Chapter 168-1: Player Corridor, Faith Divinity (1) |
While observing, Anshui discovered that this Black Tide force was completely different from the Black Tide force he had encountered before.
First was the troop system being used, all Evil Entity troop types he had never seen.
This was understandable.
According to Anstar’s explanation, the Black Tide possessed countless troop types that could be generated at will.
Each Black Tide force would construct a troop system that could effectively counter its opponent based on the opponent’s situation. Even if inferior in raw strength, it could still form suppression through the troop system.
What puzzled him was the battle mode between the player race and the Black Tide Evil Entities.
The two sides were trading verbal attacks even as they fought, which truly made his jaw drop.
Brutality, evil, devouring, death, destruction. The Black Tide in his impression was like a life eraser standing above all beings. Wherever its gaze fell, all would be destroyed.
Before coming to the Monster World, the war with the Black Tide had left him with deep powerlessness.
Yet this evil calamity in his eyes was hurling insults with the player race, who were as weak as ants.
The feeling it gave him was like a powerful god of destruction descending to the mortal world and trading filthy words with an ant on the ground. He simply could not comprehend it.
The intense sense of disparity even made the scene before him feel unreal.
As he watched, Anshui also discovered that this Black Tide force’s strength was not high, or rather it was still in the initial stage of development.
It was far from reaching the state of the endless Black Tide that Anstar had described.
But this did not mean the Black Tide was weak.
Having personally experienced the Black Tide’s rapid growth from weak to strong, he knew how terrifying its growth potential was.
For other forces, war meant the depletion of foundations.
But the terrifying Black Tide grew through war. The stronger the enemy, the faster they grew.
The enemy was nourishment.
So where did the player race get the courage to proactively provoke the Black Tide?
“Could it be similar to the Black Tide, that these are merely the player race’s new generation just at the initial stage of development?”
This thought was verified in the subsequent watching.
He discovered that the player race and the Black Tide had clearly fought more than once.
They went back and forth, each knowing the other’s tactics like the palm of their hand.
When the players launched surprise attacks, the Black Tide was already on guard. When the Black Tide counterattacked, the players cleverly dispersed and maneuvered.
It could be seen that the terrifying Black Tide held absolute advantage in the engagement, while the players looked more like they were sending themselves to death wave after wave.
In that moment, Anshui suddenly felt much better inside.
After all, the player race was so brash and unafraid of death even against the terrifying Black Tide, so their contempt for him seemed understandable.
With that thought, Anshui felt much of the cloud pressing over his head disperse.
His unbalanced mindset was eased through comparison.
Facts proved that since the player race dared to provoke even the terrifying Black Tide, why would they fear his future revenge?
No wonder the players smiled and encouraged him, telling him to work hard, grow, and await his revenge.
After analyzing and filling in the reasons in his mind, Anshui’s stereotyped impression of the player race changed.
From ugly, greedy, and arrogant, it shifted to an evil, warlike force unafraid of death, similar to the Battle Swarm.
Proactively provoking the Black Tide was likely the player race venting a battle lust that had nowhere else to go.
Perhaps death was not frightening in the eyes of the player race. What was frightening was being unable to wage heart-pounding battle.
Thinking of his contacts with the player race, an idea suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Compared to forces as cold as the Black Tide, the player race counted as a force that could be contacted and communicated with, and they bore no malice toward the weak in their eyes, even deliberately letting him go.
So could he try contacting the player race, even seek shelter by affiliating under the player race?
Seek development by positioning himself as an affiliated force, and then consider whether to break away after growing.
If he could truly do this, it would mean he could smoothly establish a Darkborn Legion node in this region and enter a mode of development and expansion.
But whether this idea was feasible, he did not yet know and would have to keep observing.
—
Primordial Altar.
A map of the Pale Continent hovered in front of Qi Sheng.
The area covered by an oval halo on it he marked on the map as: Player Corridor (Hunting Experience Zone).
It was a narrow corridor he had opened through three starter village regions.
The current exploration progress was: 2.852%.
There were 38 native resource sites already discovered, including that spirit field left by the Soil-Eating race.
There were also two rule class territory nodes he was attempting to occupy.
One of them was precisely the Evil Moon domain field that was about to be taken.
Once the Earthmind Evil Spirit finished stealing the reserve resources, this Rule domain node would, without suspense, be successfully contained by the players.
He tallied the players’ gains during this period.
One ‘Bloodglow’ spirit ore domain node had merged into the starter village space, and three Primordial Monsters had been successfully contained.
The first Primordial Monster, Star Shift, was contained by the newbie team in the Rimewinter Snowfield region.
[Star Shift (Third-Generation Primordial)]
Primordial Trait: Consume vitality energy and, with eye contact, swap positions with the target. The specific consumption is affected by the distance between target and self and by the target’s vitality strength.
This was a space-type basic Rule.
Its effect leaned toward support, but at critical moments it could also be used to deliver an unexpected offensive effect.
It was especially suitable for melee players, usable to protect teammates or, after swapping positions, to unleash a powerful burst.
There were many star vein combination pairings for Star Shift on the forum, but its priority was not high when star vein slots were few.
The second was a Primordial, Life Link, contained by the player ‘Dream of Nine Hundred Million Boys’ on an island in the Azure Star Sea Region.
[Life Link (Second-Generation Primordial)]
Primordial Trait: Release a Rule vitality tether to connect with the target, sharing life. Damage taken can be freely adjusted by percentage or borne by a single target. The specific damage is judged based on the party that is hit. During the linkage, it continuously consumes a small amount of vitality.
(Example: A is a Gargoyle build player and B is a caster. If an identical-damage attack hits A and is transferred to B, with A’s defense the damage is calculated as 1; when transferred to B the damage is also 1. If the attack hits B and deals 3 damage, transferring to A it remains 3; only the damage-bearing party’s vitality consumption is calculated.)
Although it was Second-Generation, the appearance of Life Link sparked a wave of celebration among caster players.
The biggest issue for caster players was low HP and low defense, making them easy prey for assassin-type troops from the Black Tide’s frenzy tide series to kill with stealth.
But with Life Link, their survival probability could increase significantly.
This was an Inherited soul that could indirectly improve the damage output environment for casters.
However, in the forum guide-makers’ builds, support-type players were considered more suitable for embedding Life Link to provide extra combat protection for teammates.
The third was a Primordial, Unyielding, contained by the player ‘Blade and Sword, Handsome Bronze Hammer,’ together with squad members while exploring the Colorful Mist Coast’s forest.
[Unyielding (Third-Generation Primordial)]
Primordial Trait: After activating the ability, consume vitality to offset all kinds of negative states on the body. The effect is affected by the intensity of the negative states. The stronger the intensity, the more vitality is consumed.
Once the Unyielding trait appeared, forum guide-makers ranked it at T0 tier strength in the current version.
It was called a divine skill for melee players, especially the damage-soaking Stone Statue build, which fit this Inherited soul extremely well.
As the forces they fought increased, players now often encountered enemies capable of inflicting all kinds of negative states.
For example, plague series troop types within the Black Tide were among the most troublesome Black Tide systems in players’ eyes.
Melee players needed to fight in close, and could not avoid such special troop types inflicting deterioration states.
But with the appearance of the Unyielding trait, melee players saw a significant increase in damage-soaking capacity. By consuming vitality, they could offset troublesome effects such as curses and control.
Of the three newly contained Primordial special traits, the Third-Generation Unyielding trait was ranked first in strength.
A large number of melee players immediately replaced their Inherited souls to embed it as soon as it was contained.
After browsing the data for a long time and receiving Guide’s feedback, Qi Sheng shifted his view to the player perspective.