Chapter 173: War Victory, Rule Containment

The war in the Evil Moon Domain of the Colorful Mist Coast was drawing to a close.

The speed at which the Nian Earth Evil Spirit generated troops had noticeably slowed, and the players' chaotic, disordered fighting style was giving the Nian Earth Evil Spirit a headache.

Every player squad and small group employed different combat patterns.

It could generate species capable of effectively countering based on the players' ability characteristics; for instance, plague-type species were created specifically to counter statue-flow players.

However, in these scattered small-scale battles, it could not form an absolute tactical suppression like it could in warband Cultivation Mode.

This overly dispersed small-team invasion Cultivation Mode required it to deploy far more detailed layout operations.

This was also, in the eyes of the Nian Earth Evil Spirit, the most troublesome aspect of the players.

With Black Black Tide energy nearly exhausted, the Nian Earth Evil Spirit chose to use its remaining Black Black Tide energy to generate high-tier species.

At this stage, it only wished to test the battlefield performance of more powerful species.

Its consciousness swept through the powerful species within the 8th Palace species vault, while the Evil Eye cooperated by analyzing the detailed information of different species templates.

The Black Black Tide intensity in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region fell within the 3rd to 4th Palace range, whereas the Black Black Tide intensity he currently controlled was at the 4th to 5th Palace level.

However, when encountering special circumstances, the Black Black Tide Legion could still generate powerful species from higher Palace tiers.

The primary factor limiting the strength of Black Black Tide evil spirits was the amount of Black Black Tide energy available; if the intensity was insufficient to generate higher-level species, one could exchange them through compression and purification.

Therefore, theoretically, even the most primitive Black Black Tide intensity could generate calamity-level evil spirits from the ultimate palace through continuous energy compression.

But this was limited to theory alone.

If one truly possessed that much Black Black Tide energy, it would certainly be used first to upgrade the quality grade of the Black Black Tide.

This upgrade in quality grade was similar to a living being breaking through realms through cultivation; aspects such as devouring efficiency, species generation speed, and energy manipulation efficiency would all see improvements in strength.

Energy devoured thereafter would also be converted into quality corresponding to that realm grade.

For example, when devouring a creature with 100 units of life energy, if a Level 1 Black Black Tide's conversion speed was 1, then a Level 2 Black Black Tide's conversion speed would be 2.

Some special substances were difficult for a Level 1 Black Black Tide to devour, yet a Level 2 Black Black Tide could easily convert them.

Much like the Coleoptera spawned by the combat insect race.

The physical structure of this special combat species was unique; most substances could not be absorbed by lower-level Black Tides, but as Black Black Tide intensity increased, it could break through these anti-devouring restrictions to perform more refined devouring.

This process was akin to unlocking.

The insect race's anti-devouring resistance was like a combination lock; during the Black Black Tide's devouring process, it needed to calculate and analyze the composition of the devoured substance.

Once the crack was completed, this combination lock could be opened, converting the substance into Black Black Tide energy.

Each time Black Black Tide intensity increased, its devouring calculation power would rise significantly, meaning the higher the Black Black Tide ability, the stronger its devouring power.

This premise held only if the combat insect race's anti-Black Black Tide devouring characteristics did not improve alongside the Black Black Tide's grade elevation.

If both improved synchronously, then enhancing devouring strength would be useless, as it would still be difficult to crack the insect race's material combination lock.

Just like those damn bugs in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region.

Every time it thought the Black Black Tide it controlled had leveled up and it could enjoy a hearty meal on the bugs, the insects' anti-devouring resistance would always bring it a surprise, improving in perfect synchronization.

Added to this was the player faction, a damn force that, while not strengthening synchronously, was nonetheless biting down tenaciously.

With these two damn forces gathered together, they left it no path to survival whatsoever.

Yet it always believed that one day it would break through environmental limitations.

What appeared to be an impregnable predicament was merely an obstacle on the road to the peak.

Once it broke through layer upon layer of restrictions and shattered environmental shackles, it would stand in a brand-new posture upon a vaster heaven and earth, spreading fear to every corner of the world.

Thoughts churning, the Nian Earth Evil Spirit's consciousness focused on a massive doomsday-type species within the 8th Palace: the Skeletal Colossus.

In the turn of a thought, Black Black Tide energy rapidly compressed to adapt to the species about to be generated.

The intensity of the compressed portion of Black Black Tide energy climbed significantly.

Amidst the surging black mist, the rudimentary outline of the doomsday-type species, the Skeletal Colossus, appeared.

Bone dust gushed from the black mist, covering the outline of the Skeletal Colossus under the pull of an invisible force.

Accompanied by a muffled roar like rolling thunder, the Skeletal Colossus tore through the black mist and revealed its form.

