CHAPTER 349: The Dignity Of The Little Skeleton In The Other Dimension

Despite the complete absence of wind, twelve large banners fluttered vigorously in the wind. An ominous aura swirled around them, flowing like mercury towards the pit in the middle. Inside the pit, the liquid boiled like fire oil, searing the three evil knights and their mounts and sending smoke billowing into the air.

Han Shuo closed his eyes as he sat facing the three evil knights. His mental power flowed like an unstoppable river, holding the three evil knights to their contract. As the evil knights' mounts weakened, they gradually lost the strength to continue fighting in vain.

Three huge bone spurs continued to lash out at Han Shuo. A millisecond of relaxation and the evil knights would ruthlessly use the advantage to pierce through Han Shuo's head. Han Shuo was completely focused on his task, iron-willed to the end. Inextricable patterns of mental power woven into a shapeless web in the sky, grinding away at the mountain of resistance that was the will of the three evil knights.

The Cemetery of Death was not touched by the sun or the moon, forever shrouded in a faint, dim light. Therefore, the passage of time could never be felt. After an indeterminate amount of time, the three bone lances that had been struggling to reach Han Shuo slowly lost their strength. Like the bodies of the evil knights, they listlessly fell back into the pit.

Han Shuo's entire body looked like it had been carved from stone, not a single sign of life from his cross-legged position. The Twelve Banners were still absorbing souls, emitting a killing aura that converged on the pit. After what seemed like a few days, the bodies of the three evil knights completely dissolved into the liquid, leaving no trace behind.

Finally, Han Shuo moved, a puff of air escaping his lips as his eyes opened. His voice was haggard with exhaustion, "That was so damn tiring! It had only been three evil knights and their mounts, but the process of reforming their bodies had already caused Han Shuo so much trouble. It seemed that Han Shuo's initial hypothesis was true. It was impossible to use demonic arts to reform the body of every undead creature.

For one, this kind of refinement used overly complex and highly valuable ingredients. If the countless skeleton warriors and zombie warriors under Han Shuo's command were all to be refined, even his prodigious savings wouldn't be enough to support it. Refining those three evil knights alone would cost at least a hundred thousand gold. Refining every skeleton warrior and zombie warrior would drive him to bankruptcy and beyond. Even then, he wouldn't be finished!

Besides, refining undead creatures in this way would take up too much of his time and energy, with little to show for such a huge undertaking. After all, skeleton warriors and zombie warriors were essentially cannon fodder. Even though he had made them immune to the corrosive effects of light magic, their use was limited. Therefore, Han Shuo was not willing to waste mountains of gold on them.

Evil Knights were currently the strongest undead creatures Han Shuo could summon. Even among undead creatures, they were considered to be of a high level. They had great utility and flexibility when their fire-breathing steeds could take the field with them. Their monstrous innate strength could be combined with tough armour to create a fighter tougher than a human knight. Han Shuo had already had to use all of his mental strength to suppress the fierce resistance of three evil knights and their war horses. Although Han Shuo could summon bone demons and ancient fey zombies, he definitely could not refine three of them at once. This was because the resistance of the bone devils and old fey zombies would definitely be stronger.

Standing up from his cross-legged position, Han Shuo summoned the twelve demon heads from the banners with a thought. Howling, they reluctantly returned to Han Shuo's body. With the bodies of the three evil knights already fused into the pit, Han Shuo no longer needed to suppress the matrix with his magical yuan.

The twelve demon heads had formed when Han Shuo had reached the Separate Demon Realm, using the great malevolent aura within the Valley of Sunshine as a catalyst. These twelve demon heads contained vicious killing intent by nature, each demon head formed from the last vicious obsession of many hateful souls. It was the best ingredient to refine the "Mystical Demons", which were one level above the "Yin Demons".

Of the three Yin Demons that had previously been refined, only one was currently usable. Han Shuo was convinced that one Yin Demon was far from enough to maintain his advantage on the battlefield. When he'd advanced to the separate demon realm in the Valley of Sunshine, Han Shuo had deliberately saved the limitless murderous aura and coagulated it into the twelve demon heads. When the ingredients needed to refine the mystical demons were gathered, the Twelve Demon Heads would be used as the base ingredient for the mystical demons.

