Chapter 462

Chapter 462: Chapter 459: "Ghost of Jiu Shen, Number One PlayerSeeing that Su Ming’an had become the Ghost of Jiu Shen, the other Players were not very delighted.

Under ideal circumstances, they would have hoped it would be someone like JingXue Chunzi or Margaret, Players who ranked around eightieth or ninetieth, to become the Ghost of Jiu Shen. It would have made things much easier for them.

Pursued by other Players compared with being chased by Su Ming’an, the pressure was completely on different levels. With the former, they could casually stroll down the streets or even gather and bait for a counter-kill, but with the latter... it essentially turned into a farming village slaughter game where their only option upon encountering him was to run.

And the next words from Shadow made their faces turn even paler.

"Moreover, the ’Ghost of Jiu Shen’ will receive a 500% boost in strength, while the other twelve will have their strength suppressed by 50%. But once the eight altars have been inscribed, this change in strength will be removed—of course, as the escaping side, you will also gain some reconnaissance and escape Skills."

Upon hearing this, the twelve Players all had serious expressions. Many cast furtive glances at Su Ming’an, their bodies involuntarily leaning back.

They had seen the world ranking list. Before the eighth World began, Su Ming’an’s Combat Power had already soared to 2400. With a fivefold increase, it could even reach four thousand...

"It seems that this instance encourages us to hide and run away, which is why they have bestowed upon us reconnaissance and escape Skills. Anyone’s strength increased fivefold would become terrifying, and with our own strength halved, it’s impossible for us to confront the Ghost of Jiu Shen head-on," Cyrus analyzed.

"We’re here," said Shadow as he halted.

They had walked past the dirt road and through layers of wheat fields, arriving in front of a large processing factory. Smoke was billowing from the chimney of the factory, where a lazy mongrel lay napping in front of the iron gates. At the moment, an old man smoking a dry pipe and a dark-skinned young man dressed in coarse hemp were sitting around a cylindrical machine that was ’puff puff’ jetting steam.

Having seen the stone houses and farmland of the Fourth Tribe before, Su Ming’an had thought this was a World with a Primitive Age setting. Yet seeing the industrial era-like factory and steam engine in front of him, he felt it wasn’t quite the case.

The sense of disconnection between the eras seemed very clear here.

Seeing the thirteen Players approaching, the old man exhaled a ring of smoke and slowly stood up.

"I’m Old Te, the owner of this farm," he said. "To the twelve contestants, I will teach you these Skills about ’escape’."

"I’m Meyatu. I’m a foreigner who came a few years ago and work on the farm," said the dark-skinned young man, glancing at Su Ming’an. "I will teach you the Skills regarding ’pursuit’."

"Eh? There are NPCs here?" Wang Chaoze muttered to himself, while Cyrus directly asked, "Excuse me, what does Black Sheep mean? And what is Jiu Shen?"

Listening to Cyrus’s questions, Su Ming’an was somewhat surprised, but he realized that many Players seemed to have the same confusion.

...These people, they don’t even know what Jiu Shen means?

Su Ming’an suddenly realized that he might possess a significant information gap. He even knew that the Black Sheep was one of the three Authorities of Bai Shen. According to the nursery rhyme sung by Chang Sheng, the other two Authorities of Bai Shen were the Black Python and the Raven. However, he was clueless about what these three animals specifically represented.

Old Te’s dry, wrinkled face creased slightly, his skin bunching up like old tree bark: "...Do not ask too much, adventurers, and esteemed Guides. I am only here in accordance with the Oracle left by Bai Shen, dedicated to impart all my Skills about ’escape.’ Beyond that, I do not know the specific meaning of this competition."

A few players furrowed their brows.

At this moment, with their keen senses, they also realized that these instances weren’t merely simple games. They seemed to have a background and a storyline embedded within.

Old Te and Meyatu seemed to have come here only to fulfill the prerequisites for this game instance. The so-called "pursuit" and "escape" abilities they possessed were brought about by personal curses and didn’t materialize out of thin air—that is to say, this game instance didn’t seem to be generated from nothing, but was based on something.

On their way here, Su Ming’an had also seen some people moving around in the houses on the farm. Those seemed to be farmworkers, possibly locals responsible for night work. They had been living here for quite a while.

"Follow me," Meyatu said, glancing at Su Ming’an.

Su Ming’an followed Meyatu and left.

After he left, twelve players gathered together to begin learning skills from Old Te.

"The curse on me has granted me some abilities. After subdividing them, I can teach you skills in five areas, and each of you can choose two to learn," Old Te said.

Lu listened and, instead of rushing to learn, looked around and met the eyes of the other eleven players.

"Everyone!" he shouted loudly, his voice resonant, "Clearly, we twelve have become a large group. Currently, we share a common goal and a common enemy."

The other players looked at him, and surprisingly, they had no objections to Lu’s act of seizing the initiative to speak. Perhaps it was indeed because Lu genuinely had good popularity.

"Our common goal is to complete the blood runes of eight altars and open the gate of escape. Unfortunately, our common enemy is the Number One Player, whom none of us wishes to confront," Lu said. "Given the rules, any one of us facing the current Number One Player would be badly defeated, even if the twelve of us were to band together. Therefore, as the side that needs to hide and escape, we must avoid encountering the Number One Player as much as possible during our actions... I think these skills are our means of escape. As a group, we should distribute these skills properly."

