Monsters Are Coming-Chapter 11 - Dark Cave

Imperial Tomb Village.

A crimson glow flashed, and Qi Sheng appeared in front of the crystal wall containment unit underground.

Looking at the Bone Fire Life Soul imprisoned in the fourth containment compartment, related information automatically surfaced in his mind:

[Ink Flame]:

Primordial Ability effect: Consumes spiritual power to release Death Intense Flames that can be controlled by consciousness, causing continuous burning damage to the target (specific damage depends on personal spiritual strength)

Sacrificial power production: 10/per hour.

...

Raising his right hand, a mass of dark flames formed in the palm of Qi Sheng.

After containing the Bone Fire, the lost pieces of the Emperor's Power were recovered, and his strength increased, granting him the ability to control the Ink Flame.

Another piece of good news is that players have discovered a lost Domain Node.

If this Domain can be reclaimed, the size of Imperial Tomb Village will expand, and he will also gain a new Domain ability.

At this moment, the latest feedback from the Guidance surfaced in Qi Sheng's mind:

[Tip: Acquired sacrificial item "Empty Valley Grass," gained 155.7 sacrificial power, extracted 30% sacrificial profit, paid the Challenger 109 sacrificial power.]

"Not bad."

As his words fell, the crimson flames spread from his forehead throughout his body.

After switching to the Emperor's Omen Form, his vision penetrated spatial barriers, looking at the group of players exploring the cave.

...

New novel 𝓬hapters are published on ƒreewebɳovel.com.

Dark Cave.

Entering through a narrow cave mouth, a different world unfolded inside.

The deeper they walked, the larger the space became, with multiple branching paths ahead.

The Child Group players accidentally discovered a rock wall embedded with a large number of purple-glowing crystals during their exploration.

Upon focusing their gaze, analysis information from the Guidance feedback emerged in their minds:

[Name: Energy Stone]:

Spirit Mine Level: 1

Description: A low-level Spirit Ore containing rich essence energy, can be used for sacrificial offerings, creation of armed vehicles, and other consumptive uses.

Black Ball: Hahaha, this place is great, we've found spiritual resources again.

Cute Baby: Let's get to work; it's time to dig resources.

Zui Nai: The question is, how do we mine it?

...

Prepare to extract the embedded crystal stones from the wall when they encounter a problem.

The crystal wall is hard; extracting the Energy Stones isn't easy without any tools on hand.

[The shopping section of the control panel has mining equipment, which can be purchased with sacrificial power.]

Upon hearing the Guidance's tip, the Child Group players summoned the control panel and entered "mining equipment" in the search bar of the marketplace page, immediately revealing three items.

[Mining Pickaxe (Durability 100)], [Crystal Breaking Pickaxe (Durability: 2000)], [Gravity Pickaxe (Infinite)].

The prices for these three items are 1 sacrificial power, 100 sacrificial power, and 1000 sacrificial power, respectively.

All along the way, they had killed quite a few Curse Soldiers, but each Curse Soldier only provided a sacrificial profit of 3-6 points, meaning they couldn't afford the second-tier mining pickaxe and could only choose the most common one costing 1 sacrificial power.

After the purchase, a pitch-black mining pickaxe automatically appeared in their Space Bag slots.

Just as the players were preparing to start, Tie Chui, walking at the front of the group, took out a distinctive mining pickaxe from his Space Bag.

This mining pickaxe was entirely in crystal blue color, looking like stars falling to the mortal world when taken out, its faint blue light dazzling under the weak light inside the mine; every groove on its surface could be seen flowing with tiny crystalline streams.

The head of the pickaxe was carved into the sharp shape of an eagle's beak, and when Tie Chui gripped it and swung, it dragged out a luminous trail.

Realizing Tie Chui had used the 109 sacrificial power previously acquired from the sacrifice to buy the second-tier mining pickaxe, everyone gave him the finger.

Tie Chui: Old rules, although I bought the second-tier mining pickaxe, the crystal stones dug out will be equally divided after tallying, I won't monopolize the profits.

