hsntnovel Chapter 25: The Realm of the Dead
Chapter 25: The Realm of the Dead
After the stone tablet was passed down, Lin Yun stayed in the cave for a few more days to digest the insights he had gained during that time.
The mysteries of the rules of death are far too profound. Even with the guidance of the inheritance stone tablet, he has only just begun to grasp the basics. The essence of the soul, the structure of the underworld, the operating principles of the power of death—these are things he could study for a very long time.
But theory is just theory. Necromancy, like other forms of magic, requires practice to truly master.
Lin Yun sat cross-legged in the center of the stone chamber, put the stone tablet back into his spatial ring, closed his eyes, and began to think about his next step.
There are two ways to summon the undead.
The first method, which he had already learned through his inheritance, involved contributing a small amount of soul power to open a rift to the realm of the dead and randomly summon an undead creature. This method was simple and quick, requiring little soul power, but it had a fatal flaw: uncertainty.
The summoned undead could be a weak skeleton soldier, a powerful undead knight, or even a legendary bone dragon. With good luck, one could summon an undead far exceeding their own strength; with bad luck, the summoned creature might be weaker than an ordinary beast. Worse still, if the summoned undead is too powerful and the summoner's soul power is insufficient to control it, then the summoner themselves will suffer the backlash.
Random summoning is essentially a gamble. Lin Yun dislikes gambling.
The second method is to descend into the Netherworld with one's soul consciousness—to enter the Netherworld, search for suitable undead creatures in the endless ocean of the dead, and make them one's battle partners through a necromancer contract.
This method is more proactive and safer. The summoner can choose the most suitable undead creature based on their needs and strength. Once the contract is established, the undead creature will become the summoner's loyal servant and will not turn against its master.
However, the drawbacks are also obvious—descending one's soul consciousness to the Netherworld consumes a large amount of soul power, and its duration is limited. In the Netherworld, the summoner's soul consciousness is extremely fragile; if attacked by a powerful undead creature, it may suffer irreversible damage. More importantly, the contracted undead creature cannot exceed the summoner's own strength by a significant margin—a level seven mage can only contract with undead creatures at the peak of level seven.
"Peak of level seven..." Lin Yun murmured.
His current strength is that of a seventh-level mage, and his soul power, refined through inheritance, far surpasses that of an ordinary seventh-level mage. Contracting a peak seventh-level undead would indeed offer limited improvement to his combat power. After all, he himself is already a seventh-level mage, and with the advantage of his seven types of magic, he wouldn't struggle too much against a peak seventh-level opponent.
But that's not the point of necromancy.
The true value of necromancy lies in its sheer numbers. A necromancer can simultaneously contract multiple undead creatures, forming an undead army. While a single undead may be weaker than him, ten or twenty together constitute a force to be reckoned with. Moreover, undead creatures are impervious to pain, death, and fatigue, giving them a natural advantage in prolonged battles.
However, that's for the future. Right now, he's just starting out, and being able to contract a peak level seven undead is already the best option he can get.
"Let's give it a try first," Lin Yun decided.
Lin Yun took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Following the method passed down on the stone tablet, he concentrated his soul power deep within his consciousness and then released it outward with a sudden burst—not a gentle diffusion like "soul perception," but a more intense and directional release.
A violent tremor ran through the depths of his consciousness.
Then, he "saw" a crack.
The crack appeared in his consciousness, like a gash torn open in the dark sky. On the other side of the crack was endless gray—gray sky, gray earth, gray fog. There was no sunlight, no wind, no sign of life.
That's the realm of the dead.
Lin Yun's soul consciousness transformed into a faint ray of light and slipped into the crack.
The moment he entered the Netherworld, a chilling power enveloped his consciousness. Unlike Morton's soul attacks, which were filled with malice, this power was more essential, a neutral chill—the power of death, the very foundation of this world.
Lin Yun steadied himself and began to observe his surroundings.
He stood on a gray wasteland. The ground was cracked black soil, barren of everything. In the distance were several bare hills, devoid of any vegetation, only jagged rocks. The sky was perpetually gray, without sun, without moon, without any source of light, yet the whole world was shrouded in a hazy, gray light—a light whose origin and destination were unknown.
