For that technique, I was going to use the Ritual of Eternal Servitude and the Circle of Hungry Spirits as a base.
I immediately returned to my room, ordered the servants to not interrupt me, stacked a lot of paper to write on, and submerged myself in research.
Over and over, I drew symbols, imagined rituals, and used my Qi to test things I found promising. So far, it has led to nothing but releasing Death energy in my room.
Soon, it became so thick that it set my teeth on edge. I ignored the feeling.
As I expected, my current task was much harder than making Better Blade Breaker. However, there was an immense promise in it.
Hungry spirits were swift, deadly, and smart enough to, at least, fight. Making an eternal hungry spirit, even one, will solve many of my worries.
In the beginning, my research went smoothly. I decreased the scale of the Circle of Hungry Spirits to summon only one at a time and called the resulting technique a Lesser Circle of Hungry Spirits.
It was small enough that I didn't need to torture anyone to death to test it in practice. The summoned spirits roamed the empty plot of land I used as a testing ground, and half an hour later disappeared under the rays of the sun.
But after this first success, I soon stumbled into a roadblock.
Hungry spirits were too incorporeal to hold the Death Qi that will make them lasting! They were just shadows of souls stuffed with Death energy. There was nothing even in the ritual itself that I could use to hold my Death Qi.
I sighed and rubbed my head.
By this point, three days have passed since I started working on creating the technique, and the last of them I spent trying to get through this roadblock.
My room was covered in papers with my notes, dusted with bone meal, and had so much Death energy in it so thick, I won't be surprised if evil spirits started appearing here on their own.
"I should clean up and air this place…"
"You should have never let it become such a mess, Disciple. Even pigs live in cleaner corrals!"
I didn't shriek like a little girl, but that was a very close thing.
Slowly, I turned around to see Lin Chu on the threshold of my room. Was I so deep in my thoughts that I didn't hear the door opening, or was he just that quiet?
"Master! The sight of you, even if it is so unexpected, blesses my day…"
He narrowed his eyes.
"What manner of foolishness you were busy with while I didn't keep an eye on you, Disciple? The Death energy in your room is so thick, I felt it from the hallway."
Normally I would be more concerned, but now my gaze fell on Lin Chu's Proto-Core. Lin Chu's Qi was partially depleted, probably from another fight on the walls. The spent Qi was colorless, but the rest of it was not.
Death and Water Qi swirled in Lin Chu's Proto-Core in an ominous, but harmonious way.
I had an idea. An epiphany, even!
"I, um… I'm doing research, Master. The techniques—"
Lin Chu walked to my table and picked up a few sheets of notes. His eyes widened.
"What is this? Are you trying to develop a new technique? No…" He ruffled through papers and picked up my notes for Lesser Circle of Hungry Spirits. "Have you done it already?"
I shrugged sheepishly.
"It's not complete yet… But I think I just got an idea I needed thanks to you, Master. If this works, we will have the undead soldiers we need."
Lin Chu put the notes back and looked at me strangely.
"Others ride the wind and break the waves, but you just walk over the clouds… Keep working, then, Disciple. But light some incense in this room, at least, if you want to use it for experiments."
He left, and I could finally write down my epiphany.
If hungry spirits are too incorporeal to last, I simply must enhance them with another element. One of the five elements of nature.
It didn't have to be Water, but I quickly realized that it harmonized with Death the most. Fire actively opposed Death, while other elements were neutral.
After this, my research became a smooth road again. In three more days, I had the complete technique, ready to be tested for the first time.
I went to an empty ground in the city. On a clean patch of soil, I placed a bowl of clean water with a drop of blood in it. This technique required nothing else.
I called it Wraith Summoning.
Qi of Death and Water moved in my body as I made gestures and drew symbols in the air and over the water bowl. Finally, I placed several symbols of Death and Water Qi into the bowl, detaching that Qi from my dantians.
This Qi was still refined and even had an imprint of my soul on it, but it wasn't attached to my soul anymore. From this moment, I won't be able to control it as easily as Qi in my dantians, although it was still possible and easier than controlling unrefined ambient Qi. By my estimate, the wraith took twice as much Qi as an Eternal Servant—the amount of Qi worth 100 low-grade Qi stones.
I did the last motions of the ritual and raised my hands in the air. In silent trepidation, I watched water from the bowl turn into mist and rise in the air.
Soon it became a silhouette of a man. The new type of undead that I called a wraith stared at me with dark holes of eyes.
"Kill, master?" it asked in a barely audible whisper.
I smiled. It worked! The creature could even speak.
Although from its words, the wraith must have inherited the bloodlust inherent in hungry spirits.
"Don't attack anyone, just follow me, wraith."
"Yes, master."
"And your name is now… Blank. Remember it. I will check it!"
"Yes, master."
I paused. It actually reacted to an order that didn't end with "wraith".
My smile widened.
"Let's show you to Lin Chu."