Chapter 303: Update Direction: Earth Chanting Troops (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

[Detailed Interpretation and Outlook on the Battle Formation Function: A New Model of Future Warfare May Be About to Begin.]

Poster: Night Is Approaching.

Content:

Before providing a detailed interpretation of the Battle Formation system, I must first explain how it differs from the current Cultivation Mode of warfare.

Before the Battle Formation system went live, I had seen players complain about one issue on the forum more than once.

Why is there no damage exemption mechanism in the game?

Even allies in team Cultivation Mode could be accidentally injured by their own brothers; this means that the larger the scale of the warfare Cultivation Mode, the higher the probability of friendly fire.

Let me take the "Formation Warfare Cultivation Mode" established by the God King as an example.

He divided players of different specializations according to their formation roles; whenever engaging in a state of war, players within the formation needed to act in sync as much as possible. This was done not only for high-efficiency advancement but also to prevent friendly fire incidents.

The more chaotic the situation, the higher the possibility of wartime friendly fire.

The newly launched Battle Formation system solves this problem; members within an allied battle formation can be regarded as a single entity.

The method of output does not originate from the individual; instead, power is released into the battle formation, which then fires it outward.

Players within the battle formation have no possibility of being accidentally injured by their own teammates.

In the old warfare system, players were essentially fighting individually, merely unifying their combat rhythm through command.

The Battle Formation system truly achieves the integration of all players' strength, connecting qi and blood, spiritual power, and willpower into a triad that unleashes multiplied attribute effects.

The main battle formation can increase the amplification effect of fused attributes by adding more members and by raising the battle formation's level.

One point must be mentioned here: the difference between player battle formations and the Nitchao battle formations.

The Nitchao battle formation is like a martial art; one must improve proficiency to become a module embedded within the formation.

The amount of content one must learn during this process is enormous.

Qi and blood entanglement, willpower balance, position shifting, energy resonance... I believe brothers who have watched the battle formation tutorial videos in the Liver Emperor Group's livestream room on the forum know exactly what I am talking about.

Simply put, the requirements for using the Nitchao battle formation are very high.

Many guilds and warbands have attempted to learn the Nitchao battle formation; very few succeeded, while the vast majority failed.

The larger the scale, the higher the training costs.

The time and effort costs required are not proportional to the amplification effects brought by the battle formation.

If a guild wishes to recruit new members in the future, those newcomers must learn the battle formation system from scratch before they can integrate into your group.

We in the player faction do not have the setting of the Nitchao Legion's training camps mass-producing elite warriors on an assembly line, so we are destined to be unable to adapt to this system.

The Nitchao system's battle formations are only suitable for those smaller-scale groups of friends and family who have decided not to add new members in the future.

The player battle formation launched this time, compared to the Nitchao battle formation, is more like an item that activates upon meeting certain conditions.

The team leader, warband leader, or guild master only needs to activate the battle formation imprint within their body; a spreading formation diagram will appear beneath their feet, featuring multiple circular nodes. Other players need only stand on these nodes to activate the battle formation.

Subsequent processes such as the intertwining of qi and blood and the blending of willpower will be automatically advanced by the battle formation itself.

It can be called a one-click convenience Cultivation Mode, skipping all tedious steps.

Everyone can refer to the automatic cultivation system: while other beings in the outside world must toil in cultivation and absorb energy to gain growth, we players need only spend sacrificial power to go AFK with one click to cultivate.

The Battle Formation system is the same; both are convenience modes.

Next comes my detailed interpretation of the Battle Formation system, along with selection recommendations.

The battle formation has temporarily opened three main formations: the 10–99 person formation, the 100–999 person formation, and the 1000–9999 person formation.

Every battle formation can increase its strength by upgrading the "Battle Formation Imprint"; all initial battle formations are Level 1.

A fixed team only needs one player to purchase the battle formation; all other players can share the battle formation's effects.

However, this expense is extremely costly.

The lowest-level Asura Rush Formation at Level 1 requires 100,000 sacrificial power to purchase; every subsequent upgrade costs 50,000 (upgrades only improve the formation's attribute bonuses and do not increase the number of players it can hold).

Regarding the choice of main formation, players only need to select based on their team size.

The core of the Battle Formation system is attributes, not the main formation.

Only by following the soul soul combination schemes in the bestiary can the battle formation activate the corresponding attribute bonuses.

This is like the bond system in early games: fulfill the bond to activate the trait.

