Chapter 353: I Don’t Want to Regret
There was no wind on the sea.
The sea surface was calm.
Tall fish fins, like battle flags, suddenly appeared above the water.
A large group of sailfish flicked their powerful tails and swam swiftly through the shallow waters with agile movements.
In front of them, a silver level whale was frantically trying to escape.
The whale was massive and moved slowly, quickly caught up by the sailfish.
The sailfish darted like arrows, piercing the whale’s defenses with their long, sharp beaks
The whale bled profusely, emitting agonized cries.
Soon, the massive whale lost its life, its heavy body sinking slowly to the ocean floor.
The sailfish remained in place, gathering into a group, quietly awaiting the arrival of their leader.
The aura of a gold level magic beast swiftly rose from beneath the sea surface.
The leader of the fish school appeared.
It was a gold level sailfish, but it had only a fish head remaining.
The sailfish head emitted cries and magic fluctuations, continuing to command the sailfish school.
The sailfish dived to the bottom, using their razor-sharp mouths to slice through the whale's corpse.
Soon, blood spread rapidly, staining more and more seawater red.
Not long after, an eerie, gloomy mist covered the battlefield, and the ghost ship sailed into the area.
On the ship's rail stood Cang Xu, Xiao Wang Zi, and Ku Feng.
Their leader, Jian Gui, had merged with the ghost ship in his ghostly form. This allowed him to expand the ghost ship's reconnaissance range. Whenever they entered unfamiliar waters, Jian Gui would do this to prevent unforeseen circumstances.
As for Qing Xin, the only living person on board and a wind magician, during the ghost ship's voyage, she frequently used the Wind Booster spell to increase the ship's speed, contributing her value.
The sailfish school immediately became agitated and chaotic upon the ghost ship's arrival.
Almost all living beings instinctively felt fear, disgust, and other negative emotions toward undead lifeforms.
Positive energy and negative energy inherently opposed each other.
“Another silver level whale,” Ku Feng exclaimed with admiration, "Today's luck is good; this is already the third one this morning.”
Cang Xu smiled: “After all, this is the Whale Song Sea; it's normal for there to be more whales here.”
Xiao Wang Zi looked enviously at Cang Xu: "You can actually command the existing school of fish through the death head. Not only for hunting, but also to have the fish school process the corpses for us—that's truly convenient!"
Cang Xu smiled; he hadn't anticipated such benefits from practicing the Flying Head Spell.
The group of necromancers departed from Jian Gui's safe house and headed directly for the White Hair Trench.
During this time, Cang Xu practiced and gained a basic mastery of the necromancy spells involved in the Flying Head Spell.
As they were about to enter the Whale Song Sea, they were attacked by a school of sailfish.
Jian Gui personally intervened, dispersing the school of fish, after which Cang Xu voluntarily requested and successfully obtained the head of the sailfish leader.
He utilized the Flying Head Spell, narrowly succeeding in gaining control of a gold level death head.
Through this sailfish head, he unexpectedly discovered that he could indirectly control the sailfish school.
During subsequent voyages, he focused on gathering sailfish, gradually forming the current-sized school.
The Flying Head Spell had already begun to demonstrate its advantages in Cang Xu's hands.
It should be noted that while Cang Xu appeared to be a silver level necromancer, his true rank was only iron level.
Yet he had managed to transcend two levels to control a gold level death head.
This degree of crossing levels was absurd.
Among the three necromancer aspects, the bone aspect controlled skeletons, the corpse aspect commanded zombies, and the soul aspect wielded ghosts—all capable of forming armies.
They could also cross realms to control servants stronger than their own bodies.
But Cang Xu easily compared and found that their realm-crossing capabilities paled in comparison to the Flying Head Spell.
“The Flying Head Spell must have drawn upon the essence of the corpse and soul aspects, making transcending levels much easier.”
"Through the death head, I can indirectly control the beast herd. But two conditions must be met: first, the beast herd must have very limited intelligence. Second, the death head must restrain all its undead aura."
The whale was quickly sliced to pieces by the sailfish swarm.
"As per our previous agreement, the flesh and bones are yours. The souls belong to Lord Jian Gui; I'll only take the heads." Cang Xu distributed the spoils.
After tasting the benefits of the Flying Head Spell, Cang Xu now viewed every head with a different perspective.
Xiao Wang Zi saw another whale head fall into Cang Xu's hands and couldn't help but exclaim, “This is already the fifth one, right?”
“Unfortunately, whales exist in family units.”
“However, summoning five whale death heads at once is still quite impressive.”
Xiao Wang Zi imagined the scene and became excited.
Cang Xu gave a wry smile and replied, “You're underestimating the difficulty of the Head Creation Spell.”
“In fact, the higher the level of the skull material, the harder it is to succeed.”
“I was very lucky to have mastered the art of making sailfish death heads; such success is almost impossible to replicate.”
Cang Xu gradually began to grasp some of the mysteries of the Head Creation Spell.
Although the Head Creation Spell is a necromancy spell, necromancy was merely the foundation. What was truly utilized was a vast formation of alchemy techniques.
One could even say that alchemy techniques were the more critical element, significantly determining the success rate of death head creation.
