Chapter 101 - 96: First Kill!

Chapter 101: Chapter 96: First Kill!

"We need to turn this Yin Demon Army into an independent dungeon instance. One that will tempt the players so much they won’t hesitate to grind their lives away. This dungeon needs its own main questline and bountiful extra rewards. We must make the players feel like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... that there won’t be another event like this for a very long time. Only then will they cherish it and fight with their lives on the line."

Hunger marketing.

In his past life, wasn’t this exactly how Tencent’s games lured players to log in and grind all night long?

"We need to carefully design the specific promotional text," Su Tan said.

The Monk stared at Su Tan as if he were looking at an alien. What was this guy’s brain made of? How did he always manage to come up with such bizarre methods? And these methods... they were all from such incredibly cunning angles. He never failed to impress. He was an absolute genius with a limitless imagination.

Su Tan, the Fat Monk, and the Little White Wolf gathered together to brainstorm. Under Su Tan’s guidance, they quickly designed a satisfactory announcement.

"Done. We’ll go with this. Go issue the quest!" Su Tan said to the Fat Monk.

"Leave it to me!" the Monk replied. Turning around, he began operating the control room’s mechanisms to broadcast a server-wide voice message across the Marching Battlefield.

"DING! Attention, Inheritors! Attention!

"In light of the passion all of you players have shown for Divine War version 1.0 over the past month, the Bureau of Gods has decided to host a special bonus event today as a reward to our beloved Inheritors."

Across the Marching Battlefield, enveloped in thick mist and littered with gleaming white bones, a massive soundwave swept through.

They were very familiar with this voice. It belonged to the same old man who had called them Inheritors back when they were just beginners. The cultivators all raised their heads to look at the sky.

The virtual projection of the old man appeared above them, condensed from smoke. He looked incredibly ancient, with long, messy hair and a thick beard tied into three braids. His eyes burned as fiercely as the sun. He exuded an aura that was mysterious and primeval, blurring the line between illusion and reality.

"Event Theme: Operation Demon Slaughter.

"Event Backstory: Because your performance as an Inheritor has been far too heaven-defying, you have drawn the attention of the Yin Demon Race. Seeking to purge such heaven-defying anomalies, the Yin Demon Race has mobilized 200,000 Yin Demon Lords to annihilate the mighty you. You let out a cold sneer, thinking nothing of the 200,000-strong Yin Demon Army because you know just how powerful you truly are. In the face of your overwhelming combat prowess, all Yin Demons will be nothing but cannon fodder—utterly vulnerable. Thus, you pick up your weapon. Instead of retreating, you advance to meet the Yin Demon Army head-on, carving out a path of bloody slaughter... leaving rivers of Yin Demon blood in your wake and striking terror into their very souls..."

This backstory made the players’ blood boil with excitement. They thought, "Holy crap? Am I really this badass in the lore? Single-handedly slaughtering the Yin Demon Army until they’re terrified out of their minds?"

The storyline was incredibly satisfying. Even though these were just main plotlines fabricated by the game’s creators, it was genuinely inspiring and made them feel unbelievably hyped!

What they didn’t know was that this plot wasn’t made up by Su Tan at all; it was actually happening. The Yin Demon Army was real. However, every single player was kept in the dark by Su Tan, fully convinced that it was all just a game.

"Event Details: Main Quest—Kill Yin Demons.

"1. Troop Attrition Leaderboard. 2. Personal Damage Leaderboard. 3. First Blood Reward. 4. Final Blow Reward. 5. Top Ten Kills Leaderboard. 6. Top Ten Fails Leaderboard. 7. Outstanding Performance Leaderboard..."

"Event Rewards:

"1. Troop Attrition Leaderboard.

"Every participating Inheritor will receive a reward. However, the number of Yin Demons you eliminate will determine the quality of the rewards you receive.

"1st Place: 1 Saint Level Cultivation Technique, 10 orbs of pure advanced Spiritual Power, 10 King’s Dao Level Cultivation Techniques, 10 Grandmaster Level Cultivation Techniques, 10 Grandmaster Level Cultivation Techniques, 10 Qi Condensation Level Cultivation Techniques, 10 Body Refinement Level Cultivation Techniques, and the honorary title: [Eternal War Emperor] (Note: This title can be equipped at any time to make you stand out on the Marching Battlefield, displaying an aura of invincible dominance...).

"2nd Place: 100 Saint Level Cultivation Technique Exchange Points (Note: Reaching 1,000 points allows you to exchange for one Saint Level Cultivation Technique), 5 King’s Dao Level Cultivation Techniques...

"3rd Place: 50 Saint Level Cultivation Technique Exchange Points, 3 King’s Dao Level Cultivation Techniques...

"4th to 5th Place: 20 Saint Level Cultivation Technique Exchange Points, 2 King’s Dao Level Cultivation Techniques...

"50,000th Place and beyond: 1 Saint Level Cultivation Technique Exchange Point, a massive amount of exchange points for Cultivation Techniques below the King Level, and 1 Body Refinement Level Cultivation Technique!"

A title meant purely for showing off. Su Tan had truly mastered the essence of Tencent’s games.

The players never expected the rewards to be this generous.

"First place actually gets a Saint Level Cultivation Technique??"

"These event rewards are too good! I can’t hold back my urge to go on a killing spree!"

"When is the Yin Demon Army getting here?"

"My greatsword is thirsting for blood!"

The players were all itching for action. Playing a game, getting stronger, and never truly dying—how great was that? They were already completely addicted to this method of growing stronger.

That ancient voice rang out once more.

