The Door to a New World

The Door to a New World

"Poor Headless Bro, what exactly does marriage do to a man?"

Amber Xiu sighed, feeling fortunate that he had remained single ever since being transported here.

That Bone Dragon sister was actually a member of the Mourning Poetry Society too. That was truly shocking. Amber Xiu had never seen her speak in the group chat.

The chat group behind the Necronomicon did not even have a member list. If someone never spoke in the group, nobody would know they were there. Amber Xiu had joined only recently and had seen only four or five names. He had no idea how many members the Mourning Poetry Society actually had.

Without spending even a moment mourning Headless Bro's plight, Amber Xiu immediately returned to his experiments.

At Withering Rose's request, Amber Xiu needed to design a type of Undead Troops capable of breaking through the Lyne Imperial Capital head-on. It was an exceptionally difficult subject.

The Lyne Empire was the strongest Human Empire. It possessed the greatest number of light clerics and Paladins on the continent, as well as the most legendary-ranked powerhouses.

The imperial capital's walls had been reinforced with countless defensive spells, especially ones that countered the undead.

Amber Xiu might have been a legendary lich, but if he dared enter the Lyne Imperial Capital's territory, he would not even need to face those legendary powerhouses. The anti-undead magic on the city walls alone could blast him to pieces. The continent's strongest empire had not earned that title through empty boasting, but through countless glorious victories.

Ordinary Undead Troops would be reduced to ashes merely by approaching.

Originally, Amber Xiu had planned to use puppets to solve the problem of the undead being countered.

Among Undead Troops, Soul Puppets were the most unusual. Not because they were especially powerful, but because, in a sense, Soul Puppets could not even be considered undead.

They were highly unusual magical constructs created by the great legendary lich Master Morgan. The famous Ghost Reproduction Research was also his work.

Could souls produce offspring with other souls? This question had once been an academic challenge in the undead world, and countless necromancers argued fiercely over it every year.

Until Master Morgan published Ghost Reproduction Research, finally settling the matter once and for all—ghosts could reproduce too.

Though the conditions were extremely harsh and the success rate very low, countless necromancers had tested the results, proving them reproducible. Moreover, the newborn souls produced by ghosts seemed to have become a race independent of the undead.

Their most obvious trait was that these newborn souls were not countered by light magic, as though the laws of the world did not recognize them as undead.

Soul Puppets created with these special souls were therefore the most unique Undead Troops. They possessed almost no undead aura and were not countered by light magic.

Unfortunately, after Master Morgan created the Soul Puppets, this senior figure of the undead world had his phylactery smashed by the Lyne Empire. They even ordered Legendary Spell to revoke the honor bestowed upon Master Morgan and demanded the destruction of all research materials related to Soul Puppets.

Fortunately, the editor-in-chief of Legendary Spell at the time had enough backbone. In the face of the Lyne Empire's pressure, he held fast to a scholar's principles, allowing Soul Puppet technology enough time to spread. Although Master Morgan's manuscripts had been destroyed and many details had to be figured out independently, the technology of Soul Puppets had not been lost.

Amber Xiu naturally knew how to create Soul Puppets, but he had never studied the technique in depth before. The subject was simply too advanced. As a newly ascended lich, his grasp of necromancy was still insufficient, and forcing himself to research it would have wasted far too much time.

But now Amber Xiu pulled the dust-covered Ghost Reproduction Research from the bookshelf. This was the core foundation behind creating Soul Puppets. Today, he had to thoroughly master this book.

"Oh, it starts with reproduction among the living. That really is... Hiss, these illustrations are so detailed..."

Amber Xiu became absorbed in his studies. Researching new techniques was his second favorite hobby after making money.

After turning only a few pages, Isabelle appeared timidly in Amber Xiu's study.

"Lord Lich, the rock-softening potion for land reclamation has been prepared. Over the past few days, my brother has brought back a total of one hundred and twenty-three people. There aren't enough rooms in the Ancient Castle anymore, and food is starting to run short too..."

Isabelle carefully reported the recent results of her work.

Amber Xiu set down the magic book in his hand and said to Isabelle, "That was fast. You brought back over a hundred people in just a few days?"

Over the past few days, Isabelle's brother Raul had been helping Amber Xiu gather Freemen who had fled. Though he could only use Mutated Skeletons at night, so many people had escaped recently due to the tax crisis that simply spreading word of Amber Xiu's "preferential policies" naturally drew many desperate Freemen to seek refuge.

They would die if they went back, and they would die if a Lord caught them. What was wrong with trying their luck in a lich's territory?

When they saw the vast stretch of wasteland behind the Ancient Castle and heard the promise that everyone would receive land, these Freemen could not help praising the benevolent lich lord. He was practically kinder than the God of Light.

But after staying for several days, these Freemen had nearly exhausted their patience.

The main issue was that they were crammed into this gloomy Ancient Castle all day, while the legendary lich lord had yet to show himself. They began to worry. Would they really receive the land they had been promised? How would they eat and drink during land reclamation? Without tools, seeds, or livestock, how were they supposed to cultivate anything?

These questions continually gnawed away at their sanity, making them restless and anxious. Like a virus, that unease would spread through the crowd, repeatedly infecting and intensifying itself.

The situation had nearly reached the point where it could no longer be suppressed, which was why Isabelle had gathered the courage to report it to Amber Xiu.

Read the error-free version on Yiyikan!

"Mm, the progress is quite good. Since the potion is ready, we can officially begin reclaiming land today. Make a list of everyone. Separate the able-bodied adults from the women and children. There should be blacksmiths, carpenters, and people with similar trades among these Freemen, so record all of them carefully. Then distribute the land and potion accordingly, but require them to work together during reclamation. If anyone behaves selfishly—fighting over land, falsifying headcounts, taking extra potion, fabricating professional skills, and so on—do not waste time. Throw them out immediately..."

Amber Xiu continued without pause. Isabelle hurriedly took out a notebook and began recording everything at great speed. This was a good habit for an alchemy apprentice. Anything a teacher said might become an opportunity for one's own rise to success, so one had to be ready to take notes at all times.

Isabelle wrote rapidly, recording Amber Xiu's instructions word for word.

Only after filling several pages of parchment did she realize that Amber Xiu had such a detailed and clear plan for resettling the people. Was this something liches normally studied too?

Isabelle began to grow curious about this benevolent lich lord. To humans, undead creatures were usually described with words like filthy, despicable, and evil. Yet after spending these past few days with him, aside from being cold and strict, this lich did not seem particularly evil at all.

And, without prejudice, Amber Xiu was the most learned and wise scholar Isabelle had ever met. Even her teacher could not compare to his accomplishments in alchemy.

"Could it be that the world has misunderstood liches?"

Isabelle curiously glanced at the things on Amber Xiu's desk, wanting to see what sort of magic this benevolent lich lord usually researched.

But after only one look, Isabelle's beautiful eyes widened in shock. In that instant, the innocent young girl, ignorant of certain matters, felt as though the door to a new world had opened before her.

End of Chapter