Grave Robbers 'Chronicles' sequel released to fanfare

As one of China's top-earning authors, Xu Lei - perhaps better known by his pen name, Nanpai Sanshu - recently revealed his bestselling tomb-raiding franchise will expand to a new generation of teen adventurers.

This is reflected in The Sea of Sand, a sequel series to Grave Robbers' Chronicles, the ninebook collection centering on the underground adventures of Wu Xie, the descendant of a mysterious family of grave robbers, and his best friends.

The Grave Robbers' Chronicles books have sold more than 12 million copies and have been adapted into a star-studded movie and two highly rated series, paving the way for their creator, Xu, to evolve from a popular writer into a successful businessman.

With his own company, NP Entertainment, as one of the producers, the 55-episode online series, The Sea of Sand, debuted on Tencent Video last week, accumulating 70 million clicks within five minutes of being uploaded.

The other producers include Penguin Pictures, Tencent's online TV and film producing arm, and Shanghai Shili Film and Television Production Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the TV drama production and distribution company, Ciwen Media Group Co Ltd.

The series picks up a decade after the end of Grave Robbers' Chronicles. In this fantastic new story, set in a fictional northern Chinese city, high-school student Li Cu is drawn into a series of mysterious incidents originating at a mausoleum in the Inner Mongolian autonomous region's barren desert. Teaming up with his two teenage friends and a female doctor, Li discovers he is the key to solving a thrilling conspiracy.

Wu, the protagonist of Grave Robbers' Chronicles, is no longer a lead character, but still remains a key figure in the story, as his family is one of the fictional nine clans that have dominated the tomb-raiding business for centuries.