Chapter 68 Yan Kongshan, the New Identity
Gu Yunqing carefully put away the gray card representing Wu Jueji, and rubbed her still slightly stinging brow with her fingertips.
Seven consecutive days of high-intensity dungeon runs, especially the mental exhaustion at the last moment, still left his mind feeling somewhat unwell.
He sat down cross-legged, his consciousness sinking into the system space, and began to carefully take stock of all the gains from this "Three Little Pigs" instance.
He amassed a considerable amount of achievement points, and with the additional reward for his S-rank rating, he had enough to make a big purchase at the market in the Pure White World.
Those rare materials, such as Nightmare Core Fragments and Purified Moonlight Cedar, are highly sought-after items that are extremely valuable, whether used for future guild development or traded with other players.
The blueprints for the [Miniature Element Energy Concentrator] are the cornerstone for long-term development.
"A good haul," Gu Yunqing thought to herself, satisfied with the rewards of this adventure.
Their strength, resources, and connections have all seen tangible growth.
Just as he was planning how to utilize these resources to further solidify his foundation and considering the next suitable dungeon for farming achievement points or materials, a cold system announcement suddenly resounded throughout the Pure White World, reaching the consciousness of every qualified high-level player:
[System Announcement: The Battle for Glory Begins!]
[Event Type: Large-scale cross-instance team competition]
[Participation Requirements: Players must reach the 'High-Tier' level or possess a special rating; registration must be done in the form of a guild (full or reserve team) or a five-person temporary team.]
[Event Format: Multi-round elimination tournament with mixed competitive modes (may include: team survival battles, resource capture battles, stronghold attack and defense battles, special rule challenges, etc.)]
[Final Reward: The champion team will have the opportunity to make a "wish that can be granted in principle" to the "Core of the Pure White World". The runner-up, third-place winner, and other outstanding performers will receive generous rewards including a large amount of achievement points, unique items, and divine fragments.]
Registration will open 72 standard hours later.
[Preliminary round begins: 7 calendar days from now.]
"In principle, the wish can be fulfilled..." Gu Yunqing repeated these words in a low voice, her eyes instantly sharpening.
The entire high-level player community in the Pure White World was instantly thrown into an uproar, as if a depth charge had been dropped on them.
The communication channels were flooded with messages, and an astonishing roar erupted from various player gathering places.
What does it mean to have the chance to make a wish upon the core of the world? To resurrect a lost love? To gain invincible power? To escape this damned game?
Or even... to uncover the ultimate secrets of the world? Countless possibilities ignited the flames in the hearts of all ambitious people, the strong, and the desperate.
Gu Yunqing's heart also began to beat faster and faster, which she could hardly control.
The temptation is too great, far exceeding the rewards of any dungeon.
He quickly calmed down and began to analyze the rules of the announcement word by word.
Team competition, five-person teams.
This means that the role of individual combat skills will be greatly diluted by teamwork, tactics, strategies, and class combinations.
He assessed his existing power structure:
Zhuge Jin (Strategist/Prophet, empowered by the Fuxi God): A strategic unit with powerful battlefield insight, situational analysis, and key information acquisition capabilities, serving as the team's brain. However, in the ever-changing battlefield, his own defense and burst damage are weaknesses.
Qiu Zangxue (Assault/Undying, Blessed by Xing Tian's Divine Power): Possesses extreme physical damage output and survivability, serving as both the team's sharpest weapon and strongest shield. Her fighting style is wild, suitable for overwhelming opponents and opening up new opportunities, but may appear simplistic when facing complex rules requiring precise maneuvering or dealing with specific control effects.
Wu Jueji (Rule-Level Defense/50/50): Unique rule-based abilities, arguably the strongest shield and a master of crowd control, capable of stalemate any opponent and creating opportunities for the team. The weakness lies in the lack of decisive lethal attacks and the overly "average" effect of his abilities, making it impossible to specifically strengthen any particular aspect.
"It seems comprehensive, but there are hidden dangers in reality." Gu Yunqing frowned slightly.
With three aliases and the real person, they can barely make up four people.
However, the difference between his true strength and his disguise is vast, making him a near-fatal weakness in top-tier competitions.
Moreover, the existing combination of armor types lacks a versatile unit that can adapt to extreme environments and has extremely high tactical flexibility and fault tolerance.
When facing an unknown and complex battle situation that brings together top experts from all walks of life, he needs stronger control, more tactical variables, and a trump card that can break the deadlock.
He sensed that in the high-intensity, ever-changing battles of the "Battle for Glory," he would likely need to control multiple avatars simultaneously to fight in coordination, and even his main body would need a certain degree of self-defense capability.
This presented an unprecedented challenge to his mental capacity and ability to operate multiple tasks simultaneously.
"We need a new avatar." This thought emerged clearly and firmly. "An avatar that can make up for existing shortcomings, is suitable for chaotic team battles, and can greatly improve the team's survivability and tactical depth."
As consciousness sank into the core of the disguise system, a character image that had been conceived long ago but was not previously considered urgently needed emerged—Yan Kongshan.
