Chapter 86-2: Guide Upgrade System (2) |
The only downside to these combinations was the brutal mental power consumption. In tests, with a 20-meter radius, even a level 15 Qi Eater couldn’t sustain the ability for more than one minute before running completely dry.
Aside from the high energy cost, the performance of the Sluggish soul core was considered nearly perfect in testing.
It even led to the rise of the previously underwhelming Bind soul core.
Bind, which originally could only control a single target, transformed into a wide-area crowd control effect when paired with the Sluggish domain, resulting in a qualitative leap in strength.
However, at present, most players used this combination only in testing.
The Sluggish soul core’s price of 4000 Sacrificial Power, along with its short sustain time, remained a major obstacle.
At least until magic-type soul cores could provide higher mental strength and faster mental recovery, Sluggish couldn’t become widely adopted. Only a small number of solo players without teams were willing to purchase and embed it.
The containment of these three new soul cores also made Mystic Butterfly a hot topic again.
This was directly related to the newly contained soul core Thunderburst.
However, while using this ability, the player’s movement was sluggish, forcing them to rely on rolling to make contact with targets.
The lack of mobility made most players lose interest in the Thunderburst soul core.
Until the player Darkness Approaches posted a new approach on the forum.
His idea: Wind Control (Mystic Butterfly) + Inkflame (Bonefire) + Qi Eater, an initial Star Vein combination that instantly reignited player enthusiasm for Thunderburst.
The demonstration video of this combo stunned the entire playerbase.
Transformed into a lightning sphere, Darkness Approaches flew at high speed through the air thanks to the Wind Control soul core. He then activated the Inkflame trait, instantly becoming a ‘Lightning Fireball.’ As he collided with simulated monsters in the test arena, arcs of lightning enveloped their bodies, followed by roaring black flames. Wherever he passed, swathes of test monsters collapsed.
Darkness Approaches named the build: High-Speed Electric Fireball.
Its super-high mobility, combined with dual-element lightning and fire attacks, plus Qi Eater’s mental power sustain, created a strength that surpassed all existing Star Vein combinations in use.
Many players rushed to try it, and every one who tested it sang its praises.
This Star Vein build completely solved the longstanding mobility issues of magic-type soul cores.
Mystic Butterfly, long forgotten, once again became highly sought after.
Yet the problem remained unsolved.
Unlike other Primordial Monsters contained by players, Mystic Butterfly was extremely cautious and cunning. The slightest disturbance would send it flying high into the air, making ambushes and traps useless for capture.
What drove the players desperate for Wind Control most crazy was that Lu Xing, who carried the hopes of the entire community, simply refused to participate.
He maintained the attitude of ‘I won’t descend the mountain until my divine skills are mastered,’ wandering around solo hunting Evil Entities and monsters, completely ignoring all persuasion attempts from forum players.
Some players even considered finding another weak-willed player like Lu Xing to substitute for the capture.
But the problem was: anyone willing to take part in the hunt would never be timid by nature, and Mystic Butterfly refused to engage with such players.
Perhaps this was exactly why Mystic Butterfly had chosen Lu Xing.
For now, players had no effective way to contain the Wind Control soul core.
Aside from monitoring player progress, Qi Sheng also discovered several potential design issues within the game’s system over these past days.
The most pressing issue was Guide’s Clone coverage range.
In the eyes of players, Guide’s Clone mainly provided target analysis and functional consultation.
But to Qi Sheng, in addition to those, Guide’s Clone also performed spatial teleportation, universal extraction, and purification, three hidden functions.
In terms of spatial teleportation, whether containing Primordial Monsters or handling remote trading, it was Guide’s Clone that executed the transfers.
For universal extraction and purification, when players killed monsters or Evil Entities (disrupting the target’s stable life structure), Guide’s Clone activated universal extraction, drawing blood, flesh, and energy from the slain creature. After purification and transformation, this was injected into the player’s body, while 30% was automatically transmitted back to Emperor’s Mound Village.
Though the Guide Clone’s processing system was controlled by Guide itself, it functioned more like a branch node of the Challenger System, integrating many different systems.
Qi Sheng frequently used not only the player’s personal viewpoint but also the Guide Clone’s perspective to monitor player activity.
In this sense, Guide’s Clone was a critical link connecting the Challenger System and the players.
However, the Guide Clone’s strength was now becoming mismatched with the players’ growth.
Created together with players’ physical forms, the Guide Clone’s extraction radius was roughly 150 meters, as was its analysis range.
Currently, players following magic-type Star Vein builds were rapidly improving in power, with increasingly wide attack ranges.
Especially the Owl-Headed Fiend + Bonefire long-range perception strike build.
The highest-level players in this build could now strike targets 200 meters away using perception mode.
This created an awkward problem.
Targets were being killed, but the universal extraction ability couldn’t reach the corpses. Players had to physically enter range before receiving the kill notification and rewards.
Clearly, this problem needed to be resolved quickly.
As players’ levels continued to rise, the range and area of their attacks would keep expanding.
The forum’s hypothetical ‘Meteor Fire Rain’ wide-area bombardment could fully become reality.
If Guide’s Clone couldn’t keep up, it would seriously impact player growth efficiency.
Fortunately, Qi Sheng had already thought of a solution to this problem.
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