Chapter 66: Version 1.3 Update

Chapter 66: Version 1.3 Update

Dizhong Village, Primordial Altar.

Qi Sheng stood atop the altar, swiftly sifting through torrents of player data in his mind to identify content and directions for the next update. Guide hovered silently at his side throughout the process.

After days of gameplay, the fourth batch of newcomers had gradually adapted to the challenge level of Last Quarter Moon’s environment. Forum posts left by earlier players had proven invaluable for helping new recruits navigate Monster World.

Notably, exploration specialist Lu Xing’s Monster & Malevolent Spirits Compendium and Spiritual Plant & Spirit Ore Compendium had become essential tools for newcomers. These guides clearly outlined the general distribution of malevolent spirits across the map, along with recommended hunting levels.

This inspired Qi Sheng. He decided to integrate a compendium-style feature directly into the map system, replacing Lu Xing’s rudimentary versions to enhance player exploration. However, Lu Xing’s contributions would be preserved—any future entries on monsters, malevolent spirits, plants, or ores would include a tag like [Discoverer: Xxx], permanently archived in the system.

Additionally, Qi Sheng sought to refine the basic interface. Currently, player attribute panels displayed limited information, leaving many details inaccessible.

Take the first player Li Zheng’s panel as an example:

Challenger Name: Game Bricklayer

- Primary Form: Human

- Body Forge Rank: 3 (Perfectly Inherited Life Soul Attributes: 3)

- Stellar Vein Inlay Level: 4 (Can embed four distinct monster Life Souls)

- Slot 1: Black-Scaled Serpent Life Soul Lv24 (Trait: Venom)

- Slot 2: Malevolent Fury Lv13 (Trait: Brute Force)

- ……

Clicking a Life Soul revealed its specific stats, but the panel didn’t show the final attribute values after Body Forge Rank inheritance. Players had already complained about this on forums, prompting Qi Sheng to add a display of inherited attribute values.

Another planned addition: a hunger gauge. Since Monster World wasn’t just a game but a reality-based recruitment system, players experienced hunger and fatigue, needing to purchase food from the store to replenish energy. While most players relied on physical sensations to gauge hunger, the new feature would provide a visual indicator.

Though seemingly trivial—many players, like those in Bonefire Form, didn’t suffer hunger—the update catered to future players prioritizing human-form exploration with multi-Life Soul builds. Enhancing immersion and convenience justified the change.

Qi Sheng immediately tasked Guide with implementation. Half an hour later, a system-wide prompt echoed in every player’s mind:

Challenger Notification (Global): Version 1.3 update is now live. Key changes include:

Update 1: Added four compendiums (Monsters, Malevolent Spirits, Spiritual Plants, Spirit Ores). Players’ discoveries and analyses will populate these shared databases for instant reference.

Update 2: Maps now feature a Details function. Clicking a region reveals recorded monsters, spirits, plants, and ores, synced in real-time with the compendiums.

Update 3: Added a visible hunger gauge in the primary attribute panel.

Update 4: Displays inherited attribute values from embedded Life Souls in human form.

(Note: This online update requires no downtime.)

As new system runes materialized around Qi Sheng like dancing code, he shifted to a player’s perspective to test the changes.

……

Post-update, the forums buzzed about the map overhaul. The new Details function now showed a small [Information] icon when hovering over regions.

Take the Ancient Battlefield: Focus on it, then mentally click the icon to open a panel showing its terrain and text descriptions. The right side featured compendium categories—clicking Malevolent Spirits might reveal entries like Cursed Soldier (Malevolent Entity), detailing their distribution and average hunt level.

Players universally praised the update. Even habitual critics of Lunar Eclipse Clan begrudgingly admitted the feature improved gameplay—though they still accused the company of "scarcity marketing", arguing free license expansions were the true measure of player care.

Qi Sheng ignored the noise. After all, the hate was directed at Lunar Eclipse Clan, not his Imperial Omen persona.

……

12 hours post-update, Crimson Plains.

After defeating a Wrathclaw, Lu Xing collapsed, gasping for breath. His Hawk-Headed Demon had reached level 15.

Opening his livestream, he scrolled past motivational comments: "You’re so close! Just try again!"

"I’m not going back", he muttered, rejecting repeated requests to challenge the Mirage Butterfly. "I’ll do it at 25. What if it runs? Let it run! That’s still a win!"

A comment caught his eye:

Weaponsmaster: Bro, why grind levels? Just buy Psi-Blast Charges. Bomb the coward the moment it closes distance—easy kill, zero effort.

Lu Xing recognized the suggestion immediately. The commenter was clearly a firearms guild affiliate pushing custom weapons.

But the idea had merit. He’d missed the Gloomspire Caverns finale but watched the forum replay—Psi-Blast Charges had annihilated a 25th-level Obsidian Legionnaire. If explosives could down that tank, the "cowardly butterfly" would be trivial.

Heart racing, Lu Xing grinned. Maybe… it was worth a shot.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end