[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-monsters-are-coming":3,"chapter-the-monsters-are-coming-monsters-are-coming-chapter-69":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Monsters Are Coming",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2249918,4069,"Chapter 69: Revisiting Old Haunts, The Black Black Tide Surges (First Update)","monsters-are-coming-chapter-69",69,"\u003Cp>Tianfengcheng, Southern District.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Strolling through the city streets, the homeland before Qi Sheng's eyes felt utterly unfamiliar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking up, towering skyscrapers lined both sides of the street, their surfaces covered in smart glass playing advertisements for wearable tech devices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The road beneath his feet was no longer the asphalt and stone slabs of memory, but replaced by more advanced self-luminous material that automatically adjusted its brightness based on pedestrian traffic, while billboards along the roadside broadcast weather forecasts and news flashes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This city closely resembled the future world he had imagined in his youth, full of vitality, yet utterly lacking the familiar scent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reaching the end of the street, Qi Sheng halted and gazed at the high-rise building across the road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Memories surged like a Black Tide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you a tourist here to visit? Do you need any help?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Qi Sheng standing still and staring blankly at the high-rise, a youth wearing a \"Volunteer\" uniform, who was controlling cleaning robots to sweep the road nearby, approached curiously to greet him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facing the inquiry, Qi Sheng fell silent briefly before nodding with a smile:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, I'm here traveling; I don't need help, thank you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The youth's greeting filled Qi Sheng's heart with emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This city no longer held any friends or relatives he knew; the traces belonging to him had long been erased by the changing times, leaving behind only untended gravestones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, a voice from the Guide, tinged with mockery, rang out in his mind:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Tsk, tsk. The most tragic thing in life is not children meeting but not recognizing each other, laughing to ask where the guest comes from, nor is it a broken gate with rusted locks left unopened for long, gray brick paths covered in dry moss, nameless withered grass invading the entire garden; rather, it is discovering that the era's traces belonging to oneself have already been erased, returning to an old place yet finding no memories of the past. At this moment, sorrow chokes the throat; suddenly recalling that one's elders were once present, and the stove once heated the cooking platform... Alas, the superpower dream longed for in childhood has come true, yet one discovers they have also shouldered a heavy mission, embarking on a arduous path of rise... Suddenly realizing that youth was but a dream, and at the old place, there is no one left to share one's feelings.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Since when have you become so cultured?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Recently, while reviewing the Star Net database, I recorded many historical records of the human race; seeing your sudden melancholy, I was moved to express this.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you done?\" Qi Sheng asked irritably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Finished. Boss, please continue your nostalgia; I will absolutely not disturb you.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without responding to the Guide, Qi Sheng followed the route in his memory to tour his old haunts, yet in this process, he could no longer find anything familiar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Returning to an old place was like carving a mark on a moving boat to find a lost sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That portion of era memories belonging to him had long been covered by the new age, and he was no longer young.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the moment he turned to leave, Qi Sheng formally bid farewell to his former self.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The memories of his hometown hereby drew to a close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the road ahead, there was only moving forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Returning to the Primordial Altar, Qi Sheng began reviewing the information flow produced by the players today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this time, a post on the forum whose popularity kept rising left him torn between laughter and tears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The poster recorded the changes in Lu Xing's state of mind before and after encountering the Strange Butterfly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The content began with the bold vows Lu Xing had left on the forum when he first entered the game, stating his intention to compile a comprehensive bestiarum for all players and to travel and witness the unknown landscapes of the Monster World.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The post also included a screenshot showing a record message published by Lu Xing, which read as follows:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As an exploration-party player, what I want to tell everyone is that the game is not just about killing monsters to level up; there is also poetry and distant lands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While you are engaging in involution to raise your levels, the crimson giant dragon above the ancient battlefield is tearing through the cloud layers; while you are burying your heads to mine for sacrificial power, bright flowers are blooming on the Blood-Colored Plain; while you are struggling over Star Vein combinations, the Star Sea Batfish described in the Guide leaps out of the Star Sea. It is said that the night sky over the Great Northern Border is colorful and possesses unimaginable beauty... Those wonderful sceneries that exist only in the Guide's descriptions will all become stops on my future journey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the end of this passage was a GIF image created by the original poster from a screen recording of Lu Xing's livestream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the image, Lu Xing, beaten black and blue by the Strange Butterfly, pointed a trembling finger at it and roared with grief and indignation:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just you wait.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Other meme images below were also accompanied by text descriptions, such as:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frantically getting beaten, curling up to reduce the surface area receiving force, \"This round is secure\" (laughing maniacally while holding a gun), \"Watch me blow you up\" (arrogant Iron Face before detonating a spiritual energy bomb), \"Let's talk this over\" (begging for mercy), \"This isn't scientific\" (terror after the explosion failed), \"A gentleman waits ten years to exact revenge\" (leveling up frantically)...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xing's story of challenging the Strange Butterfly had become a comedy serial in the eyes of the forum players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone was looking forward to the sequel, yet they even more eagerly anticipated the plot concluding soon so that everyone could have a Wind-riding Soul to embed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reading the post's content, Qi Sheng was attracted by another newly refreshed post.