Chapter 174: Protagonist Template, Outer-Domain Heavenly Demon

Meng Yuan Chu Altar.

A flood of information related to the rule characteristic "Enlightenment" kept surfacing in Qi Sheng's mind.

The specific effect of Enlightenment was to follow the world's operational changes and generate a world buff state.

This process could be understood as: the Enlightenment rule continuously absorbed rule information as the world operated, then randomly produced rule sigils (rule amplification states).

But in Di Zhong Village, a completely independent special space that did not interface with the world, the Enlightenment rule could not draw rule energy produced by the world.

This was not a rule node that could infinitely nurture resources.

To use it reasonably, there were two viable approaches.

The first approach was to open a channel in Di Zhong Village that continuously interfaced with Monster World.

But this approach carried certain risks.

After all, the newbie village space was the guarantee for player resurrection, and also the trump card for players to ravage Monster World. Going out was always a short-range teleportation method, requiring passage through the world barrier rather than freely entering and exiting through a fully open passage.

Even the spiritual energy within the space was produced by the domain node, not introduced through Monster World.

Out of safety considerations, the "open a window" plan was clearly not feasible.

The second approach was to change the way the Enlightenment rule was used.

The idea he reached after discussing with the Guide was to add a new function to the Challenger system, letting players see the rule energy the external Enlightenment rule needed.

Letting players collect the relevant energy themselves, then directly exchange it for the corresponding buff state in the Enlightenment Shangcheng.

Which of the two plans to choose was obvious.

In an instant, the "Enlightenment Shangcheng Panel" crafted after analyzing the Enlightenment rule appeared before Qi Sheng's eyes.

It listed in detail the different amplification state information, along with the cost to purchase:

Wind Walk:

Effect: Gain a 10% increase in movement efficiency, lasting 20 hours.

Description: Blessed by the power of the world, wind elements will follow your movement trajectory to provide additional assistance.

Cost: 15 Enlightenment Information Orbs.

Body Attribute Enhancement:

Effect: Qi and blood intensity gains a 5% increase, lasting 28 hours.

Description: After using the rule sigil, qi and blood receive the blessing of world power; upon entering Monster World, you gain an increase in qi and blood intensity granted by the world.

Cost: 10 Enlightenment Information Orbs.

Elemental Resistance:

Effect: Damage taken from all elements present in Monster World increases by 5% (including elemental energy integrated into Monster World by descending factions), lasting 20 hours.

Description: Your body receives the world's protection; any elemental damage that contacts you will be offset by 5% in reverse by the power of the world.

Cost: 25 Enlightenment Information Orbs.

Life Recovery:

Effect: Recover 1% of maximum HP per minute, lasting 10 hours.

Description: Blessed by the power of the world, healing energy will continuously pour into your body, persistently repairing all wounds.

Cost: 100 Enlightenment Information Orbs.

……

There were 688 buff states to choose from in the Enlightenment Shangcheng.

Divided into six buff types: Attack Enhancement, Defense Enhancement, Elemental Resistance, Healing Recovery, Aura Buff, and Functional Buff.

Players could obtain world power feedback by purchasing the corresponding amplification states.

But this amplification effect was only valid in Monster World; if one went to a Wang Xiao Shi Jie, it would be automatically stripped away.

The buff states produced by the Enlightenment rule could be understood as cheat codes found in many games.

After the Enlightenment rule absorbed world power, it would randomly generate a piece of code information corresponding to the world's laws. Once a player used it, it was equivalent to sending a command to the world, then receiving a short-term direct amplification feedback, or a one-time consumable amplification effect.

Under no external interference, this buff was generated randomly, but extraction required Beneath Di Zhao's Self-Origin to solidify.

But after interfacing with the Challenger system, Qi Sheng changed the randomness of the Enlightenment rule's buff output into definiteness.

The method was also very simple.

After injecting the corresponding number of Enlightenment Information Orbs, quickly simulate the changes in world operation within a small range of the Di Zhong Village space, then use Beneath Di Zhao's Self-Origin to extract the rule imprint.

Once the operating logic was mastered, passive randomness could be changed into active selection.

This was fundamentally different from Painful Painful Minghun.

The Enlightenment rule was output; one only needed to simulate the world operation logic of the area where the Enlightenment rule resided.

But Painful Painful Minghun was taking; one had to send information to Monster World, and only then could one receive the world's feedback.

Modifying Monster World's operating logic was something he simply had no ability to accomplish unless he mastered the full power of Beneath Di Zhao.

