https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-512-Throngs-of-People-The-Demon-King-s-Arrival-/13011185/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-514-The-Wind-Heart-Stands-Tall-The-Dragon-Pattern-Bamboo-s-Anomaly-/13011187/
Chapter 513: On Fire! The Thrilling Heart of Souls!
Chapter 513: On Fire! The Thrilling Heart of Souls!
The pungent smell of blood permeated the air, as if an eerie wind was blowing through the very marrow of one's bones.
An indescribable mental oppression weighed down on Yin Yin, causing her to struggle to breathe for the first time in her life.
This mental pressure wasn't just a game mechanic preventing her from summoning her beasts; it was a tangible force that made it impossible for her to do so.
The oppressive force prevented her from connecting to her beast space and summoning her pets, which, though weak in combat, would have provided some psychological comfort.
But now, she had nothing.
In this dimly lit train, which seemed to never stop moving, Yin Yin felt like she was on the brink of death, suffocating.
The constant creaking of the train doors and the ever-present sense of danger, even though she had only been on the train for a few minutes and hadn't faced any real challenges, were enough to push her already fragile psyche to the brink of collapse.
This was the unique aspect of the Heart of Souls.
In this extraordinary world, it was difficult, if not impossible, to scare a beastmaster using ghosts or other such creatures.
On Blue Star, the undead were not uncommon.
Out of every hundred beastmasters, there were at least six or seven who specialized in undead beasts.
While undead beasts had unique combat abilities, their mere existence was not enough to scare beastmasters.
But the Heart of Souls was different.
All the undead beasts within were merely tools and mediums; even if they weren't undead, swapping them for jungle predators or insect-type beasts would have the same fundamental effect.
The true specialty of the Heart of Souls was its use of the power of the netherworld to oppress the spirits of beastmasters, and in certain situations, to provide psychological suggestions.
Even though Blue Star was a world primarily inhabited by beastmasters, there were still some useful unorthodox methods.
Recently, the Heart of Souls had spent a significant amount of money, and during the professional assessment, when Su Ping went to the imperial capital, he personally witnessed several beast bases, including the Ghost Dragon Breeding Base and a few others that primarily focused on undead beasts. He recognized the importance of talent in this field.
Through various channels, they had hired several experts in this area.
And undoubtedly, this money was well spent.
Yin Yin's performance at this moment was proof of that.
On this bloody train, there didn't seem to be any deadly traps or scenarios where a single encounter with a ghost would result in an instant death notification, draining the player's funds.
However, Yin Yin felt that it would be better to just die.
The situation before her created a complex psychological conflict, making her want to continue but also fear doing so.
The human mind is indeed fascinating.
When faced with fear or the emotion of 'terror', humans often find themselves drawn towards the very source of their fear.
And eventually, the outcome aligned with Yin Yin's desires.
After Yin Yin's relentless determination to die, she opened the train's bathroom and washed her face.
As the faucet flowed with a liquid resembling blood, a phantom shadow appeared, and the strongest ghost pet in the Heart of Souls scenario, the Red-Eyed Wraith, emerged.
Instant death and elimination were triggered.
Yin Yin, not only did she fail to clear the Heart of Souls, but she didn't even understand the first stage's vessels and was directly eliminated.
However, there were far too many players like Yin Yin.
Most players were ordinary people, and the Heart of Souls was a delicate balance of calculated risks. Many times, it required multiple attempts, and unless one was extremely cautious, they might not discover the hints, leading to inevitable death and elimination.
This difficulty level met Su Ping's expectations.
It shouldn't be too challenging, but it also shouldn't be too easy.
The Heart of Souls didn't aim to make a fortune from this aspect, but it couldn't afford to lose money either. It wasn't a charity, after all.
However, Su Ping was no longer interested in these matters.
He turned his head.
Bai Cang had returned to his side, though it was unclear when.
Su Ping opened his mouth and asked, "How is this kind of Yin-class scene setup achieved?"
The previous Yin-class 'Land of Sighs' probably couldn't achieve this effect, right?
