The Boss Behind The Game

by Little Merger

Lu Wu, an aimless video game developer, had been feeling perturbed ever since he found out he was the direct descendant of a king from the underworld. Other than the title, His Excellency, his ancestor hadn’t passed down anything else to him. On top of that, all of his ancestor’s subordinates had rebelled against him and completely usurped his inherited territory. Under the circums

4. 97

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Chapter 97: Demolition Traders

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Void Ocean, Insect Island.

A ferocious and huge werewolf with fangs was circling the spiritual fields.

Staring at the holes in the spiritual fields, Xiao Tian was quaking with anger.

He could not believe that someone would dare to rob him of his treasures under his watch and they were even bold enough to murder his child.

Even though those thieves were killed, his most precious Son of the Sea was missing and this filled him with rage.

Furthermore, the Son of the Sea did not actually belong to him, it was merely borrowed from the Sea King.

His purpose of borrowing it was to nourish the spiritual fields on Insect Island with its divine powers so that he could grow special spiritual materials.

Yet now, with the Son of the Sea lost, he did not know how to tell the Sea King.

"Boss, the whole island has been searched but there is still no sign of the Son of the Sea," an orc spoke as he dashed toward Xiao Tian.

Xiao Tian's eyes darkened upon hearing that.

He always knew the temper of the Sea King. Despite the fact that he was one of the Sea King's four main generals, he would still be severely punished by the Sea King if he were to lose the Son of the Sea.

"Keep looking! Investigate which clan those thieves belong to in the Void Ocean. I'll wipe out their whole clan if I find out who they are!"

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Fury blazed in Xiao Tian but he had no place to vent.

At that moment, another orc rushed toward him from a distance.

"Boss, a few ships have arrived. The people from the ships said that they are merchants from a faraway land and they are here to trade items with us."

"Sea merchants?" Xiao Tian went blank upon hearing that.

Indeed, it was the Sea Trading Association from the Underworld Sea and this association was founded by powerful people that were on par with the Sea King or beings that were stronger than the Sea King. After sailing through oceans to acquire treasures and spiritual materials, they would sell these items to other cultivators at a higher price during the Treasure Auction, which would be held on a specific time.

However, Xiao Tian was unsure of the reason why the sea merchants came to his Insect Island. There should not be anything that they needed here.

"Go and have a look!" Xiao Tian headed toward the harbor of Insect Island as he spoke.

At the same time, Liu Chai and his men waited for Xiao Tian's arrival patiently at the harbor of Insect Island. They were wearing white armor that covered their whole bodies and their faces were hidden behind masks.

"Boss, do you think that we're exposed?" one of them whispered to Liu Chai.

Upon hearing that, Liu Chai glared at him, "Why should we be afraid? They will not be able to recognize us when we look like this. Just distract them for now, we'll find a way to get the spiritual materials later."

His men nodded in agreement and continued waiting in silence.

Even though the Demolition Guild had gone into various battles with Insect Island, Liu Chai and his men never revealed the existence of their battleships. Therefore, they had come up with this armor to disguise themselves.

Xiao Tian's massive figure appeared with an overbearing aura shortly after, hundreds of muscular orcs tailing behind him.

As Xiao Tian approached them, he took a glance at the battleships before speaking to Liu Chai who was standing in front, "Which trading entity are you from and why are you here?"

Liu Chai who had been devising his lines replied immediately, "We are from the Demolition Traders and we're here to trade items!"

Even though Xiao Tian had never heard of the name of this trading entity, he did not find anything odd. He nodded and asked, "What do you want?"

"Rumor has it that there is Derived Spiritual Rice on Insect Island and we, coincidentally, need this spiritual material. Is the island owner, Xiao Tian, willing to sell them?"

"You guys are well-informed, I do have Derived Spiritual Rice here on Insect Island but what are you guys going to trade it with?" Xiao Tian narrowed his eyes.

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Xiao Tian understood just a little about the Sea Trading Association. He knew that after purchasing his Derived Spiritual Rice, they were going to sell it for a much higher price. Therefore, he had an impulse to make some profit out of it, too.

Liu Chai, who was well-prepared, waved his hands. Noticing his motion, his subordinates carried two boxes from the battleships hurriedly and opened them in front of Xiao Tian.

A distinct herbal smell of spiritual material gushed out when the first box was opened.

The second box was loaded with over ten sets of purple class quality equipment.

Xiao Tian stepped forward to examine the two boxes before standing up and said, "The best spiritual material from this box is just Level 5 but the quality of the equipment in the other box isn't bad. However, aren't these goods a little too disappointing for a member of the Sea Trading Association?"

"Cough…"

Liu Chai cursed internally. It cost him dearly to assemble all this equipment, yet it seemed like they did not live up to Xiao Tian's expectations.

"Lord Xiao Tian, we have come a long way so we traded off most of our goods. Therefore, we are only left with these, currently. How many blades of Derived Spiritual Rice can you trade with us?"

Xiao Tian did not suspect anything. However, he found it hard to pay any attention to the goods in front of him.

In spite of that, since these people had traveled a long way and they were members of the powerful Sea Trading Association, he could not help but give them something. After thinking it through, he spoke, "Alright, I'll give you four blades of Derived Spiritual Rice. Leave these goods here!"

Upon hearing the good news, delight flashed across Liu Chai's eyes as he expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, my lord. I will definitely bring better merchandise to trade with you in the future."

Xiao Tian nodded upon hearing that. He took it as a chance to bond with a member of the Sea Trading Association.

"Follow me!"

Liu Chai signaled behind him before following Xiao Tian onto the island.

He tagged along behind Xiao Tian to the inner region of the island guarded by orcs and crossed a long bridge weaved from vines. Liu Chai and the others were surprised to find that there were many more spiritual fields in the inner region. He spotted that the Sons of the Sea were planted in every single spiritual field and this was shocking to him.

While on the way, Liu Chai counted and noticed that there were four spiritual fields. If he were to include the spiritual field on the outer region of the island, there would be a total of five spiritual fields.

All of these are soul coins! Liu Chai could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage.

Liu Chai only realized how lucky he was when he noticed how heavily guarded the inner region of the island was compared to the outer region.

Liu Chai speculated that he could get away with stealing the Son of the Sea previously because the spiritual field on the outer region was not relocatable and no one would ever dare to mess around the territory controlled by the army of the Sea King, the overlord of the Void Ocean. Therefore, they had let their guard down.

Liu Chai and the others followed Xiao Tian to a ring-shaped bay. Xiao Tian stopped and commanded his subordinates, "Go and harvest 24 blades of Derived Spiritual Rice."

After giving his order, anticipation flashed across Xiao Tian's eyes, "My honorable guests, is it possible for your trading entity to accept a bounty quest? I'm searching for someone!"

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Chapter 98: Xiao Tian's Request

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Liu Chai was dumbfounded upon hearing the bounty quest Xiao Tian spoke of.

To be honest, all the information he had on the Sea Trading Association was from a sea tribe during an island exploring trip.

As far as they knew, the Sea Trading Association was a massive joint organization. The association members travel around the sea to gather spiritual materials and treasures. The association members had a similar trait – each of them would definitely own a Specter Ship.

Upon finding out the trait of the members from the Sea Trading Association, Liu Chai got the idea of swindling by disguising as a trading entity.

However, he had no clue of anything regarding bounty quests which made him speechless for a moment.

Liu Chai pondered and said, "Lord Xiao Tian, what is your request?"

"It's a rather infuriating matter to say. Truthfully, a treasure was found missing here on Insect Island. I would like to ask for the Demolition Traders' help to find out which clan is the force behind the thieves!"

In Xiao Tian's opinion, the Sea Trading Association had a strong background and their information-gathering network was spread around most territorial waters. If they would be willing to take up the quest, finding the thieves would be an easy task.

After all, he needed to find the Son of the Sea to be able to answer to the Sea King.

Liu Chai pretended to be calm while listening to Xiao Tian's explanation but he was actually on cloud nine.

"Lord Xiao Tian, what kind of precious lost treasure needs our help? The reward we request will be over the odds!"

"The Son of the Sea!" Xiao Tian answered with a grim expression.

"What! How could it be the Son of the Sea? How dare the thieves steal a treasure as precious as such!" Liu Chai exclaimed.

"Indeed, would your trading entity be willing to take up this bounty quest? You only need to find out which clan the thieves belong to. As for the rest, I will take care of it myself!"

"There is still one thing which I do not understand. Why have you not designated men to guard a treasure as precious as the Son of the Sea? I could understand if it was snatched, but to have it stolen, I am indeed puzzled."

Liu Chai nearly laughed out when he was asking the question but he held it in.

Xiao Tian's face turned green as he listened to Liu Chai's question.

He had definitely made sure that his precious treasures like the Sons of the Sea were guarded by his army. In fact, his few strongest orcs were the ones on shift to guard the treasures. However, no accidents had happened throughout the years and this led the orcs to let down their guard, which resulted in the situation today.

"The spiritual field is located at the edge of the island and I was being careless. Will the Demolition Traders be willing to accept this task?" instead of explaining further, Xiao Tian took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"So, about the reward…"

"You'll get 20 blades of Derived Spiritual Rice as the deposit. You'll get another 30 strands if you can find out which clan is behind it!" Xiao Tian was reluctant to offer the reward but he did it anyway.

He was well aware of the consequences of losing the Son of the Sea. He was also aware that members of the Sea Trading Association were all avaricious, they would not put any effort into a job if the reward was scanty. Therefore, Xiao Tian had no choice but to grit his teeth and make a good offer.

Liu Chai was overjoyed as he heard the reward that Xiao Tian was willing to offer.

He initially thought that they were only using the identity of a sea merchant to make a deal with Xiao Tian. By the time they were supposed to hand over the goods, he would find a chance to have them snuck away and let Xiao Tian lose everything.

As for their own safety afterward, Liu Chai and the rest were ready to risk their lives just to pull a fast one on Xiao Tian when they went after him. They never thought of leaving this place alive anyway.

However, Liu Chai wanted those 50 blades of Derived Spiritual Rice more than the four blades now.

The orc who went to grab the spiritual material returned soon after and handed the bag of Derived Spiritual Rice to Xiao Tian.

Xiao Tian opened the bag to have a quick glance before handing it over to Liu Chai.

"Will you take up the task? Here are 24 blades of Derived Spiritual Rice with 20 being the deposit. I will pay you with 30 more blades after the job is done!"

"Alright! We, the Demolition Traders will definitely bring you the thieves within three days!" Liu Chai said confidently.

Xiao Tian nodded.

As a matter of fact, Xiao Tian's trust toward Liu Chai came from the huge Specter Warship which he had parked in the harbor.

The most obvious trait which could determine the ranking of a member of the Sea Trading Association would be their transportation mode.

Ordinary members of the Sea Trading Association would usually own a Specter Ship as their transport.

The Specter Warship Liu Chai had was usually owned only by members with higher rankings in the Sea Trading Association.

The crafting of a Specter Warship would require a high price as an abundance of materials would be needed and the warship would have outstanding power after completion. This made Xiao Tian think that a highly-ranked member like him would not pocket merely 20 blades of Derived Spiritual Rice.

However, little did he know, under Bei Li's settings, these Specter Warships were merely empty shells, not end products. It would require players to gather materials and build it up all on their own.

Liu Chai was thrilled as he stretched out his arms to receive the Derived Spiritual Rice from Xiao Tian. He then put up a message in the guild live chat channel.

"Brothers, hand over the goods to them. You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs! I shall gain more benefits from Xiao Tian."

His men placed the two boxes down after receiving his orders.

Xiao Tian was delighted to hear Liu Chai's guarantee. He thought that he still had a chance to retrieve the Son of the Sea with the help of the Sea Trading Association's powerful information-gathering network.

After the deal was done, Liu Chai and his men returned to the harbor calmly while an orc led the way.

The spiritual fields and spiritual plants they saw along the way made them envious and they strived to take over this piece of land one day.

Liu Chai and his men removed their masks and burst out laughing after boarding the battleship and after having traveled a certain distance to make sure that those from Insect Island could no longer watch what they were up to.

"Xiao Tian is such an idiot, 24 spiritual materials! We're rich! We're rich!"

"Boss, why must we hand over those two boxes? The equipment and spiritual materials cost us a fortune," one of the men exclaimed with distress.

"What a fool, that was a trap. Didn't you hear what he said? We can have another 30 blades of Derived Spiritual Rice if we could find the thieves!"

"Where do we find the thieves?" he was dazed.

"Aren't you and I the thieves that he's looking for?" Liu Chai burst into laughter. He was already plotting his next move in his mind.

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Chapter 99: The Excited Fool

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

The next day in the Void Ocean, Insect Island.

A Specter Warship was sailing toward the island from the sea afar. Liu Chai informed the orc who was guarding the harbor the intention of their visit upon their arrival.

Xiao Tian hurried over to the harbor as soon as he received the news.

Looking at the familiar figures of Liu Chai and his men, Xiao Tian was rather buzzed.

He knew that the Demolition Traders would not have returned the next day if the thieves who stole the Son of the Sea were not found.

"Have you found the thieves who stole the Son of the Sea?" Xiao Tian looked at Liu Chai and asked agitatedly.

Liu Chai nodded calmly, "Not only did I find the thieves, but I have also seized them for you."

Liu Chai waved his hand toward his back while he spoke. Three players with heavy armor were then brought down from the battleship.

Looking at the three players who were chained up before him, Xiao Tian could not believe his eyes.

How could the thieves who stole the Son of the Sea be caught so easily? That was rather effortless. He thought the Demolition Traders came back with some news, it was totally unexpected to him that they had already caught the thieves.

"Boss, they should be it, there shouldn't be any mistakes. They look quite similar to the thieves, they should belong to the same clan," an orc who had blood stains all over his body and a badly beaten face stood out and said.

Xiao Tian looked at the three chained up players with a cold expression upon hearing what his subordinate said.

"Are you the ones who stole the Son of the Sea? Answer me!"

Xiao Tian went ahead to punch one of the players on his chest while asking.

Xiao Tian did not use much power on his punch, yet the player spat out blood, wailing in agony.

Watching how his underling, who had his sense of pain sealed away, making up such a good act, Liu Chai nodded with satisfaction silently.

These underlings were the few rather quick-witted ones from his guild. They were specifically chosen by Liu Chai to deceive Xiao Tian and to swindle the remaining 30 blades of spirit materials.

Xiao Tian then extended his hand to pull that player's hair to lift his head, "Answer me! Are you the ones who stole the Son of the Sea?"

With a painful expression, the player spat a mouthful of blood toward Xiao Tian's face, "It's me, so what?"

Xiao Tian's face got purple with rage upon hearing the player's confession. However, he sensed that something was off right when he was about to continue questioning.

The player admitted too eagerly as if he had been waiting for him to question him.

This made Xiao Tian's heart sink. He asked again, "There must be someone behind this, you must be a scapegoat. Tell me, who is the one behind the theft of the Son of the Sea?"

Upon hearing Xiao Tian's question, Liu Chai could not help but send another message in the guild live chat channel.

"That's right, let him suspect you. It would be best to let him think that there is a big organization behind you, you better put up a good act!"

The player looked toward Xiao Tian and laughed upon hearing what Liu Chai ordered, "What are you talking about? It's just us. We snuck onto the island from the seaside and hid next to the spiritual field for a few hours. I took the opportunity to steal the Son of the Sea when the guards were changing shifts. My partner who stayed off was killed!"

"Oh, right, I even killed your son. What was his name again? Gou Dan, right?" the player continued with a sneer.

Xiao Tian was outraged. He raised his arm and slapped the player's face until it was badly mutilated.

"It's really you! How dare you, tell me where the Son of the Sea is now!"

Seeing how the player had provoked Xiao Tian's anger, Liu Chai went on to send a message again on the guild live chat channel.

"Good one, carry on with your acting! You will have your share of the spiritual material!"

The player who was slapped was overjoyed as he heard that but he remained to look feeble.

"Son of the Sea? Too bad, it is already sold off by our boss. Do you want it? Go look for him by yourself!"

The player's words provoked Xiao Tian to a great extent. He would have just killed the players off with one slap if they did not hold any clues.

"I knew it, there is someone behind this. Tell me who is your boss and I will let you off!" realizing how stubborn the player was on keeping his mouth shut, Xiao Tian changed his mode of questioning.

"You should worry about the other four Sons of the Sea on Insect Island instead. Trying to look for our boss? In your dreams!"

The player's words gave Xiao Tian quite a scare as it made him realize that the organization behind the theft of the Son of the Sea seemed to be plotting their next steal. What made him even more distressed was the fact that this person could even point out that there were four Sons of the Sea remaining on the island accurately.

A theft with plots and plans? A thought came across Xiao Tian's mind.

Xiao Tian was further enraged. He was not sure of what organization was behind it nor who would go this far in targeting him. Thinking of how they might plot to steal the remaining four Sons of the Sea, Xiao Tian felt uneasy and alerted at the same time.

He could still explain himself in front of the Sea King if only one Son of the Sea was lost. Although he might get beaten up badly, he could still keep his life.

However, Xiao Tian was clear that his only chance of survival was to flee from the Void Ocean if the remaining four Sons of the Sea were to be stolen as the Sea King would never let him off easily.

Xiao Tian was eager to find out who was the one plotting against the theft at that moment.

"Do you really think that I have no other ways to deal with you? We have plenty of means of extortion on Insect Island. You better speak the truth if you don't wish to suffer," Xiao Tian refused to give up asking.

Yet, the three players remained stubborn as if they would rather die than give in.

Looking at the situation, Xiao Tian waved his hand and ordered his subordinates to detain those three players in the inner region of the island.

Xiao Tian cupped his hands before his chest showing a sign of respect toward Liu Chai after the three players had been taken away.

"The Demolition Traders really do live up to their name, you have my respect. If I may ask, can you take up another request from me?"

Liu Chai laughed in the guild live chat channel upon hearing those words.

"Brothers, look at that fool, he really fell for it! He even uttered nonsense about the Demolition Traders living up to its name as if he really knows! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

The guild members could not contain their laughter as they all cheered in the live chat.

"Lord Xiao Tian, to be frank, we have mustered a great deal of our guild's information-gathering network. We found traces from the smallest clue and even went ahead to catch the thieves personally…"

Xiao Tian immediately understood what Liu Chai was trying to say and raised his hand to stop him from continuing although he had not finished speaking.

"100 blades of Derived Spiritual Rice. Find the mastermind behind this. I, Xiao Tian, will pay you the reward you deserve!"

Xiao Tian's offer got the Demolition Guild members' hearts pumping up.

Liu Chai nodded while acting calm.

"Since Lord Xiao Tian is so sincere, the Demolition Traders will definitely do our best!"

Xiao Tian had a smile on his face upon hearing what he said. He then took over the 30 blades of Derived Spiritual Rice prepared earlier from the hands of one of his subordinates and handed it over to Liu Chai.

"I, Xiao Tian, look forward to the Demolition Traders' next visit!"

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Chapter 100: Joint Operation

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Liu Chai was all prepared to con Xiao Tian again.

Sure enough, having to worry about the safety of the four remaining Sons of the Sea he had in his hand, Xiao Tian got fooled again. He eagerly wanted to find out the person behind the robbery.

To his surprise, Xiao Tian was willing to give out a hundred pots of Derived Spiritual Rice as the bounty, which were worth as much as 50,000 soul coins. Liu Chai was very tempted by such a huge sum of money.

However, following his discussion with members of his guild, he came up with a new idea.

After careful consideration, he looked up Gu Yu on his friends list and added him.

Shortly after, a notification popped up, showing that his friend request had been accepted.

Gu Yu: "Why the sudden friend request? Does this mean that you are ready to accept my suggestion and merge your Demolition Officers into our Myth Guild?"

Liu Chai: "You wish! My guild is now stronger than ever, crushing your people is just a matter of time. Don't be too arrogant!"

Gu Yu: "So? What's the point of adding me? (laughing emoji)"

Liu Chai: "There's this profitable deal that I can't handle alone, do you want in?"

Gu Yu: "What kind of deal? Please don't tell me that you want to sell soul coins to me, too. Anyway, I can take your entire stock if that's your intention. (laughing emoji)"

Liu Chai: "…"

Liu Chai: "I found an island full of advanced spiritual materials, but its defense forces are extremely powerful. I want you to cooperate with me, and once it's done, we can split the prize!"

Gu Yu: "Fifty-fifty? (laughing emoji)"

Liu Chai: "Just so you know, there are four Sons of the Sea on this island. It's your honor that I'm offering you this opportunity. So come if you wish, you should know that you are not my only option!"

Upon hearing about the presence of the four Sons of the Sea, Gu Yu lost his usual composure in an instant: "Yes! Yes, I'm in! Where are you now? I'll go to you, let's sort this out face to face!"

……

After getting Liu Chai's current location, Gu Yu rushed toward the coast of Liuli along with a few other guild members.

The Sons of the Sea were Epic level treasures, something that could only be obtained by luck. Hence, the offer was extremely attractive, even for someone like Gu Yu. He would never let such a chance slip away.

Upon meeting each other, Liu Chai shared all the information he had about Insect Island with Gu Yu, including how he obtained one Son of the Sea, and his subsequent tricking of Xiao Tian.

Gu Yu was staggered by what Liu Chai did on Insect Island.

But at the same time, he was quite excited. He had never thought that such a land full of treasures would exist. Now, he finally knew where Liu Chai had acquired his Son of the Sea.

"So how are we going to do this?"

Liu Chai nodded, "My idea is pretty simple. When the time comes, all of you will act as the masterminds behind the theft of the Son of the Sea. I will then report your coordinates to Xiao Tian so that he would lead his army to surround you. We, the Demolition Officers, together with those that I have invited as support, will be the main force launching the attack on Insect Island, raiding the Field of Spirits when its defenses are at its weakest."

After giving it some thought, Gu Yu felt that the plan was indeed workable, but there was just one thing that did not make sense.

"But from what you have told me, Xiao Tian's army is tremendously powerful. The orcs that are left behind to protect the island should be very hard to defeat as well. Won't it be tough for us to sweep into the island merely with the strength of the Demolition Guild?"

At this exact moment, numerous silhouettes appeared at a distance.

"Who said that you are the only one invited?" Wu Guoyi laughed as he walked toward them steadily, his signature greatsword strapped to his back.

"The Son of the Sea! I love it, I'm calling dibs!" Ye Xue'er also approached them at a steady pace, along with hundreds of her subordinates.

"Finders keepers, I want one, too!" Chen Ziyu's voice came from the other side.

"You called so many people?" Gu Yu stared at Liu Chai, looking disappointed.

"Just as you said, the defense of Insect Island is extremely formidable! To be safe, we must unite all our forces. Once we have taken Insect Island, each guild will take twenty percent of the loot. As there are only four Sons of the Sea, the Demolition Guild will take one, and the remaining three will be distributed among the four guilds by means of drawing lots!"

"Since you already have one, why can't you just be generous and let us split the remaining four?" Sun Qi, who was squatting beside Gu Yu, could not help but interrupt.

Liu Chai shrugged, "Being the initiator, it's only natural for me to have dibs. I will leave it to you guys to decide whether you still want in, or not."

Upon hearing this, the other four fell silent. As for now, only Liu Chai knew the location of Insect Island, thus he was in a position of power. After reconsidering the proposition, everyone decided to agree on the terms.

Following that, the five of them immediately started a discussion right there on the beach, plotting their plan of action.

As the result of an hour-long debate, they decided that the strongest guild among them – the Myth Guild, should be the bait. The other guilds would stormInsect Island after Xiao Tian led his army out.

Following the finalization of their plan, all five guilds started gathering manpower through their guild's live chat channel, assembling players who were scattered around various areas.

To ensure maximum efficiency in their cooperation, the five guilds were connected to the same channel for easier communication, and to prevent unforeseen circumstances during the operation.

When they were all set, Liu Chai led his men to board their Demolition Warship, setting their course for Insect Island. Trailing far behind them were the Avengers Warship, the Guardian Angels Warship, and the Great Dragon Warship.

The members of the Myth Guild, on the other hand, headed directly toward the deserted Fallen Fish Island. Their plan was to camp there, getting themselves ready to face Xiao Tian's army, which would be arriving at any possible moment.

For the first time ever, five guilds, with the combined strength of almost 5,000 people, started their coordinated strategic alliance.

……

Arriving at Insect Island once again, the orcs were now able to recognize Liu Chai. Rather than being wary of him, they announced his arrival to Xiao Tian right away.

Xiao Tian quickly made his appearance at the pier.

"Any news?" Xiao Tian asked, his face lit up in anticipation.

Liu Chai nodded while pretending to be calm."Good news, Island Owner Xiao Tian! We have discovered the forces behind the theft! However, I wasn't able to capture them for you as their troops numbered around tens of thousands of people."

Liu Chai had deliberately reported about ten times more than the actual number of the Myth Guild's garrison, so that Xiao Tian would lead more manpower off the island.

"Terrific!" exhilarated by the news, Xiao Tian took two steps forward and patted Liu Chai on his shoulder.

"Where are these people? I will go and capture them personally! It's just tens of thousands of people. Even if they have millions of men on this Void Ocean, we the Sea King Army, are still the ones in charge!"

Knowing that the wire-pullers had been found, Xiao Tian seemed to be elated.

He was not afraid of the strength of his enemy at all. The real pain in the neck was the fact that he could not find out who was behind the theft.

"This force must have come from the outer territorial waters as they are now stationed on Fallen Fish Island. If you want to catch the masterminds, time is of the essence. They seemed to have noticed me when I was scouting them out, so they might shift their base to a new island at any moment."

Xiao Tian nodded, "Good! I, Xiao Tian, hereby express my utmost appreciation for the assistance provided by the Demolition Traders. Wait for me here, I will reward you with a hundred pots of Derived Spiritual Rice after I have captured the masterminds."

Liu Chai nodded calmly, "By the way, Island Owner, I must remind you that this force is highly mysterious. Besides that, their strength is unfathomable. You have to be careful."

At this, Xiao Tian put on his serious face.

"I am aware of this, too. I have tried every single trick I had on the three thieves you brought here. Still, we weren't able to extract any useful information out of them. I can't figure out what creatures they are. The thing that surprised me the most was that once they were dead, they turned into black fog and disappeared, not leaving a soul behind. This is absolutely unbelievable!"

Liu Chai nodded, "To ensure that the thieves can be taken down, do you need us to lend you some troops from our side?"

Liu Chai certainly did not intend to lend out his people, but he wanted to provoke Xiao Tian by consistently emphasizing that the hidden forces on Fallen Fish Island were indeed incredibly powerful.

Nevertheless, Xiao Tian was as confident as ever.

"On this Void Sea, we the Sea King Army, have never feared these foreign forces! Even a dragon would still need to show us its respect! I can handle this!"

"Guards, assemble the Orc Army! Follow my lead out to the sea and we shall capture the culprits behind the scene!"

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Chapter 101: Raiding The Insect Island

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Liu Chai was hoping that Xiao Tian would deploy numerous garrisons on the interior of the island.

Very soon, there were myriads of armored orcs lining up in the interior and assembling at the port.

"My fellow comrades of the Demolition Traders, please wait for me here. I'll come back once I've captured the wire-pullers!" Xiao Tian took out a blue bead from his armor as he spoke before he tossed it into the ocean.

The blue bead began to dissolve once it came in contact with the water. Ripples and bubbles appeared on the surface of the ocean.

After some time, many huge dark shadows emerged from the surface of the ocean. The gigantic sea creatures jumped out of the ocean one after another and the numbers of the creatures continued to increase.

