Necromancy Inheritance

The Black-Robed Man's corpse lay at the cave entrance. Shock and resentment still lingered on his ashen face, and dark green blood seeped from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, gleaming eerily in the moonlight. Lin Yun stood beside the body, silent for a moment.

An eighth-level necromantic magus who had lived for hundreds of years had just died before his eyes.

If Morton hadn't been injured, if his eighth-level Corpse Demon had still been alive, if his Magic Artifact had been completed—if any one of those conditions had been met, Lin Yun wouldn't have stood a chance against him. But there were no ifs in this world. Dead was dead. No matter how powerful someone had been in life, in death they were only a cold corpse.

Lin Yun crouched down and began to examine Morton's belongings.

The first thing to catch his eye was a ring on the ring finger of Morton's left hand. The ring was a dark silver all over, its surface carved with fine magical patterns that gave off a faint glow in the moonlight. Lin Yun's heart suddenly raced—he had seen something similar before, in Doehring's stories.

A Space Ring.

It was an exceedingly rare magical item, with an independent space carved out inside it for storing things. The method of making Space Rings had long been lost. Across the entire Yulan Continent, there were only a handful, and every one was worth a fortune.

Lin Yun carefully removed the ring from Morton's finger. It felt cool to the touch and was light as air. He tried probing it with his Spiritual Energy—there was no resistance. Morton was dead, and the spiritual imprint on the ring had vanished with him. It was now ownerless.

His Spiritual Energy passed through the magical patterns on the ring's surface, and Lin Yun "saw" a space about a hundred meters long, wide, and high.

His breathing quickened. With this Space Ring, traveling would be much easier from now on!

The space was piled high with things—gold coins, Crystal Cores, magic books, all kinds of magical materials, a few spare black robes, and some bottles and jars whose purpose he couldn't identify. There were an astonishing number of coins—at a rough guess, nearly a million, piled together like a small mountain. There were plenty of Crystal Cores, too, ranging from third to eighth level. Dozens of them were eighth-level cores, each shining with a different color.

But what truly caught Lin Yun's interest were the magic books.

He used his Spiritual Energy to "take" out the books one by one and examine them carefully. Most were theoretical works on necromancy—Fundamentals of Necromancy, The Creation and Control of Corpse Demons, Advancing the Power of the Soul, Summoning Arts of the Undead Realm... Just reading the titles made Lin Yun's heart clench. In any country, these teachings were forbidden books, prohibited from circulation. Anyone found with them would be hunted down by the Radiant Church.

But among these books on necromancy, Lin Yun found several others that made his heart race.

Complete Collection of Dark Magic Spells (Levels Six to Nine).

Lin Yun could hardly believe his eyes. He carefully opened the book and leafed through it, page by page. Earth, fire, water, wind, thunder, light, dark—the Seven-Element Magic. The spells he lacked most were those beyond level six. Doehring only knew Earth Element magic, Ernst Academy only taught up to level six, and he had no way of getting spells for the other elements. But this book held every Dark Element spell from level six to nine.

And there was more than just Dark Element magic. Lin Yun kept searching and found several other magic books in the Space Ring—Wind Magic Spells (Levels Seven to Eight), Thunder Magic Spells (Levels Seven to Eight), and Light Magic Spells (Level Seven).

They weren't complete, but every one was priceless. Wind, thunder, and light—the level-seven and level-eight spells for these three elements were exactly what he needed most. With these, he wouldn't be left without any spells to use after breaking through.

"These... will keep me busy for a long time," Lin Yun murmured, a genuine smile appearing on his face.

He carefully put the books back in the Space Ring, then slipped the ring onto his own hand. The dark silver ring was slightly too large for the boy's slender finger, but it fit well enough.

Just as he was about to stand, something deep inside the Space Ring caught his attention.

It was a black stele about the size of his palm, lying quietly in a corner of the ring. Its surface was rough and covered in tiny, densely packed runes. They looked like no known writing, more like some kind of ancient markings. The stele gave off a faint black glow, but it wasn't the gloomy black of Dark Element magic. It was a profound black, as if it could swallow all light.

Lin Yun took out the stele.

The moment it touched his hand, he felt a strange power surge from it into his consciousness. The power wasn't as cold as necromancy, nor as scorching as light magic. It was... neutral, pure, as though it came from another dimension.

"What is this?" Lin Yun murmured.

He studied the stele's surface closely and finally found a line of small writing near the bottom. It was written in an ancient script, but he could just barely make it out.

"Necromancy Inheritance Stele."

Lin Yun's pupils contracted.

Doehring had once mentioned, while explaining the system of magic, that the different forms of magic on the Yulan Continent were not equal. The Seven-Element Magic—earth, fire, water, wind, thunder, light, and dark—was powerful, but fundamentally, it all belonged to the realm of the "laws." And above the laws, there were higher powers.

Rules.

There were three rules: the Law of Death, the Life Law, and the Fate Rule.

The magic corresponding to these three rules was necromancy, the High Priest's Life Magic, and the Radiant Church's Great Fate Art. These were known as the three supreme forms of magic on the Yulan Continent, standing above the other seven elements.

