Chapter 5: Skeleton Archer

After returning to the Lich Castle, Hu Feng quickly recalled the Skeleton Archer who had intervened at critical moments twice. He ordered Arnold to bring the latter to him.

This was an ordinary little skeleton. He was tall, but his frame was not large, and he carried several bone arrows of different lengths on his back. He looked unremarkable, but after careful observation, Hu Feng found some unique details. Even standing before his high and mighty self, the Lich King, this little skeleton remained calm and composed as always, lacking the nervousness and awkwardness of ordinary skeletons.

“What is your name?” Hu Feng asked habitually, looking at the little skeleton before him with interest. His intuition told him that this little skeleton was not simple.

“Yisu.”

Ordinary undead did not have names, nor did they possess much wisdom. They did not remember their names or memories from their past lives. But to Hu Feng’s surprise, the little skeleton before him contemplated for a moment before speaking his own name.

“Yisu?”

Hu Feng was a bit surprised. This made him more certain that the skeleton was not simple. After pondering for a moment, he took out a green long bow from his Dark Ring. “Yisu, good. That is a very good name. Accept this long bow. From today on, you will serve as my personal guard alongside Arnold!”

The long bow left behind by the Skeleton King was not simple. Not only was it incredibly powerful, but its potential far exceeded that of ordinary weapons. With every enemy killed, its power increased. However, although its power was extraordinary, it was not essential for Hu Feng. The Black Magic Pen, which looked no different from an ordinary pen on the surface, was his sharpest weapon.

“Thank you, Lord!”

Upon receiving the precious long bow, the usually calm and composed little skeleton was extremely excited. Arnold, standing by, was even more jealous.

With such a sharp and powerful bow, he could hunt more enemies and devour more Soul Fire, making his cultivation twice as effective with half the effort. A completely green long bow, engraved with mysterious runes, with not a single impurity. It was at least a low-grade treasure. No one expected Hu Feng to give it away without even blinking!

“Arnold, issue the order. Attack with all forces. Move out immediately!” Looking at the Bone Towers settled within the castle, Hu Feng ordered in a deep voice. Soon, leading nearly three hundred Skeleton Guardians, he stepped onto the Wasteland again, continuing to clear the resource points around the castle.

This time, the target was a mercury mine to the east of the castle. According to the scouts’ reports, a group of Zombie Warriors was stationed there. Compared to Skeleton Guardians, although Zombie Warriors were powerful, they were a bit slower. Making full use of this advantage, Hu Feng led his troops to lure most of the Zombie Warriors into a cave with a narrow entrance and kill them one by one. After completing this major achievement, they did not stop but rushed straight to the next target, killing all the Skeletons stationed in a stone mine.

Divide the forces, lure the enemy deep, concentrate power to surround and kill, and then use the Great Spirit Gathering Technique to turn their corpses into skeletons!

Repeating this process, one month passed quickly. During this month, Hu Feng almost attacked day and night, fiercely sweeping the forces around the castle. He not only acquired a number of resource points but also increased the scale of his army. The number of Skeleton Guardians reached over three thousand, initially forming the Sea of Skeletons tactic.

After devouring the Soul Fire of a large number of undead, Arnold’s strength increased greatly. Relying on the long bow in his hand and his god-like archery skills, Yisu advanced from a Second-Rank Skeleton Warrior to the peak of the Third Rank, becoming even more powerful in combat than Arnold. In terms of combat strategy, she demonstrated super-level calmness and decisiveness. Still when inactive, thunderous when moving, she became the Grand Commander of the Skeleton Archer forces.

With a large number of manpower and various resources, Hu Feng began to gradually repair the damaged castle and restore various large Magic Arrays. Finally, he simply had Arnold be responsible for repairing the castle, handed the sweeping mission to Yisu, let her lead the Crystal Skull heads to harvest the souls of enemies, and focused on his own cultivation alone in the Lich Great Hall. He consolidated his rapidly breaking through realm, condensed the Magic Crystals and Soul Crystals within his body, and further contemplated and comprehended the origin of Magic.

