also changed.

He had dyed his hair long and white, casually tied up, with a few strands fluttering in the wind; he wore a white long robe, stood with hands behind his back while treading a flying sword mid-air, his robes rustling loudly in the wind.

In expression, he was possessed by the spirit of a drama king, his brows and eyes exuding an air of indifference, as if he truly were a transcendent earthly sword immortal.

With a wave of his hand pointing forward, countless spirit artifacts rose from the ground, forming the Spirit Artifact Great Formation behind him.

Before the battle even began, the whale player had already maximized his style.

Many players who had never seen the Spirit Artifact Great Formation looked up at this scene, exclaiming that the veterans were awesome.

Secondly, many free pets controlled by Controlled Souls also made their debut in this battle.

The Shu Yan Warriors, whose settings could be customized and modified, unleashed the players' wildest imaginations.

Besides normal reshaping, there were many reshaped configurations that became incredibly bizarre.

For example, a berserker wielding a massive pink warhammer, possessing a burly physique yet wearing twin ponytails, charging recklessly across the battlefield, basically killing one Evil Armor warrior with a single hammer strike.

Or, a tech war god holding a Gatling gun, sporting a Mediterranean hairstyle.

Or, mecha warriors with non-human appearances.

The customizable settings of Shu Yan Warriors allowed players to play with excessive freedom; all sorts of outrageous appearances could be found on the battlefield.

The key point was that these Shu Yan Warriors' combat power was far greater than that of the players.

Facing the Evil Armor Clan, it was utterly devastating slaughter, so strong that it even terrified the Evil Armor Clan.

During this period, there was also a Soul considered to be perpetually stuck in the version's sewer that shone brilliantly in this war.

It was the Extraction Soul.

The effect of this Soul was to extract spiritual plants into plant essence; apart from players in the Alchemist Alliance who viewed it as a T0-tier Soul, other players saw it as utterly worthless, with forum players dubbing it: "Even a dog wouldn't use it."

Because this Soul's effect was truly terrible, offering not the slightest improvement to combat power.

But when a player attempted to use Extraction on a member of the Evil Armor Clan, they were pleasantly surprised to discover that the armor on the Evil Armor warriors would gradually decompose, then extract plant essence.

Only after consulting the Guide did they learn that although the armor on Evil Armor warriors appeared to be cast from metal, it was actually a type of growing plant.

The Evil Armor Clan crushed spiritual plants, extracted spiritual substances for the armor to devour; essentially, this could be understood as irrigating the spiritual plant to foster its growth, while Evil Armor Clan members parasitized the spiritual plant, manipulating it to fight using their qi and blood.

The characteristic of Extraction dealt immense damage to plants, capable of rapidly decomposing spiritual plants into essence.

Compared to physical and spell-based forms of damage, the effect of Extraction amounted to true damage; no matter how high the armor's defensive strength, it was as good as nonexistent against Extraction.

This also confirmed a prognosis left early on in the forum by Night Approaches:

"There are no trash Souls, because every kind of Soul can exert miraculous effects in specific scenarios; nor are there Souls forever stuck in the sewer. The accommodation of new Souls may very well elevate what we currently view as the version's bottom-feeders into the version's answer."

This discovery delighted players who possessed the Extraction Soul; not only could they deal damage, but they could also obtain plant essence.

Dealing damage and earning money, neither was neglected.

They never expected the extracted Soul Souls they embedded to aid in combat; once reaching around level 10, they generally ignored them, leaving them to gather dust in Star Vein slots, occasionally pulling them out to extract spiritual plants and sell them to the Alchemist Guild for pocket money.

They never expected a sewer-tier Soul Soul in their hands could become a main DPS Soul Soul.

The powerful performance of the extracted Soul Souls also made many players realize one thing.

The poor performance of the extracted Soul Souls, which had always been at the bottom of this version, was because players had never encountered plant-type factions; the battles previously fought at the Cloud Field Domain nodes were all against energy plants condensed from Black Black Tide energy.

In the foreseeable future, should a powerful plant-type enemy appear, the extracted Soul Souls will inevitably briefly ascend to the version's T0 tier.

The great battle continued.

On the main front, the Evil Armor Clan's charge shook the earth like thunder.

Chain blades, serrated sickles, serrated knives... the front-row Evil Armor Clan warriors wielded various weapons, their blades carved with black runes, each strike killing several players of the Giant Python Clan and Night Demon Clan.

