Chapter 8

Di Tomb Village.

A scarlet light flashed, and Qi Sheng appeared before the crystal wall containment unit underground.

Looking at the Bone Fire Life Soul imprisoned in the fourth containment cell, relevant information automatically surfaced in his mind:

[Ink Flame]:

Origin Ability Effect: Consumes mental power to release death flames that can be controlled by consciousness, causing continuous burning damage to the target (specific damage is affected by the intensity of one's own mental power).

Sacrifice Power Output: 10/per hour.

Raising his right hand, a cluster of ink-colored flames generated in Qi Sheng's palm.

After containing the Bone Fire, the lost power of Di Zhao had recovered its fourth puzzle piece; his strength had grown, and he now possessed the ability to control the Ink Flame.

Another piece of good news was that the players had already discovered a lost domain node.

If this domain could be recovered, the area of Di Tomb Village would expand, and he would also gain a new domain ability.

Just then, the latest feedback information from the guidance surfaced in Qi Sheng's mind:

[Notification: Obtained sacrificial offering "Empty Valley Grass," gained 155.7 Sacrifice Power, extracted 30% of the profit, paid the challenger 109 points of Sacrifice Power.]

"Not bad."

As the words fell, scarlet flames spread from between his brows across his entire body.

After switching to the Di Zhao form, his vision pierced through the spatial barrier, looking at the group of players currently exploring the cave.

Gloomy Cave.

Entering from the narrow opening, there was a whole new world inside.

The further down they walked, the larger the space became, and there were multiple forks in the road ahead.

During their exploration, the Toddler Group players accidentally discovered a rock wall embedded with a large number of crystals shimmering with a faint purple light.

After focusing their gaze, the analysis information from the guidance surfaced in their minds:

[Name: Energy-Surplus Stone]:

Spirit Ore Grade: 1

Introduction: A low-grade spirit ore containing rich, refined energy, which can be used for sacrifices, crafting armed vehicles, and other consumption purposes.

Black Ball: Hahaha, this place is great, found more spiritual resources.

Cute Baby: Let's get to work, it's time to mine resources.

Drunk Milk: The problem is, how are we supposed to mine?

When they prepared to start on the rock wall embedded with crystals, they encountered a problem.

The rock wall was hard, and it was not easy to dig out the Energy-Surplus Stones; they had no tools on hand to use.

[The mall section of the function panel has mining equipment, which can be purchased by consuming Sacrifice Power.]

Hearing the guidance's prompt, the Toddler Group players summoned their function panels one after another. After entering "mining equipment" into the search bar on the mall page, three items appeared on the page.

[Mining Pick (Durability 100)], [Crystal-Breaking Pick (Durability: 2000)], [Gravity Pick (Infinite)].

The prices of these three items were 1 point of Sacrifice Power, 100 points of Sacrifice Power, and 1000 points of Sacrifice Power, respectively.

Along the way, they had killed quite a few Curse Soldiers, but each Curse Soldier only provided 3-6 points of Sacrifice Power profit; they couldn't afford the second-tier mining pick at all and could only choose the most ordinary 1-point Sacrifice Power mining pick.

After the purchase was successful, a pitch-black mining pick automatically appeared in their spatial inventory slots.

Just as the players were preparing to start working, they saw Iron Hammer, who was walking at the very front, take out a unique mining pick from his spatial inventory.

This mining pick was entirely crystal blue; after being taken out, it looked like a star falling into the mortal world. The faint blue light appeared dazzling under the dim light in the mine, and one could see specks of crystal flowing along every texture on its surface.

The head of the mining pick was carved into the shape of a sharp eagle's beak. After Iron Hammer gripped it tight and tried to swing it, it dragged out a trail of flowing light.

Realizing that Iron Hammer had used the 109 points of Sacrifice Power obtained from the previous sacrifice to buy the second-tier mining pick, everyone gave him the middle finger.

Iron Hammer: Same old rules. Although I bought the second-tier mining pick, we will count the crystals mined and split them equally; I won't hog the profits.

Hearing this, the other players nodded in satisfaction.

Afterward, the group began to work on the crystal wall. While knocking and tapping, everyone soon realized something was wrong.

