Chapter 187: Version Buff, Rule Game

The Primordial Sacrifice Altar.

After deducing the development progress of the minor world, Qi Sheng ceased paying attention to it.

The future direction of the minor world had already been clarified on the forum: it would become a blessed land for players to produce Rule Energy.

Without disrupting the output of the Prayer Soul, new souls would be added in the future to arrange for resource production.

He tallied the profits from the recent period.

The number of contained souls had reached 44.

The containment speed for Primordial Monsters in the Colorful Mist Coast and the Winter Snowfield regions began to decline.

He considered opening another novice village spatial node.

Conversely, the containment speed for domain nodes began to accelerate, with many domain nodes that early players found difficult to conquer being contained one after another recently.

In just this recent period, three new resource nodes had merged into the Emperor Tomb Village space.

The exploration degree of the Player Corridor had also reached 4.394%.

Real-time sacrificial power output had seen a sharp decline after the Evil Moon Domain in the Colorful Mist Coast was contained, but recently, with the growth of novice players, it began to gradually recover; it was not far from reaching the peak of real-time revenue, let alone breaking through it.

After reviewing the data, Qi Sheng shifted his gaze to the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region.

The Evil Moon in the sky was veiled by a thin gauze, becoming hazy.

During this process, the Waning Moon twisted and swayed slightly.

It was like the moon reflected on a calm Firefly Lake surface suddenly having its silence broken by a pebble; the moon's reflection rippled, its form distorting and changing as it swayed.

What was certain was that the Evil Moon was about to undergo a phase change.

However, exactly what phase it would become could not be determined.

Also observing the changes of the Evil Moon was the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit standing on the high tower platform of the Sky Abyss Node.

It gazed up at the sky alongside the Evil Eye, anticipating the impending moment.

There was no fixed pattern to the changes in the moon phases.

Even a Waning Moon could suddenly switch to the state of a Great Evil Moon.

Or, after the phase switch concluded, the Waning Moon might remain in the Waning Moon state.

As the distortion of the moon phase intensified, the entire Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region began to distort as well.

New scenes and derived evil influences were about to appear after the scene switch.

This sudden change sparked heated discussion among the forum players.

Those active in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range were mostly veteran players, naturally familiar with moon phase changes, and they speculated which stage the Evil Moon would switch to this time.

This process lasted for half an hour.

The moon phase began to enter a state of violent fluctuation, with darkness spreading wantonly like viscous ink.

The original Waning Moon became like a single eye soaked in blood, opening and closing continuously, while the moon phase kept switching during this process.

Blood-red light sprinkled over the earth, adding several degrees of deathly silence to the already barren land.

[Boss, it should be the First Quarter Moon!]

Just then, the voice of the Guide rang out in Qi Sheng's mind.

As soon as the Guide finished speaking, countless corrosion cores entangling the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region writhed rapidly, extending countless tentacles that danced toward the sky.

The earth trembled, and the originally incomplete edges of the Waning Moon were gradually filled with a dark red substance, as if invisible hands were meticulously repairing this Evil Moon.

The Waning Moon thus transformed into the First Quarter Moon.

The hazy color covering its surface faded, erupting with bright and brilliant blood light.

The curved crescent now resembled a sharp blade soaked in blood, hanging high in the sky.

The originally dim Emperor Tomb Mountain Range instantly became bright.

Yet this brightness was rendered in blood color, as if intending to turn the entire world into a sea of blood.

Just as the Evil Moon completely transformed into the First Quarter Moon, the scene replacement unfolded at the same time.

Apart from the scenes that originally existed in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, the derived evil influences born under the Waning Moon state vanished into thin air amidst the spatial rumbling.

One by one, evil and twisted derivative buildings rose from the ground at the locations of the corrosion cores.

These buildings were constructed from stones generated by Black Black Tide energy, their surfaces imprinted with dark red patterns resembling countless twisted blood vessels.

Cracks appeared in the ground, and countless derived evil influences manifested within the scene.

The first to appear was the derived evil influence of the Ancient Battlefield region: the "Furnace Fire Demon."

Its body was composed of blazing flames, its silhouette humanoid; its head was a massive dark green fireball, with dancing tongues of fire trailing from the back of its head like flame hair swaying in the wind; its arms were like two thick rock pillars, constantly dripping scalding black magma; surging heat waves surrounded its entire body, making it resemble a moving volcano that turned the ground beneath it into scorched earth wherever it went.

Following that was the Storm Eye.

Its form was hidden within the gale, revealing only a blurry silhouette; howling air currents circled its body, with small tornadoes constantly rotating around it; its Iron Face was obscured by a patch of dark clouds, revealing only a pair of eyes flashing with lightning.

