Chapter 215: Infiltrating the Enemy's Lair, Now a Big Shot

Di Ku Shi Jie, the Curse Source scene.

At the top of the city's tallest building, eight figures stood like phantoms.

The black robes they wore flapped loudly in the wind, and every face was hidden behind a grotesque ghost mask.

The leading figure casually slipped his hands into his pockets, his hem whipped about by the wind, standing at the peak of the scene looking down below like a sovereign ruling over all.

"Boss, do we move?"

Behind him, a burly figure whose ghost mask had the character "Stone" carved into its upper right corner asked in a low voice. The black clothes on his body were stretched taut, packed full by his explosive muscles, every inch of fabric seeming about to tear.

His gaze looked far off at the tiny moving figures below, arms crossed over his chest, thick muscles bulging high, feet planted firmly on the edge of the tall building, like a green pine rooted on a cliff—no matter how fierce the gale, it could not shake him in the slightest.

The golden eyes behind the mask shot out a bloodthirsty cold gleam through the eye holes.

"No rush."

Facing the question, the leader, Yang Xiu, raised his eyes, his expression cold, his voice without a single ripple.

As he spoke, Yang Xiu's gaze swept toward the figures below that were still searching.

After waiting a long while, those figures seemed to have chosen to give up, once again beginning to search for curse traps.

It was at this moment that Yang Xiu spoke in a low voice:

"Black Snake stays behind to snipe, the rest of you follow me."

As he spoke, Yang Xiu leaped from the rooftop.

The remaining figures also turned into phantoms at this moment, following as they leaped from the tall building.

The one remaining graceful figure raised the sniper weapon in her hand at this moment: Venom Sting.

Though called a sniper weapon, it was not a mechanical construct.

Its main body resembled a slender white scorpion, with a streamlined exoskeleton, its surface covered in a layer of flesh and blood that could change color according to the environment.

The barrel was a hollow tubular structure made of chitin, with spiral grooves inside similar to a gun barrel; the scope was the compound eye of some insect, composed of many independent small eyes.

The woman called Black Snake lowered her head and pressed her face against the stock position; the biological compound eye automatically extended and connected with Black Snake's right eye.

Instantly, the world Black Snake's right eye saw changed.

The vision became dim, yet appeared extraordinarily clear; in the ultra-wide field of view, the originally invisible wind now had flowing trajectories.

Black Snake placed her finger on the trigger position of Venom Sting.

The trigger was formed from a bundle of tough muscle fibers.

Pulling the trigger activated a spring-launch mechanism inside Venom Sting similar to that of a mantis shrimp, using the elastic potential energy stored during muscle contraction to instantly fire out the loaded bone spike.

And the bone spike was the bullet.

Hitting a target would secrete neurotoxin, and the surface would also spring out barbs to firmly lock onto the target.

Entering combat mode, the Venom Sting weapon extended several tentacles that connected with the woman's body, draining her blood like a living thing to charge itself.

The woman's gaze looked toward her moving teammates, seeking an opportunity to coordinate an attack.

On the other side, after landing, Yang Xiu led his teammates in rapid leaping advance along the streets, rushing toward the player squad that was currently breaking the curse.

"Stone Statue, you go first."

"Understood." The burly man called Stone Statue nodded in a deep voice, took a deep breath, and the muscles on his body swelled as if being inflated.

Yang Xiu's gaze swept toward the figure approaching the ring of light, then he nodded and said:

"Go."

"Kill." The man called Stone Statue leaned his body forward, suddenly raised his head, his right foot stamped the ground and shattered the stone slabs, and his body shot toward the player squad preparing to break the curse like a cannonball leaving the barrel.

"Follow." Yang Xiu said, his form turning into an illusion as he set off from another direction.

The remaining figures also moved out according to their pre-arranged positions.

At this moment, the player squad outside the halo cautiously scanned their surroundings; after confirming it was safe, they escorted the cursed teammate into the halo.

