Chen Zhou felt a surge of energy envelop his body, and a beam of faint white light radiated from the Bone Altar.
Power continued to well up within him, and with the completion of the sacrifice, Chen Zhou's level rose from Confined Grade to Umbral Grade.
【Level: Umbral Grade】
【The second level of evil spirit. Hazard range expands to an entire residential building, such as houses, inns, or ancestral halls. The evil spirit can move freely within the building, from the main hall to the side rooms, or from the attic to the cellar.】
【You have completed a sacrifice and obtained a Mysterious Grade lottery ticket.】
The range of his Ghost Domain surged accordingly, and his ability to control enslaved ghosts strengthened. The Ghost Servant population on his panel updated as well:
【Current Ghost Servants: 0/10】
In general, he was several tiers stronger than he had been at the Confined Grade.
'Good, good, good. I really am terrifyingly strong now!'
Chen Zhou was extremely satisfied. He glanced at the sacrifice panel again.
【Current Progress Level: Umbral Grade】
【Forging Bones Progress: ordinary flesh 0/10,000】
【Painting Skin Progress: ordinary blood 0/10,000】
【Refining Body Progress: ordinary souls 0/10,000】
The next sacrifice would require gathering 10,000 portions of flesh, blood, and souls.
Chen Zhou understood.
'Kill ten thousand people... with my current abilities as an evil spirit, it's not that difficult.'
Chen Zhou swiped through the panel, his eyes devoid of any emotion.
He had struggled for years in the apocalypse in his previous life.
When it came to killing, he wouldn't say it was as natural as breathing, but he was certainly far from being a clumsy novice. The blood on his hands from those few lives taken had long since been eroded by the cruelty of the end times.
In the apocalypse, human life was the cheapest thing of all.
But the only problem now was that his true body was the Bone Altar.
'I’m a damn altar. I can't exactly grow legs and sneak out to kill people for their flesh and blood, can I?'
Chen Zhou let out a helpless tsk, feeling his temples throb.
Despite the headache, there was no other way for now.
Chen Zhou suppressed his thoughts and tapped on the mission in the beginner tutorial.
【Mission Requirement: Complete one sacrifice.】
【1/1】
【Mission Reward: Bone Summoning, bone material x10】
Once the mission was completed, a new ability was added to Chen Zhou's personal panel.
【Ability 3: Bone Summoning】
【1. Consume 5 portions of bone material to summon one Bone Ghost Servant that obeys your commands.】
【2. Consume 5 portions of bone material to summon one Netherflame Ghost Servant that obeys your commands.】
【Note: Each Bone Ghost Servant and Netherflame Ghost Servant occupies one Ghost Servant population slot. Their range of action is limited to a one-kilometer radius centered on the caster.】
【Using special materials will summon unique Ghost Servant units. Please explore specific recipes on your own.】
After receiving the skill, Chen Zhou did not hesitate. He immediately exited the Ghost Domain and chose to use Bone Summoning.
Two portions of bone material instantly vanished into ghostly light, and a spray of fine fluorescent particles rose above the altar.
Where the light fell, a bleached white skeleton stood up. There was no light in its empty eye sockets. Beside the skeleton, a globule of eerie green netherflame floated and flickered.
But before Chen Zhou could take a closer look at his summons, he discovered a few uninvited guests outside the Ghost Domain.
Next to the skeleton and the netherflame, a massive black python was coiled on the ground. Its scales gleamed with a cold, hard luster in the moonlight, its body so large it rivaled the mutated beasts of his past life, occupying most of the open space in front of the altar.
In front of the giant python, a dozen people in tattered clothes were shivering.
The muscles on their arms had long since withered into thin lines, and their sagging skin hung like rags on bamboo poles, drooping as they trembled. Their eyes were sunken and filled with despair.
Huh?
People?
What’s going on?
And this big snake!!
The flesh and blood energy of this snake is actually so abundant??
...
Shitou originally thought he was going to die.
He only felt the chill at his neck grow heavier—the fishy breath from the giant snake's flickering tongue carried a wind that almost snatched his soul away.
Suddenly, a soaring pillar of light erupted behind the snake demon.
Shitou's heart pounded wildly.
'Is... is it an immortal who heard my prayer?'
He looked up with hope, but the moment he saw what was inside the light, the blood in his body froze instantly.
He saw a pale skeleton crawl out of the pillar of light.
The skeleton was shrouded in a layer of gray death energy. With every step, the collision of dry bone and ground made a crisp "clack-clack" sound, as if it would fall apart at any moment, yet it exuded strangeness from every pore.
A flickering green netherflame loomed beside the skeleton.
As the skeleton walked forward, Shitou felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
Not an immortal.
It was an evil spirit.
It was over.
But then, an even more shocking sight appeared.
The originally tyrannical snake demon now looked as if it had seen its natural predator, its vertical pupils filled with terror.
That massive snake body, capable of crushing large trees, coiled tightly together.
Its scales rubbed against the ground, making a rustling sound. The snake's body was even trembling uncontrollably.
It suddenly reared its head, hissing sharply.
But there was no intimidation in that sound; instead, it was the bluster of something pushed to the limits of fear.
'So... so even demons have things they fear?' Shitou thought in a daze.
At that moment, the green netherflame suddenly moved.
It flickered and instantly vanished into the darkness. When it reappeared, it had silently drifted to the side of the snake demon.
The flame looked gentle and harmless, but the snake demon acted as if it had touched something fatal. It recoiled violently, its tongue flickering faster, the fear in its eyes intensifying.
The skeleton remained silent as it slowly approached the giant snake.
The giant snake seemed pinned to the spot; it didn't run, and it didn't dare hide.
Once the skeleton reached the snake demon, it raised its loose bony palm. Without any fancy movements, it simply gave a light squeeze.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound of shattering rang out. The snake demon's rock-hard head was easily crushed like an eggshell.
Dark green blood sprayed out, splattering across the ground.
The villagers had long since collapsed to the ground in terror, their faces as pale as paper and their lips trembling too much to speak.
There really was an evil spirit in the Dead Man’s Forest!
And such a powerful one!
The snake demon's scales were incredibly hard; even knives and spears could only leave white marks on them.
Yet its head had been crushed by the evil spirit's single hand!
Is this... an evil spirit...
...
"How boring."
Chen Zhou glanced indifferently at the giant snake's corpse.
Perhaps it was the leap in life tier brought by his level increase, or perhaps it was his instinct as an evil spirit.
He could tell at a glance that this snake and those people were pathetically weak. To him, it was merely the difference between an ordinary ant and a slightly stronger soldier ant.
Crushing them made no fundamental difference.
Simply controlling two Ghost Servants to take action had confirmed his suspicions.
Utterly fragile.
However, Chen Zhou hadn't expected the skeleton's combat power to be so high—it was roughly at the level of crushing boulders with its bare hands.
Yet the netherflame was far too harmless.
The netherflame was clearly the first to receive the attack command, but under its strike, the giant snake didn't even suffer a burn.
Logically, consuming the same amount of bone material shouldn't result in such a large gap.
Chen Zhou rubbed his chin.
'I thought it was the classic warrior and mage combo... Is this netherflame just for show? Specifically used to enhance my aesthetic as an evil spirit?'
That doesn't make sense.
Rate on N.U.