It possessed a towering figure over ten meters tall, resembling a moving mountain of bones, its entire body permeated with an aura of decay and death.

Its body was composed entirely of spliced giant white bones; its skull was a huge hollow cavity with pitch-black flames burning in the eye sockets, its jaw slightly agape as if roaring silently, while its spinal column resembled a thick dragon bone, linking the massive body section by section, each segment inscribed with Black Black Tide runes emitting a cold, chilling glow.

Its ribs expanded outward to form a huge skeletal shield, with sharp bone fragments like blades; the finger bones on its arms were long and sharp, and after generation, a thin layer of flesh and blood plated its surface, emitting a teeth-gritting "click-clack" sound as it connected with the bone tissue.

Players currently battling evil spirits noticed the generation of a new species and looked over one after another, activating their analysis abilities.

The Black Black Tide Evil Spirit Bestiary automatically recorded the new species information.

[Black Black Tide · Skeletal Colossus]:

Hunting Level: 82

Target Introduction: A Black Black Tide doomsday-type species possessing powerful elemental resistance and self-healing capabilities; it can generate a Death Field covering a radius of 133 meters, wherein all flesh-and-blood life that dies within the field will be molded into Cursed Soldiers to resurrect and join the battle (the higher the flesh-and-blood strength, the higher the Hunting Level of the generated Cursed Soldiers).

Upon seeing the analysis information, nearby players appeared extremely calm.

The ability characteristics of the Skeletal Colossus did not look easy to deal with.

The Black Black Tide's capability for prolonged warfare was already strong; with this ability to generate species using enemy flesh and blood, its dominance in prolonged engagements could be significantly reinforced.

However, since players left no flesh and blood behind upon death, the lethal power of the Skeletal Colossus could be disregarded.

At most, it was merely a powerful doomsday-type species difficult to kill.

In fact, the Nian Earth Evil Spirit atop the Evil Eye Tower had no intention of using high-tier species like the Skeletal Colossus to repel the players again.

He now had only one thought: to test the battlefield performance and combat coordination patterns of as many high-tier species as possible while the war drew to a close.

Once this campaign ended, if the player faction returned to the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region, it would activate its rampant development Cultivation Mode.

Catastrophe-type and plague-type species had miraculous effects against players, but might not perform as well against other forces in the Monster World.

Or rather, when confronting other forces, catastrophe-type and plague-type species would severely slow down the Black Black Tide's expansion speed.

Especially catastrophe-type species, which until now had always occupied the lower echelons of the Black Black Tide system's species.

It was not that catastrophe-type species were weak, but rather that the Black Black Tide's strongest war Cultivation Mode had always been offense.

Only by reaping enemy lives could the Black Black Tide grow rapidly like a rolling snowball; as for losses on its own side, the vast majority of energy consumption could be reclaimed through Black Black Tide backlash.

In this brutal sweeping Cultivation Mode of rapid advance, the death of its own evil spirits could even be disregarded.

Therefore, the vast majority of Black Black Tide evil spirits pursued ultimate lethal power.

Death Disaster, Wild Black Tide, Destruction, and a series of species with powerful output were the top choices.

Its choice to construct a war Cultivation Mode centered on catastrophe-type and plague-type species was entirely forced by these damn player-faction bastards.

Under the threat of the players' rule characteristic that allowed them to decompose evil spirits upon killing them, a Black Black Tide legion built purely on efficient output consumed energy like flowing water.

Only through the coordination of catastrophe-type and plague-type species, employing tactics such as defense, control, and backlash, could combat losses be minimized.

But when engaging other forces, the importance of catastrophe-type and plague-type species would be greatly diminished.

This was also the reason it was conducting combat tests of high-tier species from other systems.

As for the players, they were simply its targets for training troops.

Large numbers of catastrophe-type and plague-type species were decomposed by backlash during this period, transforming into Black Black Tide energy for compression.

Next to appear were destruction-type species: the Destruction Statues.

The moment they crashed to the ground, shockwaves radiated outward from the statues as the center, instantly forming a destruction field similar to a domain.

Pitch-black electric currents spread within the domain; all players covered by the statues, except those of the statue flow, were instantly sent back to the little black room.

Following them came curse-type, death whisper-type, fear-type species...

For the players, although these species were strong, single high-combat-power units actually reduced the pressure on the front lines.

Relying solely on single powerful species could never block their mighty and majestic advance.

The focused fire assault of over a hundred thousand players was not something these evil spirits around level 80 could withstand, especially since the players possessed growth-type pets that reduced defense: Filth (Scorpion).

The war continuing to this point had become a harvesting carnival for the players.

Regarding this, the Nian Earth Evil Spirit did not care in the slightest, continuing to generate new species to join the battle.

As the war approached its end, custom Book Speech Warriors on the player side began to appear.

