Chapter 72: Black Tide Assault, Unrivaled Mowing (Fourth Update)

The mutual flame war between the two player factions on the Human Race Rising Forum was monitored by Qi Sheng through the guidance feedback.

Since the Dark Lands had disconnected the livestream function from the Star Network and converted the forum into an internal one, players who hadn't purchased the game had no idea what kind of game this actually was, and not even game screenshots could leak out.

This caused players on both sides to believe the other side were shills, feeling that the statements made by the opposing players were completely inconsistent with the facts.

Qi Sheng could actually understand the Eclipse Clan's action of cutting off the game's connection to the outside world.

The game Dark Lands was essentially a training ground crafted by the Eclipse Clan to deal with future crises; earning foreign exchange through a virtual game was not within its core considerations at all, with everything centered on the core development philosophy of the virtual game's stable operation.

And the resources required to run this game were extremely vast, and there existed a series of problems needing optimization.

First was the server capacity, which was far from as easy as the outside world imagined; the high-frequency data information produced by a large number of players entering the game could even cause Star Network congestion, making data transmission blocked, thereby triggering server errors or connection bugs and other problems.

To solve this problem, the Eclipse Clan adopted a plan of batch-issuing qualifications, which was essentially a gradually unfolding server capacity stress test.

Only after confirming it could sufficiently support existing players to normally experience the game content would the Eclipse Clan issue the next batch of game qualifications.

Then they would launch a new round of stress tests, constantly raising the server's capacity upper limit to prevent a sudden influx of a large number of players from causing the server to crash.

Disconnecting functions like livestreaming was also to reduce the game's operational pressure.

But to ordinary players, this series of settings became a tactic of hunger marketing, and they even felt the Eclipse Clan's behavior was overly arrogant.

During this forum war, neither side of players had any game scene screenshots to post, which was also the main reason both sides mutually believed the other side's players were shills.

The isolated mode, disconnected from the outside world, prevented game content from being transmitted out.

If a single game screenshot could intuitively prove it, the two sides of the flame war would inevitably enter a state of confusion, discovering that the other side's players were playing a completely different game from themselves.

After the posts of the battle between the two player factions were banned, Qi Sheng no longer paid attention to the subsequent development of this matter, shifting his gaze back to the Monster World.

According to the guidance feedback, a strong energy fluctuation appeared at the Leyline Cliff domain node in the Di Zhao Mountain Range region.

Following the guidance's perspective to the Leyline Cliff, Qi Sheng discovered the Xie Sui tide was already restless, about to erupt.

The black mist originally spreading around Gao Ta slowly extended towards the Di Zhao Mountain Range region, with countless Xie Sui lives occasionally vaporizing to merge into the Hei Chao Xie Sui, and at other times condensing into Xie Sui bodies to roar and bellow.

The view jumped to the Evil Eye Tower; the Di Nian Xie Ling standing on the Gao Ta platform changed its appearance under the energy infusion of the node domain.

The armor condensed from black mist on its body became more vicious and sharp, its two eyes sunken deep in eye sockets like two burning charcoal fires, radiating a violent and destructive aura.

At this moment, the Di Nian Xie Ling raised both hands; the Evil Eye hovering above its head moved down, its tentacles piercing its spine to complete the connection with it.

Instantly, the perception view spread outward rapidly, and control over the Hei Chao Xie Sui was greatly strengthened after the connection.

"Evil Eye, target!"

Hearing the Di Nian Xie Ling's order, the Evil Eye blinked, and instantly the blurry scene of the Di Zhao Mountain Range region appeared in its mind.

It could see multiple flashing light spots in the scene, with each light spot representing a domain node region.

At this moment, the Evil Eye looked down at the Di Nian Xie Ling:

"Except for that mysteriously vanished domain node, other regions can all be conquest targets, but I suggest occupying this node last; it contains a large number of Meng Yuan Chu creatures, and with our current strength, it is not easy to take down."

As the words fell, the flashing light of a domain node on the blurry map in the Di Nian Xie Ling's mind turned red, marked as a dangerous area.