His consciousness swept over all the buff state information in the Shangcheng. After testing and confirming it was feasible, Qi Sheng immediately issued an update notification.

【Challenger Notice (All Channels): The game is about to undergo a function update. This update will launch the rule Enlightenment feature: Enlightenment Shangcheng.】

Update Content: Enlightenment Shangcheng

Feature Introduction: Players can open the Enlightenment Shangcheng through the function panel and spend Enlightenment Information Orbs to exchange for buff states in the Shangcheng.

Enlightenment Information Orb Introduction: Rule energy existing in various regions of Monster World. As the world operates, it randomly refreshes in each area. After the update ends, players can see Enlightenment Information Orbs with the naked eye, store them in their spatial pouch, and use them to purchase Shang Cheng Wu Pin.

……

After the update ended, players in Monster World were surprised to discover a fist-sized, semi-transparent floating orb had appeared in the air.

This was precisely the Enlightenment Information Orb required for the Enlightenment rule to generate amplification effects—a type of energy produced during the world's operation.

On the spot, some players activated collection mode, stuffing the Enlightenment Information Orbs floating around them into their spatial pouches.

Among the three newbie village spaces, the Colored Mist Coast region had the highest concentration of Enlightenment Information Orbs, followed by the Frost Winter Snowfield region, and finally the Di Zhong Mountain Range region.

This is related to the special environment of the Imperial Tomb Mountain Range — the entire space is shrouded by the Evil Moon, and part of the rule energy is blocked by an invisible filter.

But this blockage is limited to rule energy; elemental energy and spiritual Qi are not affected. The Black Tide also needs this kind of energy to replenish and grow — only rule energy cannot be absorbed.

After the new function went online, many buff statuses made players green with envy.

Especially two kinds of buff statuses with special functions.

【Fixed-Point Teleport】:

Effect: Obtain an Enlightenment Divine Seal fused into the body. You may set a teleport origin point at any location. Reactivating the Enlightenment Divine Seal will teleport you back to the origin point (usable only once, no cooldown).

Purchase cost: 1000 Enlightenment Information Orbs.

【Same Boat (Aura)】:

Effect: Within 30 meters centered on yourself, all targets gain a healing effect of 1% of maximum HP per minute (ceases upon leaving the aura's range; while active, the aura does not distinguish friend from foe — all lifeforms may enjoy the boost).

Purchase cost: 1500 Enlightenment Information Orbs.

……

The Enlightenment Shangcheng is like a skill library.

Players can spend Enlightenment Information Orbs to purchase 688 types of enhancement skills.

Among them, Fixed-Point Teleport is simply a Huicheng scroll in players' eyes. Although it cannot directly target the Imperial Tomb Village space, it can target the entrance outside the Imperial Tomb Village space.

The effect is no different from a Huicheng scroll.

Next, the Same Boat aura is comparable to a mobile fountain, healing without distinction of friend or foe.

During team battles, a player with the Same Boat aura can completely stay at the rear, providing continuous healing for the tank-class players falling back from the front line.

All kinds of interesting minor skills sparked heated discussion among players on the forum.

Hua Jiang Dog Meat: Offering 1 point of Shou Shou Jili to buy 1 Enlightenment Information Orb. Money is no object — feel free to PM me. I'll take as many as I can get.

Minefield Owes: Exploration players are going wild! From now on there's extra profit from adventuring outside. I saw the price of Enlightenment Information Orbs on the trading post has risen to 3 points of Shou Shou Jili each — you can get rich just walking around.

Ru Meng Xing Ning Ning: Great update, finally a Huicheng function to use. It's just that the price is a bit steep. At market price, one teleport costs 3000 points of Shou Shou Jili. A basic function like Huicheng is free in other games, or available in bulk at a super-low price. Why is it so much more expensive in Monster World than stat-boosting status effects? Suggest the devs adjust the price.

Cat Eats Canned Food: I feel the price of Enlightenment Information Orbs is a bit inflated. This thing exists in huge quantities out in the wild — it's just that the update is new and everyone's short on them, so the price is high. It'll definitely drop later. I think 0.5 Shou Shou Jili per orb is reasonable — you just grab them in passing, they refresh randomly all over the world. They're not rare, and they're not hard currency like Shou Shou Jili. The price is inflated.

Dawn Spirit Endures: The mobile fountain boost costs 1500 points of Shou Shou Jili per use. At 3 Shou Shou Jili per orb as listed in the Shangcheng, that's 4500 Shou Shou Jili per use — way too expensive. Small guilds can't afford it. I think 0.1 Shou Shou Jili per orb would be about right. Exploration players, please get to work and drive the price of Enlightenment boosts down.