In the words of forum players: "These bastards treat their custom pets like family heirlooms; they were reluctant to bring them out during fierce battles for fear of being targeted by the Nian Earth Bully, and now that the war is nearly over, they're thinking of dragging them out to show off."

The settings of the appearing Book Speech Warriors were also very distinctive.

Besides traditional roles like healers and warriors, there were some Book Speech Warriors with ability settings that were extremely abstract.

For example, there was a Book Speech Warrior with a Hunting Level of 93, set by a player to mimic the low-tier Black Black Tide catastrophe-type species "Fierce Battle," looking exactly the same, yet with ability settings completely different from Fierce Battle.

Although seen through at a glance by the Nian Earth Evil Spirit, it still felt stunned.

It had not expected that after it created Evil Spirit · Player, the players launching a counterattack would actually come up with Player · Evil Spirit just to disgust it.

Furthermore, there were some custom warriors with both appearances and abilities that were extremely abstract.

For instance, a custom warrior carrying a speaker.

Whenever it released different abilities, its personal BGM would change.

When not fighting, the speaker played gentle, soothing piano sounds, flowing through the air like a murmuring stream, creating a lazy and comfortable musical atmosphere.

When combat began, the BGM instantly switched to become intense, with drum rhythms accelerating like a violent storm.

Every action, such as fleeing, blocking, or dodging, had a corresponding BGM accompanying it.

What made nearby players feel most outrageous was that every time this custom speaker warrior killed an evil spirit, the BGM would switch to a sorrowful tune, with the melodious sound of a violin weeping and complaining, as if lamenting the fragility of life, simply maximizing the mockery.

And this was not even the most outrageous part.

The most outrageous custom Book Speech Warrior was an enlarged version of Fat Peach, whose combat power could be disregarded.

The player brought it to the battlefield for no other reason than to let nearby players watch this Fat Peach defecate, generating usable spiritual resources.

In the words of this player in the regional voice channel: "Everyone, come look at my pension fund, check out my returns, aren't you green with envy?"

While other players were still painstakingly cultivating Fat Peach, this player had successfully created a stripped-down version of a high-tier pension fund.

Although the output ratio fell far short of the genuine Fat Peach, since textual descriptions struggled to achieve perfect alignment in every aspect, certain issues still existed within its life structure.

But the key point was its high hunting level, allowing it to overwhelm through sheer production volume.

This behavior left many players dumbfounded.

The concept of a custom pension fund truly shattered their entire worldview.

The problem was that, upon careful consideration, this setup was actually quite reasonable.

The defining trait of custom Shu Yan Warriors was their inability to resurrect upon death.

This caused many players possessing Shu Yan Warriors to dare not deploy them lightly; if killed in battle, the loss would be tremendous, as each Shu Yan Warrior required an investment of over ten thousand units of sacrificial power resources, not even counting the warrior itself.

Players valued the lives of their Shu Yan Warriors far more than their own.

Yet this player had pioneered a brand-new approach.

That was to program the Shu Yan Warrior as a Fat Peach pension fund, requiring no deployment into combat, but merely placement within the safe space of Emperor Tomb Village, where regular feeding would yield resources.

This gameplay style seemed absurd, yet logically it was entirely sound.

There were many other types of custom warriors designed for antics; under the Free War Cultivation Mode, players' thinking was so unbridled that they never followed conventional patterns.

All sorts of whimsical ideas were unleashed upon the battlefield, creating a joyous atmosphere.

The melee continued for five hours, and the intensity of the Black Black Tide grew increasingly weaker.

The most visible change was that the black mist became thin, unable to continue generating powerful unit types, while some lower-tier Black Black Tide units that had already been eliminated appeared during this period.

Victory was within arm's reach.

The frontline formed by the players advanced toward the Evil Eye Tower.

Facing an almost certain defeat, the Earth Nian Evil Spirit frowned tightly, yet its heart felt incredibly relaxed.

At this moment, it turned its head to look at the blue-skinned Evil Eye floating beside it:

"The Player Clan is about to advance to the tower; I have failed."

Upon hearing these words, the blue-skinned Evil Eye showed no emotional fluctuation and nodded, saying:

"Earth Nian, my mission is about to end; thank you for your command and assistance."

"No thanks are needed; we are all warriors who have struggled all our lives for the Black Black Tide, harboring the same dreams and sharing the same mission, until we sweep the Black Black Tide across all worlds and establish an immortal Black Black Tide."

After speaking, the Earth Nian Evil Spirit continued:

"I will accompany you until the end."

Hearing this, the blue-skinned Evil Eye shook its head in refusal:

"The remaining strength of the Black Black Tide is no match for the Player Clan; rather than wasting it here, it is better to transmit it to the Black Black Tide Tower under your control to become fuel for your development."

