Chapter 40: Always Accompanying

Players surged in from all directions, growing ever more numerous.

They surrounded the Evil Spirit Warrior in concentric rings.

Taking advantage of the gaps created when players with the Taunt Painful Painful Minghun took turns controlling the Evil Spirit Warrior, the dazed Duan Xing was hauled away from the scene by a dozen player hands.

Escorted by the players, they moved far away.

The remaining players launched wave after wave of assaults on the Evil Spirit Warrior, preventing it from harming the God of Wealth again.

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

【Earth Will - Evil Spirit (Commander Class)】

Hunting Level: 63

Target Analysis: A wise evil spirit born from the Black Tide, possessing powerful combat awareness and combat techniques.

Facing the players' siege, the already extremely weakened Evil Spirit Warrior remained unstoppable.

A casual strike could easily kill groups of players, yet the players' offensive power could not even breach the Evil Spirit Warrior's body defense.

The players' only advantage was their vast numbers; they pressed forward relentlessly, with figures constantly arriving from all directions to reinforce them.

"Who else has a Taunt Painful Painful Minghun? We're about to be overwhelmed; this guy cannot be defeated by sheer numbers."

"Brothers with Taunt, type '1' in the regional channel; I'll pull you into a squad to release Taunts in sequence, buying the God of Wealth more time."

Players possessing the Taunt Painful Painful Minghun were ultimately in the minority, and gaps in the Taunt coverage soon appeared.

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

The crisis was averted; the players finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the God of Wealth's life had been saved.

At this moment, in a corner of the Blood-Red Plains, Duan Xing still lay in slumber, the rune armor on his body flickering with faint light intermittently like breathing.

Black death energy had already spread throughout his entire body, and his injuries had further worsened under the corrosion.

At the brink of death, Duan Xing vaguely saw his deceased father.

The man who had died in his place.

Memories from when he was seven years old surged like a tide, filling his childhood with endless pain.

In the memories, the Black Tide seeping into his body originated from a mark on his left chest; over time, it penetrated his interior, corrupting his heart.

During his last meeting with his father, his consciousness had already been blurred, yet he still clearly remembered his father smiling and stroking his head:

"Xing, do you want to possess power as strong as Dad's?"

"Yes... If I possess power as strong as Dad's, I can surely defeat the corrosion... In the future, I can join the Anti-Tide Legion like you and become a glorious warrior."

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

"Dad, where are you going?"

"I will not leave; I will always accompany you, witnessing your growth."

Consciousness sank into slumber at that moment.

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

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

At that moment, he understood his father's choice; this was the "always accompanying" and "witnessing growth" his father had spoken of.

The decaying, rotting heart in his body had been removed, replaced by his father's strong and powerful heart.

Through the Shou Shou Jili narration, Duan Xing learned that the energy core on his left chest was a seal upon the powerful heart within his body; his weakened physique could not withstand the power of his father's heart, so the energy core was a mechanism to control the heart's power, which could be opened by twisting to release the seal.

A wisp of his father's lingering consciousness flashed one last time when the heart and the energy core perfectly connected:

"With every turn of the energy core, your father will fight side by side with you."

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

The death energy seeping into his body caused his various organs to decay rapidly, with only his heart still roaring and operating, sustaining the final wisp of Duan Xing's life flame.

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

"Follow my footsteps closely."

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

At this time, the players outside the field were incredibly anxious.

Through the analysis feedback from the guidance, they discovered the God of Wealth was in a near-death state and could die violently at any moment.

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

"Earning your 800 Shou Shou Jili, this 50-Shou Shou Jili Healing Pill counts as my return gift," a certain player said with a pained expression, then produced a green pill in his hand and stuffed it into Duan Xing's mouth.

"God of Wealth, you cannot die!" a certain player exchanged a bottle of low-grade Healing Potion worth 10 Shou Shou Jili and poured it over Duan Xing's body.

"I am a doctor; everyone move aside, let me check his injuries... I can't understand it, better just spend money to buy medicine."

Under the pouring of healing potions by the players and the unyielding beating of the heart, the near-death Duan Xing was slowly dragged out of the abyss of death.

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

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

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

"We succeeded, so why not run quickly? The God of Wealth will surely attack us when he wakes up; he's extremely fierce; let's scram immediately."

"Run, run! The God of Wealth kills without blinking; if he sees us here, we'll definitely be thrown into a one-hour small dark room."

Seeing Duan Xing's injuries gradually heal, the players withdrew one by one, unwilling to remain.

Although they had a good impression of Duan Xing, they understood even more clearly that Duan Xing held no good impression of them at all; every time they met, he wielded two large cleavers and simply killed.

Not long after the players dispersed, Duan Xing slowly awoke 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.

He did not understand why he had appeared here, or where the Evil Spirit Warriors he had fought had gone.

With doubts in his heart, he attempted to activate the combat information storage function embedded in his Rune Armor; instantly, countless video images flooded his mind.

He saw the scene where a mysterious creature, whom he had hated to the bone, had sacrificed its life to save him just as he was about to perish, and he saw the scene where this group of mysterious creatures dragged him away from the Evil Spirit Warriors and fought them to the death to buy him time to retreat.

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

After watching the video record, Duan Xing's hatred for this group of mysterious creatures turned into gratitude.

He did not understand why this group of mysterious creatures had done this, but he knew that his continued life had been exchanged for their desperate struggle.

No amount of hatred became insignificant in the face of this debt of gratitude.

Sitting up, he took out a thumb-sized Fu Wen Yin from his bracer.

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

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

With mysterious creatures blocking him, he could not collect enough Evil Crystals; if they met again, he was no longer willing to kill this group of mysterious creatures.

"I will repay your debt of gratitude once I become strong enough."

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

One hour later, Duan Xing's figure appeared before the large crater created upon his arrival, preparing to embed the Fu Wen Yin in his hand into the shuttle and summon the Overseer for pickup.

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

Frowning slightly, he attempted to activate the positioning system on his Rune Armor, only to discover that he could no longer sense the shuttle's specific location, and could not even read fragmentary information.

The speed of his heartbeat suddenly accelerated at that moment, blood pressure soared, and Duan Xing's eyes turned completely red.

He thought of one possibility.

The ability to make objects vanish completely... besides that group of mysterious creatures, who else could it be?

Half a day ago.

Player Forum:

【Brothers, I've struck it rich! I found a machine at the bottom of a large crater. After tossing it onto the altar for sacrifice, it gave me 38,000 points of Shou Shou Jili. This is too good; it's no different from winning the lottery. The Monster World truly has opportunities everywhere; the Guidance did not deceive me!】

New book period~ Asking for votes~

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(End of this chapter)