Chapter 24: Sacrificial Power Surges

Three hours later.

Inside the cave, flames raged fiercely.

The mocking roars continued; most players had exhausted their sacrificial power and could no longer sustain their damage output.

Just as the players were about to give up in despair, the mocking roars inside the cave gradually lowered in pitch, finally ceasing all signs of life.

Though they dared not approach, a sense of expectation rose within the players' hearts.

Ten-odd minutes later, a notification sounded in the minds of all players who had participated in the battle:

【Challenger Notification: Second-Generation Primordial Monster "Mockery" slain. Participants share a reward of 20, 00 sacrificial power and gain permission to freely unlock the next Star Vein socket (limited to Star Veins levels 0–3).】

To the players, this voice sounded incredibly pleasant and melodious.

They one after another summoned the Star Vein Strengthening panel from the function options to inspect the newly contained Primordial Soul.

【Mockery (Second-Generation Primordial)】

Monster Trait: Releases a mental shockwave centered on itself; targets struck will, based on their own memories, experience a large volume of memory-altered plotlines within a short period, with the caster becoming a part of those altered memories (effective only against intelligent life forms above level 1).

Guide Tip: After releasing this ability, you cannot imagine what role you will play within the target's memory illusion; it could be their father's murderer, or perhaps the neighbor Old Wang, but none of that matters... Watch closely, he is already rushing at you with bloodshot eyes—brace yourself!

Purchase Cost: 3, 00 sacrificial power.

Compared to First-Generation Primordial Souls, the purchase price for Second-Generation Primordial Souls had tripled, reaching 3, 00 points of sacrificial power.

The description information also included an additional line: a Guide Tip.

Although the price was steep, the Mockery Soul had already become a mandatory second Soul in the eyes of the Gargoyle players.

The combination of Petrification and Mockery allowed one to foresee just how formidable it would be in actual combat.

Underground of Emperor Tomb Village.

From post-battle communications among the players, Qi Sheng gathered two important pieces of information.

When discussing the Mockery monster's traits, players couldn't help but complain that the game lacked a Star Vein socketing simulation feature that would allow them to test ability combinations.

In Qi Sheng's view, this idea was entirely feasible.

He could utilize Ye Ming's spatial abilities to create a simulated scenario where players could freely edit their own Star Veins, then use those edited abilities to experience simulated combat.

As the number of contained Primordial Monsters increased in the future, the Simulated Star Vein function could significantly enhance players' development, combination, and utilization of monster ability traits.

The second important piece of information was that players felt the game needed a forum-like function to facilitate communication and even mutual assistance with strategies.

Qi Sheng felt this function was very necessary to add.

Compared to chat modes in channels like Region or Team, strategy exchanges could not be saved.

However, a forum could archive content such as strategies posted by players, making it convenient for later players to consult, providing immense assistance for future development.

But before adding these two functions, he needed to prepare in advance.

With the idea formed, Qi Sheng immediately instructed the Guide to create the built-in forum function within the game, then contacted Ye Ming to explain in detail the requirements for building a simulated space.

While Ye Ming went off to busy himself, Qi Sheng, sitting cross-legged on the altar, began to ponder a question.

How could he extract the energy crystals from the underground palace of the Dark Cave in advance?

His main body certainly could not go; after all, every second his main body ventured out incurred huge consumption.

Just now, while discussing the test space with Ye Ming and mentioning the need to create a customizable simulated body for the players, inspiration had suddenly struck him.

In the past, there had been no way, but now, possessing the Challenger System forged from the rule-powers of his four vassals, he could completely control players' bodies to venture out and explore.

As for creating a clone for himself, it was not feasible.

After fusing with the Emperor Omen to solidify his origin, his consciousness could project outward but could not be cut, separated, or even replicated.

With the idea formed, Qi Sheng acted immediately.

Closing his eyes, the Challenger System manifested in Qi Sheng's mind.

From among the players entering death cooldown, he selected the flesh-and-blood body of one player and consumed sacrificial power to accelerate the reshaping process.

The so-called flesh-and-blood reshaping mainly consisted of three parts.

First, the All-Things Extraction function created by the vassal Chao Wei refined all matter from the deceased player; then, the spatial system created by Ye Ming transported it back to Emperor Tomb Village, where the village's territorial trait reshaped it at a 1: ratio; next, the Guide re-installed the digitization system; finally, the power of space transmitted the reshaped flesh-and-blood body from underground to the resurrection point on the surface of Emperor Tomb Village.

The entire process resembled an assembly line; driving the reshaping progression required only 10 points of sacrificial power, with no additional energy loss during the interval.

Even if a player's monster form reached level 100, the price for flesh-and-blood reshaping would not change in the slightest.

When he opened his eyes again, his consciousness had already switched to the body of the selected player.

However, this was not perfect control following consciousness fusion; it was more like remote control of a marionette.

At this moment, his main body summoned Ye Ming, who was located in the underground space, and specified the coordinates for teleportation.

Instantly, a spatial teleportation array appeared beneath the player body's feet; the surrounding space twisted and changed, and after a brief sensation of weightlessness, he had already arrived within the palace on the fifth underground layer of the Dark Cave.

Standing ahead was the Ice Blade Remnant.

Circling around the Ice Blade Remnant, Qi Sheng approached the Spirit Gathering Array, squatted down, and touched the golden crystal with his palm.

Immediately, surging energy flowed continuously through the player body as a relay station, transmitting into the sacrificial power pool beneath Emperor Tomb Village.

Above the previously bottomed-out sacrificial power pool, it was as if a floodgate had opened; surging golden energy rushed down, purified in mid-air and transformed into scarlet energy that blended with other sacrificial power.

The transformation process involved a certain degree of energy loss.

The reason was related to the special nature of sacrificial power.

The energy crystals left behind by Ice Blade were extremely pure, but far from reaching the purity level where sacrificial power could transform all things; they needed to be purified and refined before they could be converted into sacrificial power.

The purification array left behind by Jiu Yin operated at high speed at this moment.

One minute later, the golden crystal was drained dry, turning transparent.

Qi Sheng also received feedback information from the Guide:

【Sacrificial Power Pool】:

Stored Sacrificial Power: 13, 33, 42.

Absorbing the energy crystals had brought him a profit of over 13 million points of sacrificial power.

With this wealth credited, the process of recruiting players could be significantly accelerated.

Standing up, Qi Sheng walked toward the rear of the palace.

Crossing the Bone-Burying Ground, where the ground was covered by a layer of moss resembling flesh and blood, ahead lay the area where the Domain Node Crystal floated suspended; one could see a massive fleshy tumor, its black tentacles extending to wrap around the Domain Node Crystal.

Just then, the fleshy tumor condensed from Black Black Tide corrosive energy seemed to sense his presence; a black tentacle shot toward him at extreme speed.

Given the physical qualities of the player clone, there was simply no time to react; Qi Sheng was instantly struck in the chest by the tentacle, his body thrown backward, and finally pinned against a load-bearing pillar of the palace.

Subsequently, the tentacle rapidly spread from the player body's chest to other positions on his body.

After an intense sensation of nausea and dizziness, the player body was corrupted and dissolved, while Qi Sheng's consciousness was guided back to his main body by the Challenger System.

【The player body you controlled has only level 8 strength; the task of occupying the Domain Node clearly cannot be accomplished with this clone.】

Hearing these words, Qi Sheng nodded.

The Black Black Tide core occupying the Domain Node Crystal clearly possessed self-awareness and would attack nearby life forms; the task of purifying the node could only be completed by other players working together.

Being able to bring back 13 million sacrificial power from this outing had already left him fully satisfied.

(End of Chapter)