Scourge Messenger

Chapter 404: Life and death together

To be honest, judging from the interior effect alone, the Four Phases of Heavenly Calamity cannot be considered a top-tier Dao Foundation.

Because this Dao Foundation needs the help of teammates to be effective, it can only improve the team's combat power at best, while the truly top-tier Dao Foundation can become the cornerstone for the rise of messengers.

For example, the "Life and Death Profound Dao Foundation" that Yan Qing pursued before was also a combination of the Heavenly Gang's Maneuvering Creation and the Earthly Fiend's Connection to the Netherworld. The initial effect of the inner realm was "immediate resurrection upon death, and a permanent increase of 0.5 to 1 point of health or 0.5 to 1 point of spirit with each death (the longer you live, the greater the increase), with a low probability of increasing 0.5 points of comprehension, and refreshing Life and Death Profound Dao Foundation every 24 hours."

Five years after its launch, "The Messenger" has established itself as the undisputed number one Dao Foundation in terms of life, death, and profound Dao Foundation. For players in the real mode, it is an absolute Dao Foundation, with an extra life every day to allow for mistakes. If you die, you can immediately return to the main city and stop playing, and your attributes will even increase with each death.

Among sixth-tier players, the top fifty in total attributes are all unanimously at the Life and Death Profound Dao Foundation stage, without exception. Aside from the excessively long cultivation time, the Life and Death Profound Dao Foundation stage has virtually no weaknesses; its stats are precisely the reason for its dominance!

Yan Qing initially believed that the Dao Foundation of Life and Death was the most suitable for him. He had plenty of time now. At worst, he could commit suicide every day, gaining 180 points a year, 1800 points in ten years, and then undergoing five or six transformations. Yan Qing couldn't even imagine how outrageous his attributes would be by then.

However, just like with digital products, you should play with the new and not the old. More importantly, Yan Qing felt that the Heavenly Calamity Dao Foundation, which combines the power of Creation, Earthly Fiends, and ten points of Heavenly Calamity Karma, should be on par with the Life and Death Profound Dao Foundation, right? Although he could test it on a secondary account first, the fourth mission was imminent, and the investment of twenty points of Heavenly Calamity Karma was quite substantial. Yan Qing simply couldn't create another Calamity Dao Foundation account in a short time, so he gambled that he wouldn't be scammed.

When Yan Qing saw the effect of his Dao Foundation, he was somewhat disappointed. It was a purely auxiliary Dao Foundation with no potential for improvement. Apart from the high initial control over spiritual energy and the ease with which the Dao Foundation was maintained, there were not many highlights. He could only hope that there would be new changes after the fifth or sixth revolution.

But seeing the backs of Yaoshi Yuan and Shang Xinlei as they slaughtered their way through the enemy lines, Yan Qing suddenly felt that this might be the most suitable foundation for him.

The Pharmacist's Wish's [Dragon and Serpent] is a terrifyingly wide-range attack. In group battles, it can also cause forty-nine waves of aftershock damage. This is why the Hundred Guards were defeated by her in one move - forty-nine waves of aftershocks, triggering forty-nine true damage. Yan Qing's current Heavenly Calamity Karma is 16 points, which is 784 points of damage. Even if this damage is spread across the whole body, it is enough to shatter the bones of a mortal!

The [Dragon and Snake] shockwave likely hit about 70 or 80 people, meaning the Pharmacist caused nearly 50000 points of true damage!

Although Shang Xinlei's [Qi Blade Wheel] doesn't deal damage over a wide area, its attack frequency is ridiculously high. Her flying ring has four blades, and each rotation is four attacks. It can rotate four times per second, triggering a full sixteen instances of true damage, resulting in 256 points of unavoidable damage to the affected body parts. It would be strange if her legs weren't sawed off!
They represent two distinct development paths: area-of-effect damage and high-frequency damage. The Cataclysm is like a powerful boost to their strength! The Vanguard, who were originally no match for them, can't even get close to them now!
But can they acquire karmic debts from natural disasters?
It's hard.