……

Qi Sheng took in all of the players' discussions.

In fact, Shou Shou Jili — which can convert the energy of all things — can be converted into Enlightenment Information Orbs for use.

The cost is roughly 1 point of Shou Shou Jili to 2 points of Enlightenment Information energy.

But he will not open up this conversion function.

Every update of the Challenger System centers on the development of the player legions. The Shou Shou Jili players spend must primarily go toward improving their own strength.

And the boost effects the Enlightenment rules grant players have a time limit — in the long run, spending Shou Shou Jili on them is a serious waste.

But when players buy Enlightenment Information Orbs listed by other players on the trading post, the Shou Shou Jili is essentially still circulating among the players themselves.

It just moves from player A's hands to player B's hands, and then player B spends it on improving their strength.

But if the conversion function were opened up, some players would buy a pile of buff statuses every day, and large amounts of Shou Shou Jili would be spent on short-term boost effects.

It looks like a short-term boost in strength, allowing them to hunt stronger monsters.

But wasteful behavior would inevitably exist as well.

This is a development trend Qi Sheng is unwilling to see.

The game can be fun, but it can't be played recklessly. Players can do as they please in Monster World, but they must always grow within the framework he has set.

Without various restrictions, huge amounts of meaningless Shou Shou Jili would be spent on meaningless things every day.

Like the accelerated resurrection function — by design it could satisfy them, but to eliminate waste he cannot open it to players.

After browsing the players' comments for a long time, Qi Sheng's gaze shifted to the Imperial Tomb Mountain Range region.

……

Tianyuan Domain Node.

On the platform of Xie Yan Gao Ta, the Earth-Read Evil Spirit hovered in the air, eyes tightly shut.

Behind it, the Xie Yan swayed its tentacles, assisting it in controlling the Gao Ta to release, absorb, and store Black Tide energy.

At first, the black mist released by the Black Tide was only thin wisps of pale haze, spreading through the low sky like spiderwebs.

As the Gao Ta's released Black Tide energy grew surging and increasingly thick, shifting from thin to dense, like a heavy curtain slowly descending.

During the Black Tide's breakthrough, its churning speed intensified, emitting a low roar. Visibility plummeted, and wherever it passed, corruption seeped into the earth.

An indescribable sound rang out one after another within the Black Tide.

Like iron chains wrapped around a giant beast's body being snapped one after another, the layers of shackles restraining the Black Tide were broken.

The churning black fog instantly swelled several times over, surging skyward like a black mushroom cloud, blotting out the sun.

The thick black fog was no longer simple energy — it seemed to transform into a substantive dark substance, madly spreading outward in all directions centered on the Gao Ta. Every wisp of black fog was as if it had gained life, greedily devouring the surrounding light and vitality.

The Earth-Read Evil Spirit opened its eyes at this moment, severed its connection with the Xie Yan, and landed on the Gao Ta platform.

A trace of a smile surfaced in its cold eyes.

It had successfully completed the Black Tide level breakthrough. Without needing to compress Black Tide energy, it could now generate the evil troop type of the Fifth Palace — its strength had greatly increased.

Just then, the Xie Yan spoke and interrupted its thoughts:

"Earth-Read, there's one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"Who taught you to talk like that?"

Hearing this, the Xie Yan blinked:

"Learned it from a player quote. Talking like this builds anticipation and suspense, and adds a bit of tension too."

Earth-Read did not respond, and said in a deep voice:

"If nothing unexpected happens, the bad news is the player faction has come again, but I'm very curious what the good news is."

"The good news is, the lateral expansion plan you trained in the Blue-Skinned Evil Eye's Waning Moon Domain has finally found a use. The tested troop types can all be deployed in real combat now."

Earth-Thought Evil Spirit:...

"You think you're being funny?" A vein pulsed on Earth-Thought Evil Spirit's forehead.

The Evil Eye did not answer; a trace of guilt flickered across its expression, then it proactively linked to share Earth-Thought Evil Spirit's sensory perspective.

Instantly, the figures of the approaching players surfaced in Earth-Thought Evil Spirit's eyes.

It could basically be confirmed that these were the players who had crossed hands with it in the Waning Moon Domain.

But fortunately, the players had not activated War Mode, and their numbers were nothing to fear.

