Ancestor's Legacy

"Wait, let me get this straight. You're saying my ancestor carved out a territory in the Netherworld, became one of the Twelve Palace Lords, and now that he's dead, he wants me to inherit his legacy?"

In a park in Jialan City, Lu Wu stared blankly at the little girl sitting on a small stool, her expression unusually serious.

"To be precise, while inheriting the legacy, you also need to find a way to avenge your ancestor. After his death, his former subordinates all betrayed him and divided up the territory that should have belonged to you!"

Lu Wu laughed dumbly. "Kid, you must spend a lot of time reading webnovels, huh? You're just as edgy as I was when I was young!"

"I'm not joking. Your ancestor was once one of the most powerful beings in the Netherworld. In order to keep expanding his territory and unite the entire Netherworld, he died during an experiment to forge a Battle Artifact. So you must inherit his will, unify the Netherworld, and become the Underworld Great Emperor!"

This time, Lu Wu nodded solemnly and reached out to rub the little girl's head.

"Then how about you come help me and become my right-hand assistant? Once we conquer the Netherworld, we'll conquer the Heavenly Realm and become the rulers of the Three Realms!"

Upon hearing Lu Wu's words, the little girl suddenly became excited. Her face flushed red as she looked at him and nodded vigorously.

"Alright, then tell me where you live first, little sister. I'll take you home. Once I've gathered enough troops, I'll call you."

The little girl's expression froze. "You still don't believe me?"

Lu Wu decisively shook his head. "Of course I believe you. In the next few days, I'll call Qin Shi Huang and borrow a few ten thousand troops from him. Then we'll charge into the Netherworld!"

Hearing that, the little girl suddenly stood up from her stool and fiercely rammed her head into Lu Wu's chest.

"Liar! Liar!"

Lu Wu hurriedly pushed the little girl away. Seeing her fangs clenched in anger, he felt utterly helpless.

"Come with me. I'll take you back."

"Where?"

"The Netherworld!"

Lu Wu was stunned. "Kid, don't do anything stupid!"

Upon hearing that, the little girl raised her head, and her fangs began grinding together again.

Then she took out a black object from her pocket and shoved it into Lu Wu's hand.

"This is a Yin Talisman. With it, you can travel between the realms of yin and yang!"

It was a triangular talisman block with a metallic texture, covered in many twisted runes. It looked extremely strange, and Lu Wu could not help taking a few extra glances at it.

Lu Wu had originally wanted to ask whether it had been bought online, but then the little girl grabbed the hand holding the talisman and began chanting under her breath.

Then something that shocked Lu Wu happened. A black dot appeared before his eyes, rapidly expanding as it spun. A powerful suction force came from within and dragged him inside.

A sense of weightlessness followed. Just as Lu Wu was at a loss, an image appeared at the end of the black passage. Then he was thrown out and landed hard on his backside.

The sky was dim, dark clouds churned overhead, and a hazy blood moon hung high in the heavens. Fine scarlet rain fell across the land.

The sight before him made Lu Wu realize that he really had crossed over—and into the legendary world of the Netherworld.

Turning to look at the little girl, Lu Wu's lips trembled. "Everything you said was true?"

The little girl put her hands on her hips proudly. "Everything I said was true. This region is your ancestor's territory. It's called Bei Qi, one of the Twelve Great Domains of the Netherworld!"

This time, Lu Wu truly believed her, because everything before him proved that she had been telling the truth.

"Then I'm the new Lord Governor? One of the rulers of the Netherworld?" Happiness had come too suddenly. Lu Wu could barely accept it—though he found it even harder to resist.

"That's right! You're the new King of Beiqi. But before that, you need to find a way to reclaim the territory you lost."

Remembering what the little girl had said earlier, that his ancestor's territory had apparently been divided among his subordinates after his death, Lu Wu's expression immediately darkened.

"Of course. Those bastards dared betray my ancestor, so they need to be punished. Did my ancestor leave behind any Peerless Divine Skills or anything?" Lu Wu looked at the little girl expectantly, waiting for her answer.

"Nope~" The little girl shrugged.

"You have to understand, every Netherworld creature relies on the accumulation of time to cultivate. Without a hundred thousand years of cultivation, it'll be very difficult for you to reach your ancestor's level," the little girl answered honestly.

Lu Wu was dumbfounded. "Then did he leave behind thousands of troops, elite cavalry, or anything like that?"

"Nope~ After your ancestor died, they all betrayed him. Other than this building, you have nothing."

As she spoke, the little girl pointed at a palace that had clearly been ravaged by Da Huo and was nearly abandoned.

"Then how am I supposed to reclaim my ancestor's territory? With a hammer?" Lu Wu looked devastated.

"No, you still have me!" The little girl put her hands on her hips and spoke proudly.

Lu Wu's eyes lit up again. "Then you must be really strong, right?"

The little girl shook her head and pouted. "The last time I fought a wraith, it almost ate me. It was terrifying!"

