Chapter 53: Explosive Tactics

Chapter 53: Explosive Tactics

Lu Xing’s confrontation with the Mirage Butterfly ended temporarily when he chose to retreat.

But just because Lu Xing gave up didn’t mean other players were ready to.

Countless players desperate to obtain the Gale Command Life Soul opted to hunt the Mirage Butterfly through alternative methods. Teams experimented with solo challenges, bait traps, and environmental ambushes. However, unlike mindless Primordial Monsters like Bonefire, the Mirage Butterfly was highly intelligent—it remained constantly vigilant, inspecting its surroundings thoroughly even after temporarily leaving its bush hideout. Any environmental changes would send it fleeing immediately.

These repeated attempts by player groups all ended in failure.

Eventually, they resorted to visiting Lu Xing’s live stream, pleading with him to reignite his fighting spirit and challenge the Mirage Butterfly again.

But after repeated beatdowns, Lu Xing had learned his lesson.

To him, the spectators in his stream were just hype-men offering no viable strategies to defeat the Mirage Butterfly—only urging him to throw himself at it endlessly.

While the stream viewers suffered no consequences from failure, he bore the cost of brutal injuries.

The first half-hour of his stream alone had been enough to shift his perspective.

Lu Xing decided to shelve his plans for world exploration temporarily, focusing instead on boosting his strength. Once powerful enough, he’d challenge the Mirage Butterfly again.

This wasn’t just about revenge—the stronger he became, the safer his future travels would be. Who knew what other bizarre monsters like the Mirage Butterfly lurked along the journey?

As Lu Xing resolved to grow stronger, the Gloomspire Caverns purification campaign reached the underground palace.

Players believed victory was in sight when the Guide revealed the corruption core lay behind the palace—destroying it would complete the purification.

But then came the unexpected.

The corruption core, sensing its impending doom, activated the black-armored soldiers stationed before the palace, unleashing a massacre on the players.

Each black-armored soldier had once been a warrior following the Ice Blade faction. Though their bodies were now decayed from exhausting their Vital Qi in life, the Black Tide Energy had transformed them into Cursed Soldiers (Malevolent Entities) with an average Hunting Level of 25+.

The players, averaging only Level 10, were utterly outmatched. The battle became a one-sided slaughter.

After being wiped out repeatedly, players retreated to forums to devise new strategies.

Among the wild ideas proposed, one stood out, sparking intense discussion:

"How to Eliminate the Black Armored Soldiers Before the Underground Palace: A Reliable Plan"
Poster: Weapon Master

Content:

I’m a member of the Endtimes Tech Guild and have participated in the entire Gloomspire Caverns campaign. Fighting alongside everyone has reignited my passion—longest time I’ve felt this alive!

Getting to the point:

Our current strength simply isn’t enough to defeat these soldiers. The power gap has turned our coalition efforts into repeated failures.

I’ve browsed the forums—most proposed tactics are unreliable. The only feasible one seems to be attrition: grinding them down through repeated deaths and respawns. But that’s painfully slow.

So I’ve developed an enhanced attrition strategy—introducing my custom-crafted weapon (see attached diagrams).

Psi-Blast Charges
Item Quality: Level 10
Description: A custom weapon created by "Weapon Master." By altering the internal structure of Spirit Stones to an unstable state, they can be detonated via mental focus, releasing explosive energy bursts.

…

These charges deal massive Aoe damage when triggered.

Attached is a combat video (see video). In the footage, I used just three Psi-Blast Charges to eliminate 8 Bloodfiends within the blast radius.

Thus, my proposal: mass-deploying these charges to wipe out the black-armored soldiers.

The catch? Only players with high Mental Energy—those using Hawk-Headed Demon, Bonefire, or Qi Feeder forms—can trigger the charges via telepathic activation. Other forms lack sufficient psychic strength.

Another hurdle: the charges require immense force to throw. How to deliver them remains unsolved.

My proposed solution? Abandon conventional throwing. Instead, players using Hawk-Headed Demon, Qi Feeder, or Bonefire forms should charge headlong into enemy lines while carrying the charges, detonating them on contact for maximum carnage—even at the cost of self-sacrifice.

Theoretically, this could swiftly eliminate the soldiers, securing our victory over the Gloomspire Caverns Domain Node.

Open to feedback—criticism welcome!

Forum Comments:

Beaverbeats: Dude, aren’t you just asking us to become human bombs? Self-destructing to take out grunts?

Nightfallapproach: Actually solid idea. Worth trying. This purification task rewards contributions—no wasted effort. Even partial damage counts toward rewards. No need to fret about Roi.

Orangeperfume: Classic caster-Life-Soul-saves-the-world scenario. Us magic users always end up carrying the burden (sarcasm face).

Darklandsisfun: Sounds doable. Group rush + suicide bombs. If you don’t kill one, contribute damage. Kill one? Huge Sacrificial Power gains. Feels like power-leveling lottery tickets. Gambler’s paradise.

Wasnibutterfly: Totally viable! Wholeheartedly support. But I suspect OP’s main motive is selling Psi-Blast Charges. Your Endtimes Tech Guild are all crooked merchants. I heard each Spirit Energy Firearm costs 100 Sacrificial Power to make—you’re charging 150? 50% markup.

Weapon Master (OP): Guilty as charged. But since this group effort benefits everyone, I’ll sell the charges at cost +5%.

…

Qin Ye’s proposal ignited a firestorm of discussion. The self-sacrifice tactic gained massive traction—why die pointlessly when you could take enemies down with you? Each explosion became a gamble: land one on a weakened soldier, and the Sacrificial Power and evolution point rewards would be astronomical.

The thread skyrocketed to the top of the forum’s trending list.

Soon, orders flooded in.

The Endtimes Tech Guild’s senior members were recalled by Guild Leader Yang Tianxuan to Dizhong Village, ordered to mass-produce Psi-Blast Charges.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end