Chapter 76: Reborn and Returned, Spending a Billion Like Crazy (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Votes)

"Old Dog, behind you!"

Hearing the cry of his old comrade, Old Dog, who was locked in combat with evil spirits, switched to his Black Armored Snake form without hesitation, whipping his tail backward without turning his head to send the attacking Black Black Tide evil spirit flying.

He then decisively switched back to human form, drew a dagger from his spatial inventory, reversed his grip, and stabbed forward.

Accompanied by a sharp screech, the worm in front of Old Dog was pierced by the blade; it hung limp before dissolving into black mist that flew toward Old Dog and his comrade.

Just then, a demonic flea attacked from his side; Old Dog swiftly transformed the dagger in his hand into a psionic firearm and pulled the trigger, causing the runes branded onto the weapon to ignite from the tip and spread along the barrel.

Boom!

Light erupted from the muzzle; the attacking demonic flea was pierced through the body by the bullet, exploding mid-air.

This sequence of movements flowed like water and clouds, killing the three attacking Black Black Tide evil spirits.

"Cleaver, I need healing."

"Coming."

As a massive wave of evil spirits surged forward, the veteran known as Cleaver rushed to Old Dog's side, using a card-based output method to block the assault while continuing to deal damage.

At that moment, a bottle of red potion was tossed from nearby; Old Dog leaped into the air, caught it, unscrewed the cap, and downed the contents in one gulp.

As his stamina rapidly recovered, Old Dog looked up at the distant regiment commander, who wielded an axe like a god of war, cutting through everything in his path, and a sense of envy rose in his heart.

But this emotion was quickly suppressed by the battle lust surging from within; his gaze swept rapidly across the surroundings before he shouted to a comrade not far to his left:

"Water Baby, two o'clock direction."

Hearing this, Water Baby, engaged in combat, instantly switched the battle blade in his hand to a psionic firearm and, without lifting his head, fired a shot in the direction Old Dog indicated; immediately, a pitch-black figure attacking from that direction exploded in mid-air, dissolving into several streams of black mist that flew to all members under the team Cultivation Mode.

With such tacit cooperation, the veteran regiment led by Old Dog fought more fiercely amidst the swarm of evil spirits, their combat fervor climbing continuously alongside the intensity of the battle.

All of this was witnessed by Qi Sheng, observing from behind the scenes.

Two days ago, he had distributed 1,227 game qualifications.

Among them, 27 slots were extra allocations, given to Li Tie's 27 old comrades-in-arms.

Facts proved that these veterans did not disappoint him.

In the two days since entering the game, the veteran regiment had done only two things.

Log in, charge into battle alongside Li Tie, fight head-on against the Black Black Tide evil spirits, maintaining high morale and surging passion throughout.

Log out, gather in the chat group to curse the resurrection cooldown mechanism set by the Eclipse Clan; once the cooldown ended and the cursing subsided, they logged back in to continue killing evil spirits.

They were like machines running without rest; apart from resurrection cooldown time, they were either fighting or on their way to fight.

According to statistics compiled by the Guide, whether in terms of strength growth speed or efficiency in killing evil spirits, these veterans were more than five times stronger than ordinary players.

In just two days, these veterans had already developed a set of squad tactics, mastered the combined use of various Soul Soul characteristic abilities, and learned rapid weapon switching, achieving astonishing efficiency in killing evil spirits.

It was evident that these veterans had become completely addicted to the game.

There were three reasons for their addiction.

First, the restoration of their missing body parts gave them the experience of being reborn.

It was a long-lost feeling, akin to a child receiving their most beloved toy; this was not merely physical restoration, but a spiritual rebirth.

Second, the emotions brought by battling evil spirits; through tacit cooperation, they felt as though they had returned to their youthful years of training and growing up together.

Finally, the attribute enhancement feedback brought by leveling up fascinated them immensely.

In reality, these veterans were all Gene Warriors who once possessed powerful physiques, but as aging and various aftereffects emerged, they often had to endure physical pain, with bodily problems increasing as they grew older.

The physical enhancement brought by attribute increases allowed them to regain their peak condition and gave them hope for further strengthening.

Especially with Regiment Commander Li Tie serving as a role model ahead of them, they all wished to possess such power that transcended the mundane.

Although this was just a game, they had already prepared to expend their final passions freely within it until their dying days.

"Retiring in the game," an internet meme used for teasing, was actually the genuine desire in the hearts of the veteran regiment members.

Compared to the gloomy real world, this game offered them an experience of being born anew.

Passion, excitement, friendship... things once lost had all returned.

The only thing the veteran regiment members found hard to accept was one matter: the game setting they considered most brainless, the "Resurrection Cooldown."

