I’m a Max-Level Taoist Master, and You’re Throwing Me Into a Rules-Based Horror Game?! - Chapter 174

Chapter 174: The Hometown of the Divine Source, the Legendary Elf Queen!

The dwarves who scrambled out first as the river poured in managed to survive.

Those washed out later by the current were only corpses.

Not only did the corpse die with its eyes open, but its stomach was also bloated, apparently because it drank too much water.

The Dwarven race had truly suffered devastating despair.

Whether natives or anomalies, those who ended up in the same Strange Tale world as Zhang Yangqing and opposed him generally met with unfortunate ends.

You couldn’t exactly call him someone who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

Because that’s what the Strange Tale world demanded. If the opponents didn’t die, the Challenger would be the one to perish.

The rules of the Strange Tale world were merely suggestions for the Challengers. Following them wasn’t wrong.

But finding alternative methods was also acceptable.

Violating the rules came with consequences, but if the Challenger could bear them, then it wasn’t inherently wrong.

“God-man, after the river stops flowing, should I lead a team into the underground palace to clear it out?”

The younger Beastman brother was going to great lengths to please Zhang Yangqing.

You could say the brothers weren’t the brightest, but they were using the best methods they could think of to curry favor with Zhang Yangqing.

In truth, as long as they put in the effort, Zhang Yangqing wouldn’t blame them.

“No need, let’s go.”

Zhang Yangqing saw no reason to waste time on a thorough extermination; obtaining the Dwarf Heart was sufficient.

As for whether any dwarves remained in the underground palace, he couldn’t care less.

By the time Zhang Yangqing led his troops away, other Challengers were still adventuring within the underground palace.

The palace’s structure was vast, with a labyrinth of intersecting paths. Taking a wrong turn meant starting over.

Even with a map of the underground palace, it didn’t indicate what was located where.

Challengers had to follow the map and search every area meticulously.

Besides the anomalies over 1.3 meters tall and the red-bearded dwarves, Challengers also encountered Dwarven traps.

If not for the mechanical bodies’ inherent durability and resistance to many poisons, several Challengers might not have made it out.

It was clear that most Challengers heavily relied on their mechanical bodies and had become quite proficient in using them.

For example, Bladen, the Challenger from Bullfighter Country, had now mastered his mechanical body to a level comparable to Zhang Yangqing’s skill when he first leaped from the edge of Tiwei City.

In addition to finding the Dwarf Heart, Bladen also acquired a Master Key.

For ordinary Challengers like Bladen, obtaining more intelligence was crucial for clearing stages.

Every piece of information, useful or not, needed to be memorized carefully, as it could sometimes provide a breakthrough.

Especially in the final stage. According to the Potbellied Commander, very few could find the elves, and even fewer could survive in the elves’ territory.

Therefore, intelligence gathered during the preparation phase might be the key to clearing the stage.

The reason Zhang Yangqing didn’t bother with the Master Key was, firstly, he was unaware of that particular piece of information. Secondly, even if he wanted to release someone, a simple command would suffice; there was no need for such complications.

Challengers who obtained the Dwarf Heart followed the usual method of placing it into their power cores.

[Congratulations on successfully using the Dwarf Heart. For the duration of this Strange Tale world, all attributes are increased by 10, and movement speed is increased by 50%.]

Seeing this, many Challengers were overjoyed.

If the Dwarf Heart increased speed, it suggested that the next stage would require a certain level of speed to clear effectively.

Among the 85 surviving Challengers, only 51 obtained the Dwarf Heart.

The others merely captured the minimum required prisoners and returned to Tiwei City.

Or, they encountered dangers in the underground palace and chose not to proceed for fear of wasting time.

The correct strategy for this underground palace was indeed using water.

Smarter Challengers would remember the Queen Bee’s words and use containers to collect some polluted water, which they could splash when in danger.

That stuff didn’t affect mechanical bodies much, but it posed a significant threat to other creatures.

However, using the river water directly, like Zhang Yangqing did, was truly a unique approach.

Even smarter Challengers actually noticed some special hints.

The Challenger from Argentinia, Ramirez, spotted a clue.

Challengers who had interacted with the Queen Bee would notice, upon closer observation, that her laboratory contained many books.

