Chapter 22: Primordial Taunt | Monsters Are Coming
Qi Sheng's consciousness bypassed the golden crystal, following the Guide's lead as it swept through every corner of the Shadowed Cavern's fifth subterranean layer.
Aside from Iceblade's corpse and the fallen Black Armor Army who had died fighting by his side, Qi Sheng also discovered a deeply dug burial pit in one corner of the grand hall, filled with numerous corpses.
"These remains likely belong to Iceblade's tribesmen. After retreating underground, they eventually perished here due to shortages of food and resources," the Guide explained.
"And the Burrower Race? What's their origin?"
"They were probably underground lifeforms controlled by Iceblade's people through some means. These creatures survive by consuming ore, eliminating food shortages. After Iceblade's people died, the Burrowers continued to follow the commands implanted in their minds, directing the Iron Shell Bugs to excavate spiritual ore and feed it into the smelting furnace, continuously charging the golden crystal."
Qi Sheng found the Guide's analysis very reasonable.
His consciousness shifted toward the back of the hall, where he saw a light-blue crystal, about the size of a fist, floating in the air. Its surface was covered with black mycelium, and next to it pulsed a flesh-like orb resembling a beating heart.
"This is a territory node?"
"Correct. You can think of it as one of Monster World's core puzzle pieces. The world itself is formed from countless such cores."
As the Guide explained, the parsed data transmitted into Qi Sheng's mind:
[Territory Node: Shadowed Cavern]
Territory Type: Resource
Territory Trait: Spiritual Proliferation
Trait Description: Continuously transforms and generates spiritual ore resources.
Territory Status: Black Tide Corruption (Unclaimed)
—
After reviewing the information, Qi Sheng turned his gaze to the pulsating black flesh next to the crystal.
This was the Corrosion Core.
To capture this territory node, the crystal would need to be purified and the corrosion roots fully removed.
But accomplishing this would not be easy.
The Guide had just analyzed the Black Armor soldiers standing within and outside the palace and discovered that these fallen warriors had also been corrupted into evil entities similar to Cursed Soldiers.
Moreover, these Cursed Soldiers all had hunt levels reaching 25 and above.
Thankfully, Iceblade's corpse had not been overtaken by the Black Tide's power.
More precisely, Iceblade's body had burned itself out completely, leaving behind only an empty shell that the Black Tide's corruption could not animate.
Even if thrown into the altar for refinement, no sacrificial power could be extracted.
Had Iceblade been in his prime, his hunt level might have exceeded 500, possessing the power to move mountains and overturn seas, far beyond what players could ever hope to handle.
—
Having completed the investigation of the fifth underground layer, Qi Sheng's consciousness returned to Emperor's Mound Village with the Guide.
As for the energy crystal Iceblade had left for the new Emperor's Sign, Qi Sheng had no plans to retrieve it just yet.
Not that he didn't want to, but he lacked the startup capital.
His exploration mode differed from that of the players. Players explored for free with in-game purchases like the shop, star veins, and body tempering.
When he ventured outside, however, it was like burning prepaid cards.
Back when the Four Retainers had injected all their remaining sacrificial power into Emperor's Mound Village, the pool had reached over eighty million, enough to let him mask his Emperor's Sign aura while exploring without fear of being detected by evil entities.
It was during that time that he contained the Owl-Headed Fiend, Black-Scaled Serpent, and Gargoyle.
Now, however, his sacrificial power reserves had dwindled to five digits. Concealing the Emperor's Sign's trace of Origin consumed sacrificial power by the second, over 1000 points per second, making it completely unsustainable.
Thus, the task of claiming territory nodes could only be handed over to the players.
Though this investigation yielded no immediate gains, Qi Sheng was already feeling hopeful.
The energy crystal left behind by Iceblade could easily refine more than ten million sacrificial power, enough to recruit ten thousand players and greatly accelerate early-stage development.
Sitting cross-legged atop the altar, Qi Sheng closed his eyes. After switching to Emperor's Sign form, his view shifted to the players' perspective.
—
Shadowed Cavern.
After another fierce battle, the players began cleaning up the battlefield.
They collected loot and summoned the Sacrifice Mode from the function panel, tossing all the carapaces into the altar to refine into sacrificial power.
Over the past few days of combat, the players had grown familiar with the Iron Shell Bugs' attack patterns.
The Iron Shell Bugs had two attack methods: spitting silk to entangle targets, then dragging them close to slice them with their scythe-like mandibles.
The interval between silk attacks was the best window to strike.
Through repeated battles, players had become adept at dodging the silk attacks.
The only headache was the cavern's narrow terrain, during swarms, skill offered limited advantages, and the only viable tactic was a brutal charge.
For the players, the post-battle loot phase was always the most joyful.
The bodily enhancements from level-ups, the sacrificial power income from offering loot, and the thrill of victory through teamwork, were all part of the fun.
After clearing the battlefield, the remaining players continued deeper into the caverns, reaching the second subterranean layer.
This layer was more spacious, with many hollowed-out rock walls from mining.
Interestingly, the rock surfaces glistened with a faint green crystalline layer. When they focused on it, analysis data appeared.
[Spiritual Gathering: Absorbs worldly energy, continuously nurturing spiritual ore…]
Realizing that the spiritual ore in the cavern was a renewable resource, the players showed little emotional fluctuation and followed the team deeper.
After killing several more Iron Shell Bugs along the way, they arrived at an obviously excavated stone chamber and stopped.
Inside, they could hear heavy, muffled growls.
Li Zheng from the Grind Kings took the lead, tossing a torch into the chamber.
The torch traced an arc through the air, rolled several times on the ground, and illuminated the interior.
At the end of the chamber, chained to eight metal restraints embedded in the rock wall, was a massive monster.
It resembled a giant beetle, its body covered in layered white scales with intricate patterns forming what looked like ghostly faces. Its massive pincers waved continuously, and its exposed blood-red eyes glowed like burning lanterns in the dim light.
Who knew how many years it had been imprisoned, yet it still lived.
[Taunt (Second-Generation Primordial)]
Hunt Level: 29
Guide's Analysis: A special monster wielding the Primordial Power of 'Taunt.' It can weave spiritual illusions, forcing all targets within range into extreme frenzy, causing them to uncontrollably attack Taunt.
Note: When struck by the Taunt ability, targets experience modified memory scenes based on their own memories, in which the caster (Taunt) becomes the hated enemy.
—
After reading the analysis, no one was more excited than the players who had chosen the Gargoyle form.
Marble: "Hahaha! This is the perfect option for Gargoyle's second Inherited Soul, taunt to pull aggro, then activate Petrification to tank damage. Even better than the Owl-Headed Fiend + Bonefire combo. I can already see Gargoyle rising!"
Is This a Beaver?: "The Gargoyle players' spring has arrived out of nowhere, Taunt plus Petrification equals the strongest defense build."
Class Rep: "Petrification massively boosts tanking for short periods, but its weakness is immobility. Now with Taunt added, it's practically invincible. If we could even get a damage-reflect trait on top of it, this build would be insane!"
The regional voice chat exploded with heated discussions over the 'Taunt' ability.
Both the Owl-Headed Fiend and Black-Scaled Serpent already had suitable second Inherited Soul options, but Gargoyle had none, until now.
This imprisoned Second-Generation Primordial monster gave the Gargoyle players hope for their rise.
"Attack!"
No one knew who shouted first, but the players instantly surged forward, charging at Taunt.