Hearing the question, Bai Cang quickly replied, "It was a teacher named Lu Cheng that we hired before. He doesn't have a high realm, but he is highly accomplished in this field and has a certain level of expertise in energy studies related to the undead."
What you see is Lu Teacher using a special elite-class pet, 'Fearful Little Ghost,' to maintain the energy input in the Land of Sighs, which creates this effect in the Yin-class area.
To maintain this effect, twenty Fearful Little Ghosts are needed to take shifts, which is quite an investment. But judging by the results, it seems worth it."
"Fearful Little Ghost?"
Su Ping raised an eyebrow, thinking the same thing—there were too many pets in this world for him to know them all.
As for the undead, he was only familiar with a few.
The higher-level ones were a bit better, but there were too many low-level pets, and the various evolutionary branches were a mess.
The Fearful Little Ghost was one such example.
"That's right, the Fearful Little Ghost. It's a unique pet from the Cherry Country and the Southeast Islands. Although the Dragon Nation has imported some, the numbers are not high. However, for the Heart of All Spirits, obtaining one isn't a difficult task."
Bai Cang spoke with a sense of pride.
But soon, he understood Su Ping's intention, having spent some time with him and becoming familiar with his thought processes. He quickly replied, "The Fearful Little Ghost is a spiritual undead pet with only an elite rank. It's a corporeal undead pet with very weak primary abilities, capable only of generating fear energy without any substantial killing power. Its potential is low, so over the years, no beastmaster has conducted in-depth research on it."
Su Ping nodded slightly, narrowing his eyes.
Back when he was in the imperial capital, while researching the Dream Entry skill, he had thought about the various extensions of dreams.
The dream entry's spiritual frequency and the terrifying skill of killing in the dream realm, which could be fed back into reality.
At that time, one of the answers Su Ping obtained was to rely on the power of fear.
However, many of these ideas were just that—ideas. Without substantial progress, they weren't very meaningful. Even after spending so much time on dream entry, there's been no improvement. What more can be said?"
Now, this so-called Fearful Little Ghost had awakened Su Ping's memories in this regard.
After Old Liu finishes his recent tasks and the Dream Butterfly's breeding reaches a certain level, Su Ping can also put some effort into this aspect.
Of course, the immediate priority wasn't the Dream Butterfly. Su Ping prepared briefly before proceeding with Qianyi's breeding.
Qianyi was stuck at the racial limit and couldn't advance much further.
Although the little guy's combat power was still invincible, the realm was the biggest gap and hindrance, as he was about to fall further behind Xiao Qing.
The little guy was anxious, and Su Ping knew it.
Moreover, there was another point: Su Ping's realm had advanced too rapidly.
The restrictions of Heaven's Tomb prevented entry beyond the Sovereign rank.
Although the Heaven's Tomb mark couldn't currently cause him any significant harm, he really wanted to see what Charles and Heaven's Tomb were up to.
Furthermore, the Sovereign-rank breeding of the origami person was almost complete.
This work is uploaded by Liu Jiu Book Bar~~
The origami person, a special beastmaster of Heaven's Tomb, would likely return to Northern Origin Province after completing Qianyi's breeding and helping him develop the Circumterrestrial Five Elements Body.
However, Su Ping hadn't been in contact with Northern Origin recently. It was said that the undead beast tide there had lasted for over a month without any signs of stopping.
Thinking of this, Su Ping shook his head. For now, the evolution of ordinary origami people had a solution, and although Qianyi was special, Su Ping could also make some inferences based on this.
He still had some confidence.
After all, Qianyi's potential was enormous.
With this in mind, Su Ping stood up and said, "That's enough. Watch carefully, and pay attention to the most important thing: control these undead pets and ensure there are no accidents regarding personal safety! The medical team should be ready at all times."
"Rest assured, the player's wristwatch contains the howling simulation of the Shadow Charm Spirit as a trump card. It will automatically activate in case of danger."
Su Ping nodded and turned to leave.