Within battle formation attributes, there are passive attributes and active attributes; as long as the number of star vein slots provided by players in the formation is sufficient to accommodate them, battle formation attributes can be stacked infinitely.

The more battle formation attributes activated, the greater the power the battle formation provides.

However, given the limited total number of star vein slots, one must reasonably consider which battle formation attributes to prioritize activating.

Here, I strongly recommend the passive battle formation attribute: Rakshasa Wrathful Visage (Ten-Person Formation requirement: 10 Gang Qi, 10 Ink Flame, 10 Force Brute).

The name for the Hundred-Person Formation is: Ghost God Heavenly Calamity.

The name for the Thousand-Person Formation is: Yama Hell Lord.

After these three battle formation attributes are activated, they can transform the battle formation into a formation dharma aspect that envelops all members, integrating offense and defense, comparable to the Tyrant Dharma Aspect in group Cultivation Mode.

The subsequent "Dharma Aspect" can also be upgraded, greatly enhancing both defensive power and output capability.

Finally, an introduction to the battle formation's control Cultivation Mode.

In the testing space, I controlled the battle formation from the team leader's perspective; the other units within the formation did not interfere with my control operations.

The conclusion from preliminary testing is that once the battle formation takes shape, the "Formation Opener" is the controller, while other members are merely charging attachments.

However, adhering to a rigorous attitude, I consulted the Guidance and received a completely different answer.

The Guidance stated that the tool-men in the testing space lack settings for emotions, willpower, and wisdom; they are equivalent to a blank sheet of paper. Even if they form a formation with me, they cannot provide any bonuses beyond attributes and soul souls.

But forming a battle formation with other players is different.

Other players within the battle formation can also participate in controlling the formation, but they are not responsible for partial control; rather, it is a unified control achieved by merging with the other players.

When real players integrate into the battle formation, they contribute not only the intensity of their qi and blood and spiritual power but also their emotions, combat experience, willpower, and even combat reflexes from their subconscious.

These factors intertwine within the battle formation, creating not a Cultivation Mode of "1 person commanding + n people supplying energy," but rather the fusion of all members' consciousnesses within the battle formation framework, forming a temporary "collective consciousness."

You can understand it as: after the battle formation is activated, everyone together creates a new combat personality.

Players' battle intent, anger, calmness, and other emotions will influence each other, ultimately forming a unified "battle formation emotion."

For instance, when everyone is boiling with hot blood, the battle formation consciousness will also boil with hot blood.

An individual's weak points in willpower will be compensated by others with firm willpower; if every player in the formation possesses powerful willpower, the battle formation consciousness's willpower will also be extremely powerful.

Players skilled in tanking will instinctively influence the battle formation's tendency to block, while assassin-type players may make the battle formation consciousness's offensive maneuvers more flexible.

This fusion is not dominated by any single player's will but is the result of the battle formation's autonomous adjustment.

The Guidance indicated that if battle formation members collaborate over a long period, they can give rise to an exclusive "battle formation personality."

For example, a guild composed entirely of reckless brutes would release a battle formation that develops an aggressive, headlong charging combat style; outsiders joining would then need to adapt to this "personality."

However, this collective personality consciousness cannot be experienced in the testing space, so I can only interpret it using the explanation provided by the Guidance.

Final summary:

The battle formation is not about one person carrying the team; rather, the brothers and friends within the formation jointly become another, stronger version of themselves.

When the battle formation is fully activated, the one controlling it is both you and your teammates, and even more so, that unique existence formed by the merger of "all of you" into one.

What is certain is that the Battle Formation system will change the future Cultivation Mode of warfare.

A war legion of 100,000 scale can fuse into ten "Ten-Thousand-Person Battle Formation Entities," condensing its scale.

Whether the future will be dominated by the Battle Formation system or combine the Battle Formation system with the existing array system remains to be tested in actual combat by the masters of the major guilds.

I believe the array Cultivation Mode will most likely not be eliminated.

Activating the battle formation Cultivation Mode continuously consumes the qi and blood and spiritual power of all members; it is suitable for short-term bursts and dealing with powerful enemies. If the enemy army lacks combat units so powerful that our individuals cannot break their defense, the battle formation, as a trump card, will not be activated.

Thus, this update's strategy interpretation ends here. Class dismissed!

Comment Section:

Emperor Those Years:

Brother Night's interpretation is excellent; allow me to supplement some content you did not mention.

First, the battle formation Cultivation Mode is not only suitable for players with teams; lone wolf players can also use it.