The Challengers certainly couldn’t read the text, but the Queen Bee could.

The varying levels of wear on the books indicated which ones she had read.

If, during that time, they strived to complete additional tasks for the Queen Bee within the allotted time, they could obtain some intelligence about the dwarves, elves, and even the Greenskins from her.

When returning to Tiwei City via the elevator platform, the Challengers’ approaches also differed.

After settling the merit points for this stage, Zhang Yangqing directly ordered the Beastmen and mechanical guards to throw all the dwarves from a great height.

Since Zhang Yangqing was the sole authority in Tiwei City, and there were no Greenskins present, he didn’t need to consider anyone else’s feelings.

The dwarves still possessed combat capability. If the next stage required manpower, the defenses in Tiwei City wouldn’t be as robust, so the dwarves held no value in Zhang Yangqing’s eyes.

He didn’t need to report to the Greenskins’ base. To prevent these dwarves from causing trouble behind his back while he was clearing stages outside, discarding them was the simplest solution.

Meanwhile, the Challenger from Bullfighter Country, Bladen, took ‘deception’ to its extreme.

He also managed to obtain some useful intelligence.

[Elves without their magic wands suffer a significant decrease in power.]
[Elves generally live in trees.]
[Elven curse magic is extremely powerful, capable of permanently transforming cursed targets into non-combat entities.]
[Elves possess a wide variety of attack magic; the longer the incantation, the more powerful the attack.]

To extract information, Bladen used the Master Key at night to pretend to release prisoners, then went back on his word and recaptured them.

This earned him curses from the female elves.

But Bladen didn’t care. He was only after information and didn’t want to make mistakes.

This was his strategy: carry deception and trickery through to the end.

At this stage, many people were observing Bladen’s methods, as his deceptive approach might prove very effective in the Strange Tale world.

However, after seeing this intelligence, many novice Taoists on Dragon Tiger Mountain were confused.

A young Taoist asked Zhang Xuanjing, “Senior Brother, when we perform spells, don’t we need to chant incantations, similar to what the elves call ‘incanting’? Why doesn’t the Heavenly Master need to?”

This question indeed raised doubts among many Taoist disciples.

In Taoist practice, many spells require memorizing incantations and creating talismans to harness the energy between heaven and earth.

It’s like providing a coordinates for the deities.

Taoists with higher cultivation can perform Taoist arts through hand seals or using weapons as mediums.

But when they watched Zhang Yangqing, he didn’t even need hand seals. Sometimes, a single finger point or a glance could stir the heavens and summon thunder.

This made the young disciples wonder if they were practicing a fake form of Taoism.

If they asked about other things, Zhang Xuanjing might not know, but he actually had some understanding of this particular question.

Because he had asked Zhang Yangqing a few days prior.

So, he began to show off his knowledge in front of his junior brothers.

“The Heavenly Master has reached the realm where ‘a single thought connects to the heavens.’ His mere thought can resonate with the universe, commanding the heavens and the earth!”

This sentence shocked many young Taoist priests. Could this be the legendary state of harmony between man and nature?

The idea of being able to cause celestial phenomena with a mere gesture filled countless young Taoists with yearning.

The more outstanding Zhang Yangqing’s performance, the more solidified their Taoist hearts became.

Who wouldn’t want to reach his level?

Then, Zhang Xuanjing proceeded to explain to his junior brothers just how powerful Zhang Yangqing was, emphasizing that what they saw was perhaps only the tip of the iceberg.

Because only those who had truly sparred with Zhang Yangqing, like himself, understood the feeling of utter powerlessness.

No matter how hard he tried, he could never make Zhang Yangqing move an inch.

However, being able to spar with Zhang Yangqing was something Zhang Xuanjing could boast about within the mystical community for a long time.

While broadening his junior brothers’ horizons, he also received their admiration.

Finally, Zhang Xuanjing, without getting carried away, seriously admonished them: “You can admire the Heavenly Master, but you must never imitate his methods. He can bear the karma from breaking the rules.”

“You’d better learn from these standard clearers. Spells are meant to give you a certain level of self-protection and room for error, not for you to destroy the world.”