The Soul Core ignited a fervor not only in Jianghai but also in the surrounding provinces, as the discussion intensified and bits of information leaked out. The luxurious rewards, most importantly, attracted the attention of many young Beastmasters, even from nearby provinces.
However, the number of people who could actually make the trip was limited.
In the world of Blue Star, airplanes were a genuine luxury mode of transportation, and not many could afford to fly to Jianghai across provinces just to experience the Soul Core, so the number of visitors remained relatively small.
But in Linzhou, especially at the newly opened Jianghai Academy, the Soul Core sparked an immense craze.
This was particularly true for the Necromancy Division.
Within just a few days, Su Ping received multiple complaints from Qin Erlong.
The Dean of the Necromancy Division had sent in reports, stating that many students were skipping classes and secret realm training sessions to discuss clues and explore the Soul Core.
Moreover, during class, many students were preoccupied with discussing various leads and theories.
As soon as they had free time, these Necromancy Division students would rush to the Soul Core.
Was this even appropriate student behavior? Su Ping was at a loss, so he made a phone call and promised to do something about it.
For his first class in the Necromancy Division, he would lecture on some of the division's pet-breeding techniques and the attempts and processes before and after the origami person's evolution.
With this major skill unleashed, the dissatisfied Dean of the Necromancy Division naturally had no objections. Not only did he have no objections, he even posted a message within the division on that very day.
The student who could clear the Soul Core the fastest in the Necromancy Division would receive 300 bonus points as an additional reward!
This message stirred up not only the students of Jianghai Academy but also numerous netizens from other provinces.
Some said that Jianghai Academy was trying to curry favor with the Heart of All Spirits and Su Ping, even going so far as to sell out their own students.
Others claimed that this was a form of teaching through entertainment and that exploring the Soul Core would also benefit the future of Necromancy Division Beastmasters. After all, modern pet breeding shouldn't be confined to traditional methods.
The two sides argued and cursed at each other endlessly.
However, the more they argued and cursed, the more the Soul Core's popularity soared.
Meanwhile, locals in Linzhou largely ignored this online debate.
Nonsense. The current Soul Core represented resources and bonus points, and even those who weren't students of Jianghai Academy were intrigued and eager to solve the Soul Core and uncover its hidden ending within seven days.
Indeed, the news of a hidden ending in the Soul Core was leaked by the 'intern' of the Heart of All Spirits, and it also confirmed that this ending had a hidden reward.
Under these circumstances, the large Soul Core was almost always crowded with visitors day and night.
Within just a few days, the ticket sales reached over 200,000.
Of course, these ticket sales seemed insignificant, even a loss-leader.
But in reality, it wasn't that simple. The Heart of All Spirits had extremely comprehensive facilities, and spending in one area often led to consumption in many others.
Over this period, with the official opening of Jianghai Academy, the number of visitors and consumption, especially in the Cloud Heart, Water Core, and the core Wood Core, have increased several times over within just a few days!"
Moreover, the ticket prices would fluctuate in the future based on the 'plot events' within the Soul Core.
The current situation was just a small taste of what was to come.
However, the commotion outside the Soul Core couldn't disrupt the tranquility of the core breeding chambers within.
The initial design had considered this, ensuring complete isolation between the areas.
Not just the Soul Core, but the entire Heart of All Spirits, was designed this way.
Although Su Ping was within the Heart of All Spirits, the outside commotion and high visitor traffic barely affected his daily life.
As time passed, the exploration of the Soul Core progressed smoothly.
Finally, the first person to clear the Soul Core, who had attracted much attention, appeared.
On the same day, Su Ping received the news and was about to go check it out. It had been a full five days since the first person cleared the Soul Core, and just as he was about to investigate the long-awaited first clear, another matter that had been dragging on for several days finally showed some progress.
It wasn't anything else; Meng Yao's ship, the Breaking Waves, had finally found a suitable distance and a geographically advantageous coordinate on Xi Long Lake to place the Wind Core Island!
(End of Chapter)
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