Chapter 189: Nether Crossing Caverns (Happy New Year)

Meng Yuan Chu Altar.

Qi Sheng's consciousness flickered between the Ancient God Arena and the Paradise Palace.

A friend comes from afar — transferred next door. Is that not a joy?

After player Song Hao was killed by the game space, he discovered that members of the Nether Rhythm Council actually wanted to follow the network cable into the Di Zhao Village space.

Although the Guide could shield spatial information at any time, he did not let it do so.

He immediately contacted Yan Ming, who wielded the supreme spatial rules, and sent the Nether Rhythm Council members creeping along the vine to the Ancient God Arena and the Paradise Palace respectively.

These two places were usually fleeced by players; this time he gave extra cashback, sending a wave of benefits.

In fact, he had also considered sending them to the Earth-shackled Evil Spirit.

But doing so would have lacked entertainment.

Comparing the current combat power of the Earth-shackled Evil Spirit with the Nether Rhythm Council members, even with the waxing moon's blessing, fighting them would be extremely strenuous; if massive reinforcements came, the Earth-shackled Evil Spirit simply could not withstand it.

After all, the average hunting level of Nether Rhythm Council members was 139.

But a more likely possibility was that the Nether Rhythm Council members, upon discovering the exit was the Black Tide, would decisively flee.

After all, the Black Tide's fame in the Monster World was too great — it was a universally recognized calamity-level force.

Newly descended forces might not recognize Beneath Di Zhao, but they had most likely heard of, or even personally witnessed, the terrifying Black Tide.

Even giving the Nether Rhythm Council members ten times the courage, they still could not muster the bravery to exterminate the entire Black Tide clan.

Even with an average combat level of 139, before the terrifying Black Tide they were nothing more than ants comparable to a small world — shattering at a touch.

But the Ancient God Arena and the Paradise Palace were different.

Both regions had special taboos set up — once entered, don't even think about getting out.

A hunting level of 139 looked strong, but the pseudo-champion warrior with 29 wins in the Ancient God Arena already had a combat level of 358.

The Paradise Space was the same.

Although the Nether Rhythm Council members were elemental lifeforms, the Paradise Palace could still generate Illusions they craved.

For example, within the Gluttony Gate, what they would see would no longer be the delicacies craved by flesh-and-blood life, but all kinds of elemental crystal energy.

Faced with different beings, the Illusions generated by the Paradise Palace would also differ.

Without purification rules, escaping from it was exceedingly difficult.

One could say this: once entering the Paradise Entertainment City, if not drained dry of essence and energy, one would never get out in this lifetime.

Since the Nether Rhythm Council members liked playing games, he custom-ordered two new games for them to enjoy well — the key point being his games had no cheating, perfectly fair.

Entirely relying on strength to challenge predicaments — what they played was a true obstacle-course game.

Although clearing it did indeed have just a tiny bit of difficulty.

His gaze shifted to the Paradise Palace — the Nether Rhythm Council members who had already stepped into the first layer of space had lost themselves, their consciousnesses sinking deeper and deeper into the whirlpool of desire's abyss.

Having just entered the first gate, the HP-deduction mode had already activated; even if they could wake up, four more depravity scenes awaited behind.

The ending was bound to be becoming a resource pack for the Lord of Benefits.

Without paying too much attention, his gaze shifted to the Ancient God Arena.

The Nether Rhythm Council members were locked separately in single cells of the second-tier arena, able only to watch the battles inside through the windows.

From game-rule makers to contestants, one could see that the Nether Rhythm Council members were all in despair.

In fact, the Nether Rhythm Council members who had just entered the Ancient God Arena had also thought of resisting, but without even needing the Ancient God Champion to act, the power of the Brute Slaves was not something they could contend with.

The final result was that the Nether Rhythm Council members, just like the contestants they had captured, were forcibly dragged onto the arena to compete.

In the game modes formulated by the Nether Rhythm Council members, contestants had error-tolerance chances, with HP points set.

But in the Ancient God Arena, what was played was a one-life clear mode — failure meant only death.

After handling the "invading force," Qi Sheng's gaze shifted to the game space.

This rule, in Qi Sheng's view, was quite interesting.

Although the methods of obtaining rule energy and completing rule logic were relatively complex.

The final reward, however, was being able to strip one innate ability from the target species through rules.

It could be regarded as a rule machine for manufacturing innate skills.

If it could be integrated into the Challenger System, the player legion in the future, besides Star Vein combinations, could also derive a large number of usable non-rule minor skills.