In a blink of an eye, there were already thousands of sea creatures gathering at the port. The scene was spectacular.

"Set out! Don't let the thieves escape!" as he spoke, Xiao Tian leapt up and landed on the back of a massive sea creature, which appeared to be a whale.

Upon seeing that, all the other orcs followed and climbed to the back of the sea creatures one after another.

Once everything was ready, Xiao Tian waved his arm, the huge army of sea creatures then advanced toward Fallen Fish Island.

After he made sure that the army of Xiao Tian had disappeared from sight, Liu Chai immediately made an announcement in the joint guild live chat channel.

"Gu Yu, stay alert! Xiao Tian is on his way, buy us some time. The other three guilds, prepare to go ashore!"

Upon receiving the news, Wu Guoyi and the others who were laying low along the shoreline around the island summoned their warships before they sailed toward Insect Island.

After he delivered the message to the other four guilds, Liu Chai turned to look at the orcs that were guarding the port.

He said with a grin, "Brother, do you mind letting us into the interior of the island?"

The orc was stunned by the request before it immediately shook its head, "Without any order from the Island Owner, no one is allowed to enter the interior!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. This is the rule set by the Island Owner. How can we alter it?"

"It's such a waste then!"

As Liu Chai spoke, the two soldiers, who were initially standing behind him, took a step forward. They lifted their battle axes and mercilessly slashed the orc's face.

The abrupt attack caught the orc off guard and severely injured them. Fortunately, the orc was wearing a helmet. Therefore, the attack was not fatal but it did feel a little light-headed after receiving the blow.

When it was about to shout for help, Liu Chai took a step forward. With a red flash, his power was boosted to the maximum before he violently struck a punch on the orc.

The punch was so powerful that it dented the orc's face before it killed the orc on the spot.

After the orc died, Liu Chai beckoned his members on the warship, signaling them to disembark.

However, even after all the guild members had gathered, Liu Chai did not immediately launch an attack. Instead, he started a waiting game.

Although a major part of defense forces on the interior of the island had been removed, the remaining orcs that were guarding the island were the immensely powerful orcs. Their guild was no match for the orcs.

Only when the four guilds joined forces, they would have a chance of winning!

Soon, the warships from the other three guilds came into sight as they sailed rapidly toward the port.

After the ships were docked, Wu Guoyi and his crew disembarked from their warships and went down the stairs before they hurried to Liu Chai's side.

"Hurry up and gather around! We don't have much time. It only depends on how much time Brother Gu Yu can buy us!"

Upon seeing the arrival of the aids, Liu Chai changed away his white armor into a purple outfit.

They had chosen Fallen Fish Island because, among the other islands discovered by the players, this island was the furthest from Insect Island. Moreover, there were no garrisons on Fallen Fish Island, allowing Gu Yu and the others to get prepared without having to worry about being chased out by the other marine tribes.

Although, compared to Fallen Fish Island, the Liuli Coast was actually further to Insect Island, they would prefer not to lead the disaster to the other players. Therefore, Fallen Fish Island was their first choice. Even so, they needed at least two hours to travel back and forth from the two islands and their time was limited.

"Since you're familiar with the interior of the island, you will lead us this time," Wu Guoyi said as he looked at Liu Chai.

Although the four guilds fought frequently, they knew each other very well. Liu Chai was a short-tempered person, but an admirable guild leader. Besides, his ability was well-recognized among the other members.

Liu Chai nodded before he raised his fist, "Fellow brothers, the fortunes are right in front of us. Let's bring them down together!"

"Attack!"

The members of the four guilds raised their weapons and cried in unison.

The guild members, who were participating in the current raid, knew exactly what was on the island and they would eventually have a share of the resources, too. Therefore, they were all in high spirits at that moment.

Under Liu Chai's leadership, the guild allies strode across the long vine bridge and headed directly to the interior of the island.

They expected to run into garrisons around the long vine bridge which were all connected. However, it seemed like their operations had diverted their troops. This had boosted Liu Chai's confidence in winning the raid.

There were no obstacles along their way. Under the leadership of Liu Chai, all the players rushed toward the first spiritual field once they arrived.

However, they ran into a patrol that consisted of three hundred orcs.

The orcs were shocked when they saw the players. After all, the island had not been intruded for many years. Therefore, they were dumbfounded by the unannounced arrival of this many trespassers.

"Attack!" Liu Chai cried loudly. Then, thousands of players followed suit and yelled furiously before they charged the Orc Patrol.

When the leader of the Orc Patrol regained its composure, it quickly grabbed the orc beside it, "Ring the alarm. Quick!"

Upon the command, the orc promptly dashed for the alarm. The leader of the Orc Patrol then turned toward the players before he raised his axe and said, "How dare you offend the Sea King Navy! Attack!"

The two parties instantly broke into a fight.

Since the time limit for this war was very short and they knew that Gu Yu could not hold for too long, Liu Chai and the others were extremely anxious. Naturally, they would not stand by and watch.

The berserkers and the Rune Masters who were at the frontline went head-on toward the orcs and started a melee.

The frontline of both parties were equipped with heavy armor and weapons. During the battle, the muscles of all the warriors were seen contracting as they fought. Sparks flew as the weapons were struck together, showcasing the intensity of the fight.

Water Turrets were gradually formed right behind the army. Numerous water cannonballs were then shot toward the Orc Patrol.

"All assassins, divide yourselves into two teams and activate your Shadow Steps. Look for an opportunity to assassinate them!"

Following Liu Chai's rave, the assassin players who were standing in the center of the troop separated into two groups before they transformed into shadows and assassinated the Orc Patrol from both sides.

The atmosphere was lit up by flashes after more flashes as the assassin players seized each vital moment and took away the life of those wounded orcs.

Only the elite players of the guilds were present in this battle. At this moment, all players were flaunting their top-notch skills. The orcs were driven into a corner and their numbers were significantly reduced.

"Too-toom!"

Just then, a melodious sound of the trumpet resounded across the island!

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Chapter 102: Xiao Tian's Return

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

The trumpet was blown, alerting every orc who was defending.

Knowing that the Orc Army was arriving soon, Liu Chai made another announcement on the guild live chat, "Kill all these orcs first and prepare to confront the Orc Army!"

Upon hearing this, the players grew more aggressive. Some of the players seized the opportunity and pounced onto the orcs, sacrificing themselves in order to create a chance for their teammates to kill them.

Nevertheless, if they were to kill one life by losing another life, they would still have the upper hand, owing to their huge numbers.

Under such a frenzied attack, before long, there were only dozens left out of the initial hundreds of orcs.

The remaining orcs knew that they could not win the fight and intended to flee the scene. However, all at once, the assassin players began to drive the orcs into a corner.

After the onslaught, the Orc Patrol was completely annihilated.

"Hurry up and loot everything from the first spiritual field!" Liu Chai pointed at the spiritual field and he yelled.

The players briefly adjusted their positions before they dashed for the spiritual field.

After five minutes of sprinting, the spiritual field, which was obscured by a faint golden fog of soul energy, came into their sight.

The few orcs, who were guarding the spiritual field, were in daze when they saw the enormous number of troops made up of thousands of players.

"Attack!"

Following the roaring command, the players charged toward the enemies.

It was then when the leader of the orcs took out an item from its pocket. With a violent pull, a shroud of fog was shot into the air.

"He's sending a signal. Everyone, stay alert! Warriors, go to the frontline. Assassins and mages, collect spiritual materials. Loot everything!"

After Liu Chai's command, the berserkers tensed their bodies and ran toward the orcs. The ceaseless attack effectively chased the orcs out from the spiritual field.

The players at the back seemed overjoyed and started to collect the spiritual materials as fast as they could before storing them in the channel.

The Son of the Sea in the middle of the spiritual field was extracted by the players and was kept in the channel, too.

The spiritual field was easily raided by the players and the orcs were murdered right after they were done collecting the materials!

When Liu Chai led his comrades toward the second spiritual field, they encountered the army of thousands of orcs who had assembled after they received the signal.

Liu Chai and the others started to worry after seeing them.

"Get ready to fight!"

Upon listening to Liu Chai's command, all players got into their respective positions.

The orc leader, who had already noticed the players, swung its spiked club forward. Its muscles expanded as it let out a thunderous roar.

A battle broke out once again.

The players had lost all their advantages in the fight this time. Although they still outnumbered the orcs, one orc could win against a few players.

Especially the orc leader. Its strength was way stronger than the Ghost Supreme Commander whom the players killed previously.

Liu Chai's expression grew solemn as he realized that the players were barely having an upper hand against the orcs. He reckoned that it would not be a good choice to drag this battle on any longer as the worst situation would have come true when Xiao Tian returned with his army.

"Each guild should send a team of assassins to the other spiritual fields to seize the spiritual materials by activating Shadow Step. I've already sent the coordinates through the channel. Quick!"

Promptly, Wu Guoyi and the others deployed a batch of assassins from the guild live chat to seize the spiritual materials according to the coordinates given.

Upon receiving Liu Chai's command, four clouds of shadows immediately left the camp and rushed to the assigned locations.

"Stop them!" seeing that the players had left the camps, the orc leader immediately knew what they were up to and shouted to his subordinates at the rear.

The Orc Army sent out four groups of forces to chase after the assassin players.

……

Lu Wu was aware of the players' activities. In the meantime, he was observing them in real time, too.

The current battle was significant to Lu Wu, too. According to Bei Li, if the players won the war, the Derived Spiritual Rice that they harvested would help him to transform into a human form again and acquire the first skill, the Power of the Dark Beast.

Besides, Lu Wu found that Gu Yu and the others who were guarding Fallen Fish Island had already confronted Xiao Tian.

The battle at Fallen Fish Island was different. It was a pyrrhic victory.

Although Gu Yu owned the inheritance of the Demonic God, it was nothing when compared to Xiao Tian whose ability was of the similar tier as the Ghost General.

The war only lasted less than 30 minutes before it quickly ended. All the players from the Myth Guild were wiped out while Gu Yu and a few other leaders were captured alive.

……

In the meantime, on the shore of Fallen Fish Island.

Xiao Tian stared at Gu Yu who was apprehended before he asked with a ferocious expression, "Where is the Son of the Sea now?"

Gu Yu remained silent as he lowered his pain receptor, intending to buy some time.

However, out of Gu Yu's expectation, Xiao Tian who was about to continue the interrogation, changed his expression all of a sudden.

Just then, the red light on his Communication Gemstone began to flicker. With that, Xiao Tian immediately knew that Insect Island had been intruded.

Recalling the entire battle, he thought something was amiss as the power behind the curtain was so weak and the number of their troops did not achieve tens of thousands as what was mentioned by the Demolition Traders. Everything did not make sense.

Immediately, Xiao Tian turned around and shouted to his members at the rear.

"Everyone, get onto the sea monsters now and head back to Insect Island immediately! We've fallen into their trap!"

Gu Yu was shocked upon seeing Xiao Tian's reaction.

He had no clue how Xiao Tian discovered that Insect Island was invaded. If Xiao Tian managed to rush back to the island now, their plan would fail.

He made a quick decision and said, "Xiao Tian, aren't you interested in the whereabouts of the Son of the Sea? I'll tell you!"

However, Gu Yu did not expect that Xiao Tian would glare at him and slap his head brutally, killing Gu You on the spot.

After that, Xiao Tian threw a glimpse at the other players before he waved his claws. Streams of black light were shot across the air, killing all the players Xiao Tian intended to torture and interrogate and left only Sun Qi.

Sun Qi did not get killed but was caught by Xiao Tian. Xiao Tian brought Sun Qi along before he mounted the sea creature and raced back to Insect Island.

On Insect Island, both parties had fallen into a deadlock. Neither of the teams seemed to be winning.

This had significantly perturbed Liu Chai. Therefore, he quickly dispatched more manpower to help the teams who were trying to steal the spiritual materials.

Although this would increase the pressure of the battle, stealing the spiritual materials was their main goal. If they failed to obtain the spiritual materials, they would fail their mission even if they won the battle.

In the meantime, the assassins that were deployed earlier had sent their feedback about the plundering on the live chat.

Three of the teams were stopped by the orcs who were guarding the spiritual fields. Only one team had successfully stolen a unique spiritual material from one of the spiritual fields.

However, those orcs who knew that they could not win had surrounded the Son of the Sea to protect it. So the team was still trying to break through the orcs' defenses in order to get the Son of the Sea.

According to the feedback of the dispatched players, Liu Chai would occasionally choose a few players from the battle to assist in the plundering, thus increasing the pressure of the battle.

At this moment, numerous shadows of the sea creatures took shape on the shore of Insect Island.

Xiao Tian's eyes were filled with rage as soon as he saw the island. He leapt off the back of the sea creature, stepped on the waves, and dashed for Insect Island's port.

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Chapter 103: Squid, The Sea Merchants

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

On Insect Island, Liu Chai, who was fighting against the entire Orc Army, continued to dispatch more manpower. At this moment, his expression went through an abrupt change.

This was because Sun Qi told him over the live chat channel that Xiao Tian had arrived on Insect Island and had discovered their activity.

The news had upset Liu Chai. They had indeed underestimated the strength of the military forces on Insect Island. However, it was all too late now. His voice roared across the live chat channel.

"Everyone, split up and loot as many spiritual materials as you can at the given coordinates! Xiao Tian is back!"

Upon hearing Liu Chai's command, Wu Guoyi and his peers promptly ordered their guild members to split up.

As a result, the player's battle array was instantly destroyed by the orcs. A great number of forefront berserkers had fallen and the orcs charged directly at the mage who were stationed at the rear of the garrison and began the massacre.

Nevertheless, the players were no longer focusing on the fight. Each of them had picked a direction and ran toward the spiritual fields after they were dispersed.

"Howl…"

At this moment, a deafening wolf's howl resonated across the whole island before the silhouette of an enormous blue wolf ran past at a high speed. Every player who came in contact with the silhouette was instantly set ablaze and burned by a blue flame before their bodies instantly melted away.

As the silhouette of the wolf relentlessly ran around the players, the number of players was significantly reduced. This had put the other players in an immensely stressful environment, causing them to despair.

"Our boss is back! Kill them!" the orc leader growled and the entire Orc Army had regained their fighting spirit.

Now that the war was coming to an end, Liu Chai and the teams were already scattered across different spiritual fields, finishing up on their final loot.

Any additional spiritual plants being collected now were considered as profit earned. Therefore, all the players had stopped fighting and raced into the spiritual fields to collect the spiritual plants instead.

"Howl…"

Xiao Tian's thundering roar resounded once again. Three shadows of blue wolves escaped his body and dashed for the remaining three spiritual fields while he stationed himself at the end of the long vine bridge.

Xiao Tian was currently incensed. He had never foreseen himself being tricked like this.

Everything the Demotion Traders said about the man behind the curtain was nothing but a lie! The real masterminds behind this ruse were the Demolition Traders.

Recalling how Liu Chai told him that the hidden boss was longing for the other four Son of the Seas on this island, Xiao Tian was enraged.

Before long, the orcs that had been sent out earlier had returned concurrently and were eliminating the remaining players.

This time, the players could no longer withstand the onslaught. One after another, they were killed before they turned into black smoke and exited the game.

Xiao Tian, who had returned to the center of the island once again, was pained when he saw the damage done to the spiritual fields.

Despair grew in him when the orcs combed the entire inner island and found out that all the spiritual materials and the Son of the Seas that were looted by the invaders had mysteriously disappeared.

Xiao Tian controlled the Shadow Wolf remotely as he guarded the long vine bridge, intending to prevent anyone from stealing the spiritual materials. Despite the fact that no one had escaped under his watch, the spiritual materials had still vanished.

The news instantly paled Xiao Tian as he knew he was doomed to die!

The Sea King would never forgive him!

After he mulled over the situation, Xiao Tian peered at Sun Qi, who was still in his grasp, and relaxed his face.

This White Phantom was the spiritual beast of the world. One's cultivation would grow by consuming its flesh. Therefore, it was as valuable as a Son of the Sea. He could only beg for mercy from the Sea King by offering this White Phantom.

Sun Qi, who was under Xiao Tian's captivity, was flustered, knowing that all the other players, save for him, had been killed. Furious, he kicked Xiao Tian at his waist.

"When are you going to kill me?"

Xiao Tian was surprised when he heard Sun Qi's words, "You can talk?"

"Both of us are dogs. Why don't you just let me go!" Sun Qi said while looking expectantly at Xiao Tian.

"Dog? I'm a Sea Wolf Demon and you're a White Phantom, neither of us is a dog!"

Xiao Tian was stunned, "You can speak? Are you a mutant?"

Similarly, Sun Qi was shocked, ergo he glowered. He was already sad to have been turned into a dog. Now, he was even seen as a mutant. If he was capable of fighting, he really wanted to have 300 rounds of battles with Xiao Tian.

"Do you know where the creatures hid the spiritual materials? I will release you once you provide me with an answer!" Xiao Tian asked, all of a sudden.

Upon hearing that, Sun Qi spread his arms wide, "Well, just kill me now then!"

Initially, Xiao Tian was going to bring Sun Qi to the Sea King. But knowing that Sun Qi could speak, halfway through the journey he decided to change his plan and interrogate him by trying to obtain some useful information. He reckoned that he might still have a chance to retrieve the Son of the Sea.

Just then, an orc arrived hastily to report a message.

"Boss, there's a big ship at the port, claiming that they are the members of the Sea Trading Association. They have even brought along a token from the Sea King!"

Xiao Tian was once again infuriated upon hearing the news before he gave a loud shriek. He levitated into the air and flew toward the pier.

At the port, a green-skinned, round-headed man, with a pair of big ears and narrowed eyes, was waiting for something. At the speed of light, Xiao Tian descended from the sky and plummeted to the ground, giving the man a scare.

After recognizing the man as Xiao Tian, the man heaved a sigh of relief and presented the token from the Sea King, the Grass of Vanity.

"Xiao Tian, the Island Owner, I am Squid of the Western Trading Association. With the consent of the Sea King, I am here for the Son of the Sea!"

After he took a look at the Grass of Vanity, Xiao Tian glared at him.

"You punk. I see you've even gotten the Sea King's Grass of Vanity. It seems like you will not stop until you have all the Son of the Seas on my Insect Island!"

Squid was stunned for a moment, "This Grass of Vanity is indeed authentic. Moreover, we the Western Trading Association, have spent a lot to trade the Son of the Sea from the Sea King. However, the Sea King had informed us that the Son of the Sea is with you, and you will pass it to us once we present the token of Sea King."

Upon hearing these words, Xiao Tian's eyes were filled with rage. He reached out to grab Squid by his neck and slowly lifted him up.

"It was the Demolition Traders before, and now, comes the Western Trading Association. You seem to be rather persistent, trying to push me into the corner with one scam after another. This time, I will not fall for it…"

As he spoke, the muscles on Xiao Tian's right hand expanded. A crack sounded across the atmosphere and Squid's neck was broken.

Squid died with a shocked expression on his face, not understanding what led to his death. I have certainly followed the Sea King's orders and even brought along the token, but why…

Staring at the other traders who were scrambling onto their ship, intending to flee as soon as possible, Xiao Tian raised his head and let out a long howl. The shadow of a huge blue wolf appeared above his head and clawed forward menacingly, breaking the Specter Ship in two.

As to the traders who had fallen into the water, Xiao Tian ordered mercilessly, "Kill them all. Leave none behind!"

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Chapter 104: The Value Of Soul Coins

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

After the battle on Insect Island, Lu Wu made a calculation according to the statistics and found out that the players had looted a total of 428 pieces of Derived Spiritual Rice and 1 Son of the Sea.

Lu Wu was surprised by the marvelous results.

The players' extraordinary plan had astonished Lu Wu who was the boss behind the game. This had reconfirmed his belief that the players had infinite potential if they were allowed to develop their skills without restrictions.

There would be surprises everywhere!

However, after the battle, Lu Wu had spent precisely 200,000 soul coins to purchase unique spiritual materials. He felt as if a piece of him had been cut off due to this great amount.

But of course, the guild master who received the soul coins did not keep them only for himself.

All the participants received the rewards they deserved, enabling all the players who participated in this raid on Insect Island to reap a lot of benefits.

After this battle, it could be said that the strength of these five guilds had once again grown immensely.

The only Son of the Sea acquired was handed over to Chen Ziyu by members of the Great Dragon Guild after they had logged back online. Chen Ziyu then fulfilled his promise by passing this sole Son of the Sea to Liu Chai.

The news of this successful invasion on Insect Island had spread rapidly to the other players. While Liu Chai was now coveted by everyone, many people had also set their sights on him.

Especially Gu Yu, who had offered to pay a huge sum to acquire the Son of the Sea from him.

However, Liu Chai had firmly rejected all buyers and said that he would consume it himself in order to strengthen his talent ability.

This decision had disappointed many rich players who longed for the Son of the Sea. They felt that Liu Chai had wasted such a treasure.

Since Liu Chai wasn't short on money, he didn't care about that.

This battle had also made the players yearn for more similar island raids. There were pro players in the forum who had immediately set up a group called Ocean Explorers, specializing in exploring the ocean territories and mapping the areas explored before posting it on the forum as a reference for the other players.

The enthusiasm of these pro players posting about the game's technicalities had earned Lu Wu's admiration. In order to support their hard work, Lu Wu added a new feature to the forum: Forum Post Rewards.

In other words, as long as the posts on technicalities were acknowledged by the players, they could use this feature to reward the original poster of the forum post.

This decision was made by Lu Wu to encourage the players' creativity, and at the same time rapidly develop the player's skills and talent.

But Lu Wu had no idea whether the reward should be in a new type of coin or soul coins, so he posted a message on the official web forum to ask the players for suggestions.

The players' responses were very unanimous and all of them chose soul coins.

All the players were still desperately longing for more soul coins.

A player even went so far as to post a topic on analyzing the price value of soul coins in the forum. This made Lu Wu speechless.

"Based on my data-backed calculation of soul coin value, I realized a terrifying fact…"

Broke_Trash's original post:

"First of all, this is not a technical post. This is just a scientific analysis of an astonishing truth that was brought up by the game, Battle Online, which does not have any official top-up option for soul coins.

I shall first analyze our existing coins as compared to the soul coins for all of you.

According to the data (see graph), Dragon Nation's commodities have an annual price increase of 2.9%. Based on this trend, let's take five million as an example, in 10 years' time the value will be equivalent to 3.75 million in today's value.

But if we calculate based on the real price level, the actual prices of Dragon Nation's commodities this year have increased by 5.4 times compared to the end of 1996. In this case, the annual increase is about 8%!

So if we calculate based on the real-time price increase, the five million after 10 years is equivalent to 2.31 million today.

But (knock on wood), if we calculate the printing speed of banknotes in our country, the annual growth rate is about 16.3%. With this, five million in 2329, which is 10 years later, is only equivalent to 1.1 million today!

At the end of the analysis, he took a deep breath and let out a horrified sigh.

A few million yuan disappeared just like that, and he wanted to cry. (Oh, my bad, I am a poor man without five million. Phew, so close to facing such a huge loss!)

Next let's analyze our soul coins.

Since the soul coins have just been released a few months back, the extent of its calculation is not that big.

However, one thing is clear to everyone: the value of soul coins keeps on increasing. Although this is closely related to the demand of rich players, but (knocking on wood again) if you think that only the rich players are contributing to the value increase of the soul coins, then you could be very wrong.

I'll ask only one question, have you all thought about spending money in-game?

My monthly salary is only 85,000 yuan, which is considered lower than the average income level in our country, but I'm still spending money in-game all the time and my friends are also spending cash to buy soul coins. Hence rich players are one of the reasons for the increase in the value of soul coins, but more importantly, there is a huge number of mildly rich players in the game.

Coming back to the topic of soul coins rising in their price value…

Since I joined the game ten days after the server opened, I was unsure of the earlier price of soul coins, but I've done a little research on that.

The price of soul coins in the first server was first successfully bid on by a player named Ye_Xueer_is_the_cutest. The initial price of the soul coins was 300 yuan.

But within only ten days, the price of soul coins had soared to 800 yuan with an increase of more than 2.6 times more than the initial value.

However, this is not the end. Although the price increase of soul coins is not that steep now, it's approaching 1,000 yuan already.

What does this theory show? It means that even if the soul coins are left aside after being bought, this asset of yours would far surpass the price increase of our commodities.

Of course, this only holds true if the game is operating continuously (To add on, this broken game is really fun. As long as the Battle Online Corporation continues to operate, I will continue playing!)

Lastly, I am hereby attaching my price forecast which shall be validated after ten years:

Based on my assumption of this game, it will definitely become viral all over the world. If that day really comes (great warning ahead).

There will be a new universal currency in the world. Its value can even be said to increase steadily and can be used all over the world. It may also be exchanged with the currency of any country. Isn't it astonishing! (Note: I'm not talking about a worldwide common currency!)

That universal currency will be soul coins!"

As soon as this player's post of analyzing the soul coins appeared, it had caused a commotion among the players.

Crayon_Shinchan: "I wanted to challenge the writer but then I noticed that my knowledge was so limited, so I'll just say that he is amazing."

Watermelon_Taro: "My salary is only 38,000 yuan and is bordering the poverty threshold, even so I have managed to spend money in-game several times. I agree with the author on this!"

Popeye_The_Sailor_Man: "To be honest, I also have the same idea as you, but it feels kind of absurd. Anyway, I will mark this first and come back to this post in ten years."

Xueli_The_Strongest: "It can only happen if the game goes viral across the world~ But I support this prediction, I'll stockpile soul coins first and wait for their value to increase!"

I_Am_Not_Beili: "Haha~ I'm marking this too… we shall wait and see!"

Wand_Making_Mage: "I'm convinced by you and am ready to invest a huge sum. Please leave your address so that if I go broke I shall come and find you!"

The original author replied to Wand_Making_Mage: "Well if you happen to make a profit, will I have any bonuses? (shiny eyes!)"

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Chapter 105: Soul Coins Transaction Center

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

The post by Broke_Trash also got Lu Wu thinking.

At first, Lu Wu found this post absolutely absurd, but then he gave it a second thought.

If the game Battle Online really does become famous worldwide, players from every country would choose to use their local currency to spend money in-game to exchange for soul coins. That player's words would be true then, soul coins would become a global currency!

By thinking that way, Lu Wu realized an enormous bug in the game, too.

The game had no well-secured transaction protection system.

For example, the 500 soul coins that Lu Wu sold to Ye Xue'er back at the beginning. It was, in fact, unsafe and he could have easily been duped.

Although there were many guaranteed transaction platforms currently, their complicated procedures and long waiting periods had caused most players to choose the easy way out which was to just undergo direct transaction.

Since there are only a few hundred thousand players now, the gap in all of these transactions was not noticeable just yet.

However, if what Broke_Trash said comes true, where soul coins are used universally, the huge amount of transaction value coming in every day gave Lu Wu chills just by thinking about it.

At this point, Lu Wu immediately told Bei Li what was on his mind.

Later, the two of them started discussing how to systematize this transaction process.

After three hours of discussions, Lu Wu and Bei Li ultimately finalized the new function to be introduced into the game called the Soul Coins Transaction Center.

Though it was named the Soul Coins Transaction Center, Lu Wu was not selling soul coins on his own, it was to protect the safety of the players when they were trading soul coins.

This function's existence equated to that of a middle-man.

Which means if Player A and Player B wanted to trade soul coins, the seller and the purchaser must first keep their cash and soul coins with Lu Wu simultaneously. Then, Lu Wu will hand them to the respective players.

