Death Rules

The night was cool as water.

The cold wind howled in the dead of night.

Kolan sat cross-legged on a rock that broke the surface of the lake, with Saint-level Undead Lifeforms standing guard around him.

Kolan was immersed in cultivation.

In truth, his consciousness had already sunk into the Netherworld.

The Red Demon Moon hung in the gray sky.

Kolan's current form was a ball of ghostly fire!

Below the Saint Realm, unless a soul was utterly destroyed, it would be drawn into the Netherworld after death and reincarnated as an Undead Lifeform.

Necromancers were different, however. They could enter the Netherworld with their consciousness through meditation—or, more precisely, the Undead Realm.

The Netherworld was divided by the Undead Holy Mountain. On one side lay the Undead Realm, home to countless Undead Lifeforms, all below the Deity level. On the other was the true Netherworld, an ocean of powerhouses, all above the Deity level.

When a necromancer's consciousness entered the Undead Realm, it took the form of ghostly fire. In this state, they could form contracts with undead whose auras resonated with their own.

The stronger one's soul, the more Undead Lifeforms one could contract.

Powerful Undead Lifeforms could even command weaker ones, allowing necromancers to summon armies of undead in times of need.

In this region of the Undead Realm, Kolan was the Lord, controlling an army of over a million undead.

His army also clashed with those of other Lords.

At that moment, Kolan was comprehending the Death Rules in the Undead Realm.

The Netherworld truly lived up to its reputation as the Supreme Plane created by the Supreme God of Death. It was indeed the best place to cultivate the Death Rules.

The aura of death was dense here, making it highly beneficial for cultivating the Death Rules.

Comprehending them was much easier.

This was another convenient way Kolan had discovered to cultivate the Death Rules.

While in the Yulan Continent, one's consciousness could enter the Undead Realm to cultivate.

Of course, this method carried some danger. If a Deity-level powerhouse discovered and destroyed his consciousness, his life would not be in danger, but his soul would suffer severe damage.

After a long while, the ghostly fire dissipated, and his consciousness left the Undead Realm and returned to the Yulan Continent.

Kolan opened his eyes.

It was already dawn.

That was the drawback of this method: he could only enter at night, and would be forced to leave as soon as day broke.

He could not remain in the Undead Realm for as long as he wished.

With a thought from Kolan, the Saint-level Undead Lifeforms standing guard vanished, recalled to the Undead Realm.

Then Kolan headed for the Saint-level Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape's dwelling.

He already knew the way by heart.

"Kolan, you won't be able to defeat me head-on anytime soon. Just leave and stop disturbing my sleep!" the Saint-level Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape roared at him.

They had fought several times over the past few months.

They both knew each other's strength well.

For Kolan to defeat it, they would have to fight day and night until it was exhausted.

According to the Saint-level Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape, that didn't count as defeating it head-on.

Kolan's lips curled into a faint smile. "Why don't we find out by trying?"

"You still won't give up? Maybe after another hundred years of cultivation, you'll be able to defeat me head-on. But not now!" the Saint-level Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape roared, its massive body soaring through the air.

"Heru, take this!" Kolan said with a faint smile.

He swung his heavy sword.

"What!" The Saint-level Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape's expression changed dramatically, disbelief filling its eyes.

The power of Kolan's strike far surpassed his previous ones.

"Pfft—"

The Saint-level Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape's tough fur was torn open.

The sword pierced straight through its chest.

A terrifying aura radiated from the sword, eating away at the wound and preventing it from healing.

A dreadful aura of death swirled around it.

At that moment, it felt the Grim Reaper's scythe hovering so close that there was almost no distance between them.

"How is this possible!" The Saint-level Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape stared in disbelief. "Why is this move so powerful?"

Kolan smiled faintly, looking satisfied.

That strike contained the Death Rules. Its power had increased tremendously, and it also carried a force that corroded and withered whatever it touched—not even a Saint-level powerhouse could withstand it.

"This is the power of the Death Rules. You're lucky. You've sparred with me for a while, and I'm pleased with you. I won't kill you," Kolan said with a faint smile.

He murmured an incantation, and a stream of emerald-green energy flowed into the ape's wound. The power of death was driven out, and the wounds began healing at a visible rate.

Life Magic was exceptionally effective at healing.

People on the Yulan Continent currently knew only that Light Magic excelled at healing. Little did they know that Life Magic was many times better.

Life Magic could heal not only physical injuries, but also mental wounds.

The Saint-level Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape looked at Kolan, its eyes filled with complicated emotions.

Over the past few months, this human Saint-level powerhouse's strength had improved at a pace visible to the naked eye. At first, the ape had held the upper hand, and Kolan had needed to fight it for three days and nights until it was exhausted before he could win. As their later battles went on, the fights grew shorter and shorter. The last time, Kolan had needed only a single day of fighting to defeat it.

Now, Kolan had beaten it with a single strike.

His improvement was terrifying.

"Heru, keep cultivating. I hope we meet again someday," Kolan said with a faint smile.

He had no intention of killing the Saint-level Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape. After all, they had no grudge against each other.

The ape had also fought him with everything it had.

Kolan flew away.

To be honest, magical beasts had a much higher starting point than humans. They had the advantage of stronger bodies and were naturally suited to cultivating both magic and Battle Qi, whereas humans could usually cultivate only one or the other. Magical beasts also lived far longer than humans.

Humans rarely lived past two hundred. Only some people from wealthy families, despite lacking strength, could live longer than that. Even a Level Nine Warrior or a Level Nine Mage had a maximum lifespan of just five hundred years!

Magical beasts, however, often lived several times longer than humans. A Level Nine Magical Beast could live for thousands of years as easily as breathing.

Yet magical beasts were far inferior to humans in cultivation. Humans could advance from Level One Warrior to the Saint Realm in just a few decades. Magical beasts, on the other hand, relied more on their bloodlines. Their bloodlines determined everything. For example, a Level Nine Magical Beast might reach Level Nine soon after birth, but breaking through the bottleneck to reach the Saint Realm and become a Saint-level magical beast was extremely difficult—unless its bloodline mutated.

There had never even been a recorded instance of magical beasts cultivating magic or Battle Qi through manuals.

Even Saint-level magical beasts were far inferior to humans when it came to comprehending laws and rules.

They were clearly just as intelligent as humans, yet they still lagged behind in cultivation.

Perhaps that was simply the way of Heaven: to diminish what was in excess and replenish what was lacking.

If magical beasts could cultivate like humans, perhaps humanity would never have become the rulers of the Yulan Continent. Instead, humans would have become food for magical beasts.

Kolan had no interest in killing the Saint-level Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape, and he wasn't worried that it would come after him for revenge. It wasn't his match now, and it would be even less so in the future.

After all, he hadn't even used fused Battle Qi in that last strike.

If he had, the strike would have been ten times more powerful, enough to kill the Saint-level Purple-Eyed Golden-Haired Ape instantly.