And this region was precisely the Qi Ling Valley to the west of Di Zhao Village.

"Good." The Di Nian Xie Ling nodded solemnly, then issued an order in its mind, transmitting it through the Evil Eye to the Hei Chao Xie Sui.

Instantly, the churning black mist tide below Gao Ta rolled up mist waves, sweeping and spreading in the direction pointed to by the Di Nian Xie Ling's consciousness.

Qi Sheng's consciousness also followed the guidance back to Di Zhao Village at this moment.

Every time the Di Nian Xie Ling occupied a domain node, its strength would receive a significant enhancement; he would not let the Hei Chao Xie Sui controlled by the Di Nian Xie Ling recklessly invade domain nodes.

Even if he could not block it at the current stage, he must delay the speed of the Hei Chao Xie Sui's spread and strengthening as much as possible.

"Training time has arrived."

At this moment, Qi Sheng closed his eyes; instantly, his head turned into the Beneath Di Zhao fire burning fiercely, spreading throughout his body.

At the same time, the Challenger Prompt rang in all players' minds:

【Challenger Prompt (All Regions): The Di Zhao Mountain Range region is about to welcome the Hei Chao Xie Sui calamity, triggering special mission: Black Tide Hunter】:

Black Tide Hunter (Special Mission):

Mission Introduction: Hunt the Hei Chao Xie Sui, block the Hei Chao Xie Sui's power from invading the domain nodes of the Di Zhao Mountain Range region (the map function will mark the Hei Chao Xie Sui's spread direction and areas).

Mission Rewards: During the mission duration, for every Hei Chao Xie Sui a player kills, the Evolution Points and Shou Shou Jili rewards obtained increase by 14%, and mission contribution is calculated (mission contribution rewards will be distributed according to ranking after the mission ends).

Mission Duration: Unknown

For this special mission, Qi Sheng increased the benefits for players hunting Xie Sui.

Originally, hunting deducted 30% of the benefits, with players obtaining 70% of the benefits; after the mission was released, the players' benefits increased by 14% on the original basis, becoming an actual return of 79.8%, with an extra 10% returned.

Doing this was precisely to incentivize players to actively challenge the Hei Chao Xie Sui, acting as roadblocks to the Hei Chao Xie Sui's spread.

After the game prompt was released, the online players responded actively.

With the hunting rewards increased, plus the extra contribution rewards, the temptation for players was huge.

It was all hunting; obviously, hunting Hei Chao Xie Sui brought higher benefits.

The player group moved at the news, posting recruitment information for teammates in the regional channels one after another, deciding to head to the areas where the Hei Chao Xie Sui was spreading to launch hunts.

Many players who were originally mining in the Dim Cave also joined this collective action.

A vast army of players departed from Di Zhao Village, facing the sweeping Hei Chao Xie Sui in different directions.

The first group to contact the Hei Chao Xie Sui was the player group pushing northward, crossing the Ancient Battlefield region; the scene before them left them shocked.

A pitch-black tide blocked the horizon, sweeping over vast and mighty; countless vicious-looking Xie Sui lives could be seen surging out from the Hei Chao Xie Sui, with a momentum as majestic as locusts crossing a region, and the earth trembled slightly under the surging of the Hei Chao Xie Sui.

This scene was like a black curtain rising from the end of the horizon, seemingly about to cover the entire world in darkness.

"Holy crap, this scene is too terrifying; if this weren't a game, I might have been scared to death!"

"It hasn't been long since the server opened, and they're already giving us such high difficulty; the damn Eclipse Clan really thinks highly of us."

"Hiss~ I smell the rich fragrance of Shou Shou Jili; this doomsday-like scene, why does it make me feel a bit excited? It feels too great (a certain player opened both arms, gazing at the Hei Chao Xie Sui and expressing his feelings)."

"Brothers of the Hero Guild, the time to farm contribution has arrived; killing one earns, killing two earns more, killing three earns like crazy, charge!"

……

Amid the shouts from various squad and guild voice channels, the player community faced the surging Hei Chao Xie Sui without hesitation.