But the players of both clans retreated not a step, continuing their fearless charge.

Indeed, players of both clans generally carried no melee weapons, launching their offensive with flesh-and-blood bare-handed killing methods.

Within the regional voice channel, their hearty and unrestrained shouts rang out incessantly.

Behind the legion, a forest of spell towers had already formed.

The sight of fireballs, lightning balls, and mixed element balls rising into the sky simultaneously was incomparably magnificent.

Every time the dazzling spell offensive was unleashed, it illuminated the night as bright as day.

The performance of the ranged physical DPS in the rear was equally impressive.

The spell-casters followed a group DPS route, while the ranged physical DPS followed a single-target elimination route, marking targets before striking weaknesses with precision.

The "whoosh-whoosh" sounds of breaking the air were endless.

Blood-qi arrowheads would penetrate the armor of the Evil Armor Clan warriors and explode instantly, causing secondary damage.

Under the players' relentless bombardment, many buildings within the Evil Armor Clan's territory collapsed, reduced to flat ground after being scourged by energy.

The battle scene also filled Qi Sheng, observing from behind the scenes, with emotion.

Recalling the early days after server launch, players entering the Monster World were like ignorant primordial beings; without fine weapons, they could only fight using the most primitive physical attack methods, requiring great effort to kill a single Cursed Soldier, and even after killing one, they had to pant and rest for a while.

Having undergone countless battles, player combat power grew rapidly, and the number of usable trait abilities increased steadily.

In terms of combat power, there had already been a qualitative leap.

As the front line pushed deeper into Evil Armor Clan territory, the number of casualties on the player side continued to surge.

During this process, the real-time yield of Sacrificial Power benefits skyrocketed accordingly.

The warriors of the Evil Armor Clan also began to change their tactics at this time.

Although the warriors of the Evil Armor Clan were cowardly, they were not stupid.

Facing the fierce and fearless players, they actively retreated, abandoning parts of their territory to let the players advance deeper.

They stretched the battle line beyond the attack range of the spell tower forest; once the pressure dropped sharply, they began to counterattack.

At this moment, behind the Evil Armor Clan.

Eighteen command banners fluttered in the wind.

Every combination change of the flags stirred a ripple of spreading energy, transmitting orders to the Evil Armor warriors on the battlefield, using this method to command the war.

Below the flags sat a figure over four meters tall.

He wore a set of heavy Evil Armor, its surface textured with crisscrossing patterns, seamlessly wrapping the blood-qi body within; his arm guards were two blades radiating cold light, the top of his helmet crowned with a row of sharp black spikes, and his shoulder guards covered in barbs extending from the shoulders down to the wrists.

Observing the trend of the war, E Gu slowly clenched his fist.

Before descending into this world, he had already prepared himself for war.

But the local faction encountered this time was truly difficult to deal with; upon death, they dissipated into black mist, providing no war sustainability for his clansmen whatsoever.

This life structure perfectly countered the Evil Armor Clan's ability to fight prolonged wars.

What made it most incomprehensible to him was that this faction feared not death; even when large numbers of clansmen were killed, it had no effect on other combat units.

This was completely different from the war models he understood.

One major characteristic of the Evil Armor Clan in war was to instill fear and deterrence in enemy factions.

They would flay and bone the lives of enemy factions in cruel ways, displaying their miserable deaths to affect the enemy's combat effectiveness.

This was the first time he had seen a combat Cultivation Mode that so disregarded its own lives.

It seemed death was as simple as breathing in their eyes; it even gave him the illusion that these warriors had never considered returning alive, thus charging forward throughout without any fear of death.

Although this faction's comprehensive strength had a significant gap compared to his own, fighting on like this truly made his heart ache.

The campaign to conquer a higher world had just begun; he was unwilling to lose a large amount of combat power in the initial stage.

Facing the alien race constantly advancing and applying pressure, E Gu made a decision.

This battle could not continue this way; to avoid clansmen casualties, they must withdraw as soon as possible.

With the idea formed in his mind, E Gu suddenly raised his huge metal fist and clenched it tightly:

"Retreat!"

After issuing the command, the eighteen flags hovering behind E Gu flipped, revealing black-gold patterns.

Energy trails spread across the command banners, connecting with each other to form a peculiar pattern, causing the banners to tremble instantly.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Like the sound of beating drums rose, the energy waves released by the command banners swept across the entire battlefield.

