Chapter 375: New Goal: You and I Will Meet Again

The guide's response filled Ji Chen with immense excitement.

Although he knew the Monster World was a real world, he never initially believed the Dragon-kin would appear here.

After all, the void was infinite; the chance of encountering the Dragon-kin in the same world was nearly zero.

But as he gradually came to understand the Monster World through his player identity,

a bold hypothesis took root in his mind.

He discovered the Monster World was a super-world countless times vaster than the alien world he had once crossed into.

Whether in the quality and concentration of celestial energy elements or the output of spiritual resources, they were not on the same level.

Even many of the Descending forces' former homeworlds were vaster than the alien world he had once visited.

The Counterflow Legion, the Ancient Gods Clan, the Soul Return Clan, Shu Yan, the Ascension Clan, the Earthly Tyrants, the Battle Insect Clan, the Bliss Clan, the Mechanical Legion, the Virtual Rune Legion… players had only glimpsed a corner of the Hao Han Shi Jie.

This was a vast world where countless races surged forth, competing to reach the summit.

Above the heavens, colossal beasts spread their wings, their massive forms spanning the sky, even manifesting in Xiao Xiao Fa's livestream as lifeforms comparable in size to a small planet.

Beneath the abyss, evil lurked, weaving deadly traps in the darkness.

In forests, plant-based lifeforms commanded natural forces, vines and ancient trees obeying orders, forming endless barriers.

In deserts, mechanical lifeforms rode steel torrents, engines roaring, energy cannons tearing through the heavens.

The sea tribes controlled colossal waves, casually stirring storms, their tidal power reversing entire seas.

Savage tribes raised war banners, bloodlines boiling, war cries shattering mountains.

The Undead Legion awoke from ancient tombs, bones and the power of nether-mist sweeping across the seas, whispers of death eroding living souls.

Rules, nature, elements, technology, magic, arts, incantations, qi-blood… countless power systems vied for prominence.

Demons, malevolent spirits, deities, pacts, deceit, cultivators, world breeders… their development models flourished in myriad forms, with too many powerful factions rising in this vast world through their own paths.

Together, they wrote an epic chapter of myriad races clashing, with strong ones standing like forests.

Every inch of land here was soaked in blood and ancient histories of rise; every battle could rewrite the future fate of a race.

And this world had never known good or evil.

It was merely that many weak factions appeared "good" in players' eyes.

For example, the Lingxi Clan ruled by Xiao Xiao Fa—many new players unfamiliar with the Lingxi Clan saw it as a friendly faction.

They were timid in the Monster World, their development model centered on farming, breeding, and similar methods.

But behind this model lay the Lingxi Clan's inability to launch plundering wars lightly.

They lacked the strength to plunder and grow freely in the Monster World.

Any player who had studied the Lingxi Clan's background knew it was once a savage faction built on plunder.

Countless beings from small worlds had been reduced to nourishment beneath their killing hooves.

They had even constructed blood pools within their ancestral lands, using the bodies of promising lifeforms as eternal substitutes.

Judged by human morality, the Lingxi Clan was an utterly evil faction.

But within the Monster World, the Lingxi Clan's development model and survival methods appeared remarkably benign.

This included the "Soil-Eating Clan," which players had once encountered, whose survival relied on farming—this faction had also once descended into the Monster World as a plunderer.

They devoured the weak, trampled civilizations, yet by the time players met them, they were already on the brink of extinction.

Their transformation was not due to "awakened conscience," but because they had lost.

They lost to stronger beings, to harsher rules.

In this world, plunderers are ultimately plundered; predators become prey.

The spiritual energy and resources of heaven and earth flowed like surging Jianghe, greedily absorbed and transformed by countless races into foundations for advancement.

The peak throne, wielding the world's authority, remained perpetually vacant, luring billions of beings to rush forward, building the path to the summit with bone and blood.

Standing on this grand stage, Ji Chen recalled the words the Dragon-kin had once spoken in his memory.

Before parting, he had curiously asked the Dragon-kin what kind of world it had repeatedly said it would devote its entire life to pursuing.

The Dragon-kin's answer was:

"It is a world paved with corpses; the weak have no right even to look up."

He had offered his blessings, believing it would one day stand atop that world's summit.

