Chapter 389: Pressure at the Martial Arts Arena

【Earth United News Agency: Special Report on Emergency Situation.】

Before the camera, the host wore a professional smile, yet a trace of lingering shock remained deep in her eyes:

"Good evening, viewers. Welcome to the Horizon special program. We believe that in the past 24 hours, the shadow of the alien fleet invasion hanging over the globe has terrified everyone. The steel torrent that blocked out the sky once triggered the highest-level red alert on our near-Earth orbit defense system..."

Behind her, the holographic screen displayed footage of the mechanical army fleet provided by the Earth United Combat Command.

But it quickly switched to the current calm starry sky scene.

The metallic dust that originally surrounded Earth, forming a star ring, has also completely vanished.

The host's tone carried confusion:

"What is hard for us to believe is that this crisis, which seemed capable of bringing catastrophic disaster, has once again ended silently."

"Yes, once again," she emphasized.

She tapped her finger lightly, bringing up footage of the floating giant beasts that appeared during the Lingxi Clan invasion, and began to explain the situation in depth.

After discussing the suddenly calmed abnormal invasion (Lingxi Invasion) event, the host continued:

"As we have seen, for the various races of the Earth Alliance, the arrival and invasion of external forces is no longer news. It happens several times almost every year, and small-scale conflicts are a common occurrence. We have gone from initial panic to taking it for granted now; even within the Alliance, there is a joking term like 'Monthly Invasion Quota'."

"But invasions are never a game. We are very fortunate to have escaped a catastrophe."

The scene switched to random street interviews.

A member of the Law Ring Clan, whose hands resembled octopus tentacles, faced the camera and said in a relaxed tone:

"Oh, you are asking about yesterday's arrival crisis? They say the scale was quite large at the time, but I was watching the Monster World live broadcast the whole time and didn't take it seriously at all. After all, I couldn't change anything anyway, right... Fortunately, nothing happened in the end. I suspect this was just a transit jump by the Chou Wai Jie during their inter-dimensional travel. They came to Earth, then tore through space and left, showing no interest in Earth at all." Saying this, he laughed first:

"Or perhaps it was an invasion, and after discovering Earth's resources were barren, they left in disgust."

The scene jumped to a member of the Breaker Clan, whose eyes were wild as he faced the interview:

"I believe it must have been the Eclipse Clan who acted. Only the Eclipse Clan possesses such great power to quickly drive away the invading forces. They absolutely have such strength... As I have always maintained, the air on the moon is sweeter than on Earth. You know the war technology of the Eclipse Clan..."

As the live broadcast footage kept jumping, different cities and different races expressed different views on this invasion event.

When the scene switched back to the news studio, the scholars invited to participate in the program were discussing this invasion event.

The judgment of the Green Wood Clan's natural energy expert appeared much more rigorous compared to the interviews:

"The energy readings spiked to unprecedented peaks in an extremely short time, then strangely vanished sharply. This is obviously abnormal. Judging from the energy fluctuations, it looked like an attack on Earth, but it seems they suddenly gave up under the influence of some external force. The Eclipse Clan has not revealed specific information; there must be something happening behind the scenes that we do not know."

Beside the Green Wood Clan scholar, an arrival research expert from the Sky Feather Clan added:

"Since the footage from outer space was cut off, it proves the Eclipse Clan must be hiding some secret they cannot let us know. But we have no means to counter the Eclipse Clan. I think we should try to obtain the specific situation at that time through diplomatic protests. All races of the Earth Alliance should have the right to know..."

Amidst the scholars' discussion, the scene finally switched back to the host, whose expression remained serious:

"Although the people in major cities are no longer surprised by arrival events, this sudden situation is different from the past and has left many unsolved mysteries. Whether the Eclipse Clan will reveal the truth is currently unknown. Next, we will closely monitor the subsequent developments of the situation, try to connect with the Eclipse Clan, and understand why the arriving forces suddenly approached Earth? And why did they suddenly lose all signals? Without any reports of fierce battles, they finally vanished like evaporation?"

