Blood Moon Cult

"Get lost!"

Jack slapped Higgs away when he stuck his face right in front of him. Looking at the crew staring at him eagerly, he thought for a moment and realized there was no need to hide it.

Although he severely lacked the kind of powerful magic that could decide victory or defeat in a single blow, Yang Mu had still given him Defensive Magic. His lack of offensive magic could be remedied by studying occult knowledge and using magical items.

Mages never lacked offensive capability, but only Defensive Magic that could activate automatically came from spell models inscribed in the mind. Even Yang Mu's first spell model had been Defensive Magic, let alone Jack's.

Although every spell model inscribed in the mind was a Mage's trump card, knowing someone's Defensive Magic was useless. If you could not break it, you could not break it. And Jack would not be stupid enough to reveal its exact effects.

"This time, I got an enhancement spell called Bone Armor. As for its specific effects, hehe..."

"Boys, once I've finished inscribing it, I'll let you see it for yourselves."

After saying that, he left with hearty laughter. Back in his room, he ordered the remaining four Heavy Armored Zombies to kill anyone who dared approach him without mercy!

At the same time, Yang Mu issued the same order, though he only gave it to two beings: Holy Eclipse Knight Eudora and Steel-Bone Tyrant Barrel.

The two First-Order Undead stood at his side, guarding him, while Yang Mu began inscribing his third spell model in his sea of consciousness.

Super-Energy Conversion was still a rankless special magic. Its sole function was energy conversion: transforming magic power into any other form of energy, or transforming any form of energy into magic power.

It could be considered an extremely enhanced version of Elemental Affinity in one respect, though their applications differed greatly.

The main purpose of inscribing this spell was not for immediate use, but for the future.

Not every world contained magical elements. Some worlds were purely Material Planes, and the only way to obtain magic power there was through magic such as Superpower Conversion.

Even in the Material Plane, the existence of Mental Power could not be erased. By relying on Superpower Conversion to obtain magic power, Mages could still cast magic.

This was why Mages would rather use Mental Power, a force derived from the soul, than directly use the more fundamental power of the soul.

Some worlds with powerful laws could seal off the external manifestation of soul power, but no world could completely seal Mental Power, because it was the foundation of biological activity.

For expeditions, for more resources, and for more knowledge, Mages abandoned the more efficient and powerful soul power in favor of the more broadly applicable Mental Power.

As for why he still needed to inscribe Elemental Affinity despite intending to inscribe this kind of spell model, it was naturally because the two were fundamentally different.

Although Superpower Conversion could likewise obtain magic power, the process did not absorb magical elements. It simply obtained the result directly.

Yet many things Mages did required the participation of magical elements, such as brewing potions and crafting magical items. Once completed, those results no longer required magical elements, but magical elements were needed during the crafting process.

This process required Mages to actively draw in magical elements, which could only be accomplished through Elemental Affinity.

In short, Elemental Affinity solved problems related to processes, while Super-Energy Absorption solved problems related to results.

Just as he had said before, Yang Mu did not need too many offensive or defensive spell models. His casting ability made him invincible at lower levels even without the aid of offensive and defensive spell models.

If you can't find the book by its title, try searching for the author instead. It may have simply been renamed!

While he was inscribing the Super-Energy Absorption spell model, Jack was also inscribing the Bone Armor spell model Yang Mu had provided.

Unlike ordinary Bone Armor, the spell model Jack used had been optimized by Yang Mu.

Not only was its defensive power greater than that of ordinary Bone Armor, it also greatly enhanced physical strength.

Ordinary beginner-level Bone Armor could defend against attacks of twenty to forty degrees, but after Yang Mu's improvements, Bone Armor could withstand attacks of fifty to seventy degrees, making it nearly as strong as the Bone Armor used by Intermediate Apprentices.

Yet its Mental Power and magic power consumption remained the same as beginner-level Bone Armor's, and while wearing it, Jack's physical combat ability would be enhanced once again.

Its effects even surpassed the Crimson Ring's. After all, the Crimson Ring's primary purpose was still to cast Crimson Light.

However, Yang Mu had never seen Jack use Crimson Light. Did he not know how to use it, or did he not know it existed? Had Yang Mu forgotten to tell him?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

In any case, Yang Mu would never admit it. Jack could only blame himself for not properly studying occult knowledge—or for being stupid enough not to inspect the Crimson Ring.

If Jack knew about it, he would definitely cry injustice. How could he have known? He had heard about Crimson Parker's abilities before, so he had naturally assumed that was what the ring could do.

Besides, he had initially been an ordinary person. Although he had Mental Power, he could not control it precisely, so naturally he could not examine the Crimson Ring. Later, he had grown used to it. Why would he deliberately inspect it?

If he had known, he would probably have been furious enough to cough up blood. If he had known the ring could do that, he would not have been beaten so badly on Pirate Island, nor would he have been so passive when dealing with Mad Beast Barto.

This was exactly the powerful offensive ability he needed most. Who knew when he would discover it?

Just as the Undead Pirate Crew's two main combat forces were simultaneously making breakthroughs, trouble arrived. A group dressed as missionaries came to their temporary base.

They were members of the Blood Moon Cult, the rulers of this area around Shipwreck Island and the maintainers of order. Yang Mu's group had slaughtered a group of people the moment they arrived. No matter the reason, it was a provocation against them.

It was a bit like elementary school children fighting, only for some idiot teacher to say, "Why didn't he hit someone else? Why did he hit you? No matter what, you were wrong to fight back."

If that person fell into Yang Mu's hands, Yang Mu would slap him, kill his family members one by one in front of him, then ask him why Yang Mu had not killed someone else's family, but his.

That was exactly the attitude of this group from the Blood Moon Cult.

They did not care who started the trouble. As long as someone was involved, they would come looking for trouble.

Their reason was that the local stability had been disrupted, so they needed to repent at the church and pay a fine.

The old Higgs would undoubtedly have obediently paid the fine. He knew he did not have the ability to resist such a large organization.

But now? What did they say? Pay a fine? Who the fuck were they? The Undead Pirate Crew had always robbed others. Since when had it become someone else's turn to rob them?

Yes, in Higgs's ears, a fine was the same as protection money, and protection money was the same as robbery.

Boom! After a deafening blast, the upper body of a missionary before him vanished, turning into a heap of minced flesh.