Chapter 4: Sea of Skeletons

Whoosh…

The Bone Tower, shooting evil energy into the sky, was breathtaking. Just as Hu Feng lost focus for a moment, a cold black light suddenly appeared before his eyes. He barely managed to dodge it by turning sideways, but another sharp crossbow arrow came whistling in. It spun like a top, and with every rotation, its speed doubled. A piercing sonic boom set off an unprecedented wave of sound!

The furious Skeleton King locked onto Hu Feng’s Soul Fluctuation and launched a wave of fierce attacks!

Surrounded by seven newly summoned Skeleton Guardians, she tried her best to block the charge of Arnold and the other Zombie Warriors and Skeleton Warriors. If she could hold on for just a few breaths, the main force of Skeleton Guardians would surge forward. By then, she believed Hu Feng and his group would be unable to escape even if they had wings.

“Am I going to die here just like this?”

Looking at the crossbow arrow that was coming faster and faster with a sonic boom, Hu Feng’s pupils constricted. The pitch-black Dark Magic Pen danced like a dragon and phoenix, writing a massive, profound Rune. But before the last stroke was finished, the sharp arrow was already before his eyes. With a ‘whoosh’, his hair flew back. Before the dark, ferocious arrowhead could pierce in, his forehead already felt a stinging pain, and his skin indented under the imposing killing intent and immense pressure.

Ding…

At the critical moment, a skinny Skeleton suddenly rushed out from behind Hu Feng. It raised its hand and shot a Skeleton Arrow. The force was not great, but its grasp of timing, position, and speed far exceeded that of an ordinary Skeleton Archer. It happened to knock the arrowhead, which was about to pierce through Hu Feng’s skull, off course, grazing his scalp as it flew past.

“Huh…”

The Skeleton King exclaimed in surprise. She had suddenly struck, consuming a large amount of Magic Power to use the Chain Soul-Chasing Arrows, thinking she would pierce Hu Feng’s head with one arrow. She didn’t expect that at the critical moment, she would fall short, and a tiny Skeleton would ruin her plans. With an angry roar, she locked her Divine Sense onto the Soul Fluctuation of Hu Feng and the Little Skeleton, preparing to kill them both together. Just as she was about to act, she suddenly sensed a strong danger.

Roar…

Hu Feng, who had narrowly escaped, counterattacked with all his might. The Magic Power inside him tumbled, and he looked like a terrifying ancient Demon God descending upon the earth. Every muscle and every strand of hair on his body emitted an unparalleled pressure, multiplying wave after wave as if it would never end, suffocating those around him. A fear that was overwhelming and simply impossible to resist penetrated deep into the bone marrow and souls of every Skeleton, driving away and obliterating their Divine Sense!

Fear Storm!

Facing the powerful Sixth Step Skeleton King, Hu Feng, who was determined to win the Bone Tower, gritted his teeth. He threw out the remaining hundreds of Top-grade Crystals from his Dark Ring. Borrowing the power of the Soul Summoning Banner, he unleashed a fierce soul attack. In an instant, the Skeleton Guardians surrounding them from all directions clutched their heads and fell one by one, turning into piles of bones without any soul aura. Even the powerful Skeleton King instantly felt her mind go blank. After vigorously shaking her dizzy head, she opened her eyes only to see a sharp pen tip appear before her; there was no time to dodge at all.

Pu…

The pitch-black, cold Dark Magic Pen did not pause at all; it directly pierced through the Skeleton King’s skull!

What is the sharpest thing in the world?

It is not a sword or a blade, but a pen tip that can write the origin of Magic, record the rise and fall of civilizations, and bear the supreme will of a generation of Lich Kings!

Ten Steps, One Kill!

Hu Feng, with Magic Power rolling through his body, had an imposing manner like a rainbow. He covered ten steps in a flash. The magic he used was powerful, and his close-range attacks were equally impressive. After inheriting the Lich King’s Soul Imprint, Magic Crystal, and Soul Crystal, he had not only preliminarily grasped the origin of Magic, but his body itself had also been greatly strengthened as if refined. The speed and power he burst out instantly were beyond the reach of even Swordsmen who specialized in combat!

