Chapter 85: Black Tide Approaches (Requesting Monthly Votes)

At the foot of the Snow Mountain.

Reserve trainees wearing suppression bracelets had their physical strength uniformly suppressed to similar levels.

This was done precisely to ensure fairness in training, while also increasing the difficulty for stronger trainees.

The innate differences between races were enormous; without suppression bracelets, significant gaps would emerge between races right from the early stages.

The first-phase training camp placed greater emphasis on the willpower of reserve trainees.

Yet even with nearly identical physical strength, the performance of each race during this high-intensity mountain-climbing exercise still varied greatly.

Among them, the Four-Eyed Race and the Night Hawk Race showed the best performance among new recruits, always reaching the summit fastest during warm-up climbs and descending with equal speed.

The worst performers were unquestionably the Player Race.

During climbs, they gasped like oxen, constantly cursing under their breath, radiating invisible resentment.

But during this mountain-climbing session, when other races descended, they passed the Player Race still struggling upward—completely opposite from their initial attitude.

When Li Zheng and others first arrived at the first-phase training camp, they were met with contempt and scorn; other racial trainees openly displayed their disdain for the Player Race's weak strength.

But after a week of devilish training, their attitude toward the Player Race had completely changed.

They now understood this race was one they dared not provoke.

The Four-Eyed Race was the best example—if Instructor Kuang Sha hadn't forbidden all group fights during meal times these past two days, the Four-Eyed trainees might already have been carried back to their homeland in bundles.

In terms of endurance under hunger, the Player Race were unquestionably the best in the camp, in the eyes of all other races.

Provoking them meant preparing for intense hunger-resistance training in the days ahead.

"My god, my legs are shaking—I can't believe these beasts can climb this hard."

"More exhausting than my job—my only motivation to keep going is the mess hall. After this climb, I'm going to eat a ton."

"Stop complaining and keep climbing—I don't want to get eliminated in the first-phase training camp."

…

After morning training ended, and after recovery through the repair room and dietary therapy, Li Zheng and the others gathered on the training ground.

Chief Combat Instructor Kuang Sha announced a new training program at this time.

Mental endurance training.

Kuang Sha stated that in future battles against the terrifying Black Tide, they would inevitably suffer corruption damage from the Black Tide's power.

This was an excruciating curse erosion; if they couldn't withstand it, they would be completely corrupted, becoming mindless husks.

To survive after being infected by Black Tide corruption energy, they needed not only medical intervention but also immense willpower to endure.

Because one effect of corruption was direct assault on the mental plane.

After introducing the training program, Kuang Sha led them to the camp's mental shock chamber and had each race enter the room in sequence for testing.

During this time, Li Zheng and the others, waiting at the end of the line, heard the horrific screams coming from inside and felt a complex mix of emotions.

In the game's setting, senses such as taste, smell, hearing, and touch provided 100% feedback, with pain reduced to a minimum of 10%.

This setting allowed players to greatly mitigate pain feedback when enduring any injury.

A player had posted a thread on the forum detailing practical tests of the 10% pain reduction.

He stated that minor cuts or scrapes—relatively mild pain even ordinary people could easily endure—were almost imperceptible to players with pain reduced.

Muscle strains or minor sprains—injuries typically involving microscopic tissue damage—were fully manageable for players, causing only slight discomfort.

Minor burns or scalds—pain limited to the skin's surface—could be endured relatively calmly, the sensation like a layer of insulation over the pain, similar to a tooth extraction under local anesthesia: painful, but tolerable.

Severe stab wounds, fractures, internal organ damage, or injuries to vital areas, however, delivered clear pain feedback—already at the upper limit of what players could endure.

The maximum pain threshold players could currently endure was described by a forum player who underwent the Gene Seed enhancement process.

In that unfortunate player's account, even with 90% of the feedback suppressed, he still felt as if every cell in his body was burning.

He barely survived the process, nearly losing half his life.

Li Zheng and the others did not know what level of pain feedback this upcoming mental shock would entail.

In anxious waiting, a Bronze Race trainee staggered out of the room, pale and weak.

Under Kuang Sha's watchful gaze, Li Zheng and the others entered the mental shock chamber with trepidation.

The room was small; complex array patterns of two different colors were engraved on the floor and ceiling, and multiple purple energy gems were embedded in the floor and walls.