Lu already checked out the five skills: "Agile Perception" that could sense the movement of others within a ten-meter radius, "Eye of Tracking" that could see the positions of other escapees, "Remote Communication" that allowed communication with a player within a thousand meters, "Hand of Redemption" that could forcefully teleport a critically injured player at the cost of regressing altar progress, and "Concealment Color" that blended in with the surrounding environment.

Each person could only choose two, and it was clear that "Eye of Tracking" and "Remote Communication" were essential skills for a leader.

Lu led by example and chose these two skills, which were obviously not conducive to individual escape. He then communicated with the other players to arrange the distribution of skills.

"I have healing skills, so Hand of Redemption is more suitable for me," JingXue Chunzi said.

"I’d like to choose Agile Perception and Concealment Color. I have multiple teleport skills in my occupation, and if necessary, I can hold off Su Ming’an for a while. My Guide is also good at hiding, so my safety should be secured," proposed Wang Wanyu.

"Isabella is my friend, and I need Remote Communication. Some of her skills need to be utilized with my guidance. She has a Mechanical Hand, and can temporarily create some reconnaissance machines that can be controlled."

"Margaret, don’t you have the skill of Archangel’s Wings? With Eye of Tracking, you should be able to pinpoint the location of all other Black Sheep Players. Combined with Remote Communication, you can achieve a full-map vision effect..."

"Hmm, I suggest..."

"I’m inclined to..."

It was very comforting that, the players present communicated with each other conveniently and quickly, and there were no fierce quarrels over a skill. The atmosphere was harmonious, like friends who had known each other for years talking, and even their individual live streaming rooms were calm.

In Lu’s live streaming room, the audience was cheering them on.

"Also, the Number One Player’s terrifying Spatial Vibration skill, after being strengthened fivefold, is a big trouble," Margaret, who had blond hair like a sanctuary’s saintess, said, "If he activates that skill, anyone nearby who senses it must quickly move locations. Don’t be greedy and stay where you are to progress on the altar, or if you are caught, you are practically dead."

"Yes, I know, we’re all world-class powerhouses, with a strong will to win. When facing the Number One Player head-on, there is inevitably a desire to challenge him," Lu Wen said calmly. "But the Number One Player in this state is not someone we should confront directly, and there’s no shame in running away for the time being. As long as everyone stays alive, after he leaves, we can continue to inscribe the nearby altars, and once eight altars have been inscribed, his power boost will be removed, and we can achieve an even more glorious victory."

He explained things clearly. This was indeed a team game for them. With twelve altars scattered throughout the area, opening the escape door required inscribing eight of them, which would then weaken Su Ming’an. In the meantime, they were like grasshoppers on a string; losing any player would reduce their numbers and slow down the pace of inscribing the altars, leaving them to be defeated one by one.

Wander, hide, maneuver, continue inscribing the altars after the ghost is lured away—that was the correct strategy for them.

"There are some props like soul stones left on the farm; the fog’s influence is getting bigger and bigger. Before we inscribe the altars, we need to find soul stones, as well as blood and pen... cough cough..." Some players were starting to cough.

"It’s unclear what blood can be used to inscribe the altar, and there are no hints, but animal blood should work, let’s go try that first..."

As they talked, the scene was harmonious and orderly, like a well-structured meeting.

At some distance from the players, Mei Yatu stopped next to a cornfield with Su Ming’an.

Like Old Te, Mei Yatu walked undaunted through the black mist. When Su Ming’an asked Mei Yatu why, he said they were teaching at night because they lacked soul stones, their curse was far from erupting, so walking for an hour or two at night was no issue.

"I have four skills here; choose two to learn," Mei Yatu said briefly, a man of few words.

Su Ming’an remembered that his footwear equipment was the Blue Level North Wind Long Boots with a 35% running speed boost, and with the activation of the North Wind Backtracking skill attached to the equipment, he would receive an additional 35% speed boost for five seconds. If he combined this Fixed Point Charge, it would create an effect akin to instant teleportation.

Moreover, its cooldown was only 30 seconds... very suitable indeed.

After pondering for a while, he chose Fixed Point Charge and Blood Seal Teleportation. He didn’t need Alert Surveillance; in Shadow State, he had innate Alert Surveillance, and although his night vision was barely adequate, teleport skills were more suitable. He had too few uses of Spatial Displacement, which likely meant his potential hadn’t been fully unlocked.

To upgrade to Third Level space, he needed skill advancement stones, but he didn’t have any right now, they were not for sale in the marketplace either, which probably required completing main quests to obtain.

After making his choice, he suddenly realized that these two skills were permanent.

... That is to say, just by participating in this instance, he had gained two skills that he could use forever.

The benefits that the top players received in this instance were beyond imagination.

Mei Yatu told him that the sacrifice field would be activated in five minutes, at which time he could start his actions. There were also some props and temporary skills on the field, which he had to explore on his own.

At this moment, the raven that had been hiding under his robe jumped out. It seemed very anxious.

A line of blood-red text floated above its head, but it was indecipherable, seeming to be some kind of special ancient script; Su Ming’an couldn’t understand it.

"It says." Xiber suddenly spoke:

"... Due to its following, your strength boost rules are the opposite of normal circumstances."