Every return to reality was an agonizing torment.

It was like suddenly returning from a colorful world to a dark, black-and-white one; this stark contrast was the main reason the elderly regiment cursed the Eclipse Clan in their group chat.

In fact, this issue was not limited to the elderly regiment; a large number of players on the forum had also complained about it.

They believed this setting severely affected the gaming experience and was a malicious tactic of hunger marketing.

However, Qi Sheng had not yet considered solving this problem.

It was not that it couldn't be solved, but solving it would require expending additional Sacrificial Power.

The process of reshaping player flesh and blood was essentially a rule characteristic of the "Emperor Tomb Village" domain node; the consumption of 10 points of Sacrificial Power was the starting energy to drive the operation of this rule characteristic, with the subsequent reshaping process being pushed forward by the rules themselves.

To accelerate the reshaping process, additional Sacrificial Power had to be consumed.

Moreover, since this process forcibly accelerated the rules, the Sacrificial Power required would be 30 times that of a normal resurrection.

In other words, forcing a resurrection after death would consume 300 points of Sacrificial Power, and this consumption would be influenced by the player's own strength.

The stronger the player, the higher the consumption for a forced resurrection.

For players at the current stage, this was an extremely expensive expenditure, difficult for ordinary players to bear.

Qi Sheng was also unwilling for players to waste their precious early-game Sacrificial Power on rapid cooldowns; he preferred players to spend their Sacrificial Power on improving their own strength.

This was also the reason he had not unlocked the "Rapid Resurrection" function for players.

After all, there might truly be players who would choose this wasteful method to shorten cooldown time; such expenditure would be entirely wasted.

As for whether this function would be unlocked in the future.

Perhaps when players became strong enough in the future, and the hourly output of Sacrificial Power revenue was sufficient to cover the losses brought by the rapid resurrection cooldown, he would consider making it available to players.

Without paying too much attention to the passionate battles of the elderly regiment, Qi Sheng shifted his gaze at this moment to the perspectives of other novice players.

This batch of recruited players started directly in the Black Black Tide Rampage Stage, and their chosen growth method differed from previous batches of players.

They did not choose to mine, but instead faced the Black Black Tide directly.

Compared to the unrivaled mowing-grass Cultivation Mode of veteran players, novice players had chosen the scavenging Cultivation Mode.

At this moment, another charge began.

The scale of the charge was approximately 800 people, three-quarters of whom were veteran players.

After charging out of Emperor Tomb Village, they switched to monster forms to engage in head-on collisions with the Black Black Tide, while novice players followed behind the team, searching for isolated evil spirits to kill together.

During this time, the voice channel was incredibly lively:

"These veteran players are too fierce; killing evil spirits is like chopping melons and cutting vegetables for them. We have to combine our efforts just to barely kill one evil spirit; I'm exhausted."

"Look at them, a great snake over ten meters long, rolling and causing the earth to shake and mountains to tremble; then look at me, a one-meter small snake. This size difference is too huge; I'm so envious."

"Holy crap, the Bone Fire form is so cool; I really want to know what it feels like to release and control Ink Flame. I hope I can embed the Bone Fire Soul Soul soon."

"Can someone introduce which Soul Soul characteristic comes with that purple big spear? The way it looks holding the spear is so handsome, killing a string of enemies with one shot. Love it, love it."

"Why does the old brother next door always have white mist swirling in his mouth when he inhales? Is he smoking in the game? He seems to be smoking quite heavily. What operation is this? Can someone educate us novices?"

Veteran players mostly communicated within guild voice channels or squad voice channels, while the local area voice chat channel was flooded with exclamations from novice players.

Having just entered the game not long ago, they were very curious about things in the Monster World.

From time to time, they marveled at the brilliant maneuvers of veteran players, filled with envy; whenever a lone Black Black Tide evil spirit flew over, they would swarm upon it, employing a mobbing tactic.

In contrast, the vast majority of veteran players focused entirely on grinding monsters throughout, too lazy to pay any attention to the novices.

To veteran players, Black Black Tide evil spirits were both evolution points and Sacrificial Power, and could also be converted into currency in the real world.

The feeling of killing evil spirits and dropping gold coins made them enjoy themselves; where would they find the mood to care about novices?

Only a few enthusiastic veteran players were willing to create teams to level up with novices, using the squad voice channel to replace the Guide in teaching novice players the basic knowledge of the Monster World.

As his vision switched continuously, Qi Sheng suddenly received feedback from the Guide, and his view switched accordingly to a player squad located in the direction of Spirit Artifact Valley.

Not far from the squad currently engaged in slaughter, scarlet streams of light converged, forming a spherical floating object.

