Chapter 73: Hidden Quest? (Fifth Update)

The Evil Eye's tentacles pierced into his temples, and Zou Feng's consciousness gradually blurred.

During this time, Black Black Tide energy continuously seeped into his brain, attempting to occupy his sea of consciousness and search for memory information.

However, the Evil Eye's actions inadvertently triggered a taboo of the Challenger System.

The Purification System, crafted by Jiu Yin, activated at this moment, rapidly clearing the Black Black Tide energy that had seeped into Zou Feng's mind.

The Purification System is one of the four core subsystems of the Challenger System, its importance no less than the Datafication System crafted by Guidance, the Spatial Reception System crafted by Yan Ming, and the Omnipotent Extraction System crafted by Super Dimension.

The core function of the Purification System is to remove all negative status effects.

For instance, when a player dies after suffering from curse-type abilities, that portion of curse power is also extracted by Super Dimension's Omnipotent Extraction power, sent back to the underground of Emperor Tomb Village along with the player's decomposed flesh and blood materials for reshaping.

Without the protection of the Purification System, negative status effects would persist even after the player resurrects.

The function of the Purification System is to filter out negative energy, ensuring that players complete their resurrection after their flesh and blood are reshaped in the most perfect condition.

Secondly, it ensures the mental health of the players.

Frequent occurrences of emotions such as death, despair, and fear can cause abnormalities in a player's mental state; excessive mental stimulation can even cause players to develop mental illnesses.

For example, the hatred brought by taunt abilities remains as a memory even after breaking free from control.

The Purification System can perfectly soothe a player's mental trauma, guaranteeing that every resurrection occurs in an optimal mental state.

The Evil Eye's attempt to occupy the player's sea of consciousness had already triggered the taboos of the Purification System; upon active activation, it began a large-scale clearance of the Black Black Tide energy seeping into Zou Feng's sea of consciousness, dispersing the Black Black Tide energy within a short time and forming a purification shield within the sea of consciousness to protect Zou Feng's mind from further invasion by corrosive forces.

As time trickled by, the Evil Eye, sensing something was wrong, continued to try several times before suddenly losing strength, causing the Black Black Tide energy still seeping into Zou Feng's sea of consciousness to recede like a Black Tide.

"No, I cannot read his memories; his sea of consciousness is protected by some unknown force and cannot be breached."

The Evil Eye's thought rang out in the mind of the Earth Chant Evil Spirit.

The Earth Chant Evil Spirit, who was waiting for an answer, frowned slightly upon hearing this, raised his hand to pull Zou Feng before him, grabbed his neck, and decided to interrogate him personally.

Fierce eyes, as if scorched by charcoal fire, stared directly at Zou Feng, and a hoarse voice squeezed out from his throat:

"Next, I will ask you a few questions; answer truthfully, and I can let you die easily."

Zou Feng, who had already regained his senses, looked somewhat bewildered upon hearing this.

Under the coercion of the Earth Chant Evil Spirit, he felt not a shred of fear in his heart; instead, he wondered why the hidden quest had not yet been triggered, wondering if he had opened it the wrong way.

Or perhaps, dialogue was required to activate the hidden quest?

Thinking of this, Zou Feng immediately formed an idea, looking at the Earth Chant Evil Spirit with a dissatisfied expression and saying:

"If you have questions, just ask them, but put me down first; ask with a better attitude. I came here to play a game, not to suffer indignities."

Earth Chant Evil Spirit: ...

In Zou Feng's eyes, he saw not a trace of fear, only thick dissatisfaction.

At this moment, the Earth Chant Evil Spirit released his hand restraining Zou Feng's neck, and Zou Feng immediately landed steadily on his feet.

After shaking his limbs and twisting his hips to stretch his body, Zou Feng looked up at the Earth Chant Evil Spirit with a dissatisfied expression:

"Ask away, hurry up... I really want to skip the plot and claim the quest directly; I hate game plots that can't be skipped the most."

"What game plot?" Hearing Zou Feng's muttering, the Earth Chant Evil Spirit asked in a deep voice.

"None of your business, just ask quickly."

Suppressing the urge to slap the creature before him to death, the Earth Chant Evil Spirit asked in a deep voice:

"Tell me about your origins."

Faced with the question, Zou Feng fell into deep thought.

How to answer this question would obviously affect the unfolding of the hidden quest; directly answering that he was a player was inadvisable and might even lead to quest failure.

This point had already been verified before.

He had seen a post on the forum by a player who obtained the Heavenly Talisman Combat Technique, which mentioned that there was an indescribable taboo regarding the player's identity.

The cause was that when the posting player communicated with the God of Wealth, he discovered that there were blocked words in what he said, causing a large segment of his speech to be missing from what the God of Wealth heard.

Many players participated in the discussion of this issue on the forum.