With a procedure involving Lu Wu, the process would be guaranteed safe.

However, since the Soul Coins Transaction Center was now online, Lu Wu followed the old rules and added a service fee.

In order to prevent the players from feeling too burdened by the additional fees and thus choose to trade directly, Lu Wu only set the service fee at 1%.

To him, soul coins were no doubt more important than money, so the 1% was charged on soul coins instead of real coins.

Lu Wu could have chosen to take 1% from both sides, but his craving for real money was becoming less and less. After he started cultivating, he knew that he would achieve worldliness someday.

For the current Lu Wu, he just needed enough money to live on, and maybe one day he wouldn't need them at all anymore.

But the value of soul coins would never decrease for Lu Wu even when he becomes stronger.

After finalizing the solution, Lu Wu opened a top-up path on the website and registered a virtual online account to store the player's cash.

Lu Wu originally planned to spend another 30,000 yuan to buy an online artificial intelligence customer service bot, because the transaction value would only grow larger to which he would not be able to handle alone. However, during such a crucial time, Bei Li the all-around helper settled everything.

She copied the information of this account into the artifact directly before connecting it to the internet by a higher-powered artifact, thus realizing the real-time transaction of the players.

Through this, not only did the effectiveness increase significantly, the players barely have to wait as well. As soon as the Soul Coins Transaction Center receives the cash transfers, it would process it automatically and top-up soul coins in the players' backpacks within seconds, while the cash would be connected to the internet by the artifact and transferred into the sellers' accounts directly.

Right after Bei Li made sure this feature would not crash, it was implemented into the game.

Regarding this new feature, the forum was flooded by the players' compliments.

Invincible_Loneliness: "Great! I got duped a few times trading soul coins in a group before. After that, I could only use my reputation as a guarantee to let other people give their soul coins first before I pay. But now that we have the Soul Coins Transaction Center, I won't have to worry about this anymore~ Hehe~ Keep the soul coins separately!"

Ye_Xueer_is_the_cutest: "Great! Quick and easy, finally the officials are doing something right!"

Peppa_Boar: "Not bad~ Not bad, but I don't understand why the Soul Coins Transaction Center has been launched already but the top-up option for soul coins is still not yet available. I'm beginning to worry if the Battle Online Corporation is going to stop operating (funny)"

Crayon_Shinchan replied to Peppa_Boar: "They're using love to generate electricity and the power of love is never-ending. So how could they possibly collapse (funny)!"

Priest_Baiyue replied Crayon_Shinchan: "Speaking of love, I have to mention something. I remember there was once a guy named Lee Xiaoyao who asked me whether I believed in love, then I said I trust science. Because of that, this brat kept chasing after me to beat me, this son of a bitch (funny)!"

Crayon_Shinchan replied Priest_Baiyue: "Baiyue Xiu'er, sit down right now!"

Hand_Tore_Ghostie: "I feel like the game content is getting more and more exuberant. I am full of anticipation as I watch this game grow~ Way to go!"

Gold_Farmer_Monster: Cool~ "This saves a lot of time for me. The extra gaming time can be used for laboring, gonna give it a like!"

Xueli_The_Strongest: "Happy~ When I saw the analysis done by Broke_Trash, I thought of this problem already because the in-game soul coins trading had no safeguards, and the officials did not provide a way to top-up. This was indeed a snake in the grass. But I never thought that Soul Coins Transaction Center would be available the next day, gonna give a like to the officials~! Also, what about topping-up? Not gonna launch it yet? Are you challenging me to take you guys away with a Shadow Step and a Blood Slash?! (furious)"

…

Other than the players' compliments, during this stage when the Soul Coins Transaction Center went online, Lu Wu was also actively collecting all the players' advice in the forum. He then further level-upped the functions in the Soul Coins Transaction Center by adding a Sale Mode which resembled an auction.

This meant that players didn't have to search for buyers for the soul coins they were selling anymore. They just had to display their soul coins in the Soul Coins Transaction Center in the form of products and provide the ratio they want to sell.

Same goes to the purchasers, having this Sale Mode meant that they did not have to search for sellers anymore. When they wanted soul coins, they could top-up cash in the Soul Coins Transaction Center and find a ratio they thought was suitable for purchasing.

This had undoubtedly saved the players a lot of time. It could be said that this function's existence had benefited both the players and Lu Wu at the same time.

Although the 1% charge was small in proportion, as long as the number of players kept increasing, the transaction numbers would grow.

When it came to the later stages, daily transaction numbers would be a source of princely income for Lu Wu.

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Chapter 106: The Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

After launching the Soul Coins Transaction Center, Lu Wu continued designing the game's content again.

The number of players had reached 600,000 and the 100 fortresses he prepared within the Artifact Channel were completed.

Lu Wu decided to officially put them to use by establishing the first Guild Hegemony Tournament.

Regarding this, Lu Wu phoned An Manman to tell her about his thoughts.

After some discussion between the two, An Manman stated that the Shark Streaming Platform would launch the tournament's preparation stage immediately and Lu Wu would be informed once everything was ready.

While An Manman kept herself busy preparing for the tournament, Lu Wu also started the tournament's promotion.

After this update, the players discovered a new computer graphic when they went online.

With the eerily stormy background music playing, the scene slowly unfolded.

The scene showed a brown, earthy desert and 100 mighty fortresses appeared vaguely amidst the sandstorm. The atmosphere was sorrowful and deserted. Then, an old voice could be heard,

"On this land burned by blood and flames, 100 fortresses that symbolized the highest strength and peak of power have once again received the opportunity to awaken…"

The scene then zoomed away. The fortresses became smaller from the players' point of view and golden thrones appeared above each of these fortresses.

The old voice sounded again, "There is no real invincibility, no forever winner, and the last ruler had already left…"

Right then, black, blurry silhouettes appeared above every throne.

"Only the mightiest can take over the fortresses, rule the armies, and be crowned as the new hero!"

When the voice faded out, the scene transitioned between fortresses of different architectural styles, showing the structure of the fortresses to the players clearly.

"The Battle of the Hundred Fortress City… Who will dictate the living and the dead in this world!?"

Numerous shadows of soldiers appeared instantly. With their battling voices trembling the sky, they charged boldly toward the fortresses that represented the peak of power.

"We were born to achieve and succeed, only with mass murdering on the battlefield with nine million kills can one be the hero of the heroes! Will this supreme throne belong to you?"

The old voice disappeared with flags of different colors waving on each fortress, echoing greatly in the sandstorm.

[The First Annual Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament:

Tournament requirements: This activity will be held for six hours. Registration must be done in units of guilds with the guild having 300 or more members.

Tournament rules:

This tournament will be adapting the Fortress Obtaining Rule. Every registered guild will be transported to the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament map after the activity starts. After ten minutes of safety protection, guild players can choose from a hundred different fortresses to challenge. (Note: every fortress has 5 million blood bars for sustainability) After taking over the fortress and the fortress flag, the guild will be the owner of the fortress and receive other guild's attacks.

Victory requirements: The guilds have to defend ownership of their respective fortresses until the tournament ends. If the fortress flag is snatched during the defending period, the defensive guild will be transported out of the fortress and become the attacking guild!

Event special bonus: This tournament cancels the 3 hour revival system to allow revival at the map's center just ten minutes after death!

Hundred Fortresses Owner Rewards:

One, the winner's guild shall receive 3,000 soul coins as a reward.

Two, members of the fortress owner's guild will receive the red title Hundred Fortresses Elite.

[Hundred Fortresses Elite (30 days red): Symbolizes the winners of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament.

Title attributes: Receive extra monster-hunting experience points of 5% and an extra 10 free entries to the Instance Dungeon.

Three, the chairman of the fortress owner's guild shall receive the exclusive purple title Lord of the Royal Fortress.

[Lord of the Royal Fortress (30 days purple): Symbolizes the Lord of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament.

Title attributes: Receive extra monster-hunting experience points of 10% and an extra 30 free entries to the Instance Dungeon.

Four, the winning guilds shall have the priority of purchasing the upcoming Guild Station.

Official announcement: The Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament activity will be live streamed and commentated by the Shark Streaming Platform. The venue of the livestream is set at Dragon Metropolis Sports Center and the tournament onlooker tickets can be bought from their website. You can also watch the real time tournament streaming and commentating on the Shark Streaming Platform!

This announcement evoked an uproar among the players.

The sudden existence of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament had every big guild caught off guard. Most of them spontaneously assembled meetings and were immensely accepting new members at the same time.

Many guilds had lowered the threshold for guild entrance for this tournament in order to create history in this momentous battle.

During the players' preparation period, the health potion had become the bestseller in the game shop and it was manufactured nonstop for sale.

However, the impact of this activity was way more than just these. All the guild players were hungry for the big reward, they were clear as to what it meant to win this tournament.

Even by just the bonus for level-training experience they could see how their own guild could overtake other guilds in no time.

Moreover, they could obtain the priority of purchasing the Guild Station for their guilds. This tournament meant everything to those big guilds.

The price of in-game resources had risen greatly due to this as well. The sales of one-time items in the game shop had allowed Lu Wu to earn a fortune.

But what astonished the players was that Battle Online was collaborating with the Shark Streaming Platform for the livestream of this tournament.

Many players understood that the Shark Streaming Platform had an enormous live-streaming audience, meaning that this tournament was a match anticipated by players on a national level.

Therefore, the methods of showing off their respective guilds in the tournament had also become a hot topic amongst players.

Of course, there were many solo players who couldn't participate in this activity, so they logged on to the Shark Streaming Platform directly to buy on-site tickets at the Dragon Metropolis Sports Center as support for the first ever tournament of Battle Online.

There were even players who posted analysis and predictions in the forum to dissect the strongest guilds at the current stage and predict the winning possibilities of the guilds.

There were also guilds which were too weak to take down a fortress by themselves merging with other guilds to take down the fortress together. Only after the tournament would they decide on who would be the owner of that fortress.

The ones that were planning ahead for this were not only small guilds, some big guilds were even luring the small ones by giving them benefits, hoping they would become a part of their alliance during The Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament and help them defend their fortresses.

The actual battlefield would not be as easy as they thought it would be. Every player was enthusiastically preparing for the forthcoming war on the battlefield!

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Chapter 107: His Excellency Cangxu

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

After the announcement of the tournament, the place where An Manman was working at, the Shark Streaming Platform, became very busy.

Regarding the game Battle Online, the top management of Shark all looked forward to their project, which was why they prepared meticulously for this tournament. They rented the Dragon Metropolis Sports Center as the livestream venue and allowed the top emcee named Fang Ping to host the tournament.

Furthermore, they had even invited a professional band to produce a title song for the tournament as the opening show for The Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament.

Before Lu Wu could start promoting, the Shark Streaming Platform had taken the initiative to painstakingly promote on various streaming platforms by using their own money.

Because of this, more players had noticed the game Battle Online and it had once again gained popularity with the number of players increasing in an astonishing manner.

All arrangements for the tournament had entered an intensive preparation stage.

During this period, An Manman called Lu Wu, bringing him another piece of good news.

Many gaming media channels had contacted the Shark Streaming Platform to get ready to report on this tournament.

Undoubtedly, Lu Wu was excited, because the wave of media attention would significantly increase players and welcome them earlier than expected.

The streaming of Platform173, the only platform that was available to download Battle Online, had also surged dramatically, exhilarating Wu Guoyi and made him want to ask Lu Wu out for a drink to celebrate again.

Despite that, Lu Wu declined. He was still a cat, so he counted alcohol out in order to prevent Wu Guoyi from freaking out.

But Lu Wu wasn't resting either. Once again, he upgraded the Hundred Fortresses Map in the artifact to ensure that no errors would occur on the details of the tournament. He had also begun to set some easter eggs in the game together with Bei Li.

For instance, there was a little golden dragon in a fortress named Extreme City. The player who obtained and consumed the golden dragon would receive a buff with five minutes of doubled attributes.

Another example would be the Invincible Grass located at the borders of the Hundred Fortresses Town that would grant players ten seconds of invincibility. There were also many more hidden easter eggs included to make the tournament more fun.

Of course, the addition of these easter eggs demanded zero soul coins, because they were all done within the Artifact Channel.

Similar to how players could infinitely revive, because it all happened in the channel, there was no need to be concerned about soul damage, too. The only big expense by Lu Wu in this activity were the rewards for the winners at the end of the tournament.

What thrilled the players was the news that Lu Wu revealed on the official website.

The guild that takes over Beiqi Fortress in this activity will have their battle recorded into the Annals of Great Battles as a video clip.

This news had undoubtedly delighted the players who longed to be the first guild in this game to win such a notable tournament.

…

His Excellency Cangxu's palace at the center of his large domain.

A white-haired but young looking man looked downward to the Ghost King and Ghost General worshipping him. He then let out a weak sigh and waved them away.

After his subordinates left, he pressed the golden scepter beside his throne. The throne slowly shifted its position and revealed a path beneath it.

Staring at this dark path, complex expressions clouded the face of His Excellency Cangxu.

He sighed once again before stepping onto the path.

Along with his appearance, the torches around were kindled, brightening the space below.

When he was a few hundred meters down, an empty cell appeared before him.

In the middle of this cell, there was a stunning woman in thin chiffon, and her four limbs were all chained up. She was held captive there.

Looking at the beauty, His Excellency Cangxu's expression became complicated. There was agony, wrath, and remorse. All his feelings were tangled together, making His Excellency Cangxu seem exceptionally depressed.

Just then, the woman suddenly opened her eyes and stared at His Excellency Cangxu.

His Excellency Cangxu's body gently trembled when the woman looked at him mockingly, "I'm ready to fight till death this time. If I succeed, I'll let you out. We still have a great future awaiting."

"Although you've been plotting for 10,000 years, you are no longer the Cangxu who became stronger just because it was his desire, so you are destined to fail. After all, this place was never one which you could sit in."

The woman's words made His Excellency Cangxu's face gradually become ferocious, "You bitch, don't you know how much effort I invested into this, and for whom I did all these for? You bitch! Bitch! Why must you degrade yourself like this! Are you treating me right this way!?"

The woman laughed like she was mocking herself as she looked at the furious His Excellency Cangxu, "If it wasn't because of my sacrifice, you wouldn't even be here, His Excellency Cangxu, let alone your position as the King of the Land of Cangxu!"

Upon hearing this, His Excellency Cangxu's face was drained of all color. He recalled the day he became His Excellency Cangxu and what this woman in ruby makeup had said to him while crying, "If it wasn't for my huge sacrifice, it would be impossible for you to become His Excellency Cangxu!"

Staring at the woman, His Excellency Cangxu's heart felt a recurring pain.

Even though he was already the king controlling the Land of Cangxu of the underworld now, he was still a nobody amongst the cycle of reincarnation and could never detach himself to reach higher. He could not even protect his most beloved person.

After staring deeply into the woman's eyes once again, His Excellency Cangxu turned around and left. But with every step he took, his body quivered a bit, as if he was tremendously tormented.

"I've been a shiv in other people's hands for my whole life. This time, I want to be the one holding it! Even if it will break my bones and shatter my soul!"

After His Excellency Cangxu left, the woman finally let out her tears and mumbled quietly, "Detach? How hard could it be? If you fail, I'll just follow you."

Her enchanting eyes closed slowly. A tear escaped and ran down her cheek as it shone crystalline in the dark cell.

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Chapter 108: Ancient Secrets

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

The second day of preparation for the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament.

When Bei Li was on the sofa watching movies with Lu Wu, her face suddenly tensed up. She then took out a small notebook from her pocket and ran through it thoroughly.

Lu Wu sensed Bei Li's mood change, so he could not hold back his curiosity and asked her, "What happened?"

"Someone wants to rebel against us!" Bei Li answered seriously after a few moments of silence.

"Rebel? What do you mean!?" Lu Wu was dumbfounded.

"Wu, since you have started cultivating, you need to know some things as well. Do you know what is up there in the sky?" asked Bei Li while raising her hand and pointing upward.

"Stars? Moon? Sun?"

Bei Li picked Lu Wu up from the sofa and pressed her fingers unto him in a way that seemed to be a rather intense massage, "So mischievous~ So mischievous~"

The cultivated Lu Wu stood his hair up and leaped, escaping Bei Li's hug. He relayed his force on the sofa and jumped onto her head before giving her a nice slap with his claws,

"Did you already forget that you're no match for me?"

This slap brought tears to Bei Li's eyes, "I forgot!"

"Say it, what is happening exactly!?" Lu Wu asked with superiority after regaining the upper hand.

Bei Li ruffled her head and spoke with a slightly solemn tone,

"Do you remember what you promised me on the first day we met?"

Lu Wu began recollecting. After intricately recalling the incidents on that day, he smiled awkwardly, "Are you referring to the matter in which I borrowed an army from Emperor Qin Shihuang to invade the underworld?"

Bei Li looked enraged upon hearing this. Just when she raised her hand to grab Lu Wu, she suddenly thought of something and kept her hands back bitterly, "You told me, 'Do you want to help me out and become my right hand-man? We will conquer heaven after the underworld and we shall rule all three worlds!'"

Lu Wu became more uneasy after listening.

This was obviously a joke. He did not take it seriously back then and had forgotten about it after such a long time. Little did he know that Bei Li would still remember every detail of it.

"Could it be heaven?" Lu Wu questioned inquisitively.

Bei Li nodded fervently, "Since there is an underworld and there are cultivators in the human world, then there is of course a world of the immortals in heaven!"

"Do you still remember back then when you've asked me where the Earthly Deities of the human world went and I pointed above my head? Actually, I meant heaven."

Upon hearing this, Lu Wu put on a solemn expression, "Then what do you mean by rebelling? Somebody wants to invade heaven?"

Bei Li shook her head, "I'm not sure of his intentions nor his identity. But he activated the Yin Talisman! That means he has become one of the Anti-Heaven Alliance!"

Listening to Bei Li's explanation, Lu Wu widened his eyes. Son of a bitch, this looks like the time when I received the Yin Talisman which allowed me to go in and out of the underworld.

"Am I part of the Anti-Heaven Alliance, too?" Lu Wu could not stay still anymore.

"Of course you're not. Your Yin Talisman had already been engraved into the artifact, so naturally you won't have the symbol of the Anti-Heaven Alliance."

"Phew!" Lu Wu let out a long sigh. He almost thought he was starting a war with the Deities and the Gods.

"But your ancestor was part of the Anti-Heaven Alliance," Bei Li's eyes squinted into crescent shapes as she said while grinning.

Lu Wu opened his eyes wide again, "Why did my ancestor join such a notorious group?"

"Because heaven is unfair!"

Lu Wu quickly replied, "What does that mean?"

"A few million years ago, heaven, the human world, and the underworld, were the three main worlds that coexisted. Among them, the human world was the strongest. Every hundred years, there would be gifted geniuses who managed to cultivate and become Earthly Deities. There were also a few kings who suppressed and overlooked the world!"

"That was the true era of cultivation. Everyone in the human world was in high spirits. Nurtured by the soul energy of the world, they were the most powerful world among the three worlds!"

"But do you know why the human world nowadays lacks soul energy and cultivation is so hard?"

Dumbfounded, Lu Wu shook his head.

"It was because those deities knew that if they don't limit the human world's progress, one day the human world would be leading the three worlds. So they did a despicable move by letting a powerhouse into the underworld to stop the flow of soul energy from the underworld to the world of the living through the Six Doors of Reincarnation!"

"The soul energy of the world was getting thinner, which alerted most Earthly Deities in the human world. So they visited the underworld themselves to investigate! However the cunning deities were ready for them for a long time. They disguised themselves as powerhouses from the underworld to stop the investigation from the human world, and even massacred the Earthly Deities in the underworld."

"What happened during this period was complicated, so I won't go into the details with you. Anyway, it was what triggered an earth-shattering war between the human world and the underworld! This battle nearly broke the underworld into pieces. If the Great Emperors of the Underworld did not unite under the Six Doors of Reincarnation, this war would have just made the underworld disappear!"

"The mistake was made but discovered too late. The deities in the world of the immortals then were like chess players, calculating every step they made. However, it was at this time when the true evil backstage manipulator appeared. The very first thing they did was to break the Heavenly Gate, cutting the other source of soul energy to the human world!"

"Until this stage, the schemes of the world of the immortals no longer mattered. After the war between the human world and the underworld, the human world was facing combat power deprivation, so there was no way they could fight against the world of the immortals again. Moreover, the world of the immortals had also gotten rid of their last hope to regain their power through cultivation as both sources of soul energy were cut off. The human world could never regain the golden era of cultivation they used to have, nor could they give birth to another invincible being like the emperors of old!"

"After that, the soul energy in the human world withered. Countless fights over sources were happening frequently. Cultivation had finally come to its end and faded out of humans' sight with time!"

Hearing Bei Li's explanation, Lu Wu frowned, "Then why did you say the Earthly Deities went up to the sky?"

"Living under the fear of soul energy extinction, some Earthly Deities chose to betray humans and entered heaven, becoming the underdogs of heaven! The other Earthly Deities who refused to give in left the domain in search for an opportunity to revive the humans' glory days."

"What about the human emperors? Weren't they immortal as well? Where did they go?"

Bei Li shook her head, "I told you everything I could tell you. You should not know more than this. You won't gain any benefit by listening to more of this because your soul is too weak, hence it is impossible for you to keep this secret…. nonetheless, let me tell you something. If you want to be the ruler, then behind the world of the immortals…"

Out of the blue, Lu Wu quivered while listening. He then bent over on the sofa and moaned painfully.

It was because he felt his soul throbbing with pain, as if a spiky brush was combing his body over and over again.

Seeing this, Bei Li quickly took a few pieces of the spiritual rice from the artifact, crushed them, and fed them into Lu Wu's mouth.

Soul energy charged within his body and suffused throughout. The sharp pain ceased and Lu Wu slowly opened his bloodshot eyes.

Lu Wu's face was plastered with fear, but doubts still filled his heart to the brim.

He knew he could not listen anymore. Bei Li did not lie to him. Knowing too much would really get himself killed.

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Chapter 109: The Secret Of The Zombie Spirit Sect

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

What Bei Li said made Lu Wu realize that there were so many secrets hidden behind this normal-looking world.

"Wu, don't you worry too much. Just relax and focus on your game. You need to know that you are now controlling the most talented human beings in the three worlds who were once even feared by the world of the immortals. In addition, you have the artifact to help you… your future will be earth-shaking, so you don't need to be afraid of any forces!"

Lu Wu nodded at Bei Li's comforting words. Just like she mentioned, as he was now armed with the artifact and in charge of the most gifted clan, if he gave himself enough time, nobody would be an obstacle on his path to success!

"So, someone wants to rebel against them now?" he ventured to ask.

Bei Li nodded, "It is most probably a force from the underworld. I'm unsure about his intentions, but you'd better stop this dangerous action right away!"

"Why?"

"The power of the human world and the underworld cannot be compared to heaven's for now, let alone endure a big war. His thoughts were too simple. Not only is he destined to lose, he could also be an encumbrance to the other two worlds!"

Lu Wu drew in a deep breath, "What should I do?"

"If he wants to rebel, he will need to use the Yin Talisman to travel to the human world and find the right opportunity. I will sense him once he passes the Six Doors of Reincarnation. Then, I will inform you and plan a plot for you!"

Lu Wu gave a hard nod after hearing this.

…

The underworld, Burial Grounds.

After the cataclysmic war between the Demonic God and Hiderigami, this land where the deceased used to rest in peace had turned into ruins.

Right now, the silhouette of a player was walking on the cracked land and at the same time, his sight shifted continuously, as if he was searching for something.

After lunging over a slanted stone pillar, Hu He's face was lit with delight. He rushed to the remains of a Bone Spirit that was covered by rocks with only half an arm visible.

With little effort, he cleared the rocks and revealed the Bone Spirit warrior underneath.

Then, he began picking on the Bone Spirit's body for some usable items. After that, he wandered around again.

After two hours, Hu He appeared outside the parameters of the Burial Grounds.

After locating an empty area, Hu He opened his channel and poured all the bits and pieces of the Bone Spirit he collected onto the floor.

Then, he opened his photo gallery in the game and searched for the photo of the Secret of the Zombie Spirit Sect which he took in reality.

Staring at the ancient book, a glimpse of anticipation glowed on Hu He's face.

Hu He was different from a lot of youngsters in reality. He believed in the existence of gods and cultivators because his grandfather was a cultivator.

Hu He could remember that his grandfather was weird and isolated. He spent his whole life in the straw hut which he built at the mass grave behind their village and stayed there throughout the year. He would not have come home if nothing special happened.

However, during a visit back to the village, this abnormal grandfather totally shocked young Hu He for the rest of his life.

It was the summer holidays of that year when Hu He went back to visit his grandparents with his parents. In order to surprise his grandfather, he hiked up the mountain alone and went to the mass grave that his grandfather frequented.

Because of that, he discovered his grandfather's secret.

When he secretly arrived at the mountain and went near the mass grave, he noticed his grandfather and decided to run up and surprise him.

But as he got closer, Hu He horrifyingly found out that his grandfather was holding some broken limbs covered in fresh mud and was drawing something in the air excitedly.

Young Hu He thought his grandfather had murdered someone. At the same time, due to the immense terror he felt, he stood a short distance away, staring dumbly, but his grandfather never noticed his presence.

Then what happened next left Hu He stunned.

As his grandfather drew in mid-air, the broken limbs slowly recombined, forming a two-meter high giant zombie.

Seeing this, Hu He could not sit still anymore. It was then his grandfather's eyes noticed and shone with furiosity. He turned, pointed, and the zombie-giant jumped onto him straight away.

Hu He still remembered clearly that the zombie's shiny black nails were only a few centimeters away from his neck. If his grandfather did not stop the zombie in time, he believed that he would have died.

Hu He bawled his head off then while his grandfather quickly shushed the zombie away and held him in his arms. While he was comforting Hu He, his eyes were full of anxiety, too.

Since then, he knew that his grandfather was not just an ordinary human.

From that day onward, due to his curiosity, Hu He would find his grandfather during every holiday.

Perhaps he was influenced by superhero movies and comics. Hu He thought that he may have an extraordinary family background, and he could have inherited those kinds of supernatural powers as well.

His grandfather did not keep anything from him anymore. He told Hu He that his ancestors were cultivators of the Zombie Spirit Sect, mastering the secret magic of zombie summoning, zombie awakening, and zombie assembling.

Young Hu He once told his grandfather excitedly that he wanted to learn and cultivate, too.

Although he would occasionally show off some skills to his grandson, priding his prestige as a grandfather, when it came to Hu He's passion in cultivating, he remained very stubborn and refused firmly.

Hu He tried every possible way but still failed to learn the secret method of cultivation from his grandfather, which unquestionably put him in low spirits.

However, when Hu He was 23, he received shocking news while he was in university. His grandfather was ailing and wanted to meet him for the last time.

Hu He hurriedly rushed from another city to meet him. When he met him, he terrifyingly found out that his grandfather's face was as pale as ash. Like a rotting old tree, he reeked of death all over.

Sensing Hu He's arrival, the old man gained some strength and held his hand when he approached the bedside and said, "Little He… this is why I never agreed to let you cultivate… I don't want you to end up miserable like me."

Seeing this old man who loved him to the bone, Hu He's tears trickled down his face.

"If you want something… you must give something in return… now that you know the consequences… the answer that you longed for… grandpa has left it below the straw hut… you're all grown up now… how you will choose… is not up to grandpa anymore."

After saying this, Hu He's grandfather shut his eyes forever.