This scene also attracted the attention of the squad members; under their curious gazes, ripples constantly rose on the surface of the spherical floating object, its shape twisting and changing, until it finally formed a creature with two horns on its head, resembling a small puppy.

Its body seemed composed of black mist, sometimes thin as wisps, sometimes condensed into form, looking extremely like a Black Black Tide evil spirit.

At this moment, it was curiously looking around with sapphire-blue eyes, before tilting its head back, opening its mouth, and letting out a whine:

"Yo~"

Analysis information also appeared in the minds of the squad players at this time.

[Flowing Shadow (Second Generation Primordial)]

Hunting Level: 1

Monster Introduction: A special Second Generation Primordial monster that controls the power of clones. It can create a clone possessing 20% of the original body's physical strength by consuming mental energy, and can control the clone's actions through consciousness.

Guide Note: The number of clones created is influenced by the strength of one's own mental energy. Theoretically, infinite clones can be created, provided one possesses sufficiently powerful mental energy to split consciousness for control and has enough mental energy to sustain the clones' consumption.

Seeing the analysis information, the squad members immediately widened their eyes.

The team leader at the front immediately turned his head to look at the floating Guide clone beside him:

"Guide, what is this situation?"

[Aside from you who inherit the Power of Emperor Zhao and can kill and contain Primordial Monsters, other living beings in the Monster World cannot truly kill Primordial Monsters; even if killed, they will be initialized and reborn with the world's operation, appearing at random locations... Simply put, you were very lucky to encounter a Primordial Monster that was killed and reborn. Doesn't it feel great to have such Iron Face luck?]

The Guide gave an explanation in a lazy tone.

Learning the truth, the squad members exchanged brief glances before pouncing on Flowing Shadow, which was still tilting its head and whining.

Boom!

An ink-colored fireball smashed into the ground, creating a dent; Flowing Shadow was instantly killed, turning into black mist that was absorbed by the nearby Guide clone and transmitted into the underground containment wall.

Under Qi Sheng's perception perspective, the black mist within the containment wall began to condense once again.

At this moment, a blue energy hose extended from above the crystal wall, connecting to Flowing Shadow's back; immediately, scarlet energy began to be continuously drawn from Flowing Shadow's body and funneled into Emperor Tomb Village's underground Sacrificial Power Pool.

Simultaneously, a Challenger Notification rang out across the entire channel:

[Challenger Notification (All Channels): Congratulations to players: Jungler Jungle Huang Feihong, Top Laner Dong Haichuan, Mid Laner Huo Yuanjia, Bot Laner Sun Lutang, Support Ma Yongzhen, for containing the Generation-Two Primordial Monster "Flowing Shadow." Sacrificial Power Reward obtained: 20,000 (shared among squad members).]

[Challenger Notification (All Channels): The Soul Repository has added a new Primordial Monster Soul: Flowing Shadow (Clone).]

The notification of successful containment instantly caused the regional chat channel to explode.

Every player was asking about the containment process of the Generation-Two Primordial and the difficulty involved.

The squad leader, Jungler Jungle Huang Feihong, received a constant stream of friend requests, the vast majority sent by leaders of major guilds wishing to purchase the 20,000 points of Sacrificial Power their squad had earned from killing the Primordial.

The sudden wealth left the squad members somewhat stunned.

After blocking private messages and friend requests, Jungler Jungle Huang Feihong chose to post the analysis information for Flowing Shadow in the regional chat channel, attaching a single sentence:

"(Attachment: Flowing Shadow Analysis). Brothers, stop sending private messages and friend requests; our squad isn't a brick-moving crew, and we aren't selling our Sacrificial Power."

Upon seeing the analysis information for Flowing Shadow, wails of despair immediately filled the regional chat channel.

The Hunt Level 1 displayed in Flowing Shadow's analysis information was like a bayonet stabbing into the hearts of many players.

They could accept other players containing a Primordial Monster through arduous battle, but they simply could not accept an easy containment brought about by sheer dumb luck.

"Why did I have to log on at this time? Why did I have to see the notification of successful containment? Why did I have to click in and view the analysis information... Do you understand how painful it is for me, who was happily mowing down mobs, to see this analysis?"

"(Explorer Emote—Crying in Grievance) A Level 1 Generation-Two Primordial; I can confirm this is exactly the initialization refresh the Guide mentioned occurring after a Primordial Monster dies. You guys actually encountered it; you really deserve to die. Why couldn't this good fortune have been mine?"

"So you're playing the game with your lifespan, huh? This is no different from finding a box of money on the street. It's not that I can't stand to see others do well, but you guys did too well; I can't accept it. Let me take two deep breaths to recover my mental state after being critically hit."