At the moment the player community collided with the Hei Chao Xie Sui, players who had prepared for instant death suddenly found the situation was not as terrible as they had imagined.

The seemingly terrifying Hei Chao Xie Sui were far weaker than Blood Corpses, and even weaker than Cursed Weapons.

Many analysis screenshots circulated within the regional voice channels.

【Hei Chao Xie Sui · Evil Maggots】:

Hunting Rank: 1

Target Analysis Introduction: Low-grade Hei Chao Xie Sui born from the Hei Chao Xie Sui, lacking self-awareness, acting only according to the will of the Hei Chao Xie Sui controller.

【Hei Chao Xie Sui · Dark Dogs】:

Hunting Rank: 1

Target Analysis Introduction: Low-grade Hei Chao Xie Sui born from the Hei Chao Xie Sui, lacking self-awareness, acting only according to the will of the Hei Chao Xie Sui controller.

【Hei Chao Xie Sui · Demon Fleas】:

Hunting Rank: 2

Target Analysis Introduction: Low-grade Hei Chao Xie Sui born from the Hei Chao Xie Sui, lacking self-awareness, capable of strengthening the Hei Chao Xie Sui by devouring flesh and blood.

……

Players were surprised to find the strength of the Hei Chao Xie Sui monsters far lower than imagined.

Hunting Ranks were generally between 1 and 2, with very few at Rank 3.

To veteran players, the weak Hei Chao Xie Sui were simply toys to be slaughtered at will.

Just as the Black-armored Soldiers in the Dark Cave had easily slaughtered players back then, the player community, discovering the low strength of the Hei Chao Xie Sui, all activated their Unrivaled Mowing mode, charging into the Hei Chao Xie Sui tide to begin a frenzy of slaughter.

A player following the Monster Path growth route transformed during combat into a black-armored giant snake over ten meters long, lunging at the Hei Chao Xie Sui, smashing recklessly through the Hei Chao Xie Sui swarm like a swimming dragon.

A player, after switching to the Bone Fire form, released the power of Ink Flame to generate five fireballs orbiting themselves, charging into the Hei Chao Xie Sui swarm to activate the Push-Through mode; the moment a Hei Chao Xie Sui lifeform touched a fireball, it would be burned to nothing.

A player wielding a Forceful Axe swung with wide, sweeping motions amidst the Hei Chao Xie Sui swarm, killing several Hei Chao Xie Sui lifeforms with a single strike, like a War God descending to the world.

During this time, the regional voice channels were filled with laughter and cheers:

"So the Monster Path is this awesome. Look at that brother's black-armored snake body; it's almost three stories tall. Its Hunting Rank must be at least 20+, it's practically a battlefield bulldozer, so violent."

"Hahaha, I've been playing this game for over ten days, often getting beaten up outside, and finally I can have some fun."

"Players embedding the Painful Painful Minghun have taken off. Releasing fireballs to surround themselves is basically Invincible Mode; the only thing limiting our advance is Mana (Spiritual Power)."

"Damn, I'm also on the Monster Path, but my Eagle-Head Demon form is so weak, I can't have any fun at all. The killing is too slow."

"I'm dying of happiness, it's like mowing grass. Although most Hei Chao Xie Sui only yield 0.5 Shou Shou Jili, the feeling of the kill feedback constantly ringing in my mind is absolutely explosive."

"Seeing you guys have so much fun makes my heart ache. The forums say Taunt is the strongest Painful Painful Minghun at this stage, so I chose the Gargoyle combined with Taunt, but the problem is the Taunt trait only works on intelligent life, so it's completely useless right now. What do I do? Someone tell me what to do?"

"Brother Taunt upstairs, don't break down yet. Your Taunt and Gargoyle form at least still have combat power. I chose the Eagle-Head Demon plus the Star Vein combination with the Spirit-Eating trait. I originally thought Spirit-Eating would extend the time the Eagle-Head Demon could activate its Perception View, enhancing sustainability, but now it's utterly useless. Seeing the guild brothers having so much fun, I want to change my Painful Painful Minghun (God of Wealth turning red and clenching fist. jpg)."