However, it is only suitable for lone wolf players who follow the control specialization route.

Controlled pets, after being cleansed by the purification system, can also become part of the battle formation and provide attribute bonuses after the formation is completed.

The drawback is that non-player lifeforms cannot provide star vein slots; lone wolf players can only play the main formation Cultivation Mode, and the number of star vein slots is difficult to assemble into battle formation attributes.

Relying solely on attribute bonuses is usable, but the strength cannot compare to that of other players.

With those 100,000 sacrificial power, it would be better to equip rune resonance weapons or buy Evolution Pills to upgrade soul soul levels.

Secondly, the mutual fusion of emotions in the Battle Formation system also has certain drawbacks. Suppose your team has a coward who resists combat; he will lower the "battle formation personality's" combat will. Other members are adding water to the pool, while the coward is draining it. Therefore, when forming a fixed team for a battle formation, one must first look at personalities. If the entire group consists of cowards, one dare not imagine how beautiful the scene would be: cowards forming a formation, combining into a super-coward, hahaha.

Finally, borrowing this thread to recommend a battle formation attribute: Demonic Flame Surging to the Sky (Passive, Active). The strength of this battle formation attribute in actual combat testing is explosive.

Failed Eel: The Battle Formation system is quite fun; our small group is already pooling money, preparing to clear out the materials in our warehouse to spend 300,000 to buy a Hundred-Person Battle Formation and test the hunting intensity of the battle formation Cultivation Mode. The only issue is sustainability while the battle formation is active; it feels like we'll have to drink potions to sustain it after running for a while, making it suitable only for burst usage.

Walking Until Spring Deepens: I cannot imagine what the collective consciousness after forming a formation is actually like. Is it similar to the control method in the old-era movie "Pacific Rim"? Memory sharing? Or is it simply merging into a new personality that completely splits apart after the fusion ends, leaving no impact on the other players? I lean more toward the second hypothesis.

Data Man: God King should hurry up and buy a few Thousand-Person Formations. Each Thousand-Person Formation can hold up to 9,999 players; just think how much combat power that would add! Wouldn't it rub the Diniang Bullies into the ground? The Novice Village battlefield will finally be broken; the good days of the Diniang Bullies are over; they are doomed!

After Night Is Approaching published the interpretation post, it attracted more players to participate in experiencing the battle formation Cultivation Mode.

Meanwhile, after posting, Night Is Approaching switched the interface to the event page.

Alongside the launch of the Battle Formation function came a dungeon-challenging event.

In this event, players must use their custom-assembled battle formations to challenge different battlefields; teammates remain the tool-men from the martial arts arena.

It is divided into three modes: Ten-Person Match, Hundred-Person Match, and Thousand-Person Match.

The interface displays stages for each Cultivation Mode, all created with magical modifications based on historical battles of various races.

For example, the first stage is a historical battle of the Human Race: Beacon Fire at Changban Slope.

The scene map was set in a narrow mountain valley path; broken military banners were planted all over the steep cliffs on both sides, while severed weapons and shields littered the ground. Thick smoke rose from burning supply carts in the distance, and amidst the background visuals, the faint sound of war drums could still be heard.

The player's mission was to protect the baggage train as it crossed the terrain and fight their way out of the encirclement.

The fourth level was the Incident at Xuanwu Gate.

On the scene map, before the palace gates of the Imperial City, lay a plaza where bloodstains on the white marble tiles had not yet dried. Amidst a pouring downpour, the eyes of the bronze lion statues flanking the palace gates glowed with red light; the enemy consisted of the Imperial Guard arrayed in formation. The player's mission was to pierce through the enemy defensive line and breach the Imperial Palace.

Others included the Red Cliff Fire Formation, the Blood Battle of Chi You, Ragnarok, and so on.

The difficulty coefficient would continuously increase as the challenge layers ascended.

Before the challenge began, players could freely change the attribute combinations of their battle formations; each player had three resurrection chances.

On the challenge map, one could also view the attributes of the hostile troop types for each map.

For example, the spearmen on the first-level map all possessed the Piercing attribute; a portion of the damage they dealt would act directly upon the player, ignoring defense mechanisms.

Besides individual capability, the reasonable combination of battle formation attributes was also a key factor in clearing the stage.

Filled with curiosity, Nightfall Approaching clicked "Start" on the screen interface.

After a brief sensation of weightlessness, the darkness dissipated.

Presented before his eyes were scorched earth, tattered banners, and broken halberds stuck askew....