This point needed to be clarified. Even the Chief Onmyōji of Sakura Country had been defeated in the Strange Tale world.

Among superhumans, only those in the top tier could ignore the rules. Others, no matter how capable, needed to follow the rules diligently.

As he spoke, he analyzed the clearing strategies of other Challengers for his junior brothers, which were also points to note if he himself ever entered the Strange Tale world.

At this stage, the other Challenger known for being unconventional, Ramirez from Argentinia, actually released the elves.

He even found their confiscated, dilapidated magic wands for them, allowing them to leave the place safely.

After all, the mechanical guards’ metal bodies had some magic resistance, and these were just ordinary low-ranking elves, not high-level elves, let alone Great Elves.

They posed no threat to Ramirez.

In truth, there were many strategies here.

Releasing them had two advantages.

First, if the next stage required capturing elves, he could try to recapture them to turn in, though it was uncertain if this counted as exploiting a bug.

Second, the next stage inevitably involved attacking the elf tribe. If he found himself in danger, these kind elves might help the Challengers out of a tight spot.

The vast majority of Challengers wouldn’t release prisoners solely for the sake of honor; that was meaningless.

Moreover, Challengers wouldn’t release all of them, as that could cause problems. Releasing just one or two was sufficient.

This way, even if discovered by the Greenskins, they could play dumb.

Just as the Challengers were patrolling, several rules suddenly appeared on their goggles.

Mechanical Code:

[Rule 9: The City Lord is an extremely dangerous individual and has a particular fondness for elves, especially high-ranking ones.]
[Rule 10: Only those in high positions of power know about the human treasure, but do not approach them easily/casually; their moods are unpredictable.]
[Rule 11: Be aware, there are no mechanical maintenance personnel here. Do not trust anyone claiming to be a mechanical maintenance worker.]
[Rule 12: Enter Orod City and check in at the guard post in the Mechanical Hall to settle the stage.]

Zhang Yangqing woke from his rest, saw these conditions, and roughly understood the requirements for contacting the hidden treasure in this stage, as well as the clearing rules.

The so-called hidden treasure could only be accessed by someone of City Lord rank.

According to the hidden rules of each stage, each race possessed its most precious item.

The most precious item of the Greenskins was likely the final hidden reward of this Strange Tale world.

For a normal Challenger to obtain it, they needed to capture a high-ranking elf.

Because the City Lord of Tiwei City liked high-ranking elves, which would increase his favorability.

But according to the low-ranking elves, high-ranking elves possessed formidable combat power and were not something ordinary mechanical beings could contend with.

This being the final stage, most Challengers felt it unnecessary to take such a risk for the final treasure.

Reward and danger coexisted. The reason Challengers sought rewards in the earlier stages was primarily to enhance their chances of survival.

Challenging a high-ranking elf required specific opportunities and maxed-out attributes.

Anything less would be suicide.

At this point, Challengers who had obtained rewards from three stages had a reasonable hope of survival.

As for those who hadn’t, like Sidney, it caused concern for many.

Zhang Yangqing also began contemplating how to obtain the final reward.

After all, he couldn’t be bothered to curry favor with these Greenskins. Destroying Orod City directly wasn’t feasible with his current combat strength.

Because the mechanical guards couldn’t harm Greenskins, the mechanical guards on Tiwei City would not only be useless upon arrival but could even become tools for the Greenskins.

A single black bear and these Beastmen probably weren’t enough to destroy Orod City. He needed a significant boost.

Weren’t the elves supposed to despise the Greenskins? To be precise, most races despised the Greenskins.

Moreover, the elves were powerful and could be of value.

Upon arrival, Zhang Yangqing would see if he could make contact with these elves.

If they weren’t cooperative, there wasn’t much need to keep them around.

After securing the reward, he would figure something out.

After all, Zhang Yangqing’s journey had brought despair to various races.

Naturally, the Greenskins deserved a taste of it too.

For this operation to besiege the elf tribe, the Greenskins held a strategy meeting.

Many Challengers, upon receiving the news, managed to infiltrate the meeting hall.

It was evident that the Greenskin City Lord was very fond of elves.

The objective this time was to capture a high elf at all costs.