“What is the true origin of Magic? Why can drawing a few runes allow for the rapid casting of a powerful Magic? Is it because the material of the Dark Magic Pen is different, or…”

Hu Feng concentrated his thoughts. Holding the cold Dark Magic Pen, he casually carved a series of mysterious runes on a stone stele. Each Rune represented a powerful Magic. Carved deeply into the wood, they emitted bursts of subtle energy fluctuations. For some reason, these runes looked increasingly familiar. He felt as if he had seen them somewhere before, but for the moment, he could not recall where.

“Why did I come to this strange world? Could it be related to these mysterious runes?” Hu Feng casually carved one Rune after another. The smoother his movements became, the heavier his doubts grew in his heart.

In the past, he did not believe in so-called fate, nor did he believe in ghosts and gods. But suddenly arriving in this unfamiliar world and inheriting the Soul Imprint of Lich King Ovisis, he had to believe that while there are some things you can choose not to believe, you cannot deny their existence just because you don’t believe in them. When meditating and cultivating alone, he vaguely seemed to see an endless River of Fate. Everyone was like a speck of dust in the river, rising and falling with the current.

“What is life? What is death? After ten thousand years of Cultivation and a hundred lifetimes of reincarnation, what is it all for?”

Hu Feng muttered to himself. Scenes from his past life flashed through his mind. After possessing a huge castle, he realized how ridiculous the goal of striving for a small apartment of just dozens of square meters in his previous life was. The arduous pursuit of Cultivation and the unyielding will before death by Lich King Ovisis all surfaced in his mind.

If alive, be a hero among men; if dead, be a heroic ghost!

The world of Lich Kings did not believe in tears. Only by reaching the Divine Domain Peak and looking down upon the common people could one control one’s own destiny!

Recalling the life of Lich King Ovisis, Hu Feng felt a vague realization in his heart. After carving the last Rune, he slowly sat down cross-legged.

…

In Cultivation, there is no concept of time. During his quiet Cultivation, a week passed quickly. It was not until his personal guards, Arnold and Yisu, reported their situation routinely that Hu Feng stood up from his deep meditation.

Wearing a spotless black robe, his eyes were bright and profound, as if he had experienced millions of years of vicissitudes. If previously he was a nouveau riche who had suddenly gained a large amount of wealth, with an intimidating aura; now he was a cultivator who had returned to simplicity, with his essence contained within. As long as he did not deliberately stir up the Magic Crystals and Soul Crystals in his body, the fluctuations of his internal energy were weak, and he looked only as powerful as an ordinary Magic Apprentice.

After several days of quiet cultivation, Hu Feng had not broken through his bottleneck, but the feeling it gave to Yisu and Arnold was completely different!

“Lord, all resource points within a hundred miles of the castle have been controlled. Only the crystal mine occupied by the Skeleton Mage Saratos remains!” Yisu, as always, was calm and composed. She handed the skull sealed with thousands of undead souls to Hu Feng.

Holding the completely green Bone Demon Long Bow, wearing a dark red battle armor, and with a mask snatched from somewhere unknown covering her face, her expression was calm, as if she had just cleared some weeds. However, the Skeleton Guardians who had followed her east and west in battle had experienced an unprecedented bloody storm. The forces stationed around the castle either submitted to the Lich Castle and joined the ranks of the Lich Legion, or were bloodily slaughtered.

“Oh, the Skeleton Mage Saratos?” Hu Feng neither confirmed nor denied, but sat down lightly.

According to Ovisis’s memories, this was the most powerful force stationed near the Lich Castle, occupying a considerable crystal mine. Nearly three thousand Skeleton Soldiers were stationed in the entire mine, making its power huge; Saratos himself had evolved from a First-Rank small skeleton to the Fifth Rank. His fire magic was god-like, and he had occupied the crystal mine for over a thousand years.

