Chapter 77: Doppelganger Tactics - Black Tide Boost

Chapter 77: Doppelganger Tactics - Black Tide Boost

Primordial Altar.

Qi Sheng scanned the newly launched Auction House interface with his mind, quickly flipping through its features.

The interface he'd designed was visually elegant. At the top ran category tabs - Armaments, Resources (Spirit Plants, Spirit Ore), Rare Life Souls (4-star and above), and Custom Weapons - each with detailed subcategories beneath for easier navigation.

Players needed only brush their consciousness against a category tab for its listings to unfurl horizontally like a scroll.

The central area displayed items using dynamic 3D models that could be rotated and examined freely. To the right sat a streamlined search bar allowing players to input keywords or filter results by price ranges, durability, or premium payment options.

At the bottom continuously scrolled transaction records, updating in real-time.

The left side contained tabs for transaction history and favorites, letting players track price fluctuations for desired items.

Clicking any displayed item revealed detailed descriptions and the seller's notes.

Recently however, many listings featured absurd pricing and hilariously melodramatic descriptions. Sorting by highest price revealed particularly surreal examples:

Pick (Durability: 1)

Seller: Loliwithbiggun

Price: 999,999 Sacrificial Power

Note: 0.01% new. Formerly owned by myself. Indispensable companion in Gloomspire Caverns - bore witness to my tireless toil in perpetual darkness and funded my initial growth. Selling only because I desperately need coin to unlock a Stellar Vein slot.

Ordinary Stone

Seller: Nightowlcultivator

Price: 999,999 Sacrificial Power

Note: This is literally the stone I picked up roadside in Dizhong Village - my very first in-game weapon! Deals tremendous damage. Verified battle record. Sold with heavy heart. Acquisition requires six nines. Paupers need not apply.

Broken Blade (Ruined)

Seller: Anonymous

Price: 999,999 Sacrificial Power

Note: Relic from the Ancient Battlefield! Though fractured, this short sword has survived countless ages. Its scars tell tales of heroic battles - forged in fire alongside a valiant warrior, bearing witness to both glorious victories and lonely vigils. Those nicks mark foes felled in combat, each groove a testament to sacrifice.

The sheath long lost to time, only this lonely fragment remains - like a veteran mourning his fallen comrade. Under moonlight, its broken form still glows faintly, whispering stories of lost glory.

Summary: Found on the Ancient Battlefield. Embodies tragic wartime history. Yours for six nines.

...and countless similar listings filled the Auction House.

These sellers never expected actual sales - the prices exceeded even Qi Sheng's reserves as the game's overseer. Purely attention-grabbing stunts.

Mainstream items stayed below 200 Sacrificial Power though. Endtimes Tech Guild's weaponry in particular saw brisk sales through the new Custom category.

The most dramatic price surge hit Iron Shellworm silk. Initially fetching 50 Sacrificial Power upon Imperial Omen's sacrifice, it now commanded 85 points per unit.

This spike stemmed from fishing specialists' rise - Iron Shellworm silk remained the sole viable fishing line material.

The Auction House's introduction accelerated player progression. The Wanted Listings section especially proved invaluable, letting players post requests like:

- "Buying 500 Sacrificial Power for 10x cash!"

- "Urgently seeking mining guides!"

- "Selling premium leveling services!"

No more spamming regional channels. Everyone found their niche through precise filters.

After five days, Auction House adoption rates soared.

Qi Sheng shifted focus to the community forums, browsing the trending topics.

Top post: "New Life Soul 'Shadowplay' Breaks the Meta - Must-See Combos!"

Poster: Nightfallapproach

Content:

No fluff - straight to the video demo (attached recording)

Qi Sheng clicked the file.

The footage showed Nightfallapproach testing Shadowplay's second-generation Primordial Trait in the training hall. The hour-long video demonstrated four Stellar Vein configurations:

1. Bonefire + Shadowplay + Hawk-Headed Demon + Qi Devourer

This "Doppelganger Fireball Technique" cheated death. Nightfallapproach summoned three Shadowplay clones, each casting Bonefire's Inkfire ability. Combined with the Hawk-Headed Demon's targeting system, both main body and clones delivered devastating long-range bombardment.

Though clone physical stats only reached 30% of the original, their combined firepower created massive output boosts. The downside? Mental Energy drained rapidly during clone deployment, especially with simultaneous Inkfire casts. Even Qi Devourer struggled to offset the energy hemorrhage.