As the metal door sealed shut, a symbol appeared on the wall directly ahead.

After guidance, translation, and analysis, the symbol represented the number: 1.

The array beneath their feet activated, its light enveloping Li Zheng and the others.

Yet during this process, Li Zheng and the others felt no discomfort whatsoever.

Seconds later, the number changed to 3—but still, they detected no noticeable change.

As time passed, the number continued to rise.

When it reached 38, Li Zheng and the others suddenly felt as if an invisible hand were gently stroking their consciousness, bringing waves of tingling numbness.

The number rose to 68.

The tingling turned into faint stinging, but still within tolerable limits.

Outside the mental shock chamber, watching the number displayed on the wall, both Kuang Sha and the other racial trainees looked surprised.

At 68, the pain was already very pronounced; and since this was direct mental pain, it was even more intense and obvious than physical pain.

Yet not a single cry of pain emerged from inside.

The number continued to climb—when it reached 90.

The pain became unmistakable, shifting from faint stinging to sharp, pounding agony—as if an invisible sledgehammer were striking their skulls repeatedly.

Each wave of pain caused Li Zheng and the others to tremble.

"Brother Li, should we give up?"

"Don't chicken out—hold on a little longer. We've had our pain reduced by 90%; at the very least, we must surpass the Four-Eyed Race's 148."

"Brothers, hold on! Don't forget why we named our group 'Grind Kings' back then."

Hearing these words, the willpower of the few, which had already relaxed, tightened once more.

The establishment of the Grind Kings group can be traced back five years.

At that time, they, a few resource-gathering players, forged deep friendships in the game and created a group chat to exchange resource-gathering strategies and intelligence.

And the two characters 'Grind King' referred precisely to the way they played the game.

Obtaining resources through high-intensity gameplay time, then selling them to convert into real-world money.

The most ruthless time, they went offline for half a month continuously, sustaining their lives in the game solely on nutrient solution while gathering resources.

It was precisely this crazy act that led them to change the group name to Grind Kings, and these two characters became the core principle of their gameplay thereafter.

The continuous, uninterrupted group battles lasting over a week were sustained by this perseverance and belief.

Every player has a different gameplay mode, but for the Grind Kings group players, the main principle is: as long as you don't die, grind until you drop dead.

When it truly comes to fighting for their lives, they have never been cowards.

Accompanying the fluctuating numbers, the intensity of the mental shock reached 120.

Every time the mental shockwave struck, Li Zheng and the others trembled all over, sweat unconsciously seeping from their foreheads and flowing down.

But they were still persisting.

When the intensity reached 150, the pain had already become unbearable for them.

The number had also surpassed the Four-Eyed Clan's tolerance limit, and the tight string in their hearts loosened accordingly.

Just as they were preparing to turn around and furiously pound on the great door, demanding Instructor Kuang Sha open it, a challenger prompt suddenly popped up:

【Challenger Prompt: Mental pressure has reached the danger alert line; pain feedback is temporarily adjusted to 0%.】

In an instant, the mountain pressing down on their heads was removed, and the pain feedback vanished instantly.

Li Zheng and the others' gritted-teeth persistence had already touched the alert line of the 'Purification System', which, upon activation, began to actively protect their mental state.

The pain feedback protection set by Qi Sheng is divided into two types.

The first is physical pain feedback; this feedback has no restrictions set, because even the most intense physical pain, after being weakened to 10%, falls within the bearable range.

Essentially, the definition of physical pain feedback consists of two layers: the first layer is physical pain, and the second is the mental anguish brought about by physical pain.

Pain acting directly on the body, once weakened by 10%, will be greatly weakened when acting on the mental level.

The second type is mental pain feedback; for this feedback, Qi Sheng set an alert line based on the tolerance limit of ordinary people.

As long as the mental anguish from the feedback exceeds this alert line, the pain feedback will be completely blocked, and after the pain feedback ends, it will purify the negative emotions generated by the player while enduring pain, soothing mental trauma and guaranteeing the player's mental health.

Ensuring that mental trauma is not brought back to reality.

And Li Zheng and the others' persistence had already broken through the limit ordinary people can endure, thereby entering the protection of the Purification System.

