Chapter 418: Will You Sell the Flying Head Spell?

The battle against a school of lanternfish made Cang Xu the star of the group.

The necromancers gathered around Cang Xu, their gazes filled with a mix of curiosity and a faint intensity.

Xiao Wang Zi asked curiously, “Xu Jia, how did your death heads suddenly gain the ability to cast spells? Why haven't I seen you use them before?”

Cang Xu explained that only after engraving magic models into the death heads could they wield corresponding magic.

Xiao Wang Zi understood, reexamining the skulls with renewed understanding. He praised, “So the Flying Head Spell has such ingenious applications?”

Jian Gui pondered, "A creature's skull serves as its cognitive base and the material foundation for spirit power. That must be why death heads can be imprinted with magic models."

"If that's the case, then different death heads should be able to imprint varying numbers of magic models. The higher the intelligence level of the skull's former owner, the more magic models that skull should be able to imprint."

Jian Gui briefly analyzed the situation, then glanced at Cang Xu with a questioning look.

Cang Xu felt a slight chill in his heart and could only nod, “That's right. Exactly.”

Jian Gui was a direct descendant of the orthodox necromancers, possessing profound knowledge of necromancy magic. This allowed him to analyze many things at a glance.

Cang Xu already had extensive practical experience. This experience indeed proved that Jian Gui's analysis was completely correct.

He used numerous undead materials to craft the death heads. He also consciously inscribed magic models onto different types of death heads for comparison.

At this stage, the death heads bearing the most magic models came from the sharp-clawed water monkey.

Sharp-clawed water monkeys themselves held a low status in the White Hair Trench, occupying the middle to lower reaches of the food chain.

Yet compared to other sea beasts, they possessed notably higher intelligence.

The difficulty of engraving magic models onto water monkey skulls was relatively low, yielding a higher success rate.

Cang Xu offered a wry smile to the other necromancers. "Engraving magic models onto these skulls is extremely challenging. What you see are only the finished products. The failed skulls have all been scrapped, their number is five or six times that of the successful ones."

Cang Xu was not exaggerating.

For he had been engraving them within the ghost ship's hold.

Jian Gui could merge with the vessel itself. It was likely that Jian Gui had long observed him engraving these magic models.

Hiding this was pointless; honesty felt far more straightforward and sincere.

Xiao Wang Zi stroked his chin with slender fingers, pondering, "So, these skulls are essentially spellbooks themselves? Imprinting magic models into them is just like crafting individual spellbooks, right?"

“Following that logic, the success rate of engraving magic models should correlate with the necromancer's alchemy expertise, right?”

Xiao Wang Zi paused, turning his gaze toward Cang Xu.

Cang Xu could only nod slightly once more.

Xiao Wang Zi's tone grew increasingly astonished: "If these dead heads are all spellbooks, then the cost of producing spellbooks is ridiculously cheap! That must be the greatest advantage of the Flying Head Spell. The stronger a necromancer's alchemy skill, the lower the cost of crafting spellbooks." 

Cang Xu had resolved to remain silent. 

In this single battle alone, he hadn't said much, yet both Jian Gui and Xiao Wang Zi had glimpsed many of the mysteries of the Flying Head Spell.

Jian Gui added, “Cost is merely one of its advantages.”

He turned to Xiao Wang Zi: "Death heads are far more practical than spellbooks.   Suppose you had countless spellbooks, could you cast them all simultaneously?   That's clearly impossible." 

“But a necromancer can command these death heads to cast spells in unison.” 

Upon hearing this, the undead ronin Ku Feng also wore a look of astonishment. 

Even without being a necromancer, he grasped the value of the Flying Head Spell from these words. 

Cang Xu sensed trouble and hurriedly explained, “These death heads are far inferior to proper spellbooks. They have many drawbacks.” 

"Even if I engrave the magic models onto them, once the death heads cast spells, the model wears down. The more they're used, the more they wear down, until they can no longer cast spells. But that's not the worst part."

“Those skulls that have had magic models engraved but have had them erased from overuse, they can never have new magic models engraved again.”

Xiao Wang Zi listened and suddenly understood: “I see. It's like a piece of paper, once you've scribbled all over it, you can't erase it cleanly. It becomes unusable.”

“Though these death heads are undead entities, not fully formed magicians.”

“No,” Jian Gui corrected, “To be precise, they're merely unfinished products.”

Xiao Wang Zi nodded in agreement, “I also believe these death heads have significant room for improvement.”

This was precisely why Doctor Sui Shi had disseminated the Flying Head Spell.

He intended to release foundational knowledge, allowing diverse users to forge unique paths of advancement through varied experimentation.

Xiao Wang Zi continued: “In their current state, they aren't truly spellbooks, more like bundles of consumable scrolls.”

“But then again, most spellbooks are consumable too, magicians simply replenish materials during use to offset the wear.”

Cang Xu sighed again, “Truthfully, these death heads pale in comparison to regular ghosts, skeletons, or zombies.”

“Their combat capabilities are far weaker.”

“Even if they could be organized into magician squads, couldn't ordinary necromancers do the same?”

"Mass deployment of skeleton archers forms an archer legion; concentrated use of ghosts creates a ghost army. The most classic example is the corpse mage, any squad of corpse mages is essentially a magician squad, isn't it?"

“You're quite right.” Jian Gui continued, “But I believe death heads hold significant advantages over conventional undead lifeforms.”

“If my guess is correct, the mental burden they impose on necromancers should be far less than that of ghosts, zombies, and the like.”

"Moreover, if we're to organize a magician squad, we must be extremely selective. Among the undead lifeforms we create, only a minority possess spellcasting abilities. And even fewer possess identical spellcasting abilities."

“Without shared spells, achieving economies of scale is difficult.”

“Death heads, however, cast spells with remarkable ease and can actively choose which magic models to imprint.”

“For a necromancer to command these death heads in spellcasting is far easier and more precise than managing a magician squad formed from conventional undead.”

Cang Xu was rendered speechless.

Jian Gui's gaze was piercingly sharp, truly worthy of an undead orthodoxy.

He stared at Cang Xu and suddenly asked, “Is this Flying Head Spell for sale?”

At these words, Cang Xu's spirits soared.

Wasn't this precisely the response he'd been hoping for?