Imperial Tomb Village, Primordial Altar.
Qi Sheng’s consciousness, guided by the Guidance, traveled through the continuous volcanoes, following the departing Evil Spirit Warrior to the northern region of Emperor Tomb Mountain Range.
Only to see the Evil Spirit Warrior stagger onto the platform at the top of the Tower, at this moment, dark red eyes extend several black tentacles that pierce into the body of the Evil Spirit Warrior, and its wounds begin to heal at a visibly fast rate.
"It seems this journey is not going smoothly." A crack opened in the dark red eyes and a hoarse voice came from within.
"I didn’t lose." Hearing the slightly mocking words of the eyes, Earth Thought said solemnly.
"Winning or losing isn’t important, I can still sense the presence of the Reverse Tide Army Soldier, he’s not dead."
"I know, he’s stronger than I imagined, but if there weren’t a group of rule-controlling creatures blocking, I could definitely kill him."
"Rule-controlling creatures? During your battle, I didn’t sense any other life forms."
"A group of physically weak mysterious creatures, they can make me temporarily fall into a state controlled by rage through some unknown method, indiscriminately lashing out at them involuntarily."
Upon hearing this, the dark red eyes paused briefly before speaking:
"You must have encountered a Primordial Monster, a very special creature, according to intelligence shared from other Nodes, it’s very likely they are evolutions of the innate power of Emperor Zhao, the creator of this world. All Primordial Monsters are manifestations of rule power, they cannot truly be killed; even if they die, they will be reborn somewhere in this world in the future."
"So that’s how it is, but aside from using rule power, these Primordial Monsters don’t seem very strong."
"You’re mistaken, never underestimate the power of this world. According to intelligence from other Nodes, there’s a massive disparity in strength amongst Primordial Monsters; powerful ones can even kill our tribe’s Commander-Level, even King-Level warriors."
"King-Level?" Startled by the explanation of the dark red eyes, Earth Thought exclaimed.
"The Dungeon World you once assisted in conquering is just a low-capability world, nowhere comparable to the world beneath our feet. By my judgement, your strength in this world would only be categorized as middle to low, even possibly lower; never overestimate your power, you’re young, but too arrogant, this world might just be where your growth ends."
"What do you mean?" Earth Thought asked coldly.
"My tribe has already lost countless Commander-Level warriors attempting to conquer this world, and you’re very likely to be one of them... but as your strategic eye, I hope to see you grow to become a Commander-Level, even a King-Level warrior of our tribe."
At this moment, Earth Thought took a deep breath:
"There’s an Infinite source of power below the Tower, next I’ll draw its energy to create warriors for you, assisting you in conquering nearby Node Domains, be patient until then."
As the voice fell, the dark red eyes blinked.
Instantly, surging black gas spread upwards from the base of the Tower, immediately igniting it with black flames. A large amount of black gas converged and compressed at the furnace at the center of the Tower, rapidly forming a fierce and terrifying Evil Life, which dropped from mid-air like dumplings.
At this time, Qi Sheng’s consciousness followed the Guidance down beneath the Tower.
Through their conversation, Qi Sheng realized that this Tower was built on top of a Domain Node.
What intrigued him was, what are the characteristics of this Domain Node?
Although the intelligent Evil Spirit could use the energy of the Domain Node, it couldn’t use the Domain Characteristics.
He was more concerned about the powerful Domain Characteristics.
For example, the "Blood and Flesh Reshaping" characteristic of the Imperial Tomb Village was key to the player recruitment plan.
The consciousness sank into the earth, activating the Guidance’s analysis ability.
A flood of data poured into Qi Sheng’s mind, eventually translated into text he could understand.
[Domain Node: Sky Abyss]
Territory Type: Rule Type
Territory Characteristics: Universal Forge
Characteristics Introduction: Melting the same attribute abilities, causing the effects of abilities to undergo wondrous transformations.
Domain State: Black Tide Occupation
From analyzing the information alone, Qi Sheng could not comprehend what the effects of this Domain Node Characteristic were; the specifics would have to wait until integration with Imperial Tomb Village.
What concerned him was that this Domain Node was a Rule Domain.
Compared to resource domains like the Dark Cave, the effect of a Rule Node was much more powerful.
[Big Boss, you’re coveting it.]
"Nonsense, I must take down this Rule Node."
[It’s a pity your true body cannot move freely; every second outside consumes a vast amount of sacrificial power. You’ll have to wait until players are strong enough to take this place.]
"Although I can’t take it down for now, it’s time to take back the Domain Node of the Dark Cave... Let’s go back."
As Qi Sheng’s voice fell, the Guidance drew his consciousness towards the direction of Imperial Tomb Village.
The moment his consciousness returned to his body, Qi Sheng broadcasted a message to all players:
[Challenger Tips (All Players): The first battle of players against intelligent Evil Spirit Life triggers a global hidden task: Purify the Node.]
Task Description: Go to level five underground of the Dark Cave, purify the Domain Node Crystal corroded by Black Tide Energy (shatter it).
Task Reward 1: Expand the area of Imperial Tomb Village, connecting with the Dark Cave directly, allowing players to enter the Dark Cave through Imperial Tomb Village to mine Spiritual Ore Resources.
Task Reward 2: Players participating in the purification of the Node Crystal gain substantial Contribution rewards (Star Vein access permission, Body Refining Level increase, sacrificial power reward)
Note: Contribution value for this purification node task will be determined through killing monsters, damaging the corrupted crystal, and other related actions. Rewards will be distributed based on contribution values after the task concludes.
The emergence of the global task immediately captured the attention of all players.
The forum was buzzing with heated discussions about the global task.
Realizing the lucrative potential of the global task released, various guilds began organizing members, everyone wanting to earn hefty profits through this task.
Solo players were no exception; the reward of direct access from Imperial Tomb Village to the Dark Cave held significant allure for them.
Normally, to mine, players would have to depart from Imperial Tomb Village and walk for about an hour to enter the mine. If unlucky and surrounded by Iron Shell Bugs leading to death, logging into the game again would require another hour’s travel, surely a frustrating ordeal.
Qi Sheng was aware of this issue as well.
Other games would use teleportation and other features to resolve the problem of time-consuming travel.
However, he could not do the same.
Teleportation Arrays weren’t just built for unlimited use; keeping them active constantly consumes sacrificial power every second, and he would only consider offering a paid teleportation service when the number of players was sufficiently large.
But if players could complete the global task he released, thereafter, there would be a direct and quick pathway from Imperial Tomb Village to the Dark Cave, saving a great deal of travel time.
Half an hour after releasing the global task.
Players scattered across various areas of the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range began heading towards the Dark Cave located on the Blood-Colored Plain.