Receiving the withdrawal order, the Evil Armor warriors retreated one after another; simultaneously, a colossal beast cast from steel charged from the rear.

Arriving at the very front of the battle line, they connected with each other, generating a steel city wall to block the players' continuous charge; during this, many Evil Armor warriors were isolated on the player side by this steel wall and killed by focused fire.

After isolating the players, E Gu decisively led his clansmen to withdraw northward.

The steel buildings storing resources in the rear rose from the ground, striding forward like giants to follow the Evil Armor Clan's retreat.

By the time the players climbed over the steel city wall, the Evil Armor Clan had already fled far away.

Players witnessing this scene immediately cursed in anger.

If the Evil Armor Clan escaped, who knew when they would encounter them again.

The Monster World was vast; the Evil Armor Clan could migrate anywhere.

Players with Speed Soul Souls immediately activated acceleration Cultivation Mode, attempting to block the Evil Armor Clan's retreat.

But the assassins' attacks did not make the Evil Armor Clan abandon their idea of retreating; even when clansmen were killed by assassin-build players, they were unwilling to stop their withdrawal.

The distance between the players and the Evil Armor Clan grew wider and wider.

Just as E Gu thought the withdrawal operation was successful, a black line appeared in the rear.

Like the Reaper dipping ink, it began to wield a brush between heaven and earth; in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a surging Black Black Tide wave, rolling forth with the force of toppling mountains and overturning seas.

Wherever the Black Black Tide passed, the sky was instantly dyed ink-black; light could not penetrate, and day turned into eternal night.

The heavy blackness seemed capable of devouring all life in the world; clouds were ruthlessly twisted, churning high in the sky like broken cotton wool.

The Black Black Tide made its entrance, radiating bone-chilling cold and endless eeriness.

As the Black Black Tide surged, countless evil spirits generated within it, falling like dumplings being boiled.

Natural Disaster type, Plague type, Death Disaster type, Frenzied Black Tide type, Apocalypse type... the army of evil spirits generated instantly formed an unbreakable wall, blocking the direction of the Evil Armor Clan's escape.

Seeing this scene, the players bloomed with laughter:

"Hahaha, why has the Earth Chant Bully arrived? Hurry and lend us a hand, block the Evil Armor Clan for us."

"The shameless Earth Chant Bully has come; they probably want to snatch our resources. We can't let them snatch it, brothers, charge!"

"Good, good, good, the Earth Chant Bully finally did something human, knowing to help block the road while we pursue; positive review."

"Suddenly I find the Earth Chant Bully more pleasing to the eye; just now I was thinking it was over, afraid we wouldn't catch up, but unexpectedly the situation turned around so quickly."

Opposite to the players was E Gu's mood at this moment.

Evil qi permeated the air; seeing the Black Black Tide constantly rising ahead, E Gu felt an indescribable fear.

As if encountering a natural predator, the ripples of his breathing nearly stopped.

"Break through, kill!"

Realizing that failing to break through now would trap them in a situation of being surrounded front and back, E Gu panicked completely, immediately issuing combat orders, attempting to break through the black waves to escape.

But the scene that followed made E Gu feel deep despair.

The moment his clansmen engaged the evil spirits surging from the Black Black Tide, their blood-qi overflowed uncontrollably from their armor, greedily devoured by the evil spirits.

In the Iron Face of ultimate dark power, his proudly built Evil Armor warriors possessed no power to resist.

The Black Black Tide advanced like a lawnmower; wherever it passed, his clansmen died to the last man, and even their armor was devoured by the ultimate blackness.

What made E Gu feel even more terrified was that the evil spirits his clansmen managed to kill would transform into black viscous energy and merge back into the Black Black Tide.

With just one glance, he discerned the characteristics of the Black Black Tide.

Death backlash; this was a war capability he had once conceived but found impossible to realize.

It meant that the evil spirits they worked so hard to kill had absolutely no effect on this terrifying faction, while his clansmen kept dying, becoming nutrients merging into the Black Black Tide, making it grow even stronger.

A sense of powerlessness like never before enveloped E Gu's heart.

Facing the crushing pressure of the terrifying Black Black Tide, he could not even think of how to win.

The Black Black Tide grew stronger the more it fought, while his clansmen died in swathes.

Just then, the black Black Tide spreading to the sky slammed down fiercely, engulfing him and his clansmen within.

