Chapter 9: Does Anyone Actually Think Resurrection Is Hard?

As soon as he stepped into the tent, Xiahou Yan saw five human corpses lying side by side on the ground.

Staring at the still faces of the dead Guards, an inexplicable palpitation suddenly gripped his heart. "Master, are there only five corpses here?" he asked, turning his head quickly.

"The zombie horde was incredibly dangerous. Managing to retrieve five bodies is already quite a feat," Master Laurie said, his expression unchanged as he glanced at the corpses on the ground. Turning around, he hung the Lion Lantern high up to illuminate the entire space. He then shrugged and continued, "Zombies have a particular fondness for human flesh. Very few humans who suffer an attack from a zombie horde manage to leave behind an intact corpse like this."

Xiahou Yan nodded, his mood growing even heavier.

Even if all five Guards could be successfully revived like Alice, the resulting boost to the convoy’s combat strength would still be a drop in the bucket compared to the terrifying number of zombies.

Instead of rushing to test the Magic, Xiahou Yan crouched down to examine the Guards’ bodies.

The first things to catch his attention were the Guards’ blood-soaked clothes and the massive wounds that had claimed their lives.

Similar to Alice’s, the edges of these wounds were jagged and horrifyingly large. However, their locations varied across the corpses: some were on the head, others on the chest, and one corpse had its abdomen completely ripped open, exposing blood-red internal organs.

It was late autumn, and the weather was quite cold. Since they hadn’t been dead for long, the bodies hadn’t completely stiffened yet. When Xiahou Yan pressed his fingers against their skin, he could still feel a faint softness, though the freezing temperature beneath his fingertips proved that the breath of life had long departed from this flesh.

Xiahou Yan didn’t focus too much on the state of the corpses. In fact, he was more concerned with the equipment the Guards had worn when they were alive.

The five bodies before him were dressed more or less the same. They wore ill-fitting Leather Armor on their upper bodies and ordinary cotton trousers on their lower halves. Compared to Captain Alice’s Chain Armor, the gear of these regular Guards looked far cheaper.

He reached out and pinched a plate on one of the Leather Armor suits. The surface was covered in scratches and didn’t feel sturdy to the touch, making him doubt its craftsmanship and actual protective capabilities in battle.

Looking around, he noticed that these crude suits of Leather Armor did have iron plates sewn onto critical areas like the chest to improve safety. Clearly, however, this little bit of forethought from the armorer had ultimately failed to shield the Guards from the zombies’ biting teeth and scratching claws.

"These suits of Leather Armor were hastily purchased from the market by the Guard Team when the convoy set out from Eagle’s Rest Castle," Master Laurie explained from the side. "The Empire didn’t allow us to take any weapons or armor from our former territory."

Xiahou Yan nodded. Reaching toward the waist of one corpse, he unfastened the Saber hanging from the belt and lifted it to eye level for a closer look.

The Saber had no scabbard, and its hilt was haphazardly wrapped with a few layers of cowhide. As for the most crucial part—the blade—it appeared to be sharply ground, but the metal’s luster was terribly mottled, and there were dense, visible nicks along the edge. All of this indicated that the steel used to forge the Saber was of worryingly poor quality.

In short, it was a defective product unfit for serious use.

"This is the current level of equipment for the Guard Team," Master Laurie said, shrugging behind the Lord’s back with a peculiar tone.

Xiahou Yan knew exactly what the Master was implying between the lines. With this garbage gear, so what if he revived these Guards? Could they fight off the vicious zombies? The Lord might as well hurry up and run for his own life!

Xiahou Yan ignored the Master’s underlying meaning. After a moment of thought, he decided there was nothing more to see on the corpses. He stood up, took two steps back, and pulled the Essentials of Necromancy from his coat.

Master Laurie glanced at the book’s cover but quickly looked away, showing no signs of curiosity.

According to the traditions of the Magic Realm, a Mage’s book collection was an absolute taboo for others to touch; no other Mage was ever permitted to lay a finger on it. Master Laurie was indeed somewhat curious about the Essentials of Necromancy, but as the Lord’s fellow Mage, he politely chose to avoid suspicion and asked no questions.

Xiahou Yan flipped the Essentials of Necromancy open to the Chapter on the Resurrection Technique and gave Master Laurie a somewhat nervous nod.

Master Laurie returned a look of encouragement to the Lord.

Walking over to the corpse in the very center, Xiahou Yan took a deep breath and began to loudly recite the Spell for the Resurrection Technique, following the text in the book.

The vast majority of Magic Spells were written in the complex Ancient Iolaian Demon Language. Deciphering this eerie and twisted ancient script was almost always the very first lesson in any Mage’s academic career.

Although his grades at the Academy City hadn’t been ideal, reading the Ancient Demon Language was a basic skill that couldn’t stump a second-tier Mage like Eliot Igor. Xiahou Yan earnestly chanted the Resurrection Technique Spell from the book, fluently spitting out one obscure and difficult syllable of the Ancient Demon Language after another.

Soon, a Magic tide that only a Mage could perceive emerged within the tent.

Standing to the side, Master Laurie carefully sensed the fluctuations of Magic Power in the air. So far, the intensity of these fluctuations wasn’t particularly strong; it hadn’t surpassed the level of Magic Power resonance that a primary second-tier Mage could evoke. He wondered how the Lord was doing it. The Master furrowed his brow tightly.

Then, the Master witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

As the Lord uttered the final syllable of the Resurrection Technique Spell, a massive humanoid phantom materialized above the corpse without any warning!

Master Laurie nearly bit his own tongue. Summoning a phantom during Casting meant the Mage was communicating with the presiding Divine Spirit of the corresponding Magic Power attribute. This was an exclusive phenomenon that only occurred when attempting to cast a grandmaster-level Magic of the seventh tier or higher!

The Lord was genuinely attempting to cast the grandmaster-level Magic, the Resurrection Technique!

Dumbfounded, the Master stared at the Lord. He didn’t even notice that the image of the phantom in the air wasn’t the black-robed Death God corresponding to Netherworld Magic Power, but rather a tall, unfamiliar figure with a slightly bloated stomach!

While Master Laurie had missed it in his momentary lapse of attention, the prepared Xiahou Yan saw it clear as day!

That phantom was the fucking Lord Yama!

There couldn’t possibly be a second Divine Spirit in the world wearing a wide-sleeved black robe and an ebony beaded crown, possessing such a grim, stern, and ruthlessly impartial Eastern face!

He wondered, "Old man... how did you end up crossing over with me?" Staring at the phantom of King Yama in the air, Xiahou Yan ultimately didn’t dare to ask the question aloud.

The image of King Yama was fleeting. Soon, the fluctuations of Magic Power in the tent completely subsided, and everything returned to normal.

As if sharing a telepathic connection, Xiahou Yan and Master Laurie turned their heads and fixed their eyes on the corpse in the center of the tent.

Under the joint gaze of the patriarch of the Igor Family and the Chief Mage, the Guard—who had tragically died in the zombie horde and whose body was already half-stiff—experienced a rapid healing of the wound on his chest. Then, he shakily sat up from the tarp used to hold his corpse.

The Guard, who appeared to be in his twenties, reached up to rub his eyes before finally noticing the two important figures standing in front of him.

The Guard froze for a moment before asking in confusion, "Lord? Master Laurie? Where am I? What about the zombie horde?"

Xiahou Yan swallowed hard and was about to answer when he felt Master Laurie poke him in the back.

It was then that the terrified Lord discovered that the other four Guards’ corpses nearby were also sitting up stiffly from the ground, one after another...