The Might of the Necromancer

After killing this batch of cultists, Gu Xi and Luna split up with perfect understanding, each handling their own tasks.

Gu Xi extracted souls while Luna looted the bodies, processing the corpses with remarkable speed.

The only pity was that the cultists were all paupers, carrying nothing of value—the weapons they turned up had no attributes, and some were so poor they didn't even have a dagger.

This situation made Gu Xi wonder if he'd really been taken down by such destitute losers.

What had he even done back then to get flattened by riffraff like this?

Just then, Gu Xi's arm went slightly cold. He turned his head to see Luna appearing beside him, gently patting his arm, her hollow eyes fixed on his face.

"Don't overthink it. You're not alone anymore."

Gu Xi's face twitched faintly.

Was he being comforted by his own undead?

Was his expression really that obvious?

Gu Xi shook his head, didn't dwell on it, and quickly walked over to the freshly processed corpses.

As he passed the bodies, his fingers kept flicking outward.

With each flick, a ball of light landed on an intact or mangled corpse.

"Summoning!"

"Lesser Bone Shield!"

"Summoning!"

As Gu Xi moved, corresponding prompts rang out in his ears.

[You successfully used Summoning, obtaining a Skeleton (Level 0). Summoning Experience +1.]

[Skeleton (Level 0, Summoned Creature): Experience (0/100) Attack 1, Defense 1, HP 10, Skills None]

[You successfully used Summoning, obtaining a Skeleton (Level 0). Summoning Experience +1.]

[You failed to use Summoning, gaining Summoning Experience +1.]

[You successfully used Lesser Bone Shield. Lesser Bone Shield Experience +1.]

[...]

At the same time, the corpses on the ground burst open one after another—some turned into withered yellow skeletons standing behind Gu Xi, others into gray-white air masses swirling around him and Luna.

"Alright, let's go."

After handling all the corpses, Gu Xi finally called out to Luna.

By then, Luna had just finished distributing weapons to the newly summoned skeletons.

The weapons were all things she'd picked up earlier—broken scimitars, iron rods, wooden staves, and the like.

Though these weapons were nothing special, given the current situation, giving them anything to hold was already good enough.

Hearing Gu Xi's command, without needing Luna's direct control, the three transformed skeletons lifted their weapons and charged forward.

Their steps were light and decisive, their targets clear—nothing like the mindless undead that wandered aimlessly.

They moved aggressively forward, smashing anything breakable they came across, even kicking aside rice plates and water jugs by the roadside.

Gu Xi followed behind, a scimitar in one hand and a dagger in the other, watching this scene and wondering why these skeletons were nothing like what the books described.

Luna, drifting beside Gu Xi, knew nothing of this. She flitted around him like a spirit, sometimes appearing right in front of him, sometimes vanishing entirely.

But no matter where she was, Gu Xi could always clearly sense her presence.

This steadied his heart considerably—perhaps this was the meaning of having a Contracted Partner.

Just then, a hurried sound came from the distance.

"It's skeletons! There's a Necromancer!"

With that, another group of cultists rushed out from afar.

They were no different from the ones Gu Xi had blown up earlier—all wearing black hooded robes, holding whatever weapons they could grab.

Gu Xi even saw some charging forward with candlesticks and stools.

Watching their fanatical charge, Gu Xi felt like he was facing a pack of madmen.

"Banshee's Wail!"

Gu Xi shouted as he began to sprint forward.

Luna understood his command with perfect understanding, appearing before him in an instant and letting out a piercing scream at the charging cultists.

Banshee's Wail activated.

The scream sent waves crashing into the cultists, and within those waves, every single one of them began to Bleed from Seven Orifices.

At that moment, Gu Xi had already used the opportunity to close twenty meters, throwing his dagger to strike the foremost cultist squarely.

Then he pointed a finger at that cultist.

"Lesser Corpse Explosion!"

Boom!

The cultist's corpse exploded on the spot, the blast's force reaching the several cultists behind it, instantly killing those already severely injured by the Banshee's Wail.

[Kill Cultist (Level 1), gained 9 experience points.]

[Luna (Contract Undead) killed Cultist (Level 1), you gained 6 experience points, Contract Undead gained 8 experience points.]

[Kill Elite Cultist (Level 2), gained 22 experience points. Due to combined kill, Contract Undead gained 11 experience points.]

[...]

"Tricks don't need to be new, just useful."

Looking at the effect of this wave of attacks, Gu Xi muttered happily, then pointed at another corpse blown up and struck again.

"Lesser Corpse Explosion!"

A cultist who had just crawled up from the explosion hadn't even reacted before being killed by the Corpse Explosion that struck again.

Shattered along with him were two thieves hidden behind.

[Kill Elite Thief (Level 2), gained 35 experience points.]

[Kill Thief (Level 2), gained 28 experience points.]

Glancing at the Iron Rod that fell from the thief's hand to the ground, Gu Xi, for some reason, felt his displeasure dissipate quite a bit.

Before Gu Xi could think further, three Skeletons had already rushed to the corpses' side.

Without waiting for Gu Xi's command, the three Skeletons picked up the weapons on the ground and equipped themselves with the newer ones.

At the same time, they didn't discard the old weapons but held them in hand, waiting for Gu Xi's arrival.

Gu Xi charged forward, reaching out from a distance toward the spot where the fight had just taken place. A large number of Soul Shards flew out from the mangled corpses and assembled in his hand into five new Soul Light Clusters.

By then, Gu Xi had just run up to the corpses. He swept his gaze over them, then flicked two Soul Light Clusters into two relatively intact bodies.

[You successfully used Summoning, obtaining a Skeleton (Level 0). Summoning Experience +1.]

[You failed to use Summoning, gaining Summoning Experience +1.]

Another failure. It seemed the success rate of Summoning wasn't high.

Gu Xi's mind stirred. He was about to have the three Skeletons in front fall back a bit to share a spare weapon with the new companion when the sound of clashing weapons came from the turn in the front corridor.

It seemed there were more enemies. Gu Xi turned to look at Luna. Without needing a command, Luna had already dashed forward, flickering a few times until she was nearly at the turn.

Gu Xi pulled out his Dagger and readied Lesser Corpse Explosion in his right hand.

Just as he said, tricks don't need to be new, just useful.