I rose to my feet while cupping the Frost Snowball’s petals in my hands. "Alright, let’s go grab our reward!"

Everyone crushed a return scroll and teleported back to Floating Ice City’s square immediately. Before we set off, we repaired our equipment and restocked our potions just in case someone tried to PK us on our way. Then, we moved out of the city and ran toward the Blood Dance Legion’s camp.

About half an hour later, we arrived at the edge of Eternal Song Forest.

He Yi seemed a bit hesitant as she stared at the imposing undead structures just ahead of us. Gripping the Abyssal Sword, she asked, "Hey, can anyone tell me if it’s safe to enter that encampment? We are players of the human faction, right?"

Lin Yixin nodded. "That’s true. Let’s keep an eye out. It’d be humiliating if we got killed because we didn’t consider something so simple!"

I let out an involuntary laugh. "Relax, no one would touch a hair on all of you while I’m around."

He Yi curled her lips before saying, "Why do I feel like your phrasing is quite strange?"

Suddenly, Lin Yixin pointed a finger at NPC camp and said, "Look, an NPC cavalry is heading our way!"

It was none other than the Shadow Dance Elite Cavalry under Xue Wei. If there was one thing I was certain about these powerful undead knights, it was that they would be of great help to the Violet Empire when the latter was formally established once more. I highly doubted that we would be able to do anything if they decided to attack us.

Clang!

I pulled out the Purgatory Sword and ran forward to meet them. The Skydusk Cloak flapped behind me as I charged myself with imposing air.

……

When the cavalry saw me, some of them immediately got off their horses and greeted me respectfully, "You’re back, my lord! Princess Sophia and Lord Xue Wei are all waiting for you. Please seek them out with your companions as quickly as possible. Lady Wind Singer’s injuries are getting worse and worse as we speak!"

"Mn!"

I nodded at him before calling out to the girls. "Quickly!"

"Alright!"

We were able to enter the camp safely with the elite cavalry leading at the front. A large group of undead was surrounding the commander’s tent including Sophia and Xue Wei.

I walked up to them and found Xinran floating above the ground. She seemed to be supported by the light shining from the overlapping magical formations beneath her body. It looked like the great witch doctor had erected them to extend Xinran’s life as much as possible.

"Have you completed your mission, young warrior?" the great witch doctor asked shakily after he saw me.

I immediately took out the Frost Snowball from my bag and passed it to him. "Is this what you were looking for?"

His eyes immediately lit up in pleasant surprise. "This is the Frost Snowball’s aura alright! Heavens bless the undead, it looks like the reestablishment of the Violet Empire wasn’t a dream after all! Your Majesty, now that we have the Frost Snowball’s flower petals, Lady Wind Singer will definitely be able to recover and break through her seal!"

"Mn!"

Princess Sophia nodded gladly. "This is a joyous occasion indeed. Thank you for completing a near-impossible quest, warrior. Come and receive the reward you deserve! May the glory of the undead be with you always!"

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, you have completed the quest [Frost Snowball]. You have gained 240000 EXP, 4000 gold, 4500 Reputation and the quest reward: "Explosion Necklace"!

……

Huh? There’s an equipment reward?!

Pleasantly surprised, I opened my bag and found a dark gold necklace lying inside it. Heavens, my luck today really was extraordinary. I wasn’t expecting to get a Dark Gold–grade equipment as a quest reward!

I checked its stats and wasn’t disappointed. It was a Dark Gold–grade necklace!

Explosion Necklace (Dark Gold–grade)

Strength: +54

Stamina: +48

Tactics: +12

Passive: Increases user’s Defense by 7%

Level Requirement: 85

……

My eyes grew as wide as saucers. I thought I was pretty lucky to get a Dark Gold–grade necklace already, but these stats were even better than what I imagined initially!

Not only did it give a lot of stat points, it also boosted the wearer’s Defense by 7% and Tactics by 12. No warrior could do without Tactics if they desired to become a mighty Famous General!

Since ancient times, which famous general wasn’t a master of the pen and the sword?

Xiang Yu’s martial prowess was unparalleled during his time, and the tactical skills he displayed during the Battle of Julu were so famous that it formed the Chinese idiom we knew today as "break the cauldrons and sink the boats”. Zhao Yun was a powerful general who could fight his way in and out of an army single-handedly, and he was also smart enough to devise strategies that won him every battle he fought. Four times Yue Fei led offensives into northern China, and each time he was successful due to his martial and tactical prowess. No famous general who had their names immortalized in the annals of history was a slouch.

It was no different inside a game. No amount of good equipment and level could help you if you couldn’t strategize to save your life. Long story short, Tactics was very important the further you got into the game. Whether a player could become a commander of multiple armies depended heavily on how much Tactics they had.

The higher one’s Tactics stat was, the stronger their General Skills would be. During the late game, high-level players could form a hundred-man party or even a thousand-man party. If you had a couple hundred Tactics points, a high-level Encourage could easily double or even triple your party’s offensive power. It was powerful to say the least!

I switched out the Silver-grade Chaos Necklace I had been wearing and equipped the Explosion Necklace. My stats immediately rose drastically.

