The extremely cunning bone dragon Zasika was about fifteen metres long. Its body was made of thick and solid white bones, as if it were made of the hardest iron and stone. His body was also filled with rich Death Qi.
When the bone dragon roared, all the higher-level undead creatures began to flee, while the lower-level undead creatures stood still, trembling under the pressure of the bone dragon's imposing aura.
The bone dragons of the Netherworld were different from the standard dragon race of the Profound Continent. As a special clan of dragons born in the netherworld, bone dragons possessed tremendous strength from the moment they were born. This was because they were made of pure white bone, which was resistant to most physical and magical attacks.
Bone dragons were strange creatures, raised in the unusual environment of the underworld. They were also able to deftly manipulate the death qi of the netherworld, and even possessed some mystical dragon breath abilities. As a result, they were more powerful than most of the dragon clans in the Profound Continent.
The three undead creatures who had planned to surround and attack the little skeleton had already fled in different directions upon hearing the bone dragon's roar, no longer interested in attacking the little skeleton. The little skeleton that had received the Serene Glow Gem while the Bone Dragon Zasika wasn't paying attention immediately flew towards Han Shuo. As it was about to reach Han Shuo, Han Shuo immediately abandoned the skeletal body he had condensed from the Death Qi and willed his consciousness to float beside the little skeleton.
As soon as Han Shuo's consciousness reached the little skeleton's side, the little skeleton pushed the Serene Glow Gem into Han Shuo's ghostly consciousness without a second thought. It then urged the bone demon to flee into the distance.
As the bone dragon flew out of the pitch-black spring, it immediately emitted the imposing aura of a high-level undead creature. After the numerous undead had fled, he stared at the fleeing skeleton and roared, "Dark, despicable skeleton, you won't be able to escape.
After a long, loud roar into the boundless sky, the bone dragon went straight after the little skeleton. The bone demon underneath the little skeleton had been refined by the little skeleton with the bones of the highest level magical creature found in the forbidden land of the Profound Continent. Within the netherworld, the flying speed of the remodeled bone demon was actually extremely fast. Even the lightning-fast bone dragon, Zasika, couldn't catch up with it in a short time.
At that moment, the Calm Luster Gem that the little skeleton had casually stuffed into Han Shuo's consciousness suddenly merged with the mental energy in his consciousness. A mysterious mental energy suddenly entered Han Shuo's consciousness, gradually merging with the original mental energy within.
Han Shuo suddenly shivered. This method of increasing his mental strength had the same feeling as when he had been imbued with mental strength under the Cemetery of Death. Han Shuo could almost immediately confirm that the item that had enhanced his mental strength in the Cemetery of Death must also have been a tranquil luster gem.
However, this wasn't the time to think about why there would be a Serene Glow Gem in the Cemetery of Death. Based on his previous experience, Han Shuo immediately absorbed the mental energy flowing from the Serene Glow Gem into his consciousness to his heart's content. He also tried his best to seize the opportunity to refine the mysterious energy of the Serene Glow Gem.
Suddenly, an incomparably huge amount of mental energy rushed into Han Shuo's consciousness. This caused a sharp pain to spread, soon after which Han Shuo felt dizzy and wasn't sure what to do.
"Argh..."
As Han Shuo let out a resonant scream of pain, the skeletal staff that his true body was clinging to whistled sharply and endlessly back on the Profound Continent. Han Shuo's originally confused eyes gradually regained clarity.
While a huge amount of mental energy was still swirling in his mind, Han Shuo suddenly felt that he was holding something hard in his left hand. When he looked down, he saw that it was indeed the mysterious skeleton staff. Han Shuo was shocked, but soon became ecstatic. He understood that he had once again mysteriously returned from the netherworld to the Profound Continent.
Excitedly, Han Shuo didn't think any further, he hastily discarded all distracting thoughts and began to merge the remaining pure mental energy flowing in his consciousness with his original mental energy. At that moment, he was filled with immense joy.