"I looked at my Sacrificial Power balance after struggling for three hours, then looked again at the pinned containment reward number. Boo hoo hoo~ This isn't fair; I want it too."

As wails flooded the regional voice channel, Qi Sheng skimmed through them briefly before withdrawing his consciousness.

With a raise of his hand, his human form switched to the Emperor Omen form.

His head transformed into blazing scarlet flames that rapidly crawled over his entire body.

With another raise of his hand, halos symbolizing Primordial Power appeared, orbiting around him.

Within this ring of halos, eighteen small spheres of different colors were adsorbed, each sphere representing a type of Primordial Power.

After the players contained the Generation-Two Primordial Flowing Shadow, his own strength had improved once again.

This feeling was truly wonderful; he could clearly perceive that his mastery and utilization of the Emperor Omen's inherent origin had become more proficient, as if a user manual had been implanted into his mind the moment the containment was completed.

In the turn of a thought, Flowing Shadow's Primordial Trait activated; a black sphere within the light trails orbiting his body emitted a glow, and accompanied by the consumption of energy within his body, a clone replicating his original form condensed beside him.

After a simple test, Qi Sheng waved his hand to dismiss the clone and switched his consciousness to the player forum.

According to feedback from the Guide, an interesting post had appeared on the forum a few seconds ago.

When he saw the content of the post, he chuckled helplessly.

[Divine Hall Guild is recruiting powerful players; the guild will issue an extra daily wage with excellent benefits.]

Poster: God King

Content:

Having been reborn, I plan to spend 1 billion in microtransactions in this game to become stronger. At first, people thought "Land of Darkness" was merely a groundbreaking virtual game, but what they don't know is that the Black Black Tide within the game will descend upon reality in one year. Others mock me for spending a billion as a sucker, as a huge idiot, but only I know clearly that the moment the game servers shut down, spiritual energy will recover, evil spirits will descend, and endless darkness will shroud the earth. Game attributes will map onto reality, and I... shall be crowned King!

Currently recruiting powerful players at high salaries; requirement: Soul Level 15+ (single attribute suffices). I will lead you to fight the Black Black Tide and ascend to the divine throne on the day the apocalypse arrives!

Comments Section:

Hamster-Style Player: Okay, I've received the insider information; delete the post ASAP so others don't see it. I will definitely seize this opportunity to become stronger, and when darkness descends, I'll open a resource supermarket in reality and resell resources at ten times the price (Explorer Emote—This round is secured).

Divine Wing: Damn, brothers from Divine Hall Guild are here too? Brother, are you really preparing to spend 1 billion? However, Sacrificial Power is scarce in this game; even with money, you can't buy enough. The resources produced by a few brick-moving squads have long been reserved by the bosses of several guilds; spending even 10 billion would be useless (Explorer Emote—Despondent Sigh).

Wosniedie: Dog God Hall, the grudges formed in our battles will continue in this game; just wait for our Crime Feast Group to smash you to pieces.

God King replying to Wosniedie: Don't mess around; our guild consists entirely of newbies who just entered the game. Please show more care and less violence. Also, could you support us with a batch of Sacrificial Power to let us old friends develop first before considering fighting?

Night Is Coming: You're revealing such a major secret so openly? Then who would dare sell Sacrificial Power to you? Wouldn't it all have to be spent on improving strength to avoid becoming a weakling in the apocalyptic environment when darkness descends? You should be secretly hoarding Sacrificial Power, quietly growing stronger, and stunning everyone a year later (Slippery.jpg).

Scrap Recycling Station: Terrifying, actually encountering a reborn person in the game. I believe this news at first glance because I am also a reborn person. When darkness descends, I will make my move, transforming into a Level 1000 Sky-Swallowing Giant Python to rampage and kill in the real world, so it's no big deal.

The content of this post left Qi Sheng utterly speechless.

Through an investigation by the Guide, it could be confirmed that the posting player "God King" was merely playing a meme and joking.

However, the content spoken would become reality on some future day.

It was just that the timing of darkness's descent was not one year later; players still had ample time to grow.

When that day truly arrived, he would feed the players' abilities back into reality, and the real-world currency system would completely collapse, with Sacrificial Power becoming the universal currency for both humans and alien players.

Therefore, converting real-world currency into game Sacrificial Power was indeed a very forward-looking investment.

It was just that this secret, apart from him and his four vassals, was known to no one.

Although the monthly ticket count hasn't reached 1000 yet, I'm releasing the bonus chapters first; totaling an explosive update of 37,000 words, please vote for monthly tickets~

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(End of Chapter)