In other words, it's extremely difficult for anyone to acquire a large amount of Calamity Karma, and the Four Phases of Calamity Dao Foundation solves this problem—don't be fooled by the seemingly serious phrase "entanglement of cause and effect" at the end; it actually means that all damage output from teammates is statistically recorded as Yan Qing's personal output! If Yan Qing were to run a dungeon with them now, then 100% of the damage output recorded by the system would be attributed to Yan Qing! This nominal output statistics aren't for boasting, but rather to connect with another dungeon setting: the acquisition of Calamity Karma is based solely on output data. Now, when Yan Qing purifies the dungeon with anyone, as long as teammates receive the blessing of the Four Phases of Calamity, he can monopolize all the Calamity Karma, leaving not a single drop for anyone else!

What's even more interesting is that, unlike other players who hoard the Cataclysm power, the Cataclysm Four Phases can become the core of the team. Therefore, it's not just Yan Qing who wants to obtain Cataclysm power; his teammates' desires will only be even greater!
Even now, though Yaoshi Yuan and Shang Xinlei have covered their faces, their hair is trembling with excitement. How terrifyingly powerful! Who wouldn't yearn for such a thing?

The higher Yan Qing climbs, the more glory his teammates can share.

All causes and effects befall you, and the four aspects protect all living beings!
While the Four Phases Dao Foundation of Natural Calamity may not have the same 'intra-game growth' as ​​the Dao Foundation of Life and Death Profound Understanding, its 'extra-game growth' potential is immense. It doesn't lead to any of the paths Yan Qing knows, but rather to the ultimate answer in the Natural Calamity version—a path to ascension that gathers the power of the team and propels oneself to the supreme throne!
No wonder the Four Phases of the Calamity Dao Foundation doesn't provide any bonus to the player, yet it's an exclusive Dao Foundation for the Real Mode. This is because if a player assembles a professional team, the Calamity Karma can quickly inflate to the point of numerical collapse, forcing the developers to use death to adjust the balance.

Yan Qing could easily imagine the player war mode in the Cataclysm version. It would definitely be a war centered around the Cataclysm Four Phases players. As long as the opponent's Cataclysm Four Phases were killed and the opponent's Cataclysm Stones were seized, the scales of victory would immediately tip!
“Now that there are no more worries,” Yan Qing turned to look at Yan Feili, her earrings swaying gently, “it’s time for me to deal with you, you beast.”

The three Heavenly Eyes of Qi Kingdom were no longer as calm and collected as before. They had thought that the Divine Martial Emperor's plan was foolproof. Even if a Fifth-Rank True Person attacked, it would be impossible to deal with them and the four Foundation Establishment warriors, Yan Fei Li, in a short time. Who would have thought that the other party would drive them out of the world as soon as they arrived, and the Hundred Guards were blocked outside. The only guard force left was Yan Fei Li!

However, Yan Feili's strength far surpasses that of an ordinary fourth-ranked cultivator, and the opponent is only one person, so delaying for a few hours is not a problem... The three great masters of Qi Kingdom quickly suppressed this wishful thinking, because they saw Yan Qing's eyes through the rain curtain. There was no anxiety or trepidation in the other party's pupils, only an eager fighting spirit.

The other side still has a trump card up their sleeve that they haven't revealed yet!
However, Yan Qing did not launch an attack. Instead, he bent down to pick something up, but his hands were empty. The three great sages of Qi looked closely and then noticed an ant on his fingertip.

There was probably an ant nest hidden in the cracks of the floor tiles, and the rain washed the ants out. These were probably creatures at the bottom of the food chain in the palace, unable even to escape, and could only drift with the tide and resign themselves to fate.

Just then, a piece of yellow paper appeared in Yan Qing's left hand. The paper swayed in the rain and ignited with a ghostly green flame. Within the rising flames, they saw three bold, powerful characters:

[Death and life together]!
　It's so windy outside!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)