Rushing Burak

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Shaolin and Sulonna traveled south along Long Beach, killing countless murlocs along the way. Fortunately, murlocs weren't strong individually, and though they always gathered in groups, they scattered in defeat when charged by Li Shaolin's modestly sized skeleton army. The Bronze Skeleton and Bone Skeleton led the way, holding up their large shields while slashing out with their long blades. Behind them, the Lightning Skeleton's bony hands, crackling with electricity, rubbed together continuously, sending white lightning bolts flying one after another like a mobile turret. The damage wasn't particularly high, but it often left the murlocs numb all over, whereupon the Black Skeleton, darting about, would casually finish them off. As for the Clay Golem, due to its fear of water, it was assigned to the rear to clean up any murlocs that hadn't died completely.

"Your skeletons are amazing!" Sulonna praised sincerely. She had initially been helping by casting spells, counting herself as a dual-element mage of ice and darkness. But after half an hour, her mana had run dry, forcing her to sit and rest. In contrast, the Lightning Skeleton seemed to have an endless supply of mana, firing off lightning bolts without pause and showing no signs of fatigue. Li Shaolin found this strange too. If it truly consumed no mana, this Skeleton Mage was too overpowered. In reality, he didn't know that Skeleton Mages, like Skeleton Warriors, absorbed death force during battle and converted it into mana. In other words, amid this constant slaughter, they could maintain a mana balance—but in a drawn-out fight, they wouldn't be as formidable.

Seeing this, Li Shaolin and Sulonna stopped interfering in the battles afterward, occasionally tossing out a Frostbolt or Bone Fang to keep things easy. When hungry, they hunted the Sand Strider Crabs along the shore or the fish in the shallows; when tired and night fell, they set up a tent and camped on the beach. In this way, they covered over half the journey in three days.

"Look, past that turn ahead is the Golden Coast Mine," Sulonna said, pointing to a shallow, sandy beach canyon and telling Li Shaolin, "That mine is also occupied by the Defias Brotherhood, and I've heard there are gnolls helping with the work there!"

"Gnolls? Can't they not speak?"

"The gnoll leader is called Swiftclaw, a capable subordinate of Lieutenant Grafan from the Redridge Mountains. Leaders like him can speak Common. And this Swiftclaw has maintained a trade relationship with Miser Capol, one of the three big shots in our Westfall," Sulonna explained.

Just then, a huge beached sea fish appeared before them.

Up close, the fish was black-gray with a tall, prominent dorsal fin, about ten meters long. It seemed to have died recently, with no signs of decay yet.

This was Li Shaolin's first time seeing a real sea fish this big. At this size, it probably weighed several tons. What a beast—if it were alive, a single tail swipe would likely shatter his entire group of summons.

As they turned the corner, they were startled.

The fish's body was only half intact, with the tail end complete, while the front half had turned into massive white bones. The white bony fish head connected to a long spine and ribs, thick and enormous.

"Careful! Murlocs often lurk inside these beached fish," Sulonna warned.

No sooner had she spoken than a chorus of "Mwaa" sounds rang out. Green figures darted out from the gaps beneath the bones, and a large group of murlocs surged forth!

Clearly, these murlocs were furious at having their meal interrupted, their loud cries filling the air as they surrounded them in moments.

Strangely, some of the murlocs had sea crab pets with them, lunging at the Skeleton Warriors with claws raised.

"Hunting murlocs! Watch out—these ones can attack from range!" A block of ice appeared above Sulonna's head, and with a crack, she activated Frost Armor.

At her warning, Li Shaolin didn't dare be careless. He quickly grabbed the air, and three circling Bone Shields took shape.

There were about a dozen murlocs, joined by the sea crabs, launching a fierce assault that forced the Bronze Skeleton and Bone Skeleton to retreat step by step. As if commanded, these murlocs seemed to understand tactics, swapping in when one was injured, and their wooden spears occasionally struck the two skeletons. If not for the skeletons' lack of sensation, they would have broken long ago.

"No, they have a leader!" Li Shaolin moved away amid the chaos, observed for a moment, and said to Sulonna beside him.

Looking closely, sure enough, behind the rotating murloc attacks was one holding a thin short blade, muttering something. Two murlocs stood on either side, seemingly protecting it. He cast Detection, and a name appeared: Tenacious Slark, Level 15!

"You're the one!" Li Shaolin's mind moved. He gestured to Sulonna, and as they prepared, a shadow flickered in the air. In an instant, a skeleton wielding twin black blades appeared behind the murloc. At the same time, one of the two murlocs beside it had a skull flash above its head and was feared away, while the other was shrouded in black light and temporarily blinded—its helpers were gone.

