The Boss Behind The Game

On this day, a fine rain fell persistently.

As history progressed, Tomb-Sweeping Day became one of the four largest traditional festivals in Dragon Nation.

It was a requirement for the people of the Dragon Nation to clean off their family's ancestral tombs, pay respect, and commemorate their ancestors during the festival.

Compared with the other servers, the number of Beiqi players was obviously less in the morning. Most of them had gone on an outing to pay tributes to their ancestors.

In the afternoon, after the players who had returned from visiting their ancestors logged on to the game, Lu Wu released a pre-notice for the Tomb-Sweeping Day Event.

[Game Message: Pre-notice for Tomb-Sweeping Day Event called Tributes to Desolated Tombs...]:

Event Details: From 8pm. to midnight, desolated tombs of martyrs who lost their lives in the River of History will appear all over the Land of Beiqi. Players are granted unlimited use of the tribute item to pay respect to and sweep the desolated tombs during the quest period. The quest item called a Gift from Desolated Souls will be rewarded after the cleaning has been done.

(Note: Each player can only pay respect to and sweep the same desolated tomb once. Each desolated tomb can receive tributes from at most 1,000 players and will disappear once reaching the limit.)

Event Rewards:

One Gift from Desolated Souls can redeem 20 soul coins.

Five Gifts from Desolated Souls can redeem a Blue Equipment of Level 100 (with choices).

20 Gifts from Desolated Souls can redeem a Purple Equipment of Level 100 (with choices).

50 Gifts from Desolated Souls can redeem five Soul-Cleansing Pills of Level 3 (permanently increases the Endurance attribute by 8 points per pill).

100 Gifts from Desolated Souls can redeem a special title of The Sympathetic Wanderer (10 free transports per day).

Special Rewards: Secret (will only be revealed during the quest).

The events of Battle Online would always spike excitement among the players.

Seeing the pre-notice of the Tomb-Sweeping Day Event, the players were exuberant because the extremely stingy Wicked Mob was about to be giving away a large number of soul coins.

Lu Wu had put a lot of effort into this event. He didn't just simulate the scenes with the artifact like he usually would. Lu Wu had spent soul coins that amounted to around ten million on the event preparations.

With the help of Bei Li, he materialized the tombs of the prominent valiant spirits in Beiqi from ancient history to present day. He also temporarily released the many valiant spirits in the Valiant Spirits Palace.

In other words, it was not a fake quest but an event of actual tomb-sweeping.

The so-called Special Rewards were related to the valiant spirits who were long dead, but it depended on the players' luck on whether they could find the hidden quests.

Although the Special Rewards were not announced officially, the players were looking forward to the event very much. After all, the officials had never let them down, except for that time during April Fool's.

While the Beiqi players were discussing the event, the players from the other servers couldn't bear it anymore and flooded their forum.

Star_Universe (Europe): "I strongly protest! Why do they always have events going about? Can we still compete with a happy heart? The Wicked Mob is too biased! I strongly request that this event also be hosted on our server! No, the previous events must be replaced, too!"

Jason (Europe): "Protest+1 Is our great European server not their precious child? Host events for us! Shower rewards on us!"

Reinhardt (Europe): "Let's compete fair and square! They're already that strong yet they get events again! Please weaken their attributes and reinforce ours!"

Heavens_Seer (USA): "Stop, you guys. Our great Land of Naraka is in hot water! Please host events for us... please empower us!"

Prince_Charming123 (USA): "Your two servers are so laid back. Our server is in apocalyptic mode! I freaking died around a hundred times ever since the launch of our server! The level of difficulty is depressing. Please empower the players in Naraka! Weaken the other servers!"

Crayon_Shinchan: "Look, our exasperated buddies from other servers are protesting. Anyway, you guessed it correctly, we are their only true son. (laughing emoji)"

Xueli_The_Strongest: "That's enough from all of you. How can you join the event when you don't even know what Tomb-Sweeping Day is? Quit it, or else we won't have mercy during the next Cross-Server Battle. (laughing emoji)"

Watermelon_Taro: "Stop whining. Let's take a look at the European server - they have the Evil King in the Ghost Emperor Realm protecting them, and they live a well off life. We Beiqi don't even have a master in the Ghost Emperor Realm, but did we complain? (laughing emoji) Now for Naraka - your server has combined many states, and aside from the fact that your population is large, don't you know how advantageous your growth system is during the prophase? We were not as relaxed as you are when Beiqi just launched. As for the difference in power, who can we blame for having so many cheaters on our server? This is our own power, alright? (confident emoji) It has nothing to do with the officials. Therefore, my last point is - please enhance Beiqi player attributes, Wicked Mob! Our lives are so difficult that we can't carry on anymore!"

