Resurrection Ring

Chapter 17

[Resurrection Ring: Spark Artifact]

[Level: LV1]

[Quality: Purple Earth Grade]

[Attribute: Mental growth increased by one point]

[Skill: Resurrection — Consumes HuoZhong Source Power to resurrect lifeforms below Extraordinary Level LV10. Resurrection requires part of the target's remains as a medium. The resurrected lifeform survives because of the Resurrection Ring. The ring can grant life and take it away.]

[Enhancement Requirement: 100 cal of HuoZhong Source Power]

[Evaluation: Death is not the end.]

"Purple Earth Grade. As expected, it's a Spark Artifact..."

Li Mu put on the Resurrection Stone Ring, astonished and delighted.

Unlike Whiteboard Equipment, which had four grades—Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow—equipment in the seven colors of red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple started at Earth Grade. Though Purple Earth Grade was the lowest quality among them, it far surpassed Whiteboard Equipment. Even without the resurrection skill, the single point of increased mental growth was beyond measure.

Before reaching Extraordinary Level LV10, each level gained granted one Free Attribute Point.

With this extra point of growth, he would gain one additional Free Attribute Point in Mental Power at every Transcendence Level.

And this was only an LV1 Resurrection Ring. If its enhancement level increased, the boost to mental growth would surely increase as well. The resulting increase to his mental attribute would be terrifying. No wonder professionals with Spark Artifacts in the Spark World were worlds apart from ordinary HuoZhong Professionals.

With the Resurrection Ring, controlling Snape would be easy.

Li Mu changed his identity and returned to the apothecary in Diagon Alley.

"Can you get in touch with Master Snape?"

Li Mu asked directly.

"Of course. He often buys ingredients from me."

The shopkeeper answered confidently.

"I'd like to ask him to brew a special potion. This is a finder's fee."

As he spoke, Li Mu set ten Gold Galleons on the counter.

"I can't promise he'll agree."

The shopkeeper made that clear in advance.

"You can tell him the potion is to bring Lily back to life."

Li Mu replied confidently.

"How can I contact you?"

The shopkeeper nodded, then asked.

"Room 102 at the Brown Hotel."

Li Mu left his address, departed Diagon Alley, and returned to the hotel to wait for his prey to show up.

He waited two whole days. Clearly, the shopkeeper hadn't managed to contact Snape right away.

Li Mu didn't waste those two days. He spent them either practicing HuoZhong Meditation or analyzing the medicinal components of various Magic Plants, organizing the results using future medical science rather than magical botany.

With all this data on hand, it would be much easier to replace the components of extinct Magic Plants—or even synthesize them artificially.

On the afternoon of the third day, Li Mu finally received a visit from Snape, who had come looking for trouble.

The door to the hotel suite opened without a sound. Snape entered cautiously, his face dark and his wand in hand.

A young man sat with his eyes closed on the living room sofa.

The moment Snape opened the door, the Shipborne Optical Computer had already issued an alert.

Li Mu's mental consciousness left the Phoenix and opened his eyes, calmly looking at Snape.

"The Resurrection Stone is in my hands."

Li Mu smiled.

"..."

Snape paused, then looked at Li Mu in disappointment.

If it had been some other method of bringing the dead back to life, he might have tried it first. But the Resurrection Stone—he'd investigated it many years ago. He knew that bringing Lily back with it would only leave them both in unbearable pain, wishing they were dead.

"The legends you've heard about the Resurrection Stone aren't true."

As he spoke, Li Mu pressed a hand against the coffee table.

The body of the Werewolf Wizard stored in the Supply Bay appeared on the table.

"I can bring him back to life right in front of you. You can check whether this Werewolf is dead or alive."

Li Mu pointed at the Werewolf Wizard, his confidence evident.

Sectumsempra!

Snape flicked his wand. The Werewolf Wizard's neck seemed to have been cut by an invisible sword, and his head dropped to the floor.

Even if he'd only been pretending to be dead, that blow had finished him off for good.

Li Mu held out his right hand, wearing the Resurrection Ring. He channeled HuoZhong Source Power into it, activating its Resurrection skill. Red flames instantly engulfed the Werewolf Wizard's corpse. Before their eyes, the headless body came back to life amid the flames.

The resurrected Werewolf Wizard's first instinct upon seeing Li Mu was to kill him.

But before he could act, he felt his life slipping away.

Terror of death kept him from attacking Li Mu. The moment he stopped, his life force stopped draining. As soon as it stopped, his murderous intent returned, and his life began to drain again. After this happened twice, the Werewolf Wizard remembered that he had already died and finally realized he'd come back to life.

And his life was now in the hands of this human Wizard.

Snape watched the Werewolf Wizard come back to life. He was deeply moved, though his expression remained impassive.

He had already begun to cast a Silent Spell, preparing to hit the mysterious man with Stupefy.

"No need to go to all that trouble with Silent Spellcasting."

Li Mu removed the Resurrection Ring and tossed it to Snape.

Watching the ring fly toward him, Snape's first thought was that it had been cursed.

Wingardium Leviosa!

Snape immediately cast the Levitation Charm, suspending the ring in midair.

He followed it up with an Iron Skin Charm, then plunged his left hand into his pocket and put on a Dragonhide Glove that would protect him from curses. The instant he grabbed the ring, he used Apparition to flee with it.

Li Mu smiled and picked up his red wine, sipping it slowly.

What use was a Spark Artifact without Spark Energy? Especially one already fused with the Origin HuoZhong.

Once Snape realized there was nothing he could do with the Resurrection Ring, he'd have no choice but to return it.

As it turned out, Li Mu's confidence was justified. Snape brought the Resurrection Ring back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and tried every method he could think of, but couldn't awaken even the slightest bit of its power. He even consulted every professor at Hogwarts, but none of them could help him.

If he hadn't seen with his own eyes the flames that burst from the ring and resurrected a Werewolf Wizard—

If he hadn't examined it again and again, confirming that it contained a powerful, unknown force—

Snape would have thought the ring in his hand was a fake. Now he finally understood why the mysterious man had been willing to hand it over: the man was certain Snape couldn't use it. If he wanted to bring Lily back, he could only turn to him for help.

When Snape arrived at the Brown Hotel again, he found the mysterious man still sitting on the sofa.

Li Mu couldn't help it. He could only enter the Phoenix using his mental consciousness.

He couldn't lie in bed all day in the middle of the day.

"Can I have the Resurrection Ring back now?"

Li Mu opened his eyes and held out his hand.

Snape controlled the Resurrection Ring, making it float toward Li Mu. As Li Mu watched it approach, he snapped his fingers.

All the hair on Snape's body began growing wildly. At the same time, a Sleeping Charm struck him from behind. Snape had been so focused on Li Mu that he never noticed anyone behind him. The spell knocked him unconscious on the spot.