“Ah… you forced me. Let’s die together, let’s die together!” The Skeleton King screamed in horror, frantically running the Magic Power in her body and taking out a crystal skull from her Space Ring. Instantly, a gloomy energy pressed upon them. Tens of thousands of undead souls rushed out of the skull. They opened their mouths wide, roaring and cursing angrily, pouncing on Hu Feng like a legion of Blood Demons, wishing to swallow his blood and soul in one bite.

Ten Thousand Ghosts Devouring Souls!

The powerless Skeleton King gritted her teeth and used her final move. She would rather endure the terrifying backlash of the undead than kill Hu Feng first. Her skull, pierced by the Dark Magic Pen, throbbed with pain, yet her mouth laughed maniacally, filled with madness!

“Facing death, you still overestimate yourself!”

Facing the overwhelming undead, Hu Feng showed no fear. He fully agitated the Magic Crystal and Soul Crystal within his body. One hand pressed on the Skeleton King’s skull as he used the Great Devour Technique with all his might, directly devouring her soul and the souls of the many undead.

The resentful undead were things ordinary people would avoid, but for him, a Lich King, it was the opposite; every one of them was a rare tonic. With every undead he devoured, the Magic Power and soul power in his body grew stronger!

“Ah… how can this be? Impossible, impossible…” Seeing Hu Feng directly devour the many undead like a whale swallowing seawater, the dying Skeleton King stared in disbelief. No one knew better than her how powerful these undead souls were, which she had spent a hundred years sealing into the crystal skull one by one. “Who are you… who exactly are you? Kill me, the great Old Ancestor Bone Demon will not let you get away with this!”

“Stop wasting your breath. Old Ancestor Bone Demon, whoever that is, you all go to hell!”

Hu Feng’s face was cold. He used the Great Devour Technique with all his might, devouring all the resentful undead in one go and refining their resentment and energy. He crushed the last line of defense in the Skeleton King’s mind and devoured her soul without a trace left. The Magic Power and soul power in his body multiplied wave after wave. Magic Apprentice Fourth Step, Fifth Step, Sixth Step… he advanced all the way to the peak of Magic Apprentice Seventh Step before slowly stabilizing, rising four steps in a row!

What powerful undead!

Sensing the massive energy fluctuation in his body, Hu Feng let out a long roar. Compared to the Twelfth Step Dark Knight he devoured last time, the energy he devoured this time was even more immense. The soul energy in the Skeleton King’s mind wasn’t much; the key was the tens of thousands of undead souls. Almost every one of them had the strength of a Third Step creature or above when they were alive!

Suddenly absorbing such a massive amount of energy not only allowed him to break through to the peak of Magic Apprentice Seventh Step but also further merged his Divine Sense with the Soul Imprint left by Lich King Ovisis. More memory fragments and insights surfaced in his mind. Even with his eyes closed, he could clearly sense the wind and grass movements within a radius of several miles. The Magic Crystal and Soul Crystal in his body became more condensed. With a light shake of his muscles, where his blood and energy tumbled, it brought about a piercing sonic boom!

At the realm of Magic Apprentice, Hu Feng was still unable to cast many high-level Magics, nor could he truly merge with the Lich King’s Soul Imprint. But his comprehension of the origin of Magic and his powerful body made his strength far beyond the reach of ordinary Magic Apprentices or even Magicians who had cultivated for hundreds of years!

“It is your honor to offer your soul and memory to the great Lich King!”

Looking at the dying Skeleton King, Hu Feng smiled coldly and suddenly exerted force, preparing to plunder her memory in one go. Unexpectedly, just as he was about to act, he sensed a strong danger. An unparalleled will suddenly erupted from the depths of the Skeleton King’s mind—cold, vast, and ancient, like a revived ancient Demon God.

