Chapter 74-2: Flaws in the Soul Growth System (2) |
According to Guide’s report, the Dinian Evil Spirit had already depleted the reserve energy of the Abyss of Heaven Territory Node. But in order to occupy the Territory Node in Emperor’s Mound Mountain Range, it was now borrowing energy from other Black Tide nodes to create more Evil Entities, which, in Qi Sheng’s eyes, was no different from borrowing money to fund the power-ups of his army.
Forget calling it a disaster, this was a true God of Wealth.
[After living so long on meager sacrificial power, it feels amazing to suddenly get rich.]
The water sphere Guide floating beside Qi Sheng displayed a joyful expression, then continued.
[Remember how we were nearly bankrupt and waiting for death before recruiting players? Now that we finally have hope for the future, it feels like heaven.]
Guide’s sentiment filled Qi Sheng’s heart with emotion as well.
Before finding Earth, he and Yan Ming had wandered through countless broken and collapsing worlds, watching their remaining sacrificial power grow ever smaller, nearly insufficient to keep them hidden and independent within Emperor’s Mound Village in Monster World. They had even prepared themselves for death when Emperor’s Mound Village’s barrier would eventually collapse.
Back then, Yan Ming had even suggested draining the village’s last reserves of sacrificial power and charging out to fight until death, saying he’d rather die in battle than wait passively for death.
Fortunately, Qi Sheng stopped him and chose instead to use their last bit of sacrificial power to continue searching for an unbroken world.
That moment filled his heart with overwhelming joy, a feeling he still remembered vividly to this day.
Guide’s emotion perfectly mirrored his own thoughts.
The player army had proven that his original plan was not wrong.
Although the player army was currently only fighting against the Black Tide’s weakest low-tide forces and still far from being able to challenge the Black Tide’s main force, their growth potential was already clearly on display in this battle.
Watching the player army grow rapidly felt strangely wonderful.
It was like watching children he had created slowly mature, filling him with both joy and satisfaction.
Thanks to the players’ help, his Emperor’s Sign body had now contained 17 types of Primordial Power, making him several times stronger than before the recruitment plan began.
The most noticeable feature was that whenever he switched to his Emperor’s Sign form, the crimson flames burning on his body had grown deeper and more intense in color.
Just as Guide said, everything was developing in a positive direction, what was once a dead end had now opened into a bright new path.
Without thinking much further, he shifted his perspective into the player viewpoint, scanning through various player perspectives and the latest updates on the forum.
At that moment, one particular post caught his attention.
[Brand New Sustain Build, Qi Eater Dual Star Vein Combo, Test Tower Simulation Demonstration]
Streamer: Steel Arm
Content:
We’ve been farming the Black Tide like crazy lately, but I’ve also discovered a problem: there’s a special Evil Entity in the Black Tide called Shadow Leech. I’ve attached a screenshot of its analysis info.
(Attachment: Analysis Information)
The attached image showed the monster’s form, like a shadow gliding close to the ground, with no distinct shape.
[Shadow Leech (Evil Entity)]
Hunt Level: 5
Target Description: A low-level Evil Entity spawned from the Black Tide. Immune to low-intensity physical damage. Can inflict continuous damage through parasitic attachment.
—
Everyone must’ve encountered this monster before. It’s easily one of the most troublesome enemies in the Black Tide.
Once latched on, you can’t shake it off and just have to endure the mounting damage. I’ve seen many people die from Shadow Leech parasites.
From the description about low-difficulty physical damage, my understanding is that you can’t kill it in one hit. Even if you slice it in half, it quickly regenerates. That’s exactly what happens, I’ve smashed a Shadow Leech multiple times, but it keeps healing. Only energy and elemental attacks can deal real damage to it.
This issue has been driving me nuts. I’ve been a melee player my entire gaming life and never liked ranged mage type classes.
In this game too, I started with the Black-Scaled Serpent, paired with the Shatter Blade Soul, both melee Souls.
When facing this kind of disgusting monster, I was completely helpless.
To solve this problem, I thought of using the Test Tower to run simulations and find a solution.
And sure enough, I managed to create the current optimal solution out of the 17 available Soul combinations.
Enough talk, here’s the demonstration video.
(Attachment: Demonstration Video)
Qi Sheng tapped on the video, and a virtual scene immediately appeared in his mind.
The player ‘Steel Arm’ first displayed his four Soul setup: Shatter Blade, Force Savage Axe, Bonefire, and Qi Eater.
Then, Steel Arm began explaining the characteristics of this Star Vein combination in the demonstration.
“Star Vein embedment display complete. Now I’ll explain the combat strategy behind this Star Vein combo.”
“Considering that some Evil Entities and monsters can only be truly damaged by energy and elemental-type Souls, I wondered if melee could also gain elemental damage and become a hybrid of magic and martial arts.”
As he spoke, Steel Arm waved both hands, and two spirit weapons floated at his sides.
In his left hand was the Shatter Blade; in his right hand, the Force Savage Axe. He grasped both firmly.
At this moment, the Bonefire Soul activated, and inky black flames quickly spread from his body to the weapons, wrapping both spirit weapons in burning flames.
“Some of you might be wondering why I’m dual-wielding. Spirit weapons can fully fuse and allow you to freely switch between forms. For example, my Shatter Blade and Force Savage Axe can fuse into a hybrid weapon, letting me freely choose between blade or axe form. The fusion gives both the Shatter effect and boosted damage output.”
“But there’s an issue of attack frequency. As a veteran melee player, dual-wielding significantly boosts my attack speed. Once you get the hang of it, it’s really effective. Left hand for breaking defense, right hand for critical hits, very powerful in actual combat.”
“Plus, with Bonefire’s Inkflame enchantment, my physical attacks carry elemental damage as well.”
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