Players from all directions swarmed in, increasing in number.
They surrounded the Evil Spirit Warrior in circles.
While the player possessing the Taunt Soul took turns controlling the Evil Spirit Warrior, the already befuddled Duan Xing was dragged away from the scene by the players’ numerous hands.
Under their escort, they made their way far away.
The rest of the players continued to surge in waves to attack the Evil Spirit Warrior, preventing it from targeting the God of Wealth again.
The analysis panel for the Evil Spirit Warrior was also shared by the players in the regional voice channel during the battle.
[Earth Thought - Evil Spirit (Commander Level)]
Target Analysis: A wise Evil Spirit born from the Black Tide, possessing strong combat consciousness and combat skills.
Despite being weakened, the Evil Spirit Warrior remained unstoppable in the face of the players’ siege.
It could easily kill groups of players with a casual strike, and the players’ onslaught couldn’t even penetrate its surface defense.
The only advantage the players had was their overwhelming numbers, persistently rushing in to provide support from all sides.
"Who else has a Taunt Soul? We might not be able to hold on—this guy can’t be defeated by sheer numbers."
"Brothers with Taunt, type 1 in the regional channel, I’ll pull you into a team. Take turns using Taunt and buy more time for the God of Wealth."
Players with Taunt Soul were ultimately few, and soon a gap in the taunts appeared.
Unexpectedly, the Evil Spirit Warrior did not pursue the direction where the God of Wealth had fled but turned into a streak of black light soaring into the sky, heading north.
With the crisis averted, the players finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that the God of Wealth’s life had been saved.
At this moment, in a corner of the Blood-Colored Plain, Duan Xing remained asleep, his Rune Armor flickering intermittently as if breathing.
Black death qi had spread all over him, and his injuries worsened under further corruption.
In his moment of mortal danger, Duan Xing saw, in a daze, his deceased father.
The man who died for him.
Memories from when he was seven years old flooded in like a tide, filling his childhood with endless pain.
In his memory, the Black Tide seeped into his body through a mark on his left chest, over time permeating and corrupting his heart.
During his last encounter with his father, although his consciousness was blurry, he clearly remembered his father smiling and stroking his head:
"Xing, do you want to have the same great Strength as daddy?"
"I do... With the same great Strength as daddy I can surely overcome corruption... And one day I can join the Reverse Tide Army like you, to become a Glory Warrior."
"I hope you can continue to be strong and persevere on the path ahead."
"Daddy, where are you going?"
"I will not leave. I will always be by your side, witnessing your growth."
At that moment, his consciousness fell into slumber.
When he awoke, his father was gone, and so was the corrupting energy that had infiltrated his body.
The once ailing heart now beat strongly, and when he looked down, he found an Energy Core connected to his heart in his left chest.
At that moment, he understood his father’s choice; this was the eternal companionship and growth witness mentioned by his father.
The decaying and weakening heart he once had was removed, replaced by his father’s robust and strong heart.
Through sacrificial lore, Duan Xing learned that the Energy Core on his left chest was a seal for the powerful heart inside him. His weak body could not handle his father’s heart’s Strength, and the Energy Core was the mechanism controlling the heart’s power, capable of unsealing it by twisting.
When his father’s residual consciousness perfectly interfaced with the heart and Energy Core for the final time, he flashed across his mind:
"With every turn of the Energy Core, your father will be fighting by your side."
Memories surged in Duan Xing’s mind, his body growing increasingly weaker, and the injuries inflicted by the Evil Spirit Warrior continued to deteriorate.
The death qi that seeped into his body caused a rapid decline in his organs, only his heart still roared, hanging on to Duan Xing’s last breath of life.
As his consciousness was about to be submerged, Duan Xing saw his father standing not far away, smiling, and reaching out his hand to him:
"Keep close to my steps."
Holding his father’s hand, Duan Xing walked towards the faint light ahead, and at this moment the surrounding darkness seemed no longer terrifying.
At this time, the players outside the field were incredibly anxious.
Through the feedback analysis from the Guidance, they found that God of Wealth was in a near-death state, and he could explode and die at any moment.
At this moment, many players chose to lend a helping hand.
"I earned 800 sacrificial power from you; consider this 50 sacrificial power Healing Pill as a repayment," said a player with a pained expression as he stuffed a green pill into Duan Xing’s mouth.
"God of Wealth, you can’t die!" exclaimed a player who exchanged for a low-level healing potion worth 10 sacrificial power and poured it over Duan Xing.
"I’m a doctor, let me through, let me take a look at his injuries... I can’t understand them; better to spend money on medicine anyway."
Under the pouring of healing potions and the Indomitable beating of his heart, Duan Xing, who was on the verge of death, was gradually pulled out of the abyss of death.
His injuries began to heal at a pace visible to the naked eye.
Seeing this scene, the players surrounding Duan Xing cheered triumphantly.
"Look at the analysis feedback, the near-death suffix on God of Wealth’s body has changed to weak, we made it!"
"We made it, now run, God of Wealth is going to be furious when he wakes up and definitely do us in. Run for it."
"Run, run, God of Wealth kills without batting an eye; if he sees us here, we’re sure to end up in an hour-long timeout."
Seeing Duan Xing’s injuries gradually healing, the players retreated in succession, not willing to stay any longer.
Although they had a favorable impression of Duan Xing, they were more aware that Duan Xing had no such feelings for them; every encounter with him wielding two big choppers meant death.
Soon after the players scattered, Duan Xing slowly woke up from his coma.
Opening his eyes, he looked down at the Energy Core connected to his heart, then swept his gaze around.
He couldn’t understand why he was here. Where had the Evil Spirit Warrior he was fighting gone?
Confused, he tried to activate the battle information storage function embedded in his Rune Armor, and suddenly, numerous video images flooded into his mind.
He saw the scene where the mysterious creatures he detested to the bone risked their lives to save him when he was about to perish, as well as the image of these mysterious creatures pulling him away from the Evil Spirit Warrior and fighting to the death with the Evil Spirit Warrior to buy him time to retreat.
The last of the battle information images was that of the mysterious creatures treating his injuries.
After watching the video records, Duan Xing’s hatred for these mysterious creatures turned into gratitude.
He didn’t understand why these mysterious creatures did this, but he knew he was alive because of their desperate sacrifice.
All the hatred seemed insignificant in front of this kindness.
Sitting up, he took out a rune imprint the size of a thumb from his arm guard.
"The trial failed, it’s time to go back."
After this battle, his obsession dispersed, and he decided to give up the trial and leave this place.
With the mysterious creatures blocking him, he was unable to collect enough Evil Crystals, and upon encountering them again, he was unwilling to harm these mysterious creatures.
"I will repay your kindness when I am powerful enough."
With those words, Duan Xing flew straight into the sky.
An hour later, Duan Xing appeared before the large crater he had made on arrival, ready to embed the rune imprint into the shuttle to call the Observer to pick him up.
But as he looked down into the pit, he was shocked to discover that the shuttle was gone.
His brows slightly furrowed, he tried to activate the locator system on his Rune Armor but found that he could no longer sense the specific location of the shuttle; he couldn’t even retrieve fragmentary information.
His heart rate suddenly accelerated at this moment, his blood pressure soared, and Duan Xing’s eyes turned completely red.
He thought of a possibility.
The ability to make an object completely disappear... Besides those mysterious creatures, who else could it be.
[Brothers, we struck it rich, I found a machine at the bottom of a big pit, sacrificed it at the altar, and got 38,000 sacrificial power points. It’s so lucrative, it’s almost like winning the lottery. Monster World really is full of opportunities, the Guidance never lies!]