The only problem was that the rule logic was too complex — it required playing games of strategy, and also required exterminating the entire eliminated species.

After carefully analyzing the principles, the cumbersome settings, in Qi Sheng's view, simply did not qualify for entry into the Challenger System.

This would only affect the players' growth speed.

It might even cause the player legion to derive a new Xindeliu Sect: "Game Makers."

They would create mini-games to challenge intelligent species throughout the Monster World, thereby gaining power.

But the problem was that failure came with punishment — players needed to stake equivalent resources.

More importantly, the subsequent genocide missions could hardly be completed by individual players alone; even in warband form it would be very difficult.

Too many restrictions greatly diminished the value of the game space rules in Qi Sheng's eyes.

But it was not entirely useless.

According to the Guide's account, the world origin obtained after decomposing rules could be used to craft new rule characteristics.

But at the current stage, the player legion's strength was limited, making cross-space warfare difficult — yet he still left his consciousness imprint in the game space.

When in the future the players possessed combat power sufficient to contend with the Nether Rhythm Council, he would have the players act and take down the game space rules.

His consciousness returned to the Meng Yuan Chu Altar.

Qi Sheng began reviewing the content settings for the next update.

For this update, he first added two new growth-type pets to the pet system.

The first pet's name was: Mechanical Guardian.

In its initial state, it is a palm-sized small robot, with an overall smooth oval shape, like a silver-white metallic water droplet.

Its life template is replicated from the silicon-based life structure found in a ruin in the Pale Continent region.

Its ability is to devour spirit ore to grow.

At the current stage, players' utilization efficiency of spirit ore is not high; after mining, it is generally sold to the Arms Merchant Guild or directly sacrificed and exchanged for Shou Shou Jili.

The Mechanical Guardian can effectively decompose spirit ore into "experience points" that aid its own growth.

Even so, the Mechanical Guardian is still not worthy of entering the pet system.

After all, investing Shou Shou Jili to cultivate growth and investing spirit ore to cultivate are essentially no different — both cost Shou Shou Jili.

Its greatest feature is that its growth direction is set according to the spirit ore it devours.

For example, long-term devouring of psychic-type ore allows it to continuously comprehend psychic-type special abilities during growth.

Or long-term devouring of spirit ores such as Hard Rock Core, Bulwark Crystal, and Vein Stone can greatly strengthen defense and also generate skills matching the ore's attribute.

He set the price of the Mechanical Guardian at: 68,000 Shou Shou Jili.

It is the pet with the most diverse development modes among all growth-type pets at the current stage.

According to the guide's calculations, the Mechanical Guardian can possess 599 growth systems.

Apart from some special spirit ores that the Mechanical Guardian cannot digest, the vast majority of spirit ores can serve as its growth aid.

Among these data, the one with the highest combat power is a Mechanical Guardian fed a large amount of space-type spirit ore.

After growing to level 120, it can master three space-type abilities.

For example, by feeding large amounts of Void Origin Stone produced from the Void Origin Peak domain node of the Frost Winter Snowfield, one can obtain a Mechanical Guardian that masters space-type abilities.

But the drawbacks are also very obvious.

The more powerful the growth system, the higher the value of the spirit ore that needs to be invested.

Ordinary Player's Early Phase can only feed some low-level spirit ore to aid the Mechanical Guardian's growth.

However, he set up an initialization return function for the pet.

If players' income rises in the future, they can choose to return it at any time and re-feed high-quality spirit ore to change the Mechanical Guardian's growth direction.

The second pet is the Star Core.

Considering that at the current stage, players' spiritual power recovery on the battlefield relies only on Shangcheng potions and the Qi-Devouring Painful Painful Minghun.

Under high-intensity war modes, spiritual power overdraft is very likely to occur.

Especially in war command.

Brain Overclock, Eagle-Headed Yao, and Mark — these three Painful Minghun all require spiritual power consumption to maintain use.

While out searching, Qi Sheng occasionally discovered a growth-type pet suited for spiritual power replenishment.

The pet's name is: Star Core.

Born in the Dragon Crystal Great Vein region of the northern area of the Pale Continent.

Its body is composed of semi-transparent energy crystals; when active, flickering specks of starlight can be seen inside its body.

In its initial state, its size is that of an adult's head, shaped like a young feline, with its body surface covered in star-patterned crystal scales.

The Star Core has a gentle temperament and likes to stay in energy-rich areas.

The ability it masters is called in the parsed information: Energy Resonance.