His vision was instantly obscured by blackness.

In the darkness, it seemed as if countless eyes were peering at him; hoarse whispers rang out constantly beside his ears like a curse, inflicting mental damage.

His gaze wandered around in panic, yet he could see nothing; yet that feeling of being watched grew increasingly intense. Every slight movement would cause his nerves to instantly tighten to the extreme, as if in the next second, some terrifying thing would suddenly leap out from the darkness to devour him.

The fear rising from the bottom of his heart was like an invisible giant beast, slowly closing its sharp teeth, biting his sanity to pieces bit by bit.

He wanted to shout loudly, but it was as if an invisible giant hand tightly choked off the ripples of his voice.

Under the coverage of endless fear, E Gu completely fell into an abyss of endless despair; no matter how he struggled, he could not escape the clutches of fear.

A stinging pain surged from the armor; it could clearly sense the armor being devoured and melted.

"No... no..."

Having completely lost the will to fight, Evil Bone let out a despairing roar, but only it could hear this sound; its body curled up under intense agony, yet it lacked the strength to break free.

Faced with ultimate evil, Evil Bone's spiritual will sank into oblivion.

Half an hour earlier, within the Xieyue Domain.

Atop the Xieyan Tower.

The back of the Earth Chant Evil Spirit's projection connected with the Xieyan projection, conducting communication on the level of consciousness.

"Xieyan, where did those beasts go?"

"I don't know."

"How can you not know? You are the Xieyan."

"Insufficient information; I truly do not know." Xieyan lowered its eyelids, appearing ready to brace for impact.

But this time, the Earth Chant Evil Spirit did not curse in anger; instead, it spoke with an irritable tone:

"If they don't come, how am I supposed to gather resources? It's been days already. Is this Player Clan sick? Every single Territory Plunder War, they fight halfway and then vanish. Can't they finish before leaving?"

Hearing this, Xieyan blinked its eyes:

"Only scattered, unorganized members of the Player Clan have appeared in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region; here, no players have arrived for several days. They likely abandoned the invasion of this domain field... but given the Player Clan's incomprehensible way of thinking, they could suddenly kill their way back at any moment."

Upon hearing Xieyan's explanation, the Earth Chant Evil Spirit wished it could punch a Player Clan member's head into explosion.

It had intended to continue stealing resources by leveraging pressure from the Player Clan, yet it had stolen less than a quarter of the resources before the Player Clan suddenly stopped playing.

This completely disrupted its plans.

Blue-Skinned Xieyan had already applied to retake control of the tower, using the excuse that the Player Clan might return at any time.

If the Player Clan did not return to invade soon, the plan to steal resources would have to end prematurely.

How could it accept this?

"No, we absolutely cannot sit idle and await death. Since the Player Clan isn't coming, we will take the initiative to provoke them. Given the Player Clan's nature, if we actively invade, they will surely attack in response... Xieyan, I will expend resources to expand your perception; go find out where the Player Clan has gone."

"Earth Chant, I will follow your arrangements."

As Black Black Tide energy burned, Xieyan's perception extended several sensory tentacles outward from the center of the Xieyue Domain, expanding further.

Several minutes later, Xieyan's consciousness returned:

"Earth Chant, found them. The Player Clan is engaging a small clan faction in the southwest direction."

"Which small clan?"

"There is no record of this clan in the Node Information Database. Judging by their combat performance, they are merely an insignificant minor power." As it spoke, Xieyan displayed the images captured by its perception within the Earth Chant Evil Spirit's mind.

"Assist me in mobilizing the Black Black Tide; we will annihilate this small clan immediately and draw the Player Clan's firepower back."

"If we mobilize Black Black Tide forces to exit the Xieyue Domain, how will you explain this to Blue Eye?"

"Explain my ass; you find the excuse. Just mobilize the Black Black Tide to strike now and swallow the minor power currently fighting the Player Clan."

"Very well. I will devise a way to explain this to Blue Eye; I'll claim we discovered a minor power and, after devouring it, will use it to replenish the Black Black Tide energy consumed in the early stages."

Regarding the Earth Chant Evil Spirit's decision, Xieyan expressed its support as always.

The Earth Chant Evil Spirit gave no reply; in the instant its thought turned, the Black Black Tide within the scene transformed into towering waves, surging and spreading outward.

(End of Chapter)