Chapter 76: Rebirth and a Billion-Plus Spending

Chapter 76: Rebirth and a Billion-Plus Spending (Monthly Votes Bonus)

"Li Tie, behind you!"

Hearing his old comrade's warning, Li Tie—who was locked in combat with Malevolent Spirits—immediately shifted into his Black-Scaled Serpent Form. Without turning, he lashed his tail backward, sending the incoming Black Tide Malevolent Spirits flying.

Swiftly reverting to human form, he drew a dagger from his spatial pouch, reversed his grip, and stabbed forward. A piercing screech erupted as the worm-like creature before him was impaled, its body collapsing into pools of Obsidian Mist that flowed toward Li Tie and his comrades.

Suddenly, a Black Tide Flea lunged from his flank. Li Tie switched his dagger to Spirit Energy Firearms in an instant, pulling the trigger. The gun's engraved runes flared to life, racing from the base to the barrel.

Boom!

A burst of light erupted from the muzzle. The Black Tide Flea was pierced through the chest, exploding midair.

Three enemies down in a single fluid sequence.

"Kandao, I need healing."

"Got it."

As a swarm of Malevolent Spirits charged, Kandao—a veteran soldier—stepped forward, blocking the onslaught with precise timing while maintaining relentless offensive pressure.

A red potion flew toward Li Tie from a distance. He leaped, caught it mid-air, and gulped the contents down in one swallow. Feeling his strength return, he glanced at the distant figure of his former squad leader—axe raised like a war god, cutting through enemies unchallenged. Envy stirred in his chest.

But the emotion was quickly buried beneath rising adrenaline. Scanning the battlefield, he called out to a nearby ally:

"Shui Wa, 2 o'clock!"

The incoming jet-black figure exploded midair, its Obsidian Mists dispersing among the squad.

With seamless coordination, Li Tie's veteran squad carved through the horde of Malevolent Spirits, their battle frenzy intensifying with every strike.

Watching from the shadows, Qi Sheng observed every move.

Two days earlier, he'd issued 1,227 game invitations, including 27 special slots for Li Tie's old comrades-in-arms. These veterans had proven their worth—

In the past 48 hours, they'd done nothing but two things:

Logging in to follow Li Tie into brutal clashes with Black Tide Malevolent Spirits, their fighting spirit unyielding.

Logging off to swear in chat about Lunar Eclipse Clan's Respawning Cooldown mechanics. When the cooldown ended, the curses stopped as abruptly as they'd started—their return to the battlefield inevitable.

They moved like tireless machines. Except for respawn downtime, they spent every second fighting—or rushing to the next fight.

According to Guide analytics, their growth rate and kill efficiency outpaced ordinary players by over fivefold.

Within two days, they'd mastered a full squad tactic, learned to optimally combine Life Soul abilities, and perfected rapid weapon switching. Their efficiency in exterminating Malevolent Spirits was staggering.

Their addiction stemmed from three factors:

First, the restoration of lost limbs and organs gave them a second life. It was a feeling long forgotten—a childlike joy akin to regaining a cherished toy. This wasn't just physical healing but spiritual rebirth.

Second, battling Malevolent Spirits reignited their camaraderie. The synchronized teamwork brought back memories of their youth, when they'd trained side by side.

Third, the addictive feedback of stat boosts from leveling up.

In reality, these veterans were former gene soldiers—once possessed of extraordinary physical strength. But aging had brought frailty and chronic pain. The game's stat-boosted strength let them reclaim their prime, fueling their desire for further enhancement.

With Li Tie—a living example of transcendent power—leading the way, they all aspired to reach such heights.

Though just a game, they'd resolved to pour their remaining passion into this virtual world until their final days.

"Gamified retirement"—a joke among netizens—had become their heartfelt truth.

Compared to the bleak reality, the game offered them rebirth. Passion, excitement, friendship... all the things they'd lost were returning.

Only one thing truly angered them: the despised game mechanic—Respawning Cooldown.

Returning to reality felt like a torment.

It was like being ripped from a vibrant world and dumped into a gray, lifeless one. This jarring contrast explained why the veteran squad cursed Lunar Eclipse Clan so bitterly in chat.

This grievance wasn't unique to them—hundreds of players vented on forums, calling the cooldown a "scarcity marketing" scam.

Yet Qi Sheng had no plans to address this—for now.

Not because he couldn't, but because fixing it would require extra Sacrificial Power.

The Flesh Reconstruction process relied on the Dizhong Village Domain Node's rules. The base 10-point Sacrificial Power was merely startup energy—the rest of the regeneration was driven by the rules themselves.

