Undead Realm

After the inheritance from the stele concluded, Lin Yun stayed in the cave for a few more days to digest the insights he had gained during this time.

The mysteries of the Law of Death were far too profound; even with the guidance of the Inheritance Stele, he had only just touched the threshold. The essence of the soul, the structure of the Undead Realm, the operational laws of the power of death—these things were enough to keep him studying for a long time.

But theory was, after all, just theory. Necromancy, like any other form of magic, required practice to truly master.

Lin Yun sat cross-legged in the center of the stone chamber, returned the stele to his Space Ring, closed his eyes, and began to contemplate his next step.

There were two ways to perform undead summoning.

The first was the method he had already learned during the inheritance: contribute a bit of soul power to tear open a rift leading to the Undead Realm and summon an undead creature at random. This method was simple and quick, requiring little expenditure of soul power, but it had a fatal flaw: uncertainty.

The summoned undead could be a weak Skeleton Soldier, a powerful Undead Knight, or perhaps even a legendary Bone Dragon. When lucky, one could summon a powerful undead far exceeding one's own strength; when unlucky, the summoned thing might not even be as good as an ordinary beast. Worse still, if the summoned undead was too powerful and the summoner's soul power was insufficient to control it, the summoner would be the one to suffer a backlash.

Random summoning was, in essence, a gamble. Lin Yun did not like gambling.

The second method involved the descent of his soul consciousness into the Undead Realm—allowing his own soul consciousness to enter the realm, search through the endless sea of undead for a suitable creature, and forge an Undead Contract to make it his battle companion.

This method was more proactive and significantly safer. The summoner could choose the most suitable undead creature based on their own needs and strength. Once the contract was established, the undead creature would become the summoner's loyal servant and would not turn against its master.

However, the drawbacks were also obvious: the descent of soul consciousness into the Undead Realm required a massive expenditure of soul power, and the duration was limited. Within the Undead Realm, the summoner's soul consciousness was extremely fragile; if it encountered an attack from a powerful undead creature, it could suffer irreversible damage. More importantly, the contracted undead creature could not exceed the summoner's own strength by too much—a level seven mage could, at most, contract an undead at the peak of level seven.

"Peak of level seven..." Lin Yun muttered.

His current strength was that of a level seven mage, and his soul power, tempered by the inheritance, already far exceeded that of an ordinary level seven. If he contracted a peak level seven undead, the boost to his combat effectiveness would indeed be limited. After all, he was level seven himself, and with the advantage of seven-element magic, he would not struggle much even against a peak level seven opponent.

But the significance of Necromancy did not lie there.

The true value of undead summoning lay in quantity. A Necromancer could contract multiple undead creatures simultaneously to form an undead army. Although the strength of a single undead might not match his own, ten or twenty of them combined would be a force that could not be ignored. Moreover, undead creatures did not fear pain, did not fear death, and never grew tired, giving them a natural advantage in prolonged battles.

However, that was a matter for the future. For now, he had just begun, and being able to contract a peak level seven undead was already the best choice.

"Let's try it first." Lin Yun made his decision.

Lin Yun took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Following the method from the inheritance, he condensed his soul power deep within his consciousness and then suddenly released it outward—not a gentle diffusion like "Soul Perception," but a more intense, directional release.

A violent tremor rippled through the depths of his consciousness.

Then, he "saw" a rift.

That rift appeared within his consciousness, as if a tear had been ripped into the dark sky. On the other side of the rift was endless gray—gray sky, gray earth, and gray mist. There was no sunlight, no wind, and no trace of life.

That was the Undead Realm.

Lin Yun's soul consciousness transformed into a faint glimmer of light and slipped through the rift.

The moment he entered the Undead Realm, a cold force enveloped his consciousness. That force was not filled with malice like Morton's soul attacks, but was a more fundamental, neutral cold—it was the power of death, the basic building block of this world.

Lin Yun steadied his mind and began to observe his surroundings.

He stood on a gray wasteland. The ground was cracked black soil, devoid of any vegetation. In the distance, there were a few barren hills, devoid of any plant life, featuring only jagged rocks. The sky was an eternal gray; there was no sun, no moon, and no light source, yet the entire world was shrouded in a dim, grayish light—a light that seemed to come from nowhere and go nowhere.

This was the Undead Realm.