Heartbroken, Hu He found this Secret of the Zombie Spirit Sect while tidying up his grandfather's belongings in the straw hut at the mass grave.

At that moment, Hu He hesitated. He wanted to cultivate. It was his dream since he was young. But at the same time, his grandfather's advice appeared in his head once again.

Finally, with the mindset that he would just give it a try and not actually cultivate, Hu He read the ancient book.

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Chapter 110: Zombie Forgemaster

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Ever since then, Hu He would spend a lot of time understanding the Secret of the Zombie Spirit Sect, but he did follow his grandfather's warning of not cultivating.

As for the reason why he wanted to test the power of this ancient book in the game, it was due to a bizarre event that he noticed in the game yesterday.

That day when he was claiming new turf in the Naraka Instance Dungeon with his team, they met an elite monster named Zombie Fire and were attacked by it.

Being the assassin on the team, Hu He swiftly moved beside Zombie Fire while it was attacking, searching for a chance to attack.

Unexpectedly, Zombie Fire suddenly changed its attacking direction and charged toward him.

The sudden attack cost almost half of his health and another attack followed immediately.

Just when he was about to be killed, he found that there was a fiery red bead under Zombie Fire's left underarm.

As he was very familiar with the Secret of the Zombie Spirit Sect, Hu He recognized this bead. It was named Leakage, a weakness point deliberately left by the Zombie Forgemaster.

When a zombie spirit is successfully created, they will automatically take in Yin energy from the world, cultivating and progressing without being noticed. Through this, ferocious spirits could easily be born. Leakage was purposely made to prevent the zombie spirit from attacking their owners, thus giving the Zombie Forgemaster extra protection.

If it was only that, Hu He could regard it as a coincidence.

However, when his dagger cut open the red bead, the scene astonished him.

Gusts of thick black fog escaped from Zombie Fire's underarm after the bead cracked, causing it to slow down its motion and ultimately saved Hu He from this deadly attack.

The discharging of zombie energy was indeed identical to the records in the ancient book.

Was Zombie Fire made by a Zombie Forgemaster? Hu He seemed extremely shocked.

After the zombie energy was discharged, Zombie Fire was easily killed by his team due to the great reduction in its strength and speed.

However, Hu He found all of this strange.

Why did the same forged-zombie appear in the game as recorded in the ancient book? Was the founder of this game also a descendant of the Zombie Spirit Sect? Is this why he added the same easter egg in the game?

Even Hu He himself thought that his hypothesis was unreasonable, but he just couldn't shake it off.

If his guess is correct and the game's founder is indeed a descendant of the Zombie Spirit Sect, then he might be able to use the secrets of the Zombie Spirit Sect in the game.

He wouldn't dare to learn them in reality, but since he did not have to worry about his body getting damaged in the game, Hu He went to the Burial Grounds without any pressure in order to prove that. He started to search for body remains, trying to make a zombie out of what he learned from the ancient book.

…

Looking at the remains on the ground, Hu He waved his hand and the photos in the gallery started to flip by pages.

He built the zombie while referring to the ancient book. Then, he followed the method recorded in the book to summon a spirit by using his blood. He tried again and again according to the procedures.

Although he had read the ancient book many times and the graphics of zombie building were already very familiar to him, it wasn't until he actually tried it when he realized that it was so much harder to do it.

After a few trials of building and summoning, Hu He was discouraged by his failure to awaken the zombie spirit, leading him to think that perhaps he was being too sensitive.

According to his grandfather, they were probably the only bloodline left from the Zombie Spirit Sect. It was impossible that there were other descendants, let alone them being the game's creators.

Unwilling to accept his results, Hu He decided to try one last time. If he failed again, he would give up.

So he built it again by following the method in the ancient book.

But just as he had expected, he failed again.

The zombie spirit was still not awakened.

Disappointed, Hu He completely gave up as he did not want to waste any more time. Just when he was about to leave, the sound of the game's notification rang in his ears.

[Permission to create a new character class: Zombie Forgemaster (Note: Once you choose this, you may not give up on it. This character class is a systemless growth progress, so you will need to learn everything on your own!)]

There really is a hidden easter egg! So my guess was correct? Hu He's face was full of surprise.

…

Actually, as soon as Hu He started building the zombie, Lu Wu and Bei Li already noticed him and the Secret of the Zombie Spirit Sect in his gallery.

This player was portraying strength beyond what the artifact had given and Lu Wu was totally astonished by him. He thought Hu He was also a cultivator in real life.

However, Bei Li's inference was different. For her, Hu He's zombie forging techniques were far too amateur. He did not even master the basics as a Zombie Forgemaster and his soul strength was like a normal person's. He was a total stranger and could not even be considered as a cultivator.

However, his actions sparked Lu Wu's curiosity. So he asked Bei Li if this kind of power could be progressed digitally under the artifact.

According to Bei Li, Hu He's zombie forging skills was probably a branch of a cultivation system in the underworld which was popular there. Since there was no related data saved in the artifact, if it were to be digitized, the future progress of this character class would be unknown, but most probably the result would be this account going astray.

After all, character classes like the Cursed Apostle and the Rune Master were created out of years of collection created by other clans in the underworld.

So this Zombie Forgemaster could not be compared to the other character classes in the system. Furthermore, this player was a complete clueless rookie. Even if he changed his character class, he would only be slightly stronger than his original one, the assassin. There was no way that he could beat the other specified character classes in the system.

However, Lu Wu still hoped that this player could grasp this self-exploration path, providing the game with one more varied progression path. Nonetheless, as he was not in a position to decide, he gave the player the chance to choose.

After all, Lu Wu's vision for the game was to provide freedom to the players, allowing them to unleash their own potential. Therefore, the players would always surprise him.

…

Looking at the game notification, Hu He's heart pounded with excitement, wanting to confirm immediately.

However, he hesitated.

His initial aim was to become a Cursed Apostle, mastering the powers of the Naraka Realm. But this character class came with a term that said no giving up, so there was no turning back once he had made his choice.

Moreover, this game did not allow account deletion and restarting. So the outcome of his choice was a great sacrifice.

It was then Hu He's grandfather's face appeared in his mind.

Although I can't cultivate this in reality, I could inherit my grandfather's mission and follow his footsteps in another form if I choose this character class.

Right after that, Hu He's eyes glowed with firmness, and he chose to confirm.

[Server Announcement: Congratulations to player Hu He for creating a new character class, Zombie Forgemaster. Hidden reward received: 500 soul coins (untradable)]

Once the notification appeared, all the players in the server were in an uproar.

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Chapter 111: The Zombie Forgemaster (Part 2)

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

The gamers had only heard that they could advance into a hidden character class by chance.

Creating a new character class was something the gamers did not even dare to think about. However, the Server Announcement made the players realize that one god-like person had succeeded in the act and had been credited in the game as a reward.

All the gamers entered the game's forum and were crazily asking about it. All of them wanted to know how the player did it.

All of a sudden, the name Hu He was constantly being mentioned in the forum.

Meanwhile Hu He, who was staring at the Data Menu in front of him, was still in shock.

[Zombie Forgemaster:

Class description: A Deathwalker that can create a new life from the body of a dead soul. A powerful Zombie Forgemaster is a master at zombie refining, zombie controlling, zombie awakening, zombie summoning, zombie assembling, zombie forging, zombie spirit parasitism, zombie spirit back-feeding, and other dark capabilities.

Class upgrade: Unsystematic advancement template, thus self-exploration needed.

Class specialty: The stronger the corpse, the stronger the spirit of the forged zombie. (Note: The stronger the corpse, the harder the forgery is.)

Looking at the menu of his newly advanced character class, Hu He was lost in his thoughts.

By the looks of the description, this character class seemed to have a great potential to be developed. At least there was one thing that the other character classes were incomparable in, which was that the strength of the zombie spirit was not limited by one's self. As long as he could obtain the corpse of a powerhouse and manage to refine it, he could definitely kill enemies of higher levels even if his level was low.

Don't tell me that I will need to go on the path of digging up and robbing graves to find the body of a powerhouse?

Thinking of this, Hu He did not know whether to laugh or cry.

His grandfather had been staying in the mass grave for his entire life and now he was going to be a gravedigger in the game. The specialty of this Zombie Spirit Sect was really spectacular.

However, his childhood experiences had turned him into an extremely brave person. He was not afraid of evil spirits like zombies or ghouls at all. Not to mention that this was just a gaming world, hence there was no need to worry too much.

After considering the direction of his future development, Hu He's gaze fell to the remains on the floor which he had failed to put together, revealing a hint of perseverance. He then opened the ancient book again and started to assemble according to the steps in the book.

By relying on the experiences he had accumulated from each failure and the rich theoretical experiences he gained from reading ancient books, a cloud of faint black vapor finally appeared on the remains after he had put together the pieces thirty-two times. Then, the black vapor was slowly absorbed into the skeleton.

After the remains were being nourished by the black vapor, the gap between the bones at the joint areas automatically adjusted and solidified. Then, a weak soul flame erupted from the skull of the skeleton.

"I did it!" Hu He shouted excitedly.

[Zombie Skeleton Warrior (Grey): A failed zombie forging product that was made out of the remains of the bones spirit, broken bones warrior, and skull walker.

(Note: Over time, all zombie spirit creatures could absorb Yin energy and grow independently. The higher the quality of the zombie spirit, the faster it would grow.)

(Note: The quality of the zombie spirit creatures are divided into six stages. From the lowest to the highest stage are respectively grey (inferior), white (normal), blue (excellent), red (rare), purple (epic) and black (legendary).)

Strength evaluation: Physical strength (Level 28), attack speed (Level 2), attack power (Level 2).

Zombie spirit enchantment: None

Zombie spirit's specialty: Slow-witted (Poor refining skills would only retain the original physical strength of the corpse. It could not stimulate the real power of the zombie spirit.)

Judging from the data, the forging of this Zombie Skeleton Warrior was a total failure. But Hu He was still elated as he knew that this path was really feasible.

At the same time, his desire to continue exploring the path had been aroused.

Looking at the sluggish Zombie Skeleton Warrior that was lying on the ground, a thought ran through Hu He's mind.

After receiving an order, the Zombie Skeleton Warrior slowly got up from the ground. Then, it performed various actions according to Hu He's orders.

The feeling of him being able to control a living creature made Hu he grin from ear to ear.

"Well… from today onward, I will be a gravedigger in the game, seeking for the body of a strong person and become someone powerful!"

Thinking of the powerful strength of the Demonic God and Hiderigami, his mind began to imagine him being lucky and found the remains as powerful as them from some relic. He then forged a superb zombie spirit and became undefeatable.

However, Hu He's face froze when he thought of this.

Suddenly, he remembered a very important thing. Cha Na's head seemed to be still hanging on the fortress gate after the Christmas Battle!

Hu He's breaths became heavy and his eyes began to glow.

It would be the best material to forge a zombie if he could steal it. By then, he would put it together with a body and perhaps forge an extremely strong zombie spirit.

But, he was still hesitant. This was mainly because he was afraid that his behaviour would be discovered and he would become a sinner in the eyes of the other gamers.

After all, Cha Na's head was a memento which marked the defeat of Liuli District. It had a symbolic meaning.

Hu He was torn and he remained silent for some time.

After pondering over and over again, Hu He was still reluctant to let go of the opportunity to obtain Cha Na's head. Thus, he decided to steal it in the middle of the night when there was less people around.

Is this feeling of thirst for remains an occupational disease that is in the blood of the Zombie Spirit Sect? A guess emerged in Hu He's mind.

He then laughed mischievously and walked toward the Mansion of the Dead together with his Zombie Skeleton Warrior.

A gravedigger, who was going to be spurned by many, officially embarked on his journey to becoming a Zombie Forgemaster.

……

Meanwhile, in the forum.

Crayon_Shinchan: "Where is the god-like person who created a new character class? Come out and show your skills."

Xueli_The_Strongest: "I really want to know how he did it. There was also no official release to explain about it and the godlike person is also not active in the forum. This is so annoying."

Strike_Gold: "I think our guild needs this kind of technical talent (Cool)."

Peppa_Boar: "A Zombie Forgemaster? A horrible guess came to my mind. Could it be that this brat got the knack of playing corpses and hence initiated the post-credits scene in the game? (chills)"

Crayon_Shinchan replied to Peppa_Boar: "Looking at the name of the character class and your guess, images are now flooding my mind (chills)."

Broke_Trash: "Someone please get the Attributes Menu of this character class. I suspect that this brat is a murderer in real life. It's so scary. (funny face)"

Crayon_Shinchan: "I agree. Zombie Forgemaster, come out faster. I will call the cops if you still refuse to show the Attributes Menu. (funny face)"

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Chapter 112: A Vow Before The Battle

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

At night, the stadium of the Dragon Metropolis was ablaze with lights.

After five days of waiting, the long-awaited Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament had finally kicked off.

As the lights gradually dimmed down, the faces of the players who were the most loyal fans of Battle Online were filled with excitement as they sat waiting in the gymnasium.

With a beam of light shining at the center of the stage, four figures of the ATC Band slowly appeared. At the same time, music started to play.

'Legends Never Die'

Legends never die,

When the world is calling you,

Can you hear them screaming out your name?

Legends never die.

They never lose hope,

When everything's cold and the fighting's near.

It's deep in their bones,

They'll run into smoke when the fire is fierce.

Oh pick yourself up, 'cause

Legends never die.

Legends never die,

They're written down in eternity,

But you'll never see the price it costs.

Scars collected all their lives,

When everything's lost.

They pick up their heart and avenge defeat,

Before it all starts,

Thru suffer through harm just to touch a dream.

Oh pick yourself up, 'cause

Legends never die.

……

As the music played, the lights in the entire Dragon Metropolis stadium gathered and formed the map of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony above the crowd.

CG scenes in the game were projected in 3D form and at the same time, the gamers below cheered.

"Battles never end, legends never die. Welcome to the stadium of the Dragon Metropolis to watch the first Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament of Battle Online," the host of the tournament, Fang Ping appeared at the center of the stage.

The surrounding lights came on at this moment, illuminating the sky. Four huge words 'Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament' emerged on the big screen in front of the stage.

"I believe that the loyal players of Battle Online have waited a long time for the arrival of this day and tonight, we are going to watch them compete to be one of the one hundred strongest guilds of the year! The horn of war has sounded. In between this battle of blood and fire, who will be the ultimate king? Let's turn our attention to the big screen…"

As Fang Ping finished his sentences, the fonts on the big screen faded and the scene of the Mansion of the Dead in the game appeared.

……

Meanwhile in the game, all the guilds were ready and waiting for the opening of the event.

[Server Announcement: Attention to all the guild gamers who have registered for the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament. The transport array will be open in thirty seconds. Please be prepared!]

The message of the game had the entire Mansion of the Dead liven up. All the gamers were shouting in excitement.

Liu Chai of the Demolition Guild said, "Brothers, I wanted to say one thing before the battle. I'm going to take down the City of Beiqi. Do you guys have the confidence!?"

Upon hearing the leader's bellow, all the members of the Demolition Guild raised their weapons and cheered at the same time.

Gu Yu of the Myth Guild said, "The City of Beiqi is our target. We have always been the strongest guild, from the beginning to the end!"

Chen Ziyu of the Great Dragon Guild said, "Brothers, we are different from the other guilds. Unlike them, we have no money or connections, but this time…"

Chen Ziyu glanced at the guild members and said, "This time… we vow to take over the City of Beiqi!"

Wu Guoyi of the Avengers said, "It's time for us to prove ourselves. We have been preparing for today. Point your sword at the City of Beiqi and get ready to fight with me. Winner takes all and the loser stands small. We swear to fight till we die!"

Lu Zhan of the Slayer Alliance raised the wine glass in his hand and said, "A toast to those who are going to war with me. We are going to sweep through the battlefield and make contributions to our guild! Cheers!"

With that, all the guild members raised their glasses and downed their wine.

Yue Han of the Ground Shaking Guild said, "Golden swords and iron horses… all my warriors are excellent fighters who can fight like tigers. There is no enemy that can defeat us. If it were not us who will win over Beiqi, who else could it be!?"

……

All the guild masters shouted their goals during the last thirty seconds of the transportation countdown.

The audiences that were watching the live broadcast outside the arena were also influenced by their burning excitement. Enthusiastic cheers broke out in the stadium of the Dragon Metropolis. They felt that lofty ambitions had filled their hearts and they were looking forward to seeing who was going to win the epic battle tonight.

There were also a large number of gamers who were watching the live broadcast of the tournament on the Shark Streaming Platform. Even those who had never played this game before were affected by the passionate pre-battle mobilization. It had even triggered their curiosity about the game, Battle Online.

The battle was about to start. Even Lu Wu did not expect that the City of Beiqi would be the target of all the grand guilds.

Shockingly, these powerful guilds that had established immortal dynasties in other games had the same goal, which was to be the champion.

An epic level battle was slowly beginning…

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Chapter 113: The Beginning Of The Hegemony

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

[Transportation started. Players, please be ready!]

With the announcement, gamers who were well-prepared at the Mansion of the Dead turned into white lights and disappeared in their spots.

Meanwhile, at the central region of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament's map, white lights flashed and all the players were gathered there.

The hegemony tournament was held on a large scale as there were 881 guilds, with a total of 634,320 players participating in it.

At the current stage, other games would definitely encounter some server failures such as lagging and other similar problems if such a large number of players appeared on the same piece of map at the same time.

However, Battle Online was still performing well and did not let anyone down.

[Event Notice: The ten minute safety protection countdown starts now. During the safe time, gamers are not allowed to leave the central region and kill each other. Please get ready for the upcoming battle!]

After receiving the message, all the guild masters began to call for the members of their guilds and they quickly gathered together.

While Gu Yu, Liu Chai, Lu Zan and Wu Guoyi were waiting for the members to assemble, they opened the built-in map of the game to search for the location of the City of Beiqi.

In the map of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony, the City of Beiqi was conspicuous as it was the only fortress that was located in the North of the map, whereas East, South, and West each had 33 fortresses.

As the safety countdown began, a white halo appeared on the ground. It gradually shrank as time passed.

When the white halo shrank until the center position, the game message reappeared.

[Safe time is over and the battle officially starts now. Warriors, let's advance toward the peak of glory!]

"Roar!" the gamers growled excitedly.

At that moment, all the guilds began to run wildly in four directions.

The number of gamers who hit the North was the least. It was totally incomparable to the other three directions. It seemed that everyone who was watching the hegemony tournament clearly knew that the North was the place where all the warlords were vying for supremacy and battle was at its most intense.

To the North, there were 38 guilds in total. The Myth Guild, Demolition Officers, Slayer Alliance, Great Dragon Guild, Ground Shaking Guild, Avengers, and Association of the Guardian Angels were undoubtedly the seven strongest guilds while the other 31 guilds were drawn in before the tournament in order to help one of the guilds win the championship.

They were wary of another as they ran toward the City of Beiqi. However, none of them took the initiative to launch an attack.

"Brothers~ Speed up!"

Suddenly, Liu Chai shouted excitedly and a blue halo which was quickly expanding outward appeared at his feet.

[Sea of War: By unlocking the ability, members of that faction will receive a five percent increase in speed and two healing points per second for a duration of ten minutes, covering the area within a 100 meter radius.

The forward speed of the entire guild increased as the blue aperture shrouded the members of the Demolition Guild, slowly increasing the distance between them and the other guilds.

"All members, drink the potion!" Gu Yu shouted on the live chat channel as well.

Upon hearing Gu Yu's order, all the guild members retrieved the Speed Potion which they bought from the shop and chugged it down without hesitation.

All of a sudden the members of the Myth Guild sped up too and were moving forward faster than the Demolition Guild.

"Fucking rich!" Chen Ziyu who saw this was undoubtedly depressed. After all, his guild was the poorest compared to the other guilds.

……

After dashing for about ten minutes, the magnificent City of Beiqi appeared in the sight of the crowd. Gu Yu who first arrived at the City of Beiqi's fortress gate immediately directed the members of the guild to launch a fierce attack.

After the initial attack, a line of health points numbering 4,942,381 was shown above the fortress gate.

Even though the fortress gate had nearly 5 million health points, it had no defense value. All the damage bore it was real damage. Under the attack of the Myth Guild, the health bar began to drop rapidly.

At this time, the members of the Demolition Guild had also arrived.

Liu Chai immediately roared with rage, "Crash into the place and clear them out!"

Along with Liu Chai's roaring and under the leadership of dozens of Rune Masters, the berserkers in the front row rammed violently into the Myth Guild's defensive line that was ready in battle array.

"Boom!"

A war broke out instantly.

The Demolition Guild and Myth Guild had been old adversaries. Thus, encountering each other made their eyes blaze with hatred and they quickly broke into a fight.

"Hold on for another five minutes and we will be able to seize the city! Dog, heal the members!" Gu Yu shouted in rage.

Upon hearing Gu Yu's order, Sun Qi leaped from the ground. With his body floating in the air, he began to sprinkle green light of healing.

Suddenly, an arrow appeared from the front and struck Sun Qi.

The blow immediately interrupted Sun Qi's skills. As he was falling, another flaming arrow flew from the distance and hit Sun Qi again.

The power of Annihilation burst out in an instant, killing Sun Qi in the air within seconds. He then turned into a beam of white light and was returned to the central safe point.

"Nice one!" Wu Guoyi shouted excitedly. He then patted the guild member next to him who was retrieving his longbow.

The person who shot the two precise arrows was a player named Li Lin. He had won third place in the Archery Inheritance Trial. Apparently, he was not Ye Chen who mastered the Predestined Archery.

Since the Myth Guild had seized the opportunity in capturing the city and had formed a defensive barrier in front of the fortress gate, the Myth Guild was now their common enemy.

"Brothers, let's secure the fortress gate to help the Myth Guild get into the city!"

Six guilds who were in the siege team suddenly changed their formations. They collectively turned and attacked the players behind them, sharing the direct pressure with the Myth Guild.

The scale of the battle gradually expanded as the number of players involved increased. The area in front of fortress gate was in chaos. Spells and skills were flying all over the place and gamers were constantly on the brink of death. They were killed even before they managed to drink potions and were sent back to the safe area as a beam of white light.

Liu Chai said, "Brothers who are at the safe area, quickly come to support after being resurrected. As for the others, let's gather around and make our way through. We will definitely seize the City of Beiqi!"

Upon hearing Liu Chai's roar, the Demolition Guild began to search for their own members in the chaos with great efficiency. They quickly assembled and charged forward again.

Such a large scale clash broke out at the beginning of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament. The viewers who were watching the live broadcast off-site were filled with satisfaction. Everyone's eyes were staring at the screen, waiting for the fall of the gate!

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Chapter 114: Archery Competition

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Although there were five alliance guilds to assist, the Myth Guild was still under great pressure as they were facing the sortie from the other six guilds who spared no effort.

Looking at the health bar of the fortress gate that had dropped more than half, Gu Yu's gaze became firm.

"Lingtian, shoot at their source of attacks to help reduce the incoming pressure!"

The long-haired man next to him nodded, took one step forward and slowly lifted his dark green Cloud Reaching Bow. He then began to aim at the Water Turrets that were located at the back of the Siege Guild's army.

As the first runner-up of the Archery Trial, Mo Lingtian's archery skill was undoubtedly powerful. Every flaming arrow released by him managed to take down a vulnerable water element Mage at the back.

Mo Lingtian's performance immediately caught the attention of the Siege Guild. Soon, assassins snuck up to him and slashed their sharp daggers toward him without warning.

Seeing this, a smile appeared at the corner of Mo Lingtian's mouth. Then, he tilted his body and the Sliding ability was activated. His figure slid a few metres forward, easily avoiding several fatal attacks.

Those assassins were shocked. But before they managed to react, the assassin players of the Myth Guild had approached them and the instant burst of damage slew them into white rays.

Mo Lingtian's eyes turned sharp after glancing at the Siege Guild army in front of him. He then ran forward through the gaps in between the players of his own guild. As he was running, he would lift his long bow from time to time to aim and shoot.

Every time after he shot an arrow, he would turn around and change his attacking position decisively. He did not even need to look at the flying trajectory of the arrow. Yet the arrow could always hit the target accurately.

His running attacks made it impossible for the assassin players to spot his location accurately. His strong killing ability had also surprised the audience.

"This is how the true champion of the Archery Trial performs! He is really awesome! Ye Chen is definitely not his rival!"

"That's awesome! He did not even look back after releasing an arrow and could predict the next safe attacking spot. This gaming guru has been keeping a low profile. Impressive! Impressive!"

"It used to be said in the forum that assassins are mage killers. I think he is the real mage killer! He's so powerful!"

……

Everyone could imagine that if Mo Lingtian was born in ancient times, he would definitely be a valiant general as he had such a powerful personal ability. By just relying on his personal ability, the number of mage players behind the Siege army were constantly decreasing and all the assassins were helpless.

Mo Lingtian turned around immediately after releasing another arrow. He then walked toward a pre-selected shooting spot.

However, at this moment, a burning arrow appeared from the front.

Mo Lingtian's face froze and he activated Sliding.

"Huh?" Mo Lingtian was stunned as he suddenly noticed that the arrow was not aiming at him. It landed at a spot which was three metres away from him.

Thus, he immediately activated his Eagle Eyes and found out that Ye Chen was running toward him with a longbow in his hand.

Upon seeing Ye Chen's silhouette, a hint of gloominess appeared in Mo Lingtian's eyes.

He was conceited with his archery skills. Thus, losing to Ye Chen in archery was a disgrace to him and he was always ashamed of it.

Mo Lingtian would've been more motivated if Ye Chen had won with his real abilities. However, Ye Chen was just a random shooter. Hence, Mo Lingtian refused to accept the fact that he was defeated by him!

Mo Lingtian's eyes revealed a trace of disdain as he saw Ye Chen running toward him. He slowly raised his long bow and aimed at Ye Chen. Then, he shot an arrow after charging.

Ye Chen who was at a distance noticed this and immediately activated Sliding. He barely managed to avoid the arrow.

Mo Lingtian was not surprised by the fact that Ye Chen could avoid his attack. After all, the Sliding ability attached to this profession was meant to use to dodge skill attacks.

As Ye Chen's silhouette was closing in, Mo Lingtian began to predict Ye Chen's movement path. He even took into account the Sliding distance this time. Then, he shot an arrow again.

However, to Mo Lingtian's surprise, Ye Chen did not activate the Sliding ability. This arrow was wrongly predicted and it landed in front of Ye Chen.

Seeing this, surprise flashed in Mo Lingtian's eyes. But deep in his heart, he was still calm.

The cultivation of the mental state was also extremely important for the cultivation of archery. Even slight changes in mentality would affect the accuracy of the arrows.

In addition, Mo Lingtian never felt that he had lost to Ye Chen. After all, he was the true archer.

By then, the distance between them was less than 15 meters. As Mo Lingtian raised his longbow, Ye Chen who was running also slowly raised his longbow.

Two flaming arrows were shot at the same time.

"Crack!"

A line of '-110' bloody words appeared above Ye Chen's head. His health points were reduced by more than half. Meanwhile, an assassin from the Demolition Guild who was at a distance was beaten by him into a white ray and disappeared in place.

At this moment, Ye Chen was undoubtedly depressed as failure by fate was always saddening.

Mo Lingtian scorned as he saw that Ye Chen was already close to his death. Once again, he pulled an arrow out from his back and placed it on the bow. He then pulled the bow and aimed, wanting to kill Ye Chen this time.

A cunning look appeared in Ye Chen's eyes as the arrow was being shot. He immediately activated the Sliding ability and leaned back, sliding three meters forward and appeared next to Mo Lingtian.

