Chapter 435: The Necromancers are Ready

Having secured Ba Qi's approval, Lady Sea Snake immediately sent her message.

Soon, aboard the Fluffy Cloud, Qi Ling received her orders.

She had remained on the flagship of the Powerless Pirates, under Lady Sea Snake's personal supervision. Though Qi Ling had been coerced into signing a magic contract, Lady Sea Snake remained uneasy about its validity. She feared the undead faction's nascent advantage might secretly undermine the pact, prompting her to adopt a cautious approach, keeping Qi Ling under her direct supervision whenever possible.

Upon receiving the message, Qi Ling's expression shifted slightly. She sighed inwardly: “What was bound to happen has finally come.”

She had long dreaded this moment, yet now that her fears had materialized, a strange calm settled over her, easing the constant anxiety that had gripped her before.

"If I were alone, I'd be at Lady Sea Snake's mercy now. But thankfully, Lord Jian Gui has arrived. I entrusted myself to the right person."

Though merely a silver level, Qi Ling possessed extraordinary intelligence.

After being taken captive, she had been scheming to escape.

During the Weeping Pine Naval Battle, she deliberately revealed her traitor identity and intentionally let Jian Gui and his group slip away.

On one hand, she genuinely couldn't bring herself to harm them. She had been summoned by Jian Gui and served as his alchemy assistant for a long time. During that period, she received Jian Gui's cultivation. He had even secretly broken certain orthodox principles of necromancy, imparting advanced knowledge of the soul aspect to her prematurely. Jian Gui was Qi Ling's benefactor. Her innate goodness remained intact. By consistently using soul crystals, she had effectively resisted the erosion of negative energy, preventing her from betraying the kindness shown to her.

On the other hand, Qi Ling also knew she couldn't rely solely on herself. She needed external aid to break through her current predicament.

Days prior, through a method she had secretly embedded within the water ghost's body, she had discreetly received contact from Jian Gui. The moment she received Jian Gui's message, Qi Ling was nearly overcome with excitement. The sliver of hope she had carefully preserved amidst despair suddenly burst into brilliant light.

“I understand,” Qi Ling transmitted back, acknowledging the message.

She immediately began making connections.

First, she contacted Jian Gui and others, then reached out to her former clan, the Da Ji Clan.

It should be noted that although Qi Ling was a necromancer, she had never revealed her true nature. Lady Sea Snake's disguise magic was exceptionally potent. Qi Ling had remained aboard the Fluffy Cloud for many days without anyone discovering the truth.

The ghost ship lay concealed somewhere within the White Hair Trench.

Ever since Jian Gui and Qi Ling established their secret communication, they had not launched any further attacks. Instead, they remained hidden here, patiently awaiting the right moment.

On one hand, this was because their combat strength had nearly reached its peak. The room for improvement was minimal, and they could no longer progress as rapidly as before. On the other hand, the primary purpose of Jian Gui and his companions coming here was to rescue Qi Ling. They did not wish to expose themselves and lose more than they gained.

Jian Gui had long been awaiting news of Qi Ling. Now, upon receiving it, he immediately rallied the others and began the operation. Xiao Wang Zi was the first to emerge from his cabin onto the deck. He raised his arms and shouted, “This day has finally come!”

He was the least patient among them, nearly bursting with anticipation.

Ku Feng was the second to appear on deck. As a zombie fighter and undead ronin, his sword training had been suspended, yet he maintained remarkable composure.

These past days, he had paused his active cultivation, instead honing his stillness practice in his cabin - meditating while embracing his long sword.

This training method truly opened Cang Xu's eyes.

In Cang Xu's view, meditation had always been a practice reserved for magicians.

Driven by the curiosity of an accomplished magician, Cang Xu couldn't resist asking Ku Feng about it when the opportunity arose.

Ku Feng replied: Though he wasn't a magician and couldn't absorb external energy through meditation, pursuing the blade path required integrating both movement and stillness. Dynamic practice meant wielding blades, refining chopping techniques, honing movement angles, and testing them in combat. Static practice involved constant meditation, forging an unseen bond with one's weapon, and tapping into the user's inner spiritual power.

He further explained to Cang Xu that this philosophy of the fighter originated from the Eastern Sheng Ming Empire.

Ku Feng himself was rather taciturn, but over these days, Cang Xu had earned their recognition through his interactions with them. That recognition deepened steadily with time.

Thus, Ku Feng explained it to Cang Xu in detail.

“The Eastern Empire...” Cang Xu murmured in admiration. He knew that the martial arts cultivation in the eastern regions of the Empire had always been underpinned by meticulous theoretical frameworks. Compared to other parts of the Empire, these theories possessed distinct characteristics—they were richer and more refined.

Cang Xu couldn't help but think of Rou Zang.

This formidable gold level fighter was the first powerful being the survivors encountered after leaving the Mystifying Monster Island. To this day, Cang Xu remembered him vividly.

