WebProNews

Chinese state media announced a life-imprisonment sentence for a Shanghai gamer who killed a competitor for selling his "dragon saber," a virtual weapon used in the popular "Legend of Mir 3" game.

Qui Chengwei, 41, broke into the home of Zhu Caoyuan while he was sleeping in his home and stabbed him in the chest. The attack was made in revenge for Zhu "stealing" his virtual sword and selling it online.

Qui had first taken his complaint to the police, but the police told him that no Chinese law was in place regarding the ownership of virtual weapons, which are just data created by game providers.

Qiu had lent the dragon saber to Zhu, who then sold it for 7,200 yuan ($870) for use in "Legend of Mir 3" whose mythical type characters fight with large swords of varying power.

After he was confronted, Zhu promised to give Qiu the money. Qiu decided Zhu was taking to long to repay him and took his payment in blood.

Qiu was sentenced to a suspended death sentence which probably means life in prison with the opportunity for early release for good behavior.

The victim's family, who plan to appeal the sentence, are none too happy about it.

"We want Qiu to die, and immediately," said Zhu Huimin, the father Zhu Caoyuan.

Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.