Chapter 44

"Damn, another Painful Painful Minghun that matches magic-output builds; the Black Armor Snake players can't accept this."

"Hahaha, this Painful Painful Minghun is excellent; Eagle-Head Demon plus Bone Fire plus Spirit-Eating greatly boosts sustainability. I'm very satisfied with this Meng Yuan Chu; brothers on the front line, kill it quickly!"

"The dilemma of running out of mana can finally be alleviated. Thanks to the mana-restoring Painful Painful Minghun gifted by nature; the Faxiliu Sect is getting stronger and stronger!"

"Everyone stop moving; let me hit it once before you all attack."

……

A Meng Yuan Chu monster with a hunting level of 12 poses no threat to players at the current stage.

The scene instantly became chaotic.

The rewards for killing Meng Yuan Chu monsters are shared; even touching it once grants Shou Shou Jili rewards. Players rushed toward the Meng Yuan Chu monsters like mad, killing Spirit-Eating within a short time and completing the containment.

Learning from the live broadcast feed that players ahead had successfully contained a Meng Yuan Chu, players in the rear also became extremely excited, especially those playing the ranged-output build.

Compared to the rewards from hunting evil spirits or monsters, containing Meng Yuan Chu monsters is a shared benefit for all players, giving them an additional Painful Painful Minghun option to embed.

The only dissatisfaction was that they did not participate in the process of hunting the Meng Yuan Chu, losing a share of the Shou Shou Jili rewards.

This successful hunt also increased Qi Sheng's fixed Shou Shou Jili rewards.

After the interlude of hunting Meng Yuan Chu, the mission to purify the Dark Cave continued.

What made Qi Sheng delighted was that the feedback from the guidance showed that besides Spirit-Eating, there was the aura of another Meng Yuan Chu monster within the three-layer space underground.

As long as players continue to explore, containing this Meng Yuan Chu monster is only a matter of time.

……

A corner of the third layer of the Dark Cave.

Li Zheng and his brothers looked at the long queue with helpless expressions.

Just a week ago, they were still lamenting that the number of players on their server was too low.

Who would have thought that now they would have to queue just to enter the mine tunnel.

But in comparison, they would rather have the number of players on their server increase; for them, the brick-moving faction, this is a huge good thing.

After the guilds led by big spenders like the Drunk Party appeared, Shou Shou Jili was never hard to sell.

Whatever was produced, the big spenders would buy it all.

Last time, he sold 50 points of Shou Shou Jili to the guild leader of the Drunk Party, "Wo Si Ni Die," and received 5,000 credit points in revenue.

After that, the price of Shou Shou Jili skyrocketed, so he decided to temporarily stop selling Shou Shou Jili and focus on improving his strength before considering revenue issues.

Spending Shou Shou Jili on improving strength was, in Li Zheng's view, a sure-fire investment.

Only by becoming powerful can one hunt stronger monsters and obtain higher Shou Shou Jili output.

While queuing, he didn't sit idle; he led his brothers in frantically striking the rock walls beside them with pickaxes, searching for possible Spirit Ores.

Nearby players did the same, all chipping away at the rock walls; the sound of metal striking never ceased.

Mining Spirit Ore is the safest source of revenue in this game; the downside is that it requires a certain amount of luck. With good luck, one can dig out several Spirit Ores embedded in the rock walls in a single day; with bad luck, one might toil all day without any output.

Compared to the clear rewards of fighting monsters and leveling up, mining relies heavily on luck.

This is also the primary income method chosen by many new players; after all, even the weakest Blood Corpses in the Waning Moon scene are around level 10, making hunting extremely difficult for new players and requiring team cooperation.

"Hehe, got another one."

Only to see the gravel beside him break away, revealing a glowing white Spirit Ore; the teammate, known as Eat Dirt, wore a triumphant expression.

"Don't show off; your father is about to give you a level 2 ore." Standing on the other side of Li Zheng, Sha Xin spoke, suddenly speeding up the motion of his pickaxe.