Just then, the room detected damage to the mental state of Li Zheng and the others, and the white array on the ceiling activated accordingly, raining down starlight.

After Li Zheng and the others' bodies came into contact with the starlight rain, they felt only warmth all over, and their damaged spirits began to repair.

At this moment, Instructor Kuang Sha outside the arena, along with the new recruits of other races, wore very expressive faces.

The number on the wall had already reached 160, but Li Zheng and the others were still persisting, and the occasional cries of pain that had been coming through also ceased.

At this moment, Instructor Kuang Sha raised his hand, and life detection values immediately appeared on the wall.

Discovering that Li Zheng and the others' bodies had no abnormalities, he fell into deep thought.

This number had completely exceeded his expectations.

In his eyes, the Player Clan's willpower was weak; during training, they always complained in low voices, always appearing to be trying every way possible to slack off.

Yet he never expected them to persist this long regarding the pain feedback.

"No wonder they can withstand hunger so well; these beasts are truly fierce," said a trainee of the Bronze Clan, staring at the number on the wall with a wistful expression.

At this moment, even the Four-Eyed Clan trainees held them in high respect.

The number on the wall made them even more certain of a previous guess.

Before this, during their confrontation with the Player Clan's hunger, they had more than once suspected that the Player Clan possessed some racial talent for withstanding hunger, capable of maintaining bodily consumption by breaking down stored energy in the body.

But another guess held that the Player Clan might truly be persisting solely through willpower.

Regarding these two guesses, which one was the answer, the new recruits of the Four-Eyed Clan had no way of knowing.

But now, this doubt had an answer.

These beasts truly withstood the hunger through sheer willpower, persisting until now.

This perseverance is worthy of respect.

The number finally reached 200; Instructor Kuang Sha chose to actively cut off the test process, the mental shock array inside the room stopped operating accordingly, and the metal great door slowly opened.

Upon seeing the relaxed expressions on Li Zheng and the others' faces, the reserve new recruits of all races cursed inwardly, exclaiming how fierce they were.

With the end of this test, the Player Clan in Instructor Kuang Sha's eyes also became much more agreeable.

He believed that the complaints made by Player Clan members during regular training were more like catchphrases; they simply had to say a few words to feel comfortable.

This pain test was enough to prove their willpower.

The idea of kicking the Player Clan out of the training camp, which he originally had, had already changed towards the end of the cafeteria battle; this training test made him completely abandon this notion.

As warriors, strength is certainly the most important proof, but warriors with strong willpower are equally precious.

The mental pain endurance test ended, and a new round of training followed immediately.

Li Zheng and the others began their daily complaining again, but in the eyes of the new recruits of other races, the meaning of the complaining had changed.

In the afternoon, Instructor Kuang Sha did not propose new training requirements.

Instead, he led them to the training camp's medicinal bathhouse.

Here, Li Zheng and the others saw dozens of large wooden tubs, each filled with purple viscous liquid.

Through Instructor Kuang Sha's explanation, they learned.

In the afternoon, they need not participate in training; they only need to soak their entire bodies in wooden tubs until dinner time.

During this period, Instructor Kuang Sha detailed the origin of the purple liquid in the tubs.

He stated that this was a boiling potion carefully brewed by the Reverse Tide Legion's alchemists, made from materials such as bone beast hearts, wu-chou wood roots, scale fruits, purple vine roots, and Spirit Spring water; soaking in it could temper physical strength.

Upon learning they did not need to train, Li Zheng and the others appeared unusually delighted.

At Instructor Kuang Sha's silent gesture, they jumped into the wooden tubs one by one.

When their skin touched the purple medicinal liquid, the smiles on their faces vanished instantly; a fierce stinging pain surged like a flood and a ferocious beast, nearly causing them to cry out in agony.

"By the way, I forgot to tell you: the medicinal liquid in the tubs cannot be drunk; the body cannot withstand it."

As Instructor Kuang Sha's words fell, he turned and departed.

At that moment, Seeing Li Zheng and the others were like snakes thrown into a hot wok, twisting and thrashing in the tubs, gasping for air continuously, yet none dared to step out of the tubs.

The intense stimulation feedback from the medicinal liquid was like countless needles pricking the skin; the pain conducted from the epidermis into the body, and the skin turned red under the stimulation of the medicinal bath.