After that, the Nightmare Knight appeared, riding a skeletal war horse engulfed in black flames, with man and horse merged into one.

It wore a set of tattered black armor emitting a rotting stench; its head was enveloped by a massive black helmet; in its hand, it gripped a huge black scythe, the blade flowing with black liquid, its body continuously sucking the vitality from everything around it.

Earth-Crack Giants, Soul-Devouring Demons, Spider-Demon Guards, Curse Puppets...

After the scene switch, the strength of the derived evil influences increased dramatically.

After capturing the data, the Guide discovered that the average hunting level of the derived evil influences had reached level 78.

This meant the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region had officially entered Soul Game Cultivation Mode.

The number of derived evil influences was even greater than the Black Black Tide controlled by the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit, and their strength was even more formidable.

At this moment, the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit hovered above the high tower platform, sweeping its perception view over the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region and letting out an arrogant laugh.

After a long wait, he finally welcomed the moment of enhancement.

In the blink of an thought, Black Black Tide energy from between heaven and earth rapidly converged toward the high tower, entering the central furnace to continuously provide production energy for the Black Black Tide.

It was like a game switching from Easy Cultivation Mode to Hard Cultivation Mode.

The strength of the Black Black Tide controlled by the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit also received a significant boost, including the speed of its power growth.

Switching to the third stage, the First Quarter Moon, was enough to elevate its development speed to another level.

Without even a moment's hesitation, it directed the Black Black Tide to rush toward the players in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region.

At this time, the United Warband led by the God King was engaging the Black Black Tide in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range.

The sudden surge in the Black Black Tide's strength caught the players off guard.

More importantly, the large number of derived evil influences that appeared after the moon phase switch possessed stats that were excessively overpowered.

The players were beaten until they cursed incessantly.

Facing a war trend that was bound to end in defeat, the God King immediately issued an order for players to stop drinking potions to reduce the waste of sacrificial power, switching instead to Free Combat Cultivation Mode.

Including the player warbands scattered across different areas of the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, all were submerged by the Black Tide of derived evil influences.

Amidst the curses, the players in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region were killed one after another, their souls returning to Emperor Zhao.

Before clearing out the last group of players, the Black Black Tide evil influences controlled by the Earth-Chanting Bully spoke with human voices, uniformly mocking the remaining players in a disdainful tone:

"Little brother, you still need to train!"

Forum players dubbed this incident: Forced Logout During Game Version Update.

The concept of "A new version brings a new god" did not apply only to players.

The same logic applied to the Earth-Chanting Bully.

The Waning Moon could be understood as a version nerf.

The Last Quarter Moon could be understood as version balance.

The First Quarter Moon could be understood as a version buff.

The Full Moon could be understood as the version's favorite child.

The Great Evil Moon could be understood as the version's true god.

The current Earth-Chanting Bully had just reaped the benefits of the version buff.

Regarding this, some forum players stated: "A new version brings a new bully; it's impossible for every version to be a buff. Let the bully be arrogant for a while; when the version gets nerfed, we will definitely launch a fierce counterattack."

After this round of moon phase switching, large numbers of player squads surged toward the Colorful Mist Coast and Winter Snowfield regions, throwing themselves into the Player Corridor expansion plan.

In the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region, apart from a few large guilds, solo squads could barely move a step.

As for lone wolf players, no matter how high their skill, killing even a single derived evil influence was incredibly difficult, nearly impossible.

In the Iron Face of absolutely crushing stats, all technique was futile.

Veteran players were long accustomed to the harsh hunting environment brought about by moon phase switches.

In their eyes, the Monster World officials never considered the players' feelings.

The switching of moon phases followed no discernible pattern; unlike other games that announce in advance when events or high-difficulty dungeons will open.

Some even have an event calendar to check.

As players, they could run rampant in the Monster World.

But in front of those dog officials, aside from cursing the Erosion Clan as idiots under their breath, they truly had no means to cope.

The game was free, and the game pods were given by the Erosion Clan... they held no trump cards to challenge the officials.

As for threatening the officials by quitting the game.

Just looking at the ratio of tourists to normal players in every livestream room, no one dared to utter such a joke that would make forum players laugh through their tears.

At this moment, Qi Sheng, situated behind the scenes, was not paying attention to the forum players' heated discussions about the moon phase switch.

After sweeping his perception view over the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region, a doubt arose in his heart:

"Guide, what exactly is the mechanism behind the birth of derived evil influences?"

