Chapter 40: Forever By Your Side

Players flooding in from all directions grew ever more numerous.

They encircled the Evil Spirit Warrior in layer upon layer.

While players possessing Taunt Soul Cores took turns restraining the Evil Spirit Warrior, Duan Xing, whose consciousness was already blurred, was dragged away from the scene by a flurry of player hands and feet.

Under player escort, he vanished into the distance.

The remaining players surged against the Evil Spirit Warrior wave after wave, preventing it from pursuing and harming God of Wealth again.

The Evil Spirit Warrior's analysis panel was also shared by players in the regional voice channel mid-battle.

【Earth Nian - Evil Spirit (Commander Rank)】

Hunt Level: 63

Target Analysis: A sentient evil spawn born from the Black Black Tide, possessing formidable combat awareness and fighting techniques.

Despite being surrounded by players and already severely weakened, the Evil Spirit Warrior remained unstoppable.

Its casual strikes easily slaughtered players by the dozen, while the players' assaults could not even pierce the Evil Spirit Warrior's surface defenses.

The players' only advantage lay in their overwhelming numbers; they threw themselves forward relentlessly, with figures constantly arriving from all directions to reinforce the line.

"Who else has a Taunt Soul Core? We're about to collapse; this thing can't be defeated by sheer numbers alone."

"Brothers with Taunt, type '1' in the regional channel. I'll form a party so we can rotate Taunts and buy God of Wealth more time."

Players possessing Taunt Soul Cores were ultimately few, and gaps in the Taunt coverage soon appeared.

But to the players' surprise, the Evil Spirit Warrior did not chase in the direction God of Wealth had fled; instead, it transformed into a streak of black light and shot skyward, flying north.

With the crisis averted, the players finally breathed a sigh of relief, believing God of Wealth's life had been secured.

At this moment, in a corner of the Bloodstained Plains, Duan Xing still lay unconscious, the rune armor on his body flickering with a faint glow in rhythmic intervals like breathing.

Black death qi had spread across his entire body, and his injuries were worsening further under its corrosion.

As his life hung by a thread, Duan Xing vaguely saw his deceased father in a trance.

The man who had died in his place.

Memories from when he was seven surged like a Black Tide, filling his childhood with endless pain.

In those memories, the Black Black Tide seeping into his body entered through a mark on his left chest, gradually infiltrating his interior over time and corrupting his heart.

During their final meeting, his consciousness had already been blurred, yet he still clearly remembered his father smiling as he stroked his head:

"Xing, do you want to possess power as mighty as your father's?"

"Yes... with power as mighty as Father's, I can definitely defeat the corrosion... and in the future, join the Counter-Black Tide Legion like you to become a glorious warrior."

"On the road ahead, I hope you can continue to walk forward with strength."

"Father, where are you going?"

"I will not leave; I will remain by your side forever, witnessing your growth."

Consciousness sank into slumber at that very moment.

When he awoke, his father had vanished, and the corrosive energy that had permeated his body had disappeared along with him.

His once-decaying heart now beat with vigorous strength; when he looked down, he discovered an energy core connected to his heart had appeared on his left chest.

In that moment, he understood his father's choice; this was the "remaining by your side forever" and "witnessing your growth" his father had spoken of.

The decaying, rotten heart within him had been removed, replaced by his father's robust and powerful heart.

Through sacrificial narration, Duan Xing learned that the energy core on his left chest was a seal upon the powerful heart within his body; his frail physique could not withstand the power of his father's heart, and the energy core was the mechanism controlling that power, which could be unlocked by twisting it to open the seal.

When the heart and energy core perfectly connected, the lingering sliver of his father's consciousness flashed by one last time:

"With every turn of the energy core, Father will fight alongside you."

Memories churned violently in Duan Xing's mind; his body grew increasingly weak, and the injuries inflicted by the Evil Spirit Warrior continued to worsen.

The death qi infiltrating his body caused his organs to decay rapidly; only his heart still roared and operated, suspending the last flicker of Duan Xing's life flame.

Just as his consciousness was about to sink into oblivion, Duan Xing vaguely saw his father standing not far away, smiling as he reached out a hand toward him:

"Follow closely in my footsteps."