Just as the curse energy was rapidly being dispelled, the Eagle-Headed Demon player in the squad suddenly called out a warning:

"Everyone watch out, the pirated dogs are here!"

The moment the Eagle-Headed Demon player's words fell, a sharp sound of breaking wind came rushing in.

A bone spike instantly pierced through his forehead, leaving a bloody hole between his brows, and his body crashed down and dissipated into mist.

The remaining teammates acted decisively, spreading out around the halo.

In their vision, several black shadows rushed in swiftly from three directions.

The burly figure directly ahead was shrouded in black airflow, charging in like a tank at full speed, bringing with it a heavy oppressive pressure.

The tank player in the squad decisively stepped forward, raising his rock shield to prepare to take the impact head-on.

But just as the two sides were about to collide, the Extreme Bliss player called Stone Statue heard the voice of squad leader Yang Xiu in his ear, then his body suddenly rolled forward, vanishing instantly, and less than a second later bursting out from a gap in space, slamming violently into the magic-class player in the squad.

Bang!

The magic-class player, caught off guard, was knocked down instantly.

Stone Statue grabbed the magic-class player's neck, pressed him to the ground with one hand, his body sliding the magic-class player's head along the ground for several meters under inertia, then his left fist suddenly shot out, smashing viciously into the magic-class player's head.

Boom!

Under the successive blows, the magic-class player instantly turned into black mist and dissipated.

At the same time, on the rooftops on both sides of the street, several figures swooped down like flying birds.

Their movements were fluid as they moved; their toes only needed to tap lightly against the building walls to rapidly adjust their forms in mid-air.

One of the figures flipped in the air, borrowing the downward momentum, the dagger in hand stabbing toward a melee player.

"Seeking death." The player suddenly raised his Savage Axe to meet it.

But this figure instead leaped off the ground mid-air, his form soaring over the melee player's head, then forward-flipped in the air, a "Heavenly Falling Slash" gouging viciously into the melee player's back, tearing through the qi defense.

Blood sprayed, the melee player staggered two steps but was not killed.

He turned and unleashed "Blood Soul Pull," chains locking onto the assassin's ankle, yanking him close, then a Savage Axe chop carrying the "Heavy Hammer" effect came down.

But before this strike could land, another chain surged from the side, grabbing the figure's waist and abdomen, yanking him away from the forceful cleave of the Power-Might Axe in a narrow escape.

At this moment, low-grade Source Crystals were rapidly forming within the halo.

The other Jile players also entered the fray at this time.

Leading the charge, the Sheep Cultivator had a clear objective, quickly stealth-approaching the front of the light ring.

The player who had already lifted the curse immediately extended his right hand, intending to seize the low-grade Source Crystal about to coalesce and toss it into his spatial bag.

But the Sheep Cultivator was faster; he kicked the player's wrist inside the light ring, forcing him to release the low-grade Source Crystal he had just gripped.

The low-grade Source Crystal tumbled through the air.

Another Jile Assassin predicted the crystal's falling trajectory, lunged out like a hunting leopard, and firmly caught the crystal in his hand before swiftly retreating backward.

The remaining Jile Assassins also approached the player who caught the crystal at this moment, forming a tight defensive line to block the players' counterattack.

The Jile Assassin Group's movement was ethereal; in combat, they prioritized evasion first, then counterattack, a fighting style completely different from the players'.

In the initial clash, the player squad was completely suppressed, forced into a gradual retreat under the Jile Assassins' offensive.

At this time, a Jile Assassin circled behind a Support player, his dagger precisely thrusting toward the neck.

Just then, a light shield suddenly formed behind the Support player.

But to the Support player's disbelief, this Assassin seemed to predict it; the very next second after he released the light shield, the Assassin rolled forward.

After the roll and dodge, the Assassin ejected from the gap space had already appeared before the Support player.

The black-glow dagger pierced the Support player's neck without obstruction.

But the Support player reacted swiftly as well, decisively activating Life Link to transfer the damage.

Waa!

