Ye Chuan handed the spirit essence to Lilith. As for the equipment, since they were all low-tier junk, they could be recycled at the point store. Every little bit counts, after all.
While Ye Chuan was checking the rewards in his inventory, he suddenly sensed something. A wisp of chaotic energy had returned to him.
Which meant...
The Skeleton Guard had been defeated?
"Huh? That fast?" Ye Chuan muttered in surprise. It seemed the Skeleton Guard had been overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Even though it was just a basic manifestation, it couldn’t hold its own against thousands of players ganging up on it.
The Skeleton Guard didn’t have any fancy attacks—just shield bashes and the occasional jump. Once the players figured out its patterns, they could easily dodge its moves.
"So this is what players are capable of? Not bad," Ye Chuan chuckled before settling back onto his throne.
Still, he had expected this outcome.
......
"Finally, it's dead!" Hu Tianyu watched as the Skeleton Guard collapsed into ashes and vanished. His sharp eyes immediately caught sight of an orange-glowing sword clattering onto the ground with a crisp metallic ring.
The moment that orange light flashed, it felt like everyone’s hearts stopped.
"Legendary-grade equipment!" The surrounding players surged forward like a tidal wave. A rogue, being the fastest, snatched the weapon and bolted.
"Kill him!"
In combat mode, newly acquired gear had a 99% chance of dropping upon death. The other players’ eyes burned with greed as they unleashed a barrage of attacks.
The rogue didn’t stand a chance. He was instantly obliterated, and the sword clattered back onto the ground.
The chaos escalated as players fought over the weapon, until one lucky player managed to grab it, die—and yet, it didn’t drop. Instead, they respawned back in town.
"Damn it! He got away with it!"
"Son of a—!"
A chorus of curses erupted. Hu Tianyu and his guildmates were the first to regain their composure, immediately contacting their fallen members.
"Keep an eye on that guy who got the sword. The second he steps out of the safe zone, slaughter him!"
After all, everyone respawned in the village, which was a safe zone. But no player could stay there forever—quests and leveling required venturing out to fight monsters.
Getting that weapon might not have been such a blessing after all.
"I wonder how those Skyhawk Guild bastards are doing. Did they manage to kill the hidden boss?" Hu Tianyu grumbled, but news soon reached him.
Skyhawk Guild had been instantly wiped out by the hidden boss?
"Wait, is that boss even stronger than the Skeleton Guard?" Hu Tianyu froze for a moment before noticing the ground trembling beneath his feet.
Then, right before everyone’s eyes, a new Skeleton Guard emerged.
"..."
A... respawn?
The players stood dumbfounded for a few seconds before noticing the faint orange glow radiating from the new Skeleton Guard.
"Does this mean killing it will drop another legendary-grade item?" Hu Tianyu’s heart pounded with excitement.
Even if it took massive resources to take it down, trading that effort for a legendary weapon seemed like a fair deal.
"Fall back and resupply first!"
Hu Tianyu wasn’t reckless enough to charge in again. After the last fight, everyone’s mana was drained. They needed to restock before another attempt.
The major guilds withdrew, while the solo players didn’t dare provoke the Skeleton Guard either. They lingered in the outer corridors, farming the respawning lesser skeletons in hopes of scoring some loot.
As time passed, the graveyard grew quieter.
"Buzz—"
The air rippled.
Ye Chuan teleported right in front of the Skeleton Guard, surveying the thousands of spirit essence scattered across the ground.
"Tsk tsk tsk, so many players... Thousands of spirit essence. This feels amazing."
Using a trash-tier spirit sword as bait in exchange for this haul—if Ye Chuan weren’t a skeleton right now, he’d be grinning ear to ear.
"All mine." With a wave of his hand, he absorbed every last bit of spirit essence.
Then, he glanced at the Skeleton Guard beside him. He had deliberately weakened today’s version—if it were too strong, players might lose interest in challenging it.
"But it looks like they’re enjoying themselves."
Ye Chuan weakened the Skeleton Guard a bit more, then pondered how to farm even more spirit essence.
"What if I could send my avatars outside the castle and camp the respawn point? That’d be perfect."
But that wasn’t realistic.
Ye Chuan couldn’t leave the castle himself. Even if his avatars slaughtered players at the respawn point, he wouldn’t be able to retrieve the dropped spirit essence.
"Ah well, this is good enough." After tweaking the Skeleton Guard’s stats, he returned to his throne.
"I wonder when the next wave of players will arrive~"
......
Over the next few days, Ye Chuan’s spirit sword bait netted him tens of thousands more spirit essence. The major guilds, meanwhile, happily farmed the Skeleton Guard for legendary gear, completely abandoning any thoughts of tackling the hidden boss.
But the guilds were puzzled. They noticed the Skeleton Guard’s stats fluctuated—sometimes it was fast, other times slow but tanky.
This inconsistency made it impossible to optimize their strategies, forcing them to expend enormous resources each time.
Still, a legendary weapon was worth the cost.
Word of the Naske Graveyard eventually reached the game’s administrators.
"What’s going on? Why are so many players dying in Norlan Village? Isn’t that a starter zone? Are guilds warring there?" Administrator A frowned.
"No, I checked the forums. Players are talking about farming some hidden boss’s Skeleton Guard for infinite legendary drops," Administrator B replied.
"Infinite drops? Check for bugs!" Administrator A ordered.
The game logs were pulled up, and the administrators fell silent when they saw a level 60+ hidden boss in a starter village.
"Wait, why is there a level 60+ boss in a beginner area?"
"Uh... let me ask the devs."
"Got a response. The devs say that boss is supposed to be level 20 and doesn’t drop legendary gear."
"Then it’s definitely a bug. Fix it."
"Right. Send an Arbiter to kill the boss and respawn a fresh one."
"..."
"Bad news."
"What now?"
"The Arbiter got killed by that boss."
"...What?"
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