This is the realm of the dead.
The world that embodies the rules of death, the final resting place of all the souls of the dead.
Lin Yun's consciousness moved slowly across the wasteland. He dared not move too fast, nor dared he stray too far from the rift—soul consciousness was extremely fragile in the realm of the dead, and if attacked by a powerful undead creature, he might never be able to return.
He hadn't walked far when he saw the first ghost.
It was a skeleton soldier, far more complete than the one he had summoned in the mortal realm. Its bones were a grayish-white, covered with a thin layer of frost, and eerie green flames flickered 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 walking forward.
Along the way, he encountered all sorts of undead creatures. There were rotting corpse demons, zombies missing limbs, undead knights riding skeletal horses, and ghosts hovering in the sky... Their levels ranged from level three to seven, but most were between level five and six.
He even spotted a gigantic bone dragon lying on a hill, seemingly asleep. The bone dragon's aura was suffocatingly powerful—at least level nine, perhaps even the Saint Realm. Lin Yun immediately avoided that direction, not daring to approach.
These undead creatures are either too weak or too strong.
There were far fewer level 7 peak undead than he had imagined.
Lin Yun wandered in the Netherworld for a long time.
Time lost its meaning here. He didn't know how much time had passed—perhaps several hours, perhaps several days. His soul power was slowly depleting, and the rift leading to the mortal world was gradually shrinking.
We need to speed things up.
Lin Yun quickened his pace, simultaneously expanding the range of his soul perception to its maximum. In this gray wasteland, soul perception was the only "eye"—his consciousness here had no sight or hearing, only the power of his soul could perceive everything around him.
Finally, near a pile of rubble, he found a suitable target.
That was a level 7 peak undead knight.
It was a size larger than a typical undead knight, riding a similarly undead warhorse. Its bones were a deep black, covered by a complete layer of bone armor, and beneath its helmet was a hollow face with bright, dark red flames flickering in its eye sockets. In its hand, it gripped a rusty longsword, its blade wreathed in a faint aura of the undead.
The undead knight's aura was very strong—peak level seven, only one step away from level eight.
More importantly, there were no other undead creatures around it. It stood alone in the pile of rocks, motionless, as if waiting for something.
Lin Yun approached cautiously.
Soul consciousness has no physical form in the Netherworld, but he could sense the undead knight's perception sweeping across the surroundings. It was a cold power, carrying a faint hint of hostility.
The undead knight seemed to sense something, and the dark red flames in its eye sockets flickered.
Lin Yun immediately stopped, reducing his soul power to a minimum, and simultaneously released "Soul Soothing"—a technique he learned from his inheritance, which could use soul power to soothe the restlessness of undead creatures and reduce their hostility.
The undead knight's flames flickered a few times before slowly calming 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 the undead pact.
A necromancer's pact is the bond between a necromancer and undead creatures.
The establishment of a contract requires the consent of both parties—the summoner uses their soul power as a medium to extend an invitation to the undead creature; if the undead creature is willing, it will accept the invitation and leave its soul imprint on the contract. Once the contract is established, the undead creature will become the summoner's combat partner and obey the summoner's commands.
Of course, the contract will fail if the undead creature is unwilling. Moreover, establishing a contract requires a large 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 battle partner." He transmitted his will through the power of his soul. "I will give you power, I will give you meaning in your battles. You will no longer need to wander this wasteland, no longer need to wait for a meaningless fate."
The dark red flames in the undead knight's eye sockets flickered violently a few times.
Lin Yun could sense its resistance—an instinctive resistance to constraint. Although the undead creatures had lost their memories and emotions from their previous lives, they still retained their most basic instincts: a yearning for freedom and a rejection of constraint.
He did not withdraw his soul power, but continued to transmit his will.
"I won't bind you for long. After each battle, you can return to the Underworld, back to your freedom. All I need is for you to fight for me in battle."
The undead knight's flames flickered more and more violently.