But upon hearing his blessing, the Dragon-kin had turned with a smile, patted his shoulder, and said:

"Wrong. I am confident, yet I know the challenges of this path are immense—I will likely die fighting in that world. But I will spend my life paving steps for my clan's ascent, lifting one generation after another. I firmly believe my descendants will stand atop that world's summit."

The Dragon-kin's words mirrored the structure of the Monster World perfectly.

This stirred a thought in his heart.

Could the Dragon-kin, right now, be fighting alongside its clan in the Monster World, climbing toward the world's peak?

Clearly, the answer could not be found in the Dizhong Village library.

So he asked the omnipotent guide—and received an affirmative reply.

He learned the Dragon-kin and its clan were now in the Black Domain of the Monster World, separated from the Pale Continent by billions of mountains and rivers, their physical forms nearly incapable of crossing.

He had once thought their parting was forever.

Yet he never imagined they would cross the world's barrier in this way, once again sharing the same sky.

He had believed his story had ended with the wars of the alien world, his broken body destined to turn to dust in his home world, his obsession gradually erased by time.

But fate had granted him a bizarre yet magnificent twist.

He had descended into this boundless Monster World.

Sharing the same heavens once more with the Dragon-kin.

As a player, bearing immortal life, he had restarted his journey in this super-world.

And the Dragon-kin and its clan were far away, on the distant Black Domain, fulfilling their vow to climb the peak with flesh and blood.

Once the distance between life and death, now two life trajectories run parallel in the same world.

He no longer needs to worry about his lifespan running out; as long as he keeps growing stronger on this vast stage, he can possess everything.

Learning the truth, Ji Chen felt a sense of destiny that transcended reincarnation in his heart.

Back then, his campaigns in the Other World were for survival, for protection.

Now, his journey in the Monster World, besides becoming stronger, carries an additional clear goal.

To meet that elder brother "Dragonborn" who once pulled him from the abyss of death, led him and his brothers, and toppled the invincible Bai Yao Dynasty.

Unlike during the Other World period, he now is the true protagonist of this world.

Recalling the shocked expression on Dragonborn's face when he saw him, Ji Chen was filled with anticipation.

Forum brothers once said: If you gain wealth and do not return home, it is like wearing brocade at night.

Ji Chen deeply agreed.

By the same logic, meeting an old friend in a foreign land without showing off is to waste the reunion.

He could almost imagine the shocked expression appearing on Dragonborn's cold, proud face, even suspecting he was hallucinating.

After all, in Dragonborn's understanding, he should have long been a dead man whose lifespan had run out, buried in the Other World.

At that time, he would definitely say casually:

"What, don't recognize an old friend?"

Then, in Dragonborn's shocked gaze, reveal the rule-based abilities only a player can possess.

Showing off is a man's romance.

And showing off in front of an old friend is the ultimate romance.

The plot is already arranged; now only the mastery of spatial knowledge is missing.

But he is about to vomit from studying.

Even with the Brain Overclocking Painful Painful Minghun embedded, the learning progress still cannot speed up.

Dimensional formulas, spatial node analysis, spatial coordinates... every time he studies the teleportation array structure, he feels his brain boiling.

Ji Chen rubbed his temples, his gaze sweeping over the floating spatial runes below.

At this current progress, let alone crossing tens of millions of Shanhe.

He cannot even pass the stage of editing spatial coordinates.

But if he does not take a shortcut, relying on his physical body to cross the Black Domain, he fears he will never have the chance to see Dragonborn in this lifetime.

Crossing by physical body, distance is only one of the problems.

Knowing the truth of the game, he understood that players already possessed infinite lifespans, so theoretically all regions were reachable.

And the biggest problem was actually death.

Although players can resurrect infinitely many times, each resurrection returns them to the starting point of the journey.

And between these tens of millions of Shanhe, countless chasms capable of crushing life lie in ambush.

Exploration-party players have the most to say on this point.

After forum research-party players collected information from exploration-party players, they compiled a table.

The data on it proved that exploration-party players exploring foggy (unexplored) regions generally did not survive a week.

Dangers encountered on the journey included not only fierce monsters but also various unknown traps.

The most famous trap-style old schemer on the forum was the Lord of Bliss.

Called an entertainment city, it was actually a hidden teleportation trap; any living creature encountering it would be teleported to the Bliss Palace and fall into corruption until death.

