Chapter 29: Lunar Phase: Last Quarter

【Challenger Alert: The Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region is about to shed the Waning Crescent phase and enter the Last Quarter phase. Players, please prepare!】

Last Quarter Phase Scene Introduction: The second intensity stage among the five major phases of the Evil Moon; duration unknown.

Change 1: A large number of evil spirits that exist only during the Last Quarter phase will descend upon the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region following the lunar shift, while the evil spirits from the Waning Crescent phase will vanish.

Change 2: The terrain and environment undergo transformation.

……

Accompanying the prompt sound echoing in the players' minds.

The scenes across all regions of the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range shifted accordingly.

In the direction of the Ancient Battlefield.

The scene originally littered with corpses dissipated amidst spatial distortion, refreshed instead by a multitude of blood corpses, entirely crimson-red in color, with black hair growing on their surfaces.

In the direction of the Blood-Colored Plain.

The crimson plants covering the plain scattered with the wind, replaced by countless twisted vines and withered ancient trees, along with a vast number of evil spirit lives.

In the direction of Spirit Artifact Valley.

A rushing great river appeared in the center of the valley; besides the monsters and Primordial Monsters that already existed, a large number of twisted cores, floating suspended in mid-air and covered in dense tentacles, were refreshed.

But these evil spirits were immediately met with a siege by the spirit artifacts the moment they appeared.

The shift from Waning Crescent to Last Quarter seemed to fuse an entire unknown space into the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range; simultaneously with the change in terrain, a surge of new evil spirit lives emerged.

The earth-shaking transformation concluded; the dim light cast by the Waning Crescent turned into a dazzling blood-red, and the energy particles drifting in the air increased fivefold.

Players exploring various scenes instantly found themselves trapped in a predicament surrounded by evil spirits.

Bloodthirsty evil spirit lives would attack any target within their line of sight (perception range) possessing life fluctuations, including the players.

Especially in the direction of the Ancient Battlefield, where the vast majority of players were hunting Cursed Soldiers.

Before the lunar phase changed, the refresh rate of evil spirits was not high; one had to wait for the corpses to accumulate Black Black Tide energy before they could transform into Cursed Soldiers.

Recently, under the players' frenzied hunting, the refresh speed of Cursed Soldiers had gradually failed to keep up with the players' killing efficiency, causing every refresh to spark contention; many players could only delve deeper into the Ancient Battlefield, seeking huntable targets in farther places.

With the Waning Crescent shifting to the Last Quarter, the offensive and defensive dynamics between players and evil spirits reversed.

A massive number of blood corpses besieged the player groups, launching fearless, bloodthirsty attacks.

Furthermore, the blood corpses refreshed during the Last Quarter phase reached hunting levels 8-15, their comprehensive strength several times greater than that of the level 1-3 Cursed Soldiers.

Suppressed by both quantity and level, the players were completely at a disadvantage in their confrontation with the strengthened evil spirits.

The number of online players in Qi Sheng's mind plummeted at a visible speed, as large numbers of players were killed and exited the game.

During this time, the regional chat channel also exploded.

"So this is the lunar phase shift the newbie guide mentioned as having a probability of occurring! I previously thought each region's lunar phase was fixed, and only different large zones had different phases. This is just the Last Quarter phase and the intensity is already so high; it's terrifying!"

"These blood corpses are too fierce! Thick blood bars and high defense; our squad fought for ages just to kill one, only for another group to arrive nearby and surround us. Now my teammates are all dead; I've given up resisting and am just waiting to die..."

"Help! I'm surrounded! I don't want to enter the one-hour resurrection cooldown (stormy crying)!"

"The lunar phase shift is too horrifying; the monster difficulty has increased several times over. If this were the Full Moon or Great Evil Moon phase, wouldn't the evil spirits' levels break a hundred?"

"The twisted plants on the Blood-Colored Plain generally have hunting levels of 12+; I'm truly drunk on this. It's hard even to run; I'm just waiting to die!"

"I told you all to stop being so stubborn, complaining that too few monsters were refreshing to fight. Now there are enough, right? Or maybe not enough until we enter the First Quarter phase (doge head)."

……

After the lunar phase shift, except for the players inside the Dim Cave who remained unharmed, all other players suffered attacks from strengthened evil spirits.

The reason was related to the special nature of the Black Black Tide; non-evil-spirit entities did not change with the lunar phases.

The iron-shelled insects inside the Dim Cave did not disappear, nor did they transform into stronger monsters.

But the players outside were not so lucky.

Within a short time, the number of online players dropped from over 9, 00 to less than 1, 00.

Regarding this, Qi Sheng was already mentally prepared.

The different lunar phases of the Terrifying Black Black Tide could be understood as five distinct layered spaces; when the Waning Crescent shifted to the Last Quarter, the Waning Crescent space was replaced by the Last Quarter space, and everything within the scene related to the Black Black Tide would shift accordingly.

For example, the Cursed Soldiers on the Ancient Battlefield did not vanish completely; rather, they would reappear when the lunar phase shifted back to the Waning Crescent.

For players at the current stage, the intensity of the Last Quarter scene was clearly unbearable.

But he had no method to resolve it.

The changes in the lunar phases were influenced by the tides of the Terrifying Black Black Tide; exactly when it would switch back to the Waning Crescent was completely unknown.

What could be confirmed was that the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region was not the core area corroded by the Terrifying Black Black Tide's energy; the probability of stronger lunar phases refreshing here was extremely low.

During his five hundred years in the Monster World, he had witnessed the fourth stage, the Full Moon, in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region only once.

In his memory, the Full Moon scene could be described as a dance of myriad demons.

Abyssal Great Demons, Void Erosion Worms, Touches of Fear... a single glance revealed a large number of super evil spirit lives with hunting levels exceeding 100.

Evil spirits blotting out the sun and sky ravaged the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range like a locust swarm passing through; wherever they passed, very few lives could survive.

As for the "Great Evil Moon," regarded as the final form of the Terrifying Black Black Tide, only the Four Attendants during their peak period had experienced it; he had never witnessed it with his own eyes.

【Boss, this lunar phase shift isn't necessarily a bad thing.】

Turning to look at the guiding water sphere floating beside him, Qi Sheng nodded with a smile:

"Indeed."

He naturally understood the guide's thoughts.

Compared to the Waning Crescent scene, while the intensity of the Last Quarter scene increased dramatically, the energy strength between heaven and earth also became far more abundant.

The Last Quarter scene nurtured a large number of Black Black Tide spiritual plants; among them were many Black Black Tide entities that had swallowed other worlds and fused into the Monster World, producing Black Black Tide spiritual treasures under the refinement of the Black Black Tide's eroding energy. All these things could be purified into pure sacrificial power through combustion at the altar.

Alongside the high risk, players exploring outside could also gain more surprising rewards.

Although the sudden lunar phase shift forced a large number of players offline, Qi Sheng was certain that the players would quickly adapt to the Last Quarter's intensity and continue creating more sacrificial power revenue for him.

Once this wave of offline players reconnected and left the newbie village, they would inevitably find methods to cope.

If their strength was insufficient, they would act in groups.

The hunting difficulty increased, but the rewards for killing blood corpses were also several times greater than killing Cursed Soldiers.

Evaluating through various dimensions such as hunting efficiency, hunting difficulty, and opportunity probability, the conclusion reached after the guide's calculation was that the comprehensive yield rate of the Last Quarter was 1. times higher than that of the Waning Crescent.

And this figure was only temporary.

As the players' strength grew, the comprehensive yield rate brought by the Last Quarter would continue to climb.

(End of Chapter)