"Similarly... the First Blood Leaderboard, the Final Blow Leaderboard, the Top Ten Kills Leaderboard, the Top Ten Fails Leaderboard, and so on, all offer bountiful rewards...

"To avoid wasting the precious time of our Inheritors, this old man won’t go into detail about every single one. The specific details and event rewards have already been sent via message to the Assistant Elf, Qing. If there is anything you don’t understand, you can consult the adorable Assistant Elf by your side at any time. She will answer all your questions!

"Finally, I wish all Inheritors a victorious start!"

The players summoned Qing to ask about the detailed event rules. The content of this event was not difficult to understand. It was simply about killing Yin Demons. However, the rewards were enough to drive anyone crazy.

Inside the control room.

"How much longer until the Yin Demon Army arrives?" the Little White Wolf asked.

"They will reach the Stag Plain in ten minutes!" the Fat Monk replied.

Su Tan said calmly, "Notify the players to head to the Stag Plain for battle. We can’t let the battlefield get too close to the player base. Let’s settle this at the Stag Plain."

"Understood! I was thinking the exact same thing!" the Fat Monk nodded.

"The enemy army will arrive at the Stag Plain battlefield in ten minutes. Inheritors, are you ready?

"Please unleash your true strength and crush them! Let the Yin Demons taste your mighty power, and let them tremble under your merciless slaughter!

"A reminder to all Inheritors: the battle has officially begun from this moment onward. The First Blood reward is now active. Please hurry to the battlefield, strive to secure that First Blood, and claim your generous rewards," the Monk announced, intentionally pushing them toward the battlefield.

This loud, ancient voice acted like a shot of adrenaline. The players immediately sprang into action, each running faster than the last, terrified that someone else would beat them to it.

First Blood!

While some of them might not be able to land the Final Blow or claim first place on the Troop Attrition Leaderboard, obtaining First Blood just required a bit of good luck.

At this moment, the Ten Thousand Races Cultivators surged toward the Stag Plain like a massive, unstoppable tide. Their faces were flushed red with excitement, completely pumped up. It was as if what awaited them wasn’t an army of 200,000 Yin Demons, but a delicious, mouthwatering cake!

Meanwhile, on the Yin Demon side.

The 200,000-strong Demon Army advanced slowly like a dark tide of pure evil.

"For some reason, ever since we entered the Marching Battlefield, we’ve been constantly ambushed by the Ten Thousand Races Alliance."

"Those annoying ants are getting on my nerves. I have no idea how they found out our race broke through the prison barrier and jumped out to get in our way so quickly."

A few Yin Demons were whispering among themselves within the army’s ranks.

"It must be the Void God Realm administrator who leaked the secret."

"One day, our race’s Strongest will crush that despicable administrator!"

"That administrator is truly infuriating. Not only did he imprison our race for countless ages, but just as we were about to break out of our cage, he actually gathered the Ten Thousand Races to obstruct us... If I had the strength, I would tear him into a million pieces."

"I wonder what other tricks that administrator has up his sleeve now that we’re out. Will it affect the path of our Holy Race descending upon the world?"

"You’re overthinking it. Even if he knows we escaped, so what? Even if he mobilizes the Ten Thousand Races Alliance to snipe our race, what difference does it make? They’re just a disorganized mob. This time, our pinnacle King is leading 200,000 members of the Holy Race to strike back. Won’t we just crush them with absolute ease?"

"True..."

SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT!

Just as they were heatedly discussing their plans to show off their skills in the upcoming battle, a white blur suddenly sprang out from the dried bones beneath their feet. It moved with blinding speed. The white blur had initially been buried so deeply in the bones that they hadn’t even noticed it. By the time it appeared, it was already at point-blank range.

The white blur flashed past two Yin Demons. Immediately after, the two Yin Demons who had just been loudly boasting grabbed their necks in terror. They turned around to look at the white blur.

It was a human. A human wearing a camouflage suit, standing there with a short sword in one hand.

SPURT!

Demon blood sprayed from the necks of the two Yin Demons. They stared at the white figure in sheer horror, twitched a few times, and then collapsed to the ground with a heavy THUD.

They were dead.

"Who... who is this? A human... a human... why is he here? How dare he be here?"

This sudden turn of events completely stupefied the surrounding demon soldiers, sparking a considerable commotion.

"DING! Congratulations to player Li Mubai... for claiming First Blood!"

"Huh? I... I got First Blood! Haha... I got First Blood! I told you guys this ambush tactic was the best way to get first blood!" The human in the white camouflage suit lit up with a wildly ecstatic expression, screaming and jumping around right in the middle of the Yin Demons.

Yin Demons: "???"

What was going on?

Because of the Fat Monk’s game settings, the Yin Demons couldn’t see or hear any of the world announcements. These game mechanics were visible only to the players. The principle behind it was a spell cast upon the players when they logged in. As a result, the Yin Demons were completely oblivious to the things the players could see and hear.

In the eyes of the Yin Demons, this guy was an absolute lunatic. A lunatic with a death wish. Just to kill a single enemy, he had actually hidden himself among the dried bones for an ambush.

Was he tired of living? What was the point of doing this? Even if he succeeded, he wouldn’t make it out alive anyway. Besides, if he was going to plot such an elaborate ambush, shouldn’t his target be a general or a commander? What was the damn use of killing a common grunt?

He was out of his mind!

The Yin Demons couldn’t understand his logic at all.

"Kill him!" a cold, indifferent voice rang out from the midst of the Yin Demons.

It was the General of the Yin Demons leading the army this time.