The player who launched the attack followed suit, opening his mouth to cough up blood; then a chain wrapped around his waist and abdomen, and he was dragged back to the squad by his teammates.

Subsequently, another Assassin wearing a ghost-face mask appeared beside the Support player; the short sword in his hand danced like a swimming dragon, sword shadows flashing, clearing the last sliver of the Support player's blood bar, who was in a wretched state.

Accompanying the Support player's dissipation into black mist, a whistle sounded, and the Jile Assassin Group quickly retreated.

A damage-tanking player in the squad wanted to pursue, but heard a sharp wind-breaking sound approaching again; he then suddenly raised a rock shield toward the direction the sound came from, intercepting a bone-spur bullet.

When he looked up again, the shadow figure had already walked far away.

In less than a minute of combat, the Jile Assassin Group completed the mission to seize the crystals.

They quickly retreated in different directions.

Their figures leaped between the tall buildings on both sides of the street, soon disappearing completely without a trace, leaving the player squad standing there in stunned silence.

What surprised them was not the strength of the Jile players, nor their coordinated combat teamwork.

It was a screenshot of an analysis shared by a player in the squad in the chat channel.

【Sheep-Headed Pride (Player)】

Panel Information: Target player has blocked display information (name display above head, attribute panel display); only the player faction marker is visible.

I thought encountering pirated players was already absurd enough.

Who would have thought that among this group of pirated players, an official player from our own faction had snuck in.

Even more absurdly, this official player who snuck into the pirated squad seemed to be the leader of this pirated player squad.

"Damn, we were betrayed by our own people?"

"Bastard, I've remembered him; don't let me meet him again next time."

Just as the squad players were raging, a voice suddenly sounded in the regional chat channel:

"Sorry, brothers. It wasn't easy to clear the trial and arrive in the Monster World as a Jile player. My life is now worth 200,000 Shou Shou Jili, with room for further appreciation. I can only execute the mission according to the requirements of that damn Main God. I apologize to you all; when I return to the village, I'll send you an apology red packet."

Hearing the apology in the regional channel, the squad players were stunned first, then shouted out in anger:

"You beast! You earned 200,000 Shou Shou Jili so easily, and you even formed your own squad in the Death Space. Are you planning a rebellion? Stop appreciating your value! The village is issuing gold bars; return immediately."

"Two crystals; remember, you owe us 10,000 Shou Shou Jili, plus 15,000 for mental distress. I'll note it down for you first."

"I'm so envious. Although the quota for Death Space qualifications has increased to 500 per day, it's like clocking in every day; you can barely grab one. You're truly awesome, actually clearing the trial to enter the Monster World... Also, your teammates are all incredibly fierce."

Hearing the voice in the regional voice channel, the Sheep Cultivator led his squad back to the rooftop of the city's tallest building to rendezvous with Black Snake.

Standing on the rooftop, gazing at the tiny player squad at the far end of his line of sight, ripples rose in the Sheep Cultivator's eyes.

As a member of the official players, he never expected to reach this point in the Death Space dungeon.

The squad he formed had a total of eight members.

Their codenames were all named after the Painful Painful Minghun of the player legion, shortened by one character.

His codename was Eagle Head; the only Berserker in the squad had the codename: Stone Statue.

The only Sniper had the codename: Black Snake.

The rest were Assassin-type players, each with their own Painful Painful Minghun codename.

As an old player, he was originally a member of the Divine Hall Guild, part of the Assassin Group in the warband.

More than half a month ago, Death Space dungeon qualifications were distributed at dawn.

At that time, he didn't take it seriously; after all, the probability of drawing a qualification was too small; he treated it purely as a daily check-in.

As a result, when he opened the lottery function and his consciousness touched the lucky bag, he incredibly drew the Death Space dungeon key with great luck.

The sudden surprise left him utterly bewildered, followed by sheer ecstasy.

The forum had numerous discussion threads about the Death Space, which mentioned the reward mechanism.

Even just completing the first round of the Death Trial could yield a substantial settlement reward.