Murlocs were short in stature, and their strength often didn't match their level. Take these murlocs on Long Beach—they were only slightly stronger than those from Crystal Lake back then, no match for Skeleton Warriors. If not for their numerical advantage, they couldn't have held out this long. They stood under a meter tall, while the Bronze Skeleton and Bone Skeleton were nearly two meters. Especially the Bronze Skeleton, which after its evolution was immensely strong, often cleaving murlocs in two with a single swing—quite formidable.

Naturally, the Black Skeleton was no less than the Bronze Skeleton. As it appeared, its twin blades spun, and this Slark fellow was already separated from his body!

"This guy's too weak!" For someone who looked like a leader, to die so easily? Li Shaolin was surprised.

But after Slark's death, the murlocs' attack rhythm immediately fell into chaos. After the Bronze Skeleton, in a burst of might, cut down two more, the murlocs scattered with a splash!

Just then, a large, fast-moving blue-purple figure appeared in Li Shaolin's sight!

It was as swift as lightning, arriving in an instant!

"Whoosh!" The Black Skeleton appeared head-on, blocking with its twin blades! This pause let them see the creature clearly—it was a large murloc holding a three-pronged fork.

The twin blades met the three-pronged fork with a sharp clang. But the murloc, charging with momentum, sent the Black Skeleton flying with a single thrust!

"That strong?" Before Li Shaolin could be shocked, the Bronze Skeleton sidestepped and met it with its bronze blade. The blade and fork clashed, evenly matched.

He cast Detection again: Rushing Burak, Level 16!

As if stirred to battle by this murloc named Burak, the Bronze Skeleton stepped forward, swinging its long blade fiercely, and soon they were locked in combat. Burak, unafraid, spun its long three-pronged fork in a watertight defense, keeping the bronze blade at bay.

A black shadow flickered—the Black Skeleton appeared behind it, twin blades slicing downward, ready to strike while it was engaged with the Bronze Skeleton!

But an unexpected scene unfolded!

The Bronze Skeleton's long blade parried the three-pronged fork, then its large shield turned and blocked the Black Skeleton's twin blades!

"What's this?" Li Shaolin was about to step forward at this strange occurrence when a vague connection came through his consciousness—was it from the Bronze Skeleton?

The gist was: it wanted to duel the murloc alone!

What a development—this was the first summon since the Golden Golem to establish even a slight mental link!

He recalled the Black Skeleton and let them fight. Li Shaolin fell into thought: Could skeletons gain consciousness after evolving? No—the Golden Golem, whose name had turned to gold and was at the Eighth Tier, only had the intelligence of a young child. This Bronze Skeleton was only Fourth Tier—how could it develop awareness?

In the end, the murloc lacked the skeleton's endurance. After taking a broken bronze rib, the long blade sliced across Burak's neck.

Then, a familiar feeling surged through him—the fruits of three days of slaughter manifested. The Bronze Skeleton's fractured sternum miraculously healed, and a strange power flooded Li Shaolin's entire body. He leveled up!

He was now a Level 13 Necromancer.

Before he could allocate his points, a middle-aged man's voice called out loudly: "Sulonna, is that you?"

A Defias member in a brown leather vest and leather mask appeared at the canyon's edge, shouting at Sulonna. Since they'd been walking along the beach, neither wore a mask, so it was no surprise they were recognized.

Li Shaolin quickly pulled out his mask and put it on. He didn't want any trouble. But he couldn't dismiss the skeletons in time, so he let them be seen.

Sulonna took a few steps forward. "You're... the Messenger?"

"Yeah, I'm the Messenger. This companion doesn't seem to be one of our members, does he? Someone from the Scourge?" The Messenger wasn't like the usual Defias members; he was quite amiable and didn't panic at the sight of the skeletons.

"This is my friend, Lin. Aren't you surprised by his identity?" Sulonna was curious too.

"Heh, that's right. Ghouls and Undead have recently appeared in the Watchtower on the Dust Plains of Westfall, and VanCleef is considering seeking an alliance with them. By the way, he already knows what happened in Elwynn and is eager to find you. Ah, our Defias just can't seem to stay united inside." The Messenger sighed, then let out a hearty laugh. "This mage, my lord, you don't mind me saying all this, do you?"

"Of course not. Please, go ahead." Li Shaolin nodded.

"Sulonna, come over here." The Messenger's expression turned somewhat grave.

"Can he be trusted?" Li Shaolin asked quietly, lowering his head in concern.

"He's VanCleef's cousin, holding his own in Westfall. He shouldn't mean any harm." Sulonna nodded and slowly walked over.