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Regarding a serious issue existing in Star Vein combination matching, hoping the Eclipse Clan officials can see this and improve it as soon as possible.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Poster: Night is Approaching\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Content: Recently, I played many new Star Vein combination builds in the Trial Tower, and then thought of a very serious problem; this issue will cause our sacrificial power expenditure to explode in the late game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why is there no Soul Decomposition function in the game?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suppose I have a better brilliant idea and want to reconstruct my Star Vein combination matching; I would have to strip away the Souls previously embedded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the early-stage investment in the stripped Souls cannot be returned, which leads to an extremely high cost of trial and error.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, if I upgrade the Black Armored Snake Soul to level 30, and later no longer want the Black Armored Snake Soul, after stripping it, although the Star Vein slot has a new position to embed a new Soul, does my early-stage investment just vanish like that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the dog officials see this, I hope this aspect can be improved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Qi Sheng's view, this idea was entirely feasible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the initial settings, Souls stripped by players did not disappear directly but were refined into pure sacrificial power and re-entered the Sacrificial Power Pool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This portion of revenue was not distributed to the players but was monopolized by him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the players' suggestion made him feel that doing so would indeed increase the burden on players regarding their strength improvement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How to solve this problem? Having read the post, Qi Sheng already had an idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He planned to take the Evolution Points produced after decomposing stripped Souls, charge a 5% handling fee into the Sacrificial Power Pool, and return the remaining 95% to the players for them to allocate and use freely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The setting of decomposition returns could significantly reduce the effort and investment players needed to re-cultivate Souls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The launch of the Soul Decomposition Cultivation Mode could also stimulate player creativity, encouraging them to boldly try various Star Vein build combinations without worrying about re-cultivation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, before launching the decomposition function, he needed to contact Super Dimension in advance to implant new function settings for Soul decomposition, refinement, and resource returns into the Challenger System.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the idea formed, Qi Sheng immediately contacted Super Dimension, who was located underground, through the Guide and proposed his concept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Super Dimension, who was currently constructing the Armed Vehicle function, listened to his explanation and immediately stated that this part of the content was very simple; they could complete the decomposition return function first before continuing production of the Armed Vehicle function.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The conversation ended; Qi Sheng disconnected the link, and his vision switched to the Leyline Cliff region indicated by the Guide's latest feedback prompt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leyline Cliff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Energy derived from the Domain Node, as well as free-floating energy particles between heaven and earth, were continuously extracted by the towering Evil Eye Tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black mist shrouding the tower churned violently; constantly, evil lives formed within the black mist only to merge back into it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the high tower platform, the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit's strength gradually increased alongside the surging Black Black Tide energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Evil Eye, have you refined any divinity yet?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facing the inquiry, the Evil Eye hovering in the high sky looked down at the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do not rush. The Domain Node beneath our feet conceals the power of rules; with my abilities, it is impossible to separate the source of the rules. I can only extract a portion of the energy derived from the rules. Even for this portion of derived energy attached with rules, injecting it into your body requires time to digest.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing these words, although feeling impatient, the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit still nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Knowing the intensity of the Monster World, he had already restrained his arrogance and decided to develop properly in this world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, he continued:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Inject this portion of extracted power into me first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, the Evil Eye made no sound; several pitch-black tentacles extended from its eyes and stabbed directly into the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit's back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately, a complex mark appeared on the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit's forehead, glowing faintly as surging energy injected into its body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its physical strength was also strengthened under the washing of this energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit and the Evil Eye did not know was that their actions were completely exposed under the Guide's surveillance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, atop the Primordial Altar, Qi Sheng, who saw this scene through the Guide's feedback, felt curious; he looked up and asked the Guide:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Guide, is this Evil Eye extracting the rule power of the Domain Node?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this, the Guide immediately shook its head:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Except for you, who inherited Di Zhao's foundation and can freely use the rule power concealed within Domain Nodes, no other living being can achieve this, including us four Vassals. The Evil Eye is merely extracting energy derived from the rule core of the Domain Node.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Take the Gloomy Cave as an example: the characteristic of this Domain Node is birthing spiritual ores. The Evil Eye's action is equivalent to cutting off the output of spiritual ores, converting the output energy into Black Black Tide energy, and using that Black Black Tide energy to birth a large number of evil lives. Moreover, because this process reverses the operating laws of the Monster World, there is severe loss during the energy conversion; roughly only about 10% of the derived energy can be obtained.