This was one of the few gameplay modes developed in the Monster World that could yield high Shou Shou Jili returns.

To generate more Shou Shou Jili from this rare dungeon experience.

Before entering the Death Space, he reviewed a vast amount of strategy content posted on the forum and made sufficient preparations.

What can be confirmed is that in constructing the Death Space, the Lord of Bliss drew reference from the multi-space scenes of Di Ku Shi Jie.

The first veteran group member to enter the Death Space also discovered a new entrance to the Bliss Space within Di Ku Shi Jie, and only then got drawn into the Death Space scene, becoming one of the first players to brave the unknown.

The difference is that the scenes in Di Ku Shi Jie truly exist.

But the Death Space is an Illusion scene in consciousness-experience mode — only the rewards given by the Lord of Bliss are real.

Within the space, players cannot use Painful Painful Minghun abilities, nor receive any attribute boosts — they can only participate as ordinary mortals.

So even for them as players, there is no combat advantage whatsoever within the Bliss Space.

They might not even necessarily beat the Bliss players recruited by the Lord of Bliss in the initial scene, who are in the same boat as them.

Everyone's starting point is roughly the same.

But they as players have one huge advantage — the strategy guides left by predecessors on the forum.

For the initial trial, he was lucky enough to draw a scene with a detailed strategy guide; participating in the trial alongside him were 21 Bliss players.

In this trial, he chose to step forward in the role of "team strategist" to guide the team in completing the mission.

But even with the guide's help, four Bliss players still died during the trial mission.

Yet his outstanding performance also made him the leader of this rookie Bliss squad.

After returning to the Death Space and strengthening up, he began the second trial, the third trial… except for the fifth trial which had no guide, the other trials all had consultable strategy posts on the forum that could help him clear the trial scenes quickly.

In his teammates' eyes, he was a strategist of near-demonic cunning, the team's absolute core.

He was also one of the top three combatants in the team.

But only Yang Xiu himself knew that his combat ability was the only thing that was real.

Being able to join the Divine Hall Guild and enter the Assassin Group — which demands the highest combat technique — was all thanks to skill.

As for the "divine stratagems" his teammates spoke of, those relied on the paths of success that forum "predecessors" had blazed with their lives.

During this process, he discovered that he was growing rapidly.

At first, leaning on the guide, he spoke with confidence before his teammates, as if the Death Trial were entirely in his grasp, basking in the strategist halo crafted by the guide, enjoying the admiring gazes his teammates cast his way.

However, the guide could not solve every problem.

The Death Trial space also had version updates — the Lord of Bliss would patch bugs in the Illusion scenes — and each trial required contending against enemy-faction squads, with many unknown variables.

There were also moments at critical junctures when the guide failed, and he fell into panic and helplessness, realizing that the guide he had always relied on was not all-powerful.

But it was precisely the pressure brought on by desperate situations that forced him to compel himself to calm down.

Before this, as a veteran player, he had always followed Wang Zuo into battle.

There weren't many occasions requiring him to think independently — the most important thing was still following orders in combat.

But in the Death Space, having already positioned himself as the team's strategist, solving problems could only rely on himself.

The expectant gazes his teammates cast him filled him with immense pressure.

He began racking his brains to think of ways to solve the problem.

As one idea after another surfaced, he advanced from a fake strategist toward becoming a true one.

He recovered the sense of control he had when first studying the guides, no longer afraid of failure.

His mindset at this point was already one of throwing caution to the wind — at worst, he'd return to the village and settle the rewards.

But it was precisely under this mentality that he came up with solutions to problems in dire situations several times.

This kind of success brought him a deep sense of accomplishment, unlike the false sense of strength that came from relying on guides in the early days.

He felt he had truly gained the ability to face adversity, and a way of thinking for solving problems.

He also gradually transformed from a guide-reliant player into a true team leader.

Combined with the command rhythm he had learned from Wang Zuo, he united the squad members and pushed through one grueling trial predicament after another.