These so-called ‘costs’ referred to the mechanical beings.

No Greenskin cared about the lives of mechanical beings.

This stage made many Challengers wary, careful not to be used as cannon fodder.

The Greenskin City Lord began describing the situation of the elf tribe.

The Challengers gained a general understanding of the elves.

The elves lived in the [Hometown of the Divine Source]. They were powerful in combat but had an even lower reproduction rate than the Greenskins.

It might take centuries for a single birth, so their population was sparse.

Elves generally had long lifespans, reportedly measured in thousands of years.

A few hundred years old was still considered a child among elves.

The most powerful among them, the Elf Queen, was said to have lived for an unknown number of epochs and had recently been slumbering within the Hometown of the Divine Source.

The Hometown of the Divine Source was a special area perpetually shrouded in mist. It was said that only elves could enter.

Anyone else who entered would be trapped inside forever unless guided out by a kind-hearted elf.

That’s why they had captured several elves—to use as guides.

Hearing this, Challengers broke out in a cold sweat. Thankfully, they hadn’t released all of them, or they would have been in serious trouble.

The Hometown of the Divine Source housed many [special races]. Besides elves, there were also Treants, Evil Dragons, Flame Demons, and so on.

This information was collected from failed capture attempts by Tiwei City in previous expeditions.

It was said that there were two tall Sacred Trees within the Hometown of the Divine Source, which were the source of the elves’ power.

The Sacred Trees bestowed magical power upon the elves, and the elf tribe had guarded the Sacred Trees for generations.

According to Greenskin speculation, destroying the Sacred Trees would strip the elves of their magic, allowing them to be enslaved.

Mentioning the enslavement of the elf tribe caused the high-ranking Greenskins present to chuckle, their expressions exceedingly lecherous.

It seemed the Greenskins’ fondness for elves wasn’t limited to the City Lord alone.

Ordinary elves didn’t interest them much.

The power of the Elf Queen was emphasized here.

According to the Greenskins, she could [make her words become reality].

Combining this with the intelligence Challengers gathered from the elves, it could be understood this way:

When elves cast magic, they need to incant. The longer the incantation before casting, the more powerful the spell.

Generally, if you see a high elf beginning an incantation, you should either interrupt them during the chant or simply run.

But the Elf Queen was different. The Elf Queen could simplify the incantation, shortening the casting time while maintaining immense power.

So, upon encountering the Elf Queen, the best course of action was to find a way to escape. It was best not to alert the Elf Queen during elf capture operations.

This became the principle for the Challengers.

After obtaining the intelligence, most Challengers spent this stage ‘modifying’ themselves.

This meant reducing the weight of their weapons and equipment, equipping lighter armor with high magic resistance, and not considering fighting the elf tribe. The goal was to complete the task and survive.

Only the bold planned to capture a high elf.

During this period, the only two who hadn’t obtained intelligence about the elf tribe were Zhang Yangqing and the Paladin, Sidney.

Zhang Yangqing had killed all the Greenskins and couldn’t be bothered to ask the elves.

Sidney seemed purely like a timid rookie, still there reinforcing his defenses.

This made viewers in Pasta Country deeply concerned. Couldn’t he see that everyone else was reducing weight in the final stage to facilitate escape?

By adding more weight at this stage, wasn’t he seeking death?

If he really encountered a high elf starting an incantation, he probably wouldn’t even be able to run!

Besides high elves, the dangers in this final stage were numerous.

Based on the viewers’ experience, the bonuses obtained from the first three stages were precisely for surviving this final stage, weren’t they?

Even before arriving at the Hometown of the Divine Source where the elves resided, both Challengers and viewers could guess the difficulty would be substantial.

The Strange Tale world, fearing Challengers might not make it this far or survive even if they did, had provided them with these powerful mechanical bodies.

Many people fantasized about what a beautifully scenic place the Hometown of the Divine Source must be.

The moment Tiwei City hovered in the air, many Challengers went to the edge to see how beautiful the so-called elf settlement was.

But after looking down from high above, most Challengers were horrified, while others had grave expressions.

Before them lay a red mist and a towering aura of blood.

Yes, it was the smell Challengers were most familiar with—blood!