"Now, representing the Earth Combat Command, we announce to all people of the Earth Alliance that this arrival crisis has been resolved. Please, people of the Earth Alliance, remain calm and trust the Alliance's external defense capabilities."

"As for how the truth unfolds, Horizon will continue to pay attention. Thank you for watching."

The report ended, but discussions about the fleet that mysteriously appeared and mysteriously disappeared, as well as the truth behind it, erupted passionately in every corner of the internet.

Three hours later.

The Archon of the Eclipse Clan convened a briefing.

The meaning expressed was only one: A branch force of the Eclipse Clan, led by the Central Brain, returned to the main lineage and formally joined the Earth Alliance. However, only the Central Brain and the mechanical army returned; the branch clan members had all perished in the long inter-dimensional war. In the future, the Eclipse Clan will use the resources and technology brought by the branch to assist the development of the various races of Earth.

Qi Sheng paid full attention to the sudden crisis on Earth.

The appearance and disappearance of the Central Brain would not have any impact on the development of the player camp in his eyes.

Even without Brother Ming Hou, he could wipe out the mechanical army with a wave of his hand.

However, with Brother Ming Hou and the assistance of other Fate Clan members, maintaining stability in the real world saved a lot of trouble.

The issue of subsequent explanations was handled by the Star Net; he did not need to pay too much attention.

His gaze turned to the player data from the guidance feedback at this moment.

It tallied the 13 Painful Painful Minghun recently contained, as well as 32 resource nodes.

Among them, three Painful Painful Minghun caused quite a stir on the forum.

The first Painful Painful Minghun was the second-generation Painful Painful Minghun: Gravity Vortex, contained by the warband led by the player "Slacking Off Is Not for the Hardcore" in a lake in the Land of Chasing the Sun.

This is a Painful Painful Minghun of the area-of-effect strike plus control type that is very suitable for magic-type players.

Its characteristic effect consumes spiritual power to generate an expanding gravity vortex at the location marked by the spirit, dragging everything nearby towards the gravity center.

It continuously consumes spiritual power during release, capable of continuously causing gravity pressure damage and control effects.

This Painful Painful Minghun has average effects for lone wolf-type players.

But its performance on the battlefield is excellent; many player guilds and teams have already tested its effects in actual combat.

When a magic team releases Gravity Vortex simultaneously, the long-range output efficiency of the enemy army's rear will be greatly reduced.

Because the long-range spells released by the opponent will also be affected by the Gravity Vortex at the moment of casting.

The only drawback is that the release coordinates of the Gravity Vortex are extremely critical.

If the coordinates where the magic team releases the Gravity Vortex are different, and part of the ranges overlap, the Gravity Vortex effects will pull against each other and cancel out.

This Painful Painful Minghun requires a high level of coordinated combat ability from magic teams.

Small warbands or guilds generally embed single-digit magic-type players to avoid mutual interference.

During this period, the number of magic-type players embedding "Gravity Vortex" is constantly growing.

From the embedding curve of the guidance feedback, it can be seen that this will be a hot mainstream magic-type Painful Painful Minghun in the future "War Domain".

Besides the powerful characteristic effects, the low price of second-generation Painful Painful Minghun is also one of the important factors.

The second Painful Painful Minghun is the sixth-generation Painful Painful Minghun: Steal, contained by the player "Dreaming Daydreams Every Night" in a 30,000-meter deep sea trench in the Ascension Sea.

As soon as Steal appeared, it sparked heated discussion.

It was also regarded by strategy-guide players as a potential Painful Painful Minghun that could promote to T1 level at the start, with the hope of promoting to T0 level.

The trait effect is simple: after being released on a target, it randomly extracts one type of buff status and converts it into a "buff orb," which can be used by oneself or given to a teammate.

The duration is affected by the consumption of spiritual power or qi-blood energy.