After an unknown amount of time, Han Shuo gradually felt that the mental energy from the Netherworld Serene Glow Gem had been completely absorbed. At that moment, an intense scream was transmitted from the little skeleton in the Netherworld. Han Shuo suddenly remembered the recent experience of escaping from the Netherworld, and remembered that the little skeleton was still being pursued by the Bone Dragon Zasika.
The little skeleton's scream was obviously a cry for help. Han Shuo didn't hesitate to cast the lowest level necromancy spell. The little skeleton riding the bone demon suddenly arrived in the hidden underground room.
The little skeleton had indeed emerged unscathed. However, the bone demon he was riding had more than ten of its bones broken, probably by the bone dragon. When he returned from the netherworld, the little skeleton patted his chest like a human, but he was still afraid. He then sent a message to Han Shuo, "That cunning bone dragon is truly extremely frightening. However, I will definitely make him pay in the future."
Han Shuo looked at the little skeleton, his heart truly filled with boundless emotion. This little skeleton who had the ambition to kill the bone dragon was the same guy who helped him take out the garbage in the middle of the night?
"Father, how did you get into my world?" The little skeleton asked, its purple demon eye glittering as it looked at Han Shuo.
Han Shuo had gradually gotten used to the way the little skeleton addressed him. He laughed bitterly as he shook his head and replied, "I have no idea. However, I understand that it has something to do with this skeleton staff. I have not yet fully understood how it works. However, I believe I will be able to clarify the situation very quickly."
After Han Shuo explained the situation to the little skeleton, he knitted his brows and inquired, "Do you know exactly what the Serene Glow Gem I absorbed is?"
"This type of serene luster gem is an extremely rare item in our world. It can temper our soul and make our soul purer. It is extremely beneficial for our evolution." The little skeleton explained for a while, pausing for a moment before continuing, "Father, there are also some unusual items and strange beings in our world. For example, this apparition was created from a wraith. That giant knight is a soul from another plane that has descended to our world, and it has evolved from the body of an evil knight after absorbing death qi in this world..."
The little skeleton seemed to have planned to explain the world he knew to Han Shuo, taking great pains to explain the situation in the Netherworld to Han Shuo, as if to sweep away the misconceptions Han Shuo had about the netherworld.
From the little skeleton's descriptions, Han Shuo gradually realised that he still had a one-sided understanding of the Netherworld. It turned out that the creatures in the netherworld were not limited to those he knew from necromancy texts. The undead creatures listed in the necromancy texts were those that the ancient necromancers had known and found the spells to summon.
There were also a few evolved or mutated undead creatures, as well as eccentric undead creatures that were naturally produced by death qi on a particular occasion in a particular place. These undead creatures were unknown to necromancers and had never been successfully summoned. These special existences were just as formidable, so much so that some of them were stronger than bone dragons.
However, the necromancers of the past had never encountered them, nor had they found a way to summon them. Therefore, they did not exist in the necromancy books. However, for the little skeleton who had spent much time in the Netherworld, being of the same origin as these undead creatures, he naturally understood a few peculiarities that previous necromancers didn't know about.
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According to the little skeleton's account, Han Shuo also found out that the netherworld was divided into regions and territories. Some of the most ancient formidable existences occupied vast territories and were constantly fighting each other. There were even extremely formidable undead creatures that had the power to break the restrictions of their position, and the terrifying strength to travel across the world on their own.
"Father, I should return!" As Han Shuo slowly comprehended the little skeleton's words, the little skeleton suddenly transmitted a message.
Much time has passed. Since Han Shuo also had a mental link with the earth zombie and the other zombies, he could send the little skeleton directly to their side. In this case, the Little Skeleton and the Bone Dragon Zasika would be separated by an extremely large distance, and the Bone Dragon would naturally be unable to endanger the Little Skeleton again.
As soon as the little Skeleton reminded Han Shuo of this, he smiled, nodded his head, and sent the little Skeleton back to the Netherworld. Even after the little skeleton left, Han Shuo still thought about the little skeleton's story. The things the little skeleton had just mentioned were beyond Han Shuo's understanding, causing Han Shuo to be temporarily unable to adjust.
