Chapter 121: Dead. All Dead. (Please Vote for Monthly Tickets)

Not long after the upload, Li He suddenly received a phone call.

The caller was Wang Ke, an editor from Baidu Literature. Under normal circumstances, Wang Ke would contact Li He via instant messaging; even voice calls were rare. This time, however, he was clearly anxious, opting to call Li He directly—or rather, to call "The Master."

Once the call connected, Wang Ke’s tone was urgent, a palpable intensity radiating through his voice.

"Master, you can't do this!"

Oh? Wang Ke was keeping such a close eye on the story that he had called the moment the new chapter was published. Li He doubted the editor had actually read the tens of thousands of words carefully; otherwise, he couldn't have finished so quickly.

Li He calmly reassured him, "Don't worry."

But Wang Ke was genuinely distressed. He hadn't even had time to eat dinner after returning home from work before diving into the latest chapter of *Wu Dong Qian Kun*. While he had roughly guessed how the finale would play out, he wanted to see firsthand how the author would orchestrate it.

He had skimmed through it quickly the first time without reading it carefully. At first, it was exhilarating. But as the plot progressed, Wang Ke began to feel that perhaps too many characters were dying. Lin Dong’s two sworn brothers were crushed by the Evil Demon Emperor while stalling for time, and Ying Huanhuan was killed by the Emperor after failing to reach the Ancestral Realm. Two brothers gone, two beloved wives dead... the plot was stiflingly oppressive.

Then came the climax. The protagonist, Lin Dong, stepped into the Ancestral Realm to face the Evil Demon Emperor. It was thrilling. The progression had been smooth—tension followed by cathartic release. The Master had always been a master of managing the "cool factor," rivaling even the top-tier writers in the genre.

But then, the ending. Lin Dong killed the Evil Demon Emperor, yet even after traversing the entire world, he could not retrieve the souls of his brothers and wives. There was no reincarnation. In other words, they were truly dead, beyond resurrection.

Wang Ke was stunned. The protagonist had defeated the Evil Demon Emperor and become the strongest being in the world, the sole Ancestral Realm master. Yet, his wives were dead, and his brothers, who had followed him from his humble beginnings, were gone. What was the point of becoming the Sovereign? It was a tragedy through and through.

Wang Ke didn't look at the comments, but he could guess that the section had absolutely exploded. He suddenly recalled *Battle Through the Heavens* from a month ago, where the ending was the exact opposite: the side characters survived while the protagonist died. *Wu Dong Qian Kun* was the inverse—the protagonist had his moment of supreme glory, but the key supporting characters were dead.

Wang Ke composed himself and lowered his voice slightly. "Master, the finale can't be written like this. I have no issues with the overall conclusion, but if you write it this way, the readers won't accept it. They’ll go insane..."

*Wu Dong Qian Kun*, which had been exhilarating from start to finish, ended by leaving the protagonist with an indelible regret. This regret would be infectious; the readers would feel it just as deeply. It was a sensation more uncomfortable than the death of the protagonist himself.

"It’s foreshadowing," Li He said calmly.

"Foreshadowing?" Wang Ke grew excited. "For the new book? Is the new book set in the world above the one in *Wu Dong*?"

So the new book was coming... Was the Master going to follow the path of the top-tier authors, connecting his old and new works seamlessly? And if it were set in the higher realm of *Wu Dong*, with the existing reader base, the new book’s popularity would be guaranteed.

Li He remained calm. "The side story will explain it. I’ll update a side story tomorrow, and it will clearly detail the characters' fates and the future."

A side story... Wang Ke opened his mouth, then asked, "Does the side story connect to the new book? Will the protagonist of the new book or information about him appear?" He was more anxious and concerned about the Master’s new book than anyone, perhaps even more than Li He himself.

"No connection," Li He said flatly. "The protagonist of the new book will not appear in the side story."

The new protagonist was Yang Guo. One was martial arts, the other was fantasy; they weren't even on the same plane of power.