Assassin_Creed replied to Watermelon_Taro: "Well said! If we never made a fuss, why should all of you cry? Go away. We should be the first ones to cry our lungs out."

...

The three large servers started to show off how miserable they were because of the event. They complained about how difficult their lives were in their own areas, hoping that the Wicked Mob would pay more attention to them.

It was especially the Beiqi players who wailed enthusiastically with the other two servers although they knew they were the strongest among the three.

To them, despite whether they were really having a tough life, kicking up a fuss would never go wrong. The Wicked Mob might enhance them if they believed their story.

Hence, the players from the three servers started a post thread where they summarized how pitiful they were. They relentlessly commented on it again and again so that it stuck at the top, in hopes that the officials might see it.

Lu Wu was speechless with their persistent complaints.

Even more so toward the Beiqi players, Lu Wu was completely at a loss of words. They certainly knew how to grumble.

Without knowing them well enough, other people might really get tricked into thinking the Beiqi players were in a devastating state after reading their summaries.

At last, Lu Wu ignored their speeches of pity.

Talk big all you like. I won't budge a bit.

Empowerment? Impossible! The most important thing is to earn more soul coins for me!

...

At 8pm, the Mansion of the Dead was free from players with only NPCs roaming around.

At that moment, a game message popped up.

[Server Announcement: Tomb-Sweeping Day Event 'Tributes to Desolated Tombs' starts now... The tribute item with unlimited usage has been sent to the players' personal channels. The locations of the desolated tombs will change every thirty minutes. Players will have to seek them out on their own!]

The event had officially launched. The players who were well-prepared beforehand sprang their legs and scurried across the Land of Beiqi, seeking the desolated tombs.

At the shore of the Liuli Coast.

Hu He was waiting there holding a compass with twenty or more figures standing behind him.

Their faces were wooden as compared to Hu He, as though they were lifeless corpses.

Hu He looked entirely different than he was before. He was no longer babyish nor bandit-like as he had grown to be more sedate and matured.

He had been deeply moved by the people who forsook their lives and used the Blood Sacrificial Haka to save him.

After the battle, Hu He chose to refine them into zombie spirits. Due to his limited skills, their powers had only recovered to a Ghost General's level, and they had lost their consciousness.

Nevertheless, Zombie Forgemasters had a skill, which was Spirit Summoning. He believed that he would someday summon them back as he grew stronger.

Moreover, he had sworn to lead them to kill Yuanxu, using his blood as a sacrifice to repay their kindness of losing their lives to save him.

He returned to Beiqi this time to participate in the Tomb-Sweeping Day Event.

Every event was accompanied by the opportunity to become more powerful. He did not want to miss it.

He came to the Liuli Coast due to a surmise he had in his mind after reading the pre-event notice.

While he was waiting, the compass shone red all of a sudden. A bloody desolated tomb appeared by the coast.

[The Tomb of Cha Na]

Details of Desolated Tomb: Although hundreds of thousands of people have passed away, starting his journey as a pawn, Cha Na had proved himself to the King of Beiqi with his fierceness and fearlessness in each and every battle. The Liuli Coast had once been bestowed upon him as his territory. He was a great general of Beiqi, a valiant spirit!

Refresh Period: 29 minutes 48 seconds

Tributes Available: 500 times (only once per player)

Special Rewards: Secret (Hidden Quest)

Gazing at the desolated tomb of Cha Na, a smile spread across Hu He's face. He knew he had guessed correctly.

He then twisted his head toward Cha Na's zombie spirit.

It felt inappropriate bringing along Cha Na's zombie spirit to pay tribute to his own desolated tomb.

After giving it a moment of thought, He Hu drew out the tributes and placed them on Cha Na's tomb, waiting for the one-minute progress bar of tribute to pass.

At that moment, a silhouette of Cha Na in armor emerged.

That very second, Hu He seemed to witness a blood-spattered Cha Na fighting in a battle, the sounds of combat echoing in his ears.

"I, Cha Na, shall succeed one day!"

The silhouette of Cha Na punched his fist toward the sky as determination and perseverance shone in his eyes.

Even though he was aware that it was merely an NPC, Hu He could feel the blood and flesh of the character in his heart.

Sighing, Hu He slowly bowed toward Cha Na in the flames of the burning tributes.

"Brother Cha Na, I'm sorry that I stole your head!"

As he straightened his body, a sense of resoluteness flashed across Hu He's eyes.