Just then, countless cries of shock came from the rear of the queue.

Li Zheng and the others immediately stopped mining, all looking up toward the rear to see what was happening there.

【Challenger Notification (Region): Congratulations to the player for obtaining a level 5 Spirit Ore "Soul Crystal" through mining in Dark Cave - Underground Layer 3, achieving the first player to obtain a Spirit Ore above level 5, with an additional reward of 500 Shou Shou Jili.】

Soul Crystal: An ore formed by the condensation of the dispersed soul power of the dead absorbed by the ore; it can nourish and repair damaged souls.

Usage methods: Forging, Consuming (consuming grants Body Tempering level experience), Sacrificing.

……

The appearance of the notification made Li Zheng and the others realize that a player at the rear of the queue had struck it rich through mining.

The Soul Crystal shown in the notification is a level 5 Spirit Ore; importantly, it can be consumed directly to increase Body Tempering level.

This was a huge temptation in the eyes of players.

At the current stage, increasing Body Tempering level is extremely difficult; unlike the gradual increase in consumption for Star Pulse level advancement, for Body Tempering levels 1 to 10, each level requires consuming 10,000 Shou Shou Jili to advance.

This is also the first time players have learned in the game that Body Tempering experience can be obtained by consuming special resources.

"So lucky, pity it wasn't me." Watching the cash purchase information rapidly refreshing in the region channel, Eat Dirt couldn't help but say with a sour tone.

After the interlude, just as Li Zheng and the others were preparing to continue mining, they discovered that the commotion at the rear of the queue had not subsided but had instead intensified, with some players even transforming into monster forms and engaging in combat with other players.

"Damn, something's wrong!"

The chaotic scene made Li Zheng think of a possibility; he immediately turned his head to look at Eat Dirt:

"Eat Dirt, extend your perception view over there and take a look."

Upon hearing this, Eat Dirt immediately nodded; his figure twisted as he switched to Eagle-Head Demon form, emitting a spreading sound wave toward the rear of the queue, his consciousness following the sound wave through the crowd to the center of the commotion.

The scene he saw afterward made Eat Dirt's heart pound wildly.

On the rock wall cracked and detached by pickaxes, numerous purple crystals were embedded, flickering with a faint light in the wavering campfire.

With his consciousness withdrawn, Eat Dirt decisively looked at Li Zheng:

"Brother Li, the entire rock wall is level 5 Soul Crystal ore; there are at least 20 crystals, and there might be even more deeper inside."

"No wonder it's so chaotic; turns out they're fighting over Spirit Ore." The Family Shared Godfather standing behind nodded in realization, then looked at Li Zheng and asked:

"Brother Li, what do you think?"

"What else can we think? Of course, we take it. Beneath Di Zhao never stipulated that whoever finds it owns it; whoever grabs it, it's ours."

"I'm a college student; I must have one of these Soul Crystals,"

After a brief exchange, Li Zheng and the others decisively shifted into Monster World form and charged toward the crowd locked in chaotic combat.

Many players shared Li Zheng's thoughts; faced with the lure of profit, they all chose to shift into Monster World form to join the scramble.

A vast number of players were crushed in the scramble, dissolving into black mist.

During this time, more and more players learned that a large deposit of Level 5 Spirit Ore had appeared on the third layer underground; they kept coming in relays, dying in waves only for new waves to arrive.

The fighting even spread from the Dark Cave to the players queuing outside the mine tunnel.

The cause was that a player from the Fan Zui Group was killed by members of the Divine Wing Guild while fighting over the Spirit Ore; that player immediately contacted the guild leader, Li Li Siyu, seeking assistance.

Shortly after, members of the two great guilds erupted into armed conflict outside the mine tunnel.

Players closely allied with these two guilds also joined the chaotic battle, initiating open-field brawls.

The first large-scale civil war since the Monster World server launched broke out right then.

(End of this chapter)