Suddenly hearing an unfamiliar voice—and one that was insulting them, no less—the group of already resentful Necromancers looked up in unison, their gazes locking onto the source of the sound.
But when they took a closer look, they realized the man’s face bore an uncanny resemblance to the statue of the Lord of the Undead standing nearby.
The laboratory fell into an instant silence.
All that remained was a group of Necromancers whose eyes darted back and forth between Chen Xu and the statue.
After a moment, the Necromancer closest to Chen Xu stepped forward and spoke with a solemn expression.
“Stranger, I don’t know why you’ve dressed up as the Lord of the Undead we worship.”
“But I must warn you that powerhouses at the level of the Lord of the Undead—or the Angel Priest rank in your Heaven—possess a heightened sense of perception.”
“Your behavior has violated the dignity of a powerhouse, and the consequences will be severe.”
“That’s right, the consequences are severe!”
“Exactly! How dare you offend the Lord of the Undead? We’ll take you—uh, we’ll take you to the church next door and let them punish you!”
Hearing this, Chen Xu was so amused he actually laughed.
A Necromancer was actually going to a church to look for backup.
Chen Xu swept a cold gaze across everyone present. Ghosts suddenly materialized behind each of their heads, and the chill on their souls instantly silenced them.
“Th-th-th-these are ghosts?!”
The freezing aura of the ghosts made it difficult for them even to speak.
“Are you... are you truly the Lord of the Undead?”
Chen Xu didn't respond, merely looking at them coldly.
“It really is you! This is wonderful! You finally heard our prayers! Great Lord of the Undead, please, save us!”
In an instant, something called hope appeared in the minds of these Necromancers.
Hope allowed them to temporarily ignore the chill of the ghosts; hope made them forget their fear; hope sent their emotions into a frenzy, and some even began to weep.
Facing this group of blubbering Necromancers, Chen Xu immediately felt a headache coming on.
Were these even Necromancers? They didn't have a shred of the dignity a transcendent should possess.
He was forced to exert soul pressure to restrain them and stabilize their emotions.
Only then did Chen Xu speak.
“You ask for my help, but as transcendent job-holders, you should know that in the transcendent world, everything has a price.”
“Furthermore, Necromancers are mages. If the standard repertoire doesn't work, can't you study a new direction?”
While suppressing them, Chen Xu had also scanned their souls, learning the reason for their emotional outburst.
As a group of Necromancers, they could neither summon skeletons nor cast curses, and they didn't have the money to cultivate bone spells.
If not for the trace of necrotic energy supporting them, they probably couldn't even defeat a slightly stronger ordinary person.
Their situation was indeed quite pathetic.
“My Lord, we've thought about studying other directions, but we aren't from any orthodox schools. In our original world, we Necromancers only knew that standard repertoire.”
“Asking us to research a new direction now is truly asking too much of us.”
“Yes, my Lord. The only one among us with an orthodox background was Master Loki. But unfortunately, during a hunt in the wild, Master Loki was struck by a demonic beast's holy beam, and he was turned to ash from the neck down.”
“The only thing left was his head, which is over there.”
The man pointed toward the offering table in front of Chen Xu's statue in the hall.
A lone white skull sat on the table; that was Master Loki.
“After Master Loki, our only researcher, died, we unorthodox practitioners tried to study the books he left behind for a long time, but we couldn't even produce a single worthwhile result.”
“In our desperation, we could only continue to cultivate bone spells. We barely manage to scrape by on the ticket revenue from this laboratory to support our cultivation.”
Having read their memories, Chen Xu knew they weren't lying.
The power of the Necromancer's standard repertoire was too great and the system was too mature, which led to Necromancers rarely exploring new systems.
After all, for the vast majority of low-level Necromancers, a system like the standard repertoire—which had a low entry barrier and high power—was the best choice. No one wanted to waste energy forging a new path.
As for the masters who had spent years immersed in the craft, the things they understood were far beyond what a beginner could learn.
This resulted in the current situation: a single root system, but one that was lush with foliage.
“My Lord.” The Necromancer who had previously fled in a panic crawled on his knees toward Chen Xu.
“My Lord, I beg you to bestow a new system upon us. We don't even look like transcendents anymore. When we go to the market to buy beast bones, we have to disguise ourselves beforehand, fearing others will recognize us as Necromancers and ridicule us.”
“We beg you to bestow a new system!”
The group of Necromancers prostrated themselves on the ground, their sincerity rivaling that of the skeleton soldiers under Chen Xu's command.
