2 Digging in Search of Survival

Compared to other magic souls and the rest of the talent abilities, the Destruction Soul could be said to be extremely useless at the earlier stages of the game.

This was because it had a lack of resources during the earlier stages of the game. In the beginning, it was difficult just to survive. Who would have the energy to break down material?

However, as a player who had already passed the closed beta, Xia Chengfeng knew clearly just how important the decomposition ability was in the later stages of the game.

After players had enough resources to ensure their survival, they would have to build their base and equipment. Those required a variety of rare materials, and it was very difficult to gather these rare materials.

If a player had the decomposition ability, he would be able to gather these materials in the shortest time possible and achieve his goal.

As for the issue of survival during the early stages of the game, Xia Chengfeng thought that he would be able to make it through the first stage since he was an experienced player.

"I choose to fuse with the Destruction Soul." Xia Chengfeng made his choice.

System notification: "You are fusing with the Destruction Soul. Please ensure that you stay conscious. If you fail, your mind will be conquered by the magic soul."

"There's even a chance of failure?" Xia Chengfeng was shocked. There had been nothing like this during the closed beta.

There had definitely been changes made to the game since the public beta. He had to pay attention to these in the future.

An illusory figure suddenly squirmed out from under the crypt and dug into Xia Chengfeng's body.

A faint image appeared in Xia Chengfeng's mind.

It was like an ancient evil deity. It was murmuring from within the abyss, spreading formless horrors throughout the world.

"Submit to me, and I will grant you eternal life and an undying body." A voice tempted Xia Chengfeng from within his mind.

"Submit, my foot! Would you have become a soul fragment if you really were undying?" Xia Chengfeng cursed.

Now, the magic soul seemed to have become infuriated by Xia Chengfeng. It started to attack his consciousness.

Xia Chengfeng felt as though he was a small boat in the middle of a tempest. There were harrowing waves all around him. The deep sea seemed to be about to devour him.

He clenched his teeth and fought through the ordeal. He recited silently to himself, "All this mumbo jumbo can't do anything to me!"

A moment later, the assault of the magic soul became weaker and weaker. The tempest gradually subsided.

System notification: "You have successfully fused with the Destruction Soul (One Star). Received talent ability -- Evil Eye of Destruction."

The interface showed that he now had a magic soul and that his talent ability was level one.

Xia Chengfeng saw that there was an additional note on the interface:

[Devouring the magic souls of others will allow your magic soul to grow. However, you should note that devouring powerful magic souls might cause you to suffer from some backlash.]

"I can even devour the magic souls of others?" Xia Chengfeng could not help but worry when he saw this.

According to the notifications, all of humanity had entered this crypt world. Everyone would have fused with a magic soul. Wouldn't that mean that he would not only have to face the dangers of the crypt world in the future, but he also had to ward off the attacks of other people at the same time?

"I'm not going to worry about it. That is something for the future. I have to settle the important issues first."

Xia Chengfeng picked up the shovel. The information about the shovel appeared in front of his eyes.

"[Ordinary Steel Shovel]: A very ordinary steel shovel. It does not have any other abilities and is of crass workmanship. It cannot dig through granite.

"Durability: 100 (The shovel will be destroyed when its durability reaches 0.)"

"That's not right. Shouldn't I also have a space bubble to store my resources and build a survival base." Xia Chengfeng asked the System.

The System replied in the form of a notification, "The space you are in is your space bubble. When you leave the cave, it will appear on the back of your hand as an invisible space inscription. Please leave the space you are in now as soon as possible."

"So that's what's going on." Xia Chengfeng looked around at the space he was in. It was a five-by-five-by-five yard space. Its area was extremely small.

The System continued, "You can increase the size of the space with a space crystal."

"Oh, yes, where's my gift bag?" Xia Chengfeng asked. "Didn't I receive a large gift bag from the closed beta?"

The System replied, "The large gift bag has been sent. Please check your inventory."

A lockless wooden box appeared in the space where he was. Xia Chengfeng opened the wooden box to find a crystal ball the size of a fist. There was also an instruction manual in the box.

The information about the crystal ball appeared in front of Xia Chengfeng.

"[Divination Crystal Ball]: It can be used to divine the future and obtain premonitions about the future. Divination will exhaust your mental energy. The accuracy of the divination is directly related to the strength of the user.

"[Instruction Manual]: Ensure that you have sufficient mental energy and that there are no dangers around you before using the item. Grab the crystal ball with your hand and think about the thing that you want to divine. The crystal ball will display the relevant information."

"To think that it is a tool of the occult." Xia Chengfeng was elated. These kinds of tools could either be really useless or really useful. It depended on how they were used.

The best use for this tool now was to seek out information about this crypt world.

To a new player, there was danger lurking in every cave. He could lose his life if he was careless.

He could greatly improve his chances of survival if he could predict whether the cave was good or bad for him.

System notification: "You can choose to dig toward the top, bottom, left, right, front, or back. You will discover a cave in every direction."

"There's no hurry. I'll divine it first." Xia Chengfeng grabbed the divination crystal ball and faced the front. He thought to himself, "What will appear if I dig toward the front?"

