Chapter 203: Village Entrance Soul Wander, Lord Mode

Dizong Village, respawn point.

After a flash of Bai Guang, Li Zheng and the Gantry Emperor Team players appeared on the teleportation square.

Before returning this time, they had already informed the Four-Eyed Clan and others of the situation.

They would return to the training camp during the next recruitment cycle.

The Four-Eyed Clan students expressed confusion, asking about the probability risk of player resurrection—what if they lost members after death?

In response, Li Zheng's answer was that while the risk existed, the probability of resurrection was far higher than that of death.

This talent organ transplant granted each of them 340,000 Shou Shou Jili in gains.

It was not an exaggeration to call it a sudden windfall.

But this model clearly could not be replicated.

When they returned to the training camp next time, even if they wanted to transplant talent organs again, the rune physicians would refuse.

Their actions had cut off the path for later players entering the training camp to earn Shou Shou Jili through talent organ transplants.

Such attempts yielded benefits only for those who were first to try.

Even if they had not chosen to do this, later players entering the training camp would still attempt it—and still block the path for those who came after.

After the Bai Guang before them faded, Li Zheng and the Gantry Emperor Team players looked around at the surroundings.

They found the starter village had changed noticeably since their departure.

First, the spiritual energy concentration in the air—each breath brought abundant energy particles into their bodies, circulating and nourishing them.

"The village has changed so much." Looking around, Li Zheng noticed many new buildings nearby.

The teleportation point had also merged with the respawn point.

"Remember when we first entered the Monster World? The village had only dilapidated houses, not a single decent structure… In just over half a year, the changes here have been enormous."

Recalling the past, the Gantry Emperor Team felt deep emotion.

As the first batch of players in Version B of the Monster World, they had witnessed firsthand the development of the player legion from nothing to something.

They had also enjoyed every benefit brought by the player legion's growth.

When they first entered the game, they never faced the troubles new players encounter today.

For example, which Painful Painful Minghun to choose at startup for faster hunting and leveling.

To them, these were complaints born of excessive abundance.

When they first entered the Monster World, the only Painful Painful Minghun options were the three initial Phantom Gods—nothing else.

Even the teaming mode hadn't been launched yet; monster kills awarded rewards based purely on who landed the final blow.

Communication relied entirely on shouting.

As for guides, there wasn't even a trace of a forum, let alone guide-focused players.

Everything was explored through pure pioneering.

Even the map was shrouded in thick fog; the regions near Dizong Village's exit were still the very areas they had explored and cleared.

Recalling how they first entered the game half a year ago, Li Zheng never imagined he'd reach this point.

His original intention was simple: to earn money in the game by grinding.

So upon entering, he named himself: Game Bricklayer.

Yet, thanks to their early-mover advantage, they now stood at the pinnacle of the player legion, admired by countless forum players as top-tier players.

They were also among the very few players on the Reverse Tide legion growth path.

Without exaggeration, the fifty players who joined the Reverse Tide legion after them were all pushed in by him and his brothers through hunger and sleepless nights.

"Let's go to the Training Tower to equip cultivation combat techniques."

As Li Zheng spoke, he summoned his flying sword vehicle and headed toward the Training Tower on the map.

The other Gantry Emperor Team players also summoned their vehicles and followed.

From high above, Dizong Village revealed that the vehicles now used by players resembled a chaos of demons.

Some players rode flying brooms in magical robes; others glided on skateboards; some rode giant rabbits, moving by their bouncing leaps… Each player had their own unique style.

Thanks to the free customization of the Armed Vehicle System.

Players could fully assemble novel, distinctive vehicles.

Even if they lacked the ability themselves, they could find professional players on the forum to customize exclusive vehicle designs.

Flying low, they saw many unfamiliar alien player figures along the way.

Tall, burly Beastkin warriors carried massive axes, trudging heavily through the crowd, their pale green skin shimmering faintly under the golden wheel above.

Elegant Huntspirit players with silver hair gathered before the village's pet shop, apparently in heated argument over some issue, faces flushed.

Slender Breaker players clustered on the grass before Dizong Village's library, enjoying spiritual meal sets purchased from the trading market.

At the tavern at the end of the street, three Featherfolk players leaned on each other, faces flushed red, smiling broadly.

Through the bustling street, a group of Giant Serpentkin players, bare-chested, discussed something.

As Li Zheng flew his sword over them, he caught the words "Arena."