The general consensus was that this was a taboo set within the game "Land of Darkness," intended to allow players to better immerse themselves in their game identities, preventing them from revealing the existence of another world and avoiding interference with the judgments of intelligent NPCs in the game.

Therefore, how to answer this question obviously required an explanation based on his game identity.

Thinking of this, Zou Feng very honestly gave his answer:

"We are warriors who believe in Di Zhao; our goal is to overthrow the destruction the Black Black Tide has brought upon this world, until we defeat the Black Black Tide and restore light to this world."

Zou Feng's chuunibyou answer left both the Earth Chant Evil Spirit and the Evil Eye hovering above in silence.

Looking at Zou Feng's sincere Iron Face, the Earth Chant Evil Spirit couldn't help but ask:

"Do you know what the Black Black Tide is?"

"Of course I know; it's the destroyer invading this world."

"Then do you know how powerful the Black Black Tide forces are?"

"Not clear, perhaps very strong, but it's no big deal; we will defeat them sooner or later."

Zou Feng's answer left the Earth Chant Evil Spirit completely speechless.

In the eyes of the Earth Chant Evil Spirit, although these creatures possessed some mysterious rule power, their own strength was extremely weak and incapable of withstanding a single blow.

Yet at this moment, they were speaking arrogantly about overthrowing the Black Black Tide.

It was as if an ant overestimating its own strength was attempting to influence the rotation of a planet and change the laws of nature through its own power.

But the problem was, in Zou Feng's eyes, he saw not arrogance and conceit, but confidence and pride.

This baffling confidence truly puzzled the Earth Chant Evil Spirit and the Evil Eye:

"Do you really think you can defeat the Black Black Tide with just your numbers?"

"Nonsense, we are Di Zhao warriors; although we are weak now, give me a year to grow, and I can split two evil spirits of your level, around 70, with a single slash, and my brother's Black Armored Snake form can swallow a truckload in one bite."

Although he didn't understand the latter part of Zou Feng's statement, he could detect the insult and confidence in Zou Feng's words.

Suppressing the anger in his heart, he continued to ask in a deep voice:

"Where does the rule power you possess come from?"

Faced with the question, Zou Feng couldn't help but scratch his head:

"Rule power? You mean xxxx (Primordial Characteristics), right? This ability was bestowed by Di Zhao; it's very useful... so what exactly do you want? Hurry up, okay?"

"Why does the flesh and blood energy constituting your bodies disappear after you die?"

The Earth Chant Evil Spirit, whose patience had reached its limit, asked the key question.

But this question left Zou Feng stunned.

In his understanding, when a player dies, they turn into black mist and dissipate, then respawn in Emperor Tomb Village after the resurrection cooldown ends.

Therefore, he simply did not understand what the Earth Chant Evil Spirit meant by this statement.

"What disappearing flesh and blood energy? I didn't understand; explain it to me in detail."

"You don't want to answer?" The Earth Chant Evil Spirit suddenly raised his hand, grabbed Zou Feng's neck again, lifted him close, and his palm slowly tightened.

Zou Feng immediately felt difficulty breathing, his Iron Face turning red:

"You bastard, let go! Your grandfather came here to play a game, not to suffer indignities."

The Earth Chant Evil Spirit did not answer; black mist released from within him quickly enveloped Zou Feng.

Wherever the black mist passed, Zou Feng felt unbearable stabbing pain, and he immediately let out a piercing scream.

Hearing the scream, a smile appeared on the corner of the Earth Chant Evil Spirit's mouth.

At this moment, the Challenger System was activated once again.

Sensing that Zou Feng was undergoing extremely dangerous dual torment of spirit and flesh, the Challenger System automatically adjusted Zou Feng's pain perception from 10% to 0%.

The black mist enveloping Zou Feng continued to churn, but the screaming stopped abruptly.

Sensing something was wrong, the Earth Chant Evil Spirit immediately dispersed the black mist, only to see Zou Feng wearing a completely bewildered expression.

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"It hurt just now, but it doesn't hurt anymore."

This answer left both the Earth Chant Evil Spirit and the Evil Eye stunned; Earth Chant immediately released the black mist from his body, wrapping it around Zou Feng's right arm and continuously seeping in through his pores.

With pain perception reduced to 0%, the needle-like stabbing pain not only didn't hurt Zou Feng, but even made him want to laugh.

"How does it feel?"

"No feeling at all; do you want to try using more force?"

Unable to believe it, the Earth Chant Evil Spirit chose to continue trying, wanting to obtain intelligence through torture methods.

But the result remained unchanged.

The black mist he released had effects of physical destruction and mental stabbing pain, yet it had no effect whatsoever on this weak, mysterious creature before him.

After several unsuccessful attempts, the Earth Chant Evil Spirit completely lost his patience and reached out to snap Zou Feng's neck.