During this process, some teammates died and left, while new teammates entered and joined.

Up to now, only seven teammates remained alongside him to clear the Death Trial and descend upon Monster World.

It can be said that every teammate by his side is a super warrior who fought with all their might to break free from the Death Vortex.

More importantly, they all possessed the opening "Talent" abilities bestowed by the Lord of Bliss.

They were the absolute elite among the Bliss player population.

The Painful Painful Minghun squad he led ranked first on the same-period squad (sub-space scene) leaderboard before entering Monster World.

It seemed as though only a little over half a month had passed in the instance, but Yang Xiu, upon returning to Monster World again, felt as if a lifetime had passed.

Because he had already spent a good half year within the Illusion.

Adding the training time after each trial in the Death Space, after inquiring with the guide, he learned that his consciousness had undergone 8 months and 13 days of tempering within the Death Space.

The sense of vicissitude brought by the passage of time washed over him.

But his Death Space journey was clearly not yet over.

Now he was an elite Bliss warrior, freed from the shackles of the trial tests, able to lead his squad to take action in Monster World according to the missions given by the Bliss race.

Beyond the mission requirements, he could even apply for free action.

In terms of gains, the Lord of Bliss would provide additional subsidies.

This time, being deployed to the Curse Source scene, the requirement from the Bliss Main Gods (the 32 divine lords of the Bliss race) was to obtain 15 low-grade Source Crystals.

As for how to break the Curse scene, the Bliss Main Gods provided a strategy guide.

This was clearly one of the pieces of intelligence the Lord of Bliss had secretly gathered while observing Monster World back in the day.

But as a legitimate player, he actually had a simpler way to break the curse.

It was just that this method wasn't easy to display.

After all, the Bliss Main Gods might be observing in secret — overly outrageous behavior would easily be noticed as a problem.

Originally, the mission was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

After becoming an elite player, the way the Bliss Main Gods issued missions changed — the mission given this time was not difficult.

To his surprise, he actually encountered a "fellow townsman" in this scene.

They say that when traveling, one must beware of fellow townspeople.

He put this concept into practice, acting as a fierce fellow townsman.

Rather than following the guide given by the Lord of Bliss to break the curse, it was better to snatch the rewards the fellow townsman had easily obtained using cheats.

Now that the mission was complete, it was time for them to leave.

"Boss, continue the mission or go back?" the Black Snake in the team asked while putting away his sniper rifle; instantly, the Poison Thorn weapon in his hand dissolved, turning into slime that adhered to the Black Snake.

The wild wind lifted the Black Snake's long hair; as she raised her eyes to look at Yang Xiu, her emotions were hidden within the clear autumn water of her gaze, and when the corners of her mouth rose slightly, the tenderness that unconsciously welled up in her eyes quietly exposed her inner feelings.

Yang Xiu naturally knew what was on the Viper's mind.

But his choice was to avoid it.

As a legitimate player, he was destined not to be on the same path as this group of Bliss players.

Over the past half year, sometimes he had felt lost.

There would eventually come a time to leave, but what should be done about this group of brothers who had lived and died with him?

"Boss, I suggest we lie in wait; the combat power of these player clan members isn't strong. We can continue to strike and snatch while they break the curse, taking several extra rewards." The stone statue's eyes gleamed with bloodthirsty light as he proposed in a deep voice.

"Go back." Yang Xiu wasted no words, nor did he need to explain, directly issuing the order.

Upon hearing this, the teammates nodded one after another.

They always executed Yang Xiu's orders directly, knowing that the Boss must have his reasons for doing so.

Arriving at the teleportation point atop the building, the teammates followed Yang Xiu and entered it one after another.

The array was activated immediately; Yang Xiu and his teammates were enveloped in black light and disappeared from the spot shortly after.

A prompt also sounded in Yang Xiu's mind:

【Elite Assessment Complete, Score Calculation:..., Bliss Points Reward Obtained: 23849.】

A sensation of weightlessness struck; when Yang Xiu's vision cleared again, he found he had returned to the Death Space scene.