"Daze!"

Ye Chen used his longbow as a weapon and struck a blow to Mo Lingtian's chest.

[Got stunned by a skill (Daze Attack), remain in a daze for a second!]

The appearance of the game message left Mo Lingtian in shock. Isn't this an ability that is cultivated by close combat character class from the Cultivation Pavilion? As an archer, why did he learn this skill?

Before Mo Lingtian could figure it out, the back of his head was hit by Ye Chen forcefully. He fell to the ground as he was freed from the dizzy state.

"You…"

Before Mo Lingtian could complete his sentence, Ye Chen yelled excitedly,

"The Fallen Slash!"

Accompanied by the red flames appearing on the longbow, the blow landed forcefully on Mo Lingtian's body who was caught off guard, resulting in 68 points of damage.

Mo Lingtian who did a double take was shocked and furious. However, Ye Chen once again applied his close combat skill and slashed toward him. He quickly activated Sliding, wanting to distance himself from Ye Chen.

But when Mo Lingtian activated his Sliding skill, Ye Chen immediately activated his Sliding skill as well to close in on him. The longbow was being held in his hand as a weapon and once again, he hit Mo Lingtian right in his face with it.

At this moment, Mo Lingtian's state of mind was greatly affected. Even though he could kill Ye Chen who was about to die by just shooting an arrow, Ye Chen did not give him the opportunity to do so. He had been following him closely and applied his close combat skills all the way.

This made Mo Lingtian feel down and depressed. It's a competition between two archers. Is it really fair to fight like this!?

"Ah! Get away from me!" Mo Lingtian could no longer stand it. He raised his longbow and waved.

"Once again, daze!" as the longbows collided, Ye Chen's skill had cooled down and Mo Lingtian was stunned again. Then, he grabbed the longbow with both his hands and smashed it at Mo Lingtian's face, turning him into a white ray.

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Chapter 115: First Fortress Captured

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

After killing Mo Lingtian, a smile appeared on Ye Chen's face.

He had been very depressed after undergoing the character class advancement into a Sun Chasing Archer. Thus, he had been cultivating hard in order to improve his archery skills as he no longer wanted to leave it to fate.

However, he was really not talented in this area. No matter how hard he practiced, his efforts were in vain.

Being driven into a corner, Ye Chen almost gave up on himself. But after being enlightened by Ye Xue'er, he chose to change his path a bit and cultivate close combat skills. Coupled with the blessings of the Sun Chasing Power, the agile movement by Sliding and the close combat skills from the Cultivation Pavilion that had no character class requirements, he managed to cultivate his own path.

Ye Chen had showed his talent in this aspect. He noticed that using a bow in a close combat suited him.

Ye Chen knew that he had made the correct decision as he had managed to kill Mo Lingtian. An archer should fucking do hand-to-hand combat and an archer who could deal with close combat is the best!

Ye Chen's performance made everyone who was watching the game dumbfounded.

The comment screen was flooded with words like 'Mo Lingtian is awesome!' just now. But at this moment, everyone was totally stunned.

His creative gameplay had destroyed the worldview of many players, as an archer who needed no arrows and hit his enemy in the face using his bow to cause damage.

"As expected, champions are champions. Brother Chen has never let us down. An archer who can do hand-to-hand combat is really awesome!"

"I finally realized that we can't judge Ye Chen from a mundane viewpoint as he always surprises us. It's fantastic! An archer who can do hand-to-hand combat is really awesome!"

"Brother Chen's unpredictable gameplay is endless. The most amusing person of the year has to be him!"

"Such a breath-taking control. I'm really curious what he had experienced to be so skillful in close combat…"

"The sayings that Ye Chen could always survive a hopeless situation are not just empty talk. Several practical experiences have proven everything. Perhaps, Ye Chen is the legendary Son of Luck. (funny face)"

……

In the Shark Streaming Platform off the game field, a wave of compliments for Ye Chen appeared on the comment screen.

Meanwhile, Mo Lingtian was staring blankly at the resurrection spot.

This battle was a great blow to him. He was defeated by Ye Chen in a head-to-head battle. How is this possible…

This failure had caused Mo Lingtian to shut himself off again.

……

The siege war was still going on and the battle cries outside the City of Beiqi were sky-rending. The pressure of the Myth Guild was also increasing as more than half of the guild members were injured.

Just then, a loud sound was heard at the fortress gate and the whole gate shattered.

Upon seeing this, a look of ecstasy appeared on Gu Yu's face.

"Warriors, hang in there while the others enter the fortress and grab the flag!"

"Hurry! Everyone get into the fortress and grab the flag!"

All the guild masters including Wu Guoyi and Liu Chai shouted eagerly.

Without the support of the back row, the defensive line of the Myth Guild was immediately broken through. Tens of thousands of players were running madly toward the fortress, trying to stop the Myth Guild from getting the flag.

At this moment, a white flag was erected at the central region of the City of Beiqi. The players of the Myth Guild were first to arrive and began to launch attacks on the flag itself.

However, the flag did not have any health points. It immediately shattered under the attack of a few blasts of magic. Just then, the game message appeared.

[Congratulations to the Myth Guild for capturing the City of Beiqi. Five minutes of safety protection time is awarded and the guild's resurrection spot is shifted to the City of Beiqi!]

At that moment, members of the other guilds who had just entered the City of Beiqi were collectively transported to the fortress gate. The shattered fortress gate was also restored.

Meanwhile, a Selection Menu emerged in front of Gu Yu.

[Please choose a banner to represent your guild!]

Hundreds of options appeared in front of Gu Yu. After having a quick glance, Gu Yu fixed his gaze on a Golden Arrogant Dragon flag. He then clicked to confirm.

The guild players who were outside caught sight of a golden flag which was slowly rising from the City of Beiqi. A huge word 'Myth' was on the flag.

"Fuck!" Liu Chai shouted gloomily.

Looking at the countdown to the protection time on the fortress gate, they knew that they could only wait for the next round to attack.

Despite the powerful strength of the Myth Guild, the six alliance guilds were another important reason for them to be able to break into the City of Beiqi directly. They were disrupting the situation, making it extremely difficult to break out of the encirclement.

However, they knew that defending the fortress would be an uphill task for the Myth Guild.

After all, the Myth Guild had the first-comer advantage for the battle in front of the fortress gate. They were squeezing at the fortress gates, farming a small defensive circle and hence their collective attacks could not break it at once. However, they were confident that they could chase the Myth Guild out in one go upon entering the City of Beiqi which was spacious and empty.

"Brothers, let's clear these six guilds off first!" all of a sudden, Wu Guoyi spoke and all of his guild members changed their direction and began to attack those guilds that had just assisted the Myth Guild in defending the fortress.

Wu Guoyi's words had enlightened Chen Ziyu, Liu Chai, and the others. All of them led their guild members to attack the members of the six guilds along with the coalition forces, preventing them from becoming their obstacles in the next siege.

During the protection time of the fortress, these six guilds had become the targets for all and were madly slaughtered by the other guilds.

[Congratulations to the Rampage Guild for occupying Extreme City…]

[Congratulations to the Flying Guild for occupying Changwu City…]

[Congratulations to the World Guild for occupying Luding City…]

……

As the game messages popped up one after another, the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament was also getting more intense.

There were constantly guilds who managed to capture the fortresses and the entire safe zone was constantly flashing white lights. Every second, there were several players who were resurrected. After the protection time was over, they went back to the hegemony tournament again.

This epic tournament had made the audience enjoy themselves to the fullest!

Many low profile gaming gurus had gradually entered the sight of everyone, showing off their various operations.

Even the Rampage Guild, that was not well-known in the past, managed to withstand the joint obstruction from the other four guilds and forcibly advanced into Extreme City. They became the first who managed to take down a fortress with absolute advantage.

On the other hand, the number of viewers on the Shark Streaming Platform was constantly increasing. After the event had begun for only an hour, the number of viewers was close to ten million as compared to just two million in the beginning and it was still rising rapidly.

This would be a sleepless night for many people as their eyes would be focusing on this battlefield.

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Chapter 116: Rematch

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

After the tournament had lasted five hours, a statistical graph was presented on the big screen of the scene.

With the statistics, all the audience members who were watching the hegemony tournament were amazed.

According to the data, the total number of players who died in the hegemony tournament map within the span of five hours was around 5.32 million. There were 35,212 broken weapons and 34,212 damaged pieces of armor. The expenses of repairing equipment in the shop alone had reached a horrifying amount of 500,000 soul coins and the various types of potions consumed were uncountable.

The flags of the one hundred fortresses had been raised more than 3,000 times in total. On average, the fortress flags were altered a few times in an hour.

The Sky Dragon City that was located in the west had substituted ten defenders in just one hour. The battle was so exciting that the audience members were boiling with excitement.

The extraordinary epic battle entered its maddest stage at the last hour. The ferocity of the battle was constantly rising as the guilds that had not captured a fortress yet were turning insane in the end.

……

As for the City of Beiqi which was under the spotlight of the hegemony tournament, the fortress owner had been substituted several times. Even powerful guilds like the Myth Guild could not defend the fortress for more than twenty minutes.

In the battle for the City of Beiqi, the most outstanding guild other than the powerful Myth Guild was undoubtedly the Demolition Guild.

The Demolition Guild had shown their amazing cohesion in the fortress conquering tournament, especially the personal commanding ability of the guild master, Liu Chai. They unexpectedly managed to defend the City of Beiqi for half an hour, setting a new record for the hundred fortresses' defending time.

By relying on the cooperation of the guild members, they had conquered the City of Beiqi three separate times. They were also the guild who managed to raise their flag in the City of Beiqi for the longest period of time.

Thus far, many guilds had aroused real animosity toward one another. The battle could be said to be action-packed.

During the last hour, the fortress-defending guild was still the Myth Guild.

Following the breakthrough of the fortress gate, a large number of members from the other guilds rushed in. They rushed madly toward the center of the fortress where the fortress flag was placed.

"Everyone, don't worry about the wasting of potions. Maintain your health points and defend the City of Beiqi till you die. As long as we manage to hang in here, we'll be the champion!" Gu Yu's roar was heard in the live chat channel.

If they lost the City of Beiqi again, even Gu Yu dared not guarantee that he could win over the fortress again under the other guilds' siege.

Thus in Gu Yu's point of view, this was their last chance.

To the other guilds, this was their last chance, too. Thus, their attack became extremely aggressive.

Thousands of magic spells collided within the City of Beiqi. The surrounding buildings were all destroyed and the waves of attack were still coming one after another.

As the fortress defenders, the Myth Guild had formed a circle of defense around the flag and were struggling to defend the fortress from the invaders.

The collective attack this time was different from before. While attacking the Myth Guild, they were also observing the actions of the other guilds.

After all, there was only one fortress flag. They would never give up the last chance to the others.

Liu Chai spoke, "Everyone, form the sharp blade sortie formation! Refer to me as the knife point and radiate backward! Rush in!"

Following Liu Chai's growl, the guild members quickly moved behind Liu Chai with good teamwork. They formed a sharp blade-like line of attack.

Both sides of the formations were warrior-type character classes that could fight and resist damage while assassins were all standing at the back, protecting all of the mage players in the center. They then stabbed at the Myth Guild's defensive line like a sharp blade.

At this moment, the Sea of War ability was activated. With the blessings of healing and acceleration, the Demolition Guild erupted a strong ability and tore a hole in the defensive line of the Myth Guild. They then charged toward the fortress flag.

This attack came too suddenly and it caught Gu Yu, who was defending the other side, by surprise.

Looking at the Demolition Guild that was approaching the fortress banner, Gu Yu was in a rage.

Just when the Demolition Guild was about to reach the front of the fortress flag, the Slayer Alliance led by Lu Zhan broke the Myth Guild's outer defensive line from the side and rammed against the Demolition Guild.

Even Gu Yu did not expect that the Slayer Alliance would take the heat off him.

There were less than thirty minutes left. Lu Zhen knew that this was the crucial period of time. If Liu Chai managed to grab the flag and with the five minutes protection time, Liu Chai would most probably be the final winner. Thus, he had to stop him.

At this moment, several defensive lines were also broken. Wu Guoyi, Ye Xue'er, and the others had rushed to the central region. The last outbreak immediately took place between the six guilds.

This time, there were no alliances. As far as they were concerned, any guild who got into their sight was their enemy!

Any guild who got close to the fortress flag would immediately turn into the target of the other guilds. The war was also getting more intense.

"Boss Chai, I'll make a way for you. Go ahead and grab the fortress flag!"

As soon as Qi Ming finished his words, he slammed the wand in his hand to the ground and several ghosts emerged from the ground. Qi Ming then waved his hands and the ghosts turned into a spinning ghost whirlwind which swept forward abruptly, making a way out of the crowd.

"Thanks!" Liu Chai turned his head and nodded solemnly at Qi Ming. The jewels on his body shone at the same time and he lunged forward like a tiger.

"I'm here! Who dares to cross!" a silhouette emerged all of a sudden and a red spiritual sword slashed forcefully, causing Liu Chai to retreat.

Ao Jian's figure emerged at this moment!

The Myth Guild had provided Ao Jian with tremendous amount of materials to support his spiritual sword. Thus, this sword master had finally appeared in the final battle.

"I'm your rival!" Qi Ming went to the front of Ao Jian who was about to kill Liu Chai.

"It's you!" Ao Jian's pupils contracted.

"It's me." Qi Ming laughed.

"Loser!"

"Nothing is absolute. You may not get to defeat me this time!"

"We'll see!" Upon finishing his sentence, Ao Jian waved his left hand and a purple longsword flew out from his back. He then held it in his left hand.

At the same time, Qi Ming had activated the Strength of Ghost Monster. He grew taller and the muscles on his arms were as strong as the ancient dragon. His skin was also covered in black as if he was a black demon statue.

The two cultivators crossed swords with each other once again.

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Chapter 117: The Last Craziness

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Qi Ming was no longer afraid of Ao Jian as he had also received an inheritance. He slammed the wand in his hand on the ground again and the emerged ghosts swiftly twined around Ao Jian.

Noticing the attack of the ghosts, Ao Jian waved his red sword to the front. The sword reflected a flash of sun rays and the ghosts were slayed. Then, his figure flashed and he dashed toward Qi Ming.

"Bang!"

Qi Ming remained calm in facing Ao Jian's attack. His right fist was abruptly thrown toward his opponent, colliding with Ao Jian's sword.

With the blessings of the double attributes, Qi Ming's punch overwhelmed Ao Jian's attack in terms of strength, pushing him back. He then slammed his wand onto the ground again. As the ghosts appeared, he immediately sucked them into his mouth and dark red lines appeared on his body. His physique was once again strengthened.

This time, even Ao Jian could realize that Qi Ming was no longer just a vulnerable mage, but an opponent who was worthy for him to go all out.

……

As Ao Jian and Qi Ming were battling, Liu Chai's figure disappeared and he was once again charging toward the fortress flag.

In order to cover Liu Chai up, the remaining assassins of the guild activated Shadow Step and followed closely behind him. All the way, they were protecting him against many murderous intentions.

The Demolition Guild's strategy was undoubtedly successful. By abandoning all their combat power and keeping only the attacking team, they once again swept past the tangled warfare and charged toward the fortress flag for the last time.

"Liu Chai, you will not get to conquer the City of Beiqi!"

Suddenly, a burning flame appeared at the central region and Gu Yu's figure appeared in front of the fortress flag.

A horn slowly emerged from Gu Yu's forehead and his body grew rapidly at a speed which was visible to the naked eyes. In a blink of an eye, he turned into a three-meter tall red giant.

Gu Yu was no longer holding back since this was already the last stage. He exhibited the Evil Body directly and his strength was greatly enhanced by relying on his inherited ability.

"Defeat him!" Liu Chai bellowed and the rubies on his body were shining brightly. He used up all of his energy and smashed toward Gu Yu who was standing right in front of the fortress flag.

He knew that he would be the winner tonight as long as he defeated Gu Yu!

"Roar!" Gu Yu was growling, too. He swung his fist, smashing it at Liu Chai's incoming fist.

Both the silhouette stepped backward at the same time. With the Evil Body's increased strength, Gu Yu's power was obviously far superior than Liu Chai's. His punch was so powerful that Liu Chai was forced a few meters backward.

That moment, blood mist suddenly rose in the surrounding area. The blood on the ground floated in the air and rapidly flooded into Gu Yu's body.

Gu Yu slowly straightened his body and walked to the front of the fortress flag again. He let out an evil laugh, "Liu Chai, you won't be able to go through me!"

"I can!" Liu Chai stabilized his body and launched another attack as he bawled.

In order to assist their boss to capture the flag, the remaining assassin players followed closely behind him and launched the last attack.

"I said, you can't!" following Gu Yu's growl, a blood-colored flame centering him suddenly rose and madly dissipated to the surrounding area.

Bloody words appeared above Liu Chai and the others' heads.

The assassin players who were originally left with little health all fell one by one, even before they got near to Gu Yu.

"Bang!"

The two fists met each other again and Liu Chai was blasted off his feet, ending up with less than half of his original health points.

"Hold on everyone! There's just twenty-five minutes left. I will handle Liu Chai!" Gu Yu sent out his last command in the live chat channel.

There was not much time left. The players were fighting each other outside the fortress and hence defending and restraining each other had become relatively easier. The only person who had broken through the tangled warfare was Liu Chai. He had a predisposition that he was going to succeed!

Liu Chai who was getting up again stared at Gu Yu with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.

He did not know how long it had been since he last encountered such an exciting opponent.

With regards to the confident Gu Yu, he suddenly laughed.

"Gu Yu, I admit that you are really strong. But you still can't beat me by yourself."

"Oh?" Gu Yu was a little surprised.

"Have you heard of Thunder?" Liu Chai shook his numb right hand and approached Gu Yu step by step.

"Thunder? Never heard of it before!" Gu Yu smiled indifferently. He then raised his leg and stamped toward the front, charging abruptly toward Liu Chai.

But to Gu Yu's surprise, Liu Chai did not confront him. He turned his body to the side and dodged his heavy blow.

"Flaw, lower left abdomen!"

Following Liu Chai's yell, the ruby on his body dazzled. An uppercut struck Gu Yu's abdomen ferociously.

This punch caught Gu Yu off-guard. He immediately staggered a few steps back.

"Hmph!" Gu Yu snorted before approaching Liu Chai again as he thought that it was just a mistake.

"Flaw, the defense on your right is weak!"

Liu Chai jumped to the left with his nimble movements and shoved his fist right into Gu Yu's face, slamming him to the ground.

Gu Yu who could not believe what had happened, rolled over and stood up. The muscles of his body contracted and with a growl he launched another attack.

To his surprise, Liu Chai could always predict his punch and even struck back at the critical time.

Seeing Liu Chai pacing back and forth along with his fierce boxing skills, Gu Yu suddenly thought of a person.

"Are you saying that you're Thunder!"

Liu Chai nodded and said, "You're the first to know this secret in this game!"

"The Thunder King who once ruled during the wrestling era?" upon hearing Liu Chai's admission, huge waves started rolling in Gu Yu's heart.

"What else do you have? Just bring it on. You're not my rival when it comes to one-on-one combat!" having said that, Liu Chai raised his fists and got into a fighting stance.

Gu Yu did not rebut. Instead, he nodded his head solemnly and a ball of flame was set in his eyes. He then turned his head and stared at Liu Chai.

Gu Yu's Evil Eye Stare was his ultimate skill. It was also his strongest ability.

Thunder was caught off-guard immediately and got affected by the ability. For a moment, he was still in shock. Thus, Gu Yu rapidly went near him and ferociously punched Liu Chai in his face, lifting him up high into the air.

……

The situation on the battlefield was undergoing a rapid change and there were only fifteen minutes left. The audience members were experiencing significant ups and downs in their hearts at this final stage.

When they thought that Gu Yu was about to win, Liu Chai demonstrated his strong wrestling ability and suppressed Gu Yu. However at the very last moment, Liu Chai was suddenly restricted and Gu Yu had gained the chance to strike back.

Seeing Liu Chai on the ground with a stunned face after he was punched, everyone who was watching the battle including Lu Wu and Bei Li thought that the Myth Guild was about to win in the game of fortress defense and gain the final victory.

At that moment, Liu Chai laid on the ground and his mind was in utter confusion. Various kinds of negative emotions emerged and memories that made him angry, sad, and desperate appeared before his eyes.

His body was trembling and gradually, he clenched his fist hard.

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Chapter 118: Thunder Liu Chai

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Under the Evil Eye Stare's influence, Liu Chai's mind was flooded with memories that had made him feel sorrowful, angry, and desperate. These memories were repeatedly played in his mind like a slideshow.

What everyone, including the members of the Demolition Guild, did not know was that their leader Liu Chai was in reality the most famous wrestling genius of the Dragon Nation. He was none other than the uncrowned King of Thunder who had conquered the wrestling world in his heyday.

However, nobody knew what Thunder had suffered throughout his path of growth under the spotlight.

Liu Chai's parents had abandoned him when he was a kid. At that time, Liu Chai who had been neglected became very rebellious. He mixed with kids of his age on the streets and was often involved in fighting and stealing.

Undoubtedly, he had a dark childhood. He was often detained under the juvenile reformatory center and was seen as the scum of society.

At that time, Liu Chai thought that this was how his remaining life would be, achieving nothing and leading a meaningless life.

But one day, he met an old man who changed his destiny.

He just got out from the juvenile reformatory center that day and it was raining. As he was starving, he went to a supermarket to steal some food, but he was caught as he accidentally hit the shelf and made a sound.

He faced the old man who came to check what happened with a fierce expression. Then, he turned around and shoved his fist at the old man.

This punch hit the old man and pushed the old man a few steps back with his hands on his chest.

To Liu Chai's surprise, the old man did not call the cops. Instead, he gestured for Liu Chai to calm down and handed him the food on the shelves.

That was when Liu Chai first met him. After learning about Liu Chai's experience, the old man said something that was unforgettable to Liu Chai.

"I will adopt you!"

The old man's appearance was like a beam of light in the dark, shining upon Liu Chai who was curled up in the dark.

Since then, the old man had treated Liu Chai like his son. Liu Chai, who was originally taciturn, became cheerful after getting in touch with the old man.

However, Liu Chai's growing environment had made him into a person with low self-esteem. Although he started attending school, he still could not blend in.

Being mocked and beating up those who made fun of him was the most common thing Liu Chai did in school.

In the end, under the joint appeals of numerous parents, he was made to drop out of school. Even though the old man had repeatedly begged them, the result was still the same.

Liu Chai could still remember the trembling look on the old man's face when going in and out of the headmaster's office.

When they got home that day, he thought that the old man would get very angry. But, the old man patted his shoulder gently and said, "Don't look down on yourself, you have strengths that others do not have!"

The young Liu Chai raised his head and looked at the old man curiously. Even he himself was in the opinion that he was useless apart from being ferocious and aggressive.

"Be a wrestler. I'll teach you!" the old man smiled.

Later, Liu Chai learned that the old man was a wrestler when he was young. He then retired due to his injuries and illnesses. His biggest regret was that he could no longer appear in the wrestling ring.

In the following days, Liu Chai practiced during the day and had heart-to-heart conversations with the old man at night to learn the way of life.

Liu Chai had particularly great strength since he was young and could beat several of his peers by himself. His tough growing environment had created his resolute character. In facing the arduous training, he possessed maturity that was beyond his age.

At that time, Liu Chai's talent began to unfold. In the eyes of the old man, he was a natural wrestling genius.

At the age of 15, Liu Chai who had gone through three years of hard training registered for the amateur wrestling competition under the old man's support.

His tempest-like ferocious wrestling skills made him stand out in the amateur group and became a young genius in the eyes of the others. He then became the center of attention.

This marked the start of his glorious path. In the next three years, Liu Chai had won The Wrestling Guru Amateur Competition three times in a row. He was known as Thunder because of his ferocious wrestling skills, implying that he could defeat his opponent swiftly like a thunderbolt.

As he became more famous, Liu Chai gradually became rich. He was then attracted by the voluptuous world and eventually became depraved.

Without the old man by his side to guide him, Liu Chai got lost in this dazzling human world with its myriad temptations.

Finally, under everyone's expectation, this amateur genius stepped onto the professional wrestling arena.

At that time, Liu Chai had not trained for five months. His body condition had severely deteriorated. However, he was so confident that he even partied the night before the competition.

However, reality slapped him hard on the face. He was defeated in the first round of the competition; it was a fiasco.

In the second round, Liu Chai went on stage with great psychological pressure. Just as what the outside world predicted, he was defeated again.

The third round: Lost.

The fourth round: Lost.

Liu Chai was terminated without even playing the fifth round and that was the end of his career.

The public was seething with indignation and many negative news stories about him appeared in the media. Liu Chai was tormented and was about to collapse under the big blow.

He could clearly remember the derision he faced.

"Haha… Thunder, the future King of Wrestling!? You must be kidding me!"

"An amateur wrestling genius who lost four rounds in a row. Hahaha."

"Could it be that the previous matches he participated in were all made up?"

……

However, the bad news did not stop here. A few days later, Liu Chai received news that the old man was sick and was being rescued in the emergency room.

At that time, Liu Chai rushed home like a madman. However, when he saw the grey-haired old man, he had already passed away.

Till the end, he didn't even get to see his father for the last time.

He cried for the first time in his entire life. Liu Chai suddenly felt that there was nothing left for him to linger on.

However at that moment, a doctor stuffed a note in his hand and told him that this was the old man's last words.

Liu Chai opened the note with grief.

"Do you remember what I said? You have talents that others don't. It's not horrifying to lose. The most terrible thing is that you don't have the determination to strike back and win. Do you still remember what you've promised me?"

That sentence had awakened Liu Chai who was in distress. He remembered the old man telling him that he wanted to see him win the national wrestling tournament.

Since then, the king returned.

He constantly increased the intensity of his training, pushing himself to the limits to unleash his strength. The only thing that he had to do every day was to throw a punch at the sandbag again and again.

Both his hands would bleed and formed calluses. The cycle then repeated. Liu Chai was trying to numb the pain in his heart by having the high-intensity training. At that time, the only goal in his heart was to fulfill his final promise to his father.

After the old man was buried, Liu Chai kowtowed in front of the old man's tombstone and said, "I will not lose again!"

This was his last promise to his father who was also his life mentor.

One year later, Liu Chai who once again cleared the amateur group stood on the professional group's ring again.

Liu Chai was no longer boastful. Instead, he was firm and persistent.

This time, Liu Chai had proven to the world that he was the true wrestling genius, the future king of the wrestling world.

He overcame all the difficulties that went his way and countless long-established veterans were defeated by him. Since then, he became the defending champion who had defended his position for eight years. He truly deserved to be the uncrowned king. Thus, his name Thunder was known throughout the country and the world.

However, the old man could no longer witness this. This was also Liu Chai's regret for his entire life.

……

Liu Chai had now retired and thus his overwhelming and indomitable spirit in the past had long weakened. But at this moment, his memories resurfaced under the stimulation of the Evil Eye Stare and the most ferocious beast in the wrestling world awakened.

"I promised him that I will not lose again!"

Liu Chai who was lying on the ground abruptly opened his eyes and turned his body sideways to dodge Gu Yu's punch.

……

In the Artifact Channel, a valiant spirit in the Spirit Summoning Palace was trembling and growling.

Both Lu Wu and Bei Li were in shock.

They never thought that Liu Chai would resonate with the valiant spirit.