Rou Zang hailed from the Great Pain Temple, a powerful religious organization situated in the Eastern Empire.

Jian Gui joined the discussion, stating, "It is true that some martial warriors practice stillness cultivation. Though lacking a magic pool, they can indeed tap into their innate spiritual power through meditation."

"More broadly, this spiritual power is termed spiritual energy. Spiritual energy also forms the foundation of a clergyman's strength. Only those with exceptional spiritual energy talent can advance further in the clerical path."

Cang Xu heard this explanation for the first time and pondered, “Battle qi, magic power, spiritual energy, do these correspond to fighters, magicians, and clergymen?”

He couldn't help but press Jian Gui for more.

Jian Gui shook his head, refusing to elaborate further. He flatly declined Cang Xu, stating: This knowledge belongs to the advanced soul aspect inheritance. A brief mention is acceptable, but detailing it would violate orthodox principles.

Cang Xu, however, surmised more in secret: "The core spells of the elementary soul aspect inheritance are the Burden Alleviation Spell and Karma Removal Spell. The spell for detecting undead aptitude should be included in the intermediate undead inheritance. And in the advanced soul aspect inheritance, since it relates to the clergy, it must be about becoming a blasphemous priest, right?"

He firmly committed this conjecture to memory.

This was also one of his reasons for joining Jian Gui's faction.

Becoming a blasphemous priest would naturally require the use of memory crystals. The survivors possessed one alchemy device capable of creating memory crystals.

"If we could obtain the advanced inheritance and master all memory crystal techniques directly, it would be immensely beneficial for everyone. Alas, I can't even secure the intermediate inheritance now, let alone the advanced one."

Cang Xu felt utterly helpless about this.

He had obtained an elementary inheritance solely because the undead orthodoxy permitted trading such items.

But what followed demanded both innate talent and unwavering loyalty.

Cang Xu had been ruthlessly rejected on the very first criterion alone.

Despite his current bloodline mutation, he knew the trajectory of his transformation meant he still wouldn't meet that initial requirement.

“This is going to be tough,” Cang Xu sighed inwardly.

He wasn't particularly invested in saving Qi Ling; he merely wanted to participate in the mission to stay close to Jian Gui and the others.

Cang Xu was the third to appear on deck, and soon after, Qing Xin followed.

The wind magician Qing Xin had endured days of utter darkness.

Deprived of sunlight, her complexion was pale.

As a normal human, she had to constantly breathe to survive underwater. Even the simple act of eating became exponentially more difficult. More troublesome still, as the necromancers' power grew, Qing Xin faced increasingly dense negative energy.

Thus, life aboard the ghost ship became an ever-greater ordeal for her.

Despite her earnest efforts to prove herself, she had inevitably been marginalized.

As the necromancers grew stronger, Qing Xin had become virtually invisible.

Yet she demonstrated resilience and endurance, enduring this harsh existence without complaint.

Cang Xu gave Qing Xin a slight nod. "For now, stay safely aboard the ship. Unless absolutely necessary, do not reveal yourself. Otherwise, it will greatly interfere with your future public activities."

Qing Xin forced a faint smile at Cang Xu, assuring him she would follow his instructions and not cause trouble. But when help was needed, she would give her all at a moment's notice.

In short, Qing Xin positioned herself firmly within her role.

Clatter, clatter, clatter.

The sound of bones colliding filled the air.

Xiao Wang Zi was mobilizing his skeletal subordinates, concentrating large numbers of elite skeleton archers along the gunwales, bow, and stern to serve as long-range firepower.

Numerous ghosts emerged from their bodies only to swiftly merge back into the ghost ship - Jian Gui making temporary, subtle adjustments.

Soon, all these ghosts returned to the ghost ship, fully retracted.

Jian Gui finally appeared before everyone. His pre-battle address was brief: "We've prepared long for this battle. Now, follow my commands, and victory is assured!"

Clearly, he was neither Zong Ge nor the dragonman youngster, and he wasn't skilled at pre-battle speeches.

Yet among this group, his authority was undeniably paramount. Thanks to his daily leadership, everyone looked to him for guidance.

Cang Xu and the others nodded solemnly, vowing to fight fiercely.

Even Xiao Wang Zi, who harbored strong reservations about Qi Ling, was willing to cooperate fully with Jian Gui.

Seeing this, Cang Xu couldn't help but reflect: "Though necromancers endure an utterly harsh environment, it has forged their unity. Of course, that assumes the problem of negative energy corruption has been resolved. Those gradually corrupted necromancers have their wills twisted, becoming mad, hating all living things, their sanity steadily declining until they can no longer communicate or cooperate normally."

Jian Gui immediately sank into the deck, vanishing in an instant. Cang Xu understood: he hadn't descended to the next deck below, but had merged directly with the ghost ship itself.

The ghost ship's aura faintly expanded before contracting again. Its aura level steadily declined, dropping rapidly from gold to silver. Within seconds, it plummeted to iron, continuing its fall until it reached its limit at bronze.