Clearly, the Giant Serpentkin players were discussing Arena-related guides—fitting their warlike nature.

Diverse vehicles, alien players of different skin tones and physiques… Dizong Village's scenery made Li Zheng feel as if he stood in a bustling metropolis of another world.

It was like the center of another world, where players of all races converged, lively as an endless celebration.

Arriving before the Training Tower, Li Zheng thought once—and his flying sword instantly disassembled into countless pixel blocks, flowing back onto his body to form a set with the character "Gantry" printed on the back.

His body descended from the air, landed with bent knees to absorb the impact, and stood firm.

Without waiting for his brothers behind him, he walked straight to the teleportation zone, spending 1 Shou Shou Jili to enter the Training Tower.

Before coming, he had studied forum guides for a long time and had already decided which type of cultivation combat technique to equip.

Cultivation combat techniques were divided into four tiers; he chose the second-tier Spirit-level technique.

As for higher-grade combat techniques, although body-tempering experience rose quickly during the continuous idle cultivation, the expenditure was also large.

According to the suggestions put forward by the strategy-guide players on the forum, it was best to choose a cultivation combat technique whose returns could cover twenty-four hours of uninterrupted activation.

What he had selected was a Spirit-grade combat technique: Earth Vein.

Its selling price was 35,000 points of Shou Shou Jili, and its effect was that the body's qualities received an all-round additional boost (Qi-blood intensity, bone density, organ operating efficiency).

This cultivation combat technique had plenty of favorable reviews from strategy-guide players on the forum.

The process of gaining body-tempering experience already boosted all-attribute bonuses, and cultivating Earth Vein granted additional attribute bonuses on top of that — extremely suitable for players like him who walked the melee-combat path.

He dragged the earth-yellow combat technique phantom into the Gong Fa embedding slot.

His consciousness tapped "Confirm," 35,000 Shou Shou Jili was automatically deducted, and a flood of information surfaced in his mind.

This information was as if memories had been implanted deep in his brain, completely skipping the learning process.

The cultivation method was also very simple — he only needed to open "Gong Fa Cultivation" in the function panel, where there was a switch that could be toggled with his consciousness.

Sliding it to the left turned off auto-cultivation; sliding it to the right turned on auto-cultivation.

Only by truly coming into contact with cultivation combat techniques could one understand how heaven-defying the "idle cultivation" ability the players possessed was.

Thorn Training Camp had a one-hour cultivation combat technique class every day.

During this period, the trainees would use the cultivation combat techniques taught by the clan to perform spiritual energy inhalation and exhalation cultivation.

This process demanded total concentration — using consciousness to guide the spiritual energy along the paths of the meridians within the body, while the body simultaneously performed the various movements that accompanied the cultivation combat technique.

The slightest lapse could cause the spiritual energy to flow poorly, or even deviate.

Although it would not leave any after-effects, it would still produce considerable pain.

By comparison, the auto-cultivation mode was simply cheating.

No concentration needed, no patience needed, no movements needed… the entire process only required toggling the switch to choose whether to start or end cultivation.

Even more outrageous was the cultivation efficiency and endurance.

During normal cultivation, it was inevitable that emotions like slackness, absent-mindedness, and irritability would appear and exert influence.

But the auto-cultivation mode had no such worries — as long as he had Shou Shou Jili on him, he could steadily gain body-tempering experience twenty-four hours a day.

Only by leaving the village and seeing the Facing World outside would one realize how outrageous the many functions the forum players in the village had complained were expensive truly were.

Any single one of them, taken out at random, could establish a cheat-level faction.

With the cultivation combat technique embedded, Seeing Li Zheng left the cultivation tower space and returned to the outside world.

As he breathed, the white airflow carried specks of earth-yellow energy that surged into his body, gathering at the spleen within as his perception observed.

Before long, the brothers had also all finished equipping their cultivation combat techniques and walked out of the cultivation tower space.

"Li-ge, where to next?"

Eating Earth asked curiously.

After they left, Imperial Tomb Village had added two functional buildings: a pet shop and a cultivation tower.

Of these, the pet shop held no meaning for players like them who walked the Reverse Tide Legion growth path.

Pets could not be summoned inside the training camp.

The only pet that fit was Fatty Peach, who could be raised for old age.

But they underwent high-intensity training every day — where would they find the mind to look after a pet?

Most of the time, the moment they got back to the dorm they were out like a light, and any pet following them would probably starve to death inside the pet space.

