Chapter Seventy-Seven: Various Tasks

Seven days passed in a flash, and the players with the yin attribute finally managed to take control of all the graveyards. Only then did Liu Zong and his companions have the leisure to return to the central grand mausoleum and claim their rewards for this round.

This settlement period referred to the task of occupying all the graveyards. After completing the task, the experience required for the Grand Tomb Lord’s next level had already reached 5%, meaning all further experience would have to be accrued from scratch. At the same time, neither the standardization of the grand mausoleum nor the regularization of patrol tasks was within Liu Zong and the others’ control. All they could do was watch in astonishment as each visit to the central mausoleum revealed steady changes taking place.

Compared to the initial state of the central grand mausoleum, it now looked more like a colossal construction site. The original scattered tombstones had disappeared, replaced by vast pools of green marsh, bizarre cauldrons, undead with locust heads pacing to and fro, and the occasional translucent green ghost. Everything was transforming along with the Grand Tomb Lord’s experience percentage.

Patrol tasks had also become more systematic, divided by frequency and importance into daily, every three days, and weekly assignments. Players were free to accept these tasks as they wished; as long as there were no group assignments, Li Shi wouldn’t interfere with their choices.

Generally, failing a daily task would grant the Grand Tomb Lord 0.01% experience, while success would grant 0.05%. As a reward, the Grand Tomb Lord would offer some of the previously collected crystals to players, and completing twenty of the same type of task would yield additional rewards.

Tasks every three days were more substantial: failure granted 0.03% experience to the Grand Tomb Lord, while success gave 0.15%. For these, the Grand Tomb Lord would offer equipment used by undead minions as rewards, and again, completing twenty would earn players their own undead minions.

Weekly tasks, though fewest and most challenging, offered the greatest rewards. Failure yielded 0.1% experience, success 0.3%. Here, the Grand Tomb Lord would provide weapons, materials, scrolls for study, reference manuals—anything a player might desire. To prevent players from farming these tasks, weekly assignments often required a certain investment, such as a quantity of undead crystals.

For Liu Zong, this was all a good thing. After reviewing the requirements and rewards, he selected several types of tasks for himself.

Among the daily tasks, Liu Zong chose road patrols, lighting street lamps, and searching for items in the wild. These were all rather troublesome: road patrols required walking every step from one graveyard to another; lighting lamps meant seeking out and igniting a set number of lamps. Each took half a day to a full day to complete, and the rewards were modest, but they were unavoidable, so Liu Zong only selected those that suited him best.

The tasks available every three days were more challenging: awakening intelligence in the locust-headed undead outside, leading lost undead back to the graveyard, and killing ram-headed undead. Awakening intelligence increased the number of undead servants in the graveyard; recovering lost undead accelerated the deployment of forces from the realm of the living; eliminating ram-headed undead increased the spawn rate of wild monsters. These were crucial for the overall operation, so every player was required to participate, even if reluctant. Li Shi would assign them according to each player’s abilities and preferences, though players could also accept them voluntarily.

The weekly tasks were optional, and players could choose as they wished. Liu Zong, after considering the final rewards, chose to lead locust-headed undead into relatively safe areas for battle and training. These were not mandatory combat missions but were intended to strengthen the locust-headed undead. The player would take around twenty of them into a solo combat scenario, facing various enemies until all their undead were depleted. Sometimes, players could rescue additional locust-headed undead trapped in the scene, adding them to their contingent.

At first, the locust-headed undead were almost useless in combat—good for little more than carrying boxes or throwing stones from a distance. Within the scenario, there were several kinds of crates: small ones could be opened on the spot and usually contained undead crystals; medium crates required five undead to carry, and large ones required ten, all tallied at the end of the mission. The final loot might include swords and shields for warriors, scythes for berserkers, hats for mages, goggles for treasure hunters, life flasks, and other enhancements for the undead, as well as items useful to the player.

Leaving aside the information and cosmetic items players could acquire, the specialized equipment for locust-headed undead proved invaluable. As long as Liu Zong continued to take these missions, the equipment accumulated. His locust-headed undead wouldn’t be limited to just carrying boxes; they’d transform into defensive warriors, berserkers, spellcasters, treasure hunters, and priests according to the quantity of equipment he possessed.

According to the mission requirements, as long as he could complete a round with the locust-headed undead, the contents of the large crate would be his. If he managed to equip twenty locust-headed undead, he’d receive a tome titled "The Undead Servant Upgrade Guide."

It was said that similar tasks existed at the barracks, beast dens, and stables, with corresponding rewards of "Infantry Upgrade Guide," "Cavalry Upgrade Guide," and "Air Force Upgrade Guide." After completing the twenty-unit mission, the starting squad size for the next mission would increase to forty, with stricter requirements and a greater variety of roles, ultimately rewarding a "Command Manual." After that came missions with eighty units, yielding a "Strategy Guide," and then 160-unit missions with the "Hero’s Guide"—though no one had yet met the requirements for those, so they needed no further mention.

Liu Zong had chosen this mission precisely because he believed such upgrade manuals would be invaluable to his fortress and necessary for his future development. Thus, he became the only player, not from the strategic command branch, to take on this mission, embarking on a new journey of tasks.