After making sure that the area would operate without supervision, Han Shuo went to the special area for refining 'Primordial Demons' and 'Yin Demons'. First, he summoned the Earth Elite Zombie and ordered it to change the layout of the Yin Demon Cave to make it suitable for the cultivation of Mystical Demons. Once the modifications were complete, Han Shuo took the ingredients he needed and placed them in the centres of the formation eyes around the cave.

Having completed all the preparations, Han Shuo released the Earth Elite Zombie and placed twelve drops of his own blood essence into the Mystical Demon Cave. The blood essence began to spin in the air inside the Mystical Demon Cave. The twelve demon heads emerged from Han Shuo's body at his command, each swallowing a drop of blood essence. As if by some unknown signal, the enormous energy of the cave began to activate. Han Shuo then summoned a few hundred wraiths and threw in a few souls from the Demonslayer's Edge to act as fodder for the Mystical Demon's Evolution.

Han Shuo then dug deep into his magical yuan reserves and poured what was left into the Mystical Demon Cave to maintain its normal operation. As the twelve demon heads began to howl and tear at the wraiths and souls in the matrix, an exhausted Han Shuo returned to the centre of the Cemetery of Death.

The two matrices had now returned to normal. Not only had Han Shuo expended a great deal of mental energy, he had also used a considerable amount of magical yuan and blood essence. This was even more exhausting than when he'd fought Kosse in Brettel City. At that time, he had the Little Skeleton, the Earth Elite Zombie, and the Fire Elite Zombie to help him. But the refining process was something that only he could handle. As a result, he was exhausted to the bone.

Sitting on the ground in the Cemetery of Death, Han Shuo pondered for a moment, then took out the skeleton staff and meticulously examined the Tri-coloured skeleton staff. He wanted to use this interlude to investigate the secrets of the skeletal staff.

Calamity Church's necromancer, Grand Magus Wolf, as well as the ancient lizard king, Dagassi, seemed to know traces of the Skeletal Staff's origin. This skeletal staff, transformed by the Eye of Darkness, was the key to opening the Cemetery of Death. It definitely held many hidden secrets.

Han Shuo hadn't possessed the skeleton staff for a long time. His understanding of the skeletal staff only went so far as to see that it enhanced his necromancy magic. If the necromancer Grand Magus Wolf had not used the power of the skeleton staff to rejuvenate his life, Han Shuo might never have suspected that the skeleton staff could have such an effect.

"Skeletal staff, oh skeletal staff. How many secrets are you hiding!" Han Shuo muttered to himself as he stroked the tri-coloured skulls.

The exhausted Han Shuo fell unconscious. Semi-consciously, he felt as if he'd been enveloped by the tri-coloured light from the skeleton staff, spinning him around. Colourful lights quickly streamed past his body. It felt like he was falling from a great height into an endless abyss.

Just as Han Shuo began to feel nauseous from the dizziness, he suddenly felt a familiar smell invade his consciousness. This smell seemed to be coming from an area of the pit he'd fallen into. Han Shuo's groggy consciousness latched onto the familiar scent and gradually sank back into unconsciousness.

There was an endless black void in the distance. The surroundings seemed to be forever shrouded in inert grey, and grey and black clouds were constantly rolling across the horizon. The whole area was filled with the smell of death, desolation and wilderness.

Swamps and tree trunks stripped of branches and leaves dotted the landscape closer to him. A variety of undead creatures stumbled through the wilderness, wandering aimlessly in the desolate space.

There was no cycle of day and night in this desolate place, no sense of time. There was only loneliness and despair, deathly silence and desolation.

For a moment, Han Shuo thought he was still in the Cemetery of Death. It was too similar to the eternal twilight of the Cemetery of Death. But as a pack of gargoyles swooped over his head, followed by a horde of skeletons and zombies on the ground, Han Shuo was suddenly struck by the very real fact that this wasn't indeed the Cemetery of Death.