ID: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand

Class: Undead Swordsman (Silver Swordsman)

Level: 85

HP: 5060

Attack: 727~1315

Defense: 1325

Magic Resist: 1175

Reputation: 50350

Tactics: 54

Luck: 7

……

My HP finally exceeded 5000, and my Attack and Defense had also experienced a sizable increase. I suppose I can call myself a novice tactician now that I have 54 Tactics, haha!

When I looked around, I discovered that the girls were all smiles as well.

"You’ve all gotten your quest reward too, right? What item did you get?" I asked.

Lin Yixin smiled. "I got a ring that gives me +7% Attack and +3% attack speed. Are you jealous?"

"I sure am…"

He Yi answered, "I got Dark Gold–grade metal armor boots. They have pretty good Defense and increase my movement speed by 3%. I’m wearing them already…"

I looked down and saw a pair of golden boots wrapping around her legs. They looked incredibly beautiful, and the stats they provided were amazing as well.

Beiming Xue got a Gold-grade shield. Since it was slightly weaker than He Yi’s shield, she was planning to sell it and use that money to buy some cosmetics. Murong Mingyue had the worst luck out of all of us since she only got a Gold-grade necklace. Just like Beiming Xue, she was planning to sell it.

While we were busy checking our equipment, the great witch doctor crushed the Frost Snowball with his bony hands and squeezed out a trickle of silver liquid above Xinran’s chest. The girl’s wound immediately started frosting and healing slowly. It was amazing how effective the flower was. The violent purple energy tormenting Xinran had been swept clean in just the blink of an eye.

"Uuuu…"

Xinran groaned a little before murmuring, "I’m scared, big bro…"

Shivering, I immediately walked up to her and held her tiny hands. "Are you feeling better, Xinran?"

"Mn."

Xinran still hadn’t opened her eyes, but she said to me weakly, "I’m sorry for making you worried…"

"It’s nothing at all..."

I shook my head and gave her a smile. "What matters is that you’re fine now!"

"Mn."

……

It was at this moment Xue Wei walked up to us and said, "Let’s head out and give Lady Wind Singer some time to rest!"

"Yeah!"

I and the girls walked out of the entrance.

A few seconds later, the NPCs also exited the tent as well. Princess Sophia took out a sword and a gemstone before staring at her retinues with a serious expression. She said, "Everyone, I know that you’re all kind-hearted people, but when you are an undead stuck between the Silver Moon Alliance and the Night Creatures, the only way you can survive is to grow strong enough to protect yourself. For the longest time, I had been planning to reestablish the Violet Empire. The Night Creatures view us as a thorn in their side, and the humans see us as demons. Only an immortal empire will give our race a chance to survive the threat from both sides. That is why I’ve decided to attack Skull Castle of Violet Forest and root out the Night Creatures holding it completely. It is there we will open a new chapter for our kingdom!"

The NPCs and even Xue Wei dropped to one knee before declaring loudly, "We will obey your imperial edict, Your Majesty! For the glory of the Violet Empire!"

"Very well!" Sophia nodded gladly before raising her sword into the air. She declared, "The Devil Suppressing Sword and the Devil Suppressing Stone shall form the foundation of our new empire!"

"Long live Princess Sophia!"

"Praise Princess Sophia!"

……

Lin Yixin looked at me while the NPCs were chanting excitedly. "Should we kneel before Princess Sophia and wish her well too? Something like eternal youthfulness?"

I shot her a glance and smiled. "This has nothing to do with us. We’re just small fries, you know…"

"Oh…"

……

Suddenly, a ding resounded throughout Floating Ice City.

Ding~!

System Announcement: All players, please be informed that players “Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand”, “Wind Fantasy”, “From Water”, “Beiming Xue”, and “Murong Mingyue” have triggered a major questline, [Reestablishment of the Violet Empire]. The reestablishment war will begin at 12 pm sharp tomorrow, and all players are invited to take part in it. Glory points will be awarded during the battle, and the Top 10 players with the most glory points will have a chance to obtain extraordinary equipment, pets or skill books!

……

Amazing! It looks like we triggered a major quest that involved all the players in Floating Ice City!

Lin Yixin smiled at this. "It looks like everyone’s going to be busy tomorrow afternoon!"

"Yeah."

He Yi nodded in agreement. "Let’s log off and head to bed soon. Tomorrow, we’ll aid Blood Dance Legion in reestablishing the Violet Empire with the same party. What do you think?"

Lin Yixin replied, "Sure! That’s a promise! By the way, it’s almost 11 pm at night already, so where are we going for supper? You aren’t going to treat me to cup noodles, are you?"

I shook my head. "Of course not, we haven’t even eaten dinner yet. It’ll be a shame to end the night on a sour note. How about we meet up at the buffet restaurant we went to this afternoon? I saw that they are open at night as well…"

"Okay. See you all later!"

"Mn!"

We crushed another return scroll and teleported back to Floating Ice City. Then, we logged out of the game.

……

"Phew!"

I took off my gaming helmet and exhaled deeply. After the battle of Hundred Flower Valley, Frost Cloud workshop had become a lot stronger be it in terms of equipment or levels. Lin Yixin, Beiming Xue, and me especially were absolutely dominating the Top 3 spots of the Heavenly Ranking. We could definitely afford to enjoy supper while Dominating Heaven Blade and everyone else tried to catch up to us!

We headed out of the apartment. The cool breeze accentuated the smell of autumn in the air.

"Doo doo doo…"

My phone rang all of a sudden. It was Lin Yixin.