Ever since Matthews had defeated the Imperial Capital's genius mage Kane with a single slash at East Mountain last week, the various factions in the Imperial Capital had been visiting him one after another.
Matthews had bought another courtyard and hired some servants, then started preparing to break through to the Saint Realm.
One day, Mia came to Matthews and said she wanted to go adventuring in the Magic Beast Mountain Range with Winter and the others. After thinking it over, Matthews didn't refuse. He also had her bring along Asolun, a Seventh-Level Magical Beast. After Mia and the others left, Lucas said he happened to know a necromancer and brought him to Matthews's new courtyard.
"I've brought you Master Ret, the necromancer."
"Hahaha, sorry for the trouble."
The Level Eight necromancer also bowed to Matthews. "Greetings, sir!"
"Master Ret, you're too kind. I'll be entrusting my family to you."
Ret began setting up the inheritance array in the prepared room. He explained to Fiona, "This array will escort your Soul Fire to the Netherworld. You'll need to subdue and form a contract with an undead creature there."
"Once you do, the inheritance of Necromancy will appear in your mind, according to the quality of your soul. This array can protect you for three days, which means you must form a contract with an undead creature within that time."
Ever since Fiona had started following Matthews, he had noticed that her soul quality was quite good. He had begun teaching her meditation, and with her current soul strength, she could easily form a contract with a low-level undead creature.
Fiona lay inside the array, and her soul awoke in a desolate land. Normally, Soul Fires scattered across the wilderness without bodies to protect them would be fought over by many Level One undead creatures. Protected by the magic array, Fiona began searching the wilderness for an undead creature to contract with.
A trembling skeleton soldier wandered across the wasteland. Suddenly, another skeleton soldier holding a bone club darted out of a cave. One blow knocked the wandering skeleton soldier down. Fiona watched from a distance as the ambusher dismantled it, leaving only its head after a brief struggle.
The ambusher had lost an arm in the process. Fiona realized that a skeleton soldier clever enough to lay an ambush must have good talent. Seizing the opportunity, she sent her soul surging into the skeleton's Soul Fire. From that point on, it was a tug-of-war between their souls.
The skeleton soldier Fiona had chosen had a very strong soul, and she couldn't overpower it right away. While the two of them were locked in a struggle, the skeleton that had just been knocked down took the chance to reassemble its body.
It immediately pounced on the skeleton soldier whose soul was locked in a tug-of-war with Fiona. Sensing its life was in danger, the skeleton soldier resisted even more fiercely.
At that moment, Fiona chose to send it the idea of forming a contract. The skeleton soldier, which usually had little independent thought and followed its instincts, resisted for a while before giving in. Fiona formed a contract with it.
After forming the contract, Fiona received the initial inheritance of Necromancy in her soul. By then, the undead creature she had contracted with had been stripped of its bones. The trembling skeleton soldier tried to devour the contracted undead's soul, but ultimately lost the contest between their Soul Fires and had its own soul devoured instead.
The contracted undead dragged its skull and scattered bones back into the cave. The three days passed quickly, and Fiona awoke inside the magic array.
"How did it go?"
When Fiona saw the young master ask, she summoned the undead creature she had contracted with. The necromancer Ret looked at Fiona's unusually lively skeleton soldier and praised it. "As expected of someone from Master Matthews's family. This undead creature has good talent."
Seeing that she had succeeded, Matthews thanked him. "Hahaha, thank you, Master Ret. And thank you, Lucas. I owe you both a favor!"
"Hahaha, you're too kind, sir!"
"Not at all!"
Afterward, Matthews had the servants entertain Lucas and the necromancer Ret with food and wine. The dining table was always the most comfortable place to bring people closer. After a few rounds of drinks and several courses of food, the two men took their leave.
Two years passed in the blink of an eye. One day, Matthews sat in the training ground cultivating Battle Qi.
"Boom—"
Pal, the Blood-Eyed Mane Lion, clearly felt his master Matthews's aura change. A moment later, when Matthews woke up, Pal asked, "Master, have you broken through to the Saint Realm?"
Matthews nodded, then closed his eyes again to sense the changes that came with reaching the Saint Realm. He had already gained an introductory understanding of the Laws of Lightning Elements, so upon reaching the Saint Realm, he was already at its peak.
As long as a Saint Realm expert comprehended the Laws, even if they understood only 0.01 percent, they would be at the peak of the Saint Realm. The Saint Realm was the most suitable stage for fusing profound mysteries of the Laws. Of course, the ocean of the Laws was vast beyond measure. Many people comprehended them haphazardly and failed to reach the limits of the Saint Realm.
Matthews knew that continuously comprehending Lightning Element could let him reach the limits of the Saint Realm. Once he broke through those limits and comprehended the complete Laws of Lightning Elements, he could become a god.
But that kind of god was relatively weak. Matthews knew a little about the conversion between electricity and magnetism. Even if the Laws differed because this was a different world, the slight connection between Electromagnetic Profundity and Lightning Element had been covered by science in his previous world.
That was his opportunity to align the Laws of Lightning Elements with Electromagnetic Profundity. The hardest part of fusing Laws and elements was making the breakthrough from zero to one. Once that initial breakthrough came, he could slowly fuse the remaining ninety-nine through steady progress.
That day, Matthews went to the auction house in the Imperial Capital again. He had acquired his Natural Magnetite from them before, so this time he planned to get some more from them and use it to comprehend the fusion of Electromagnetic Profundity alongside the introductory understanding of the Laws of Lightning Elements he had already gained.
"Greetings, Master Matthews!"
They didn't know that Matthews had already reached the Saint Realm, but the auction house cared more about his status as a master painter. Matthews didn't hide his intentions and went straight to the point. "I remember your auction house sold Natural Magnetite before. I was wondering if you could get me some."
"Well, our auction house can only accept items consigned by clients and then sell them at auction."
Matthews fell silent for a moment, then said, "Can you contact the people who handled the auction ten years ago? Ten years ago, I bought a piece of Natural Magnetite at your auction house with Winter, the young master of the Utteridge Clan."
"Of course, I won't ask you to help for nothing."
As he spoke, Matthews took the Level Nine Magical Beast core he had intended to trade for a Sovereign Artifact last time out of his Space Ring and placed it in front of the auction house staff.
"This Level Nine Magical Beast core is your payment!"
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