The stronger the stolen buff status, the more spiritual power or qi-blood consumed while in the stolen state.

To steal a deity's status, one must also be prepared to have one's sea of consciousness instantly drained or one's qi-blood burned out in an instant.

This Painful Painful Minghun's strength performs brilliantly in actual combat.

Monster World has too many cheat-like methods; all attached statuses can be stolen.

For example, the protective qi-barrier generated by many races releasing qi-blood can be treated as a buff status and extracted; once extracted, the opponent can no longer release this ability, vanishing at the rule level, and converting into a buff orb in the player's hand that can be given to any target to use.

Or, there are quite a few races that master special racial talents that stimulate bodily potential, similar to "Berserk."

This ability can also be stolen over, causing the opponent to lose the ability and have it temporarily belong to the player.

But this is not the limit of Steal.

Strategy-guide players in the testing space tried generating a test dummy of the Divine Artifact race.

Then they tried continuously releasing Steal on it.

To their pleasant surprise, they actually stole the Divine Artifact power granted by the Divine Artifact rules.

This proves that Steal can even briefly steal the rule efficacy on the opponent's body.

For example, if the opponent's rule effect grants a tenfold amplification to their own strength, once locked by Steal, this ability will belong to the player.

Forum strategy-guide players discovered many pleasant surprises during continuous testing.

Although the effect of Steal has randomness, players have two Painful Painful Minghun in hand that can affect fortune.

For example, Misfortune and Strong Fortune.

These two Painful Painful Minghun can increase the target's loss, or increase the probability of drawing a high-tier buff status for oneself.

Secondly, the "attribute growth value" of the Steal Painful Painful Minghun is also very high, reaching 1.325.

The so-called attribute growth value refers to a calculation method for Painful Painful Minghun growth potential that forum players figured out on their own.

Besides different trait effects, each Painful Painful Minghun's growth value is also completely different.

Take the "Initial Three Phantom Gods" in players' eyes as an example.

All being first-generation Painful Painful Minghun, the initial comprehensive attribute values of the Three Phantom Gods are completely different.

The Eagle-Headed Demon's comprehensive attribute value is 15 (Physical Fitness: 3, Spiritual Strength: 8, Elemental Resistance: 4).

The Gargoyle's comprehensive attribute value is 17.

The Black-Armored Snake's comprehensive attribute is 14.

Here, the Gargoyle has the highest comprehensive attribute value, and as the Painful Painful Minghun level increases, this numerical gap will further widen.

Players use the Black-Armored Snake Painful Painful Minghun—also the Painful Painful Minghun chosen by the first player, Seeing Li Zheng—as the basis for calculating other Painful Painful Minghun's growth potential, with a representative value of: 1.

Therefore, the Gargoyle's attribute growth potential is 1.214.

The Eagle-Headed Demon's attribute growth potential is 1.071.

When choosing a Painful Painful Minghun, players must first consider the Painful Painful Minghun's trait, and secondly consider the Painful Painful Minghun's attribute growth potential.

The importance of numerical value has become an important reference indicator after containing "Divine Shift," a territory rule that can arbitrarily change the direction of attribute amplification.

And the Steal Painful Painful Minghun's growth potential of 1.325 ranks fourth on the attribute potential list compiled by players.

Secondly, the trait effect of Steal is also suitable for players of all class builds to use.

Forum players voted to rank it at T1 tier rather than T0 tier precisely because the Steal Painful Painful Minghun is expensive.

As a sixth-generation Painful Painful Minghun, purchasing it requires 100,000 points of Shou Shou Jili.

Players have many channels through which to consume Shou Shou Jili; a single Painful Painful Minghun costing 100,000 Shou Shou Jili is clearly unacceptable for an ordinary player's income.

In the words of a certain forum player: At this price, I can socket a first-generation Painful Painful Minghun, then use the remaining Shou Shou Jili to buy Evolution Pills, directly raising the Painful Painful Minghun's level to 31.