When Doehring had said this, his voice had carried a deep reverence. "Necromancy corresponds to the Law of Death. Cultivated to its utmost, it can control life and death, communicate with the Netherworld, and summon armies of the dead. The High Priest's Life Magic corresponds to the Life Law. It can grant life, heal any injury, and even bring people back from the dead. And the Great Fate Art... That is a power even Saint Realm experts are unwilling to mention. They say it can reveal the course of fate, and even change it."

Lin Yun had asked Doehring at the time, "If necromancy is so powerful, why are there so few people who practice it?"

Doehring had been silent for a long time before slowly replying, "There are two strict requirements for practicing necromancy. First, the soul must be exceptionally pure. Necromancy acts directly upon the soul and the power of death. If the soul isn't pure enough, it can easily be corrupted by the power of death, turning the practitioner into a mindless undead creature. Second, the practitioner must be able to sense the existence of the Law of Death. Unlike the laws of the elements, the Law of Death isn't intuitive. It requires exceptional insight and a special talent of the soul."

"Across the entire Yulan Continent, only a handful of people can meet both requirements. And the Radiant Church considers necromancy heretical. Once a practitioner is discovered, they'll be hunted down. That's why necromancers have grown fewer and fewer. By now, they've nearly vanished."

Lin Yun looked at the Black Stone Stele in his hand, his emotions in turmoil.

An exceptionally pure soul.

His soul had accumulated experience across three lifetimes, and the Small Cauldron had repeatedly tempered it. Both its strength and purity far surpassed those of ordinary people. As for sensing the Law of Death... He didn't know if his insight was good enough, but at least he was willing to try.

Necromancy, one of the three supreme forms of magic, corresponded to the Law of Death.

If he could learn necromancy, his strength would undergo a qualitative leap. Seven elements of magic, plus necromancy—eight kinds practiced together. No, it wasn't eight elements. Necromancy was a power on the level of rules, not the same level as elemental magic. Mastering necromancy would mean gaining a path to a higher realm.

Lin Yun took a deep breath and made up his mind.

"I'll give it a try."

Bebe crouched on his shoulder, tilting his head as he looked at the Black Stone Stele. He twitched his little nose a few times, then chirped twice, as if to say, "There's something strange about this thing."

Lin Yun stroked his little head and put the stele back in the Space Ring.

Now wasn't the time to study necromancy. He was still in the Magic Beast Mountain Range, where new dangers could appear at any moment. He could study the stele later, once he was back at the academy and somewhere safe.

Lin Yun stood up and took one last look at Morton's corpse.

An eighth-level necromantic magus, once a powerful figure who had shaken the world, was now nothing but a cold corpse. His Magic Artifact had never been completed, his revenge had never been realized, and his necromantic inheritance had fallen into the hands of a twelve-year-old boy.

Fate could be truly ironic sometimes.

Lin Yun turned and went deeper into the cave, stopping before the altar.

The altar was built from black rock and covered in densely packed magical runes. At its very center floated a half-finished dark green crystal, radiating a powerful aura of the undead. This was the Magic Artifact Morton had refused to abandon, even at the cost of his life—his hope, his obsession, his last chance to turn the tables.

Lin Yun looked at the crystal and fell silent for a moment.

Then he raised his right hand and gathered a ray of purification from the Light Element.

Holy Light: Purification.

White light enveloped the entire altar. The dark green crystal trembled violently in its radiance. The undead aura hissed and vanished rapidly, like snow scorched by flames. Cracks began to appear on the crystal's surface, growing larger and spreading until, at last, it shattered with a thunderous crash.

Dark green fragments scattered across the ground, and the undead aura vanished completely. The runes on the altar lost their glow, leaving behind nothing but ordinary black rock.

Morton's final obsession had vanished for good.

Lin Yun lowered his hand and let out a long breath.

"It's over."

He turned and walked out of the cave. Moonlight spilled across the valley, gilding everything in silver. The distant woods rustled in the night wind, like countless undead whispering.

Bebe crouched on his shoulder, his little head bobbing as he seemed to doze. He was exhausted too. Throughout these past few days, he had guarded Lin Yun from the shadows, ready to jump in at any moment during every fight.

Lin Yun reached up to stroke his little head, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Come on. Let's go home."

He set off along the valley, heading out.

The Space Ring glimmered faintly on his finger. Inside were gold coins, Crystal Cores, magic books, and the Necromancy Inheritance Stele. The gains from this trial far exceeded his expectations.

But he knew these weren't his greatest gains.

What truly belonged to him was the combat experience he had gained fighting at the edge of life and death, the breakthrough in his magic that he had achieved in a desperate situation, and the Spiritual Energy that had grown denser and purer after the Small Cauldron tempered his soul.

Those were the things that truly belonged to him.

Moonlight spilled over the forest path, stretching his shadow long.

Bebe curled up on his shoulder, already asleep, his little body rising and falling gently with Lin Yun's steps.

Lin Yun took a deep breath and quickened his pace.

Ernst Academy, he was back.