He clearly remembered that he hadn't summoned these low-level undead creatures in the Cemetery of Death. Han Shuo suddenly felt like he was in a dream. Only when he followed this line of thought to its conclusion did he realise that he had no body, that he existed only as pure consciousness. However, as soon as Han Shuo thought about his body, his exhausted mental power slowly filled the area of his consciousness. An identical copy of his body quickly coalesced.

His left hand touched his right, both hands obviously making contact. However, Han Shuo didn't feel any contact between his skin; everything felt so strange. But he did feel a sense of intimacy with his surroundings. As for what felt intimate, he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The dense horde of undead creatures suddenly rushed down from a bare mountain. These undead creatures were neatly arranged. At the front were skeleton warriors and zombie warriors, followed by skeleton archers and rows of gargoyles. Further back were two evil knights.

There were actually three or four thousand of these undead creatures. However, the majority of them were skeleton warriors, zombie warriors and ghouls, with only a small portion being hate warriors and evil knights. Charging down from the towering mountain, they swarmed towards a steep ravine.

Han Shuo's body and consciousness slowly floated into the canyon. It was only when he reached the canyon that Han Shuo realised that the inside of the canyon was also flooded with undead creatures. Right in the centre of the canyon was a pitched melee of undead creatures. Claws and teeth were used to their full potential as they wrestled and tore at each other, incapable of feeling pain and knowing no retreat. It was a magnificent yet terrifying scene.

When weak undead creatures such as Skeleton Warriors and Zombies were completely destroyed, these low-level souls would immediately disperse. But starting with the Hate Warriors, their souls wouldn't disperse immediately upon elimination. The undead creatures around them would fight for a share of that soul power, devouring it to strengthen themselves.

From the midst of the battle, a five-metre tall, enormous mummy lord rose. Wrapped in strips of corroded white cloth that exuded a deadly aura, he slowly rose from the depths of the canyon floor. This mummy lord seemed to be the leader of the undead creatures within the canyon. As he rose from the ground, his entire body unleashed an incomparable storm of death.

When the undead creatures coming down from the mountain came into contact with the storm of death, they were instantly reduced to ashes. The strips of cloth around his body danced like weapons, ripping apart any enemy creature unfortunate enough to be caught in their path. Only an evil knight who had descended was able to block the attack with his bone spear, forcing his fire-breathing warhorse to retreat.

In the hierarchy of undead creatures, mummy lords ranked higher than evil knights. Therefore, in a skirmish between undead creatures, a difference in level was usually a foregone conclusion. Unless there were ten evil knights attacking the mummy lord, there was no suspense in the outcome of the battle.

End of the first part of the chapter.

As the mummy lord emerged from the ground, the surrounding undead creatures that had rushed down from the bald mountain were crushed to dust by the death storm. More than seven hundred undead creatures turned to ash in an instant.

"The being who's hiding on the high ground, accept this challenge from the mummy Lord Pharaoh! This mountain is not a height that can be held by someone as weak as you, so surrender the territory to me!" Mummy Lord Pharaoh roared at the towering mountain as a huge amount of mental power swept through the area.

"My Lord Majesty, how can you tolerate the transgressions of this lowly mummy?" The evil knight who had retreated on his fire-breathing warhorse hissed sternly.

Suddenly, the sound of shifting rocks rang out from around the gorge. The incomparably familiar Wood and Fire Elite Zombies rode out separately on fire-breathing warhorses, charging in from both sides of the valley.

An enormous shadow plunged down from the mountaintops, the incredible undead porcupine full of bone spurs. The little skeleton wielded a bone dagger that had been transformed into a three metre long spear. Seven bone spurs protruded from his spine. His great aura covered the scene as he landed.

"Humble mummy lord, my territory is not a place you can just trespass on. Now, not only do I want the dissipation of your soul, but as of today, the northern side of the Mummy Lord's territory is also under my control." The little skeleton's thoughts exploded out like a raging torrent, completely disproportionate to his tiny figure high in the sky.