The flesh and blood energy constituting Zou Feng also turned into black mist and dissipated; even though the Evil Eye tried its utmost to capture it, it could not find the slightest trace, as if it had vanished into thin air.

"Capture a few more for interrogation; investigate clearly the specific origins of these mysterious creatures."

The Evil Eye spoke at this moment.

Although these mysterious creatures were extremely weak, in the eyes of the Evil Eye, possessing rule power meant they could not be ordinary beings; there must be secrets on their persons.

"I don't want to converse with these stupid creatures anymore," the Earth Chant Evil Spirit said somewhat impatiently.

"Don't forget, what they possess is rule power; if we can clarify their origins, perhaps you too can master similar abilities, or I can even inject rule power into your Black Black Tide to forge a powerful army for you that wields rule power."

The Evil Eye's words left the Earth Chant Evil Spirit in silence; after a long while, he nodded:

"Good!"

Player Forum:

[Very uncomfortable, the hidden quest failed to trigger successfully; not sure which step went wrong.]

Poster: Moving with the Wind.

Content:

I have to come to the forum to talk about what I just experienced; I'm absolutely furious... Back then, while my brothers and I were cutting down grass like gods in the Black Black Tide, happily slaughtering hordes of evil spirits, I discovered my brothers had all been locked in the little black room (one-hour cooldown). Exhausted and ready to die, I never expected an accident to occur... Guess who I saw? The Earth Chant Evil Spirit that had just beaten the God of Wealth senseless.

At this point in the plot, there was clearly a hidden quest that could be triggered.

But the problem was my answer seemed wrong, and ultimately I was killed by the Earth Chant Evil Spirit.

Attached is the video recorded at the time (Attachment: Recorded Video).

Comment Section:

Night Approaches: Brother, you're truly a reckless fool; your identity in the game is a warrior of the Di Zhao faction, so how could you cooperate with the answers? To trigger a hidden quest, you definitely need a hostile attitude, putting on an air of facing death without flinching, and then you'll trigger the hidden quest, for example: Courage of the Di Zhao Warrior (Hidden Quest).

Is This Reasonable?: Dude, you're way too bold; you just threw away a hidden quest that was practically in your hands. The brother above, Night, is right; you must answer questions while immersed in your game identity, absolutely no cowardice allowed. You lost big on this one; it's a pity I wasn't the one to trigger the quest, otherwise I definitely would have secured it.

Leopard Head Zero Spend: This hidden quest might reward ten thousand points of Sacrificial Power, or even more; to think such a huge sum was thrown away just like that. If I put myself in your shoes, I'd want to slap myself twice.

The post published by Zou Feng sparked heated discussion on the forum, with its popularity continuously rising.

Regarding the special plot he triggered, forum players transformed into experts one after another, offering advice they believed reliable, while simultaneously unable to help but sigh that such good fortune had not fallen upon themselves.

Two hours later.

A massive influx of players flooded into the livestream room of the player "Berserk Little Chicken."

The reason was that during his livestream, Berserk Little Chicken encountered the plot trigger mentioned in the post by the forum player "Moving with the Wind," being sent by an evil spirit onto the Gao Ta platform.

This instantly propelled his livestream room to the top of the popularity rankings; countless players came upon hearing the news, all wanting to witness the triggering of the hidden plot.

At this moment, both the Earth Chant Evil Spirit and the Evil Eye were in a depressed mood.

Gazing at the mysterious creature sitting on the platform, they saw indescribable joy and excitement in its eyes; where was there even a trace of fear? There was only endless fanaticism.

Having once campaigned in the Dungeon World, bringing fear to countless living beings, this was the first time the Earth Chant Evil Spirit had encountered such a bizarre situation.

"Are you not afraid?"

Learning through the livestream room that he had triggered a hidden plot, Berserk Little Chicken's body trembled slightly; suppressing his excitement, he began to ponder how to answer this question.

Answer correctly, win the grand prize; the rewards for the hidden quest would certainly be generous.

At this moment, the onlookers in the livestream room also began offering suggestions one after another:

"Hurry up and curse it; cursing it will definitely trigger the hidden quest. As a Di Zhao warrior, your attitude toward evil spirits must be hostile."

"Just go up and attack; to trigger the quest you must demonstrate your courage. Don't be like that idiot last time who answered questions honestly; he was too stupid."

"Don't listen to the brother above talking nonsense; I suggest answering this question first, then slowly unfolding the subsequent dialogue. Charging into suicide before the plot has even unfolded definitely won't trigger a hidden quest. Believe me, brother; I'm a five-year veteran of the Sin Lands and have a profound understanding of the game developed by the Eclipse Clan."