In the span of a thought, surging from within the Black Tide came the evil troop types of the Fifth Palace, sweeping proactively toward the incoming player group.

While engaging the players, it began pondering a question — how to choose the direction of its next development.

The appearance of the player faction meant it had to activate lateral expansion mode, but choosing which direction to take first was extremely important.

"Evil Eye, I need you to grant me a longer-range perspective."

The Evil Eye immediately understood Earth-Thought Evil Spirit's intent, expending Black Tide energy to spread its sensory perspective, extending it toward both east and west.

There were four main categories of investigation.

Namely: racial lifeforms, spirit-mineral resources, spirit-plant resources, and domain nodes.

These were all resource types that could bring growth to the Black Tide; the screening process judged the resource reserves available from both the eastern and western directions.

As for the strength of hostile forces, that was not within the core scope of consideration.

As long as it wasn't an absolutely overwhelming combat force capable of crushing it in a short time, there was no possibility of defeat.

During the exploration, the Evil Eye suddenly asked curiously:

"Earth-Thought, I'm very curious — what is the final item of the Abyss Simulation Assessment?"

Faced with the question, Earth-Thought Evil Spirit, whose sensory perspective kept exploring outward, did not answer; a memory scene surfaced in its mind for the Evil Eye to read.

In the scene, the Black Tide resembled an insatiable primordial fierce beast, devouring every kind of resource from the Greater World with its bottomless greed; each gluttonous feast brought the Black Tide an unimaginable growth and transformation.

The vigorous life force released from countless living beings twisted and merged within the black fog, like the finest fuel, igniting the devouring engine deep within the Black Tide.

During this period the black fog churned violently, like boiling ink; the previously relatively calm edges of the Black Tide madly expanded outward, forming massive waves like black tentacles, each containing force enough to shatter mountains and rivers; the more lives it devoured, the more solid the Black Tide's power core became, and the heavier the pressure it exuded, gradually pressing the entire world into an endless dark abyss.

During this process, aside from all manner of spiritual resources, even the most ordinary dirt and stones became nourishment for the Black Tide's growth.

Until it had completely devoured the entire world, the scene dissipated.

"You simulated participating in a world-class war?"

"Correct." Earth-Thought Evil Spirit responded.

"No wonder your command ability is so strong — turns out you'd had war-command training long ago. But what makes me curious is why your personality didn't grow through the simulated war."

Faced with the question, Earth-Thought Evil Spirit fell silent.

"I get it — it's because there were no player factions in the simulated test; all hostile forces had combat as their objective, with no spiritual-level torment."

After speaking, the Evil Eye continued asking:

"Earth-Thought, I know every Abyss Warrior can obtain one chance of Overreach — can you explain it in detail?"

Faced with the question, Earth-Thought Evil Spirit was silent for a long while before speaking:

"The exact origin of Overreach I'm not clear on, but I have heard it was related to a Demon-God-level Evil Spirit Warrior. It started from nothing, growing from a follower-level Evil Spirit Warrior like me. During a Greater World war, the Black Tide it followed fell into a bitter fight; it proposed a war concept at the time, but it did not receive the commander-level Evil Spirit's approval, leading the war ultimately to failure."

"That failure left a deep mark on this Demon-God-level warrior, so after it grew into a Demon-God-level warrior, it created the Abyss Battlefield, granting every talent-level warrior one chance of Overreach — letting them put forward a specific request and granting them the right to break convention; perhaps they could create a miracle. But it's limited to one chance; this request is even permitted to call on resources far exceeding one's authority — I could even request a Sovereign-level warrior from the Pale Continent region to cooperate with my demands."

"Then why don't you request a Sovereign-level warrior to gift you all the Black Tide energy?" the Evil Eye asked curiously.

Earth-Thought Evil Spirit:...

"Do you think that request is reasonable?"

"If Overreach had no conditions or limits, theoretically you really could do that."

"Overreach requests need to be reported for approval. If there were no limits at all, I'd Overreach right now and swap you out, letting your old mother — the Thirteenth Divine Eye — come serve as my auxiliary eye."

"Earth-Thought, my mother is a powerhouse close to the Demon-God level; Overreach clearly can't touch the Demon-God tier, so your idea was doomed from the start."

"Glad you understand — Overreach is merely a request, not a wish."

"When are you planning to use Overreach?" the Evil Eye asked curiously.

"Don't know. I'll decide based on how things develop in the future."

During the exchange, Earth-Thought Evil Spirit's sensory perspective crossed mountains and ridges; every resource scanned along the way was compared against the resource categories in the node information database, roughly estimating resource reserves, then converting all resources into Black Tide energy points.