Role: Core of team tactics/survival guarantee.
Core Ability: [Forced Blood Lock] – Rule-level survivability. Once activated, for a very short time (initially only a few seconds), regardless of the type of damage taken, the user's status will be forcibly locked at the "near death but not dead" limit, granting immunity to instant death effects. Long cooldown.
This ability is not invincible; one will still suffer pain and accumulated damage during the process, but it provides an absolute guarantee of survival to turn the tide of battle at crucial moments.
Additional ability: [Pain Accumulation/Outburst].
Damage taken during the "locked health" period can be partially converted into energy, which can be released instantly after the skill ends, forming a high-damage area-of-effect counterattack or a one-time enhanced attack.
Personality setting: dual personality.
Main personality: Timid as a mouse, with his own healing abilities.
Secondary Personality (triggered when subjected to extreme damage or under specific conditions): Manic, warlike, enjoys the thrill of walking on the edge of life and death, extremely aggressive, and will unleash accumulated pain in the most explosive way.
The design of this persona and his special ability were intended to exploit bugs, so his personality naturally had to be somewhat flawed.
“Yan Kongshan…” Gu Yunqing sketched this image in her mind.
"His 'forced health lock' allows him to actively attract deadly fire in team fights, creating an absolutely safe environment for Zhuge Jin's setup and Qiu Zangxue's cleanup."
"The dual personality setting can both increase deception and allow for switching tactical styles according to the battle situation."
However, the system's cold warning followed: [Warning: The host's current mental strength level, and the ability to simultaneously and stably control three solidified identities, is nearing its limit.]
To add and reliably play the fourth role, 'Yan Kongshan,' and achieve multi-role coordination in high-intensity battles, the following objectives must be completed before the start of the 'Battle of Glory':
[1. Increased the character's role-playing level for the new avatar 'Yan Kongshan' to 100% and successfully solidified it as a permanent card.]
[2. The host's physical mental power level needs to break through to 'ss' level.]
Otherwise, forcibly controlling the identity could lead to it going out of control, a sharp drop in the level of authenticity, mental backlash, or even damage to consciousness.
The goal was crystal clear, and the timeframe was a mere seven days.
Gu Yunqing took a deep breath, and instead of feeling discouraged, her eyes blazed with fighting spirit.
High risk, high reward—that's his motto.
The qualification to make a wish in the "Battle for Glory" is worth his all-out effort.
The role of the imposter required Jun Xiangbei, so Gu Yunqing barely needed to think. She opened the friend list of the Pure White World and found the name—Jun Xiangbei.
After a moment's hesitation, Gu Yunqing organized her thoughts and sent out a communication request:
"Brother Bei, I apologize for bothering you. I just received the announcement for the 'Battle of Glory,' and I'm sure you have too. To prepare for this battle, I urgently need to break through my mental bottleneck in a high-difficulty, high-pressure dungeon."
"This process may be quite dangerous, requiring absolutely reliable teammates to provide support. I wonder if Brother Bei would be willing to join forces with me again and lend me a hand?"
The message was sent, and Gu Yunqing waited patiently.
He believed that Jun Xiangbei would not refuse him.
Sure enough, not long after, Jun Xiangbei's reply came, concise and direct:
"Okay. Time and place?"
Gu Yunqing's lips curled slightly as she quickly filtered through the system's list of instances.
He needs a specific dungeon with a harsh environment, strong monsters, and some kind of environment that can stimulate mental activity or contain pure energy to help him break through.
He quickly locked onto a target—[Molten Core].
This is an A+ level high-risk dungeon known for its extreme high-temperature environment and raging fire elemental creatures. Its core area, the [Lava Blood Pool], is said to have miraculous effects on tempering willpower and mental strength, but it also comes with great risks.
"【Molten Core】, meet at the dungeon entrance one natural day from now. We'll discuss the details in person." Gu Yunqing sent the message.
"Okay." Jun Xiangbei's reply was still just one word, but it conveyed an unquestionable reliability.
Having finalized the initial plan, Gu Yunqing exited the system space and began making preparations as quickly as possible.
He first used some achievement points to purchase several high-level mental energy recovery potions and a rare item called [Starry Sky Concentration Incense] that could temporarily expand his mental sea and assist in breaking through bottlenecks.
Next, he carefully studied the known information about [Molten Core] and planned his route after entering the instance.
Gu Yunqing knew that this dungeon run would be a crucial prerequisite for him to secure a place in the "Battle for Glory".
Not only must Yan Kongshan be successfully portrayed, but his own spiritual strength must also be broken through.
“Yan Kongshan…” Gu Yunqing murmured the name, her consciousness beginning to immerse itself, attempting to initially construct the spiritual core of this new identity.
A new drain on his mental energy began to occur, causing a clearer stinging sensation in his already incompletely recovered sea of consciousness, but his eyes remained calm, even carrying a hint of anticipation.
"The battle for glory... the desire of the world's core... what an exciting challenge." He closed his eyes and focused all his energy on the intense preparations.
The seven-day countdown has begun.
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