There were practical reasons why Jason had not gone to Crescent Island. As he was now, he simply could not unleash his full strength.
First, after reaching Saint-level, one could store any elemental power or power of the Four Edicts in one's meridians as Battle-qi. At the same time, the differences in Battle-qi caused by cultivation manuals would disappear, because all the Battle-qi circulation routes had been opened.
Jason had only just broken through to Saint-level, and all his Battle-qi was lightning-attribute. He had none of the water-attribute Battle-qi or Power of Death needed for the two attributes whose Profound Mysteries he principally cultivated. He also lacked the Power of Destruction to support the Edicts of Destruction, of which he had just gained some understanding.
As a result, Jason could not bring out his full strength as a Saint Warrior.
Jason's soul had also reached Saint-level, but only Necromancy did not require him to accumulate his own mana. His mana for Water Element and Lightning Element magic was only at the eighth rank, and he had found no way to cultivate life magic or Fate Magic at all.
Thus, only Jason's Necromancy was at Saint-level; his water and lightning magic were only at the eighth rank.
Jason also needed to check on the growth of his undead army.
Jason's consciousness arrived in the Netherworld.
"You've reached the ninth rank." Jason looked at Lumba, his contracted undead.
"Some time ago, I felt your soul improve tremendously, and I benefited from it, reaching the ninth rank as well."
Lumba was probably only at the middle stage of the ninth rank. He had already been at the middle stage of the eighth rank, and when Jason had eaten the Blue Jade Fruit, his soul had improved too quickly for him to share much soul power with Lumba.
"Has anything changed with the undead army?"
Before breaking through to Saint-level, Jason had spent several months in seclusion. He had not visited the Netherworld since his breakthrough either, so it had been a long time since he had checked on his undead army.
"Everything is as it was." Lumba kept his head lowered. His intelligence was now sufficient for him to recognize the gap between them, and he acted more like a subordinate.
"Now that your strength has improved, it's time to expand the undead army again."
Jason's undead army had already improved greatly.
Besides Lumba, there were the dual-sword skeleton, the little zombie, the skeleton leopard, the zombie archer, four skeletons, and the skeleton rhinoceros. All nine undead had reached the seventh rank and formed the backbone of the undead army, ruling over the entire force.
Back when Jason was at the eighth rank, he had more than four thousand undead under him, and that was only because he did not pay much attention to developing his undead army.
Generally speaking, an eighth-rank necromancer had around ten thousand undead; a ninth-rank necromancer's undead army ranged from a hundred thousand to five hundred thousand; a Saint-level necromancer could have as many undead as the population of a country.
(In the original work, the necromancer Saiser had five hundred thousand undead when he was at the ninth rank. He was already over five hundred years old at the time and at the peak of the ninth rank, so this should be the maximum number for the ninth rank.)
Lumba had long since led the undead army to an area with a relatively high concentration of undead. The previous area had been too "barren" for them.
Jason first set his sights on a Corpse Dragon.
Lumba had previously wanted to take a seventh-rank Corpse Dragon, but it had escaped. So, after discovering another Corpse Dragon nearby, he had noted the area where it roamed.
That Corpse Dragon, however, was at the peak of the eighth rank and had a small group of subordinates. Although Corpse Dragons were a kind of undead that did not much like taking subordinates, it still had around a hundred elite undead accompanying it.
Jason decided to take a Corpse Magus first.
The little zombie from before had not turned into a "Corpse Magus," but a "Corpse Fiend."
Zombies changed form after reaching the seventh rank. Those whose magic had been relatively advanced in their previous lives became Corpse Magi, specializing in magic, while those with less magical talent became Corpse Fiends, cultivating both magic and martial arts. The number and power of the spells Corpse Fiends awakened were far inferior to those of Corpse Magi.
The little zombie himself had been more inclined to use magic, but he had ultimately become a Corpse Fiend, perhaps because his magic rank had been relatively low in his previous life.
The Corpse Magus was at the seventh rank and had more than a thousand undead subordinates around it.
Undead that had not signed contracts with necromancers were at a considerable disadvantage when it came to the maximum number of subordinates they could take.
Jason's four thousand undead were already fewer than those of necromancers at the same rank. He did not want to suffer excessive losses, so he had Lumba go straight for the leader while the rest of the undead held the enemy army in check.