The Black Tide energy points toward the west were compared with those toward the east, then a decision was made on which direction to expand first.

The Black Tide energy points here also included some ordinary resources — for instance, ancient trees, stones, and even many microorganisms invisible to the naked eye would be counted.

But the Evil Eye's perception was limited; it could not dig deep underground to calculate the resource reserves that might exist beneath the surface.

During the exploration, the Evil Eye neglected investigating the combat power and abilities of the forces along the way.

The Evil Eye's perception roughly swept over, only estimating the average blood-energy intensity and spiritual-force intensity of the forces along the way; as for specific abilities and combat power, it didn't care at all.

It had been half a year since arriving in Monster World.

Apart from the player faction and the Insect Race, it had not encountered any force that gave it trouble.

"In fact, you haven't encountered that many forces besides players and the Insect Race either."

Earth-Thought:...

The sensory perspective kept extending, and the Black Tide energy consumed grew ever greater.

Just then, Earth-Thought Evil Spirit halted the advance of its perspective toward the east, before a golden ocean domain.

Under its perception, the golden seawater resembled flowing gold, radiating a surging aura of life energy.

As the perspective pushed into the golden ocean, the first thing that came into view was a Gold-Spined Giant Kun massive as a mountain range, its body covered in a layer of gleaming golden scales, each one the size of a door panel, the edges of the scales sharp as blades.

Weaving around the Gold-Spined Giant Kun was a school of Gold-Blade Flying Fish shaped like flying shuttles — seemingly small, but each one was also four or five meters long, wrapped in a layer of golden hard shell; as they darted through the golden ocean, they resembled high-speed spinning flying knives, moving in swarms like a golden storm of death.

Continuing deeper inside, various giant beasts appeared frequently.

Through perception scanning, Di Nian Xie Ling discovered a large number of creatures in this domain, each over a hundred meters long and possessing formidable strength.

After calculation and judgment by the Xie Yan, the life intensity within the golden ocean was roughly around the 7th to 10th Palace.

The surging golden energy instantly gave Di Nian Xie Ling an idea.

If all resources along the way could be devoured, the Black Tide would surely grow to an intensity level capable of rivaling the golden ocean.

Such opponents were perfect for devouring and growth.

Di Nian Xie Ling, who had originally been considering which direction to develop, now firmly settled on a development direction.

Deciding to temporarily develop eastward until devouring this golden ocean and seizing the world rules at the deepest part of the golden ocean.

Consciousness turned back at this moment, returning to the Xie Yan Gao Ta in the Di Zhong Mountain Range.

In an instant, the tentacles of the Black Tide extending toward the World Barrier quickly retracted, opening up a vast expanse of space.

Then, towering waves were raised, surging together before pushing eastward.

The earth trembled under the shadow of the Black Tide's giant waves; solid mountains along the way were like fragile sandcastles, collapsing instantly upon the slightest touch of the Black Tide.

Under the erosion of the black mist, rocks melted at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into dust and being swept into the endless black vortex. Even fertile soil did not escape; wherever the Black Tide passed, the vitality within the soil was instantly drained, leaving behind cracked, barren, lifeless scorched earth.

Streams and lakes, under the ravages of the Black Tide, rapidly dried up like water vapor evaporated by high heat.

Liquids were forcibly decomposed by the black mist; water molecules turned into wisps of black steam under the powerful dark force, rising and merging into the Black Tide. The lake surface, once shimmering, left nothing but a cracked lakebed in the blink of an eye. Even the mud and stones at the bottom of the lake were devoured by the Black Tide, leaving behind a series of shocking gullies.

A small forest to the east, before the Black Tide, was like a paper model; thick tree trunks rapidly rotted in the air, leaves withered and fell instantly, turning into black ash that scattered in the sky. Birds and beasts in the forest could not escape the Black Tide's clutches, letting out desperate wails in the black mist as their bodies were quickly eroded by the Black Tide's energy, their life breath ruthlessly drained, leaving not even white bones behind.

Whether tangible matter or intangible vitality and hope, everything was thoroughly devoured and digested, leaving only silence and desolation.

But once the front line extended to a certain distance, the Black Tide stopped expanding and began to consolidate its territory.

Di Nian Xie Ling attempted to send commands to Xie Xie Yue through the Xie Yan to expand the coverage range of the domain field.