"My Lord Majesty, you must unite and rule the darkness." The evil knight who had spoken before dismounted and fell to his knees before the gallant figure of the small skeleton flying high above the battlefield. His face was filled with solemn adoration.

It was the first time the mummy lord Pharaoh had laid eyes on the rumoured magnificent mutated skeleton. The aura that exploded from the little skeleton's form instantly terrified Pharaoh. There was also the Flaming Fire Elite Zombie, who seemed to be throwing two fireballs from hand to hand while sitting on the back of the warhorse. The searing temperature made the cold-loving mummy Lord Pharaoh feel extremely uncomfortable.

Pharaoh suddenly felt as if he'd been trapped this time. He had survived in this world for a very long time, he wasn't like the typical lumbering undead creature. He'd long since gained true intelligence.

The bad feeling he had strengthened his decision to leave, and he tried to return underground. But the previously soft earth had suddenly become as hard as diamonds. Just as the Mummy Lord Pharaoh began to panic, the simple-minded Earth Elite Zombie slowly emerged from the ground. It grinned at Pharaoh and said naively, "You can't escape, can you?"

The previously awe-struck Mummy Lord Pharaoh suddenly realised that all his escape routes had been cut off. He howled angrily, "Vile creature, you are too scary!"

The little skeleton didn't answer. The undead creature beneath him suddenly lunged at Pharaoh. The little skeleton lifted the three metre long bone spear, and the ominous aura in the environment poured into the bone spear. The bone spear absorbed a large amount of the deadly aura and became as heavy as a mountain. As it pierced Pharaoh, the mummy lord threw back his head in a roar of defiance.

The strips of cloth on Pharaoh's body danced as it crushed everyone in its path. But as the little skeleton's bone spear descended, it tore straight through the strips wrapped around his body, piercing his chest in one fell swoop and pinning him to the ground.

"Submit or die!" The little skeleton shouted coldly as his huge aura bombarded every inch of the mummy lord pinned by the bone spear.

Unable to break free, the Pharaoh let out a mournful howl and succumbed to the little skeleton's malevolence. He docilely bowed his head to the little skeleton and said, I, mummy lord Pharaoh, submit to my lord".

The little skeleton was in no hurry to remove the bone spear from the mummy lord's body. With his free left hand, he drew a treaty mark in the twilight air, forcing the mummy lord to surrender part of his soul to brand the treaty. Only then did he remove the bone spear, regardless of the mummy lord's pain, and turned around and said, "Return to the mountain!

The mummy lord didn't have a chance to resist now that the one-sided master-servant contract was in place. He struggled to his feet and lumbered off with slow steps behind the earth and wood elite zombies, his destination clearly the towering mountain.

Han Shuo had seen everything clearly and was filled with surprise. He finally knew where he was at this moment. This was the other dimension where the undead creatures lived.

Han Shuo had never imagined that the little skeleton and the earth zombie would actually have a huge army in the other dimension. It even looked like they were getting along quite well. No wonder the Earth Elite Zombie had asked to come back last time when there was nothing for him. Looking at this battle, it seemed that the little skeleton had brought the Earth, Wood, and Fire Elite Zombies with him and was leading a mighty invasion in the other dimension.

A high-level undead creature like the Mummy Lord could only be summoned by a Necromancer Grand Magus, similar to the Bone Demons. Yet the little skeleton had dispatched the Mummy Lord with a single blow. This fully proved that the little skeleton's level was higher than the Mummy Lord's. This was something that Han Shuo would never have thought of.

When the mummy lord was subdued by the little skeleton, Han Shuo suddenly panicked. He suddenly remembered that he didn't know how to get back to the Profound Continent. There were no people or things Han Shuo was familiar with in this eternally desolate and silent space.

If he could only remain in this alien underworld in his consciousness, it would be complete torture for Han Shuo. Right now, even his body was being formed by his consciousness, so not only could Han Shuo not control anything, he couldn't even cast any magic. This was an extremely unfavourable situation for Han Shuo.

