Duan Xing sat on a twisted dead tree, gazing at the distant group of players fighting each other, his heart filled with confusion.
These past days, he had discovered that this group of mysterious creatures possessed the special ability to switch into Monster Forms for combat.
Though their bodies were frail, their abilities were not weak.
But he could never understand the behavioral logic of these mysterious creatures.
Observations revealed that these mysterious beings often gathered together, scouring the hills and fields in search of Evil Spirits and monsters, engaging in mass brawls, extremely aggressive in nature.
But their actions weren’t for territorial disputes or resource competition, nor was hunting monsters for food; it seemed they fought just for the sake of fighting, then left with smiles on their faces.
Today, he observed an even stranger phenomenon.
These mysterious beings had erupted in internal conflict.
To Duan Xing, racial infighting was not an issue, as even within his own Reverse Tide Army, there were ideological differences among various powers.
The problem was that just seconds ago, these mysterious creatures were queuing orderly in front of a cave, chatting and laughing.
For some unknown reason, they suddenly started fighting violently, seeking to kill their own kin.
This behavior of erupting into a death fight over a disagreement filled Duan Xing’s mind with questions.
It was the same with the previous life-saving incident; before this, he had killed thousands of these mysterious creatures who, in theory, should see him as an unforgivable enemy.
But these mysterious creatures desperately rescued him when he was about to be killed, at the cost of many of their own.
Duan Xing couldn’t understand the logic behind this series of actions.
"I don’t understand."
Whispering to himself, Duan Xing looked down at the Rune Imprint in his hand, his expression turning gloomy.
It was fine when coming here, but now he can’t return.
Without a shuttle to assist with sending signals, he had lost his way back and was even unclear about his current location.
Thinking of this, Duan Xing felt a gnashing hatred.
The shuttle was protected by indestructible Rune Armor, theoretically, if it were attacked externally, his Rune Armor would receive the signal and he could quickly rush over.
Moreover, the shuttle also had a tracking feature; even if stolen, he could quickly locate and lock onto its position.
But bizarrely, the shuttle had vanished into thin air without being damaged or moved.
Apart from the deeds of these mysterious beings, he could think of no other possibility.
This was also the reason he had been observing the movements of the mysterious creatures lately, trying to locate the missing shuttle.
"Drunken Group members gather at Imperial Tomb Village, twist off the heads of those bastards from Divine Wings Guild, they must pay for bullying our people."
"Boss, the Working Party has been contacted, they’re on their way, they’ll meet up with us soon and charge together."
"The Child Group has also been informed, they’re waiting on Blood-Colored Plain, we’ll meet them there."
The battle for Soul Crystals continues until now, with both guilds truly at loggerheads, each summoning their forces ready for another fight.
Even Li Tie, who always acted alone, was called back to join the battle.
Led by the Drunken Group, the troops gathered at Imperial Tomb Village and marched mightily towards the Blood-Colored Plain area to start a new round of chaotic conflict.
Aside from the forces from both sides, there were also many spectators among the melee.
They had no connection to the two battling guilds, just there to enjoy the show.
They even started discussing the strengths of both guilds on the forums during this time.
The most heated discussions revolved around Li Tie from the Drunken Group, also known as "Da Tie" who ranks first in Body Refining Level in the game.
Currently, there is no shortage of players who have opened their Second Star Vein, but Li Tie is the only one at Body Refining Level 5, able to inherit all attributes of five Monster Life Souls in human form.
His combat power shone brightly in this melee.
His Battle Axe, fused with five Artifact Spirits, wielded immense power, dominating the battlefield. No player from the Divine Wings Guild could match him.
The bystanders heatedly discussed this.
Endless Night: This guy is really strong. He could easily rank in the top three among all players, maybe even first. The extreme output of the Artifact Spirit Stream is terrifying; it makes me shiver. Literally a kid with each swing, he’s gone berserk.
Dark Lands is really fun: Such ridiculous output, can just say he was lucky, got into the game earlier. The Primordial Monsters near the Imperial Tomb Village were weak in the early stages, and he slaughtered five alone, totally hit the jackpot.
Human Race Ascension: Stop bragging, you wouldn’t have the strength to hunt Primordial Monsters even if you faced them. I’ve seen this guy in other games; he’s a top enforcer of the Drunken Group, extremely fierce, reportedly was part of the real-world war suppressing the Alien Race.
I Won a Prize: His power might be strong in reality and games, but he’s lacking on the forum; the average forum member has 20 Star Veins, 20 Body Refining, and not enough of the 13 Life Souls to even fit (LOL.jpg)
In the midst of the discussions, players became very interested in the Artifact Spirit Stream developed by Li Tie.
This is currently the most destructively powerful close combat Star Vein School among all the existing Life Soul combinations.
His Battle Axe, when striking a target, comes with effects such as armor-piercing, damage amplification, and spiritual shock; its lethality is astonishing.
Under Li Tie’s assault, the Divine Wings Guild faced a one-sided defeat.
The battle continued for over an hour until it culminated with a disastrous defeat for the Divine Wings Guild.
But this didn’t mean that the animosity had disappeared; all the onlookers understood that these two guilds had thoroughly established enmity.
In the future, when players from both sides meet outside, a fight is inevitable.
As the speculating bystanders predicted, members of the Divine Wings Guild gradually logged in an hour later, but they did not initiate revenge right away. Instead, they opted to spam the regional voice channel to buy sacrificial power.
It was clear that they intended to boost their combat capabilities before clashing with the Drunken Guild again.
This action caused the price of sacrificial power to spike again.
The president of the Divine Wings Guild offered a purchase rate of 200:1 for sacrificial power and stated that players willing to sell large quantities could negotiate even higher prices.
This behavior sent the Working Party players into frenzy, as it meant that their real-world earnings from killing the same monsters increased.
Regarding the discord between the two major guilds, the audience expressed their support.
Qi Sheng, who silently observed the confrontation between the two guilds, was naturally aware of what was happening.
Regarding this, he had no intention of intervening.
Before crossing into this world and inheriting the Emperor’s Signal Origin, he too was a passionate gamer, a faithful player.
In the initial creation of the Challenger System, he had pondered over player competition.
In MMORPGs, there are many factors that inspire a desire for power growth among players; player conflict and competition being major ones.
Many games, to force players to spend money, will intentionally designate certain resources that need to be contested to incite conflicts between players.
Some game companies even hire "shills" to stir up trouble or join different in-game guilds, sparking fierce confrontations between players to increase their desire to pay for power.
From a growth perspective, the motivational nature of competition far outweighs the losses from internal friction.
As pressures from external forces like the Black Tide Army loom, players from the same faction will inevitably opt to cooperate.