Accelerating this process required forcing the rules to work faster, consuming 30 times the normal respawn cost.

In other words, forced revival after death cost 300 Sacrificial Power—and the stronger the player, the higher the cost.

This was an astronomical expense for new players. Qi Sheng refused to let them waste precious early-game resources on cooldown reduction. He wanted their Sacrificial Power spent on power progression instead.

Eventually, when players became strong enough that their hourly Sacrificial Power gains easily offset respawn costs, he might consider opening the "Instant Revive" feature.

Turning his gaze from the veterans' fervor, Qi Sheng observed the newbies' perspectives.

This batch of recruits faced the Black Tide invasion from the start, forcing different growth strategies than earlier players.

Instead of mining, they'd chosen to confront the Black Tide directly.

While veterans carved through enemies like invincible demigods, the newbies adopted a "clean-up" strategy.

The next charge began—roughly 800 players, three-quarters of them veterans.

As the vets surged out of Dizhong Village, shifting into monster forms to clash head-on with the tide, the newbies followed close behind, swarming isolated Malevolent Spirits together.

In the voice channel, chatter exploded:

"Woah, these vets are insane! They're killing Malevolent Spirits like overgrown radishes, but we need six people just to down one. I'm exhausted!"

"Look at them—dozens of meters long, rolling like earthquakes. Me? I'm a pathetic one-meter snake. This size gap's brutal. I need to grow!"

"Bonefire Form looks so cool! I wonder what it feels like to control Inkfire. Can't wait to implant a Bonefire Life Soul."

"Does anyone know which Life Soul grants that purple greatsword? That guy looks like he's firing a machine gun—kill streaks, baby! I'm in love!"

"Why does that old guy next to me always have white mist coming from his mouth? Is he smoking in-game? And heavily at that! What's the deal? Someone explain!"

...

The veterans mostly communicated through guild or squad channels, while local chat overflowed with newbie chatter. Fresh to the game, they marveled at everything.

They gawked at veterans' flashy moves with wide-eyed envy, only to swarm any stray Malevolent Spirits like piranhas.

Most veterans ignored the newbies entirely, focused on grinding enemies.

To the vets, Malevolent Spirits meant Evolution Points, Sacrificial Power, and—ultimately—real-world currency. They reveled in the grind, indifferent to the newcomers' excitement.

Only a few kind-hearted veterans bothered to form parties with newbies, teaching Monster World basics through voice channels while farming.

(Qi Sheng's perspective shifted rapidly between viewpoints when Guide suddenly pinged him. His focus snapped to the player squad near the Spirit Forge Valley.)

Near the battling squad, crimson light coalesced into a glowing orb. The players paused mid-fight as the sphere shimmered and transformed - swirling into a horned, puppy-like creature made of shifting obsidian mist, its eyes glowing like sapphires.

"Yoo~"

The creature's analysis appeared in their vision:

【Shadow Mote (Second-Gen Primordial)】

Hunting Rank: 1

Specialized in creating physical clones (20% strength) via mental energy expenditure. Clone quantity depends on mental stamina.

Guide Supplement: "Congratulations! You've encountered a reborn Primordial - basically winning the lottery!"

The squad needed no further encouragement. Their jungler Huang Feihong hurled a dark fireball that atomized the creature. As the mist got absorbed by Guide's drone, Qi Sheng observed the containment chamber below - the mist reformed, connected to energy tubes that drained its power into the village reservoir.

Global Announcement:

【Challenger Alert】Squad 'Five Elders' contained Shadow Mote! +20,000 Shared Sacrificial Power!

The region chat exploded with envy:

"Why did I choose today to log on? Three hours farming vs their instant 20k... Waaahhhh~"

"1-ranked Primordial? You're telling me they just stumbled upon a respawn? This is why we can't have nice things!"

Qi Sheng chuckled while switching to his Imperial Omen Form - his body wreathed in crimson flames, surrounded by 18 glowing Primordial essence orbs. Testing Shadow Mote's clone ability, he created a perfect duplicate before dismissing it.

Checking the forums, he found Shen Wang's flamboyant recruitment post:

"Reincarnator here! Investing 10 billion in-game to prepare for Black Tide's real-world invasion next year. Seeking level 15+ players for apocalypse survival..."

The comments were gold:

"Ten billion? You'd need a printing press! Bricksquad's already hoarding all the power."

"Bro, if you're serious about buying sacrificial power... I know a guy..."

Qi Sheng shook his head. While Shen Wang was clearly joking, the post contained dangerous truths. In time, sacrificial power would become humanity's last currency as reality collapsed. But for now, he had other concerns - like preparing players for the inevitable.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end