Han Shuo had gained a new level of understanding of the netherworld from the little skeleton's descriptions. It was also clear to him that this world was different from what he had first imagined. It seemed that not all creatures in the netherworld could be summoned by necromancers. Many formidable undead creatures that had transcended the bonds of their position would definitely not be limited by the strength of a necromancer's contract.
Shaking his head, Han Shuo stopped thinking about the netherworld. Han Shuo then chanted a spell, and using his mental energy, rows of bone spears took shape in front of him, silently forming in the air. Han Shuo simply counted the number of bone spears and was pleasantly surprised to find that the number of bone spears had increased by a third. This meant that Han Shuo's mental strength had indeed improved significantly. Although his mental strength was still within the realm of a Grand Magus, the stronger his mental strength was, the greater the power of a spell would be. Currently, Han Shuo was able to release so many more bone spears with the same spell. This was sufficient proof that Han Shuo's mental strength had indeed improved significantly in the netherworld.
"Serene Luster Gem. A truly good item. However, why would a serene luster gem appear under the Cemetery of Death? Also, why would the skeletal staff be able to let the soul enter the netherworld, could it be that there is some kind of connection between the Cemetery of Death and the creatures in the netherworld?" Han Shuo's eyebrows furrowed as he pondered.
Han Shuo could not answer this question in a short time. However, he knew that the Cemetery of Death definitely held many secrets, and he planned to carefully explore the Cemetery of Death after some time to see if there were any other items he had not yet discovered.
After his consciousness entered the underworld, Han Shuo had lost track of time. Now that he had returned to the Profound Continent, Han Shuo didn't know how long it had been, so he hurriedly left the hidden room and returned to the ground floor of his official residence and called Steward Kallas.
Steward Kallas spoke immediately as he rushed over, "Lord Count, where have you been these past few days? Miss Phoebe has come by three times looking for you, and His Majesty has also requested that you come to the royal palace to see him. On top of that, there have been bad rumours about you that have made me very worried."
"What bad rumours?" Han Shuo first grasped the main issue and asked Kallas about the damaging news about himself.
"That... that..." Steward Kallas hummed and hawed, only answering anxiously when Han Shuo stared at him, "Rumours have been spreading that you are a member of the Calamity Church. Very few ordinary people know about the Calamity Church, but many nobles and people of status understood that the Calamity Church was an evil organisation.
Han Shuo was shocked when he heard Kallas' answer. The Church of Calamity was the symbol of evil in the eyes of many nobles. Out of everyone on the continent who knew of the Calamity Church's existence, there couldn't be many who had a good impression of them.
Han Shuo had never dared to have too much contact with the Church of Calamity for fear of leaving such an impression. He would never have thought that despite keeping his distance from them, such a situation would still end up happening.
Without much thought, Han Shuo knew who the rumours had come from. Aside from the Church of Light and Lawrence's political enemies, Han Shuo did not have many enemies within the Kingdom of Lancelot. In the past few days, it was time for Han Shuo, who was rapidly rising up the ranks of the empire, to make some big moves. However, it was this rumour that could ruin Han Shuo.
This matter was quite delicate. Han Shuo hesitated for a moment before replying to Steward Kallas, "I understand. You can return first and help me invite Prince Lawrence and Miss Phoebe. Just tell them I want to talk to them tonight."
After giving Kallas his orders, Han Shuo left the mansion immediately. He hesitated for a moment before heading to the Dark Mantle headquarters to look for Candide.
When Candide saw Han Shuo, he immediately said, "Why have you taken so long? Come with me to see the king. I'm aware of your business and have already spoken to His Majesty about it. This matter has become quite large, we must handle it carefully.
On the way to the royal palace, Candide pointed out that the rumours were coming from the Church of Light, the eldest Prince Charles and the Grand Duke. As one of the three heavyweights of the Dark Mantle, it was of course very easy for Candide to investigate such a matter.
Han Shuo and Candide discussed for a while before they entered the royal palace through the Dark Mantle's teleportation matrix and headed straight for King Uhtred's palace.
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