CHAPTER 271: The Tricoloured Bone Staff

"Aowuuuuu..."

Han Shuo was screaming in extreme agony on the oval altar in the second tier of the cemetery. Thick green light surrounded his body. His head in particular showed a jasper-like glow. The ethereal light seemed to be the brightest green jade.

Han Shuo's mental strength was still growing at a crazy rate. However, the evil god's brand from an unknown source actually wanted to penetrate deep into his soul and command him to become a loyal follower of the evil god's religion until death. It was a kind of soul brand similar to the one Han Shuo had imprinted on the little skeleton and the Earth Elite zombie. Once his soul was stamped with this mark, he would never be himself again.

This was something Han Shuo absolutely did not want!

Even though his brain felt like it was being sliced by ten thousand blades, Han Shuo still held on, his eyes bulging with pain. He roared madly in anger, trying to ease the pain in some way.

However, the power of the soul brand grew stronger as the growing green halo above the altar grew brighter. In his panic, a huge pitch black figure appeared in Han Shuo's consciousness. The massive body seemed to obliterate the sky. Its green pupils were like two giant full moons. The eyes looked down on all beings as if they were looking down on weak, tiny ants.

The enormous pressure filled the sky and earth, making it difficult for Han Shuo to even breathe. This kind of endless presence tasted of immortality, like a star existing in the galaxy for billions of years.

"Submit. There will be no pain, only eternal life!"

A spirit imprint suddenly broke into Han Shuo's mind, tempting him again and again. It seemed that if he just relaxed and accepted this mark, the suffering would be gone the next moment and his life would be endless.

"No!!"

Han Shuo screamed tragically, his hands clutching his head as he rolled around on the floor. The Demonslayer Edge stored in his body suddenly shot out a terrifying amount of killing intent. The negative emotions of fear, resentment and thirst for destruction combined into a force that instantly flowed into the demon infant, forming a resistance.

The Demonslayer's Edge shrank into a beam of light, bringing every fibre of power within Han Shuo to bombard the shadowy figure that had been born from the panic in his mind.

Snap...

A crisp sound like the breaking of fragile glass echoed clearly in Han Shuo's mind. The colossal figure shattered into points of starlight. The lights suddenly coalesced into the Demonslayer Edge.

In the blink of an eye, the agony that had torn apart his heart and pierced his lungs receded like the tides. Inside his consciousness, the rapid growth of his mental strength suddenly stopped. The green curtain of light above the altar also vanished without a trace.

The Eye of Darkness in Han Shuo's hand vanished, replaced by a green bone staff. The top of the staff was formed by three skulls.

The bone staff was one metre and thirty centimetres long and made of a green, jade-like material. The three skulls weren't human, they were yellow, blue and purple. The yellow skull had three large eye sockets, the blue one had a horn, while the purple one was riddled with finger-sized holes.

Though their shapes were strange, the skulls were as small as fists, each looking more sinister than the one before. These three skulls were perfectly integrated into the staff, with the three skulls facing in different directions crowning the top.

Han Shuo slowly calmed his breathing. Eventually he fainted and fell listlessly to the ground in a comatose state.

However, while he was unconscious, the bone staff in his hand emitted yellow, blue and purple rays of light from the three differently shaped skulls. The three lights were like silk ribbons that slid into his nose and mouth at the same time.

Blood still flowed from Han Shuo's mouth and nostrils from the piercing agony he had just experienced. Each plume of hot blood slowly drifted into the three skulls under the guidance of the tricoloured lights. The three skulls glowed with increasing light.

The three skulls finished absorbing the fresh blood from Han Shuo's mouth and nostrils. The staff glowed with brilliant light that slowly dissipated. The bone staff then returned to normal.

After who knew how long, Han Shuo gradually came to. His entire body was in extreme pain, as if his meridians and bones had been shattered. There was no place that didn't scream in pain.

On the other hand, after experiencing explosive agony, his mind was now clear and comfortable. When Han Shuo looked down at the bone staff, he was startled. His eyes were filled with confusion as he simply didn't know where this bone staff had come from.

"Ah, where is the Eye of Darkness?" Han Shuo was shocked the next moment as he discovered that the Eye of Darkness, which had been in his hand throughout the entire ordeal, had disappeared.