A level-31 first-generation Painful Painful Minghun, whether in attributes or trait efficacy, completely outclasses a sixth-generation Painful Painful Minghun in every aspect.

Considering everything, the cost-performance ratio at the current stage is low.

The third Painful Painful Minghun is a first-generation Painful Painful Minghun contained by the player "Liu Huangshu" in Sand-Breaking Halberd: Rejuvenation.

The trait effect is to fling a drop of "Rejuvenation Water Drop" condensed from spiritual power, which can be controlled in flight direction by consciousness; any target it touches will receive rule-level healing effects.

That is to say, regardless of curses, erosion, and various other negative statuses that resist life recovery, none will affect the healing amount.

The specific healing effect is influenced by two dimensions: the Painful Painful Minghun's level and the player's spiritual strength.

After the Rejuvenation Painful Painful Minghun debuted, before the strategy-guide players even released their review content, forum players pushed it onto the throne of version T0 tier.

The reason is none other than that Rejuvenation is a healing-type Painful Painful Minghun.

Before this, there was only one healing Painful Painful Minghun, the sixth-generation Wish.

Although its strength is very high, ordinary players simply have no ability to socket it.

The Painful Painful Minghun's expensive price is only one of the thresholds; channels to obtain Wish power are scarce, making it very difficult for the Painful Painful Minghun to grow quickly.

A support possessing the Wish Painful Painful Minghun is an absolute team core even in top-tier guilds.

Therefore, small groups basically use the growth-type pet "Light Spirit Feather" as their main means of team sustain.

From server launch to now, the question of when a healing-type Painful Painful Minghun could be contained has been raised by forum players from time to time.

Many veteran support-build players waited two and a half years for this, and finally saw the result they wanted after the Rejuvenation Painful Painful Minghun debuted.

The appearance of Rejuvenation means that the support playstyle will be promoted from team odd-jobs to team core.

A powerful healer can significantly boost the sustain capability of tank-build players.

Its importance is directly bound to the tank build.

The two Painful Painful Minghun once revered as the "Twin Pillars of Support"—Light Shield and Bind—inevitably saw their status impacted, and in the socketing priority ranking they could only step back.

After Rejuvenation's debut, the support build officially welcomed its spring.

From the class build curve chart fed back by the guidance, Qi Sheng could see that recently the proportion of support-build players had grown significantly.

Among them, the lowest proportion is the tank players, accounting for 4.59%.

They remain the most scarce class in the current version.

In a typical hundred-person team, there's usually only 1 tank player, while magic-class players make up over half.

For top-tier guilds like Shentang, the proportion of tank players fluctuates around 25%.

In terms of gameplay experience, magic-class players are unanimously recognized on the forums as the class with the best experience.

They firmly hold first place in every aspect.

First is the damage environment—tanks handle damage taken, while support players handle buffs, shields, sustain...

Melee players handle the frontal assault.

And all magic-class players need to do is go all-out with firepower, enjoying the thrill of kills.

This has also led to severe internal competition among magic-class players, making it the hardest of all classes to get into a team.

To join a good team, the competition among magic-class players is exceptionally fierce; before entering a team, they must first show their stats panel to the team leader.

Body Tempering level, Star Vein Slot level, Painful Painful Minghun level, Rune Resonance weapons... points are tallied across all aspects, and even after passing the interview, they still have to undergo the team's damage output cycle test before becoming official members.

By contrast, because tanks are extremely scarce, each one is a core asset of the team.

To retain tank players, many teams are even willing to start from scratch and train them up.

The price is that tank players must both endure the pain of taking hits head-on and bear enormous team pressure.

If the team wipes, the one most likely to take the blame is the tank player who failed to hold the damage.

And the turning point in the growth of support player numbers was also because "Rejuvenation" indirectly boosted the sustain of tank players, taking on the role of the team's amplifier.

Their strategic weight within the team has risen by one tier.