The blue-skinned Evil Eye's decision left the Earth Nian Evil Spirit momentarily stunned.

"I have already reported the specific situation to the Monarch, who has approved my decision; take the remaining Black Black Tide energy with you."

The Earth Nian Evil Spirit, who had originally planned to exhaust the final wave of energy and perish along with the tower, felt extremely surprised upon hearing these words, never expecting the blue-skinned Evil Eye to make such a decision.

"Then what about you?"

"My mission is about to end; death is the punishment for my failure, and I will not leave."

When the blue-skinned Evil Eye spoke these words, its expression was calm, clearly having already accepted its fate.

"Earth Nian, go back, and once again, thank you for your command."

This time, the Earth Nian Evil Spirit did not refuse; it manipulated the Black Black Tide energy to contract and converge toward the tower, transmitting it continuously to the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region through node connections.

Since the blue-skinned Evil Eye had already reported the matter, he did not need to worry about the series of issues that energy transmission might trigger.

He even felt some regret, having consumed too much energy earlier to test unit types, energy that should have been fuel for his development.

But the Earth Nian Evil Spirit had no intention of leaving.

If he left at this moment, the blue-skinned Evil Eye would connect to the tower.

There would then be a possibility for the recent combat information of the Black Black Tide to be reviewed; even though the content had been modified, certain risks still remained.

While transmitting resources, the Earth Nian Evil Spirit turned to look at the blue-skinned Evil Eye, its expression complex.

"Do not mourn for me; I do not fear death."

Hearing this, the Earth Nian Evil Spirit took a deep breath:

"I have a request."

"Please speak."

"Since you have already decided to defend the tower to the death, you might as well choose a method of death that maximizes benefits."

Upon hearing this, the blue-skinned Evil Eye looked somewhat astonished:

"What do you mean?"

"Be devoured by my Auxiliary Eye; rather than dying in battle, transform into its power and continue fighting for the Black Black Tide."

The blue-skinned Evil Eye did not hesitate even slightly:

"Earth Nian, I support your idea."

Subsequently, the blue-skinned Evil Eye looked up at the Evil Eye floating above.

The Evil Eye blinked, glanced at Earth Nian, and then extended its tentacles toward the blue-skinned Evil Eye.

The blue-skinned Evil Eye offered no resistance, allowing the Evil Eye to extract the power within its body.

As its body gradually became thin, the blue-skinned Evil Eye looked at the Earth Nian Evil Spirit once more:

"Earth Nian, thank you."

"Fighting for the Black Black Tide is the mission we were born with." The Earth Nian Evil Spirit nodded solemnly, bidding farewell to the blue-skinned Evil Eye.

On the other side.

Discovering that the Black Black Tide had suddenly contracted and that all generated unit types were being backlashed made the players feel extremely displeased.

Just when the Black Black Tide's intensity had weakened and it was generating only weak evil spirits easy to kill, the Black Black Tide had actually chosen to quit playing voluntarily.

It chose to exit the stage at the moment when they were having the most fun.

What difference was there between this and an opponent surrendering when you had three stars and a five-cost unit, or when your divine equipment was fully assembled and ready to wreak havoc?

But facing the retreating Black Black Tide, the players had no way to stop it.

Players within the Evil Moon Domain all marched toward the Evil Eye Tower.

Ten minutes later, the tower collapsed under the players' concentrated assault, and the projections of the Earth Nian Evil Spirit and the Evil Eye returned to the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range via the nodes at this time.

Shortly after, a notification sound rang out across all channels.

[Challenger Notification (All Channels): Congratulations to the player legions for successfully containing the domain node: Wan Sen (Rule: Enlightenment); the area of the novice village has expanded.]

Simultaneously with the appearance of the all-channel notification, a spatial black hole rapidly expanded outward from the center of the Evil Eye Tower, covering the area.

The Evil Moon in the sky was dispersed accordingly, and vast tracts of territory were swallowed by the black hole and sent to the Emperor Tomb Village space.

These node territories were important components constituting the domain node.

Among them, the Node Crystal served as the central hub, similar to an array eye in a formation, while the node territory resembled array bases and spirit runes.

Only by combining the node territory with the Node Crystal could special effects be generated.

As the new domain was contained, the spaces of the three novice villages vibrated violently simultaneously, and vast tracts of territory merged into them.

The expansion occurred according to an 8:1:1 ratio.

At the same time, in the central region of the Emperor Tomb Village space, the Rule Divine Pillar automatically opened a third rule inlay slot.

Position number one was Flesh Reshaping, and position number two was Crowd Gathering.

As light flowed through position number three, countless points of light converged, generating a colorful rule imprint that embedded itself within.

The Enlightenment Rule successfully connected with the Challenger System at this moment, merging into it to become a part of the whole.

(End of Chapter)