The Eye of Darkness was the key in and out of the cemetery of death. With it gone, the only way he could leave the Cemetery of Death would be to use the Transport Matrix, which would be a huge setback.

Suddenly, Han Shuo looked closely at the bone staff and noticed that its jade green colour was the same as the colour of the Eye of Darkness. The staff felt very familiar in his hand.

A thought struck him. Han Shuo was trying to use the bone staff the same way he'd used the Eye of Darkness. When the bone staff immediately shot out a familiar green halo, Han Shuo understood what had happened.

Staring at the bone staff for a while, Han Shuo grew more and more surprised. However, when he remembered the matter of the evil god invading his soul, he fearfully put the staff into his space ring. He didn't dare to test its power when his magical yuan was exhausted and his body was extremely fragile.

As he closed his eyes to recall the events that had happened before he lost consciousness, Han Shuo couldn't help but feel lucky. He secretly thought that this cemetery of death was really not that easy. When that evil god had infiltrated his mind, the terrifying pressure that that shadowy figure had exerted on him had truly been unimaginable to Han Shuo.

Han Shuo was certain that the colossal figure was definitely the true appearance of the Evil God. Han Shuo fully understood what the Evil God's mark wanted to do to him. This made him even more grateful to have escaped, and he became even more wary of the Cemetery of Death.

In the next moment, Han Shuo remembered what the shadowy figure had said, "Let go of everything and accept this spirit power. It will help you attain the power of a Grand Magus!"

Ecstatic, Han Shuo chanted a spell to summon an ordinary skeleton. Eight skeleton warriors immediately appeared on the altar. Feeling the smooth circulation of his vast mental power, Han Shuo was overjoyed to discover that his mental power had made a shocking leap forward.

The same necromancy spell meant that the results would be different depending on the strength of one's mental strength. Generally speaking, a spell could be divided into five levels based on the mental strength of the caster.

Take the summoning of a skeleton warrior, for example. A rookie mage with weak mental strength could only summon one skeleton warrior. However, a journeyman mage could unlock the second level of the spell due to his stronger mental strength, allowing him to summon two skeleton warriors.

Han Shuo's summoning of eight skeleton warriors meant that he had reached the fourth level of the spell. This was more than enough proof of his tremendous improvement in spirit power. According to the explanation in the necromancy magic books, Han Shuo understood that one would only reach the fourth level of summoning skeleton warriors when their mental strength had advanced to Grand Magus.

"Truly unexpected! This was all true! To suddenly advance to Grand Magus! This Cemetery of Death is strange, but truly miraculous!" Han Shuo was ecstatic. Despite his current fragile state, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Struggling to sit up, Han Shuo's eyes shone brightly as he looked around. He saw that this second level was half the size of the first. The surrounding area was empty, except for the oval altar in the centre. There were no items stored in this secret room.

The second level was centred around the altar below Han Shuo, a mysterious magical formation that took up the entire room. There was nothing else here, apparently a place to cleanse the soul and improve mental strength.

Han Shuo rested for a while before leaving the second level of the Cemetery. He sat in the centre of the magical formation, slowly gathering his depleted magical yuan and replenishing it.

After about five days, Han Shuo heaved a sigh of relief and murmured in a good mood, "Although the evil god did invade my soul this time, it was actually quite useful. Not only did my mental strength rise to the level of a Grand Magus in one fell swoop, my magical cultivation also showed signs of great improvement!"

Han Shuo was in no hurry to leave. He stayed in the Cemetery of Death, spending the entire day and night studying necromancy magic. Although he had the power of a grand magus, he still needed to brush up on a few necromancy spells. Thanks to the absorbed memories from Clarendon, Han Shuo could officially begin his preparation for the Archmage level. The memories played an important role.

Han Shuo practised necromancy in the Cemetery of Death without rest or food, as if he were possessed. He repeatedly cast all the spells of the Archmage level. He practised every day until his mental strength was completely exhausted. After that, his mental strength improved slightly through meditation.

Over the course of ten days, Han Shuo was able to skilfully unlock the various archmage-level necromancy spells he'd received from Clarendon. As for the two new spells in the 'Necromancy Magic' book he'd picked up at the Cemetery Of Death. However, it was difficult to grasp them in such a short time. Deciding not to waste any more time, Han Shuo left the cemetery via the Transportation Matrix.