Chapter 391: Ghost Seed Head, Head-Binding Spell

Cang Xu was also casting spells.

Under his command, a squadron of sailfish charged into battle from behind the ghost ship.

The sailfish launched their assault, skewering water monkeys one after another.

When colliding with stronger water monkeys, many sailfish crashed like ships against reefs, dying instantly.

The scene was brutal. The sailfish fought recklessly, stemming the tide of the water monkey horde.

When the enraged leader of the water monkey pack stormed onto the deck, the undead ronin Ku Feng immediately drew his blade to fight.

Ku Feng quickly found himself at a disadvantage, forced into retreat.

The water monkey pack leaders were all gold level, while Ku Feng's combat effectiveness was already diminished by fighting in the deep sea. Being only silver level and lacking the extensive gear of the dragonman youngster, merely holding off the leader was already commendable.

At the critical moment, Jian Gui intervened.

Gold level undead magic, amplified by the ghost ship itself, unleashed devastating power.

Soon, the water monkeys storming the deck were slaughtered to the last, including their leader.

After the battle, the group swiftly cleaned the battlefield, assessed losses, and divided the spoils.

Ship Ghost, Cang Xu, and Xiao Wang Zi all cast the Soul Summoning Spell, coalescing water monkey spirits from the corpses.

“These spirits are perfect for transforming into water ghosts,” Ship Ghost remarked with satisfaction as he took two gold level water monkey spirits.

Cang Xu and Xiao Wang Zi took only a small portion.

The finest spirits went to Jian Gui, while the vast majority were assigned to the ghost ship.

The more spirits parasitizing the ghost ship, the stronger the ship itself became. Simultaneously, the ghost ship provided protection and enhancements to the spirits aboard.

It was a mutually beneficial relationship.

Next, Xiao Wang Zi cast another necromancy magic—Summon Skeletons.

The corpses of the sharp-clawed water monkeys convulsed violently. Their bones split through the flesh, burrowing out.

“Water monkey skeletons... Hmm, passable,” Xiao Wang Zi appraised.

Finally, the remaining flesh and blood were divided.

The distribution followed strict rules based on combat contributions.

Qing Xin had also participated, so she received some water monkey flesh as compensation.

Cang Xu's primary objective was the water monkey heads.

The heads had to be intact—soul, bones, flesh, everything—preferably without a single part missing. Only then could the highest probability of creating death heads be achieved.

In the end, Cang Xu obtained five silver level water monkey skulls, several iron level ones, and a large quantity of bronze level skulls.

“The success rate of the Head Creation Spell is low, but this haul should guarantee me at least one water monkey death head, right?” After a period of cultivation, Cang Xu had roughly assessed his own success probability for performing the Head Creation Spell.

This time, to gather a large quantity of water monkey skulls, he spared no expense in commanding his sailfish fleet.

Consequently, after this battle, the sailfish fleet was nearly annihilated, suffering devastating casualties.

Thus, the sailfish carcasses met the same fate as the water monkeys, swiftly divided among the necromancers.

The specific distribution rules had been thoroughly discussed with others long before this battle.

Sacrificing the sailfish school was part of the plan.

Cang Xu had discovered that the sailfish death heads they produced were already severely damaged and difficult to preserve.

This damage occurred during an undersea hunt when Cang Xu's command was inadvertently mishandled, causing the death heads to sustain injuries.

“Though the techniques for preserving the death head were passed down to me by Doctor Sui Shi, I struggle to master them.” Cang Xu's own alchemy expertise limited his ability to fully harness the true power of the Flying Head Spell's legacy.

He had discerned the essence of this inheritance: alchemy was its core, while necromancy served merely as its foundation. In many aspects, profound alchemy mastery was required to achieve optimal results.

Returning to his assigned cabin, Cang Xu summoned the death head of the sailfish leader before him.

The next instant, he flicked his finger.

The death head exploded with a loud bang.

The explosion's force was minimal, shattering the decayed flesh and bones before leaving behind a ghostly essence.

This essence was compact, roughly spherical in shape. Within the gold gray mist enveloping the sphere, the form of a sailfish head occasionally materialized.

A wisp of ghostly fog rose from the top of the sphere.

This ghostly mist wasn't loose like long hair, but rather denser, resembling young rice shoots.

According to the Flying Head Spell tradition, after a modified death head shattered, what remained was the Ghost Seed Head.

Cang Xu opened his mouth and sucked the Ghost Seed Head into his mouth.

Necromancy - Head-Binding Spell.

He proceeded with the incantation. The sailfish Ghost Seed Head temporarily fused with his own, transforming into a purplish-blue sailfish mark. Like a tattoo, it appeared on Cang Xu's right cheek.

This represented another application of the death head.

When a death head was damaged beyond repair or intentionally shattered, it would leave behind a Ghost Seed Head.

Upon binding the Ghost Seed Head, the necromancer gained a certain probability of mastering all its abilities.

However, Cang Xu gained zero abilities from the sailfish Ghost Seed Head.

This was because he failed to invest resources into its modification. Consequently, the gold sailfish death head possessed no necromancy magic whatsoever, merely retaining the ability to command sailfish schools.

Now that the sailfish's form was gone, Cang Xu could no longer command them.

Typically, necromancers cultivated exceptional death heads, imbuing them with necromancy magic.

These spells were engraved within the Ghost Seed Head's body.

Upon binding, the necromancer effectively gained a built-in spellbook - boosting casting success rates, accelerating incantations, and reducing costs.

Cang Xu wasn't without this ambition; he had made attempts, all ending in failure.

As always, the true barrier to this inheritance lies in alchemy mastery.

For Cang Xu, merely crafting the death head of a gold sailfish was already a minor miracle.

Not only was he constrained by this limitation, but he also lacked sufficient undead resources, making further cultivation of death heads genuinely impossible.

“Even so, this gold level Ghost Seed Head remains my most valuable asset today.” Cang Xu touched his right cheek, feeling nothing unusual.

It was worth noting that the Ghost Seed Head offered another advantage.

Should Cang Xu ever desire a gold level sailfish death head in the future, he could release this Ghost Seed Head to seek out a gold level sailfish head and refine it.

The success rate of such refinement far surpassed starting from scratch!

“This too is a process of accumulation.”

“Hopefully, I can refine several silver level water monkey death heads next.”

"Since the highest material level is only silver level, one is too few, two barely sufficient, and three are just enough to handle minor situations."

Cang Xu took a moment to regroup before beginning work on the water monkey skull.

His combat strength was weak. This deep dive into the White Hair Trench had instilled a sense of urgency within him—he absolutely had to focus all his efforts on boosting his own fighting power.