The materialized world of the Law of Death, the final destination for the souls of all the dead.

Lin Yun's consciousness moved slowly across the wasteland. He dared not move too quickly, nor did he dare to stray too far from the rift—soul consciousness was extremely fragile in the Undead Realm, and if attacked by a powerful undead creature, he might never be able to return.

He had not walked long before he saw the first undead.

It was a Skeleton Soldier, much more complete than the one he had summoned in the real world. Its bones were a grayish-white, covered in a thin layer of frost, with ghostly green flames flickering in its eye sockets. It wandered aimlessly across the wasteland, seemingly searching for something.

Lin Yun sensed its strength—around level five.

Too weak.

He continued to walk forward.

Along the way, he encountered all sorts of undead creatures. There were rotting Corpse Demons, Zombies missing limbs, Undead Knights riding Bone Horses, and Ghosts circling in the sky... their levels ranged from three to seven, but most were between five and six.

He even saw a massive Bone Dragon, lying on a hill, seemingly asleep. The Bone Dragon's aura was suffocatingly powerful—at least level nine, perhaps even Saint Realm. Lin Yun immediately steered clear of that direction, not daring to get close.

These undead creatures were either too weak or too strong.

A peak level seven undead was much rarer than he had imagined.

Lin Yun wandered through the Undead Realm for a long time.

Time had lost its meaning here. He did not know how much time had passed—perhaps several hours, perhaps several days. His soul power was slowly depleting, and the rift leading back to the real world was gradually shrinking.

He had to speed up.

Lin Yun quickened his pace while expanding the range of his soul perception to its maximum. On this gray wasteland, soul perception was his only "eyes"—his consciousness had no vision or hearing here; only soul power could perceive everything around him.

Finally, near a pile of rubble, he found a suitable target.

It was a peak level seven Undead Knight.

Its body was a size larger than an ordinary Undead Knight, and it rode a warhorse that had also been turned into an undead. Its bones were a deep, dark black, covered in a complete set of bone armor. Beneath its helmet was a hollow face, with bright, dark-red flames flickering in its eye sockets. In its hand, it gripped a rusted longsword, the blade wreathed in a faint aura of death.

The Undead Knight's aura was strong—peak level seven, only a step away from level eight.

More importantly, there were no other undead creatures around it. It stood alone in the rubble, motionless, as if waiting for something.

Lin Yun approached with extreme caution.

His soul consciousness had no physical form in the Undead Realm, but he could feel the Undead Knight's perception sweeping across the surroundings. It was a cold power, carrying a faint, lingering trace of hostility.

The Undead Knight seemed to have sensed something, as the dark red flames in its eye sockets flickered.

Lin Yun stopped immediately, pulling his soul power back to its lowest level while simultaneously releasing "Soul Soothing"—a technique he had learned from the inheritance that could use soul power to calm the agitation of undead creatures and reduce their hostility.

The Undead Knight's flames flickered a few times, then slowly calmed down.

Lin Yun breathed a sigh of relief.

He continued to approach until he was only a few steps away from the Undead Knight. Then, he began to establish an Undead Contract.

An Undead Contract is the bond between a Necromancer and an undead creature.

The establishment of the contract requires the consent of both parties—the summoner uses their own soul power as a medium to send an invitation to the undead creature; if the undead creature is willing, it will accept the invitation and leave its soul mark on the contract. Once the contract is formed, the undead creature becomes the summoner's combat partner, obeying the summoner's commands.

Of course, if the undead creature is unwilling, the contract will fail. Furthermore, establishing a contract consumes a massive amount of soul power—the higher the level of the undead creature, the greater the consumption.

Lin Yun condensed his soul power into a thin thread and slowly extended it toward the Undead Knight.

"Sign a contract with me and become my combat partner." He conveyed his will through his soul power, "I will give you power and give you a purpose for battle. You no longer need to wander this wasteland, no longer need to wait for a void destiny."

The dark red flames in the Undead Knight's eye sockets flickered violently.

Lin Yun could feel its resistance—an instinctive resistance to being bound. Although undead creatures have lost the memories and emotions of their former lives, they still retain their most basic instincts: a longing for freedom and a rejection of restraint.

He did not withdraw his soul power, but continued to convey his will.

"I will not bind you for too long. After every battle, you may return to the Undead Realm, return to your freedom. All I need is for you to fight for me during combat."