Holding his father's hand, Duan Xing walked toward the faint light ahead; in this moment, the darkness nearby no longer seemed terrifying.

At this time, the players outside the scene were exceedingly anxious.

Through the analysis feedback from the Guide, they discovered that God of Wealth was in a near-death state and could perish suddenly at any moment.

In this moment, many players chose to extend a helping hand.

"I'll earn 800 Sacrifice Power from you; consider this 50 Sacrifice Power Healing Pill as my return gift." A player said with a pained expression, then produced a green pill and stuffed it into Duan Xing's mouth.

"God of Wealth, you can't die!" A player redeemed a bottle of low-grade Healing Potion worth 10 Sacrifice Power points and poured it over Duan Xing.

"I'm a doctor; everyone make way, let me examine his injuries... I don't understand this; better to just spend money on medicine."

Under the players' pouring of Healing Potions and the unyielding beating of his heart, Duan Xing, on the brink of death, was slowly dragged back from the abyss.

His injuries began to repair at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Seeing this scene, the players gathered around Duan Xing cheered and jumped for joy.

"Looking at the analysis feedback, the 'Near-Death' suffix on God of Wealth has changed to 'Weak'; we succeeded!"

"If we succeeded, run fast! Once God of Wealth wakes up, he'll definitely deal with us; he's fierce. Let's get out of here quickly."

"Run, run! God of Wealth kills without blinking; if he sees us here, we'll definitely be thrown into the little black room for an hour."

Seeing Duan Xing's injuries gradually healing, the players withdrew one after another, unwilling to remain.

Although they held favorable feelings toward Duan Xing, they knew full well that Duan Xing held not a shred of goodwill toward them; every time they met, he would raise two great cleavers and kill.

Not long after the players dispersed, Duan Xing slowly awakened from his coma.

Opening his eyes, he looked down at the energy core connected to his heart on his left chest, then swept his gaze around his surroundings.

He did not understand why he had appeared here, or where the Evil Spirit Warrior he had been fighting had gone.

Filled with doubt, he attempted to activate the combat information storage function embedded within his rune armor; instantly, countless recorded video scenes flooded his mind.

He saw the scene where the mysterious creatures he hated to his core had sacrificed themselves to save him when he was on the verge of death, and he also saw footage of these mysterious creatures dragging him away from the Evil Spirit Warrior and fighting it to the death to buy him time to escape.

The final image in the combat information recording was of the mysterious creatures treating his injuries.

After watching the recorded footage, Duan Xing's hatred toward these mysterious creatures turned into gratitude.

He did not understand why these mysterious creatures had acted this way, but he knew that his continued survival had been bought with their lives.

Before such a debt of gratitude, any amount of hatred became insignificant.

Sitting up, he retrieved a rune seal the size of a thumb from his bracer.

"The trial has failed; it is time to return."

After this battle, the obsession in his heart had dissipated; he decided to abandon the trial and leave this place.

With these mysterious creatures blocking his path, he could never collect enough Evil Crystals; moreover, upon meeting them again, he was no longer willing to kill these mysterious creatures.

"I will repay your kindness once I am powerful enough."

As his words fell, Duan Xing flew straight into the sky.

One hour later, Duan Xing appeared before the massive crater he had created upon arrival, preparing to embed the rune seal in his hand into the shuttle and summon the Overseer for pickup.

But when he looked down into the crater, he was shocked to discover that the shuttle was gone.

Frowning slightly, he attempted to activate the positioning system on his rune armor, only to find he could no longer sense the shuttle's specific location; he could not even read any fragmentary information about it.

His heart rate suddenly accelerated at this moment, his blood pressure skyrocketed, and Duan Xing's eyes turned completely red.

He thought of one possibility.

An ability capable of making objects vanish completely... aside from those mysterious creatures, who else could it be?

Half a day earlier.

Player Forum:

【Brothers, we've struck it rich! I found a machine at the bottom of a huge pit; after sacrificing it at the altar, I received 38, 00 Sacrifice Power points. This is too good; it's no different from winning the lottery. The Monster World truly offers opportunities everywhere; the Guide does not deceive me!】

Early Book Phase~ Asking for votes~

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(End of Chapter)