Compared to the meager scraps Fatty Peach produced by being fed spirit plants, it was far more worthwhile to eat a nourishing, nutrient-packed feast in the Reverse Tide Legion.

So before returning to the village, they had already decided that none of them would raise growth-type pets, and would instead spend more Shou Shou Jili on raising their Star Vein level.

Facing Eating Earth's question, Seeing Li Zheng thought briefly before speaking:

"Next we're going to hunt in the Imperial Tomb Mountain Range to raise our Painful Painful Minghun level."

Saying so, Seeing Li Zheng summoned his friends list, preparing to ask a few leaders of the major guilds whether they were organizing group hunting activities.

The first person he contacted was the leader of the Divine Hall Guild: Divine King.

The connection waited several seconds before being picked up. In the light-screen image, Divine King had his eyes tightly shut, activating the Eagle-Head Demon and other Painful Painful Minghun traits to direct combat.

"Something up, Brick-moving brothers?" Divine King asked with closed eyes.

"Just got back to the hometown, preparing to hunt and raise my Painful Painful Minghun level — wanted to ask if your team still needs people."

Facing the question, Divine King opened his eyelids, and countless colors churned within his pupils:

"Very much so. The combat intensity in the Imperial Tomb Mountain Range right now is way too high, but I'm afraid you lot won't be able to get through."

"What do you mean?"

"You should have seen it on the forum — the Imperial Tomb Mountain Range area right now is in the First-Quarter Moon phase, the monsters are way over-tuned, and your ten-person squad would probably get killed by the derivative evil spirits before reaching where we are."

"That intense!"

"Mm, how about waiting for the next round, and acting together with our joint battle group then."

"Would flying over work?" Seeing Li Zheng asked curiously.

"Very hard. The First-Quarter Moon scene has tons of flying-type derivative evil spirits, and their hunting levels are all very high too — with your lot's lacking aerial combat ability, you definitely won't get through."

"Understood. We'll leave the village first and test the derivative evil spirits' strength — contact me when you organize the next round of hunting."

"No problem."

Hanging up, Seeing Li Zheng asked several other top guild leaders.

Their answers were all similar.

They said it would be very difficult — nearly impossible — for their ten-person squad to reach the area where they were, and suggested waiting for the next round to gather and leave the village together.

Hanging up the connection again, Seeing Li Zheng decided to first go out with the brothers and test the strength of the First-Quarter Moon derivative evil spirits.

"Let's go — we're leaving the village to hunt first."

……

A few minutes later, the mist before his eyes dispersed.

Li Zheng and the brothers of the Liver Emperor Group appeared at the exit of Emperor Tomb Village.

This is where the dream began.

He still clearly remembered the funny scene from his first time leaving the village.

At that time, he had laughed and said the giant beast falling from the clouds in the distance was just an opening CG scene, only to have his nostrils bleed from the roar, making a fool of himself.

Looking up at the sky, a bright, eerie crescent moon hung high in the heavens.

Compared to the village entrance in his memory, the scene under the crescent moon state had undergone earth-shattering changes.

Many black tide-corrupted buildings he had never seen before had appeared.

The ground beneath his feet was cracked and barren; ash-like particles floated in the air; a biting cold wind swept across the land, brushing against his body like invisible ghostly hands scraping his skin.

Gazing into the distance, many black tide-derived evil spirits he had never seen before roamed the land.

In the sky, countless dark shadows darted through the low-pressure dark clouds.

"How about trying the battle formation mode?" Sha Xin suggested eagerly.

"Sure. We learned the battle formation mode at the training camp for a while but have never used it in actual combat; it's a good chance to try it." Family Shared Godfather nodded in agreement.

"Don't try it. There will be chances to use the battle formation later; our proficiency is too poor. This is the crescent moon stage; coming back to upgrade the Painful Painful Minghun level is the key." Chi Tu immediately shook his head and rejected Sha Xin's and Family Shared Godfather's proposal.

"Chi Tu is right. The most important thing for us returning is to level up; there are plenty of chances to improve battle formation proficiency." Li Zheng also expressed Ji De Xiang Fa at this moment.

"Brother Li, we'll follow your lead."

With leveling up confirmed as the priority, they rushed toward the nearest derived evil spirit.

Whether the combined combat power of the ten-person squad could defeat a derived evil spirit, Li Zheng had no confidence.

Their squad's Body Tempering level was supreme among all players, but they had no advantage in Painful Painful Minghun level.