It can interact with surrounding energy fields, and can also absorb, store, and release energy.

Compared to combat ability, what Qi Sheng values more is the Star Core's power-bank attribute — he can have the Star Core reserve a certain type of energy in advance and draw from it whenever needed.

Cultivating the Star Core is equivalent to having an extra portable power bank.

Moreover, while the power bank charges the player, it can continuously absorb world energy to recover its own consumption, indirectly enhancing the player's combat endurance.

In terms of price, Qi Sheng priced it at 5,800 Shou Shou Jili, less than one-tenth of the Mechanical Guardian.

The initial appearances of these two new pets are both very cute, and both possess abilities suited to players' needs at the current stage.

After reviewing the template information of the new pets, Qi Sheng's consciousness followed the guide and descended upon the western area of the Pale Continent.

What appeared before his eyes was a desolate Gobi expanse; a shocking enormous fissure cut through the earth, its edges steep and jagged, sharp rocks interlocking like dogs' teeth, appearing increasingly ferocious under the perennial erosion of the gale.

Around the sinkhole, yellow sand flew wildly, with no signs of any life activity nearby.

This was a special area he had accidentally discovered while searching for growth-type pets.

At the time, when his consciousness swept over, he sensed chaotic energy fluctuations beneath the earth.

Following the fissure that tore the earth downward to explore, there was unexpectedly a hidden wonderland within.

Through analytical investigation, he understood the specific reason.

This place was once the territory of the powerful "Mingdu Clan" of the Beneath Di Zhao era, also known as the Mingdu Grotto.

Although located in the Pale Continent region, the Mingdu Clan pledged allegiance to Nine Yin, one of the Four Gods, and the grotto also enshrined a statue of Nine Yin.

In the Cataclysm War, this force sent out its entire clan, and ultimately not a single clansman returned.

The grotto was once the Mingdu Clan's clan land, which had been built into numerous multi-layered structural spaces; apart from the living areas, all other areas were trial zones.

This was also where the Mingdu Clan trained its warriors.

The grotto stored vast resources and wealth, its size comparable to a small world; all trial spaces moved dynamically within, with no fixed positions.

After discovering the Mingdu Grotto, Qi Sheng had an idea.

He felt it was entirely possible to set up a starter village space node within.

Compared to the three fixed-environment regions — the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, the Colorful Mist Coast, and the Frost Winter Snowfield.

The environment within the Mingdu Grotto is full of randomness.

During exploration, players may encounter dangerous monsters, or they may encounter various treasures left by the Mingdu Clan for trial warriors.

After the analytical sweep, it was discovered that the Mingdu Grotto also contained Meng Yuan Chu monsters that initialize and respawn within after death.

Whether from the perspective of profit or of interest, the Mingdu Grotto very much meets the requirements for establishing a space node.

The only drawback is that the monster strength lacks balance.

The monsters encountered might be very weak, or they might be super monsters that novice players cannot fight, leaning more toward exploration by veteran players.

But this problem can be improved by the location chosen for the newbie village.

During the investigation of the Di Ku Shi Jie, he also discovered that during the long years since the Ming Du tribe vanished, a large number of descending factions had stationed themselves here.

To fight over the wealth of the Di Ku Shi Jie, these factions had waged endless wars here.

After many factions perished, they left behind clan ruins in different spaces; even now, some residual factions obtain development resources by exploring trial spaces.

If the newbie village is established in the Ming Du Di Ku, these descending factions will also become challenge targets for the players.

Regarding the specific location for the newbie village, Qi Sheng chose the first layer space of the Ming Du Di Ku.

A mechanical ruin remains here, left behind by a destroyed descending faction.

The monsters inside had been swept clean by this faction; only a large number of mechanical lifeforms were active, with generally low strength.

Players can use this as a starting point to explore the Di Ku Shi Jie.

At this moment, Qi Sheng's consciousness descended into the first layer space of the Di Ku Shi Jie.

What appeared before his eyes was a massive mechanical ruin, standing in the center of the wasteland like a slumbering steel beast.

The ruin's shell was constructed from rust-streaked metal, its surface covered with complex gears and pipes.

The ground of the space was covered with glowing fluorescent ores and shattered mechanical debris, and a large number of low-level mechanical creatures existed, such as mechanical spiders or mechanical worms.

They maintained their life state by gnawing on the soil and ores within the space.

The armory within the abandoned ruin was still slowly operating, continuously producing different types of mechanical life, but it was basically in a semi-abandoned state, unable to mass-produce troops as rapidly as in its peak period.