……

Observing the battle situation through the players' perspective, Qi Sheng smiled happily after seeing the players' performance.

When he originally formulated the Challenger Plan, he had studied the Hei Chao Xie Sui.

The most terrifying aspect of the Hei Chao Xie Sui was not just their numbers, but their function of devouring and growing.

All living beings devoured within the Hei Chao Xie Sui would transform into part of the Hei Chao Xie Sui's power; under the Hei Chao Xie Sui surging mode, the strength of the Hei Chao Xie Sui would increase continuously, and the strength of the generated Hei Chao Xie Sui lifeforms would rise accordingly.

And the Challenger System he crafted perfectly countered this point.

After a player died, the flesh and blood materials and energy constituting their body would be extracted by the Hyperdimensional Extraction, which mastered the rules of extracting all things, and then returned to Di Zhong Village via Yan Ming's spatial power for reshaping.

No matter how many players the Hei Chao Xie Sui killed, they could not absorb even a tiny bit of growth energy.

But the Hei Chao Xie Sui killed by players would become nourishment for the players' growth.

During the first collision between the Player Calamity and the Hei Chao Xie Sui Calamity, the players proved through practice that the settings he had originally conceived were completely feasible.

While the players activated their Unrivaled Mowing mode, the Shou Shou Jili revenue in Qi Sheng's eyes was also growing rapidly.

By giving players an extra 10% feedback, his revenue did not decrease; on the contrary, his revenue per time unit multiplied several times.

The players had fun killing, and he made a fortune.

The Hei Chao Xie Sui army led by Di Nian Xie Ling might have been able to show off its might for a time in other low-intensity regions, after all, living beings in low-intensity regions would eventually exhaust their strength when facing the rampaging Hei Chao Xie Sui, and once they fell, they would become nourishment for the Hei Chao Xie Sui to strengthen itself.

And whenever a Hei Chao Xie Sui spawned by the Hei Chao Xie Sui died, the energy constituting its life form would re-integrate into the Hei Chao Xie Sui; the loss was very low, and new Hei Chao Xie Sui lifeforms could quickly re-condense and generate, making them inexhaustible.

But the two terrifying traits of the Hei Chao Xie Sui posed no threat in front of the player army.

When a player died, Qi Sheng's revenue loss was zero, while when players killed Hei Chao Xie Sui, the energy of the dead Hei Chao Xie Sui would be extracted, converted into Evolution Points and Shou Shou Jili, and integrated into the players' bodies.

Amidst the fighting, the players became increasingly powerful, while the strength of the Hei Chao Xie Sui was continuously being weakened.

The Hei Chao Xie Sui Calamity, which seemed incredibly terrifying to other factions, was in Qi Sheng's eyes simply nourishment for player growth.

The Hei Chao Xie Sui was still rampaging; in less than an hour, the number of online players had dropped by half, and the remaining players had all entered a state of exhaustion, either with their Vitality depleted or their Spiritual Power exhausted.

But Qi Sheng did not care at all.

Even if the Hei Chao Xie Sui swept across the entire Di Zhong Mountain Range, it could not reach Di Zhong Village, which stood independent outside the world barrier.

In the battle against the Hei Chao Xie Sui, as the situation shifted, the player army would eventually achieve final victory.

Just as Qi Sheng rejoiced over the skyrocketing revenue, the Di Nian Xie Ling on the Evil Eye Tower had already sensed something was wrong.

"Evil Eye, why can't this group of mysterious creatures be decomposed and absorbed by the Hei Chao Xie Sui after death? Also, why can't the evil things spawned by the Hei Chao Xie Sui re-integrate into the Hei Chao Xie Sui after being killed by this group of mysterious creatures?"

Facing the inquiry, the Evil Eye hovering overhead remained silent for a long time before speaking:

"I cannot find any information on this race in the information databases shared by other nodes. I cannot determine the specific reason. Perhaps you can try to capture one and bring it back; I will search for the cause through memory extraction."