In the distance, thick smoke billowed upward, slicing the setting sun into fragmented patches of bloody light; on a nearby earthen mound, a tattered banner bearing the character "Zhao" fluttered noisily in the wind.

Suddenly, the sound of hooves rolled across the earth like muffled thunder.

Endless lines of iron cavalry emerged abruptly from the dust and smoke; the cold gleam of their horse-spears merged into a silver wave, surging toward the last defensive line where he stood.

"Kill!"

Amidst earth-shaking cries of slaughter, the great earth trembled.

Seeing this, Nightfall Approaching decisively led his nine tool-NPCs to form an array, preparing to meet the fierce battle.

But this was only the first level; presumably, the difficulty would not be high.

The only problem was that one of the enemy army's attributes was: Infinite Respawning.

Only by fighting their way out could they successfully clear the stage; staying to fight a prolonged battle in place would inevitably lead to failure once stamina was exhausted.

The Primordial Sacrifice Altar.

Just as players were testing and hotly discussing the newly launched Battle Formation feature,

Qi Sheng also began a new round of future development planning.

For the construction of the Battle Formation system, he had invested a massive amount of Sacrificial Power, and in the future, he would continue to invest Sacrificial Power to perfect the Battle Formation Attribute Codex.

The current ten-person, hundred-person, and thousand-person formations were merely at the initial stage.

In the future, battle formations measured in units of millions would be the fundamental requirement for mainstream warfare; one could refer to the scale of battle formations activated during every collision of mainstream legions in the war between the Niche Legion and the Soul-Return Clan.

When a single battle formation collapsed, a million lives perished.

Over the course of a single war, the consumption of several million warriors was entirely normal.

In the future, besides structural upgrades to the main battle formations, the "Battle Formation Attributes" codex also needed to be continuously expanded, granting players more schemes for combining battle formation attributes.

This would satisfy the demands of different types of warfare.

In his conception, the player legions should not possess any shortcomings on any level; they ought to be like the Black Black Tide system, capable of flexibly adapting to combat in any environment.

Therefore, research and development investment in the Battle Formation system had to continue, and as the intensity of the battle formations climbed, the amount of resources invested would also skyrocket.

But recently, with the launch of the Monster system and the Battle Formation system, the stockpile of Sacrificial Power was no longer abundant.

Next, he planned to temporarily shelve the research and development of the Battle Formation system and shift to developing new functional projects.

This time, the direction he assigned Jiu Yin and Super-Dimension to research was: the application of "Momentum."

The forum players already had a preliminary understanding of "Momentum."

During the third phase of the Niche Training Camp, Instructor Shi Xiuluo had explained in detail what "Momentum" was, and even had the trainees watch Frontline Legion Commander Futu personally demonstrate the release of Momentum.

Related videos had once topped the trending searches on the forum.

However, regarding the cultivation of "Momentum," the players were completely clueless.

They only knew it was a kind of aura similar to oppressive pressure, using invisible force to strengthen one's own attacks, or even using that pressure to crush an opponent's mental defenses.

Its intensity was influenced by the warrior's inner emotions and will.

Yet, wishing to cultivate "Momentum" was exceedingly difficult.

Because Momentum was a third form of energy existing between matter and spirit; it could also be called emotional power.

Under normal circumstances, emotional power only generated potency within the life form of an individual (for the sake of rationality, I will make the following content more rigorous).

If explained using modern life sciences, every emotional fluctuation in a life form triggers violent oscillations of hormones within the body.

When angry, soaring adrenaline grants muscles explosive power; when enduring severe pain, the release of endorphins offsets the pain threshold, causing potential to erupt.

These emotional powers were essentially torrents composed of bio-electrical signals, yet they remained trapped within the cage constructed by the individual's flesh and blood shell, effective only upon oneself, unable to exert any influence on the outside world.

Like a sealed generator: no matter how strong the electricity, it could only light up bulbs connected to itself, unable to illuminate bulbs in the outside world.

But "Momentum" could break through this shackle.

Allowing an individual's emotions to influence reality.

Under the effect of Momentum, when a warrior's emotions became intense to the extreme, their life magnetic field would resonate with the energy of heaven and earth, forming a "Momentum Field."

Like a giant stone thrown into still water, ripples spreading outward; their anger, fighting intent, fear... could all transform into real energy impacts, oppressing the opponent's mental consciousness, or even causing damage to physical objects.

Anger could be like raging fire, burning the enemy's physique.

Killing intent could be like icy cold, freezing the enemy's thoughts.