The Undead Knight's flames flickered more and more intensely.

Lin Yun could feel it hesitating. A peak level seven undead already possessed basic intelligence and could make simple judgments. It was weighing the options—accepting the contract meant losing a portion of its freedom, but it also meant leaving this desolate, dead wasteland to go to the mortal world and fight.

Finally, the Undead Knight's flames calmed down.

It lowered its head slightly, condensed its soul power into a mark, and pressed it onto Lin Yun's contract.

The contract was established.

Lin Yun felt his soul power drop sharply, but at the same time, a new force surged into his consciousness—it was the presence of the Undead Knight; he could feel its location, its state, and its emotions.

He opened his eyes—of course, he had no real eyes in the Undead Realm, but he knew the contract was complete.

"From today on, you are called Dark Blade." Lin Yun gave it a name.

The Undead Knight's flames flickered, as if in response.

Lin Yun did not linger. His soul power had been more than half depleted, and the rift was closing rapidly. He took one last look at the Undead Knight—no, at "Dark Blade"—then turned and flew toward the direction of the rift.

The moment his soul consciousness returned to the mortal world, he felt a wave of intense dizziness.

Lin Yun opened his eyes and found himself drenched in sweat.

The stone chamber was still the same stone chamber, and Bebe was still curled up beside him. Nothing had changed, yet he knew he was different.

He could feel the presence of Dark Blade—that contract was like an invisible thread connecting him to a corner of the Undead Realm. Whenever he wished, he could summon Dark Blade to the mortal world.

But at this moment, what he noticed was not Dark Blade, but the aura on his own body.

A cold, decaying aura clung to his soul and body. It was the aura of the Undead Realm, the traces left behind by the Law of Death. Having stayed in the Undead Realm for so long, his soul had inevitably been tainted by its atmosphere.

If he returned to the academy now, any Light Magic mage could easily sense the necromantic aura on him. At that point, he would be branded a Necromancer and hunted down by the Radiant Church.

Lin Yun frowned and raised his right hand, condensing a beam of white light.

Light Magic: Purification.

This was one of the level six Light Magic spells he was most familiar with. The warm light enveloped his entire body, like sunlight piercing through the haze. The necromantic aura clinging to him made a "hissing" sound in the light, like ice meeting fire, and dissipated rapidly.

The purification lasted for about a quarter of an hour. When the white light faded, the necromantic aura on Lin Yun had completely vanished.

He let out a long breath and stretched his body.

"Good thing I know Light Magic," he muttered.

Bebe jumped over from the side, crouched on his shoulder, and rubbed its little head against his cheek, chirping twice. It seemed to have sensed something, its little nose twitching as it sniffed all over Lin Yun.

"It's gone, it's already been purified." Lin Yun smiled and patted its little head.

Bebe chirped twice, seemingly still uneasy, and sniffed a few more times before finally settling down, satisfied.

Lin Yun leaned against the stone wall, closed his eyes, and felt the presence of Dark Blade.

That contract was like a thin thread connecting him to the Undead Realm. He could feel Dark Blade's state—it had returned to the Undead Realm and was waiting quietly in a pile of rubble. As long as he called, it would cross the barrier between the two worlds and come to his side.

A peak level seven Undead Knight.

Although it offered limited improvement to his combat power, this was only the beginning. The true power of Necromancy lay in numbers. Once his soul power was strong enough, he could contract a second, a third, or even a tenth undead. By then, he would no longer be fighting alone.

Moreover, undead summoning was only one branch of Necromancy. Soul Attack, Soul Enslavement, Soul Refining... he had yet to begin researching these deeper techniques.

Lin Yun opened his eyes and looked at the gray, hazy sky outside the cave entrance.

The Necromancy inheritance had ended, but there was still much for him to digest. Insights into the Law of Death, the practice of undead summoning, the cultivation of soul power—these things were enough to keep him in the Magic Beast Mountain Range for quite some time longer.

However, that was a matter for the future.

For now, he just wanted to get some good rest.

Lin Yun closed his eyes and slowly entered meditation. Bebe curled up beside him, its small body rising and falling, and it soon fell asleep.

The stone chamber returned to tranquility, with only the occasional sound of insects from outside the cave and the faint, lingering glow on the stone tablet.