However, what went beyond their expectation was that the growling valiant spirit suddenly stopped trembling when it was about to escape.

"What's wrong?" Lu Wu was filled with doubt.

"It thinks that its inheritance isn't worthy for him. His will and the heart of the strong have surpassed the valiant spirit itself!" Bei Li spoke solemnly.

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Chapter 119: One Man Guarding

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Bei Li's words made Lu Wu feel stunned on the spot.

With his mortal will, Liu Chai managed to make the Ghost General, a valiant spirit of the Ghost King level in the Valiant Spirits Palace, feel ashamed. The spirit even voluntarily gave up the chance for inheritance of power. His willpower was really horrifying.

"There are two types of powerhouses. The first one being those who have a strong capability but do not have the mentality of a powerhouse while the second one being those who only have the heart of a powerhouse. Regardless of their capabilities, their undefeatable fighting spirits are always as firm as a rock. He belongs to the latter category and is a real powerhouse."

"There are thousands of ways to obtain strong capabilities but the heart of a powerhouse is not something that can be built within a short span of time. Wu, he is a real powerhouse! Congratulations!" Bei Li turned her head and looked at Lu Wu with a smile.

……

Seeing that Liu Chai had resisted his Evil Eye Stare and was able to avoid his deadly attack, Gu Yu was petrified.

This skill had always worked and things had never gone wrong. However, his skill failed at this critical moment.

Gu Yu did not know how Liu Chai did that as it was a power from the Demonic God!

Meanwhile, Liu Chai slowly stood up. He was looking at Gu Yu with a brutal stare, like a tiger that was about to lunge toward its prey. Seeing his gaze, a cold shiver ran down Gu Yi's spine.

Facing Liu Chai, who had gotten rid of the Evil Eye Stare, Gu Yu knew that he was no match for him. He immediately called for support on the guild channel. Dozens of guild members who were fighting immediately retreated and came toward the fortress flag.

Liu Chai sneered at the sight of the increasing opponents. The blood in his body was boiling at that moment. It reminded him of the olden days where he enjoyed the excitement of fighting.

Just then, the game message appeared.

[The hidden attributes of willpower have increased drastically. The ability of Sacrificial Tide has been activated.]

[Sacrificial Tide: The last gift of the Sea God. After this ability is activated, players can offer sacrificial offerings to obtain the blessings of the Sea God Spirit.

Sacrificial offerings that were allowed to be chosen: Soul coins, equipment, health points, experience points to level up.

Note: The offerings cannot be returned!

Liu Chai slightly squatted and ignored the game message. He then waved at Gu Yu and the others who were surrounding him!

"Kill!"

Gu Yu and the others immediately charged toward Liu Chai.

Intertwining steps, side slip, concession, uppercut, swing, straight punch and powerful punch, all of these powerful skills were demonstrated by Liu Chai as a wrestling king.

He was clearly leading even though he was fighting against thirty players by himself.

Seeing this, the off-site audiences were in shock. Everyone was awed by Liu Chai's horrifying battle skills.

Loud screams exploded at the scene.

"Looking at these steps and wrestling techniques, is he really Thunder? Could he really be Thunder?"

"These familiar wrestling techniques and steps. His punches are as quick as Thunder. I am his loyal fan. I will never recognize him wrongly – he is definitely the godly Thunder!"

"Tears welled up. I have never thought that I could meet the godly Thunder again in my life. I am so touched now!"

"If this is not Thunder, I will eat shit in a live stream. I have watched his fighting championship for eight years and I have always been his loyal fan. I should kill myself if I can't recognize him!"

There was an uproar outside the field. As Liu Chai's body style and wrestling techniques were too iconic, he was quickly recognized by the crowd outside. The atmosphere at the scene was pushed to a climax again.

[Event Message: The countdown to the last ten minutes of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament starts now!]

The music of the theme song was played at the scene again. The entire Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament was coming to an end.

Finally, the defensive line of the Myth Guild had been broken through. All the guilds launched their final attacks toward the fortress flag.

In facing the continuous stream of enemies, Liu Chai leaned to one side to avoid the collision from a Rune Master. His gaze then stopped at the game message which was still in the menu.

"Sacrifice all my equipment, sacrifice all my soul coins, sacrifice all my levels!"

"Bang!"

A huge blue wave descended from the sky, crashing toward Liu Chai's position. It then surrounded him and formed a rapidly spinning blue water ball.

Inside the blue water ball, Liu Chai's limbs started to spread blue energy particles that were condensing.

"Roar!" along with a loud growl, the water ball was blown away, exposing Liu Chai who had been blessed by the Sea God.

His torso was five meters tall and his entire body was made out of translucent blue energy particles. There was a Sea God Scepter that was flashing a brilliant blue light on his back. Everyone was surprised by Liu Chai's current form.

"Roar!"

Liu Chai's figure was standing in front of the fortress flag, looking down at the front.

"Kill!"

In the last fight, no one would retreat. Everyone charged toward Liu Chai who was the only person blocking the way.

Gu Yu and the others even leaped at the same time to attack Liu Chai.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

As the huge blue fists moved, the players were one by one being smashed and flew backward.

At this time, Liu Chai stopped the onslaught of ten thousand players all by himself, showing his extremely powerful strength.

Looking at the endlessly and densely packed players, Liu Chai growled again. The Sea God Scepter behind him then trembled and instantly appeared in his palm.

Liu Chai smashed the ground with the scepter and a huge wave immediately appeared out of thin air, splashing forward.

The huge wave swept a large number of players away.

One man could hold out against ten thousand men. At this time, Liu Chai was like the God of War and had become a mountain that the players could not overcome.

Liu Chai had bet everything in this battle. The cost of sacrificing was undoubtedly huge.

However, he had no regrets as he knew he would win! Because, he was Thunder!

The battle had come to the final stage. Nobody had ever thought that Liu Chai could resist the joint attack of the six guilds.

No matter how strong their skills were, Liu Chai remained still. With the blessings of the Sea God, Liu Chai was not afraid of any attack. In each attack, he could even cause a large number of players to die and turn into white lights.

At this moment, Liu Chai was like a boss, leaving all the players helpless.

This scene was destined to be a classic. When the countdown of the last five minutes started, Liu Chai waved his scepter, causing the wave to surge and swept forward again. Liu Chai then slowly turned his body and looked at the Beiqi fortress flag behind him with a smile…

After the fortress flag was seized, all players in the city were transformed into white lights and were sent to the fortress gate.

Looking at the countdown at the fortress entrance and the flag of the Demolition Guild flying in the wind, Gu Yu, Wu Guoyi, Lu Zhan and the others were dumbfounded.

They knew they had lost…

Huge screams could be heard off-site. All of them were shouting Thunder's name.

The atmosphere at the scene had reached its climax. All the audience members stood up and shouted the name of the person who was once a king.

In this war, Liu Chai had once again conquered everyone with his powerful abilities.

The lights at the scene were dazzling. Everyone waved their hands in the sound of the theme song, venting their excitement.

"Thunder!"

"Thunder!"

"Thunder!"

The stadium was filled with the cheers of the audience.

Even on the live streaming platform, the audience's live comments had covered the entire screen.

There were even a large number of players who were shouting the slogan, "I want to join the Demolition Guild!" At once, Liu Chai had gained a lot of fans with his charisma.

As the bell signifying the end of the countdown rang, hundreds of fortresses had their different governors. A mighty throne even appeared in the air of the City of Beiqi.

[Server Announcement: Congratulations to the Demolition Guild for being the champion of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament and the ruler of the City of Beiqi!]

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Chapter 120: The Best Overall Performance

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

With the end of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament, the Annals of Great Battles reappeared in the game.

The golden pages of the book slowly opened. The video of Liu Chao leading his guild to take over the city and the video of him relying on his individual strength to seize the fortress flag were quickly played in the pages. There was also a caption underneath the videos.

[On January 25th of 2319, the first season of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament, the Demolition Guild fought under the leadership of Liu Chai. They eventually managed to take over the City of Beiqi and obtain the ownership of the fortress. This war has been recorded in the Annals of Great Battles for the admiration of later generations.]

Although the final result was beyond the expectation of most people, nobody was dissatisfied with the result of Liu Chai taking over the City of Beiqi.

This included Gu Yu. Even though he was disappointed, he was convinced by Liu Chai's performance.

……

The figure of the host, Fang Ping, appeared on the stage of the Dragon Nation's stadium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now we are going to vote for the Top 10 Best Performances. You will find the voting button next to your seat to vote for your favorite battle videos. As for the viewers who are watching the live broadcast outside the venue, you can vote for your favorite videos directly on the platform."

Then, the edited battle videos were played on the big screen for the players to vote for their favourite videos. Each audience had three votes.

After the voting had officially commenced, a data graph was shown on the screen. Among the videos, the votes for Liu Chai's final personal performance video was rising at a speed that far exceeded the other combat videos. It topped the chart after a while and was pulling away from second place with a huge difference in the number of votes.

After waiting for about half an hour, the list on the big screen was finally generated.

[Top Ten Battle Shots of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament]

Along with the chart-topping background music, We Are Electric, that the players were most familiar with, the words of the number one video appeared.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the champion of the overall best video comes from the spectacular performance of the Guild Master of the Demolition Guild, Liu Chai, in the battle for the City of Beiqi…"

With the voice of the commentary, the players revisited the eye-opening scene of Liu Chai holding on against the combined attacks of the six guilds all by himself. He managed to defend for the last five minutes which changed their fate and took down the City of Beiqi.

This video has been acknowledged by all audiences to be the best. At that moment, Liu Chai was like a god, looking down at the heroes and capturing the hearts of all the people in the audience.

"The overall second best performance goes to the direction of the City of Beiqi. The two players, Ao Jian and Qi Ming have shown us what is extreme control. All the attacks and defenses were preempted. Such a horrifying individual ability was really scalp tingling…"

In the scene, Ao Jian's attack and Qi Ming's defense methods were emerging endlessly.

Many players were surprised after watching the entire video. This god-like fighting strategy had impressed all the players who were watching.

At the end of the video, Ao Jian united the nine swords and struck the last deadly attack. However, Qi Ming activated self-explosion at the same time. The two players transformed into white lights and disappeared at the same time. It was a draw.

This video could be considered as the model player killing technique tutorial. If it was not Liu Chai's godly performance, this video would have definitely been the best.

"The overall third best scene goes to the direction of the City of Beiqi as well. The Sun Chasing Archer, Ye Chen, used his skillful technique to convince us that an archer's close combat technique could be this amazing, leaving the opponent powerless to defend…"

As the explanation went on, Ye Chen's close combat skills were shown on the big screen again. The audiences had once again realized the horrifying close combat skills of Ye Chen.

"The overall fourth best performance is still from the direction of City of Beiqi where the battle was the most intense. Similarly, the Sun Chasing Archer Mo Lingtian demonstrated to us who a real mage killer is by taking away one life with each arrow. Only Mo Lingtian could be named as the back row harvester on the warfield…"

In the video, Mo Lingtian confidently turned around every time after he shot an arrow. Every arrow was shot accurately to the back row of the enemy like a navigator, killing them easily. It seemed that he was fooling around with the assassins who came secretly. His performance was really spectacular.

"Next is going to be our fifth place. It goes to the wonderful performance of the Rampage Guild in the battle for the Extreme City. The Rampage Guild has given the enemy a lesson on how to defeat the enemy with a lesser army…"

In the video, the Rampage Guild had managed to break through the siege of several guilds and captured the Extreme City by just relying on the power of a single guild and tactical arrangement.

"The overall sixth place once again goes to the direction of the City of Beiqi. It's a video of the Demolition Guild defending the city. They defended the city for thirty minutes against the attacks from six other guilds. In this battle, the Demolition Guild's performance was as if they had been assisted directly by god…"

……

One after another, videos were shown on the big screen, rekindling the audience's passion.

These scenes had well-shown the excitement and passion of the Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament, pushing the atmosphere of the scene to its climax.

After the top ten videos were played, the hegemony tournament was considered to have officially come to an end. In the end, Fang Ping revealed the news to the audience.

"The Hundred Fortresses Hegemony Tournament has ended successfully. Thank you to all the participating guilds for their spectacular performances. We will meet again at the Individual Skills Battle… See you soon!"

The news revealed by Fang Ping had caused an uproar among the players.

Many loners could not participate in the guilds' hegemony tournament. However, the Individual Skills Battle was different. This was a real carnival for all the players. The emergence of the news could be said to have given the players great expectations.

……

Meanwhile, Lu Wu's expression was a little strange.

The main purpose of this battle was for publicity and the outcome was extremely satisfying. When the live stream ended, the downloaded number of Battle Online at Platform173 had skyrocketed. The number of registered players shown on the artifact was close to two million and it was still increasing.

For the sake of contributing to the event, Lu Wu had made preparations to lose a lot of soul coins. But to his surprise, his amount of soul coins had increased by almost a million after the six hour hegemony tournament had ended.

The potions consumed by the players during the battle and the cost for repairing equipment in the mall far exceeded the amount of soul coins that Lu Wu had prepared. However, a lot of players re-purchased new equipment at the shop due to the damaged equipment, leading to the reinvestment of the soul coins. Lu Wu did not know whether to cry or laugh.

This could only be considered as an unintentional positive outcome.

Lu Wu was also very satisfied with the player's overall performances at the event. It made him realize how horrifying the potential of the ethnicities which once colonized the three worlds and were at once being called the fourth catastrophe.

Especially with Liu Chai in the end. He even had the rare powerhouse's heart. This was Lu Wu's biggest surprise.

In the description of Bei Li, the heart of a powerhouse was a hidden talent-level ability that even Cha Na, Pan Shi, and the others who were at the level of Ghost General and Ghost King did not have.

According to Bei Li, Liu Chai's future potential was limitless. This was because he was able to maintain the mentality of a powerhouse and not lose himself in the course of obtaining power.

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Chapter 121: An Influx Of New Players

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

The number of players online reached a frightening 2.6 million on the third day after the Hundred Fortress Hegemony Tournament ended and the Mansion of the Dead was crowded with wandering rookie players.

The players who were new to the game were completely amazed by how the game looked so real.

Many of them were expressing their frustration and sighing after finally joining the game as they found the game too late and they were one step later than all the others to progress.

However, this did not affect their interest in exploring the game. Characters with the most basic equipment could be seen everywhere in various zones around Beiqi.

These newbie players were asking the veteran players all sorts of questions for guidance in the forum like curious babies.

[Please give some pointers on which is the strongest character class at this point of the game…]

Strike_Seal: "Definitely a berserker! You can advance into a Rune Master which is a really strong class; you can both defend and attack. Just check out the guild master of the Demolition Officers, he's a Rune Master!"

Invincible_Lonliness: "Even though I can't defeat him, isn't the strongest class at the present stage the Demonic God's Apostles? (funny)"

A_Large_Wolfdog: "White Phantom isn't bad either (slams table)"

Crayon_Shinchan: "The strongest class is indeed the Demonic God's Apostle, but the strongest player at this stage is a Rune Master (funny)"

Author replying to Crayon_Shinchan: "Huh? Why can I only choose from three character classes and none of them are a Demonic God's Apostle!?"

Crayon_Shinchan replying to the author: "Silly child, you should go look around if you have nothing to do. Who knows, maybe you'll find it? (pats head)"

Author replying to Crayon_Shinchan: "What do you mean?"

……

[Game novice asks, I have just reached Level 4. Where can I go to level up quicker and where is the top-up portal?]

OnePunchMan: "If you're just Level 4, you should roam around the Mansion of the Dead and look for newly-spawned Wandering Souls to kill them. You can also team up and go to the Ghost Mountains. It's best if you can join a small guild and ask veteran players to take you to kill monsters at a higher level region. If you have the strength, you should join a large guild, then you'll get to go out to sea immediately~ As for the top-up portal you were talking about, I just smashed my keyboard, don't ask why… (angry)"

Xueli_The_Strongest: "Newbies are more suited to go around the Ghost Mountains. As for the top-up portal you were asking about… (slams table!)"

Crayon_Shinchan replying to the author: "Top-up portal? Here, here's the number for the game's top-up channel. Please remit immediately, the soul coins will be transferred instantly (funny)"

[Game novice at Level 8, brothers please help. I just saw someone with a wolf mount. How does one do that? Do the shops not have it?]

Crayon_Shinchan: "Shut up guys. As a newbie instructor, I have to speak (slams table)! To answer the poster, the wolf is known as a zombie wolf, there are a lot of them in Liuli District. You need to let the same zombie wolf bite you to death 100 times before it recognizes you as its owner and a master-slave contract is established."

Author replying to Crayon_Shinchan: "Is it really that difficult? (scared)"

Crayon_Shinchan replying to the author: "(slams table) How do you deserve such a flashy mount with such weak willpower?"

[I'm a game-collection enthusiast. I'm going insane by just looking at the upgrading of boats, warships, and the collection of materials for character class development! I'm longing to know how to earn more soul coins! I'm going to die without them!]

Crayon_Shinchan: "That's easy. Get your father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brothers, and sisters to go to the seaside and fish. You can also go to the North Rocks in the middle of the night and chop wood. There will definitely be good harvest (funny)"

……

The novices were asking a bunch of questions in the forum. Aside from the veterans who answered the questions posed by the doubtful novices properly, there were also many trolling veterans like Crayon_Shinchan. The whole forum was extremely lively.

As for Lu Wu, he was surprised to find a number of foreigners appearing in the Battle Online forum, asking questions on the official web forum using real-time translation software.

[Played this game before returning to my country and I was completely addicted. Sadly, I realized that there was no platform to download the software after returning to my country. May I ask the officials, when will this game come to our country?]

Crayon_Shinchan: "Wait till I can knock out a bunch of sub-characters with one blow, I will give you a foreign server and start a transnational war at the same time (funny)"

Strike_Gold: "I'm looking forward to the opening of several servers abroad, but it's unclear whether they will be with us for the Mansion of the Dead. If that's the case, let us have a three-second moment of silence…"

Invincible_Loneliness: "I guess it's coming soon as the game has been gaining popularity. The agents at your side may have been talking with the Battle Online Corporation so it shouldn't take too long. Other than that, if we're really living together under the same sky, then you guys will notice how bad the game's experience is (funny)…"

……

There were many foreign players who were demanding a foreign server. Thankfully, Lu Wu had already considered the matter.

After the Hundred Fortress Hegemony Tournament, there were many foreign gaming agents who had come forward to get in contact with him but solid cooperation matters were still under negotiation.

Although the three months period was reaching its end, he had already promised Wu Guoyi that he would only work with him during these three months. Therefore, he had to postpone with the agents, though the delay would not be too long.

At the same time, another problem would be posed from the influx of new players if they really open up Battle Online to other countries.

Lu Wu and Bei Li had already discussed this matter before this. Lu Wu did not have any other power plates aside from the Mansion of the Dead at that stage. However, Lu Wu could imagine how badly those foreigners would be oppressed by the veteran players from the Dragon Nation if the Mansion of the Dead was arranged for the foreign players.

However, it was not that there were no solutions, Bei Li even made a proposal.

She suggested tossing the foreign players into the same large domain of Beiqi where the forces were complex and not united.

Although the living conditions were vile, if the number of players in the foreign server exceeded those in the Mansion of the Dead, they could still develop depending on the innate advantages even if they were a little suppressed in the early stages.

Lu Wu intended to make a decision after careful consideration of that matter.

After all, it was not a small matter. He wanted the players to be able to develop better and stronger so he would have better profits as his income was completely provided by the players.

Lu Wu was not in a hurry as there was still time before the foreign server's release. Therefore, the matter would be put aside for the time being and the current development of the game would be given priority.

The Black Sea Technology Corporation had also contacted Lu Wu after the Hundred Fortress Hegemony Tournament, hoping that Lu Wu would start publicizing the game in half a month according to the agreement because they were about to start the mass production of gaming pods for the official sale.

Lu Wu agreed without hesitation as it was good news for him. Those players who were complaining about the 12-hour shutdown of the server would have a better gaming experience after the gaming pods were released.

However, Lu Wu received some bad news from the Black Sea Technology Corporation.

According to the person in charge of Black Sea Technology Corporation, the domestic major game manufacturers had reached an agreement with the Jie De Corporation and Lu Wu was the only one who refused to accept the offer. Therefore, the Jie De Corporation was ready to make a demonstrative sanction to Battle Online after the official release of the gaming pods.

Due to the various business rules involved, the Jie De Corporation had even figured to use incompatibility as the excuse for the sanction against Battle Online.

Lu Wu thought to himself that this matter would be tricky upon hearing the news. It would definitely be bad press for the publicity of the game.

However, upon further consideration, Lu Wu knew that the players who have played this game were diehard fans. Lu Wu was confident that they would not give up on the game because of the gaming pod issue.

Lu Wu had already figured out the means of a counterattack.

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Chapter 122: Cangxu's Conspiracy

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Center zone palace, Cangxu's large domain.

Sitting in the main hall, His Excellency Cangxu looked at the man kneeling before him with an apathetic expression and spoke indifferently, "Are you clear with what you should do now?"

The man below him shivered with fear. He was a default soul drifting around the Land of Cangxu without any consciousness just hours before the white-haired man before him known as His Excellency Cangxu actually roused his memories from his previous life and allowed him to become aware that he had gone to Naraka. He was terrified of these mysterious capabilities.

He did not even have the slightest thought of resistance at this moment as he was afraid that he would be thrown into the 18th level of Naraka and tortured.

The man went down on all fours immediately upon hearing Cangxu's question, "For Your Excellency to bestow me with rebirth, I am ready to work for Your Excellency with my best ability!"

"Then go. I will give you a chance to return and reward you handsomely if you complete your task well!" looking at the man kowtowing on the floor, a trace of decisiveness flashed in Cangxu's eyes.

……

Night fell and lanterns were lit.

After the clamorous noises of sirens rang out from a distance, the sounds of disordered footsteps and the barking of police dogs became nearer.

Pattering raindrops fell unceasingly on Qin Yu as he leaned against the corner of an abandoned hospital. Gasping for breath, his face was filled with disbelief.

Pinpricks of sweat on his forehead merged with water and blood as they flowed downward while his lips trembled, his face pale.

Everything that happened in the past twelve hours made Qin Yu feel like he was experiencing something straight out of a nightmare. Everything was so real and terrorized him to the core.

Qin Yu turned his head subconsciously to look at the other end of the abandoned hospital. His vision was shrouded by hazy darkness, making him nervous and tense.

After waiting for a moment, Qin Yu finally sighed in relief as he slid to the ground with his back against the wall. His mind began wandering and his train of thought drifted to what had happened twelve hours ago.

……

Qin Yu had just finished a day's work. He returned to his residence that he rented with his best friend Wu Hao, who was a recent graduate, to get ready for dinner.

However, when he knocked on the door, instead of Wu Hao, the person who opened the door was a tall, dark, and thin man sporting a goatee. The man looked to be in his thirties.

Their eyes met for a few seconds before that man smiled and took the initiative to speak, "You're back. Come on in."

He returned to his own home but it was a stranger who opened the door.

He even said strange words like you're back. Although Qin Yu had questions in his mind, he did not put much thought into it. He thought that the man was probably Wu Hao's guest.

But Qin Yu immediately sensed that something was wrong when he walked past and entered the house.

The house was extremely quiet. The television was turned off. The dining table was empty, the kitchen was also very quiet, and all the window curtains were pulled shut. The silence in the house was somewhat unusual.

This was completely unusual in their house when a guest was visiting.

His housemate Wu Hao would usually prepare a table of food and wait for his return every night. Everything seemed to be a bit fishy.

Qin Yu felt uneasy. He called out Wu Hao's name subconsciously and strode toward Wu Hao's room.

Goatee's voice was heard from behind Qin Yu.

He called out to stop Qin Yu from returning to his room. He then opened the door to the study and pointed into the room as he said, "Come on, Wu Hao's in here."

Qin Yu turned and looked into the study instinctively but his pupils shrunk instantly when he saw what was inside.

Wu Hao was tied to a computer chair with a sturdy rope, his mouth sealed with tape. Wu Hao's body was trembling faintly as he looked at Qin Yu with terror.

Qin Yu instantly realized that he had come home to a burglary.

Qin Yu had taken part in a few criminology research studies in school so he knew that he could not chicken out in this sort of situation. If by chance the criminal before him intends to silence them permanently and he is to surrender, then their lives could not be guaranteed.

He tightened his fists when this came to mind. He was ready to step up to this man and give him a punch on his temple as he intended to make a speedy attack and subdue him.

However, Qin Yu froze on the spot after taking one step forward.

Facing the pitch-black muzzle of a gun, Qin Yu's heart thumped. He did not expect that the criminal before him would actually carry a gun on him.

The goateed man walked up to Wu Hao and pulled the tape off his mouth before pulling out a triangular spike bayonet from his waist with his left hand.

"Nephew, if I run this knife through your body, you'll completely bleed out in half an hour. There will be no way to save you."

Wu Hao's face became deathly pale upon hearing that and turned to Qin Yu immediately, "Brother Yu, do as my uncle says. He's not a bad person, he won't kill us."

Looking at the hope in Wu Hao's eyes in the midst of his terror, Qin Yu cast another glance at the gun held up by the goateed man.

Qin Yu also realized that truthfully, the power to decide was already out of his hands.

Wu Hao spoke up again, "Uncle, however much money you want, we'll give it to you. We swear that we won't report you to the police."

Wu Hao's uncle made a neutral smile upon hearing that but he didn't answer. He picked up another rope and went to Qin Yu's side.

Looking at Qin Yu's rage-filled eyes, he tied him up and said, "Don't move, I will release both of you once I get a hold of the money."

Qin Yu got a clearer picture of the situation upon hearing that.

This man with a goatee must be Wu Hao's uncle and his motive for burgling their house was only for money.

However, he did not understand why he would set his target on Wu Hao, his own relative.

Nonetheless, that was also the reason why Qin Yu believed that they would not be killed.

Qin Yu was dragged back into his bedroom and thrown onto the bed after getting tied up.

Wu Hao's uncle bound Qin Yu's limbs to the corners of the bed to prevent him from breaking away.

Goatee returned not long after with several rolls of tape which was used to wrap around Qin Yu's body tightly several times.

Still not satisfied, he also taped Qin Yu's eyes and retrieved some plastic bags to be wrapped around Qin Yu's ears so that his hearing was muffled.

"Such a pity, you're still so young!"

The goateed man's sigh sent Qin Yu's heart pounding before his hearing was completely muffled.

A chilling feeling came from his heart and enveloped his entire body.

Qin Yu subconsciously wanted to break away but the knots were too tight and he couldn't move them at all.

The silence engulfing him provoked fear in his heart after the door was shut. His limbs were getting numb as his blood was not circulating.

Everything turned into darkness after that. Nothing could be heard, seen, or spoken.

A gentle shake of his head caused a dripping sound in his ears which were still covered by the plastic bags.

Qin Yu's imagination was starting to run wild at that moment. The image of him being stabbed by the triangular spike bayonet and falling into a pool of blood, convulsing violently appeared in his mind.

His corpse would begin to stink after his blood was coagulated. Qin Yu was tortured by his invisible thoughts and fear but time seemed to go on forever.

……

After some time, Qin Yu who was in a daze was awakened by a forceful pull.

He could feel that someone was undoing the knots on the bed but he was not relieved at all as he knew that the forceful gesture was definitely not from a rescue team.

As expected by Qin Yu, he was dragged outside violently after the knots on the bed were undone.

His strength to fight was weak as his hands and legs were numb from the poor blood circulation.