The livestream players offered multiple options; after a brief silence, Berserk Little Chicken gritted his teeth, switched into his Eagle-Headed Demon form, and decisively launched a charge at the Earth Chant Evil Spirit:

"We, the warriors of Di Zhao, will never compromise with evil spirits."

Crack!

Accompanied by the sound of a neck breaking, the livestream feed went dark, and a prompt popped up:

[Player died; livestream interrupted.]

"I told you we had to initiate dialogue to unfold the subsequent plot first, yet he charged right at the start; such idiotic behavior, too stupid."

"Another fool has thrown away a huge sum that was practically in hand; I don't understand the significance of launching a suicide charge immediately. Alas, it's a pity the one who triggered the plot wasn't me; otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have missed this opportunity."

"You've made me laugh; learn from the brother who met the God of Wealth last time; he chatted with the God of Wealth for a long time before being gifted the Heavenly Talisman Combat Technique. Therefore, when encountering special events, one must naturally initiate dialogue first; only after the plot unfolds can subsequent content be triggered."

Regarding this failed attempt to trigger the hidden quest, the onlookers each expressed their own views.

All believed Berserk Little Chicken's actions were too rash; if it had been themselves, they definitely could have triggered it, sighing only that they lacked such good fortune.

One hour later, the "Hidden Quest" appeared again.

The player who triggered the quest immediately started a livestream, and his room also climbed to the trending list within a short time.

The comment section of the livestream room was once again flooded with a large batch of armchair strategists.

When the player who triggered the quest saw the Earth Chant Evil Spirit, he adopted a different approach.

Facing the inquiry, he first answered normally to unfold the scene; when asked about the origin of his abilities, egged on by the players in the livestream room, he chose to gaze at the Earth Chant Evil Spirit with a determined posture and spoke:

"Shameless evil spirit, do not think you can learn Di Zhao's secrets; I'll fight you to the death."

Having spoken, he transformed into a monster form and was slapped into dissipating black mist amidst a tragic and solemn atmosphere.

After this player died, subsequent players who triggered the hidden plot began deviating from the standard pattern, attempting to find the activation conditions for the hidden quest through trial and error.

For instance, after a certain player triggered the "Hidden Quest," facing the Earth Chant Evil Spirit's interrogation, he wept bitterly, stating he was willing to pledge loyalty to the Black Black Tide and that he had long found the damn Di Zhao faction annoying.

The reason for doing this was a suggestion given by a certain player in the livestream room.

The suggestion posited that the hidden quest very likely required the player to join the Black Black Tide as an undercover agent, thereby triggering an undercover plotline and opening a growth path different from other players.

This idea received many likes from players and became the choice for this "lucky player" upon triggering the quest.

As expected, the result ended with the player's death.

Amidst the players' continuous attempts, the method to trigger the hidden plot remained uncracked, and the popularity of topics discussing activation methods continued to rise.

Evil Eye Gao Ta Platform.

After killing the captured mysterious creature once again, the Earth Chant Evil Spirit fell into complete silence.

Recalling the experiences of the past two days, it felt as though some strange and bizarre things had been stuffed into its brain.

The captured mysterious creatures behaved far too erratically; they didn't even seem like lifeforms from the same race.

During this period, there were mysterious creatures that launched attacks at the slightest disagreement, mysterious creatures that knelt and begged for mercy wanting to join the Black Black Tide faction, mysterious creatures that kept silent and said nothing, merely glaring at him with angry eyes, and mysterious creatures who spoke with sincere tones urging him to put down his butcher's knife and join the Di Zhao faction... The most outrageous case was a mysterious creature that, after being captured to the Gao Ta, sat on the ground and communicated with him using sign language, angering him so much that he slapped it into dissipating black mist.

These erratic mysterious creatures seemed to treat his interrogation as a performance stage.

Each time they responded to his interrogation in a different way, with no repetition in the process.

Yet he still failed to obtain any useful intelligence; all he received were strange and bizarre pieces of information, utterly unhelpful for mastering the Power of Rules.

During this time, he even had thoughts of giving up.

But each time the Evil Eye would persuade him, stating that doing so might yield a method to control the Power of Rules, so he could only grit his teeth and endure the mental torment brought by the series of bizarre performance art exhibited by the mysterious creatures.

Persisting until now, the Earth Chant Evil Spirit had completely lost patience, feeling only suppressed murderous intent surging violently within his mind.

Stepping to the edge of the platform and standing firm, bright light burst forth from the Earth Chant Evil Spirit's dark red eyes; spreading his arms, he roared toward the sky.

Instantly, the Black Black Tide energy within his body transformed into giant waves sweeping in all directions, shaking the Gao Ta until it trembled.

"Di Nian, control your emotions; as a command-type warrior, you need to maintain rationality at all times," the Evil Eye advised in a deep voice at this moment.

"Screw your rationality, ahhhhhhh!"

(End of Chapter)