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the Guide's explanation, Qi Sheng immediately understood the principle behind it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taking the Gloomy Cave as an example again: according to the laws of the Monster World, this Domain Node operates such that the energy produced would gestate into spiritual ore stones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cutting off the method of energy output involves a certain degree of loss; furthermore, converting this portion of output energy into other energy substances results in even more severe loss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if the Evil Eye performed to the utmost, it could only change the method of energy output; it fundamentally could not extract the rule characteristics of the node domain that gestate the energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then what is the energy being injected into the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit's body?\" Qi Sheng continued to ask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[During the process where the rule core of a Domain Node derives energy, some rule fragments are born.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Among these, 'rule-derived energy' refers to the fact that during the Domain Node's process of gestating energy, a portion of the energy will imprint rule characteristics. This portion of energy would quickly dissipate and vanish, but the Evil Eye has intercepted this energy, branding it into the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit's body to grant it strengthening... This process is like plagiarism; theoretically, given sufficient time, the Evil Eye could manufacture imitated rule characteristics, allowing the Earth-Chanting Evil Spirit to master abilities similar to rules. However, a fake is ultimately a fake; the efficacy of the rules is far incomparable to the true rules of a Domain Node.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[And this is precisely the most terrifying aspect of Black Black Tide Warriors: every intelligent Evil Spirit possesses powerful growth potential, able to gain strength by occupying Domain Nodes to extract energy or by devouring living beings.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After understanding the principle, Qi Sheng continued to probe:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Can I also cut off the process where the Gloomy Cave derives spiritual ore stones, refine the generated energy, and introduce it into the Sacrificial Power Pool, so that, like the contained Primordial Monsters, it continuously produces sacrificial power energy for me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Of course you can, but I do not recommend doing so.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[The process by which the Gloomy Cave produces spiritual ore stones not only has the support of energy derived from the rule core but also receives an infusion of heaven-and-earth energy at the moment of generation, much like completing a game quest and receiving the world's reward. Cutting off the derivation of spiritual ore stones is no different from what the Evil Eye does; the only difference lies in the amount of energy loss... Because the Evil Eye cannot truly control the node domain, the energy it extracts suffers over 50% loss, whereas you can completely control the Domain Node, greatly reducing conversion loss; I estimate the loss would be around 25%.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Producing sacrificial power through players mining adds an infusion of heaven-and-earth energy on top of a zero-loss basis, gaining an energy bonus of over 50%. In summary, the sacrificial power produced after cutting off the process is only 0.75, while the sacrificial power produced by mining is 1.5; the difference reaches a factor of one.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the explanation, Qi Sheng nodded to indicate his understanding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as the Guide said, the Gloomy Cave had already become a resource production site integrated into Emperor Tomb Village; increasing total revenue through mining was obviously the better choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze at this moment swept toward the light screen hovering before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the scene, beneath the high tower, evil lives were still rapidly forming within the churning black mist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew the time node for the outbreak of the Black Black Tide in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region was approaching; when the Earth Chant Evil Spirit possessed a sufficiently vast number of evil creatures, it would launch an offensive against all domain nodes in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range region, attempting to completely occupy the entire area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it truly achieved this, the Evil Eye would possess multiple domain nodes from which to draw energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Earth Chant Evil Spirit and the evil creatures it led would also receive a more powerful infusion of strength, resulting in a substantial increase in their capabilities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This would also be the first time the player legions would truly do battle with the Black Black Tide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before this, the cursed soldiers, blood corpses, and even the black-armored soldiers encountered in the Gloomy Cave that players had faced were merely unintelligent evil creatures spawned under the glow of the Evil Moon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were an entirely different concept from Black Black Tide warriors like the Earth Chant Evil Spirit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Qi Sheng had few thoughts regarding this impending war; the Earth Chant Evil Spirit was merely the most ordinary warrior within the terrifying Black Black Tide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his eyes, the Black Black Tide campaign about to sweep through was nothing more than a military drill for the player legions on their path of growth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It would let players experience what a scene of high-intensity evil creature rampage looked like, and ponder how to resolve the dilemma when facing such devastation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Players might be crushed during this process, yet they could also gain growth by slaying the evil creatures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The endless nature of the evil creatures proved formidable when conquering other worlds, but the Challenger System Qi Sheng conceived was precisely crafted to counter this trait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The endlessness of the evil creatures stemmed from their rapid gestation after drawing energy from heaven and earth, but ultimately, losses existed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whereas the players created by the Challenger System were endless without any loss; even upon death, they could reshape their flesh and blood and re-enter the battlefield without any weakening of their strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the support of the Challenger System and the rule characteristics of Emperor Tomb Village's \"Flesh and Blood Reshaping,\" a large-scale player legion was a terrifying calamity even more fearsome than the evil creatures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2895,"2026-06-19T09:20:35.554Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","dcea2bd736c278aad5a14dbfa39194ba0fc9bb4dbd75d2baf5fc4efa505fbde7","monsters-are-coming-chapter-70","monsters-are-coming-chapter-68",393,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmonsters-are-coming-cover.jpg"]