"Worry not, Cha Na. I, Hu He, shall be the most powerful of all in the future. I won't bring disgrace to your heroic doings when you were alive!"

As though he had heard Hu He's reply, the silhouette of Cha Na floating on the desolated tomb suddenly burst into flames. It then punched its right fist toward Hu He.

Facing such a situation, Hu He did not flinch. He stood where he was in silence.

The burning fiery fist stopped at the tip of Hu He's nose.

After a brief moment of confrontation, the silhouette of Cha Na removed his fist.

At that moment, Hu He thought he heard Cha Na's hysterical cackling laughter.

What happened next astonished Hu He. The burning silhouette detached itself from the desolated tomb and dove into the body of Cha Na's zombie spirit.

[Server Announcement: Congratulations to Player Hu He who acquired the recognition of Cha Na's remnant soul! Hidden quest is activated and a remnant of Cha Na's soul is obtained.]

The announcement stirred up a wave of frenzy among the players. They didn't expect the desolated tombs to be the burial of the warriors who actually died in the game. At once, a colossus of players headed for the Liuli Coast.

One after another they dashed, fearing that they might miss the opportunity. After all, each tomb could be paid tribute for only 500 times.

Staring at Cha Na's zombie spirit whose eyes gradually started to glow, Hu He was astounded.

[Cha Na's Zombie Spirit (Half Ghost King Realm)]:

Details of Zombie Spirit: A zombie spirit tempered by player Hu He himself, its body is fused in three sections, Cha Na's head (Ghost General Peak), Mu Te's incomplete torso (Greater Ghost General) and the Cricket of Dawn (Ghost King Intermediate).

Zombie Spirit Status: Under the influence of Cha Na's remnant soul, Cha Na's Zombie Spirit has evolved to manifest Beginner Spirit Wisdom and has leveled up to Half Ghost King Realm.

It had manifested Spirit Wisdom!

Hu He didn't expect to acquire the recognition of Cha Na's remnant soul and to discover a hidden quest during a simple tomb-sweeping.

Eyeing the tomb of Cha Na, Hu He drew a deep breath before he bowed again.

"I will keep my words. Even though you were once our enemy, you are now our comrade!"

The tomb of Cha Na that lost its remnant soul did not respond. The tributes placed on it had burned completely to ashes and the notification for the completion of quest appeared.

[Completed the paying of tribute to the desolated tomb of Cha Na, quest item 'Gift from Desolated Souls' obtained.]

Glancing one last time at Cha Na's tomb, Hu He turned around and left with his compass taken out.

After making this promise, Hu He felt more weight on the load on his shoulders, but he did not regret it. From now on, he would be the most powerful of all!

After Hu He had left, throngs of players arrived at the tomb, but the tomb details had already changed.

The question marks in the row of the Special Rewards had disappeared and was replaced by the line, Owner of Hidden Quest: Hu He.

Although the players who arrived later felt a tinge of pity, they still paid tribute to their old rival.

Lu Wu had undeniably put a lot of effort into this event.

Except for those who were in the Valiant Spirits Palace, every burial of the valiant spirits that dotted Beiqi were summoned at the price of burning soul coins. As for the hidden quests he was giving out this time, it all depended on whether the players could acquire the recognition of the remnant souls when they paid their tributes.

Nevertheless, the Tomb-Sweeping Day Event was undoubtedly successful. The players were all engrossed in the event quests, where successively, they managed to obtain all sorts of hidden quests, be it weak or strong.

However, Lu Wu felt it was a pity that none of them unlocked the hidden quest, Inheritance of Valiant Spirits.

After all, a few of the valiant spirits were once elites of the Ghost Emperor Realm. It was extremely difficult to acquire their recognition. Even Lu Wu couldn't offer help because it all depended on the efforts of the players.

Hidden Quests were the core purpose of this event.

It was a shady concept on how to acquire the recognition of valiant spirits. It might be the single sentence Hu He had unintentionally spoken that caused the remnant soul to empathize with him, hence acquiring its recognition. It might even be as simple as the matter of looks, where the valiant spirit thought the player as the fateful one and dished out the hidden quest without having the player to do anything.

Anyhow, the players were oblivious to all of these. The moment they knew there were rewards for hidden quests, they became exceptionally sincere while they paid their tributes. Each of them wished to acquire the recognition of the valiant spirits and be rewarded.

There were even comical players who knelt before the tombs of unknown valiant spirits, wailing and crying in hopes of touching the owners' heart, so that they would grant them hidden quests.

During that period, the players tried out all kinds of bizarre tactics, so much so that even Lu Wu who was observing behind the scenes felt shameful for them.