Lin Yun could sense its hesitation. A level seven peak undead already possessed basic intelligence and could make simple judgments. It was weighing its options—accepting the contract meant losing some freedom, but it also meant leaving this desolate wasteland to go to the mortal world and fight.
Eventually, the undead knight's flames subsided.
It lowered its head slightly, condensed its soul power into a mark, and imprinted it on Lin Yun's contract.
The contract is established.
Lin Yun felt a large portion of his soul power suddenly depleted, but at the same time, a new power surged into his consciousness—it was the presence of the undead knight. He could sense its location, its state, and its emotions.
He opened his eyes—of course, he didn't have real eyes in the Land of the Dead, but he knew the contract was complete.
"From today onwards, your name is Dark Blade." Lin Yun gave it a name.
The undead knight's flames flickered, as if in response.
Lin Yun didn't linger. His soul power was already mostly depleted, and the crack was rapidly shrinking. He took one last look at the undead knight—no, "Dark Blade"—then turned and flew towards the crack.
The moment his soul returned to the present world, he felt a strong sense of dizziness.
Lin Yun opened his eyes and found himself covered in sweat.
The stone chamber was still the same stone chamber, and Beibei was still curled up beside him. Nothing had changed, but he knew that he was different now.
He could sense the presence of Dark Blade—the contract was like an invisible thread connecting him to a corner of the Netherworld. He could summon Dark Blade to the mortal realm at any time, if he wished.
But at this moment, he noticed not the dark blade, but the aura emanating from himself.
A cold, decaying aura clung to his soul and body. It was the aura of the Netherworld, the mark left by the power of death. Having spent so long in the Netherworld, his soul had inevitably been tainted by its aura.
If he were to return to the academy now, any light-element mage could easily sense the necromancy emanating from him. He would then be mistaken for a necromancer and hunted down by the Church of Light.
Lin Yun frowned, raised his right hand, and condensed a white light.
Light Magic: Purification.
This was one of the sixth-level light magic spells he was most familiar with. A warm light enveloped his entire body, like sunlight piercing through the gloom. The necromantic aura that clung to him hissed in the light, quickly dissipating like ice meeting fire.
The purification lasted for about fifteen minutes. When the white light dissipated, the aura of the dead on Lin Yun's body had completely disappeared.
He let out a long breath and stretched his body.
"Luckily, I know light magic," he murmured.
Beibei hopped over from the side, perched on his shoulder, rubbed its little head against his cheek, and chirped twice. It seemed to sense something, its little nose twitching as it sniffed around Lin Yun.
"It's gone, it's been purified." Lin Yun smiled and patted its little head.
Beibei chirped twice, seemingly still uneasy, and sniffed a few more times before finally settling down contentedly.
Lin Yun leaned against the stone wall, closed his eyes, and sensed the presence of the Dark Blade.
The contract, like a thin thread, connected him to the Netherworld. He could sense the state of Dark Blade—it had returned to the Netherworld and was quietly waiting among a pile of rocks. If he called upon it, it would cross the barrier between the two realms and come to his side.
A level 7 peak undead knight.
Although the boost to his combat power is limited, this is just the beginning. The true power of necromancy lies in quantity. Once his soul power is strong enough, he can contract a second, a third, or even a tenth undead. At that point, he will no longer be fighting alone.
Moreover, necromancy is only one branch of necromancy. He hasn't even begun to study the deeper techniques such as soul attacks, soul enslavement, and soul refining.
Lin Yun opened his eyes and looked at the gray sky outside the cave entrance.
The necromancy inheritance has ended, but there is still much for him to digest. His understanding of the rules of death, his practice of undead summoning, and his cultivation of soul power—these things will keep him in the Monster Mountain Range for some time.
However, that's a matter for the future.
Right now, he just wants to get some rest.
Lin Yun closed his eyes and slowly entered a meditative state. Bei Bei curled up beside him, her small body rising and falling, and soon fell asleep.
The stone chamber returned to silence, with only the occasional chirping of insects coming from outside the cave and the faint light remaining on the stone tablet.