Only within the coverage range of the Xie Xie Yue domain could the Black Tide be manipulated freely regardless of distance; outside the Xie Xie Yue domain, the difficulty of controlling the Black Tide would rise sharply.

Although seeking development, progress must still be steady.

Horizontal expansion inherently lacks strategic depth; pushing forward significantly easily risks the Black Tide being cut off by external enemies midway.

After all, the Battle Insect Clan and the Player Clan are two forces that will do anything.

Especially the Player Clan; they are simply beasts, specializing in disgusting deeds.

At the very moment Di Nian Xie Ling manipulated the Black Tide to begin expanding, Qi Sheng was also watching secretly.

He could be certain that Di Nian Xie Ling had set his sights on the Golden Ocean domain.

A powerful force that other factions dared not provoke lightly was, in Di Nian Xie Ling's eyes, future reserve rations.

This was like an ant attempting to devour an elephant.

But Qi Sheng did not think there was anything wrong with Di Nian Xie Ling's idea.

Because this ant was named Black Tide; it could grow stronger than the elephant by devouring.

And Di Nian Xie Ling's idea coincided perfectly with his own.

He wanted to open up the region connecting the Di Zhong Mountain Range to the Winter Snowfield; this horizontal development route was already within the coverage of the "Player Corridor."

The difference was that originally, this path required players to explore and develop it themselves.

Now with Di Nian Xie Ling added, perhaps in some way he could provide assistance in opening the corridor.

Consciousness turned toward the Battle Insect Clan in the Phantom Swamp region.

As expected, the moment Di Nian Xie Ling completed his enhancement, the Battle Insect Clan also received assistance from a batch of mysterious resources.

The strength of the Insect Clan Main Brain received a significant boost, with its Hunting Level reaching 158.

The strength of the Insect Clan warriors being bred also increased substantially.

Wherever the Black Tide pointed, the Insect Clan followed.

Two waves of calamity rushed eastward.

During this time, the Battle Insect Clan proactively launched a new round of challenges and charges against the Black Tide.

The two forces instantly engaged in combat.

The perspective switched to Di Nian Xie Ling, who was indeed already cursing.

"Beasts," "dog things," "disgusting"—all sorts of player phrases poured out effortlessly.

The perspective switched to the Player Forum, where Di Nian Eba's expansion actions had already been updated:

【Major News: Di Nian Eba is expanding eastward. Brothers, are you following?】

OP: Mu Qing Aoyou

Content:

Just fought Di Nian Eba with my guild brothers; it was a draw. This shameless bully has gotten much fatter during the time we left, with combat power skyrocketing. He is still focusing on the Calamity and Plague systems, making him too hard to fight.

During the fight, I noticed the Black Tide starting to expand eastward. After asking the guide, I learned that Di Nian Eba is preparing to devour resources eastward to become stronger.

If Di Nian Eba continues to grow like this, the Newbie Village probably won't be livable anymore. Brothers, are you following? Let's snatch food from the Black Tide's hands.

(Video of the Black Tide expansion scene)

Comment Section:

Explorer: Not going. I will never go to the Di Zhong Mountain Range region again in my life. But looking at the map, the direction of the Black Tide's expansion seems to be the Winter Snowfield. If we meet the Extreme Joy Purple Tide in the future, we'll probably be confused, hahaha. I'm really looking forward to the Black Tide vs. Purple Tide, official vs. pirated version; just thinking about it is interesting.

Night is Coming: Guild raid teams and powerful solo squads can follow. The current Di Nian Eba is too fierce. Newbies going there are just feeding death; their counter-kill technique is godlike. I guarantee newbies will feel despair. Just imagine: you and your squad members have finally worn down a Calamity-type unit to low health, and Di Nian Eba, with a mere thought, makes the low-health unit retreat and counter-attack, then reshapes it into a full-health Calamity-type unit. I ask you, are you despairing? (Funny. jpg)

Eat More Liuwei Dihuang Wan: Follow! Must follow! Must limit Di Nian Eba's development. This is the only goal in my life: we must take the Newbie Village. I will follow any activity unfavorable to Di Nian Eba's development. I have now switched to the Domain Flow to fight the Black Tide; it is the strongest solo playstyle.

Sword Rain Light Dust: I advise newbies not to go to the Di Zhong Mountain Range region. The difficulty here is too high. It is called a Newbie Village, but it has long since departed from the concept of a Newbie Village. Plus, the "Cowardly Butterfly," the number one killer of newbies, is there too. Going there is only torture. Big guilds can definitely follow; after all, leveling up anywhere else is not as good as farming Di Nian Eba. Although the monsters are poor, there are so many of them.