2. Lumenshield + Mana Cagebound + Qi Devourer + Shadowplay ("Mana Shield Variety")

Abandoning offense entirely, this build focused on utility. Players activated clones to apply Lumenshield buffs to allies or create multiple controlling effects. Testing confirmed exceptional support capabilities.

3. Gargoyle + Malevolent Fury Axe + Resistance + Shadowplay ("Multi-Grapple Build")

A melee control specialist. Nightfallapproach demonstrated with three clones each grabbing the test dummy's limbs and torso, then activating Petrification simultaneously. The restrained target froze completely - no escape until all grappled clones fell.

4. Pick + Shadowplay (No Life Soul Equipped)

Testing mining efficiency with three clones. Productivity multiplied exponentially. Higher Shadowplay Life Soul levels allowed more clone control - theoretically enabling solo mining crews.

Comments poured in rapidly:

Darklandsisfun: Night, you're killing me! That last mining build though! Shadowplay's busted. Truly second-generation Primordial material - synergizes with every Stellar Vein style.

Beaverbeats: Hahaha mining crews for days! This is basically OP mining script from the devs.

Drunkhealerxiaoban: Multi-fireballs look epic! Imagine ten clones unleashing meteors - firepower heaven! Shame about the Mental Energy drain. Need that "Hydra" Life Soul in the Test Tower database Asap - restores Mental Energy like crazy.

Iron Hammer: Gargoyle+Shadowplay grapple combos cracked me up! Reminded me of those Black-Scaled Serpent strangle specialists I faced early game.

Explorer: Night, you're the Stellar Vein guru! Been learning so much from your deep dives. (Sent 3 Sacrificial Power as appreciation)

shattered Will: After watching Nightfallapproach's guide video, I was thinking about a weapon stream build for Stellar Vein combinations. By summoning Spiritforged Weapons with both my main body and clones, we could create a combat style where thousands of weapons strike simultaneously. Nightfallapproach, why not test this out in a video and see if it's viable?

Nightfallapproach (OP): Your idea sounds unworkable. When pairing Shadow Echo with any Life Soul, the first thing to consider is Mental Energy sustainability. You chose melee Spiritforged Weapons, which already have weak Mental Energy efficiency. Adding multiple clones and controlling a swarm of weapons would drain your Mental Energy instantly, making sustained combat impossible.

Fiercelittlemonster: That Life Soul combo seems super versatile, but feels exhausting to use. I much prefer Nightfallapproach's original "Shadow Legion" Stellar Vein build—stacking Shadow Summons with various buffs is so satisfying! Best of all, the Shadow Soldiers have an AI system that lets you issue commands for autonomous monster hunting. You can even mentally control them in emergencies. If I had this combo, I'd have four Shadow Soldiers carry me around while the rest stack their buffs and go hunting. I'd just lounge around browsing the forum and watching streams, enjoying occasional Evolution Point and Sacrificial Power notifications popping into my mind. Just imagining it makes me giddy!

Nightfallapproach (OP): Don't daydream. We haven't contained any Life Souls that work with the Shadow Legion build yet. (Weary God of Wealth emoji.jpg)

...

The newly contained second-generation Primordial "Shadow Echo" Life Soul became the star of this wildly creative forum thread.

Nightfallapproach, who posted this guide, was already one of Qi Sheng's key players to monitor.

Every time a new Life Soul got contained, this player would immediately head to the test tower for combination experiments, constantly coming up with fresh ideas that inspired new Life Soul build concepts across the community.

Players like Nightfallapproach played a significant role in advancing the player faction (player faction).

For this reason, Qi Sheng would have Guide create alt accounts to discreetly provide small Sacrificial Power rewards for valuable posts, encouraging innovation within the forum.

After scanning all new forum posts in mere seconds, Qi Sheng shifted attention to player perspectives from the field.

While fighting Black Tide forces over recent days, Qi Sheng noticed significant changes in their strength.

During the initial outbreak phase led by Di Nian's Malevolent Spirits, most Black Tide Malevolent Spirits were 1-3 life strength levels, with Guide calculating an average level 2.

For veteran players, battling Black Tide was pure grass-mowing mode.

Even newcomers could hold their own against early Black Tide forces, easily dominating them after leveling up—Black Tide's only real threat came from overwhelming numbers.

After six days of development, Black Tide had significantly strengthened by consuming spirit plants and monsters from the Dizhong Mountain Range.

Most notably, one day earlier, Black Tide successfully captured the "Yuntian" Domain Node deep in Gray Mist Forest, causing their strength to surge dramatically.