Opening the leaderboard revealed that the player with the highest single Painful Painful Minghun level had already reached level 63.

Their highest single Painful Painful Minghun level was only 49.

They could only use their advantage in Body Tempering level to make up for the attribute gap in Painful Painful Minghun level.

Although in terms of overall combat power comparison, they were even stronger than that batch of top-tier players.

But their attribute advantages over other players were meaningless in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region during the crescent moon stage.

According to the guide introduction, in the crescent moon stage, the average combat power level of derived evil spirits in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range scene was level 78.

Many top-tier player squads had already abandoned activities in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region; only large top-tier guilds had the ability to hunt in team mode on this land.

Their ten-person squad might not even be a match for the lowest-level derived evil spirit.

But they still planned to find a derived evil spirit to practice on; without trying personally, their understanding of the intensity would remain merely a concept.

They had experienced the Soul Drift mode back then as well.

The days at the start when five black-armored snakes coiled around a cursed soldier felt like yesterday.

Before long, they arrived at the area where the derived evil spirit was located.

The appearance of the derived evil spirit ahead resembled a scarecrow stuck in the ground, wearing tattered rags, surrounded by an aura of decay and rot, with strips of cloth on its body dancing wildly like ghosts in the cold wind.

Its head had no flesh and blood, only a skeleton, with two eyes inlaid with red stones, wearing a hat woven from straw.

Its body was haphazardly bound together with dry, brittle straw; much of the straw had broken off and lay piled at its feet.

A gust of cold wind blew, and the scarecrow made a "creak, creak" sound.

The Jie Xi Gong scan swept over, and detailed information appeared in the minds of the Liver Emperor Group players.

【Dark Scarecrow (Derived Evil Spirit)】:

Hunting Level: 85

Target Introduction: A derived evil spirit unique to the crescent moon stage, possessing powerful dark erosion abilities; it can release dark mist to absorb nearby vitality; if a living creature inhales the mist, its consciousness will be gradually eroded by dark energy, eventually becoming a puppet controlled by the Dark Scarecrow.

"Brother Li, what do you say?"

Glancing at the Dark Scarecrow's hunting level, Chi Tu immediately felt the pressure.

No wonder the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region had become so desolate.

The Emperor Tomb Mountain in crescent moon mode is set to "Hard Mode"; normal player squads here can only suffer abuse.

Only large guilds have the qualification to roam here freely; after all, evil spirits with hunting levels in the 80s cannot withstand a round of concentrated firebombing from thousands of players, or even tens of thousands.

"Let's try."

Although he had no confidence, their combat power could no longer be calculated by Painful Painful Minghun level.

The attribute bonuses brought by Body Tempering level allowed them to fight above their level, but whether they could defeat the Dark Scarecrow remained unknown.

"Kill!"

At this moment, Li Zheng suddenly clenched his fist; crimson qi flowed up from his soles, spreading outward in layers of energy ripples.

Once his body was wrapped in the crimson qi, he struck first.

His right fist, wrapped in crimson qi, gathered force while running, smashing toward the Dark Scarecrow's head like a fierce tiger pouncing on prey.

Just then, a blood-red arrow whizzed past him at even greater speed, precisely striking the Dark Scarecrow's head.

Boom!

The Dark Scarecrow's head tilted backward 45 degrees before suddenly snapping back into place; bloodlight erupted from its two ruby-like eyes, staring straight at the approaching Li Zheng.

Li Zheng felt as if his body had sunk into a quagmire; the fist he threw met abnormal resistance as it pushed forward.

Boom!

The release of spiritual power intensified continuously; just as Li Zheng's fist was about to hit the scarecrow, it was instantly blasted away by an invisible force.

As his figure was sent flying backward, Family Shared Godfather activated the Painful Painful Minghun trait "Blood Chain Tether"; a blood-red chain suddenly surged forth, wrapping around his waist; a sudden downward pull seized him, dragging him back to the ground.

"Brother Li, let me handle it."

As the team's only damage-soaking tank, Family Share Godfather bared his teeth in a grin, then charged straight at the Dark Scarecrow.

His left hand condensed a stone shield mid-sprint.

Just then, another psychic shockwave came crashing in.

Family Share Godfather decisively activated the Painful Painful Minghun trait "Unyielding," dispersing the invisible force cloaking his body.

Then a "Heavy Hammer" slammed hard into the Dark Scarecrow's chest, though the strike dealt no damage and triggered no stun.