Looking up at the Four-Eyed Clan and other alien trainees, their ferocious expressions revealed that they were all gritting their teeth to endure the intense stinging pain brought by the medicinal bath.

However, this process lasted only a little over ten minutes before beginning to improve.

The intense stimulation gradually faded; a warm sensation penetrated from the skin to the depths of the body, lightly touching the cells within, bringing a touch of comfort amidst the pain.

As time passed, the stimulation from the medicinal bath grew gentler, transforming into a warm current wandering through the body, permeating every corner, bringing Seeing Li Zheng and the others a comfort like bathing in the spring breeze; their tense bodies relaxed completely with the rising steam of heat and moisture.

Leaning against the wooden tubs, their expressions became content.

"Brothers, take a look at the log information." At this moment, Chi Tu suddenly spoke to remind them.

Upon hearing this, everyone summoned their function panels and opened the information log.

They then surprisedly discovered that the information log actually displayed a string of Body Tempering Experience +1 notifications.

Because there were too many prompt messages, they had been automatically blocked.

They immediately summoned their attribute panels to check, discovering that soaking in the medicinal bath for half an hour had actually granted them a 3000-point Body Tempering Experience bonus.

At this moment, Seeing Li Zheng and the others were filled with tears.

After so many days of persistence, there was finally new reward.

In the subsequent soaking process, it was no longer torment; they very much wanted to soak like this forever.

But the effect of the medicinal bath was continuously diminishing.

From initially receiving several Body Tempering Experience +1 feedbacks per second, after three hours they had to wait dozens of seconds for a single prompt.

The originally viscous purple liquid also gradually became clear as the body continuously absorbed it.

This round of enjoyment ended before the meal time arrived.

When Instructor Kuang Sha returned, the viscous purple color in the tubs had vanished, and the liquid had become clear and transparent.

Amidst the shouts of "You really deserve to die" from the onlookers in the livestream, Seeing Li Zheng and the others collectively received a 7284-point Body Tempering Experience bonus.

Two days later.

All members of the first training camp gathered on the playground.

They saw the sky tear open a spatial vortex, and a massive shuttle emerged from the black hole.

When the shuttle landed and the heavy metal hatch opened, 50 reserve freshmen from the Shui Gu Training Camp, led by their instructors, appeared and joined Seeing Li Zheng and the others' training formation.

Just like Instructor San.

From today on, the first-term freshmen of the Shui Gu Training Camp will participate in training together with them.

The freshmen of the two training camps will conduct subsequent training projects in the form of confrontation.

While Instructor Kuang Sha was speaking, Seeing Li Zheng and the others were continuously using the Jie Xi Gong function to observe relevant information about the Shui Gu Training Camp freshmen.

They discovered that the hunting levels of this batch of arriving freshmen were not weak.

Among them, the comprehensive strength of freshmen from two clans was not inferior to that of the Four-Eyed Clan, and even the weakest clan was stronger than them.

"Why is this training camp like raising gu insects? Batch after batch of competition; are they trying to cultivate a Gu King?"

"Have you noticed that this batch of newly arrived freshmen seems to be dominated by the Po Luo Clan freshmen, walking right behind them?"

"Hey, it really is; this batch of freshmen may have already competed to determine a leader, and they will likely unite to beat us up."

"No way, getting beaten again? I hope the Four-Eyed Clan is the primary target, not us."

Regarding Instructor Kuang Sha's subsequent training arrangements, Seeing Li Zheng and the others were not listening at all, instead exchanging information about the new freshmen in the voice channel.

When breakfast time arrived, the mixed formation of the two batches of freshmen, led by Instructor Kuang Sha, arrived at Daoshitang.

Upon entering the door, Seeing Li Zheng and the others saw a Po Luo Clan member at the head of the line stop at the food counter, turn around, and clap his hands sharply to attract everyone's attention.

This Po Luo Clan freshman had a delicate face and a tall, robust build; the muscle lines on his body were both rugged and powerful, his skin was a deep bronze color as if washed by time and frost, and his most conspicuous feature was two eyes of different colors: one red and one black.

Through the guidance of Jie Xi Gong, Seeing Li Zheng and the others learned his name was "E Luo".