Black Ball: Damn, this mining pick is vibrating the crystal wall so hard my web between thumb and finger hurts; the feedback is too realistic.

Marble: It's good enough that we have resources to get, don't complain. Hurry up and work. At this stage, the game has just launched, and we are in the pioneering phase. Getting as many resources as possible to improve our strength will be significantly helpful for our future development.

Drunk Milk: You guys are really stupid. The base form has no attribute bonuses; it's easier to switch to a monster form to mine.

Saying this, Drunk Milk switched to the Black-Armored Snake form on the spot, bit the mining pick, and swung his head violently at the rock wall.

After a bout of "clanging" and violent smashing, Drunk Milk suddenly stopped, slowly turned his head to look at his dumbfounded brothers, opened his mouth to spit out the mining pick, and said with a wronged expression:

"Dizzy, want to throw up."

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but laugh out loud, mocking Drunk Milk's stupid behavior one after another.

But when everyone's gaze turned to Iron Hammer, they couldn't laugh anymore.

They saw the "Crystal-Breaking Pick" in Iron Hammer's hand chiseling into the rock wall as easily as cutting tofu. With a few strikes, he could hook out a piece of ore, and there were already two Energy-Surplus Stones by his feet.

Seeing everyone stop, Iron Hammer ceased his movements, turned his head to look at them, and a shy smile appeared on his face:

"Do your hands feel shaky? I think it's fine."

He was met with a uniform response of middle fingers from everyone.

After the interlude, they continued to work. During this time, the Toddler Group members tested the profits brought by sacrificing Energy-Surplus Stones and found that each Energy-Surplus Stone could produce 5-15 points of Sacrifice Power profit.

Compared to killing Curse Soldiers, mining Energy-Surplus Stones clearly yielded higher Sacrifice Power profits, even though they couldn't obtain Evolution Points (Experience Points).

Just as they were putting their backs into smashing the crystal wall, a dull sound suddenly came from the darkness.

Everyone immediately stopped their movements and looked toward the darkness.

"Marble, activate perception."

"Got it!"

Marble, who had chosen the Eagle-Headed Demon form in the team, immediately activated the Eagle-Headed Demon's Grudge Chant ability.

This ability was like an instinct branded into his mind; it didn't require proficiency, and the process of using it was as simple as breathing.

Opening his mouth, Marble let out a melodious call, which turned into waves of sound radiating toward the surroundings.

The scene within dozens of meters nearby was presented in his mind as a fluctuating image, and at this moment, he saw the figure in the darkness clearly.

This was a creature resembling a snail, its body surface covered with a layer of white shell. The ends of the tentacles extending from the shell flickered with a ghostly blue light, like phosphorus fire drifting in the deep sea.

[Iron-Shelled Bug]

Hunting Level: 8

Target Introduction: A low-level monster living underground, possessing a hard shell and highly flexible tentacles, feeding on underground spiritual ores.

After sharing the information in his mind to the team channel, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Hearing movement in the dim environment had truly given them a scare. Upon discovering it was only a level 8 hunting monster, they were no longer panicked and turned around to switch to their monster forms, preparing to finish off this monster before continuing to mine.

"Something's wrong, there are more Iron-Shelled Bugs behind!"

In Marble's perception view, more and more Iron-Shelled Bug figures were entering the frame.

Just then, the Iron-Shelled Bugs scattered to the sides, and a pitch-black figure two meters tall walked out from the darkness, exposed under the torchlight.

This figure had a humanoid form, its muscle lines as distinct as if carved, its skin was grayish-blue, its arms were covered in fine scales, and sharp claw blades grew between its fingers.

[Cave Dweller]:

Hunting Level: 19

Target Introduction: A racial faction living in underground spaces, skilled at controlling underground creatures in battle, possessing level 2 intelligence, and having lost self-awareness due to being controlled by some kind of power.

The Cave Dweller creature looked up at them, and after its gaze met the players', its pupils suddenly contracted into vertical slits.

Immediately, all the Iron-Shelled Bugs raised their bodies, their tentacles dancing as they shot toward the players.

"Let's go!"

The Toddler Group members also switched to their monster forms at this moment and lunged at the Cave Dweller creature without hesitation.

As players, the word "coward" did not exist in their dictionary.

(End of chapter)