Evidently, in terms of effect resolution, the stun from Heavy Hammer couldn't pierce the Dark Scarecrow's psychic defense.

Thick, ink-like dark mist spewed from the scarecrow's withered fingertips, surging like a tide toward the Liver Emperor team.

Realizing it was area-of-effect damage, Family Share Godfather decisively activated Life Share, linking to the nearest ally, Seeing Li Zheng.

Then dense, rain-like ink-flame fireballs flew in from afar, battering the Dark Scarecrow backward step by step as black flames ignited across its body.

After the initial exchange, Seeing Li Zheng and the rest of the Liver Emperor team immediately felt the pressure.

This Dark Scarecrow was one of the rare psychic-type evil spirits; the invisible shockwaves could only be blocked by Family Share Godfather, making it nearly impossible for Seeing Li Zheng to close in.

Ranged attacks from the rear by players like Killing Intent and Chi Tu could deal damage, but the damage was honestly limited.

The Dark Scarecrow could generate a dark shield with its psychic power, easily deflecting incoming ranged physical and magical attacks.

During the prolonged fight, Seeing Li Zheng downed several potions to restore his health.

But fortunately, their teamwork was extremely tight.

As long as Family Share Godfather didn't fall, they had the ability to grind this Dark Scarecrow to death.

Just as victory seemed within reach, the Death Scarecrow suddenly split its mouth and let out a piercing shriek.

The sound wave swept through, reaching even Chi Tu and the others in the distance, who all fell into brief trances.

"Not good, other derivative evil spirits are approaching nearby."

Chi Tu, who had been keeping the Hawk-Headed Demon perception state active, decisively called out a warning.

"Run, or keep fighting!"

"Fight!" Seeing Li Zheng chose to continue the battle without hesitation.

By now the psychic shield on the Dark Scarecrow was riddled with holes, and its straw-woven body was battered and broken.

Victory was within reach; he had no intention of leaving in disgrace.

With gang qi swirling around him, Seeing Li Zheng suddenly activated the Strength Savage trait and slammed his right fist hard into the dark shield.

Bang!

As his body was once again blasted back by the psychic shockwave, the dark shield on the scarecrow's surface shattered along with it.

While flying backward, Seeing Li Zheng decisively raised his hand, condensing qi and blood in his palm into a blood-colored chain, twisting his body midair to hurl it at the Dark Scarecrow.

The blood-colored chain slithered through the air like a spirit snake, instantly coiling around the scarecrow's neck.

Seeing Li Zheng yanked hard, pulling himself toward the scarecrow.

The scarecrow was lifted into the air by the force as well.

"Meteor Fist."

With the Extreme Speed trait maxed out, his right fist wrapped in gang qi twitched like a cramp, transforming into countless fist shadows as it struck.

At that moment a teammate tossed over the Blood Ignite trait, and his muscles instantly swelled as if pumped full of air.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The frenzied assault rained down like a storm; the scarecrow's body was torn apart midair, and the Challenger prompt echoed in the minds of the Liver Emperor team players.

After a flash of Xiong Xiong on Seeing Li Zheng's body, his main Painful Painful Minghun "Gang Qi" had leveled up to 50.

The moment his feet hit the ground, he heard Chi Tu's startled shout ring out in the chat channel:

"Brother Li, the big ones are here."

He whipped his head around to look—three headless knights wielding scythes were charging in from the distance.

They rode massive Blaze Bone Steeds, whose hooves struck the ground with a heavy, powerful rhythm, as if to shatter the earth itself.

Each headless knight was wreathed in dark mist as solid as substance, as if countless vengeful souls clung to their bodies.

The massive scythes in their hands flickered with a cold, ghostly light, now raised high, with faint dark-red blood veins glinting along the blades.

As the headless knights rapidly closed in, the surrounding temperature plummeted, the cold piercing like needles into the bone.

Darkness spread like a vast curtain, swiftly engulfing everything with the headless knights as its source.

His Analyze ability swept over them.

【Nightmare Knight (Derivative Evil Spirit)】:

Hunt Level: 87

Target Introduction: A derivative evil spirit cloaked in a Death Aura, commonly appearing in waxing moon or full moon scenes (full moon form: Apocalypse Knight). Possesses powerful physical attack capability and defense; the Death Aura it releases continuously applies a Weakened state to nearby targets.

……

Discovering that three derivative evil spirits at Hunt Level 87 were bearing down on them, Seeing Li Zheng and the others decisively turned and ran.