[Unclear. The Black Black Tide energy released by the Evil Moon automatically generates derived evil influences corresponding to the current moon phase's strength. To me, it feels like a life manufacturer, generating corrosion cores and derived evil influences every moment.]

"Could it be an experimental Cultivation Mode for new evil influence breeds?"

Hearing Qi Sheng's conjecture, the Guide rested his chin on his hand, a look of contemplation appearing on his Iron Face:

[That is indeed a possibility: deploying generated unit types in the form of derivative evil spirits across different regions for live combat testing. If the strength and performance of the units are deemed qualified, they are then recorded in the unit library. However, the limited data available at the current stage cannot yield a clear conclusion.]

[But I am more inclined to believe it generates a home field, similar to the Shu Yan Domain created by Shu Yan—a special environment capable of providing a home-field advantage.]

[Many descending factions exhibit similar warfare patterns. When powerful descending factions clash, the first phase involves the collision of their respective domains, followed only then by the confrontation between unit types. A home-field advantage can significantly boost the combat power of one's own units.]

[For example, aquatic creatures accustomed to fighting in liquid environments, when such a descending faction engages other forces, the optimal choice is to first transform the home field into a scene resembling an ocean, forming a home-field advantage before engaging in unit warfare.]

Qi Sheng nodded upon hearing this.

He did not delve deeply into this question.

At this moment, the viewpoint shifted to the player corridor in the Colorful Mist Coast region.

This was the most bustling area at the current stage.

Many novice players from the Winter Snowfield region, upon leaving the novice village, generally chose the Colorful Mist Coast region as their first destination.

Secondly, players from the Exploration Party, the Arms Merchant Society, the Alchemist Society, and other branch sects also used the Colorful Mist Coast as their primary area of activity.

Including the newly discovered Apocalyptic Minor World, which was also located in this region.

Hunting, exploration, mining, entertainment, cuisine, arena battles... various activities could all be carried out in the Colorful Mist Coast region; it had already become the most popular area among the player community.

Regarding the expansion of the player corridor, 4.13% out of 4.394% came from the line connecting the Colorful Mist Coast to the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range.

As for the line from the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range toward the Winter Snowfield, it was mainly being expanded by several major societies, with slow progress; during the advance, they frequently had to engage in fierce battles with the Earth-Nian Evil Spirits.

The frequency of mutual brawls between the two sides was extremely high.

The strategy of the Earth-Nian Evil Spirits was always to beat a drowning dog; under normal circumstances, they would not encroach upon the players.

But as soon as they saw players in a predicament or encountering a powerful enemy, they would inevitably sweep in, delivering a vicious stab from the side.

Or delivering a backstab from behind.

The players' combat strategy, however, was very simple.

When they felt annoyed by the Earth-Nian bullies, they would go up and fight; doing as they pleased, fighting whenever they wanted, never considering the specific situation.

The Insect Race's strategy was even simpler.

As long as the players fought the Earth-Nian bullies, they would inevitably follow up to enact a three-way melee, or occasionally pick a fight with the Earth-Nian bullies themselves.

Especially when the Earth-Nian bullies were testing new unit types, they would definitely show up to join in the testing.

Colorful Mist Coast, White Bone Ridge.

As far as the eye could see, the earth was completely covered by a layer of ghastly white.

According to the Guide's analysis and introduction, this place had once been a battlefield for two descending factions.

The two factions engaged in conflict over long years, wiping out the originally lush forests and generating the White Bone Ridge, piled up from countless corpses.

As time changed, the flesh and blood of the war dead had all dissipated, leaving only heaps of white bones covering the ground.

Yet, there was no victor in the contest between these two factions.

For the vast majority of factions, war is a process of consuming one's foundation.

Stockpiled resources, combat units... all are constantly worn down during war.

Factions like the Black Black Tide, the Insect Race, and the Counter-Black Tide Legion, which can achieve rapid growth through sustaining war with war, are ultimately the minority.

These two factions eventually met their final stop after descending into the Monster World when a third faction appeared.

But the third faction failed to occupy this region either.

A sudden Divine Descent crisis, a harvest conducted by a powerful clan passing by, wiped out the third faction that had hoped to profit from the conflict.

Just like in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region, where spiritual ore resources were suddenly harvested by the Mechanical Legion via Divine Descent.

In the Iron Face of truly powerful clans, weak factions are like a wild spiritual plant casually discovered and picked up by players during exploration.

The desolate scene had no trees to block the view; wild winds swept across the earth, and white bones collided with each other, emitting "click-clack" sounds, playing out a Death Movement.

Raised dust mixed with white bone powder permeated the air.

A player was walking among the ridges piled with white bones; the withered bones crushed underfoot emitted crisp sounds.