In truth, even if they hadn't asked, Chen Xu had intended to create a new system for them.
He had no choice; these guys were a disgrace to Necromancers everywhere. Furthermore, his statue stood right here. If they lived such miserable lives, it reflected poorly on him as well.
The church of the Heaven faction was right next door, surrounded by paladins, priests, and monks.
If ordinary people saw that those who followed the undead were so pathetic while those who followed Heaven were so glamorous, it would be a disaster.
The undead had only just made a name for themselves through the war to annihilate the interstellar pirates and the crusade against the Hell Archduke. He couldn't let a few Necromancers ruin that reputation now.
Just as Chen Xu was pondering what kind of system to create for these Necromancers—whose basic knowledge was inferior to his own—a familiar ripple of Holy Light appeared outside the laboratory.
As the Holy Light dissipated, a tall and majestic angel stepped out. The surrounding believers immediately dropped to the ground and began chanting.
“Wol, long time no see. Has your armor been upgraded?”
The newcomer was none other than Wol, the Archangel under Alifa's command. Compared to before, Wol appeared even more domineering, his armor covered in numerous engravings.
These engravings weren't mere decorations; they all contained the power of runes.
“Respected Lord of the Undead, this is all thanks to you and Lord Alifa. You two joined forces to defeat the Hell Archduke, and the Lord of Heaven was greatly pleased, bestowing a blessing upon Wol. Now, I am only one step away from becoming an Angel Priest.”
“I see.”
“Lord of the Undead, may I ask what brings you to the Xufa World? Are you looking for Lord Alifa? Or do you have other needs? Please, do not hesitate to tell me.”
“It’s nothing. I’m only here for this group of unpromising fellows.”
Chen Xu pointed downward.
“Necromancers?” Wol immediately understood. “Are you here for their transcendent path? The current regulations are already the limit of what we can do. Any further relaxation would conflict with Heaven’s doctrines.”
“Modifications of that level require following many protocols. It’s not something Lord Alifa can decide on his own.”
Wol assumed Chen Xu wanted them to loosen the restrictions on Necromancer cultivation. After all, they knew that under Heaven’s system, the path for a Necromancer was difficult—one might even say non-existent.
But this was already the maximum Alifa could manage.
As everyone knew, the larger the organization, the more standardized its regulations became, but this was accompanied by approval processes so long they were comparable to the road to the heavens.
“Rest assured, Alifa and I are allies who signed the Covenant of Saint Light. I wouldn't do anything to make an ally look bad.”
Hearing this, Wol breathed a sigh of relief. Since Angel Priest Alifa wasn't present, he was the only one available to receive a powerhouse like Chen Xu.
This was a powerhouse on the same level as an Angel Priest, one recognized by Lord Alifa and who had helped defeat a Hell Archduke.
It was impossible not to be nervous.
This was especially true since Chen Xu was still masking his realm and hadn't revealed his unique-tier aura.
Otherwise, if Wol knew that Chen Xu wasn't just at the eternal-tier but at the unique-tier—the same level as their Lord of Heaven—he probably would have been too terrified to speak.
“By the way, Wol, can you give me a copy of Heaven’s regulations? A complete one, if possible. I want to see what the taboos are.”
“Of course, that’s no problem.” As he spoke, Wol reached out and plucked a massive book from the nearby church; its size alone was comparable to an adult elephant.
“May I ask what use you have for Heaven’s regulations?”
“Oh, I just want to see the taboos so I can develop a new system for these unpromising guys.”
Chen Xu swept his mental strength over the book, his powerful soul instantly reading all its contents.
In just a moment, he thought of a new system that both complied with Heaven’s regulations and was compatible with Necromancers.
“Wol, Heaven should have quite a few Heroic Spirits, right?”
Wol blinked, not understanding why Chen Xu was suddenly interested in Heaven’s Heroic Spirits.
“Yes, Lord of the Undead. The war with Hell was truly tragic, and many warriors died during the charge.”
“Our priests could only preserve their broken souls and place them within statues. Through the offerings of believers, they gradually recover.”
“However, the damage caused to souls by Hell’s corrupting power is far too terrible. Souls below the mythic-tier cannot fully recover. Those brave warriors can only remain permanently within the statues, becoming guardians of the churches.”
“Mhm, that’ll do.”
Chen Xu turned to look at the Necromancers on the ground and said something that shocked both them and Wol.
“From now on, you will specialize in the Heroic Spirit system.”
Rate on N.U.