"Good." Di Nian Xie Ling nodded immediately, then began to control the Hei Chao Xie Sui to launch an operation.

……

Near Feng Bo Tan.

"Can't kill anymore, legs are shaking from exhaustion, how about you?" Zou Feng said, turning to look at the teammates beside him.

But he found there were no teammates in sight; his vision was completely obscured by the rampaging evil spirits.

He summoned the squad voice channel and solved the puzzle in his heart.

The squad voice channel showed that all his teammates had already entered death cooldown; no wonder he hadn't heard them speak, and no matter how he called, there was no echo.

Glancing at his Shou Shou Jili balance, he discovered that unknowingly he had earned over 200 points of Shou Shou Jili revenue.

"Awesome!"

Facing the evil spirits attacking from all directions, Zou Feng tightened his grip on the broken blade in his hand, deciding to kill as many evil spirit lives as possible before entering death cooldown.

In the midst of battle, Zou Feng couldn't help but marvel at the game's realism.

The muscle soreness and bloating brought by continuous combat, even the thirst, these incredibly realistic sensory feedbacks were components affecting his combat power, not just changes in health bar numbers.

Before long, Zou Feng fought until he was exhausted, collapsed on the ground gasping for air, letting his body be submerged by evil spirit lives:

"No strength left, logging off."

But to Zou Feng's surprise, the evil spirit lives did not gnaw on his body; nearby evil spirits lifted him up and moved him quickly toward the depths of the Black Tide. Evil spirit lives encountered along the way actively avoided him, clearing a path for his advance.

"Where are they taking me?" Zou Feng was instantly stunned.

Already exhausted, he was too lazy to struggle and didn't want to know the reason; he immediately summoned the function panel and tried to log off.

But under the violent shaking, the teleportation array could not generate within Zou Feng's player body; every time the array began to outline, it would scatter, and a game prompt rang in his mind:

【Challenger Prompt: In a state of violent shaking, unable to open the logout teleport.】

"Forget it." Realizing he couldn't log off directly, Zou Feng simply lay on the evil spirit and started browsing forum information.

"Holy crap, a black-armored snake over ten meters tall; the Monster World style is actually this fierce!"

Seeing a video on a popular post, Zou Feng couldn't help but exclaim; in the footage, a huge black-armored snake plowed through the crowd of evil spirits in a crushing manner, every roll or tail whip killing a swath of evil spirit lives.

Time passed; during this period, Zou Feng exited the forum to check his own situation and found he was still in a state of shaking forward motion.

With his stamina slightly recovered, he didn't rush to act, choosing instead to continue lying on the evil spirit.

The reason for not resisting was that he felt he might have triggered a hidden quest; this unknown journey might yield rich rewards.

Many players had already proven that the Monster World is full of opportunities.

For example, a player who accidentally picked up a machine once got rich in one go, earning 38,000 points of Shou Shou Jili; when he saw the post at the time, his eyes turned red, only regretting that the player who encountered such dogshit luck wasn't himself.

This accidental encounter might be an opportunity.

Bored, he chose to continue browsing forum information to kill time, occasionally exclaiming at a certain player's brilliant performance while fighting evil spirits.

After an unknown amount of time, the shaking sensation suddenly vanished.

A lifting force surged from below, carrying him upward at high speed.

Zou Feng, having exited the forum function, was exactly when the evil spirits threw him onto the Gao Ta platform; he landed hard on the black stone slab with a grunt.

Looking up, the grotesque-looking Di Nian Evil Spirit in front startled him.

By analyzing the information, he was surprised to discover this was actually the Evil Spirit Warrior who had previously beaten the God of Wealth.

He had participated in that battle too; at the time, if they hadn't resisted with their lives, the God of Wealth would have already passed his seventh-day memorial.

Just as he was puzzled about his situation, several black tentacles shot out from the huge eye atop the Di Nian Evil Spirit's head, docking with his head; two of the tentacles pierced his temples, bringing him intense pain.

Following this came a strong sensation of dizziness; he felt Yang Yang Tianxuan, his vision becoming blurred.

(End of this chapter)