White Night Empty: I have already applied to join the Shen Tang Guild. I want to charge into battle with the God King. I feel this is the most passionate guild, with high-frequency battles every day. I want to crush Di Nian Eba. I want to raise my Body Tempering level. I want to open Star Pulse Slots. If we don't fight evil spirits, where will we get high Shou Shou Jili returns? (Eating dirt, slapping table. jpg)

Upon learning that the Black Tide was expanding eastward, the players also took action one after another.

Hunting in the Player Corridor region has a reward bonus, and the direction of the Black Tide's expansion lies right within it.

For many players who gain Shou Shou Jili by fighting the Black Tide, this is a good thing for growth.

A few hours later, the three forces of Beneath Di Zhao Village converged at the endpoint of the Black Tide's expansion.

Amidst the cursing of the Di Nian Bullies, a passionate free-for-all in the novice village began.

During this, a domain node that had not yet had time to generate a corrosion core for occupation during the Black Tide's expansion became the target of a three-way scramble.

The players' thinking was simple: if the Di Nian Bullies suffered, they were happy, and they also took the opportunity to kill the insect race troops that looked unpleasant.

The insect race's thinking was also simple: attack the Black Tide frantically to test its strength, collect troop pheromones to develop counter-troops, and take the opportunity to kill the annoying player race that attacked them.

The Di Nian Bullies' thinking was also simple: kill both of these beastly forces.

Amidst the three-way free-for-all, a mockery mode was activated.

Mental interference tactics were effective against both the players and the Di Nian Bullies, but were ineffective against the insect race.

Compared to the players and the Black Tide, the insect warriors were the purest killing machines.

Unaffected by any external force, they buried their heads and killed.

In the extremely noisy free-for-all, only the world where the Di Nian Bullies got hurt was achieved.

Qi Sheng, who was watching the battle, could only laugh and cry at this.

These three forces look weak now, but they all actually have backers.

The Di Nian Evil Spirit's backer is the terrifying Black Tide.

The player race's backer is him, Beneath Di Zhao.

The insect race's backer is the Supreme Brain of the Combat Insect Race.

In comparison, the Di Nian Evil Spirit's situation is the worst.

Although the terrifying Black Tide is the side with the strongest comprehensive strength among the three forces, the Di Nian Evil Spirit is merely an insignificant member of this force, with no resources poured into it for growth.

In comparison, the player race has his full support, constantly developing new technologies to integrate into the Challenger System to provide better development.

The Combat Insect Race has the full support of the Supreme Brain, which can ensure it keeps up with the Black Tide's development progress.

And the Di Nian Evil Spirit is like an illegitimate child not valued by the Black Tide, relying entirely on its own fists to conquer the world.

Compared to other Evil Spirit warriors, the Di Nian Evil Spirit has a completely hell-level start.

But even in such a terrible situation, it actually managed to fight its way out.

By laying out a plan to swallow the Black Tide energy of two fellow tribe warriors, it caused the Black Tide's strength to rise consecutively, and now it has even opened an expansion line leading to the future for him.

It can be said that the Di Nian Evil Spirit grew up bit by bit right under his nose.

He also saw the growth potential of the Di Nian Evil Spirit.

【Boss, when I read the Earth information database, I scanned many novel information and discovered a common novel plot that fits the current situation very well.】

Hearing this, Qi Sheng turned his head to look at the guiding water sphere floating beside him:

"What do you want to say?"

【In many novel scenarios, the protagonist starts from humble beginnings, is insignificant in strength in the eyes of the Dafan Sect, and is merely a small obstacle in the plan. Even if the protagonist destroys some actions in the plan during the growth process, these behaviors are also just trivial matters unworthy of mention in the eyes of the villain big boss, having no effect on the development of the plan... just growing step by step, eventually the protagonist turns the tide against the wind and successfully kills the villain.】

【But if the villain could pay attention earlier, perhaps the tragedy could be avoided, such as killing the protagonist earlier.】

Qi Sheng:...

"Do you want to say that the Di Nian Evil Spirit is that talented protagonist starting from humble beginnings, and I am that villain observing from the shadows?"

