Chapter 369: Players Have It Easy! (Begging for Monthly Tickets)

Di Zhong Village, Library.

The interior was forever bathed in a dim yellow light, yet the players inside could see everything clearly.

It was as if the entire space had been steeped in amber stillness, and time here seemed to have been deliberately slowed.

Towering obsidian bookshelves stood like silent sentinels, lined up in neat rows, reaching all the way to the vaulted ceiling.

The books displayed upon them looked more like memory crystals storing vast quantities of data.

Within them were sealed the roars of ancient battlefields, recorded the epics of lost civilizations, captured the whispers of primordial deities… bringing players memories that spanned the long river of time.

The air was saturated with a unique scent woven from spiritual materials and ancient tomes; occasionally a bookshelf would tremble slightly, dropping a heavy tome that would float on its own to the player who had completed a search and settle before them.

Brother Ming Hou sat in the reading area at the very deepest part of the library.

His head of silver hair glimmered faintly in the dimness, a forum interface floating before him.

On it was information he had compiled from the forum, edited and gathered about the Council of Spectral Laws.

At this moment, in the guild chat channel.

"Lord of Fate, I'm about to level up my Star Vein—could you take a little less? Once I open the fifth Star Vein my strength will get a significant boost, and my hunting output will rise with it. How about I take a smaller share here?"

"Lord of Fate, it's not that this junior is disrespecting you, but I just scraped together enough Shou Shou Jili to buy a fifth-generation Painful Painful Minghun—if I hand all the Shou Shou Jili over to you, I'll have to start all over again…."

"Right, Lord of Fate, the Light Spirit Feathers I just adopted still need a batch of evolution pills to boost combat power—could you give us a few more days?"

"This subordinate would like to give more, but after buying combat techniques yesterday, my coffers are long since emptied. My Shou Shou Jili balance right now is cleaner than my face."

The messages in the guild chat scrolled at breakneck speed, peppered with all manner of poverty-stricken memes.

Watching the scrolling messages in the chat, Brother Ming Hou's temple throbbed.

He could fully understand what these juniors were thinking.

Experiencing Monster World through a player's body was genuinely addictive—every expedition, every hunt, brought an intense sense of anticipation.

Dreaming of the day when attributes fed back into reality, every step now was undoubtedly patching up their future lives.

How could he not understand the thoughts of these clansmen? It was simply that not long ago he had already asked them once for funds to build the Fate Casino.

They felt raising money again was too sudden, and all wanted to use their remaining Shou Shou Jili to improve themselves.

But one thing at a time—the Shou Shou Jili earmarked for building the Fate Casino was temporarily held by him, and he would not touch it.

Now he still needed to spend Shou Shou Jili laying out a plan to obtain the "Game Space" rules, and this sum naturally had to rely on the clansmen's help.

"I'll give you ten minutes to prepare."

The moment the message was sent, the voices still haggling in the channel instantly died in their tracks.

Before the crowd could react, Brother Ming Hou added another line, his tone carrying an undisguised threat:

"Anyone whose payment hasn't arrived in ten minutes—no matter what you're doing right now, no matter how important it is—I'll go offline and wait at the main network gate of the Fate Tower. Whoever hasn't gathered their Shou Shou Jili can have a taste of three days offline first."

The moment these words landed, the chat channel instantly exploded; the poverty-stricken memes vanished without a trace, replaced by a chorus of wails:

"Lord of Fate, no! I'm transferring right now—the materials in the trade house just sold, and suddenly my Shou Shou Jili is enough."

"I was wrong, Lord of Fate—I'll clear out my materials and transfer them to you now. Please don't touch the network cable—my dungeon progress just hit the final stage, I'm almost clearing it."

"Ten minutes is enough—I'm pulling out the share I'd set aside for that dumb bird right now. Cutting the network would cost lives."

Watching the messages scrolling at breakneck speed on the screen, a smile tugged at the corner of Brother Ming Hou's mouth.

Dealing with these juniors who treated the "game" as their very lifeline, reasoning was less effective than mentioning the network cable.

Either comply, or get cut off—pick one.

Before long, challenger prompts of Shou Shou Jili arriving sounded one after another in Brother Ming Hou's mind.

Having received the Shou Shou Jili, Brother Ming Hou turned to look at the Guide floating beside him and began, with a respectful attitude, to inquire about the latest intelligence on the Spectral Law Clan.

The information on the forum only represented the past, not the present.

In Monster World's special environment, the development of every race was like wild grass swept along by a gale—it did not necessarily grow step by step.

Perhaps one day they were developing steadily, and the very next, due to some sudden stroke of fate, they obtained a Rule Power, achieving a leap-forward boost in combat strength.

Such variables born of chance played out every single day in Monster World.

Intelligence on the Council of Spectral Laws from a year and a half ago on the forum might no longer be valid now.

Although the materials in Di Zhong Village's library updated in real time,

the prerequisite was that a player had asked about the relevant content, and the Guide had parsed that portion of information—only then would it be updated into Di Zhong Village's library.