As he watched the little skeleton fly towards the towering bald mountain, Han Shuo mentally shouted repeatedly, trying to make contact with the little skeleton. In the midst of this, a sharp pain suddenly spread through Han Shuo's entire body. This kind of agony was unbearable even for Han Shuo's tough nerves. As a result, his consciousness gradually faded.

The little skeleton that was travelling with the elite zombies towards the towering mountain suddenly stopped and looked at the area where Han Shuo's consciousness had disappeared. It suddenly turned the flying undead creature and flew towards the area where Han Shuo's consciousness had just been. The purple demon eye sparkled, filled with uncertainty.

The earth, wood and fire elite zombies all spurred their fire-breathing warhorses through the ranks of the undead army to stand beside the little skeleton. The earth elite zombie asked innocently, "What's wrong?"

"Father was here." The little skeleton, with only two holes for a nose, moved with a crunching sound and replied to the three special undead creatures.

"How can Father be here, this is our world!" The earth zombie looked naively at the little skeleton, trying to understand.

"I don't know, but I just felt the connection between Father and me. He was just here!" The little skeleton swung the three metre long bone lance in his hand, the tip of the bone lance stopping at the area where Han Shuo's consciousness had been before, and said, "Right here, if you sniff carefully, you can still smell Father's scent.

With this sentence from the little skeleton, the three undead creatures all approached the area. Among them, the wood and fire elite zombies shook their heads, as they had not yet fully developed their own consciousness. For now, they could only rely on the little skeleton to think for them. Only the earth zombie took a few deep breaths, as if he really smelled Han Shuo's scent. Shaking his head, he replied, "Yes. Father really was here!"

"Let's return to the mountain, Father has already left. We have to take over the Pharaoh's territories later," the little skeleton said and then spurred the undead creature into the sky, howling as it made its way to the towering mountain.

Han Shuo shot to his feet as if his head had been struck by lightning. When he landed on the ground, he was covered in a cold sweat, his heart still pounding with fear.

The skeletal staff in his hand fell to the ground at that moment. It rattled as it bounced on the smooth, hard ground of the Cemetery of Death. There was no change to the skeletal staff that now lay quietly on the ground. However, Han Shuo knew that the skeletal staff had just taken him to another place.

The journey to the desolate and silent dimension had frightened Han Shuo. What Han Shuo was afraid of wasn't the existence and war in the other dimension. Instead, he was afraid that he would not be able to return to the Profound Continent. He had only existed as a consciousness in this necromancer's paradise, but his body had remained on the Profound Continent.

The effect on a necromancer like Han Shuo was obvious, he could not use much of his power there. If he was stuck in that area forever, facing the desolate and deadly undead creatures for the rest of his life would be tantamount to torture for Han Shuo.

Being used to the vibrant colours of this world, Han Shuo couldn't easily adapt to the monochromatic other dimension. Besides, this world still had Han Shuo's close friends, who were made of flesh and blood like Han Shuo, unlike the creatures in the other dimension.

"That was close, this skeletal staff is really strange, luckily, it finally sent me back. If not, my life would have been destroyed." Han Shuo talked to himself for a while. Only then did he look back at the skeleton staff. His mind raced with thoughts of how he had passed through the various layered planes and how his consciousness had ended up in this space.

Unfortunately, even after thinking about it for a long time, Han Shuo still didn't know how he had done it. Shaking his head, Han Shuo didn't dwell on the question any further. Instead, he remembered the little skeleton's amazing performance in this space. Han Shuo wanted to use the skeleton staff to summon the little skeleton immediately, but he had a lingering fear of the skeleton staff's previous changes. He temporarily gave up on the idea of summoning the little skeleton right away.

"Who would have thought that Little Skeleton would be so good? He looks even better than me on the Profound Continent! When did this guy become so formidable?" Han Shuo couldn't help but sigh. When he remembered the scene where the little skeleton had landed and the terrified looks of some of the lower-level creatures, he finally understood what was going on.