Chapter 55: Emperor Tomb Village Upgrade

[Challenger Notification: The global mission "Purify the Gloomy Cave" has been completed. Rewards are being distributed based on campaign contributions as follows]:

Contribution Rankings:

First Place: Game Brick-Moving Party (Body Tempering Level +3)

Second Place: Divine Wing (Body Tempering Level +2)

Third Place: Little Class-Iron Hammer (Body Tempering Level +1)

The game notification sounded, and all players who participated in this campaign received their reward feedback.

At the same time, the Corrosion Core, shattered by the combined efforts of the players, dissipated into crystalline black specks of light, while Qi Sheng's Emperor Omen power once again covered the domain node crystal.

The crystal, originally covered in black spots on its surface, ultimately transformed into a transparent, pure scarlet red.

Instantly, the cave shook violently, and an invisible force enveloped this land.

Viewed from high above, a massive black vortex formed with the Gloomy Cave at its center, expanding rapidly until it swallowed the entire earth into its whirlpool.

The terrain structure healed amidst the distortion, forming a stretch of flat black soil.

After the Gloomy Cave disappeared, Emperor Tomb Village shook accordingly, its internal area expanding and spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye.

On the southern side of Emperor Tomb Village, near the edge of the black mist, a huge beast head resembling a creature roaring at the sky rose up; this was the entrance to the Gloomy Cave.

The Challenger Notification then rang out in the minds of all players:

[Challenger Notification: The area of Emperor Tomb Village has been expanded. A new special zone, "Gloomy Cave," has been added. Players can reach the Gloomy Cave directly through the southern entrance of Emperor Tomb Village to mine spiritual ore resources.]

Accompanying the notification, a vast amount of guidance feedback information floated up in Qi Sheng's mind.

Gloomy Cave:

Territory Type: Resource

Territory Trait: Spiritual Proliferation (Continuously enlightens spiritual ores, producing spiritual ore resources)

Domain Status: Occupied

Although it was not a Rule Domain and could not provide Rule traits like "Flesh and Blood Reshaping,"

the trait of Spiritual Proliferation was, in Qi Sheng's view, extremely practical, capable of playing a supportive role in the early development of the player legion.

This meant that the spiritual ores within the Gloomy Cave were inexhaustible; even if mined empty, new spiritual ore resources would regenerate.

It was like leeks: cut one crop, and another grows back.

From the players' perspective, traveling to the Gloomy Cave no longer required a long journey; they could enter directly through Emperor Tomb Village, saving a great deal of travel time.

This significantly improved the efficiency of resource mining.

This also indirectly increased his share of sacrificial power revenue; the wealthier the players became, the higher his sacrificial power earnings could be.

Star Vein upgrades, Soul purchases, Body Tempering upgrades, Mall shopping... as long as players spent their sacrificial power, they could not escape the tax.

Even transactions between players incurred his commission.

For example, the custom weapons produced by the Doomsday Technology Guild used materials purchased from the Mall; even selling them at cost price allowed him to earn a 30% return on the cost.

After observing player discussions on the forum these past few days, he had already been conceiving the function of a Trading Row, providing players with a more convenient trading model while setting a reasonable transaction commission rate.

At that time, the circulation of resources and items among players would also bring him extra revenue.

Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, Northern Region.

Within a massive chasm, a pitch-black tower rose from the ground, with illusory black tentacles extending from the tower body, dancing wildly in the air.

Below, thick black mist shrouded the tower; countless evil spirits sometimes merged into the black mist and sometimes condensed into ferocious physical forms, their figures shifting between solidity and illusion as they rose and fell with the mist.

Atop the tower, a dark red evil eye gazed toward the direction of the Blood Plain, its pupil trembling slightly.

"What is wrong?" asked the Earth Thought Evil Spirit, whose injuries had already healed, looking at the Evil Eye.

"In the area where you previously fought and killed the Counter-Black Tide Warriors, I once sensed a node domain eroded by the power of the Evil Moon. I originally intended to send you there to completely occupy it once the Death Legion had taken initial shape, but now this domain node has mysteriously disappeared."

"Why?" Earth Thought immediately asked.

"It is unclear; I cannot analyze the specific cause. It may be related to the fact that the area of the Monster World is still continuously expanding. The merging of maps from other Plane Worlds has caused some unknown changes to this world's structure. It is very likely that the domain node shifted to another location during the world's transformation; such situations occur frequently in this world."

Hearing the Evil Eye's analysis, Earth Thought nodded expressionlessly, then continued to ask:

"I am curious about one question: why must our clan integrate the other Plane Worlds we devour into the Monster World?"

Facing the inquiry, the Evil Eye turned its gaze toward the Earth Thought Evil Spirit Warrior:

"My Lord's decision must have His considerations. My guess is that the intensity of this world far exceeds the other worlds our clan has invaded and devoured. My Lord wishes to transform this world into our clan's future base, or even abandon the Main World and forge this world into our future core world."

Hearing these words, Earth Thought's expression showed some disbelief:

"Forge it into the core clan lands? This world?"

"I have explained this to you many times: do not underestimate this world. This is not a minor world comparable to the small worlds you once assisted in devouring; it is a super world. Perhaps you were an absolute main force in devouring campaigns in other worlds, but in this world, you are merely one of our clan's most ordinary warriors. To completely occupy this world, countless Commander-level warriors have died in battle; even Monarch-level warriors have struggled to survive, let alone you."

"According to intelligence shared with me by other nodes, the former Supreme God of this world, Emperor Omen, may be a transcendent existence no weaker than My Lord."

The Evil Eye's words plunged Earth Thought into deep thought; after a long while, he said in a cold voice:

"I will absolutely not die here; in the future, I will stand at the peak of this world."

"Having ambition is a good thing, but similar words were spoken by the previous Commander-level warrior I assisted. At that time, I offered encouragement, but unfortunately, he ultimately died in war in a very wretched manner."

"Tell me about him in detail." Curiosity rose in Earth Thought's heart.

"Its name was Black Bug. Before coming to this world, it was assigned to fight in the Tianyuan World. After the Tianyuan World was completely devoured by our clan's power, it transferred to the Monster World. I, having just been born, was responsible for assisting it in understanding this world and helping it launch the devouring war."

"In the second year of our acquaintance, during a devouring war led by a Monarch-level warrior, it was transferred there and ultimately killed in a single strike by a native of the Monster World named Ice Blade, dying without any value. During that time, I also perished, with only a wisp of consciousness retrieved by my mother."

"It was only recently that I revived, deployed to this land, re-established the War Tower, and then came your arrival."

"How strong was the fellow who killed him?" Feeling shocked, Earth Thought immediately pressed for an answer.

"It is unclear. Black Bug and I were merely cannon-fodder level warriors in that campaign; we met our deaths not long after appearing. I accessed our clan's information database records and discovered that our clan lost five Monarch-level warriors in this campaign. As for whether Ice Blade was killed, there is no record."

Taking a deep breath, Earth Thought was once again shaken by the Evil Eye's words.

"Dying in battle in this world is most likely your destiny, but I also hope you can reach the height of a Monarch-level warrior. This world contains a vast number of domain nodes; for every domain node occupied, I can draw upon even more immense power to empower you. Your growth speed will far exceed that in any other Plane World you have visited. Strive to grow."

"I understand." Speaking these words, Earth Thought completely put away the arrogance in his heart.

Coming to the edge of the tower platform, he looked down at the black mist below that continuously bred evil spirits, understanding that the time for him to launch the devouring war was not far off.

(End of Chapter)