Chapter 19: Early Forms of Multiple Schools

Chapter 19: Early Forms of Multiple Schools

The appearance of the Black Tide rift meant the real world had entered a countdown of gradual erosion by the Black Tide.

Qi Sheng wasn’t certain about the exact rate of collapse yet—he needed more time observing the world’s changes to analyze it accurately.

But one thing was clear: he still had ample time to refine the Challenger Plan.

Currently, Monster World operated under the guise of Darklands to attract new players, but its true nature would inevitably be exposed someday.

Yet Qi Sheng never worried about the revelation of that truth.

In the Challenger Plan he designed, potential recruits weren’t limited to humans—factions of aliens fleeing to Earth would also be targets for recruitment.

Not now, though. The current amount of Sacrificial Power he possessed wasn’t enough to initiate large-scale recruitment.

Within the underground containment wall of Dizhong Village, nine Primordial Monsters had already been collected: the Black-Scaled Serpent, Hawk-Headed Demon, Gargoyle, Bonefire, and the five Spiritforged Weapons. Together, these monsters generated 2,160 points of Sacrificial Power daily. Combined with player contributions from hunting and mining, the total daily income of Sacrificial Power reached approximately 2,500 points.

After deducting the 1,000 points needed to maintain Dizhong Village, about 1,500 points remained each day for recruitment.

This meant Qi Sheng could summon only one and a half player slots per day.

This amount of Sacrificial Power barely made a dent in expanding the player faction. It wasn’t even sufficient for recruiting all humans, let alone alien races.

To increase recruitment numbers, he’d have to wait until players gradually strengthened themselves and generated more Sacrificial Power.

Without dwelling further on the issue, Qi Sheng turned to the Guidewater Orb:

“Notify Uncle Yan to send me back.”

[Understood.]

The Guide nodded and vanished. Seconds later, a transmission array appeared beneath Qi Sheng’s feet.

Returning to the Primordial Altar beneath Dizhong Village, he shifted his focus to the players currently exploring Monster World.

…

Dizhong Mountain Range, Crimson Plains.

Gloomspire Caverns.

“Gargoyle, hold the front line. Black-Scaled Serpent and Hawk-Headed Demon, look for opening attacks!”

As a woman shouted orders, players engaged in another fierce battle against the Iron Shellworms.

In recent days, Gloomspire Caverns had become the players’ top choice for leveling up and resource gathering.

This was closely tied to Monster World’s unique environment.

In normal games, once players left the Novice Village, the outside monsters were generally weak, suitable for gradual progression.

Monster World, however, was completely different. Leaving Dizhong Village, players might encounter Cursed Soldiers—relatively easy malevolent entities—but it was just as likely they’d face far stronger foes capable of wiping out entire teams. Exploration here was fraught with uncertainties.

Compared to that, Gloomspire Caverns offered predictable monster strengths and abundant resources for mining, making it the ideal option.

After days of growth, many players had unlocked their second Stellar Vein.

Three particularly effective Stellar Vein schools had emerged through practical combat.

The current top choice was the Spiritforged Weapon school. By inlaying multiple Spiritforged Weapons into their Stellar Vein, players centered their human form as the core and controlled various weapon-based powers in battle.

However, this school was currently exclusive to Li Tie alone.

Each level of body forging required 10,000 points of Sacrificial Power. Other players simply lacked the resources to build such a Stellar Vein combination.

Second came the long-range combat school combining Bonefire and the Hawk-Headed Demon. The synergy of attack power and perception made this the preferred choice for beginners with the Hawk-Headed Demon, delivering strong combat effectiveness.

Third was the Black-Scaled Serpent paired with the Malevolent Fury Axe. The physical attacks of the Black-Scaled Serpent, combined with the Malevolent Fury Axe’s power attributes and damage amplification, significantly boosted combat strength.

Yet most players still switched forms during battle. Very few chose to remain in their human form for extended periods to fully utilize fusion abilities.

As for the Gargoyle Form, suitable Stellar Vein schools hadn’t been developed yet. Most players instead selected one of the five Spiritforged Weapons from Li Tie’s collection as their secondary form. The most popular combination was the Gargoyle paired with the Soul-Stealing Spear.

While Gargoyles lacked high damage output, their defense was formidable. Combined with the Soul-Stealing Spear’s spiritual impact on attacks, this focused on damage-over-time effects.

Some players abandoned specific schools altogether, opting instead to focus solely on leveling up their initial monster form.

These players argued that the more Stellar Vein inlays they added, the more evolution points they’d need to invest. Why not focus entirely on one form?

For example, some players aimed to evolve their Black-Scaled Serpent into a 100-level sky-spanning serpent or develop their Hawk-Headed Demon into a Great Peng Bird.

Practical results showed that focusing on the initial form could also yield impressive combat strength. This approach humorously became known as the “Monster School.”

Each player had different ideas. The development of combat systems was already showing diverse tendencies toward distinct schools.

The battle lasted half an hour.

The Liver Emperor Group, Banquet Drunk Squad, and Toddler Team managed to repel the Iron Shellworm swarm, though at the cost of losing over half their members.

Besides gaining large amounts of evolution points that allowed many to level up their monster forms, the battlefield was littered with valuable carapaces.

According to the Guide’s analysis, these carapaces were classified as Grade 1 Spirit Materials. They could be offered to Imperial Omen for additional Sacrificial Power rewards.

How to distribute the loot? The chaos of battle made it impossible to track individual contributions. In the end, they opted for equal distribution—entrusting all carapaces to Banquet Drunk Squad for offering, then splitting the resulting Sacrificial Power rewards equally among each team’s leaders, who would then distribute them internally.

As players divided their gains, an unexpected crisis struck.

Suddenly, a player with the Vengeful Howl perception ability activated in the team shouted a warning:

“Big trouble! The Dungeonkin are back!”

At these words, everyone swiftly tossed their carapaces into their spatial pouches and sprinted toward the cave exit.

The Dungeonkin warrior had reached Level 19 in hunting power, accompanied by a large swarm of Iron Shellworms. With their current strength, they stood no chance at all.

Death itself wasn’t terrifying, but dying would cost them 10 Sacrificial Power points and trigger a one-hour respawn cooldown.

As they fled, the regional voice chat buzzed with chaotic banter:

“Gargoyle teammates have high defense—let them hold the rear and cover us first!”

“Who decided Gargoyles should always sacrifice themselves?”

“I’m about to be caught! Why are you guys running so fast? Wait for me!”

“You think Hawk-Headed Demons have short legs, so you leave me behind? We were supposed to be a team!”

…

Amid the tense escape, no one cared about their teammates anymore. Everyone poured their energy into sprinting toward the cave mouth.

During the chaos, several players at the rear were ensnared by threads shot from Iron Shellworms. As they were dragged backward, their screams only made those ahead run faster.

Once they finally escaped the caverns, the group faced a critical question:

Should they unite and kill the Dungeonkin warrior?

The Dungeonkin’s presence had become a constant threat, hindering their mining and leveling activities in Gloomspire Caverns.

Unless eliminated, they’d always need to be ready to flee.

Better to cut the roots and eliminate the danger completely.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end