In the entire first layer space, the closer one gets to the mechanical ruin, the higher the probability of encountering powerful mechanical lifeforms.

The growth-type pet mechanical guardian he had recently forged was based on a life template found in this very mechanical ruin.

According to the guidance, searching the ruin's information revealed that the mechanical guardian had once been the most powerful weapon of war for the extinct mechanical life clan.

Even analyzing from the perspective of life structure strength, it had already surpassed their "Creators."

Alas, before this super weapon could unleash its power, this mechanical life clan had perished prematurely.

This is also a characteristic feature of the Di Ku Shi Jie.

Many descending factions established clan lands within the Di Ku Shi Jie spaces; to acquire resources, they would travel to other trial spaces for exploration, inevitably encountering other descending factions, and then erupting into wars to fight over resources.

More dramatically, wars within the Di Ku Shi Jie spaces often resulted in the inability to return.

For example, a descending faction stationed in Space No. 3 launched a war against a faction in Space No. 19; when the war ended and they prepared to return with a full load, they attempted to move between layer spaces, completely losing their clan land coordinates and discovering they could not return.

Therefore, the war mode within the Ming Du Di Ku was extremely brutal.

Descending factions would basically choose to exhaust the resources of the first layer space, then move their entire clan to the next random space; if they found another faction occupying this space, the moment they met, it would be a life-or-death war.

As his consciousness delved deeper to explore the Di Ku Shi Jie, information about different spaces floated up in Qi Sheng's mind.

In the first space, the sky was obscured by rolling thick smoke, the ground was a churning ocean of molten lava, and huge volcanic craters continuously spewed magma and volcanic ash.

The land area of the entire space was only 19.5%; the surface of the black rocks forming the land was roasted red by the high temperatures, continuously releasing scorching heat.

At this moment, the space analysis information was presented.

Magma Fire Space: An elemental space scene crafted by the Ming Du tribe by capturing a large number of fire elemental lifeforms; it buried numerous resources and treasures, used for the trial and growth of new-generation warriors.

His gaze shifted; this time, what appeared before his eyes was a space shrouded by thin green mist.

The ground was a soft swamp, black mud bubbling continuously, emitting a pungent smell, with giant mushrooms and twisted trees growing there.

A large number of poison mist crawlers lived inside.

Poison Mist Space: A poisonous creature space crafted by the Ming Du tribe by collecting a large number of toxic creatures; it buried a small amount of treasures, used for the trial and growth of new-generation junior warriors.

In this space, Qi Sheng also found the remaining clan ruins of a descending faction.

Untended for long years, the ruins had been occupied by various toxic plants; spotted vines covered the entire outer wall of the ruins.

His gaze continued to shift; this time, what appeared before Qi Sheng's eyes was a world of lightning and thunder.

Giant electromagnetic storms ravaged the entire space; thick bolts of lightning constantly struck the ground. Metal ores were exposed on the ground, twisted by electromagnetic forces into various strange shapes—some like giant spikes, others like spiral pillars. The air was filled with strong electromagnetic interference.

In such an environment, even the mining robots manufactured by the Arms Dealers Guild could not function normally due to the strong electromagnetic interference.

Magnetic Storm Space: A special scene crafted by the Ming Du tribe by capturing a large number of lightning-elemental lifeforms; it buried numerous resources, treasures, and a Nine Yin Divine Bestowal Certificate (lost), used for the trial and growth of ultimate warriors.

After successively checking a large amount of space information and confirming the feasibility of establishing a space node in this location, Qi Sheng's consciousness returned to the first layer space.

After leaving coordinate information in the first layer space of the Di Ku Shi Jie, his consciousness followed the guidance back to the Meng Yuan Chu Altar.

Looking at the large map of the Pale Continent region.

The location of the Ming Du Di Ku was in the central-eastern area between the Colorful Mist Coast and the Imperial Tomb Mountain Range, also a region covered by the Player Corridor.

In the future, it will also be a very distinctive, dense dungeon region within the players' territory.

After contacting Yan Ming, the construction of the space node began.

Accompanied by the consumption of Shou Shou Jili, invisible space tracks were quickly generated.

For the player legion's fourth space node, he named it: Monster World.

In terms of space area, it was benchmarked against the Winter Snow Plains region.

Once the space node structure was completed and connected to the Imperial Tomb Village space, he would launch a new round of player recruitment.

This time, he planned to consume 300 million Shou Shou Jili to distribute 300,000 game qualifications to the public on the Monster World official website.

(End of Chapter)