Qin Yu tried to grab something to pull him up as he had a hunch that something bad was going to happen.

Then, a pain rushed to his head, rendering him unconscious.

When Qin Yu regained consciousness, he realized that he was lying in an abandoned hospital with blood all over him. Wu Hao's uncle was there in a dim yellow light with an odd look while painting something on the floor.

Qin Yu straightened up his body with difficulty and turned to look to the side.

As expected, Wu Hao was also in tattered clothing covered in blood, lying unconscious.

"What exactly are you going to do? Didn't you say that you wanted money? I'll give it to you…"

Qin Yu was cut off by the goateed man's outstretched hand before he could finish.

Qin Yu borrowed the dusky light to look ahead and discovered that Wu Hao's uncle was carrying a paint bucket. He dipped his hand into it from time to time.

It seemed like he was painting some sort of pattern on the floor.

His nostrils were filled with a rancid smell and he immediately thought of the wounds on him and Wu Hao. Qin Yu immediately guessed what was in the paint bucket.

Even if he was dumber, Qin Yu knew that the man was not after money but must have had other purposes.

However, Qin Yu's body was numb, limping and he could not even muster up the strength to get up, let alone to run.

Wu Hao slowly regained consciousness but he appeared to be weaker than Qin Yu.

There was absolutely no trace of vitality on his pale face that even his expression seemed lifeless. It definitely felt like the situation was turning far from good.

"I'm almost done, my lord. What should I do next?" the man stood up and muttered to himself all of a sudden.

No one answered but his expression became stranger by the minute.

After a moment, he nodded his head gravely and threw his gaze at Qin Yu and Wu Hao.

"Uncle, what are you doing? If you want money, I'll give it to you. Please let us go," Wu Hao's weak voice carried a sobbing tone.

"Nephew, you know how I liked to gamble and how pathetic I was before. But this time, I have a chance to start over. It's impossible for me to let this opportunity go." He paused suddenly before continuing, "To be frank, I was actually beaten to death a month ago because I couldn't pay off my gambling debt…"

Upon hearing that, Qin Yu and Wu Hao felt a chill down their spines and their hair stood on its ends.

There was a chilling light glinting in the man's eyes as he slowly approached them.

Qin Yu's heart was filled with despair. Am I really going to die by the hands of this madman?

The man grabbed Wu Hao's wrist and Qin Yu's hair and pulled them to the position where he stood.

To Qin Yu's terror, after being dragged to the light he realized that the strange pattern under his feet was actually drawn with blood.

The two of them were dragged to the pattern and the man grabbed Wu Hao's left arm. Then, he pulled out the triangular spike bayonet from his waist and made a strong slash on Wu Hao's wrist.

Blood spurted out and dripped down continuously.

Wu Hao and Qin Yu were filled with despair as they looked at the scene.

Qin Yu was limp at the side, watching helplessly as Wu Hao's life faded away.

He tried to think of a way to resist but he was kicked hard and he could not get up again.

The unceasing flowing of blood caused Wu Hao to sink into unconsciousness. He was already limp on the floor, unmoving when his uncle released his wrist.

"It's your turn!"

Bloodthirstiness flashed past the man's eyes as he dragged Qin Yu who had fallen to the ground and used the same way to cut his wrist.

"You… what's your purpose in doing this?" Qin Yu asked feebly.

Death was near but he did not wish to die without knowing what was going on.

"I can only say that you have bad luck. I initially wanted only my nephew's life because his soul stood out amongst others. As for you, you're just unlucky, but you can still contribute a bit of value."

His tone was excited as if he was looking forward to something.

Qin Yu's consciousness was getting blurry at this point.

He could vaguely see that the blood-painted patterns were scattered with a scarlet light and shadows of evil ghosts began emerging from the patterns one after another…

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Chapter 123: The Arrival Of The Deities

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Qin Yu struggled to open his eyes and was relieved to hear the sounds of police sirens and footsteps as he knew that help had arrived.

However, a silhouette appeared from the dark and gripped his hair, pulling him along deeper into the darkness.

Despair filled Qin Yu's heart when he realized that it was Wu Hao's uncle. He wanted to resist and scream for help, but he had no strength to do so due to excessive blood loss. He could only watch helplessly as the man dragged him further into the abandoned hospital.

Qin Yu heard the man's faint voice in the dark, "My lord, why didn't the extradition ritual work on him? I was nearly affected, too."

"Yes!"

"Understood!"

After mumbling to himself for some time, the man took out his dagger while making his way toward Qin Yu.

Right when he was about to stab Qin Yu's neck, a silhouette appeared next to Qin Yu in an instant.

"Meow!"

The sound echoed throughout the abandoned hospital and Wu Hao's uncle dropped to the floor with a horrified expression on his face.

He felt as though someone was choking his spirit, forcing air out of his lungs and suffocating him.

He struggled to look up and noticed that a cat was standing in front of him. It was as white as snow and had mesmerizing green eyes which made him feel like he would be sucked into them.

He was alarmed and tried to stand up when he noticed that the cat's limbs were combusting with green flames.

"Meow!" with a growl, the cat jumped from its position and knocked its body against the man.

Thump!

A sharp noise was heard and to the man's shock, he realized that his spirit had been knocked out of his body and his physical body was lying on the ground unconscious.

"I shall eat you!" Lu Wu stared at the man's spirit which was floating mid-air and opened his mouth to suck him in.

A strong suction entwined with faint green energy was summoned, forming a whirlpool in Lu Wu's mouth.

The goateed man could not resist the mysterious energy and was sucked into Lu Wu's body in an instant.

"Burp!"

Throwing a glance at the unconscious Qin Yu, Lu Wu was exasperated. He contemplated for a while and took out a grain of spiritual rice from the artifact before dividing it into two halves with a pained expression. He then threw one half of it into his mouth and fed the other to Qin Yu.

After making sure that Qin Yu was fine, Lu Wu ran to where the blood ritual was drawn. He observed the pattern of the ritual closely before blowing out a gust of wind filled with green energy to ruin it. Lu Wu left immediately once it was all done.

……

Back home, Lu Wu looked at Bei Li who was munching on snacks and lifted his paw to greet her, "I've taken care of it!"

Bei Li nodded her head, "I saw it and I already knew what he was planning to do. He was a remarkable person, what a waste!"

Lu Wu jumped onto the sofa upon hearing that, "Tell me about his plan to rebel briefly."

Bei Li nodded, "I have to say that he was a genius. He planned to collect human spirits and use them to create war puppets, hoping to fight against God with humans' talent ability!"

"Isn't that similar to our artifacts?" Lu Wu was astounded.

"That's why I said that he was a genius to be able to think of this method. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any artifacts to help him so he could only rely on ritual sacrifice to collect human spirits which would take a whole lot longer. I bet that spirit extradition was only his experiment. He would definitely increase the number of extradition rituals if it worked!"

"There's another important point, his methods were too wicked. The human world would be a huge mess if he succeeded, which is why we had to stop him."

Listening to Bei Li's explanation, Lu Wu was reminded of someone whose spirit failed to be extradited to the underworld.

"Could it be that the survivor is our player and his spirit could not be extradited because his spirit was bound to the artifact?"

"Yeah, he is our player and his spirit has been bound to the artifact. No one would be able to extradite his spirit, not even the man behind all this."

Lu Wu started to realize the seriousness of this matter after listening to Bei Li's explanation.

He would not be able to win against the man behind all this if he was really powerful.

"What should we do?" Lu Wu asked with a stern expression.

"Expose him and someone will finish him!" Bei Li smiled while squinting her eyes.

Lu Wu was stunned, "What do you mean?"

Bei Li giggled, "I've already jotted down the ritual pattern and it'll be easy to find out where it leads to. I'm sure someone is desperate to stop him…"

……

His Excellency Cangxu's large domain palace in the underworld.

Cangxu's face was twisted with anger and his fists were tightened.

He deliberately looked for a newborn default soul so that he would not be noticed by others as he wanted to stay low. However, he never expected that someone would stop him when he'd barely even started.

Both rage and fear filled his heart.

He had been planning this for years. The blood ritual that was used for the spirit extradition was created solely for this.

He had no idea who was targeting him and how they knew about his plans.

Not many people knew about this matter and Cangxu was certain that they would never betray him. Besides that, the love of his life had been trapped in the dungeon for a long time, she could not have betrayed him!

Cangxu fell into deep thought. He felt as though an invisible hand was hovering above his head, looking for a chance to give him a fatal blow.

"Your Majesty, should we capture some more default souls to proceed with the plan?" a man with a long black sword on his back asked.

A hint of worry flashed across Cangxu's face when he heard that.

"I chose a default soul to avoid trouble and attention from others, but now… I suspect that those who stopped our plan have already found out my identity!"

"What should we do now?" the man with the sword tightened his jaw.

"Continue with the plan. Contact Riying, Elong, and Fenshui… have them send their best men to me. There's no need to stay hidden now that I'm exposed. There's no way that I'll terminate my plans, I've been planning this for more than 10,000 years!"

"Understood!"

Right when the man with the sword was about to leave, some blue light rays appeared on top of the residence out of nowhere.

The rays shone through the vault of heaven and blue lights were cast downward like swords.

Cangxu's facial expression changed when he felt a sense of oppression from the outside. Fear was evident on the other man's face, "De… Deities!"

Cangxu's figure disappeared from his initial position and reappeared in the sky instantly. He threw his hands to the sky and waved his sleeve before a gigantic palm appeared mid-air and caught those blue lights within it.

Cangxu looked into the sky with a stern expression, "Those from heaven, why are you here at my large domain palace in the underworld?"

Eight unworldly silhouettes with divine aura appeared in the sky when Cangxu finished talking. Each of them was stepping on a cloud and they had the same indifferent and unconcerned expression.

"Cangxu, you've crossed the line. We are here to arrest you under the commands of Beidou Tianzun!"

"Crossed the line? Is there evidence of this?" Cangxu already guessed it but he still remained calm.

A blood ritual map appeared in the hands of the leader of the deities instantly.

"This map points to your palace and it is connected to your Yin Talisman. Are you still denying it?"

"I'm part of the underworld. Even if I am guilty, the Great Emperor of Feng Du should be the one arresting me!" Cangxu's demeanor became more imposing as he waved his sleeves and his hair moved despite the absence of wind, "What does it have to do with you?"

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Chapter 124: Lovers

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Cangxu's words had invoked the eight deities' anger. Their expressions darkened as they berated him, "Cangxu, there's a clear boundary between the three worlds. Those from the underworld are not allowed to enter the world of the living, or have anything to do with the human tribes. You used the Yin Talisman to enter the world of the living, which is against the rules! We have the right to arrest you as the enforcement body of the three worlds!"

Cangxu smiled faintly, "That's weird… weren't you afraid that the humans would start another upheaval? Why don't you just get rid of them? Why bother with setting rules for the three worlds? You're just a bunch of hypocrites."

"You… are you trying to spark a war between the world of the immortals and the underworld?"

"Those are purely my words, this has nothing to do with the underworld! I just can't stand hypocrites like you. Aren't you here to arrest me? Come and get me!"

Cangxu levitated himself in mid-air while staring expressionlessly at the eight deities.

The eight deities could not stand being taunted by him anymore. They made some hand seals in sync and soon enough, multiple blue swords appeared and hovered in the air.

"Demon Slayer Formation – Slaughter."

The formation enlarged abruptly as the countless blue swords that were scattered around started to combine together, forming a blue Greatsword. The eight deities stood behind the Greatsword and directed it to stab right toward Cangxu's head.

Cangxu was perfectly calm despite facing off against the deities' powerful attacks. He shook his right hand lightly and an Ancient Longsword appeared in his grip. He then tilted his body and swung it forward with tremendous force.

A hundred-meter long sword ray flashed through the sky and came into contact with the blue Greatsword.

The whole sky was instantly enveloped in white light, and the energy from the impact spread out like ripples.

"Cangxu, how dare you attack us! Do you really want to start a war between the two worlds?"

"As I said, whatever I do has nothing to do with the underworld!"

"Boom!"

A loud crash resonated as the blue Greatsword tore the sword ray apart.

Once again, Cangxu swung his Ancient Longsword through the air.

As the violet beam of the sword ray tore through the sky, it absorbed the soul energy from its environment and increased in size and power. Once again, it collided with the blue Greatsword, blocking off the attack of the eight deities.

Right at that moment, several silhouettes jumped up into the air.

"Your Majesty, Riying is here to support you!"

"Your Majesty, Fenshui is here to support you!"

"Your Majesty, Elong is here to support you!"

……

All of them appeared right next to Cangxu in the air, and glared at the eight deities with fury.

The eight deities' expressions became grim upon seeing them.

They thought that Cangxu was going to follow them back obediently. They didn't expect that he would put up a fight.

If Cangxu was the only one that they needed to face, then it would not be that big of a problem. However, with the other Ghost Kings and Ghost Generals standing together with him, the eight deities would never stand a chance against them.

"This battle has nothing to do with all of you, leave!" Cangxu glanced at his subordinates, touched by their loyalty, but his tone was stern.

"Your Majesty…"

"I said leave! Can't you understand that?" Cangxu's expression turned cold.

The Ghost Kings and Generals trembled under Cangxu's intimidating aura, which was the result of ruling the Land of Cangxu for more than ten thousand years.

"Please leave me be, this is a war between a traitor of the underworld and the deities. Unless you guys intend to be criminals of the underworld, too?"

Cangxu waved his hands and knocked his subordinates down onto the ground when he saw how conflicted they looked.

After that, he turned to the sky, "You have always been an eyesore to me. Now that we're here today, show me what you've got!"

A layer of violet energy appeared on Cangxu's body, which corroded and ate away at his clothes before condensing and solidifying into a suit of violet golden armor.

"Surrender now, you lunatic!" the eight deities' expressions soured upon seeing that Cangxu was planning to go all out against them. The blue Greatsword's radiance amplified as it swung down toward Cangxu with powerful force.

Cangxu charged forward and countered the blue Greatsword's strike with his Ancient Longsword.

Boom! Strong turbulence was formed above Cangxu's palace.

"Take this!" Cangxu's long hair fluttered in the wind as he thrusted his longsword upward.

Multiple cracks appeared on the blue Greatsword, which spread over its entire surface in just a matter of seconds.

Crack… Boom!

A mushroom cloud was formed in the air, forcing Cangxu and the eight deities to take a few steps back.

"You call yourselves deities? Weak!" Cangxu steadied himself and pointed his Longsword at the eight deities, a condescending smirk appearing on his face.

"You…" the eight deities were extremely displeased as they had clearly misjudged Cangxu's capability. They would definitely be regarded as laughing stocks if they were to return empty-handed.

Out of the blue, a giant golden palm appeared in the sky and descended slowly right when they were about to launch another attack. It stirred up a gust of wind which was so strong that even the Ghost Generals and Kings were sent flying.

"God Master!" the eight deities turned around at the same time and greeted the newcomer.

Accompanied by the prestige of the world, the gigantic palm's appearance was as mighty as a mountain.

Cangxu's face fell while staring at the giant golden palm. He had never expected that the God Master himself would show up just to capture him.

"I'll take you down!" he waved his Ancient Longsword again and advanced forward.

Crack! The ancient Longsword shattered into pieces the moment it came into contact with the giant golden palm. Cangxu's violet golden armor cracked as he fell backward and crashed heavily onto the ground, causing him to cough out blood.

"Die, you stubborn being!"

A booming voice was heard in the sky before the giant golden palm came down again with greater speed, causing the space beneath it to distort from the great pressure.

Cangxu's gaze was filled with resentment. He struggled to make a counterattack, but he could not move an inch under the suppression of the giant golden palm, as it had already locked down the area around him.

Although he had been planning this for more than 10,000 years, it seemed that things were about to end this way. Cangxu laid on the ground motionlessly and stared at the giant golden palm that was descending toward him. A self-mocking smile found its way onto his face as his eyelids drooped slowly.

Am I going to die?

Her silhouette appeared in his mind, and he could not help but smile bitterly.

Back then, this place was known as the Land of Yuanxu instead of the Land of Cangxu. He was only a young man who was focused on becoming strong, with no intention whatsoever of becoming the ruler of this land.

The first time they met was at Pagoda Mountain. Dressed in rags, she was shivering inside a tree hollow while looking at everything around her with a cautious gaze.

After coming across her by coincidence, Cangxu gave her some food out of pity, which resulted in that girl attaching herself to his side. He could not get rid of her even if he tried.

She told Cangxu that her name was Xian Ke, and that she was originally from heaven. Her parents had been forcing her to cultivate every single day, so she could no longer take it anymore and snuck her way into the underworld one day by crossing the Spirit Channeling Gate.

She ended up in Pagoda Mountain, which was teeming with ferocious wild beasts. Due to her lack of cultivation, she could not defend herself and was forced to hide in the tree hollow for protection against the elements and hostile beasts.

As a naive girl who could not even defeat a wolf, she spent her time in Pagoda Mountain by hiding in a small corner. She would either fight or flee from wild beasts, depending on how strong they were. If it was not for Cangxu, Xian Ke thought she would have starved to death.

Their encounter led to a long-standing relationship that lasted for 10,000 years.

He kept his mouth sealed when it came to Xian Ke's origins, and she eventually fell in love with Cangxu, who was passionate about cultivation.

They grew stronger together as their love started to blossom between them.

However, Cangxu refused to admit his feelings for her at that time. He ignored her advancements and even rejected her coldly. Nothing was more important than cultivation to him.

Things between them changed when Cangxu joined the army of King Yuan. He was involved in a feud with a Ghost King's child and was almost beaten to death.

Because of that incident, Cangxu became even more fixated on the importance of power. He became obsessed with getting stronger in hopes to change his fragile fate.

Xian Ke watched as the changes took root in Cangxu, but she kept on supporting him.

However, the road to success was undoubtedly tough. In order to claw his way to power by rising through the ranks in the army of King Yuan, hard work was an important factor, but resources and power were also necessary.

Cangxu was incapable of being adaptable at that time, so he faced a lot of obstacles. He was constantly being bullied, and almost died a few times. If it was not for Xian Ke who took care of him, he would have been dead ages ago.

Xian Ke's attitude toward his behavior started to change when she saw how often he came back with wounds. She knew that Cangxu would die one day if this went on.

Nonetheless, Cangxu did not listen to her. He thought that the path to success would definitely be riddled with adversity, and he would become stronger once he overcomes it.

That was when Xian Ke decided to sacrifice herself to fulfill his wish.

Everything changed after that. Others would always share cultivating techniques with him, and no one dared to bully him in the army anymore.

Things had become a lot easier after that, and paired with his determination to become stronger, Cangxu eventually became a Ghost General in the Land of Yuanxu.

However, Cangxu felt empty when he finally gained the power that he had always wanted, as though he had lost something important.

It was at that time when he realized he had fallen for the woman who had given her all for him.

He looked for her and confessed to her, telling her that he wished to marry her. However, she rejected him, saying that she was not worthy of him, and that she no longer loved him.

Things had changed. Right when Cangxu realized his feelings for her, she had decided to leave him.

He felt so lost, not knowing what went wrong.

This continued until the day when he saw Xian Ke in a Ghost King's mansion. Only then did he realize what Xian Ke had done for him.

He was filled with regret and despair, but he could not change the past.

Out of despair, he tried to drown out his feelings by drinking for three consecutive days, and he was completely hammered for three consecutive nights.

Three days later, he picked up a sword and barged into the Ghost King's mansion, swearing to bring the woman he loved back to his side.

This time, he was badly wounded, and she got on her knees to beg for the Ghost King's mercy with tears in her eyes.

Cangxu's life was saved, and he regained the motivation to become stronger. However, this time, it was to get the woman he loved back.

Slowly, he rose from a Ghost General to a Ghost King, and eventually to the most powerful position in the Land of Yuanxu. He finally achieved his goal and killed the Ghost King with his own hands.

On that day, everyone from the Land of Cangxu came to congratulate him, but she still refused to marry him, even if he were to dress her in her wedding silks with his own hands. She said to him, "How can I marry Your Excellency with a past like mine?"

Cangxu was furious and questioned her. He said to her, "I am the ruler of the Land of Cangxu. Am I still not worthy enough for you?"

She gave him a deprecating smile, "If it were not for my past, would you still be the ruler of this land?"

Despite lasting for 10,000 years, this relationship ended up for naught.

It was until the final moment that he learned that although she had a divine nature, her divine source had been depleted from staying in the underworld for too long, and she was dying.

She did not wish to burden him, and wanted to leave this world quietly.

Cangxu heard about the news and looked for spiritual materials frantically, hoping to revive her wilting life.

The spiritual materials worked for a short while and slightly prolonged the woman's life, but it was a futile effort. It seemed impossible to change her fate.

Cangxu was in despair when he could not find more spiritual materials in the Land of Cangxu that could save her life. In the end, he found his way onto the Thousand Tribulations Road in hopes to meet the Great Emperor of Feng Du, one of the rulers of the underworld, even if it meant that his spirit would be torn apart.

The journey was extremely dangerous and he almost died on his way, but he managed to meet the ruler of the underworld in the end.

The Great Emperor of Feng Du told him that the only way to save her was to send her back to heaven, and to find someone who was at the level of a Sky Deity to be her lifeline. Alternatively, he could obtain a divine source from heaven for her to absorb, which could keep her alive.

Now that he knew the way to save her, Cangxu brought Xian Ke along with him and embarked on a journey along Paradise Road, all the way to the Heavenly Gate.

However, the arrogant deities ignored his pleas. To them, Xian Ke was no longer worthy of being a deity since she was already corroded by Yin energy. They refused to acknowledge her status as a deity, let alone help her.

Just when Cangxu was wallowing in despair, he met a deity out front. The deity asked him if he was willing to betray the underworld and become his sword. He was willing to save Xian Ke in exchange for his service.

Cangxu was at a loss, but he nodded firmly after taking a glance at the dying woman in his arms.

Since then, he would go to the Heavenly Gate and have the deity replenish Xian Ke's divine source once every ten thousand years.

He would collect information from the underworld and deliver it to the deity every ten thousand years in exchange for his help.

However, thirty thousand years ago, the deity refused to help him any longer.

He told Cangxu that the underworld seemed to have forgotten about their past hatred, and that there was no possibility for revenge. Cangxu had lost his worth as his sword, so he was no longer needed.

Cangxu was utterly infuriated this time. He hated the heavens for being unfair to him, as he had worked so hard to save her, but fate chose to pull a joke on him.

Cangxu's hair turned completely white in the span of one night.

They said that the gods above are benevolent and kind, but all he saw was complete darkness.

Xian Ke knew that she was becoming a burden to Cangxu, so she tried to escape multiple times, hoping to find a place to die quietly. She did not want him to sacrifice so much for her.

Angry tears welled up in Cangxu's eyes, as he had no choice but to lock her up. He told Xian Ke that he would find a way to save her, and that he would never let her die!

Since the heartless deities refused to help him, Cangxu diverted his attention toward the divine source of heaven.

However, the divine source was very precious to heaven, therefore it was actually easier to seek help from a Sky Deity than to actually obtain it.

No matter how slim his chances were, Cangxu had no intention to give up.

He had been planning for more than ten thousand years just to break into heaven to save the love of his life.

……

A mocking smile formed on his lips as he watched the giant golden palm descending toward him.

His ten thousand years of effort were nothing more than a joke!

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Chapter 125: Above The River Of Forgetfulness

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

All of a sudden, the giant golden palm disintegrated when it was about to smash into Cangxu, and golden soul energy started to rain down from the sky.

"You are overstepping your boundary, Beidou!" the ancient voice boomed in the sky.

"Cangxu has transgressed against the rules that we set, Feng Du. Why are you defending him?"

"Yes, punishment is due for his transgressions, but since he's in my territory, I'll be the one in charge of his punishment."

"Feng Du!" the voice in the sky roared furiously.

"Do you intend to go to war?" the ancient voice boomed again.

"Fine, I'll let this go for you, Feng Du, but you owe us an explanation. If you don't come up with a good answer, a war between the two worlds will be inevitable. His transgression isn't minor after all!"

The giant golden palm coalesced in the sky again. It grasped the eight deities within its palm before disappearing into the sky.

"Sigh… Cangxu, I did not expect you to end up like this!"

Cangxu's lips trembled when he heard this voice. He did not expect that the Great Emperor Feng Du would go so far to help him.

He knew how big a transgression he made. What he wanted to do could even trigger a war between heaven and the underworld. However, the Great Emperor Feng Du still stood up to protect him.

Cangxu was filled with regret when he recalled his act of betrayal in the past.

He knelt down and kowtowed on the ground while facing the sky.

"Hear me, Great Emperor. I, Cangxu, am willing to take responsibility for everything I did. I will never drag the underworld into this, even if it means tearing my soul apart."

Another sigh was heard from the sky.

"Go and settle your unfinished business!"

"Thank you for your permission, Great Emperor!" Cangxu kowtowed a few more times before standing up and walking into his palace resolutely.

……

In his residence, Cangxu was lying in his silk emperor's robes, a beautiful woman cuddled up close to him.

"Now do you know how to write it?"

The historian before him dipped the brush in ink, before raising his trembling hand ever so slightly.

"Your Majesty, are you sure about this?"

Cangxu nodded calmly. He knew that he must make a choice if he did not want to drag those from the Land of Cangxu into this.

The historian wrote this down with sorrow in his heart:

Cangxu, His Excellency of the great domain of the Land of Cangxu, usurped the throne by killing Yuanxu, the original ruler of the land. He oppressed the people of the Land of Cangxu during his reign. He drowned himself in the vice of lust at all times. He was an embarrassment to all kings. He even had a savage ambition, to single-handedly spark a war between heaven and the underworld. Those in the Land of Cangxu should take his evil actions as a negative example. After deliberation from all powers in the Land of Cangxu, we have decided to strip him of his ruling authority. He will now be sentenced to exile…

The historian took a deep breath after he finished writing and handed the piece of paper to Cangxu.

Cangxu glanced at it before nodding, a forlorn expression flashing across his face.

"Notify every district in the Land of Cangxu that everyone should celebrate the eradication of someone as evil as Cangxu. This should be a cautionary tale!"

Cangxu looked down at the unparalleled beauty in his arms after the historian left, a hint of tenderness rising up from the depths of his eyes.

"You toiled away for tens of thousands of years just to be known as an evil dictator who will be treated with disdain by everyone after this. Will you regret it?" the woman lying in Cangxu's embrace blinked her beautiful eyes.

"As long as you don't hate me, so what if everyone else loathes me? This life is already worth it."

The woman's lips curved into a soft smile as her eyes filled with affection, "Don't leave me behind this time."

"Yes, we'll go together this time. It will cause me to worry if I leave you behind."

The woman's eyes radiated happiness when she heard that. She picked up a glass of wine from the table next to them.

"Here's a belated betrothal drink. I shall marry you, but do you take me as your wife?"

"I do!"

Cangxu picked a glass of wine, too, and both of them crossed their arms.

……

Both of their bodies started turning into stone after they downed their wine glasses. They were still embracing each other at the moment they greeted death, and their faces were filled with happiness.

Perhaps leaving together was the ultimate form of freedom for them, after their hundreds of thousands of years of hardship.

An ancient sigh rang out in the great hall.

"I will send the both of you into the Six Paths of Reincarnation, Cangxu. With this, your mortal business is done."

A pair of soul wisps were extracted from the stone bodies, which dissipated into thin air, as if they never existed in the first place.

……

On the Bridge of Forgetfulness, Six Paths of Reincarnation.