【Hehe, I just feel the plot is a bit similar. The Di Nian Evil Spirit really has many traits a protagonist should have, such as being eager to learn, persevering, fearless, and wise... Looking at it this way, doesn't Boss you look like an ultimate villain, ignoring the weak protagonist at the start.】

After speaking, the guide changed the subject:

【Of course, this is just a similarity in plot; in terms of dimension, the Di Nian Evil Spirit cannot compare to you, Boss. You looking down on it is no problem. Plus, the Di Nian Bullies have provided assistance to the players multiple times during their development, such as the first two times swallowing the Evil Moon Domain; it was the Di Nian Bullies secretly providing support, allowing the players to successfully capture the domain nodes. Keeping them around could also allow the players to grow quickly, and perhaps there will be unexpected surprises in the future.】

【I even feel that the Di Nian Evil Spirit has broken through a certain limitation of the Black Tide in its thinking, producing too many self-thoughts, including the Evil Eye that follows it, which might actually become a major hidden danger within the Black Tide in the future.】

What the guide said was exactly the place where Qi Sheng felt curious.

They had once discussed the Black Tide's legion structure, and among them, they talked about how the Black Tide's behind-the-scenes controller's control over Evil Spirit warriors might be a thought stamp.

After all, the power of Evil Spirit warriors is too great.

There must be potential limitations, and this limitation very likely comes from the thought level.

Secondly, the emotionless Evil Eye is both a war auxiliary and possibly a supervisor by the side of the Evil Spirit warrior.

But the Di Nian Evil Spirit not only completed some unknown breakthrough in its thinking, but even the Evil Eye following it showed some problems, with emotions gradually becoming rich.

He was very curious about what direction this unknown change would lead the Di Nian Evil Spirit to develop.

After observing the free-for-all for a long time, Qi Sheng's view turned towards the sea area of the Colorful Mist Coast region.

A group of players inlaid with and controlling Painful Painful Minghun were waiting for an opportunity to capture Shu Yan warriors, and among them, some players were looking for opportunities to ambush Ascended Race warriors on the verge of death.

After the battle fell into a war of attrition, the war actually became less intense.

A deeper war broke out in the Jiang Xiao Shi Jie.

The Ascended Race began to constantly descend gods into the Jiang Xiao Shi Jie, spreading resources, establishing the image of immortals, and even actively contacting mortals in the Jiang Xiao Shi Jie to bestow opportunities.

Doing this was precisely to break the foreshadowing in the story, the series of descriptions that immortals do not contact the lower world.

The Ascended Race's handling method made Qi Sheng think of the Earth world before his transmigration.

After World War II, the Soviet Union established a socialist welfare system, providing extensive free welfare for the people, including free medical care, education, and housing; this welfare model had an impact internationally and formed external pressure on Western countries.

To demonstrate the superiority of the capitalist system and compete with the Soviet Union in the ideological field, Western countries feeling the crisis all improved their welfare systems, and a high-welfare model "from the cradle to the grave" even appeared, improving people's treatment.

Although external pressure was not the absolute reason for promoting welfare benefits, it was also a key factor in promoting the development of events.

To remove the root of the trouble buried in the Jiang Xiao Shi Jie, the Ascended Race's handling behavior was very similar.

In fact, before this, the Ascended Race had secretly cleaned up a batch of storytellers, but the storytelling routes of Shu Yan were simply unaffected; killing one just meant replacing the next story spreader.

The war between the Ascended Race and Shu Yan unfolded simultaneously in the Monster World and the Jiang Xiao Shi Jie.

In this process, Shu Yan was also under considerable pressure.

Located in the Monster World, Shu Yan was destined to be unable to write a cool novel; the story content would inevitably be tortuous under the background oppression.

Though Shu Yan was the weaker side in the war against the Ascended Clan, he had carefully calculated the feasibility of the conflict, believing he could wear down the Ascended Clan through a war of attrition.

But the emergence of players introduced a variable into this plan.

Originally, when characters in the book died, Shu Yan could reclaim a portion of his ink power.

However, the appearance of players disrupted Shu Yan's plan, frequently causing some of his warriors to lose connection.

On several occasions, key supporting characters nearly perished; had Shu Yan not noticed the irregularity and immediately controlled the protagonist to seize the dying supporting characters, important characters would have been lost.

To lend rationality to the variables within the story, the players who occasionally surfaced were given an identity explanation within Shu Yan's tale.

They were explained as an evil existence from beyond the heavens, using schemes and plots to interfere with cultivators' cultivation; they were the primary cause of cultivators going mad and generating heart demons, and cultivators disturbed by heart demons would be seduced to travel to the Outer Realm, never to return.

In Shu Yan's story, players had a name: Outer Realm Heavenly Demon.

(End of this chapter)