Peng…

The Skeleton King’s skull instantly exploded into fragments, and her vast memories dissipated like smoke. The power carried by just a single thought was terrifying. The cold aura seeped into Hu Feng’s body along the Dark Magic Pen, as if a pair of cold eyes opened in the distant Void, instantly seeing through all of Hu Feng’s secrets. After circling inside him, it seeped into the ancient, mottled Soul Summoning Banner. With a ‘chi’, it gave off a wisp of faint green smoke, and the cold aura slowly disappeared. A gust of cold wind blew, and more cracks appeared on the already damaged Soul Summoning Banner.

“Is this the power of the so-called Old Ancestor Bone Demon?”

After sensing the cold aura disappear completely, Hu Feng let out a sigh of relief. There is always someone stronger; one mountain is higher than another. Breaking through to the peak of Magic Apprentice Seventh Step had skyrocketed his strength, but the thought Old Ancestor Bone Demon had sealed in the depths of the Skeleton King’s mind made him realize that in this strange world, his strength was still far from enough. Only by truly cultivating to the Demi-god Realm would it be possible to stand firm in the Wasteland where the weak were prey to the strong!

The sudden appearance of the Bone Tower, the powerful Skeleton King, the terrifying and mysterious Old Ancestor Bone Demon, the skull sealing tens of thousands of undead souls…

Hu Feng picked up the crystal skull from the ground and examined it carefully. His intuition told him that this strange skull seemed to be the key to everything, but after looking it over, he found no secrets. He only knew that a strange space was sealed within the skull, which could capture or collect the souls of enemies.

“Phantom Quicksand, Great Devour Technique…”

After putting the strange skull into the Dark Ring, Hu Feng sat down cross-legged and slowly sorted through Ovisis’s vast memories. Every time his cultivation broke through a bottleneck, his Divine Sense would further merge with Ovisis’s Soul Imprint, gaining more memory fragments. Looking at the corpses of the many wild skeletons on the ground, a new magic suddenly surfaced in his mind. He immediately stood up. The pitch-black Dark Magic Pen danced in the air, drawing a complex and profound Rune.

Just as the last stroke was completed, a gloomy wind suddenly swept through the air, accompanied by a faint whisper, like the murmur of a high-level Magician, or an ancient summons from the horizon. After the gloomy wind passed, the stumbling figures of Skeleton Guardians rose from the battlefield littered with corpses. They walked towards Hu Feng in unison and prostrated themselves devoutly. Their numbers grew larger and larger.

Great Spirit Gathering Technique!

Hu Feng’s robe moved without wind as he cast the Great Spirit Gathering Technique he had just comprehended, inherited from Lich King Ovisis. Soon, more than two hundred Skeleton Guardians were clustered around him.

To kill the Skeleton King, five Zombie Warriors and forty-three Skeleton Warriors had fallen, nearly half of his strength. Unexpectedly, after a fierce battle, the troops had not weakened but had instead doubled in size. Although the Skeleton Guardians who had just joined the ranks were not as strong in combat as the Skeleton Warriors who had been by his side, they made up for it with their numbers.

“Killing, plundering… if killing more enemies means…, then wouldn’t that be…?” Looking at the Skeleton Guardians prostrating around him, Hu Feng suddenly thought of a way to quickly rebuild the Lich Legion.

The Sunset Wasteland was full of dangers, and the Cursed Valley where the Lich Castle was located was overrun with demonic beasts. The Bone Tower snatched from the Skeleton King could summon seven Skeleton Warriors every day. Although it could continuously replenish troops, the speed was still too slow. Leading his troops to sweep the demonic beasts around the castle, plundering their souls and wealth, and then using the Great Spirit Gathering Technique, perhaps a massive legion could be built in a short time.

Sea of Skeletons!

Hu Feng’s fighting spirit surged, as if he saw an ocean made of endless Skeleton Warriors, drowning the enemy’s resource points and castles like a tide. A single First Step Skeleton Guardian was insignificant, and a hundred of them together were no match for a Dark Knight. But ten thousand, or ten million charging together, the fallen bones alone could drown the enemy!