Looking at the soup given by Meng Po, the Goddess of Forgetfulness, a flash of remembrance flitted through the woman's eyes. She eventually accepted the soup and finished it in a gulp.

However, Cangxu's silhouette appeared in her mind when she closed her eyes.

"The root of love is deeply entrenched within you. However, you can only cross this bridge after you cut ties with your past, and he belongs in that past. Not to mention that you've already had one bowl, which is supposed to wipe your memory clean…"

Tears streamed down Xian Ke's cheeks. She stretched out her hand at Meng Po, saying, "Give me another bowl. I want to go after him. I want to be with him in my next life."

Meng Po almost could not bear to do it, but she still gave her another bowl.

After gulping down the second bowl of the Water of Forgetfulness, Xian Ke crouched at the side of the bridge and cried while cradling her head, "I still can't forget him!"

Meng Po sighed when she looked at the weeping Xian Ke, "Fine then. I will help you forget him."

A bowl of pure, unadulterated Elixir of Forgetfulness appeared in Meng Po's palm, and she handed it over to Xian Ke gently.

"Drink this. You'll surely forget about him after that!"

……

Xian Ke stood up slowly after she drank the bowl of pure elixir. She walked forward in a trance as inexplicable tears streamed down her cheeks.

She felt as if she had lost something important, but she could not recall what it was.

A silhouette appeared beside Meng Po. He watched on affectionately as the woman stepped away from him, till she disappeared at the end of the bridge…

"Have you decided?" Meng Po gazed at Cangxu and asked.

"The fault lies with me this time. It will be no different than giving amnesty to me if you send me into the Six Paths of Reincarnation. The deed has been done. What one does, one takes responsibility by oneself. Only by destroying my soul can I atone for my sins. I do not wish to trouble the Great Emperor of Feng Du, nor do I wish to spark a war between the two worlds."

Meng Po sighed heavily when she saw Cangxu's face of resolve. Then, she opened the Gate of Forgetfulness, which was beneath the River of Forgetfulness.

"You will cease to exist after this. Cangxu might be no more in this world, but I, Meng Po, have seared you in my memory!"

Cangxu nodded and walked unwaveringly to the Gate of Forgetfulness.

Meng Po's voice rang out again right when Cangxu's silhouette was about to be engulfed by the Gate of Forgetfulness.

"Two destinies tied together by fate over a hundred lives. I will revive the memories of your past lives at this final moment, Cangxu. Giving you a glimpse of your past relationship is the last thing I can do for you."

The beams of light before him were getting stronger, and silhouettes started appearing at his final moments. Cangxu saw the reincarnations of his past hundred lives and tears were streaming down his face uncontrollably.

She had always been by his side.

He was a king in his first life. Although he ruled the world and his empire was as picturesque as it could get, nothing could compare to the crimson mark between her eyes and her unparalleled grace.

He was a general in his second life. Although he lived a life of lavishness, nothing could compare to her dark silky hair and her exuberant smile.

He was a swordmaster in his third life. Although he traversed the world and made a name for himself with his sword, nothing could compare to her elegance and the gentle flick of her sleeves.

He was a pianist in his fourth life. Although he performed for nobilities and played uncountable tunes of elegance, nothing could compare to the silvery tune of her flute.

He was a monk in his fifth life. Although he had cleared his heart of lust and practiced the path of Buddhism, he still lost to her passing glance and almost deviated from his duties.

He was a minister in his sixth life. Although he left his name in history and was pure and uncorrupted, nothing could compare to her doing her braids and makeup in front of the mirror.

He was a scholar in his seventh life. Although his life was that of extravagance and accomplishments, nothing could compare to her delicate handwriting and her brush strokes of reed.

He was a farmer in his eighth life. Although he had miles of plum blossoms and acres of silk, nothing could compare to her braided hair and the crimson of her wedding dress.

He was an artist in his ninth life. Although his skills were sought after and his drawings were the treasure of nobles, nothing could compare to her minimalist way of living and the way she laid the table for a meal.

……

He was the ruler of a land in this life. Although he had a million soldiers and tens of thousands of capable generals, nothing could compare to her smile and her fleeting, beautiful life.

His soul gradually came apart under the River of Forgetfulness. However, the pain of his soul getting destroyed was nothing compared to the agony of his yearning from a hundred past lives.

Cangxu's white hair flowed in the water as he arched his head up to the sky and howled. However, his howl contained the bitterness of his yearning in a hundred lives.

Their destiny finally came to an end in this life…

Cangxu's expression was still that of regret even at the last moment of his soul getting ripped apart…

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Chapter 126: A Subordinate Worth Ten Million Soul Coins

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

As Cangxu's soul was being torn apart by the River of Forgetfulness, the few wisps of consciousness that were watching all of this unfold from the dark dissipated gradually.

The erstwhile overlord of the Land of Cangxu was finally no more.

His only evidence of existence was in written history, a sinner loathed by future generations.

It was at this moment when a crack appeared in the Gate of Forgetfulness. A small hand appeared from the crack and tried to be grasping onto something…

……

Inside the house, Bei Li suddenly turned her head around to hug Lu Wu, who was watching TV, and started wailing.

Lu Wu, who was in her arms, was confused.

"Wu, the one behind the blood ritual is dead. I saw his memories before he died. It was so heart-wrenching."

Looking at Lu Wu, who was still perplexed, Bei Li spoke about what Cangxu experienced before his death and the events of his memories to Lu Wu.

Lu Wu sighed with pity when he heard about Cangxu's painful experience.

"Wu, I think I've found a great spot to expand our server!" Bei Li, who had tears streaming down her face, lowered her head and said to Lu Wu.

"You mean the Land of Cangxu?" Lu Wu had already guessed the place that Bei Li was meaning to say.

"Yup. The Land of Cangxu is now a place without a ruler. It won't be too hard for players to expand here. Also, we now have extra assistance. If we manage to wake him, the Land of Cangxu will be ours!"

"Extra assistance? What do you mean?"

Bei Li loosened her grip on Lu Wu. She slashed the air with her right hand and a small ball of white light drifted out from the artifact.

"I saved him, but this is all that's left of him."

Lu Wu was stunned when he saw the ball of light, "This is the ruler of Cangxu?"

Bei Li nodded. She caught the ball of light in her hand and kneaded it like it was cotton candy.

"This is all that's left of him. Also, I've engraved an artifact seal on it. He won't betray us even if he regains consciousness. However, it'll be difficult to revive him fully at this point. He'll need to be nourished by an abundance of soul power."

Lu Wu's eyes lit up upon hearing that.

Lu Wu felt that his time to shine was coming when he thought about the fact that a ruler would be his subordinate soon.

"How many soul coins will we need to revive him?"

Bei Li tapped her fingers while doing her calculations and raised her head with a serious expression.

"Probably ten million or above. His Excellency Cangxu's strength is incredibly high. If we get into specifics, it might be even higher."

The smile on Lu Wu's face froze.

Ten million!

Lu Wu felt disheartened when he heard that number. He thought that he would have an unparalleled general soon, but it seemed like he could not afford it.

He finally understood the pain felt by the players who were into cultivating connections.

As he felt the same pain, Lu Wu decided to increase the level of oppression to have the players feel more pain. Only by doing that could he lessen his own pain.

……

In the State of Illusion, Land of Beiqi.

This state was located south of the Mansion of The Dead, and was shrouded in mist all year round. It was impossible to have a clear line of sight there.

At this moment, dozens of members of the Slayer Alliance Guild were slowly exploring ahead with Lu Zhan as the lead.

The mist on the map was slowly pushed away and the scene of the State of Illusion on the map was getting clearer.

Lu Zhan had been feeling frustrated lately.Read latest chapters at

All the bosses of other guilds had chance encounters like obtaining the Son of the Sea or getting the legacy of a Demonic God. Yet, he himself had nothing and he was trailing behind in this aspect.

Therefore, Lu Zhan decided to follow the advice of the pros in the forums and brought his members along to explore, as he might come across a chance encounter himself.

He chose to explore the State of Illusion that was shrouded in mist, because there were scarcely any players exploring this region. There might be tons of undiscovered resources sleeping there.

After exploring for around half an hour, Lu Zhan and the others were still empty-handed. They were starting to get restless.

It was at this moment when a huge black silhouette appeared in the thick mist and peered at Lu Zhan and his team through its vermilion eyes.

"Roar!"

Waves of killing intent assaulted Lu Zhan and his team and frightened them.

"This land is where deities train in isolation, how dare you…"

"Ouch!"

The tone of the silhouette changed instantly when it was hit by a stone. It no longer sounded imposing or menacing. It sounded childlike instead.

"How dare you…"

Lu Zhan cut it short by picking up another stone and smashed it on its body.

"How dare you try to scare me. I'm not scared even if you're a Demonic God."

Lu Zhan's subordinates followed suit and threw rocks at the silhouette frantically.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop throwing! We can talk this out!" the childlike voice spoke up again as the huge silhouette shrank and the mist dispersed.

"A big goose?" Lu Zhan was stunned when he saw the snow-white crane standing before him.

"I am a crane! A crane!" Tong Gua explained angrily.

Bam! Lu Zhan hurled another rock at Tong Gua's head.

"You're a big goose!"

Tong Gua didn't dare to retort this time. He could only protest silently with a bitter gaze.

"Big Goose, how come you can speak?" Lu Zhan asked with curiosity.

Tong Gua was indignant to be bullied by such a weak creature. He was at least a Ghost King when the King of Beiqi was here, and was worshipped by the people. He was frustrated to be so powerless now.

Bam!

Another rock found its place on Tong Gua's head, "Hey, our boss is talking to you."

Tong Gua glanced at Lu Zhan and his team bitterly as he snapped, "There are no chance encounters here. The State of Illusion only has a single crane: me!"

Bam!

"I'm gonna beat the shit out of y'all!"

Tong Gua, who was struck again by another stone, could not take it any longer. He flapped his wings and dashed forward.

Wham! Bam! Thump!

Tong Gua laid on the ground, half dead, after getting beaten up by the members from the Slayer Alliance.

"Still not telling the truth, Big Goose? Look at you, you look like a weak chicken who can't even fly, and yet you're claiming to be a Ghost King! You're not even worthy to be a mount. Aren't you a little too arrogant to claim that you're a district ruler in the Land of Beiqi?"

Lu Zhan and his team clearly did not believe that such a puny and weak-looking being like the Big Goose was a Ghost King.

After all, even Cha Na, who was only a Ghost General, had terrifying strength. On the other hand, the Rock Ghost King's power was unbeatable to the players based on their current strength.

Lu Zhan and his team would never believe that this crane was a Ghost King.

Tong Gua's eyes welled up with tears as he felt like his life was meaningless.

He was a distinguished and highly respected individual when the King of Beiqi was still around. He even liberated the State of Illusion from the Land of Beiqi to be its own domain, and was crowned Tong Gua, the Ghost King. Who would have known that he would end up at this point, where he was too worthless to be considered as someone's mount? He clenched his teeth at the thought.

"Spit it out! What chance encounter does the State of Illusion have? I'll allow you to live if you tell me!" Lu Zhan lifted Tong Gua up by the neck slowly and threatened it.

It was at this moment when the light on the crane flitted past and the data analyzed by the artifact surfaced.

[Tong Gua, the Ghost King: The ruler of the State of Illusion. Strongest Guardian Spirit of the Land of Beiqi. His power has reached the peak of the Ghost King realm.

Details: Unkown.

(Warning: This creature is extremely dangerous. Players are advised to stay away from him as far as possible!)

Lu Zhan and his team were befuddled when they saw the data.

"Extremely dangerous?"

Lu Zhan shook Tong Gua whom he was strangling, still not believing it.

Tong Gua was flapping his wings and his eyes rolled back into his head at that moment, looking like he was going to suffocate to death.

"Hmm, I guess he seems kind of fierce…?"

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Chapter 127: Boasting On The Livestream

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Lu Zhan and the others exchanged looks nervously as they looked at Tong Gua the Ghost King who was lying helplessly on the ground and trying to catch his breath.

"Boss, this is a Ghost King. After we kill him, will we be leveled up by hundreds of levels or gain some precious spiritual materials? This is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity!"

Lu Zhan's heart began to pound after listening to what his teammatee said. He felt like he had truly encountered a great opportunity.

Even though this Ghost King seemed pitiable for being so weak, his worth was undeniable. He was basically a living treasury.

"Wait!" Although Tong Gua did not understand their conversation, he who was initially panting, gulped when he heard that they intended to kill him. He raised one of his wings and gestured to them to pause their dialogue.

However, Lu Zhan and the others could not be bothered as they approached the Ghost King with their swords in their hands. Tong Gua was frightened. Surrounded by the air of a loser, he fell onto the ground and began to shiver.

"No, we can't just kill him like this. We should promote this on the forum to increase the popularity of our guild," the idea hit Lu Zhan as he was about to attack. Then, he quickly stopped the others who were ready to pounce hungrily on their prey.

"What's the matter, boss?" asked the puzzled guild members.

"Start a livestream. Let's boast about it to gain some popularity!"

Lu Zhan launched the built-in live streaming function of the game as he spoke.

Shortly after, a livestream video with the title, After 8 Hours Of Hard-Fought Battle, The Slayer Alliance Has Defeated The Server's First Top-Tier Ghost King. His Death Is On Livestream Now!, appeared on the official platform.

This title was indeed eye-catching and a large number of players immediately swarmed into the livestream channel to watch.

Crayon_Shinchan: "People who use clickbaits should die a terrible death. Yes, I came in purposely to start an argument. How am I Crayon Shinchan if I don't make you cry. (laughing emoji)"

Assassin_Creed: "The poster should be aware that lying is not only illegal now, you'll also need to pay tax for it. I'm going to report you to the authorities now…"

Xueli_The_Strongest: "With the Slayer Alliance's capability, they want to kill a top-tier Ghost King. Cha Na issuing the first warning (Cha_Na_glaring.jpg)"

Watermelon_Taro: "They must be bored to death to even bring up a top-tier Ghost King. Why don't you go and cut down some trees if you have so much time? I get angry just by looking at those Ancient Tree Demons in front of the North Rocks (teeth-gritting emoji)"

Basically, the players who entered the live streaming channel all had the same attitude. They were here to ridicule the host and none of them believed the title.

As the number of viewers in the live streaming channel gradually increased, Lu Zhan, who had prepared to showcase his capability, shifted his gaze to Tong Gua before opening Tong Gua's Analysis Menu.

As soon as Tong Gua's Analysis Menu appeared, the entire live streaming channel was silenced.

Xueli_The_Strongest: "I'm deeply shocked. This is really a Ghost King from the Ghost King Peak Realm. His existence is more powerful than Rock Ghost King…"

Invincible_Loneliness: "Wow! How did you guys do it? Is this the Ghost King from the illusion zone?"

Peppa_Boar: "I suspect that all of you are hacking because I doubt that the Slayer Alliance is capable of killing a Ghost King."

Crayon_Shinchan: "Fuck, that's really the Ghost King. But, why does he look like a useless giant goose?"

Lu Zhan satisfied his pride by looking at the other players' amazement via the live streaming channel.

He answered, "This is a celestial crane, not a giant goose!"

Tong Gua was rendered speechless.

"Well. Next, I'll show you guys how to kill a Ghost King with only one hand!"

To create a more climactic scene, Lu Zhan did not kill Tong Gua immediately. Instead, he seized Tong Gua by his neck before placing the sword by his throat. He continued to check the number of viewers of the live streaming channel.

Facing his imminent death, Tong Gua struggled. However, with his strength, which was weaker than Wandering Souls, it was impossible for him to escape from Lu Zhan's headlock.

The players in the comment section also wanted to know what would happen after a Ghost King was killed. Their eyes were glued to their screens as they waited for the development of the story. Before long, the number of viewers in the live streaming channel had skyrocketed.

Once the viewer count reached 20,000, Lu Zhan finally lifted his sword.

"Pay attention. It's time to witness a miracle!"

Then, he swung his sword toward the Ghost King.

It was at this moment when Tong Gua's body started to tremble. A green flow of light appeared from his body before he quickly enveloped it. Lu Zhan's sword immediately sprung back upon hitting Tong Gua. Meanwhile, Lu Zhan was also thrown backward by the immense force as well.

With the help of the green energy, Tong Gua's body began to glimmer, while a hint of excitement painted across his initially disheartened face.

"Ah, my abilities have returned!"

Everyone in the comment section was puzzled, not knowing what was going on.

It was at that moment that Tong Gua put on a devilish grin before he turned his gaze to Lu Zhan.

"How audacious of you to attempt to kill me!"

Tong Gua flapped his wings as he spoke and, without warning, disappeared. The next moment, he materialized next to Lu Zhan and attacked Lu Zhan with numerous slaps.

The violent blows had terribly stupefied Lu Zhan. He had no idea how Tong Gua, who was previously so weak, had suddenly turned so powerful.

"Fret not. I will definitely not let you die so easily since you're the first person who was brave enough to beat me up!"

Upon listening to that, Lu Zhan, who was battered, had no tears left to cry. He was immediately thrashed by Tong Gua's wings again.

After witnessing this, the players in the comment section were quite amused by the tragedy.

Crayon_Shinchan: "So why did you want to show off? Is it that hard to stay alive without creating any drama (laughing emoji)?"

Xueli_The_Strongest: "My stomach hurts from laughing. The first boss to humiliate himself on the livestream. Take my salute!"

Strike_Gold: "We are both guild masters, and out of courtesy, I shouldn't be laughing. But, I just cannot hold it in. Hahaha, Brother Lu, please don't hold it against me!"

Peppa_Boar: "As the saying goes, boasting will bring about divine punishment. The slaps to your face were surely loud."

Watermelon_Taro: "Screenshot to make this into a sticker collection and this swollen face is already in my Battle Online Sticker Collection (laughing emoji)!"

A_Mammoth: "I laughed so hard that I spat my food. Also, I'd like to ask guild master Lu Zhan who's on the livestream, if he will pay for my wasted food (laughing emoji)?"

Broke_Trash: "I think this scene should be recorded into the Annals of Great Battles (laughing emoji)!"

In the meantime, Lu Zhan felt hopeless because his plan to show off had not only miserably backfired, he was also beaten up by a Big Goose. He had never felt so humiliated before.

He further despaired as the Big Goose, who was standing before him, continued to slap him. His health bar dropped at a very slow rate, though. Lu Zhan suspected that it might take half a day or so for the Big Goose to slap him to death.

Lu Zhan, who was at the verge of crying, started to beg for mercy, "Brother, stop for a moment. We can talk this out!"

Glee flashed across Tong Gua's eyes when he heard the plea. He thought, my revenge has just started. How can I stop now? Immediately, he decided to strike his wing across Lu Zhan's cheek again and turn Lu Zhan's head to the side.

"Talk it out? I don't like to talk. I prefer to solve things with brutality!" as he spoke, Tong Gua created a shadow as he flapped his wings rapidly. In the meantime, Lu Zhan's head gradually disappeared as the flaps grew more violent.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Tong Gua chanted his provocative line as he continued to assault Lu Zhan, traumatizing Lu Zhan both mentally and physically.

The guild members, who were standing at the side, were in shock. None of them had the intention to help him out. Instead, they wanted to run away.

However, after being tortured for some time, Lu Zhan suddenly noticed that the Big Goose's strength was gradually getting weaker and the slaps had also become fewer and farther between. Most importantly, the green glowing energy that had blanketed the Big Goose was slowly diminishing.

Lu Zhan was not the only one who noticed it. Tong Gua seemed to be aware of it, too. He grew increasingly nervous as he continued to attack Lu Zhan.

"I will beat you to death… brother, don't move. Let me help you up!" Tong Gua said as he attempted to pull Lu Zhan up to his feet.

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Chapter 128: The Grudge From A Food Fight

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Lu Zhan, who was pulled to his feet, was confused while Tong Gua awkwardly brushed off the dust on him before patting him on the shoulder.

"The ground is too cold. Stand up and talk, brother."

Upon seeing this, Lu Zhan noticed that something was apparently amiss. After pondering for a moment, his expression began to grow murderous.

He realized that the white Big Goose had once again lost his powers and returned to being a weak chicken.

As he reached this conclusion, Lu Zhan immediately slapped Tong Gua and sent him flying flat on the ground. He then bent over to pick up his sword and close in on Tong Gua.

"Weren't you very powerful just now? Where did your cockiness go?" Lu Zhan, who had again gained control over the situation, reached out to massage his swollen face as his bloodthirstiness ran rampant.

Tong Gua, who was slammed to the ground, put on an apologetic smile.

"Brother, as the saying goes, relationships are built by exchanging blows and now that we're even, we're considered brothers. So, take it easy. I will surely help my brother in the future. My name is Tong Gua the Ghost King, and I am quite useful around Beiqi…"

Slap!

Tong Gua could not even finish his sentence before he was slapped and brought to the ground by Lu Zhan again. Lu Zhan lifted his sword with his right hand.

"Ahhh! Someone's trying to murder a goose. Save me! You can disgrace the crane but not kill it. I am fine with you hitting me, scolding me, or insulting me, but please, don't kill me!" Tong Gua who was at death's doorstep started to scream with his neck craned.

The viewers in the live streaming channel were all rendered speechless once again upon witnessing this scene.

The mighty and impressive image of all Ghost Kings in the minds of the players, which was built up by Rock Ghost King, was completely destroyed by Tong Gua's coquettish wail.

At this moment, all the players thought that this Big Goose was bringing shame upon the other Ghost Kings.

Without warning, the sword swiftly cut through the air and whooshed toward Tong Gua's direction. Tong Gua had no choice but to hopelessly close his eyes.

However, Tong Gua did not feel any expected pain after some time. It peeped through one eye to find that Lu Zhan was standing still with indecisiveness written across his face.

[Special Quest: Demand For Surrender]

Quest Description: Request Tong Gua the Ghost King to read out the loyalty pledge to become a new NPC for the game, the pledge is as follows… (500 words omitted)

Quest Rewards: 10,000 account-binding soul coins, one piece of custom-made Epic Level quality weapon (Level 50)

(Note: Account-binding soul coins cannot be traded among players. They can only be used to purchase shop items or at the Cultivation Pavilion and for interaction with NPCs.)

Lu Zhan looked at the quest rewards before averting his gaze to the annoying Tong Gua. He fell into a dilemma.

The rewards of this quest were rather generous. The custom-made Epic Level quality weapon was especially tempting Lu Zhan.

Yet, Lu Zhan felt like he had suffered a big loss if he was to just let this Big Goose off like this.

After some careful consideration, Lu Zhan did not put his weapon away. Instead, he rolled up his sleeves and was ready to get his revenge on Tong Gua for hitting his face before completing the quest.

After some brutal beating, Tong Gua was gasping for air on the ground with its eyes brimming with tears. He knew that his crane life was coming to an end, but never had he expected this day to come.

"Big Goose, do you want to live?" Lu Zhan threatened and placed his sword by Tong Gua's neck.

"Of course!" Tong Gua became lively again after hearing that.

"Good, just repeat after me and I will spare your life!" a hint of mischief flashed across Lu Zhan's eyes.

Tong Gua was confused upon hearing this but it nodded earnestly, agreeing to the terms before Lu Zhan regretted them and changed his mind.

"Ahem, listen carefully and repeat after me…"

The dumbfounded Tong Gua immediately repeated Lu Zhan's every word to save his own life. However, as he continued to articulate each word, the uneasiness in him grew, and upon finishing the last few sentences, Tong Gua cursed bitterly.

"Shit, this is a fucking soul sacrificing pledge. You only want to make me into your ride, you moron!"

Lu Zhan was flustered as he heard this. However, he was the least bothered about the pledge. He quickly rolled up his sleeves before landing another blow on Tong Gua who was already on the ground.

"Are you going to repeat it or not!?"

"Read your ass… OK! I will read it!" Tong Gua was instantly unnerved after noticing Lu Zhan, who was viciously lifting his sword again.

A living dog is better than a dead lion, Tong Gua comforted himself amidst his fury.

Tong Gua looked up at the sky upon finishing the whole soul sacrificing pledge. He was neither happy nor unhappy. He only thought about how miserably he had failed in life as a crane. He thought that it was extremely pitiable.

At that instant, a rift appeared above Tong Gua before it sucked him into it.

On the other hand, Lu Zhan received a notification, saying that the quest was accomplished.

"Special Quest accomplished. You have earned 10,000 account-binding soul coins. The custom-made Epic Level quality weapon will be forged, free of charge, after the birth of the new NPC 'Tong Gua the Ghost King'. (Please be patient)"

Within the Artifact Channel.

Lu Wu and Bei Li were loathed at the sight of the confused Tong Gua.

Naturally, Lu Wu and Bei Li were very much aware when Lu Zhan encountered him. However, they were taken aback by his embarrassing act.

In fact, it was Bei Li's idea to demand Tong Gua to surrender.

According to Bei Li, Tong Gua the Ghost King was a very useful character. He was not only the reincarnation of the guardian spirit of the Land of Beiqi, he was also a wonderful caster. In fact, his former student was Beiqi's number one caster, who did research on the Rune Warrior.

It could be said that Tong Gua the Ghost King was the first caster of Beiqi.

Currently, there were more than a hundred NPCs under Lu Wu but their skills in casting were limited. They were only capable of forging limited weapons by using their soul power with the provided templates, but could not create any personal weapons as that required high proficiency.

That was why Lu Wu and Bei Li targeted Tong Gua and intended to make him a new special NPC.

Tong Gua's skill was also needed to cast the Epic Level weapon that was made as one of the rewards of the previous quest.

"Big Goose, you're truly embarrassing. You've ruined the image of Ghost Kings! You said, 'You can disgrace the crane but not kill it…'? Shame on you!" Bei Li could not resist the urge to mock him.

Tong Gua had no idea why he appeared in this place. However, he stood arrogantly with arms akimbo after noticing Bei Li.

"Oh… so it was you, Little Li. Why don't you come forward and pay respect to this king!"

A giant hammer formed in Bei Li's hand after hearing that before she viciously swung it at Tong Gua. She greeted it with a smile on her face.

"Little Li greets Tong Gua the Ghost King!"

Boom!

The attack caused Tong Gua to roll his eyes. He trembled, feeling as though his soul was getting smashed out of his body.

Following Bei Li's gesture, a glob of soul power took form in the Artifact Channel. The soul power invaded the body of the dying Tong Gua.

"Lord Tong Gua, is there anything else you need from Little Li?"

Tong Gua who just escaped from death quickly waved his hand, "Little Li, we can talk this out. Put down your hammer first…"

Bei Li nodded obediently and the hammer in her hand disappeared. However, it was immediately replaced by a huge machete that was a hundred times longer.

Tong Gua was flustered.

Similarly, Lu Wu was taken aback, too.

"Do you have a score to settle with him?" Lu Wu asked softly.

"He thought that he was stronger than me and snatched my snacks away from me a few times," Bei Li's eyes welled with tears as she recalled the past while the long machete in her hands began to expand.

As expected, snatching Bei Li's food would result in her grudges. Lu Wu instantly made a mental note on this to prevent himself from upsetting her in the future.

At long last, Bei Li held on to her long machete, after she was convinced by Lu Wu. However, she was still eyeing Tong Gua unkindly and this made him uneasy.

"Big Goose, why have you become so weak?"

Tong Gua glowered after hearing Bei Li's question and he answered regretfully, "I cultivated the 'Way of Fate' and I could have fought with Tao Wu for several rounds when fate was with me. But, when it's not the right time, I couldn't even beat a Wandering Soul and I hate it. (gritting teeth)"

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