“Lord, that old guy Saratos is too powerful. Next, we should better sweep through the canyon to the east first. Send heavy troops to defend the west to prevent that old guy Saratos from launching a surprise attack.” Arnold’s face was grave.

During these days of Hu Feng’s seclusion, he had ignored the task of repairing the castle. Most of the time, he went out to fight alongside Yisu. Sometimes he even led small groups of troops deep into the enemy’s territory, fearless of heaven and earth. However, he had never dared to roam in Saratos’s territory. No one knew better than he how terrifying that old guy who had cultivated for nearly a thousand years was.

“Attack is the best defense. Destroy him directly!”

Hu Feng placed his palm on the crystal skull and used the Great Devour Technique to devour the souls sealed inside as much as possible. His internal Magic Power churned, leaving only one last step away from breaking through to the Eighth Step of Magic Apprentice. His robe moved on its own without wind. With a ‘whoosh’, a violent pressure spread far and wide.

A period of quiet cultivation had further strengthened his determination to reach the Divine Domain Peak!

What is Cultivation?

It is not some so-called natural way of heaven and earth, nor is it it working behind closed doors. ‘Xiu’ means tempering one’s will and firming one’s beliefs. ‘Lian’ means fighting and killing on the battlefield. In the vast and dangerous Wasteland, everyone is a hunter, and everyone is also prey. Slaughter and plunder, this is the true way of Cultivation, and also the unchanging theme of the Wasteland!

With Hu Feng’s command, the entire Lich Castle quickly became busy. Before the attack, others were busy non-stop, but Hu Feng walked to the side calmly, neither arrogant nor impatient. He took out a large pile of high-tier Demon Bone skeletons from his Dark Ring and directed numerous undead to work hard. Through bursts of hot flames, he pieced together the dismembered skeletons.

“Lord, are you refining a treasure, or…” Seeing that many high-tier Demon Bone skeletons containing a large amount of Magic Power were casually thrown aside by Hu Feng, Arnold shook his head. After thinking hard, he still had no idea what he was doing.

“Arnold, chop this rib in half. You will soon know what I am doing!” Hu Feng smiled mysteriously and directed the numerous undead to speed up. More than half an hour later, a uniquely shaped chariot appeared before everyone.

It did not have the common high and heavy carriage cover. The streamlined body was full of dynamic movement. The body was entirely constructed from tough and lightweight Demon Bone skeletons, weighing only one-tenth of an ordinary carriage. Every bone was engraved with complex wind-type Magic Arrays, and the whole body swayed with pure Magic Power fluctuations.

After yoking five of the most agile Ghost Warhorses, an unprecedented chariot appeared before people!

A tough leather whip gave a hard crack. The whole chariot, dragged by the five Ghost Warhorses, flashed through the city gate like lightning, leaving a trail of afterimages. The speed was unbelievable. It was not until Hu Feng drove the chariot around the Wasteland and returned that the undead could not react, staring in amazement. Even Yisu, who usually did not show her emotions, could not help but widen her eyes.

“Lord, this… what kind of treasure is this?” Arnold’s eyes were wide. He had seen chariots before, but never one this fast. That lightning-fast speed was simply unbelievable!

“A Ferrari sports car, no, this is a Ferrari Chariot!”

Hu Feng smiled. Stirring up the Soul Crystal in his body, he used the pitch-black Dark Magic Pen to draw a few runes in the air, leaving a deep Soul Imprint deep in the minds of the five Ghost Warhorses, making them easier to command. After a pause, he continued in a deep voice, “Arnold, give you half an hour to gather the Lich Legion. Today, we will drive this chariot and crush all the unconstrained forces around the castle!”

Hu Feng decisively issued the order to go to war. He wanted to quickly establish his foothold in this dangerous Wasteland before many major forces could react. All unconstrained forces would either join his army or be ruthlessly crushed! With his command, the ancient Lich Castle instantly boiled over. Squadrons of Skeleton Soldiers with Killing Intent crossed the heavily guarded gates and stepped onto the dangerous and vast Wasteland.