This fight was utterly hopeless.

Fighting meant death; fleeing was the only slim chance of survival.

"Brother Li, wait for us, protect the mage!"

"Protect my ass—just run the other way and buy me time to escape. I can actually get away; you lot with your short legs might as well die."

Hearing Chi Tu's shout, Seeing Li Zheng decisively sped up his sprint.

At this point, how fast you ran didn't matter—what mattered was running faster than your teammates to have a shot at survival.

When teammates needed to be abandoned, they had to be abandoned.

Though a one-hour resurrection cooldown was nothing special, being alive was clearly more meaningful than being dead.

Family Share Godfather also caught up tightly at this moment.

"Family, why are you following me? As the team's damage-soaking tank, you should be protecting the teammates behind you."

Facing the question, Family Shared Godfather said righteously:

"Seeing Li Zheng, you are my teammate. Am I not sticking close to you, protecting your safety?"

Seeing Li Zheng was about to respond when he heard a miserable scream from behind.

Looking back, Eating Dirt had been flicked into the air by the Nightmare Knight's scythe, and from afar raised his middle finger at them:

"Good brothers, for life."

Beside Eating Dirt, Kill Intent calmly took a piece of grilled fish from his spatial pouch, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed and swallowed, having already given up on fleeing, waiting for death to arrive.

Leopard Head and the other teammates also struck poses to face death head-on.

Seeing Li Zheng decisively quickened his running speed at this moment.

"Extreme Speed, activate!"

Under Extreme Speed mode, Seeing Li Zheng's running speed suddenly increased, gradually pulling away from Family Shared Godfather.

"Blood Chain Pull, Seeing Li Zheng help me."

Just as Seeing Li Zheng thought he was about to escape, a blood-colored chain suddenly wrapped around his waist, and a tremendous force violently struck from behind, yanking him flying backward.

Looking back, Family Shared Godfather's smiling face enlarged before his eyes.

The moment his body hit the ground, Family Shared Godfather raised his rock shield and smashed it down at his head:

"Seeing Li Zheng, sorry about that."

Bang!

The Heavy Hammer trait activated, and Seeing Li Zheng instantly fell into a dazed, half-conscious state.

Fortunately, he had embedded the Painful Painful Minghun, which instantly dispersed this negative status.

Looking back at the Nightmare Knight rapidly charging toward him, he decisively activated Extreme Speed again and sprinted toward the entrance of Imperial Tomb Village:

"Family, you're pulling dirty tricks, aren't you!"

"Everything is for the sake of staying alive."

"Bah."

After spitting in disgust, the battle armor on the running Seeing Li Zheng transformed into countless pixels, condensing beside him into a flying sword.

His body suddenly leaped up, accelerating flight via sword-riding.

Within a few breaths, he once again flew ahead of Family Shared Godfather.

To prevent being dragged back again, he decisively pulled away from Family Shared Godfather.

"See ya."

Looking down, Family Shared Godfather had already been caught up to by the Nightmare Knight, about to enter the little black room.

With Imperial Tomb Village right ahead, Seeing Li Zheng's eyes held a smile.

But just then, Family Shared Godfather's laughter rang out in his mind:

"Seeing Li Zheng, thanks a lot."

As the words fell, he suddenly felt an Intense Weightlessness assail him.

When his vision cleared, he found a faintly glowing scythe chopping toward him head-on, the tip of his nose enveloped by the rotting aura emanating from the Nightmare Knight.

Bang.

The scythe struck his protective qi barrier, and Seeing Li Zheng's lower half was smashed into the earth. He only felt his qi and blood surging within, fresh blood flowing from his nostrils.

Looking into the distance, Family Shared Godfather was stepping on his flying sword, charging straight toward Imperial Tomb Village's barrier.

"As the team's damage-soaking tank, who taught you to use Star Shift like that? Shameless!"

"Star Shift, swap positions. Thanks to Seeing Li Zheng bro for sponsoring the escape mileage, we'll meet again in an hour!" Family Shared Godfather turned around at this moment, his expression solemn as he cupped his fists toward him:

"Until we meet again."

After speaking, Family Shared Godfather's figure passed through Imperial Tomb Village's barrier and vanished, the flying sword beneath his feet automatically disintegrating into pixels and drifting back toward Seeing Li Zheng.

"You animal!"

Seeing Li Zheng was dumbfounded.