Fighting intent could be like a wild wind, crushing the enemy's will....

These were all the actual performance effects of "Momentum" generated in combat, turning emotions into a weapon of one's own.

Theoretically, any emotion could be tempered into Momentum.

Even if one's own cowardice was sufficiently "powerful," it could turn that emotion into a force that interfered with opponents, making them lay down their weapons and weep in sorrow.

The most difficult point in cultivating Momentum lay in the fact that "false emotions" were useless; only truly extreme emotions could break through the shackles.

Purifying emotions was itself a difficult task.

Secondly, extreme emotions also caused harm to oneself.

Using Rage Momentum, one had to endure the pain of surging fury.

Using Killing Momentum, one also had to endure the pain of rising killing intent....

During the process of cultivating Momentum, cultivators were very prone to nearing collapse amidst the extreme fluctuations of emotion, falling into a state of qi deviation and demonic possession.

This was a cultivation journey where the cultivator danced with madness.

To avoid going mad, the cultivator had to possess a state of mind sufficient to bear their own emotional power.

This was a kind of power that could be called "high-end" even in the Monster World, and also the mortal power closest to the power of Rules.

In essence, it took oneself as the center to weave a world of one's own, attempting to rewrite and influence everything within that environment.

For example, when a certain expert flew into a rage, their sword intent, wrapped in towering fury, slashed out flames of anger that caused vegetation to wither for ten thousand li.

At that moment, emotions transformed into substantiated power, not merely simple mental impacts and oppressive pressure.

Ordinary people's emotions were like scattered fireflies, while a grand master of "Momentum" could use consciousness as a guide to gather the fires of myriad emotions into a sky-burning blaze radiating in all directions.

A cultivator using compassion as a guide could condense a light that purified the world to sweep away filth.

Using killing intent to drive Momentum could stir up a storm of blood and rain.

The ultimate extreme of Momentum was to replace the Heart of Heaven with "My Heart," using one's own emotions to change the heavens and alter the earth.

But without the absolute logic of Rules, Momentum could only achieve theoretical control, unable to truly rewrite everything within the range covered by the externalized emotions.

What could be affirmed was that learning the application of Momentum would allow players' strength to climb to new heights.

This was also the research direction Qi Sheng would attempt next: to transform "Momentum" from a cumbersome cultivation mastery into a templated system.

Just as Qi Sheng was preparing to mentally connect with Super-Dimension to inquire about the specific production plan for "Momentum," feedback from the Guide suddenly manifested in his mind.

The next second, Qi Sheng's consciousness jumped to the Abyssal Domain node of the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range.

There, on the platform atop the Evil Eye Tower, the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit stood suspended in mid-air, black mist churning around its body.

The Black Black Tide runes carved into the ground lit up one by one; dim blue spiritual light flickered like breathing.

The black mist gathered in the center of the tower platform, twisting and condensing into a human shape, its outline blurry, like a shadow that would scatter at a mere breath of wind.

Accompanied by a low hum, the shadow gradually solidified; crude armor appeared, and sharp claws were drawn out from nothingness.

The black mist continued to surge; the shadow's body became increasingly refined, as runes climbed onto the shoulder guards like living creatures.

Finally, a pair of blood-red pupils snapped open; darkness spread outward like a Black Tide, a giant scythe pierced through the black mist and swept horizontally, instantly slicing the air apart.

Qi Sheng's consciousness secretly observed this unfamiliar figure.

He had not expected that while the Battle Formation system was being launched for the player system, the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit side had also made new progress.

It had actually created a brand-new troop type possessing its own Rule-based power, outside of the Black Black Tide system.

After a parsing sweep, what surprised him was that this was actually a Black Black Tide system troop type possessing self-awareness... or more accurately, an Earth-Chanting system troop type.

Because this troop type was not within the Black Black Tide troop sequence.

It was independently researched and generated by the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit and the Evil Eye.

But wishing to create an independent self-awareness for a living being was clearly something beyond the capabilities of the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit.

Even the Lord of Extreme Bliss, who was at the Demigod Realm, could not achieve this; this was also why it chose to generate Extreme Bliss players in batches via recruitment.

Not to mention the Rule-based power attached within the troop type's body.

Filled with curiosity, Qi Sheng had the Guide replay the "surveillance footage" of the series of actions the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit had taken prior to this.

He wanted to see exactly how this new troop type, possessing both self-awareness and Rule enhancements, had been created.

(End of Chapter)