Chapter 169-4: The Faith Plan, Profound Foundations (4)

Monsters Are Coming

Two days later.

Deep in the forests of the Colorful Mist Coast.

Over a hundred players gathered together.

On the stone platform at the center, Iron Hammer and Drunken Milk lay quietly. Their bodies were covered with crisscrossing wounds. Dark red scabs stood out starkly against pale skin. Some wounds were still oozing blood that slowly flowed down along the stone platform.

At this moment, Iron Hammer’s face was covered in sweat and bloodstains, messy strands of hair sticking to his forehead.

“Principal, we’ve sacrificed too much for you. Remember to send another big red envelope when it’s over.”

“Absolutely. How much HP do you have left? Need a top-up?”

“Give me another sip. I’m afraid I’m about to drop.” Iron Hammer panted in the voice channel.

Hearing this, Tong Xin immediately brought the recovery potion in his hand to Iron Hammer’s mouth.

On the other side, Drunken Milk also spoke up.

“Give me a sip too.”

Tong Xin immediately took out another potion and handed it to Drunken Milk.

According to information provided by forum players, this was the area where the Darkborn race had been active frequently recently. Many players had encountered Darkborn operations here.

Before the performance began, he had already asked nearby brothers to activate the perception of the Owl-Headed Fiend.

At this time, Drunken Milk and Iron Hammer each had a special-effect healing pill in their mouths sold in the shop for 500 sacrificial power.

As soon as the audience entered, the performance could begin at any time.

—

Colorful Mist Coast.

A massive monster collapsed with a boom, making the ground tremble slightly. Its body was like a small mountain, scales riddled with cracks and scorched marks. Blood gushed from its wounds, dyeing the earth beneath it red.

Anshui, having hunted successfully, immediately stepped forward to draw out the monster’s blood.

The Darkborn warriors following behind him also moved one after another, joining the gluttonous feast.

But hierarchy was orderly. As legion commander, Anshui took half of the vitality energy, with the remaining Darkborn warriors sharing the rest.

Before long, the monster was left as skin and bones, its internal vitality completely drained.

Feeling his strength recovered again, Anshui nodded in satisfaction and looked at his kin.

Among this group, the strongest individual had already grown to nearly the size of a three or four-year-old child. The others had also clearly grown compared to when they were first born.

After finishing the meal, Anshui led his people to continue searching for prey.

During these days of hunting, he discovered that the beings of this world had pure and abundant vitality within them, with few impurities. Each hunt yielded a very high conversion efficiency of vitality.

It was entirely different from the small world environment he had been in before.

Even with each breath, he could feel energy particles circulating within his body, nourishing every cell and bringing an indescribable sense of comfort.

This also made him understand why Anstar was unwilling to leave.

The upper limit of this world was extremely high.

The development from lying low in a small world for long ages could not compare to the gains from a small-scale predation war in this world.

But trying to gain a foothold here was exceedingly difficult.

The moment he saw the Black Tide, he knew he was in danger.

If he wanted to establish a node in this region, the Black Tide was a challenge he could not avoid.

He was already considering changing territory to avoid the Black Tide.

But before that, he still wanted to make as much contact as possible with the player race to understand the details of this force.

If it became clear that the player race had profound foundations and even possessed the strength to contend with the Black Tide, then perhaps becoming a subordinate force to the player race would also be a good choice.

With a powerful backer, future development would obviously be smoother.

While exploring forward, Anshui encountered a player squad that was hunting, and then decisively led his people to help.

But after the battle ended and he tried to talk, the players were unwilling to stay at all and headed straight toward the Evil Moon domain.

This left Anshui extremely frustrated.

Ever since the players smashed his space and looted all resources, whenever they met, the player race merely encouraged him and were unwilling to pay him much attention.

It could be seen that he had no value in the players’ eyes.

If he still could not obtain intelligence on the player race, he could only choose to relocate.

From these days of contact, he understood what the players’ encouragement meant to him.

They obviously hoped he could grow up quickly, and then get cut down again.

Seemingly friendly, but actually because he was currently too weak and not profitable.

Once he established enough foundational strength, the player race would bare their bloodthirsty fangs.

Just like when they plundered the Darkborn space, greedily destroying everything he had painstakingly built.

Seemingly encouraging, but with hidden malice.

It felt to him as if he were livestock being free-ranged by the player race, with the sharp blade in the players’ hands already hanging over his head.

This was also the main reason he felt he could not establish a subordinate relationship with the player race and needed to withdraw quickly.

Passing through a grove of white-leaf trees, a racial member behind him signaled that a large amount of vitality energy was gathered ahead.

Anshui nodded and moved in the direction indicated by his racial member.

As he drew near, he slowed his steps, easily climbed an ancient tree, and looked out over the open area ahead.

Pulling in his gaze, he was surprised to find that more than a hundred players had gathered there.

They were gathered in a circle, with two severely injured players lying on a stone platform in the center.

Judging by vitality perception, these two players were already in a near-death state and would soon die without effective treatment.

The spirit mark on his forehead lit up, and he began to listen to the players’ conversation.

From their talk, he learned what had happened.

