Online game: Stealing god-level items, looking for bosses to purchase goods

That's it, the atmosphere is right.

After witnessing all of this, Chen Ming, who was hiding in the shadows, could no longer suppress the smile on his face.

This is exactly the result he wanted!

These players, faced with the nerfs in stats, simply cannot shake off their fear and dread.

To keep them here, instead of trying to eliminate their fears, it's better to give them hope.

When people have hope, they are not afraid of suffering.

Even when hope is enticing enough, the more profound the suffering, the more sweet it can be.

There is no need for further encouragement.

The players almost all sprang into action at once.

Their goal was very clear...

Deep Sea Titan!

There are quite a few deep-sea titans roaming the Great Western Ruins, and given their enormous size, Chen Ming could easily spot two or three iron lumps the size of small mountains within his field of vision.

"There are quite a few deep-sea titans..."

"System, please check the kill status of the Deep Sea Titan."

"Every time they get killed, we make it a little harder for them."

"But don't completely and rigidly imitate the data I just set... After all, there are a lot of Deep Sea Titans. If the difficulty increases by 5% every time you kill one, the difficulty will increase too quickly. Besides, if they find out that you've weakened it to the limit but still can't get the divine power, then this whole thing will be a complete disaster."

At this point, Chen Ming paused for a moment before adding, "Let's set the upper limit of the nerf at around 30%."

"As for how much weakening effect is provided for each Deep Sea Titan killed, that's up to you to allocate."

30% is the limit that Chen Ming considers the maximum.

With a 5% absorption capacity, Chen Ming can gain approximately 10,000 points of divine power per minute.

With the power increased to 30%, which is six times the previous amount, and 60,000 divine power per minute, Lingyue still has a little over two and a half hours left in her mission.

That's a total of nine million divine power in income!

But this is a completely idealized data state.

Starting from the next second, the percentage of absorption will be increased to 30%, and the players will be able to maintain their current full strength under such high pressure, without losing manpower or reducing Chen Ming's absorption sources.

With so many conditions, it is clearly impossible to achieve.

Therefore, Chen Ming could only raise the requirements as high as possible to leave himself enough room for maneuver.

The final decision was to set the percentage at 30%, not only because it provided sufficient redundancy, but also because it was Chen Ming's assessment of the maximum value that these players could withstand.

No matter how high...

These players will probably be willing but unable to do so.

"Two and a half hours left..."

"Let the system absorb it slowly."

"I'll go take a look at the second floor of the Western Ruins first."

As Chen Ming pondered this, he looked up at the rooftop.

Going ahead first will not only allow me to scout out the location and check out the situation for Ling Yue, but also give me a chance to see the sculptures of those ancient powerful figures.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't curious.

Besides those sculptures, there should be other things on the second floor. After all, it claims to be a training ground for newcomers, so it can't just be a divine rune and that's it.

If the monsters roaming the first level are for assessment purposes, they are used to select adventurers who are worth keeping and guiding.

The second layer of the trap containing divine runes will definitely be accompanied by other things to gain the players' trust and help them obtain those divine runes.

Thinking of this, Chen Ming sent a message to Su Su.

Of course, he didn't forget to tell Su Su that the idea that increasing the difficulty would grant divine power was a myth.

Once Su Su, the leader of the Nine Heavens Guild, understands the potential scam, Chen Ming doesn't need to ask any further questions about how to proceed.

Su Su, who was able to lead the Nine Heavens out of its most difficult period and firmly establish its cohesion, is absolutely capable of handling such small decision-making issues.

After receiving a reassuring reply from Su Su, who also mentioned that the Queen was being well taken care of, Chen Ming felt relieved.

We should go take a look up to the second floor.

Opening the map provided by the powerful user, the path to the second level is clear and easy to understand.

They stealthily made their way there.

Avoid the players in the battle.

In just over ten minutes, Chen Ming arrived at a bronze wall.

Just as Chen Ming stopped and wondered where the stairs were...

A powerful force suddenly locked onto him, instantly breaking his stealth state, as if a spotlight had shone on him.

"You have arrived at the entrance to the second floor, the Hall of Truth."

"Start checking the number of kills. If the check passes, proceed."

"Ding! [Powerful Permission] detected!"

"Welcome to the second floor, expert No. 23 [Tian Kui]. Wishing you a glorious new beginning!"

A few simple notifications sounded.

Chen Ming raised an eyebrow.

It turns out that you need to meet certain kill conditions to access the second floor...

No wonder Redemption Rose was willing to give Ling Yue so much time. It wasn't that they were kind-hearted; it was simply that there was a challenging assessment task involved.

Fortunately, Chen Ming, who possessed the authority of a powerful being, was able to ignore these things.

The powerful force that had been locking him away vanished, followed by a metallic cracking sound from inside the wall, and a small crack appeared in the wall.

At first glance, what you see is just a very narrow, even somewhat dark, architectural seam between two towering bronze towers.

"Is it this narrow...?"

Chen Ming frowned slightly and tentatively stepped out.

Only one foot managed to get through the crack in the door.

In that instant, the narrow slit that could only accommodate one person at a time stretched infinitely to both sides!

A vast, canyon-like space, large enough for hundreds of people to walk side by side, suddenly appeared, as if the entire bronze city had been forcibly folded inside.

The staircase slopes upwards into the sky, each step reaching a height of three meters, and is carved from a single piece of thick, almost black bronze ore.

It seemed as if the path was specially prepared for those ancient giants; mortals standing beneath it were as insignificant as ants.

The surface of the steps is covered with dark gold patterns that flow slowly like lava.

It was not a simple decoration, but a solidified divine power slowly fluctuating, with a heavy metallic resonance in the air with each breath.

Even with Chen Ming's extensive knowledge, he couldn't help but be shocked.

What an amazing staircase...

Relying on his agility and strength, he leaped up and crossed the three-meter-high steps, stepping onto the next one.

Look up.

There are at least several hundred more steps.

Just climbing up there would take so much effort.

In addition, the divine power flowing across the surface of the steps constantly influences those who climb. Feeling this atmosphere, Chen Ming gained some insight.

"This is demonstrating the power of the gods..."

"It's not just about giving those who step in a strong warning, but also about making them waver involuntarily."

"I suppose... this is setting the stage for the second floor to entice players to imitate the divine runes of ancient powerful beings."