From time to time, his body would suddenly sink, falling into a pile of white bones; when he forcefully pulled his leg out, it brought up a spray of flying white bone fragments.

The wind sound passed through the gaps in the white bones, emitting a low "woo-woo" hum, ringing in the player's ears.

After walking a distance on the White Bone Ridge, Song Hao summoned his map to check his coordinate position.

After correcting his direction, he continued onward.

Along the way, he occasionally took a selfie screenshot, saving it in his private album on the forum, recording the bits and pieces of his journey.

"Chitter-chitter!"

Just then, the Treasure-Seeking Rat, which had been lying lazily on his shoulder, suddenly lifted its head, twitched its nose twice toward the front-left, and leaped down from Song Hao's shoulder.

Seeing this, Song Hao immediately realized the Treasure-Seeking Rat had made a discovery and decisively followed.

The Treasure-Seeking Rat locked onto a spot piled with white bones, its two front paws digging into the ground, stirring up bursts of white bone fragments that fell with a "rustle-rustle" sound.

As the digging deepened, the Treasure-Seeking Rat disappeared from sight; Song Hao, standing above, could only see a small tunnel leading underground.

While waiting, Song Hao's expression was full of anticipation.

He imagined a scene of obtaining high-value treasures.

Although he was an Exploration Party player, his interest in exploration was more of a hobby.

He had his own combat team.

It was just that recently, the combat team could not survive in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, so they had temporarily disbanded until finding a suitable level-grinding location.

As for the Winter Snowfield region, the intensity was too low, unsuitable for their warband's development.

Therefore, his demand for resources was very high; he was not the same type of person as those adventurers devoid of desire.

What he cared about more was not the scenery along the way, but the surprise brought by treasure hunting.

Every time the Treasure-Seeking Rat reacted, it filled him with expectation.

It was like opening a blind box; perhaps one could obtain unimaginable wealth.

Switching the viewpoint to the Treasure-Seeking Rat's perspective, one could see the rat was still digging underground.

Suddenly, the Treasure-Seeking Rat stopped its actions, its eyes widening until they were perfectly round.

Immediately after, it used its claws to carefully push aside the surrounding broken bones, gradually revealing an object emitting a soft glow.

It was a small metal box, its surface carved with exquisite patterns; the erosion of time made it appear slightly mottled.

"Son, bring it back."

Upon hearing this, the Treasure-Seeking Rat clamped the box in its mouth and headed toward the surface.

Leaping out of the cave, the Treasure-Seeking Rat placed the box in front of Song Hao, circling around it joyfully, emitting "squeak-squeak" sounds from its mouth, appearing exceptionally happy.

At this moment, Song Hao also took out a piece of spiritual fish meat from his spatial bag and tossed it to the Treasure-Seeking Rat.

As the Treasure-Seeking Rat leaped into the air, catching the spiritual fish meat to feast heartily, he bent down to pick up the metal box from the ground.

The box was not locked; it could be opened simply by reaching out.

Presented before Song Hao's eyes was an amber-colored triangular rune, possessing no special features whatsoever.

Filled with confusion, Song Hao activated his analysis ability:

[Rule Scene Teleportation Gate]:

Item Introduction: A spatial trap created by members of the Youlu Council, randomly distributed across the world. The organization's members consist of creators who master the power of rules. By formulating rule-based games, they carry out destruction plans. All game participants will be locked onto by the Youlu Council based on their racial abilities according to the rules, representing their race in the rule game. Failure in the game is considered elimination; the race of the eliminated will be destroyed by the Youlu Association.

Hint: After activating the rune, you will be teleported to a rule game scene.

After reading the analysis content twice, Song Hao finally understood.

This thing was a trap; activating it would force one into a rule game.

Elimination meant the extermination of your entire clan.

"There are so many perverts in the Monster World," Song Hao couldn't help but sigh.

Speaking, he looked at the Guide floating beside him:

"Brother Guide, what do you think of this perverted faction?"

[It's not perversion; it's because this set of rules can produce rule energy for the Youlu Council. Just as the Ancient God Clan obtains Dou Hun power through arenas, or players with embedded Prayer Fate Souls obtain wish power by satisfying target desires, this is also a method of generating rule energy through rule logic. However, this set of rules appears relatively complex; what the Youlu Council holds in hand is likely trash rules.]

"Will there be opportunities inside?"

[Unclear.]

"Then if I activate and use this spatial trap, getting teleported to play a rule game, will the Youlu Council track me down after I fail and exterminate my player clan?"

[What do you think?] The Guide looked at Song Hao with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot.

"Hehe, I have to try it."

(End of Chapter)