Perhaps the Council of Spectral Laws now, because it had captured some being who mastered Rules, had allowed its members' strength to skyrocket, and with it the entire clan's combat-power system had already iterated and updated.

Before obtaining the Game Space, he had to understand the Council of Spectral Laws' combat strength in detail.

Facing Brother Ming Hou's respectfully-toned inquiry, the Guide opened its drowsy eyes and, looking utterly bored, began to explain.

During this time, Brother Ming Hou organized and recorded all this information in the "Information Editing Page" of the forum interface.

After half an hour of exchange, he looked up at the Guide once more.

"Guide-bro, thanks for the pointers," Brother Ming Hou said gratefully, his attitude humble.

The Guide water orb paid no heed and slowly closed its eyes.

But Brother Ming Hou still respectfully pressed his hand to his brow, using the Fate Clan's way to show respect.

The Guide water orb floating beside him was called "Guide-bro" by forum players.

One forum saying: when in doubt, ask the Guide.

It meant that although the Guide would not personally step in to solve problems, it could give the correct answer to any question.

And in the players' eyes, the Guide's persona was a walking encyclopedia with a terrible attitude but near-omniscience.

But Brother Ming Hou knew that the water orb following at his side must surely be that one's projection.

To parse all things, to perceive the patterns of all things… in the ancient legends of Monster World, there were four supreme deities whose status was second only to the creator-god Beneath Di Zhao; they were also the actual controllers of Monster World, and their every move influenced the world's course.

Among the four supreme gods, there was one who wielded the authority of "Omniscience."

It was said that the supreme god who wielded the power of "Analysis" could see through the origin of all things—from the tiniest threads of the microscopic world to the rise and fall of an entire civilization—nothing could hide beneath his gaze.

The Reverse Tide God, whom the Fate Clan had once sealed beneath the earth back in those days, would still rank below these four Supreme Gods in terms of status.

As for the guiding orb of water beside him, although it had never displayed the heaven-destroying, earth-shattering power of a Supreme God, its ability to "analyze all things" was identical to that of the legendary Supreme Gods.

Combined with the information gathered when he went to Earth, it could basically be confirmed that the guiding orb of water beside him was indeed a projection of that Supreme God.

Calling out "Brother Guide" was already taking a huge advantage.

Although he had never experienced the most turbulent years of Monster World, he still knew that back then, beneath the four Supreme Gods, there had been countless races and factions even stronger than the Fate Clan pledging allegiance.

If not for his identity as a player, even touching that projection would already be overstepping.

It was also a height he could never reach in this lifetime.

His own meager cultivation was like a single grain of sand, not even qualified to earn an extra glance from Him.

So the guiding orb of water's attitude toward him didn't matter, but he had to maintain the courtesy befitting a junior of the same camp.

This was also his way of showing respect to the higher-dimensional gods.

His gaze returned to the forum interface.

Through his conversation with the Guide, he obtained more detailed information on the forces of the Youlu Council.

This faction's combat strength was not high; it was controlled by a race of 320,000 members, following an elite-training development model.

Even the strongest Youlu Council Chairman's hunting level was only 289.

The game-space rule logic they mastered was very simple.

Similar to the Lord of Bliss, they randomly captured beings from the outside world, threw them into game modes, and thereby obtained derivative energy that conformed to the rule logic.

But in terms of safety, it was far inferior to the Bliss Palace under the Lord of Bliss's control.

The game space controlled by the Youlu Council had no sub-palaces; the captured beings entered directly into the main space where the Youlu Council members dwelled.

This could easily lead to unforeseen risks.

Many races would leave spatial markers on their clansmen; once a clansman encountered danger, they would provide support across space.

Encountering such an event, the Youlu Council might have to face an existential crisis for their entire race.

By comparison, the Lord of Bliss's model appeared very mature.

It adopted a "three burrows for a cunning rabbit" strategy, firmly confining the risk to the sub-palaces, while the Zhudian was isolated from all risk.

Encountering any situation, the Lord of Bliss could abandon the sub-palaces at any time, then change the scene and reopen for business.

The process was like a gecko severing its tail; no matter how many sub-palaces were shut down, it would not threaten the Lord of Bliss, nor the safety of the Bliss Race.

This was the vigilance a mature hunter should have.

Monster World was not short of opportunities; there were plenty of chances to develop and grow, but risk could cut short the journey to the peak of Monster World at any moment.

Therefore, in developing within Monster World, safety always came first.

Only after that came development speed.

The Youlu Council had clearly considered this issue as well, and had made targeted improvements.

According to the Guide's description, the Youlu Council divided external beings into three categories.

They were: intelligent, unintelligent, and untouchable.

Unintelligent beings, after entering the game space, were directly crushed into qi-and-blood energy to become game prizes; intelligent beings, if detected to have low life-strength, would be selected as contestants to participate in the games; those beings that looked untouchable at a glance were sent back from wherever they came.

The moment they were teleported into the game space, the next second they would be teleported back out.