He sensed the divination crystal ball draw away a certain amount of his mental energy. It made him feel a little empty, as if he had just entered an ethereal state.

His body might not be able to take it if he did a few more divinations.

The color of the crystal ball changed gradually. It turned black. Soon a sentence appeared in the crystal ball: "There is a thick aura of death in front of you. It might be some dangerous slumbering undead that only wants your body."

"There's danger!" Xia Chengfeng remembered the information he'd had when he played this game in the past. There were many different kinds of undead in the crypt world.

An average new player would not encounter powerful undead creatures at the start of the game. The most they would come across were skeletons or zombies. High-level vampire counts or threatening red-haired monsters would not appear near new players.

However, because he didn't have any skills at the moment and his only weapon was a shovel, it would be difficult to fight even a skeleton. He could dig in that direction but there was no need to.

Xia Chengfeng began his second divination. "What will I discover if I dig toward the left?"

The crystal ball once again absorbed a portion of his mental energy. Xia Chengfeng felt as though he had spent the entire night in an internet cafe. He was extremely fatigued. He could fall asleep in an instant.

The crystal ball turned gray. The hint on the crystal ball read, "Sturdy granite has blocked your path. You should turn back after hitting that obstacle."

"There's granite that way. I can't dig through it at the moment." Xia Chengfeng knew that he would only be wasting his strength if he dug in that direction.

There would definitely be a cave in that direction if he could dig past the granite. However, he now lacked the necessary tools.

"I can't take it anymore. Let me take a rest for now." Xia Chengfeng had a strong desire to sleep. He closed his eyes, but did not dare to fully fall asleep. He was afraid that there could be sudden threats.

Xia Chengfeng took a short nap and felt difficulty breathing. He was also famished.

His personal status bar showed: "Current status: Mild hunger, mild dehydration, mild mental fatigue. Stamina: 9."

"I have to start work soon." He knew that he couldn't continue like this. Otherwise, he would suffocate to death or starve.

Xia Chengfeng held the crystal ball in his hand once again. "What will I discover if I dig toward the back?"

After an empty feeling assaulted him once again, the crystal ball turned green. The hint on the crystal ball read, "It is a space brimming with life. The color green will make you powerful."

"There might be food. I'll dig toward the back."

Xia Chengfeng got to work immediately. He started to dig.

The soil here was rather loose and easy to dig. The soil around the caves that the elderly, children, and women got assigned to might be even easier to dig. They might also be able to find food and water more easily. That would make it easier for them to survive.

"Stamina: 1. Soil resource: +1." A System notification appeared in Xia Chengfeng's brain.

His stamina was being depleted constantly while the soil that he dug was all being placed into his small space bubble.

The soil resource could be used for farming, creating porcelain wares, bricks, etc. However, it was also the resource that took up the most space. He could throw it away if he did not need it.

Xia Chengfeng panted in exhaustion and was covered in sweat. He had spent four stamina points to finally discover a cave.

He jumped down from the entrance of the cave. This space was more than double the size of his original cave. By this time, his initial space had already transformed into a space inscription and was marked on the back of his palm. He could enter the space at any time to store resources.

Currently, only soil and air were in his initial space.

Just as the divination crystal ball had said, this space was now covered with a vine-like plant.

The plant absorbed the light released by the space bubble and was stubbornly growing in the cave. There were even red, fist-sized berries between their branches and leaves.

"Cranberries!" Xia Chengfeng had eaten these berries when he was playing the game previously. These were common food items in the crypt world. They were not poisonous and were a little sweet. They could provide a person with vitamins, sugar, and water.

Xia Chengfeng immediately ate a berry. They were fresh, juicy, sweet, and delicious. They made him feel much better.

There were about 50 cranberries in this cave. They would last him for a month if he rationed them well.

"Other than for the cranberries, these cranberry vines are also useful items." Xia Chengfeng prepared to dig up a few of the vines to plant in his space bubble.

These vines had a stubborn vitality and were easy to grow. Furthermore, they would also provide oxygen within his space.

Xia Chengfeng's stamina recovered after he'd rested for a while. He had also soothed his hunger and thirst.

At this moment, another System notification rang out in his head, "Attention all players."

"More than 1 billion people have discovered their first cave. Crypt World will now activate the world forum."

Xia Chengfeng accessed the interface and discovered that a forum function had been added.

He tapped into the forum. It was no different from other online forums. There were only two boards open to the players.

The first was an information board for area 2222, while the second was a trading board for area 2222.

System notification: "There are 3,000 players in every sector. The area of the sectors will be enlarged when the discoveries of the crypt world reach a certain extent."

"There are 3,000 players in every sector, and I do not know just how large the sectors are." Xia Chengfeng immediately entered the information board. There was a prompt for him to accept Xia Chengfeng as his username. There was also a chance for him to change his name.

Xia Chengfeng did not wish to expose his true identity. Thus he chose to use a nickname and called himself "Breeze".

The forum had just been activated, but the information board had already been filled with hundreds of messages. They had all come from the human players who had been dragged into this world.