Not long ago, these two players were gravely injured during a hunt and fell into a comatose, near-death state.

It was clear that the other members held the player standing at the edge of the stone platform in great respect, addressing him as the Divine Envoy.

Just as Anshui wondered how this Divine Envoy would treat the dying racial members, an astonishing scene occurred.

The Divine Envoy said the two racial members’s injuries were too severe and that it would be better to kill them rather than treat them.

Then the Divine Envoy raised both hands above the heads of the two near-death racial members. Before long, these two members of the player race turned into points of light and dispersed, their vitality fluctuations disappearing with them. It was clear the Divine Envoy had somehow disintegrated them.

But after the brief surprise, Anshui did not find it problematic.

Every race had a different culture. Given the player race’s fearless nature, perhaps death in their eyes was not unacceptable.

It might even be a form of honor.

This could be seen from how members of the player race launched death charges against the Black Tide.

But the players’ subsequent conversation left Anshui incredulous.

With a calm expression, the Divine Envoy stated that the racial members would soon return fully restored under the power of the Emperor’s Sign.

Revival?!

Although their Darkborn Legion possessed reincarnation ability, that was entirely different from revival.

A fallen Darkborn warrior could only return through reincarnation and rebirth as the most fragile infant form, starting from zero to grow again.

This process would also lose all memories, and one could only learn about the past by consulting the inheritance brand. But that was just understanding. It was hard to establish a strong emotional connection with a previous life.

It was more like becoming an entirely new individual who could only view past information.

So the concept of revival truly frightened the Darkborn.

If it could truly be as the Divine Envoy described, where the dead players could return intact, that would completely surpass his understanding.

Scenes of the player race’s fearless charges surfaced in his mind.

“Could they really revive without loss?”

Finding it hard to believe, Anshui decided to observe the subsequent revival process.

But the Divine Envoy did nothing, merely stood by the stone platform and waited quietly, while the other members of the player race looked at the Divine Envoy with respectful eyes, revealing how high his status was.

In fragmented conversations, the Divine Envoy mentioned revival again.

In summary, he expressed the idea that devout believers of the Emperor’s Sign fear no form of death. Even if disintegrated into nothingness, they can revive and be reborn.

But Anshui remained skeptical.

If this Emperor’s Sign were really that formidable, Anstar would surely have mentioned it.

Yet Anstar had introduced many powerful forces, including the Battle Swarm and the terrifying Black Tide, but had not mentioned the Emperor’s Sign spoken of by the player race.

Similar views were also recorded in the inheritance brand.

Many forces in small worlds had supreme deities of faith, described as creator gods, but in essence they were merely more powerful lives. So-called deities were not worth a blow before the Darkborn Legion.

Having seen so much, he had become immune to this deity-hype rhetoric.

He did not believe there was a perfect revival ability.

As time passed, Anshui still waited patiently on the tree.

Half an hour later, two figures appeared on the stone platform accompanied by a flash of white light.

As his gaze drew near and he saw the faces of the two figures clearly, Anshui was completely shocked.

When the Divine Envoy disintegrated the racial members, he had carefully inspected the faces of those two members of the player race.

Judging by the frequency of their vitality fluctuations and their appearances, these were precisely the two player-race members the Divine Envoy had just killed.

Emotions surged like a tide and would not calm for a long time.

It really was revival without loss?!

With the facts before his eyes, Anshui still found it hard to believe.

The Divine Envoy’s words from earlier surfaced in his mind. By believing in the Emperor’s Sign, one could gain the ability of infinite revival.

If they truly had this ability, would the player race not be an undying force that could not be killed?

As his emotions rose and fell, Anshui suppressed his shock and continued to listen to the players’ conversation.

The two revived racial members bowed respectfully to the Divine Envoy, thanking him for helping complete their life remolding.

After a long while, the group of players dispersed.

But Anshui still stood there dazed, his mind replaying the initial sight of the two near-death players and comparing them with the two revived players who had just returned.

By comparing the remembered images, he could basically confirm that the two players who had been disintegrated had indeed been revived.

Could it be true?

Feeling extremely perplexed, he decided to seek Anstar’s help.

Before long, after entering the Darkborn space, Anshui contacted the haggard-looking Anstar.

“Anshui, why do you seek me?”

“Anstar, I have a question. Do you know the Emperor’s Sign?”

Hearing this name, Anstar slowly raised his head, looked at Anshui, and explained in a hoarse voice.

“The Emperor’s Sign is the creator of Monster World and the origin of all things in this world. The Heaven Curse race that destroyed our Darkborn stronghold in Monster World believes in a deity whose god was once a believer of the Emperor’s Sign. Where did you learn of the Emperor’s Sign?”

Anstar’s answer stunned Anshui.

A line of logic formed in his mind.

The Heaven Curse race destroyed the Darkborn Legion led by Anstar. The members of the Heaven Curse race believed in a powerful deity, and that deity had once been a believer of the Emperor’s Sign.

The player race believes directly in the origin of all things, the Emperor’s Sign.

“Hiss!”

In that instant, the might of the player race took concrete shape in his mind.

“The player race truly has profound foundations!”