Secondly, the game space of the Youlv Council was also a kind of hidden trap.

Too many "campers" lay in ambush in the Monster World, specifically ambushing passing living creatures to use them as beasts of burden to produce rule-derived energy.

Including the Ancient God Clan, they were also in this category of factions.

Exploration-party players proved with actions and accumulated data that there were ten thousand bizarre ways for players to die on a journey.

The most reliable method was still building a spatial teleportation array.

At this stage, the strongest in spatial technology was the Gold Coin Merchant Guild, but they only learned the construction of basic spatial teleportation arrays.

It could not give him any help at all.

He had to find a way to solve this problem himself.

Standing in the high sky, after observing the flow trajectory of the formation, Ji Chen's figure landed in the center of the array and began to re-edit the array nodes.

Energy flowed at his fingertips; under the perception of the Eagle-Headed Demon and the Spirit Eye traits, the spatial nodes appeared in his mind.

Fine beads of sweat seeped from Ji Chen's forehead; the Brain Overclocking Painful Painful Minghun operated to its limit at this moment, his consciousness frantically deducing within the ocean of dimensional formulas.

"Again."

He murmured softly, his fingers tracing the final energy trajectories in the air consecutively.

In an instant, the floating spatial rune phantom on the array trembled violently.

A blinding light burst forth from the center of the array; Ji Chen's pupils suddenly contracted.

This time it seemed promising!

However, the next second, the entire array suddenly twisted and deformed.

The spatial nodes, like dough kneaded by an invisible giant hand, emitted a sound of shattering and tearing; a pitch-black rift appeared out of nowhere, and violent void turbulence gushed forth.

"It's over!"

Ji Chen decisively flew backward, using telekinesis to float his body and increase the distance.

Watching helplessly as the teleportation array he had painstakingly constructed was swallowed entirely by the void, the runes at the center of the array disintegrated one by one, dissolving into specks of starlight in the air.

This attempt still ended in failure.

And he lost the spatial materials he had accumulated recently.

He let out a heavy breath, wearily dropping to the ground and sitting down. Gazing at the large crater not far away, his mind replayed the scene from before the spatial node collapsed.

It was only a tiny calculation error, yet within a thousandth of a second it triggered a chain reaction.

"As expected, it's still not working."

Ji Chen rubbed his temples; the excessive mental drain from brain overclocking made his vision go black.

Spatial calculations of this level had already exceeded his capability.

Even though he was an old fellow who had lived for over two hundred years.

But back then, all problems were solved by the Dragon Descendants, and his contact with spatial knowledge only began after he became a player.

More precisely, it was only after learning that the Dragon Descendants were also in the Monster World that he began to study it.

The distant sky flushed with the pale glow of dawn; a new day was about to begin.

He gazed at the rising morning sun, a hint of helplessness surfacing in his eyes.

Recalling how back in the other world he could face a thousand armies without changing expression, staking his life without flinching, and yet now he was stumped by a pile of spatial formulas.

Looking at it now, he still had to hunt to earn Shou Shou Jili and raise his strength first.

Then consider what the next step should be.

At the very least, he had to first raise brain overclocking to level 100, so that his learning progress could be greatly improved.

As for decomposing other Painful Painful Minghun to fully invest points into brain overclocking, there was simply no need.

Without the boost of combat-type Painful Painful Minghun, moving even a single step in the Monster World would be just as difficult.

Perhaps the moment he was teleported over, he would be struck down by some sudden external force.

Since the test had failed once again, Ji Chen decided that his development going forward would still focus on raising his strength, with any spare time used for study and research.

Summoning the map, Ji Chen checked the locations of the guild members.

The guild's name was "Reborn Return," personally founded by him.

Since lifespan was no longer a shackle, and his player identity had granted him unlimited growth potential, he no longer needed to rush about desperately for survival as he had in the other world.

So this time, he set himself a new goal: to stand at the Jin Zita of the player faction.

To see the most expansive scenery.

This guild was the starting point of his ambition.

The entire guild currently had only 129 members.

Unlike the vast majority of player guilds that pursued scale and expansion, the Reborn guild followed an elite route.

Every member was a powerful player he had personally screened, or a lone-wolf player with astonishing combat strength.

This type of player had one characteristic: they felt nothing for large guilds with massive numbers.