Taking everything into account, this race was merely a potential race that had mastered some rules, but its combat strength placed in Monster World was simply not worth mentioning.

If he struck with his true body, this race could be handled with ease by him alone.

But now that his true body had entered Earth, for safety's sake it could no longer leave; he needed to use his player identity to find a way to obtain the "game space" rules.

The least efficient method would be for him to lead 32 clansmen to take turns attacking the game space.

Possessing the ability of unlimited revival, sooner or later they could wear the Youlu Council down to death.

But this was clearly not a smart decision.

It would be better to hunt and grow first, and only strike when his strength had grown enough to crush the Youlu Council.

Or wait for subsequent clansmen to enter the field under player identity, and only strike when the race had developed enough strength.

But these plans were time-consuming and could not be implemented at the current stage.

While pondering, countless thoughts interwove in Brother Ming Hou's mind.

Most of these ideas were feasible, but lacked in efficiency.

Half an hour later, Brother Ming Hou decided to first try the exploit-the-bug plan.

According to the Guide's description, as a player he could use any strategy that conformed to player behavior, so exploiting bugs under a player identity was also perfectly reasonable.

But to be cautious, he still chose to ask the Guide whether this plan was specifically feasible.

The Guide's affirmative answer instantly gave Brother Ming Hou confidence.

Although this plan had quite a few problems, at the very least it could wear down some of the Youlu Council's combat units.

With his thoughts clarified, Brother Ming Hou rose and left the library.

Immediately, the various books placed on the desk floated into the air on their own and returned to their places on the shelves.

Before long, Brother Ming Hou's figure appeared in the Colored Mist Coast region.

Arriving at a scene undisturbed by players, he slowly drifted down to the ground.

The nearby sea breeze, carrying colored mist, swept past his silver robe, but was blocked by an invisible force when it came close to him.

His eyelids lifted slightly, and the baleful wind coiling around his fingertips suddenly surged, like a condensed blue-black torrent sweeping toward the dense, windproof forest before him.

Immediately, the soft sounds of leaves rustling and shattering rang out in rapid succession.

Those ancient trees requiring several people to encircle them, the instant the baleful wind touched their trunks, rapidly disintegrated, turning into countless fine wood chips that drifted toward the sea with the wind.

Thick roots, tangled vines… all were ground into dust beneath the baleful wind's sweep.

In the span of a snap of the fingers, the originally lush corner had been cleared into an empty plot; the ground was as smooth as if polished, not even a single pebble to be found.

When the killing wind withdrew, Brother Ming Hou's robes remained as smooth and unwrinkled as new.

And the open ground before him was a canvas he had laid out for his next move.

Summoning the Jiao Yi Xing Jie interface, he began rapidly sweeping up spatial-system materials.

These were the core resources for constructing a spatial teleportation array.

For this kind of hot commodity material, players generally listed them under a buy-now fixed price, and the price steadily trended upward along with the development of the player factions.

In fact, the output of spatial-system materials grew at every stage.

But it still could not fill the players' demand.

Top-tier player teams and organizations needed spatial-system materials to build spatial teleportation arrays.

Pet-stream players also needed to consume spatial-system materials to forge pet spaces.

Newbie players opening up spatial slots likewise had to spend spatial-system materials.

Yet the output channels were very few.

They mainly came from the internal mining area of Emperor Tomb Village, two outdoor mining zones with a small probability of unearthing spatial materials, and one mining zone excavated by the Spirit Breath Tribe led by Xiao Xiao Fa.

Other channels produced quantities that could be ignored.

This was also the reason spatial-system material prices remained stubbornly high; even the Gold Coin Commerce Guild could not use the existing trade channels to drive the price of spatial-system materials down.

But compared to the value of the rules, the price of spatial-system materials was nothing in Brother Ming Hou's eyes.

Three minutes later, having finished sweeping the goods, Brother Ming Hou extended a finger and pinched the empty air, and instantly the materials in his spatial satchel floated before him.

Void Origin Stones gleaming with a faint blue luster, Void Cotton wound with silver threads, and several Boundary Scales thin as cicada wings.

He tapped lightly with his toe, his form drifting across the open ground like flowing clouds; when his fingertip descended, it trailed fine, scattered streaks of light, like a brush dipped in starlight, sketching spiral-shaped array foundations upon the ground.

The Star Pattern Stones were tossed casually into the air by him, embedding themselves at the intersections of the light streaks, slowly melting, humming as they lit up into a translucent barrier.

The Void Cotton was swept by his palm wind, instantly unfurling, transforming into countless silver threads that traveled along the array's veins, firmly locking down the scattered spatial energy.

The Boundary Scales, meanwhile, were used by him as a blade in place of a finger, lightly slicing open a seam; the airflow and light spilling from within merged together, causing the entire edge of the array to ripple like waves.

Unlike the Gold Coin Commerce Guild's spatial team, who had to consult references while perfecting the array—

Brother Ming Hou's process of laying out the spatial array had not the slightest hitch; his movements were as light as if he were dancing a ritual dance.