After becoming an Elite Bliss player, the Death Space scene he was in also changed.

The buildings in the scene became more illusory; the Bliss players appearing here were all those who had passed the Ultimate Trial and were Elite Bliss players free to travel to the Monster World.

At this moment, in front of the teleportation point, many Elite Bliss players were setting up stalls to sell Special Items obtained from the Monster World.

Yang Xiu led the team through the street of stalls, walking straight toward the reinforced stone tablet where the Guide stood.

"Enhance first, then gather to discuss the next mission."

After instructing the teammates on the upcoming itinerary, Yang Xiu stopped in front of the black stone tablet, and the interface of purchasable items automatically appeared in his mind.

Displayed at the very bottom of the interface was that his remaining points totaled 39438.

After selecting the Bloodline Shop, related items were listed in his mind:

Star-Eroding Sand (Growth Type)

Bloodline Introduction: A replicated bloodline of the "Star-Eroding Clan" faction in the Monster World; Replication Degree: 89.23%.

Basic Traits: The blood contains shattered star sand; it can adhere to weapons to enhance sharpness, adhere to equipment to improve defense, or exude the power of seeping star sand out of the body to control and attack.

Primary Enhancement: 35,000 points.

Intermediate Enhancement: 350,000 points.

Perfect Replication (Maximum 89.23%): 1.2 million points.

Bloodline Strength Evaluation: Grade A

Empty Cicada Body (Growth Type)

Bloodline Introduction: A replicated bloodline of the Empty Cicada Clan in the Monster World; Replication Degree: 83.93%.

Basic Traits: Cicada-shell-like patterns appear on the skin surface; upon impact, the outer layer of skin automatically peels off to cancel damage (1-hour regeneration cycle, specific time affected by Qi and Blood strength); after the enhancement ends, the body's energy absorption efficiency is significantly improved.

Primary Enhancement: 38,000 points.

Intermediate Enhancement: 380,000 points.

Perfect Replication (Maximum 83.93%): 1.5 million points.

Hundred Bones Guide (Growth Type)

Bloodline Introduction: A life-structure replicated bloodline of the "Hundred Bones Clan" faction descending in the Monster World; Replication Degree: 92.28%.

Basic Traits: Can freely control bone growth, contraction, and twisting; can break through the skin to be used as weapons; when bones are damaged, Qi and Blood can be consumed to repair them quickly...

As a legitimate player, enhancements in the Death Space could actually be chosen at will.

After all, the main purpose was for points.

What was enhanced didn't matter; the key was spending the points to convert them into rewards that would be settled as Shou Shou Jili after death.

But as the leader of the Painful Painful Minghun squad, Yang Xiu felt his journey in the Death Space was far from over.

He still wanted to accompany his teammates and continue walking forward.

Therefore, every enhancement was carefully considered, starting from the perspective of improving the team's overall strength.

He served as the sage in the team, and also as a melee assassin.

So when choosing, he only looked at bloodlines that matched his combat style.

His gaze switched between the introduction information of different bloodlines.

Finally, he chose the Mist-Body, which required 39,000 points for Primary Enhancement.

The characteristic of this bloodline was the ability to turn the body into mist, somewhat like the "Twilight Shadow" Painful Painful Minghun trait in the player system.

But Twilight Shadow was just a Painful Painful Minghun and could be compatible with other Painful Painful Minghun traits.

Whereas the Bloodline Shop had clear text prompts stating that each Bliss player could only choose one type of bloodline for enhancement, and after the enhancement ended, it would be incompatible with other bloodlines.

If it was found in the future to be unsuitable, one could spend points to change the bloodline.

But modification requires paying the price of probabilistic death—the risk is extremely high, with the general death probability exceeding 50%.

This is also why bloodline enhancement must be chosen with great caution.

After completing his selection, Yang Xiu used his consciousness to tap and confirm, and the remaining points were automatically deducted.

The black stone tablet released a glow that enveloped his body.

(End of chapter)