The Boss Behind The Game

After Du Yan's departure, Lu Wu's consciousness left the underworld, too.

Originally, Lu Wu planned to give all the Yin souls to Du Yan so that Du Yan could use it as a bargaining chip when he took shelter under the Rock Ghost King.

After all, to Lu Wu, his own soul power was clearly more useful than the Yin souls.

However, his idea was denied by Bei Li, forcing him to extract and store 150,000 of Yin souls in his battle artifact.

"Little Li, how are these Yin souls useful?" Lu Wu asked Bei Li once his consciousness returned to the room.

"They are definitely useful. You must know that others do not possess artifacts that have the ability to manipulate soul power like we do. They can only rely on Yin souls to forge weapons and equipment. Only the making of high-level equipment requires a rare soul stone. Besides, a Yin soul has a very important use — to build a two-way passage."

"Can we not do that with soul power alone?" Lu Wu was astounded.

"No, that is different. Portals can be built with soul power alone. However, it is different for the two-way passage. The construction of the two-way passage requires offerings. In this instance, a Yin soul acts as the contribution. That makes the fundamental difference between the soul power and Yin soul."

Lu Wu rolled his eyes, "You should be more specific. I literally know nothing about the underworld."

Bei Li smiled and nodded. "Have we not been brainstorming on the construction of the Instance Dungeon? These Yin souls will be extremely helpful. That is why I specifically asked you to keep 150,000 Yin souls. It is the exact amount needed as offerings to reach the Naraka Realm."

Finally, Lu Wu understood. He exclaimed in a pleasantly surprised tone, "Does it mean that we can introduce the dungeon to the public now?"

Bei Li nodded, "Yes, I've chosen the Naraka Realm, a forbidden zone in Naraka where demons are constantly spawned. It is an ideal ground for players to gain experience and upgrade their level in the game, especially for the assassins as many of the materials required for their class advancement can be found there."

"More importantly, there are eighteen levels in the Naraka Realm. The further you go, the more powerful the demons will be. So it will be especially challenging for growing players."

"How long does it take to build the two-way passage?" Lu Wu thought for a moment before he asked.

"It'll take approximately an hour."

Lu Wu nodded before he instantly released a server announcement with the help of the Battle Artifact.

"Server Announcement: Our server will undergo maintenance in ten minutes. This will be followed by the launch of the Instance Dungeon. Stay tuned!"

The players burst into an uproar upon the announcement.

Lu Wu only made this decision after careful consideration. It would be too conspicuous to form an array right outside the Mansion of the Dead, as he had to be physically present. Being the mastermind behind the curtain, it would be better for him to stay hidden.

After ten minutes of waiting, Lu Wu took a glimpse at the viewer count and realized there were some 80,000 players who were still online.

Therefore, he forcibly kicked out the players using the artifact's administrative authority.

With nowhere else to go, the players began to gather at the game's forum instead.

Crayon_Shinchan: "Damn. I almost killed the metal zombie. I have spent a whole twenty minutes fighting it! Will I get compensation for that?"

Peppa_Boar: "Same here. I was in the midst of battling the netherworld creatures with my team. We were just about to defeat it when we were kicked out mercilessly. I demand compensation! I am not asking for much, a purple weapon will be just enough."

A_Mammoth: "Did you guys not notice the highlight of the announcement? The Instance Dungeon will be launched!"

Invincible_Loneliness: "I'm on my daily quest to collect soul coins and grow cash. Anyone selling soul coins for good? Add me now!"

Assassin_Creed: "The features in this game are amazing and I'm looking forward to the Instance Dungeon. I'm trying to form a team to explore the Instance Dungeon together. Let's grow and advance together~"

Xueli_The_Strongest: "I hope the drop rate of this Instance Dungeon will be higher… I really want to change my equipment, but my soul coins run out too quickly. Poor me~"

From the discussions, it was evident that the players' expectations for the Instance Dungeon were rather high. Of course, Lu Wu would not let them down. He brought Bei Li along as he returned to the underworld.

The usually crowded Mansion of the Dead was rather deserted after the maintenance began. However, this was exactly what Lu Wu hoped for.

They took a stroll around the Mansion of the Dead and eventually stopped at a spot that was neither far nor close to the mansion before they began the construction of the altar.

When it came to technical tasks like these, Lu Wu could only remain an onlooker.

Bei Li waved her hand and extracted all the Yin souls from the battle artifact. All of a sudden, they were surrounded by many green jellyfish-like objects that were floating in the air.

Then, Bei Li shifted her attention to the Yin energy. With the Yin energy, she inscribed an enormous circle on the ground before she continuously filled the circle with twisted and indecipherable patterns.

Ten minutes later, Bei Li, with an earnest expression, waved her hand once again, prompting the Yin energy in the air to surge toward the array on the ground, materializing the formation on the ground as it shimmered with a dark glow.

"Hum… hum…"

As the patterns within the array took its form, the ground gently quaked. The lines on the floor began to glow in crimson.

"The offerings!" upon Bei Li's command, the suspended Yin souls rushed toward the core of the array.

"Sob… sob..."

An ancient cry of sorrow originated from the array resounded through the atmosphere. The sound resembled an old man who was bidding farewell to the world in the final moments of his life.

Then, a shocking scene appeared before Lu Wu. A pair of crimson red arms, dripping with molten lava, reached out from the array and grabbed the air viciously. Within a blink of an eye, the cloud of Yin souls were completely removed.

Looking at that pair of arms, Bei Li's expression remained solemn. She uttered a few sentences in a language unheard before by Lu Wu.

The pair of lava-drenched arms gently oscillated as they listened to her. A weathered sigh arose from the array. The gigantic arms slowly sunk into the ground until it was no longer visible.

The array Bei Li inscribed had become a crimson red circular pit with a bright glow churning within. Its bottom was unfathomable.

"It's done!" Bei Li smiled happily as she looked at Lu Wu, anticipating his compliment.

Lu Wu reached out to ruffled her hair, "What were those arms earlier? Also, what did you say to him?"

Bei Li pouted, "You should not address him as 'arms'... he is one of the oldest divine beings here in the underworld. Even after his death, he is still a supreme existence. I was communicating with the residues of his consciousness in an ancient sacrificial language earlier. I asked for a passage to the Naraka Realm in exchange for 150,000 Yin souls."

"Did he agree?"

"Of course! There is no other way this tunnel can be built successfully otherwise. For he was, and remains, the only god in charge of the forbidden zone, the Naraka Realm."

Lu Wu nodded. "So we have to do this for every new Instance Dungeon we build?"

"Yes. All forbidden zones contain the residue of an ancient god's consciousness. It is the existence of these prehistoric gods that labels these areas as the forbidden zones. Therefore, we will require the gods' permission before we can create a connection that leads to a forbidden zone. You have to find a way to encourage the players to plunder more Yin souls and contribute to us in order to establish more Instance Dungeons!"