The battle was simple. Faced with a coordinated assault led by nine seventh-rank undead, the Corpse Magus, itself only at the seventh rank, was immediately put on the defensive. Lumba, hidden among the undead, then ambushed it and pulled its head straight off its body.
After taking control of the Soulfire of the opposing leader, Lumba put its head back on.
Thus, the strength of Jason's undead army rose sharply. Because of the losses it had just suffered, the total number of undead was only a little over five thousand.
"Next is that Corpse Dragon." Jason assessed Lumba's strength once more. "You've only just broken through to the ninth rank. It'll be a little difficult for you to deal with an undead at the peak of the eighth rank alone. Its hundred undead subordinates are all fifth- and sixth-rank elites, and there are eight seventh-rank undead as well. This could be a tough battle."
"My lord, I think you're being a little too cautious," Lumba said. "We're undead. We've already died once. We're destined to fight from birth. For undead, the extinguishing of our Soulfire means rest and a return to the world. There's no need to be sad about it. As long as the final result is good, it doesn't matter if we lose a few more low-rank undead."
After hearing him out, Jason also felt that Lumba was right. He had treated the undead army like a human army, worrying too much about gains and losses and trying to keep casualties to a minimum.
But undead were destined to fight and kill. If his own undead did not perish, then other undead would have to contribute their Soulfire. The death of undead was part of the normal cycle.
"Then, launch the attack."
Lumba nodded. "As you command."
The battle to surround and eliminate the Corpse Dragon began in a valley.
Lumba had already studied the surrounding terrain. Taking advantage of the small number of undead under the Corpse Dragon and their poor scouting ability, he had deliberately chosen to launch the ambush as the Corpse Dragon passed through.
Jason's undead army was divided into three groups.
The Corpse Magus, the skeleton magic archer, and the skeleton archers launched a ranged attack from the hillside, first crippling the Corpse Dragon and the flying undead in its ranks. In particular, they injured the Corpse Dragon's wings so it could not fly away.
Then Lumba and the dual-sword skeleton led one group together, while the remaining seventh-rank undead led another, attacking from the front and rear.
The Corpse Dragon's hundred-odd elite undead were too few to form a defensive line in the valley, and their ranks were breached in an instant.
Aside from a few seventh-rank undead, all of the Corpse Dragon's subordinates were scattered and killed. The few seventh-rank undead were also surrounded and attacked by lower-rank undead.
Lumba and all the seventh-rank undead under Jason gathered around the Corpse Dragon and attacked it from all sides.
After being transformed by the Netherworld, whether they had been Saint-level dragons or lower-level seventh-rank dragons in their previous lives, all took on the same form: a dragon with four legs, two wings, a dragon's head, and a crocodile's body. Of course, it was a dragon in a zombie state.
The Corpse Dragon was formidable in both magic and close combat. At the peak of the eighth rank, it was powerful enough to fight a ninth-rank undead.
Lumba had only recently broken through, and undead were greatly affected by the strength of their bodies. He had not had enough time to nourish his body, so he was still somewhat weaker than a ninth-rank undead.
Fortunately, his teammates were very effective. With Lumba confronting it head-on, the other seventh-rank undead were able to deal the Corpse Dragon considerable damage.
The Corpse Magus and the archers took turns firing, especially the seventh-rank zombie magic archer, whose magic-infused arrows had attack power equivalent to that of an eighth-rank undead.
The dual-sword skeleton nimbly leaped onto the Corpse Dragon's back, trying to sever its head from the back of its neck; the skeleton rhinoceros built up speed and charged, breaking one of the Corpse Dragon's hind legs.
With a mournful cry from the Corpse Dragon, its head was successfully severed from its body.
Lumba took control of the Corpse Dragon's Soulfire.
The seventh-rank undead under Jason were injured but none perished. Many low-rank undead died, however, with more than a thousand perishing. All the seventh-rank undead had just gone to surround the Corpse Dragon, while the low-rank undead had suffered heavy losses attacking its eight seventh-rank subordinates.
Fortunately, three of the Corpse Dragon's seventh-rank undead subordinates remained, making up for the losses. As for its other subordinates, all had perished.
They regrouped the army and gathered and absorbed the Undead Fire on the ground.
There was Lumba, a ninth-rank undead; the Corpse Dragon, an eighth-rank undead; the dual-sword skeleton, which had also just broken through to the eighth rank; eleven seventh-rank undead; and more than four thousand low-rank undead.
Jason's undead army had once again returned to a total of a little over four thousand, but its overall strength had increased considerably.