The more appropriate and advanced the alchemy techniques employed, the higher the quality of the resulting death head, endowed with extraordinary power.
This posed a significant challenge for Cang Xu.
Cang Xu's expertise in alchemy was quite ordinary, and he had no natural talent for it.
Even attempting to replicate alchemy formations would likely result in failure.
In recent days, Cang Xu had showcased his skills through the inheritance of the Flying Head Spell.
But he was well aware that his alchemy abilities would severely limit the potential of the Flying Head Spell in the future.
“To avoid this weakness, the most direct solution is to rely on external assistance.”
“But where can I find an alchemist who is suitable for me and whom I can trust to collaborate with?”
The people around Cang Xu were not suitable.
Among them, Xiao Wang Zi had a notable talent for alchemy.
But Cang Xu had no intention of asking him for help.
Because Xiao Wang Zi was a necromancer himself.
If he participated in the creation of the death head, he would easily uncover the secrets of the Flying Head Spell during the process.
This would be very easy for him.
Cang Xu was also thinking of using the teachings of the Flying Head Spell as a bargaining chip to trade with these necromancers.
Especially Jian Gui.
If possible, Cang Xu wanted to obtain more advanced necromantic inheritance from Jian Gui. Whether it was soul crystals or memory crystals, such knowledge would bring immense assistance to both Cang Xu himself and the survivors.
“But if one isn't a necromancer, which normal alchemist would collaborate with a necromancer?”
“This is something that can't be hidden or avoided.”
“The foundation for creating a death head is undead magic power.”
While Cang Xu was worrying about the future, he didn't know that two alchemists had already joined the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.
And one of them was a prodigious new talent among the few in the entire Ice Sculpture Kingdom!
When the fishman magician Zhong Yong heard that Bu Quan had agreed to recruit him, he was so shocked that he fell off his seat.
“Magician Zhong Yong, are you okay?” the dragonman youngster expressed his concern.
Zhong Yong hurriedly said, “I just didn't sit properly. I'm fine.”
But his stammering tone and shocked expression revealed the extreme turmoil in his heart at that moment.
Bu Quan maintained the posture she had when she agreed to recruit him. She stared at the dragonman youngster with intense eyes, her face flushed.
Zi Di did not hide her surprise, but seeing Bu Quan's gaze, she couldn't help but be taken aback.
She instinctively looked at the dragonman youngster.
The latter looked at Bu Quan and laughed foolishly.
The ghost girl's expression darkened, filled with confusion, unease, and irritation.
She forced herself to suppress her emotions and pulled out a blank spell scroll: “Let's discuss the specifics.”
“The most important item—remuneration.”
“What is your ideal salary, Bu Quan?”
Bu Quan paused, unsure of how to respond: “I’m sorry, Magician Yao Ma, I haven’t thought about that yet.”
“You can decide.”
Zi Di froze, wondering: Was that her honest answer, or was it a negotiation tactic?
Zhong Yong was stunned!
“What do you mean, ‘you can decide’?”
“Hey, you're Bu Quan!”
“How can you be so casual about something as important as compensation?”
“Please show some dignity!”
“You're an Alchemy Great Master, a genius of the kingdom!”
Zhong Yong roared in his heart, frustrated by her lack of ambition.
Bu Quan's 'you can decide' didn't faze Zi Di.
The ghost girl had prepared extensively and immediately began speaking confidently: “As far as I know, there are currently three main methods for hiring alchemists...”
She detailed the differences between the three methods and kept observing Bu Quan's reactions throughout.
Bu Quan no longer stared at the dragonman youngster.
She had already exhausted her courage by staring at him earlier.
Her gaze shifted around, and after a moment of thought, she replied, "I don't have high demands for an annual salary. If I must say, I prefer a profit-sharing arrangement. For each alchemy item sold, a proportion of the profits should be allocated to me. The specific proportion will be determined based on the specific alchemy item. What do you think?"
“No problem.”
Bu Quan added, “After joining, I hope the working environment will be better, at least as good as the conditions I had in Snow Bird Harbor.”
“That's also no problem,” the dragonman youngster replied, "The gratuity you receive will be entirely yours to use. In the future, we will definitely provide you with better alchemy tools."
The negotiations proceeded smoothly.
Bu Quan was easy to talk to, and the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps was indeed sincere.
But just as they were about to sign the contract, the fishman Zhong Yong couldn't help but ask, “Miss Bu Quan, what exactly made you decide to join a mercenary group?”
Bu Quan's expression faltered slightly, and images of her mother and mentor flashed before her eyes.
She smiled faintly: “Indeed, I have a clearer path in life, and I can be certain that this path will be full of promise.”
"But last night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. I asked myself if I will regret this."
“In the future, when I have achieved more and grown old, will I regret choosing a safe option in life when I look back on today?”
“I am still young.”
“I don't want to regret it.”
Her tone was calm, yet it revealed her resolve.
After speaking, she signed the magic contract.
Zhong Yong sighed deeply.
Zi Di's expression changed. She turned her head to look at the dragonman youngster, her gaze growing somber.
This time, it was the dragonman youngster who had a bad feeling.