The energy stored in Corrosion Cores got completely absorbed by Black Tide, raising the average hunting level of Black Tide's Malevolent Spirits from 2 to 4.

This adaptability was one of Black Tide's most terrifying characteristics.

In a world bathed in the Malevolent Moon's glow, Corrosion Cores would naturally form in energy-rich regions, especially around Domain Nodes.

These Corrosion Cores possessed limited intelligence, attacking any lifeforms approaching them.

Yet they didn't resist Black Tide energy.

Through Guide's feedback footage, Qi Sheng witnessed how Corrosion Cores deep within Gray Mist Forest actively dismantled their defenses upon encountering Black Tide, merging with it to become part of its energy supply system.

While player factions needed to fight tooth and nail to capture Domain Nodes, Black Tide could simply "face-scan authenticate" to directly access stored energy reserves.

In many ways, Corrosion Cores existed solely to await Black Tide's arrival and become absorbed.

This was why Black Tide's strength could rise so rapidly.

Currently, Black Tide's newly evolved Malevolent Spirits had three distinct forms.

According to Guide's Compendium, Qi Sheng obtained detailed information about these new threats:

[Corrupted Fangroot (Black Tide Malevolent Spirit)]:

Hunting Level: 5

Description: A sinister vine mass covered in spiked tendrils with extraordinary regenerative capabilities. It rapidly recovers from injuries by extending mist-form vine tendrils to entangle targets in mana-cage bonds, releasing toxic Black Tide spores that weaken opponents and induce comatose states.

[Ghost Doll (Black Tide Malevolent Spirit)]:

Hunting Level: 7

Description: An extremely fast-attacking, high-mobility Black Tide entity. Explodes upon death, dealing corrosive damage to nearby enemies.

[Mist Serpent (Black Tide Malevolent Spirit)]:

Hunting Level: 5

Description: A lower-tier Black Tide assassin unit with a unique body structure allowing free movement through mist. Difficult to detect, it can spray toxic fog to attack targets, causing continuous paralysis that slows movement efficiency.

...

These new Black Tide variants were far stronger than earlier Black Tide Maggots, Black Tide Hounds, and Black Tide Fleas.

The first generation of Black Tide creatures lacked combat skills, relying solely on biting attacks with minimal threat to players.

But these new lower-tier Black Tide entities all possessed offensive abilities.

Particularly concerning was Ghost Doll at Hunting Level 7—it moved like an unstable bomb on the battlefield, exploding whenever its structural integrity was compromised.

Many players got caught unprepared, dying to Ghost Doll explosions and entering Death Cooldown periods.

What had started as a Dynasty Warriors-style slaughterhouse had rapidly evolved into an increasingly challenging battle against Black Tide, though rewards had correspondingly increased.

Through this Black Tide wave, Qi Sheng personally experienced their terrifying growth rate.

No wonder Black Tide could ravage entire Planar Worlds—most realms lacked the power to resist.

You could think of invading Black Tide forces like a single flame entering a forest—it would rapidly consume everything in its path, transforming into a raging inferno that devoured entire worlds.

Unless extinguished immediately, the longer it burned, the more difficult it became to fight.

And this "flame" represented only a microscopic fragment of Black Tide's vast power structure, which could constantly deploy stronger forces.

This explained why even when ordinary worlds achieved temporary victories, they ultimately became Black Tide's nourishment.

Monster World itself was merely one of countless battlefields Black Tide had opened across dimensions. When following Yan Ming between worlds seeking potential recruits, Qi Sheng had witnessed numerous Planar Worlds already corrupted by Black Tide.

This demonstrated Black Tide's horrifying power.

However, Monster World possessed unique advantages compared to other realms.

Both its world structure and combat systems were significantly stronger than those easily devoured worlds.

The fact that Black Tide hadn't fully consumed Monster World yet proved its extraordinary resilience.

Malevolent Eye's conversation with Di Nian's Malevolent Spirits further confirmed this.

Malevolent Eye had once shared intelligence from another node—other nodes' Malevolent Eyes believed Monster World's former world-creator had power rivaling "Our Master's" transcendence.

Here, "Our Master" clearly referred to Black Tide's mysterious controller.

Guide had shared similar observations with Qi Sheng before.

If Imperial Omen hadn't self-dissolved, Monster World's total combat capacity could have directly challenged Black Tide.

This was why the Four Great Retainers refused to give up, hoping to inherit Imperial Omen's Ego Core before fighting Black Tide again.

Qi Sheng didn't dwell on this analysis, instead rapidly shifting focus between different player perspectives, observing their performance battling Black Tide forces.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end