Wang Ke suddenly had an ominous premonition. He asked tentatively, "The new book... it’s still the 'underdog' trope, right?"

"No," Li He replied. Yang Guo wasn't an underdog. Strictly speaking, he was a martial arts genius; otherwise, he wouldn't have mastered divine skills after falling into a valley for a few years.

If it wasn't an underdog story, was it a genius trope?

"When is the new book being released? I’ll arrange a recommendation slot for you." Given the Master’s current status, he could pre-heat the new book and arrange follow-up promotions.

"The day after tomorrow." Li He planned to release the new book after updating the side story tomorrow.

"Good!"

The call ended. Although he hadn't succeeded in changing the ending, getting news of a side story was good enough. But what were the readers supposed to do tonight?

"Sigh."

Wang Ke sighed, feeling helpless. He had known since the Master started taking leave by cutting off at cliffhangers that he couldn't be swayed. This man was truly willful. He felt a bit drained and wanted to find his rival to chat and release some stress, but the memory of what his rival had done to him a few days ago made him immediately dismiss the thought.

Wang Ke slumped on his living room sofa, his legs propped up on the coffee table, looking completely lifeless.

It had been over twenty minutes since the finale of *Wu Dong Qian Kun* was released. The book was massive in the fantasy genre, second only to the top-tier *Battle Through the Heavens*. It had too many devoted readers. If *Battle Through the Heavens* was the pioneer of the underdog trope, then *Wu Dong Qian Kun* was its successor. In the hierarchy of the underdog genre, this book’s status and popularity were second only to that.

Twenty minutes was enough for the fans to finish the latest chapter. They had clicked on the finale with excitement, paid for it, and read all the way to the end.

As expected, the comment section exploded. All the supporting characters close to the protagonist were dead, and even the powerful protagonist was helpless. The readers suddenly felt a pang of heartache. A story that had been so exhilarating suddenly turned into such a repulsive ending.

The readers were outraged. When the Master had taken breaks by cutting off the story, it was annoying, but the readers had endured it. But this? Ending the story in such a disgusting way was even worse than the cliffhangers.

"What is the meaning of this ending? If everyone is dead, what’s the point of Lin Dong being alive?"

"His brothers and wives all dead? This feels too forced. There was absolutely no need for them to die!"

"It’s disgusting that they can't be resurrected. Lin Dong has become the master of the world; if he can't even resurrect his own brothers and wife, it’s just total bullshit."

"Draw your swords, the Master must die for this."

"Master, I have some local specialties I’d like to send you, care to take a look?"

"This is too sickening. The deaths of his wife and brothers were purely for the sake of drama, totally meaningless, and the fact that they can't be saved is just gross."

"..."

The readers were furious. They had invested real emotions into the book and its characters. They wanted Lin Dong to have a happy ending. It was logical to expect a perfect conclusion for this kind of "feel-good" novel; there shouldn't have been a tragedy. None of them had expected so many people to die in the final battle—it was as if the author had wiped out everyone the protagonist cared about. It was absurdly excessive.

For a moment, the readers thought back to that night two weeks ago. It had been just like this. Only then, it wasn't the side characters who died, but the protagonist.

The comment section for *Wu Dong Qian Kun* was growing at a visible rate. The readers were using their own way to tell the Master that they did not accept this ending.

At midnight, Li He used his "Master" account to post an announcement:

"The side story will be updated tomorrow."

It had been three and a half hours since the 8:30 PM upload. He had harvested enough negative emotion value, and posting the announcement wouldn't affect that. With this notice, the enraged readers calmed down significantly. The side story would surely be about Lin Dong resurrecting everyone; that was the standard trope for fantasy novels. It was the ending they wanted to see.

The day felt long, but in the wait, the readers didn't forget to leave messages in the comment section about their desire to send the Master their "local specialties." What passionate readers they were!

Finally.

Under the anticipation of the masses, the side story arrived.

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PS: Published first, edited later. Please point out any errors.