Hearing this, the other players finally nodded in satisfaction.

After that, the group started working on the Crystal Wall, quickly realizing something was off.

Black Ball: Damn, this mining pickaxe vibrating against the Crystal Wall makes my wrists hurt, it's too realistic.

Pebbles: Be happy we're getting resources, stop complaining, and get to it. It's the initial stage of the game's release, gathering resources now significantly aids our future development.

Zui Nai: You guys are dumb, your original forms don't have attribute bonuses. Switch to Monster Form and it'll be much easier.

Saying this, Zui Nai instantly switched to the Black Armored Snake form, picked up the mining pickaxe with its mouth, and furiously shook its head against the rock wall.

After a series of violent smashes, Zui Nai suddenly stopped, slowly turned its head to look at its dumbstruck brothers, spat out the mining pickaxe from its mouth, and said with a pitiful expression:

"I'm dizzy, feel like throwing up."

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter, teasing Zui Nai for its foolish act.

But when everyone's gaze turned to Tie Chui, the laughter stopped.

They saw Tie Chui easily digging into the rock wall with his "Crystal Breaking Hammer" as if it were slicing tofu, quickly prying out a piece of ore, and he already had two Energy Stones by his feet.

Seeing everyone stop, Tie Chui paused his actions, turned his head to look at the group, and showed a shy smile:

"Does your hand hurt? I think it's manageable."

What he received was a unified middle finger response from everyone.

After the interlude, they continued working. During that time, members of the Child Group tested sacrificing the Energy Stones and found each could produce 5-15 sacrificial power points.

Compared to killing Curse Soldiers, mining Energy Stones yielded a higher sacrificial power benefit, even though they couldn't get evolution points (experience).

Just as they were going all out on the Crystal Wall, a muffled sound suddenly echoed from the darkness.

Everyone immediately stopped and looked towards the dark.

"Pebbles, activate Perception."

"Okay!"

Pebbles, choosing the Eagle-Headed Demon form, immediately activated the Resentful Chant ability.

This ability, like an instinct imprinted in the mind, didn't require proficiency, and using it was as simple as breathing.

Opening his mouth, Pebbles emitted a prolonged call, transforming it into sound waves that radiated around.

The scenes within several dozen meters nearby appeared in his mind as wave images, and at that moment he clearly saw the figure in the darkness.

It was a creature resembling a snail, its body covered with a white shell, and from within the shell, tentacles tipped with dim blue light flickered, like phosphorescence in the deep sea.

[Iron Shell Bug]

Hunting Level: 8

Target Introduction: A low-level monster living underground, it has a hard shell and highly flexible tentacles, and feeds on underground spiritual ores.

...

After sharing the information in his mind to the team channel, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The sudden noise in the dark environment had really scared them, but finding out it was only a Level 8 monster, they immediately calmed down, turned around, and prepared to switch to Monster Form to deal with this creature before resuming mining.

"It's not right, there are more Iron Shell Bugs behind!"

In Pebbles' Perception View, more and more Iron Shell Bug figures entered the scene.

At that moment, the Iron Shell Bugs dispersed, and a dark two-meter-tall figure emerged from the darkness, revealed under the torchlight.

This figure had a humanoid shape, with clearly defined muscular lines on its body, gray-blue skin, and its arms covered with fine scales, with sharp claws between the fingers.

[Earth Cave Clan]:

Hunting Level: 19

Target Introduction: A race living in the Underground Space, skilled at controlling underground creatures for combat, possesses Level 2 intelligence, controlled by some force, lacking autonomous consciousness.

...

The Earth Cave Clan creature looked up at them, and when its gaze met the players, its pupils suddenly contracted into vertical slits.

Instantly, all the Iron Shell Bugs reared up, their tentacles waving, shooting towards the players.

"Let's fight!"

Child Group members also switched to Monster Form at this moment, unhesitatingly pouncing towards the Earth Cave Clan creature.

As players, the word "cowardice" wasn't in their dictionary.