Chapter 34: Mental Strength Skills

Suddenly turning over and sitting up, Luo Yan slapped the bed hard with his right hand, but it startled the little Pinecone Bear Nono… This wasn’t out of anger but excitement, because in the low-level Necromancy Magic booklet gifted by Old Strom, he had seen two incredibly unbelievable skills.

— From Luo Yan’s perspective, which was more than a hundred years ahead of its time, the “Overview of Low-Level Necromancy Magic” (Fifth Edition, Human Era 8164) that Old Strom gave him only recorded the simplest low-level Necromancy Magic, and the content was stiff and outdated—clearly an earlier edition… But to his surprise, in this very ordinary and common “Overview of Necromancy Magic,” he actually spotted two advanced Mental Strength skills.

…

【Mental Whipping】: Advanced skill. It uses Mental Strength to directly attack the opponent’s mind, continuously inflicting unbearable pain. Because it works directly on the mental domain, this pain cannot be blocked out.

【Soul Pressure】: Advanced skill. Powerful Mental Strength can create a “deterrence” effect. Under certain circumstances, it may directly intimidate the enemy into submission and bring them under one’s control. Even if it fails, it can leave a psychological shadow on the enemy, seriously affecting their actions.

…

Wait, “Mental Whipping,” “Soul Pressure”… What the heck do these two skills have to do with Necromancy Magic? How could they be so openly recorded in the “Overview of Necromancy Magic,” and of all things, the “Overview of Low-Level Necromancy Magic”? Who was the guy that compiled this book? No wonder it never became popular—this is way too unprofessional, right?!

But… Luo Yan liked it!!

He had just been worrying about not having any suitable skills on hand, and now he had inexplicably found two. For a moment, Luo Yan didn’t even know what to say. Was this his grandmother’s “protagonist exclusive wish-fulfillment halo” or something?

After staring blankly for a while in speechless amazement, Luo Yan suddenly seemed to remember something. He immediately jumped up, walked quickly to the table, and pulled out the other magic notebook Old Strom had given him yesterday—since the “Overview of Low-Level Necromancy Magic” could bring such an unexpected surprise, could this Necromancer’s magic notebook also hold a similar surprise?

But this time, Luo Yan was destined to be disappointed. He very carefully flipped through that magic notebook from beginning to end three times, and finally had no choice but to give up. It was just a standard, by-the-book magic notebook, without the kind of unexpected surprise Luo Yan had imagined.

It was just the magic notebook of a sixth-rank Great Wizard. Before his rebirth, Luo Yan had already been a seventh-rank Magister, and a rare Undead Alchemist at that—someone on the verge of going down in history. Although some of the experiences and ideas in this notebook were not without inspiration for him, overall its value was still limited.

Hmm… It seems luck and unexpected surprises aren’t something that happens all the time… LOL

This guy let out a very greedy sigh, but his face still showed a satisfied expression. Two advanced Mental Strength skills plus a very obscure first-level Necromancy Magic spell called “Whisperer’s Murmur” (who said he got nothing at all from that wizard’s notebook?), this kind of harvest was more than enough to be called a full haul. At this point, Luo Yan was really starting to think of Old Strom’s house as his own personal treasure trove!

Wasn’t it? The first time he went, he got the legendary component “Super Electromagnetic Flying Needle.” The second time, he not only got three very practical skills and spells, but also obtained the legendary Battle Aura Heart Method. If he went a few more times, he’d probably move all of Old Strom’s remaining possessions to his own home… Actually, it already seemed like he’d taken almost everything.

Lying back down on the bed, Luo Yan felt a little more comfortable, but he was still far from fully recovered. This made Luo Yan pout helplessly. It seemed cultivating any kind of power wasn’t easy. Mental Strength skills might be easy to grasp, but their consumption of Mental Strength was truly astonishing. He had only been practicing the simplest “telekinetic object retrieval” just now, and before even half a Magic Hour had passed, his Mental Strength was completely drained. What about practicing even higher-level skills?

Thinking about how he still had a “huge” pile of advanced Mental Strength skills he hadn’t mastered yet, Luo Yan suddenly felt his headache getting worse… Strange, why didn’t he notice this problem back when he was cultivating “Mental Shockwave”?

Could it be because I already mastered that skill before my rebirth?

Somewhat puzzled, he rubbed his head. Luo Yan vaguely felt this wasn’t the right answer. Even when he cultivated it before rebirth, he never felt his Mental Strength run dry. Back then, his Mental Strength intensity wasn’t even as strong as it was now!

Because there was too little reference material available, Luo Yan couldn’t make a judgment. For now, he could only suppress this doubt at the bottom of his heart, while secretly resolving to read more material on this subject whenever he got the chance.

The headache felt much better, but continuing to cultivate was clearly out of the question. He couldn’t fall asleep lying down either. After thinking it over, Luo Yan simply got up, left the room, and headed for the study to see how the new Moonlight Battle Aura talent was doing now.

Silently arriving at the study door, Luo Yan poked his head in to look. The first thing he saw was Isaiah Thomas writing furiously. Just from his solemn expression, it was obvious he was being completely serious. After all, this was something he himself had to cultivate—nobody would dare take it lightly!

Luo Yan nodded with satisfaction. He was just thinking about whether he should greet this diligent, good student and give him a little surprise, when suddenly an “unexpected” phenomenon caught his attention—on Isaiah Thomas, who was writing furiously, a faint ripple of Battle Aura fluctuation suddenly appeared. Although it was very weak, it carried an obvious sense of pressure.

“Damn!! Am I seeing this right? Battle Aura like a mountain?!” Luo Yan’s mouth opened wide in disbelief, his face full of shock!

First-level Battle Aura, Battle Aura like steel—the user’s Battle Aura spreads through their bones and muscles, making their whole body’s muscles and skin as hard as iron, unbreakable…

Second-level Battle Aura, Battle Aura like a mountain—the user’s Battle Aura remains hidden and unexpressed, but it naturally gives people a spiritual pressure like a great mountain…

Third-level Battle Aura, Battle Aura released outward—the user’s Battle Aura automatically forms a protective barrier over the entire body, appearing to protrude three inches from the skin…

Luo Yan clearly remembered that during this morning’s training, Isaiah Thomas was still only at the “Battle Aura like steel” stage. But now, Luo Yan could vaguely sense that the Battle Aura fluctuation coming off him seemed to already have a bit of the flavor of “Battle Aura like a mountain.” In other words, in just these few short Magic Hours, Isaiah Thomas’s level had actually improved again, and he was about to break through!

— Seriously, how is this even possible? He just copied a Battle Aura Heart Method and he broke through his level just from copying? Then I’ll copy too—can I copy every magic spell I know a hundred times?!

【…Watching this new Moonlight Battle Aura talent who seemed to come with the legendary “protagonist template,” this guy was truly so envious he just wanted to smash his head into the ground!! LOL】