He never expected that in the end it was Family Shared Godfather who got away, and he himself had become the stepping stone for that man's survival.

"Shameless, utterly shameless."

Furious Seeing Li Zheng condensed his qi barrier, threw a punch at the Nightmare Knight, and was then smashed into the earth by a scythe strike.

……

One hour later.

Family Shared Godfather was pinned to the ground by Seeing Li Zheng and the others with their arms around his throat, finger flicks popping one after another on his forehead.

"Speak up, you little punk—do you love your bros or do you love your own life?"

"Who was it that said, as long as I'm alive I absolutely won't let my bros get hurt? I let you run that fast."

"Who the hell taught you to use Star Shift like that? Other people's damage-soaking tanks use Star Shift to protect teammates, but you screw over your teammates, don't you?"

Facing the gang-beating from his bros, Family Shared Godfather decisively apologized and showed submission:

"Big bros, I was wrong, I won't dare anymore."

"Wrong where?"

"Wrong in running faster than you guys."

"No, the wrong is in running at all. As the team's damage-soaking tank, you shouldn't have run in the first place."

"Understood, next time I absolutely won't run."

After a bout of horseplay, the Liver Emperor Guild players pressing down on Family Shared Godfather all got up one after another.

Family Shared Godfather swept his gaze full of grievance across the smiles beaming on his bros' faces, secretly vowing in his heart: next time you guys run, I'll run too; whoever doesn't run is an idiot.

As a damage-absorbing tank, you still need to be able to take the hit before stepping forward.

After the interlude, Li Zheng planned to take his brothers to Colorful Mist Coast for a spiritual meal, waiting for the God-King to launch the next joint battalion.

……

They arrived at the beach of Colorful Mist Coast via the teleportation plaza.

Compared to Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, the environment here was comfortable and pleasant.

The salty sea breeze carried the ocean's unique freshness and dampness across their cheeks; each breath filled them with vitality, as if drinking a refreshing, soul-soothing spring.

The sky, free of the Evil Moon, was a sapphire blue, pure and untainted; white clouds, fluffy as cotton candy, drifted gently with the breeze.

The beach was dotted with players of countless races.

Gazing far into the distance, the horizon shimmered under sunlight; the sea was crystal clear, revealing multicolored shells on the shallows, seaweed swaying with the waves, and aquatic creatures darting between them.

Waves lapped gently against the shore rocks, producing a soothing "whoosh-whoosh," spraying white foam.

Near shore, several fishing-enthusiast-made sailboats bobbed on the sea, their white sails standing out vividly against the blue sky and emerald sea.

Occasionally, laughter from the fishermen could be heard drifting from the boats.

The comfortable environment was the primary reason Colorful Mist Coast ranked first on the region's review board.

Finding an open spot, the group lay down to sunbathe.

Li Zheng looked toward a fish-cheeked player nearby setting up a stall, ordered several famous spiritual snacks from the forum, then summoned the forum interface.

During training camp, every day was spent growing under high pressure.

This ease was rare indeed.

He opened the livestream section, typed "God-King" into the search bar, and tapped confirm.

There were two viewing modes for livestreams.

One was interface viewing, where the interface could be freely dragged, resized, and repositioned within the field of view.

This mode did not interfere with activity and was ideal for casual entertainment.

Multiple livestreams could be viewed simultaneously, as long as they fit within the field of view.

The second was immersive viewing, which switched to the streamer's perspective or guided perspective, fully covering the field of view.

In immersive viewing mode, no activity was possible.

But recently, an exception emerged.

If a player watched a livestream from someone inside the Death Space dungeon, they could only view it in immersive mode—interface mode was unavailable.

It wasn't that interface mode couldn't be selected.

Rather, in interface mode, the visuals from the Death Space dungeon appeared abstracted and accelerated.

Forum players had analyzed this phenomenon.

They believed that within the Death Space dungeon, the player's brain activity accelerated, processing vast amounts of information rapidly, causing the visuals to become abstract and sped up.

This theory was confirmed by the Guide.

In truth, time inside the Death Space dungeon flowed at the same rate as the outside world.

Only the speed within the Illusion was accelerated.

When a player died in the Illusion, they were not truly attacked by its monsters; instead, the Lord of Bliss inflicted real-time injuries upon them using Bliss Energy.

Li Zheng found the God-King's livestream on the list and clicked to enter.

Before his eyes appeared the signature scene of Emperor Tomb Mountain Range: a suffocating environment with the Evil Moon hanging high.