Lu Wu's eyes went blank. This inheritance only came with a little girl whose combat power was below zero. How the hell was he supposed to survive in the Netherworld? Not getting eaten would already be a blessing.

Seeing the disappointment on Lu Wu's face, the little girl chuckled and pulled a ring from her pocket.

"Your ancestor died during the final stage of forging the Battle Artifact, but I helped him complete the final step. So, you still have this divine artifact."

Lu Wu took the hollow ring flowing with an eerie blue light from the little girl's hand and asked in surprise, "This thing is powerful?"

The little girl nodded rapidly. "It's incredibly powerful! Put it on and try it!"

Filled with anticipation, Lu Wu put the Battle Artifact on his index finger.

A blue light suddenly emerged and enveloped Lu Wu's entire body.

Battle Artifact activated. Verifying wearer identity...

Bloodline verification successful. Host is a descendant of the King of Beiqi. Battle Artifact formally bound...

Two notifications suddenly appeared in Lu Wu's mind. At the same time, information about the Battle Artifact flooded into his thoughts.

According to the explanation, the Battle Artifact had been created by his ambitious ancestor in order to unify the entire Netherworld. Its greatest function was creating immortal warriors. These immortal warriors were condensed from the yin energy found everywhere in the Netherworld, requiring almost no cost. As long as their souls remained, their bodies could be replaced at any time, making them nearly impossible to kill.

However, this ability had one prerequisite: they needed control over enough souls. Only then could they command countless undead soldiers who could not be killed.

After standing there blankly for a moment, clarity gradually returned to Lu Wu's eyes.

"So? Isn't it a great invention?" the little girl said smugly.

"Actually, I just want to know where we're supposed to find a huge number of souls we can command." Lu Wu pointed out the crucial issue.

The little girl froze. Her expression gradually stiffened, and tears began to well up in her eyes.

"I-I didn't think of that. Without souls, this artifact seems useless!"

Looking at the little girl crying her eyes out, Lu Wu felt a headache coming on. This ancestor was far too unreliable. The concept behind the artifact was good, but with his current strength, where could he possibly find a pile of souls? It had no practical use at all.

Lu Wu reached out and rubbed the little girl's head, intending to comfort her, when inspiration suddenly struck him.

"Right. You were one of the developers of this artifact too, weren't you?"

The little girl rubbed her reddened eyes and nodded.

"Then can you add some functions to it?"

The little girl looked up at him in confusion.

Lu Wu took out the Yin Talisman that allowed travel between yin and yang, waved it in front of her, and said, "Can you add this thing's function into it?"

"That won't be difficult, but what would it be used for?" The little girl sniffled twice, seeming to steady her emotions.

Lu Wu smiled. "Do you know what I do in the real world?"

Upon hearing that, the little girl pulled out a small notebook from her pocket, opened it, and read aloud.

"Lu Wu, twenty-three years old, the 365th-generation descendant of the King of Beiqi. Started a business three years ago and is still a loser. He runs a small gaming website with almost no traffic and remains single to this day..."

Lu Wu hurriedly stopped her.

"As you know, I make games. Can we expand this artifact's functions? For example, we could ferry ordinary people from the human world into the Netherworld in the form of a game experience, turning them into our immortal warriors. As long as the game becomes popular enough, wouldn't we have countless warriors?"

The little girl thought seriously for a moment, and her eyes gradually lit up.

"Good idea! And if their bodies die, we can simply condense new yin bodies for them. That would be the same as resurrection in a game!"

The little girl's response surprised Lu Wu. He had not expected her to grasp the essence of the idea so quickly.

"Have you played games before?" he asked instinctively.

"Hmph, I'm a veteran WOW player. I've been playing for over three hundred years~" The little girl once again put her hands on her hips proudly.

Lu Wu broke out in a cold sweat. He had not expected this little girl to be so old.

"But this will be a major undertaking. We'll need an entire game system: quests, shops, dungeons, classes, and so on!" Lu Wu said worriedly.

"Leave it to me. The Battle Artifact does more than create immortal warriors. It can also use yin energy and soul power to condense all sorts of things. We can create all kinds of game equipment and shop items."

"What's soul power?" Lu Wu asked curiously.

"Soul power is the primary measure of whether a Netherworld creature is strong or weak. It's like the spiritual energy within cultivators. When any Netherworld creature dies, the soul power in its body disperses. It's a higher-grade existence than yin energy."

Lu Wu's eyes lit up. "Then can we have our Players kill other Netherworld creatures, take the soul power from their bodies, and absorb it? If we can do that, wouldn't it be the same as characters leveling up in a game?"

"No problem!" The little girl confidently slapped her chest.

"But when Players kill monsters, it would be best if we could take a commission, because soul power can speed up your cultivation. It can also be used to rebuild the Bei Qi King's Palace, and its greatest use is serving as rewards for quests!"

The little girl's suggestion was exactly what Lu Wu had been planning to say. He immediately grinned. "How about twenty percent?"

"Thirty percent!"

Then the two of them chuckled together.