After E Luo clapped, he grinned, his gaze sweeping over the freshmen of the Bing Xue Gu Training Camp:

"The Po Luo Clan has a rule for participating in every training camp: the strong eat first, and only after they finish can the weak eat... Of course, this rule is not unbreakable; we of the Po Luo Clan can give everyone an extra choice."

Speaking thus, E Luo picked up a food tray, let go, and allowed the tray to fall and shatter, scattering spiritual food all over the floor:

"If you are willing to abandon your dignity and eat the food on the ground, you may eat at any time; we will absolutely not obstruct you."

Hearing these words, the expressions of Seeing Li Zheng and the others appeared very helpless.

They had only eaten peacefully for two days, and now bullying had come again.

"Therefore, we will eat first, and after we finish, it will be your turn. I am temporarily unclear about the strength hierarchy of your Bing Xue Gu Training Camp, so this time you must arrange it yourselves; decide quickly, and do not forget that there is only 15 minutes of eating time here."

Speaking thus, E Luo turned and began to take the spiritual food.

The clan members following him also moved into action.

The other freshmen of the Shui Gu Training Camp orderly followed behind the Po Luo Clan freshmen, waiting to eat.

Seeing this scene, Seeing Li Zheng shrugged:

"Brothers, the word 'back down' doesn't exist in my dictionary. Shall we grind one more time?"

"We must grind. Starve them out. I hate bullying the most."

"I reserved two portions of Spirit Fish Meat with Shuai Yigan. Tonight's extra meal. Prepare to charge and fight."

"In the worst-case scenario, we at least still have canned food. I don't believe we can't outlast these bastards."

Since he decided not to submit to the rules set by the Broken Luo Clan, Li Zheng followed the instructions given by the God of Wealth before he left.

This time, the Grind Emperor group decided to take the initiative.

Li Zheng, leading the charge, stepped forward decisively and pointed far at Evil Luo:

"Hey, you there... Luo Zi, put down your tray for your grandpa!"

Hearing this familiar shout, the expressions of the new students from various clans at the Snow Valley Training Camp looked extremely dramatic.

One didn't need to think to know that the Player Clan was about to force them back into the starvation training mode.

Those good days of finally being able to eat hot meals were over.

Facing Li Zheng who came flying at him, Evil Luo turned around, lifted a foot, and kicked Li Zheng flying, but the tray in his hand tilted along with the motion.

Crash!

The tray hit the ground, and the Spirit Food scattered all over.

Evil Luo's expression turned extremely ugly. The clan members beside him didn't hesitate for a second; they all placed their trays on nearby empty tables and turned to pounce on the attacking Player Clan.

Chi Tu, who had been charging right behind Li Zheng, became the first target to be attacked.

A new student from the Broken Luo Clan raised a fist and smashed it toward Chi Tu's face.

Just then, a figure arrived beside Chi Tu at even greater speed, raising a hand to grab the fist of the Broken Luo Clan new student as it fell.

Chi Tu, who had already squinted his eyes ready to get his face slapped, turned his head and saw that the one blocking this strike for him was actually his old nemesis, "Gui Tong".

"Tong Zi?"

Gui Tong ignored Chi Tu, sneered at the Broken Luo Clan new student swinging the fist, and said in a hoarse voice:

"Forgot to tell you, we at the Snow Valley Training Camp also have a rule: either we all eat together... or none of us eat."

With those words, Gui Tong's arm suddenly exerted force, grabbed the arm of this Broken Luo Clan new student, and flung him aside. The flung Broken Luo Clan new student knocked over several tables in succession before landing on his butt on the ground.

After doing all this, Gui Tong turned his head to look at Li Zheng, who had been kicked flying but stood up again:

"Hey, one more time. Can you still hold out?"

"Nonsense, I can hold out until death. Anyway, don't let them eat. Fight them!" Li Zheng nodded without hesitation.

As Li Zheng's words fell, the new students of the Four Eyes Clan, Night Eagle Clan, Bronze Clan, and others at the Snow Valley Training Camp all rushed into the battle.

"Brothers, blow them up!"

A massive battle between the trainees of the Water Valley Training Camp and the Snow Valley Training Camp was about to erupt, with trays and Spirit Food flying everywhere in the air.

11000 words finished. Still asking for monthly votes.

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(End of this chapter)