On screen, the God-King was commanding the joint battalion as it clashed with the Black Tide Legion led by Earth-Nourish Tyrant.

What surprised Li Zheng was the God-King's ability.

The God-King's forehead glowed a yellowish-brown mark; instantly, the earth at the horizon trembled violently, as if awakened by an invisible force.

Like ocean waves, massive rocks erupted from the ground, crushing and locking together, forming in an instant a towering Earth Shield.

The localized assault controlled by Earth-Nourish Tyrant was instantly halted by the shield, its momentum shattered.

"Holy shit, this ability would make mining skyrocket." Li Zheng was stunned by the sight.

He had always thought of the God-King as a commander-type player with low personal combat power—but now he could alter the landscape at will.

This reminded him of a heated forum topic two months ago.

The God-King had successfully contained the sixth-generation Source-Prime monster: the Lord.

Clearly, the God-King had activated Lord Mode, releasing a special ability by consuming Lord Energy.

The power of the sixth-generation Source-Prime filled him with envy.

As first-generation players, they still only had embedded Source-Primes of generations 1 to 4.

At that moment, the God-King's forehead glowed a green mark.

Switching from Lord of Earth Mode to Lord of Forest Mode.

Spots of emerald green spread outward from the point the God-King focused on; barren Black Tide land instantly sprouted countless tender green shoots, growing at astonishing speed.

In moments, a dense little forest had taken root.

Thick trunks intertwined, forming a natural barrier; branches bristled with sharp thorns, lashing out at incoming Catastrophe-class troops, shielding and allowing damage-absorbing players to retreat and recover.

Then the God-King's forehead mark shifted to icy blue.

Snow began to fall over the battlefield, instantly engulfing the area in extreme cold…

Compared to 1-4 generation Painful Painful Minghun, the Lord Painful Painful Minghun gave Li Zheng a divine sense of commanding nature.

But this Painful Painful Minghun had drawbacks.

He remembered forum discussions at the time; testers noted that each activation of Lord Mode consumed Lord Energy, and releasing abilities also drained Lord Energy.

The larger the area affected and the greater the environmental change, the more Lord Energy was consumed.

Theoretically, with infinite Lord Energy, one could treat the battlefield as a canvas and reshape the environment at will.

But this only holds in theory.

The acquisition of Lord Power can only be sustained through the method of occupying territory.

Early players possess a huge advantage; players who join later can only establish Lord Nodes in those monster-dense regions.

Although one can use underhanded tricks, such as luring monsters to destroy Lord Nodes set up by other Lord-stream players, the outcome of doing so will be miserable.

Especially when facing the boss of the top guild, God King, if ordinary players dare to use underhanded tricks to seize territory nodes, they probably won't even be able to get out of the village entrance afterwards.

The war continues; the collision between the United Warband and the Hei Chao Xie Sui in the scene makes Seeing Li Zheng's heart surge with excitement.

This is the growth mode he wanted.

He and the brothers of the Grind Emperor Group all have the "War God Seal" blessing; the War Mode allows their combat power to achieve a leapfrog growth.

After a few wars, a significant gap in combat power improvement can be drawn away from ordinary players.

Although the Star Pulse does not have a Painful Painful Minghun of the fourth generation or above embedded, the Guidance had previously stated that the War God Seal rules on their bodies are top-tier derivative powers more precious than the sixth-generation Meng Yuan Chu.

The war continues; in observation, Seeing Li Zheng discovered.

Facing the version's epic-strength-upgraded Earth-Will Bully, even with the Lord Painful Painful Minghun blessing, the United Warband led by God King still fought very laboriously.

Especially in personal command ability, they were completely suppressed by the Earth-Will Bully.

Ultimately, the war's trajectory turned into a one-sided rout.

By the time they finished eating the Spirit Food, the United Warband had already been scattered by the Hei Chao Xie Sui.

Unable to organize effective united forces again, they could only be forced into Free War Mode.

Not long after, God King also died under the ferocious assault of the Hei Chao Xie Sui; the live broadcast screen was shrouded in darkness.

Several minutes later, God King sent a message:

God King: Brick-moving brothers, gather at Emperor Tomb Village in 50 minutes; I'll take you to fight the Bully again.

Game Brick-Moving Party: Received, we'll come early to gather!

Closing the dialogue box, Seeing Li Zheng stood up:

"Brothers, back to the village, fight the Bully."

(End of this chapter)