Chapter 312.1: The World of Specters
After a moment, Huo Yuhao said, “Help me up, Dong’er. I want to cultivate for a while.”
Wang Dong’er was momentarily stunned. This was the first time that Huo Yuhao had wanted to cultivate in the midst of them having an intimate moment.
“You’ve tired yourself enough for today. You gave Shrek Academy a hand after our own match, and you participated in another soul tool contest afterwards. You should take a break.”
Huo Yuhao replied, “The abilities that I just used were left to me by my teacher. I suddenly feel that another seal has been released in my spiritual sea, and I think that my teacher has left something for me. Otherwise, there was no way I could’ve defeated a Class 6 soul engineer so easily. I need to see what my teacher’s left for me.”
“Oh. Then, don’t work yourself too hard.” Wang Dong’er sat up and then helped Huo Yuhao sit up.
“You aren’t angry, are you?” Wang Dong’er blinked owlishly at him. Her long eyelashes were so close to his face that they were subtly brushing it.
Huo Yuhao chortled and said, “Kiss me and I won’t be.”
Wang Dong’er immediately kissed him on the cheek without hesitation. Her face turned a little red and she said, “Will that do? I know that my decision will ruin your plans, but you have to understand that I will follow you if something happens to you. I know that you’d risk your own life for me as well.”
Huo Yuhao patted her head lovingly, as if he were indulging a child. “I know that.”
Wang Dong’er shifted his numb legs and helped him sit up with his legs crossed. Huo Yuhao closed his eyes and gradually entered meditation.
He was quite exhausted, but it was actually easier for him to focus his attention because he was. As such, he quickly entered his meditative state.
As Huo Yuhao’s consciousness submerged into his spiritual sea, he directly opened the partial memories that had been unsealed.
Memories instantly flooded forth, and slowly merged together with his own. A projection appeared in his spiritual sea at the same time.
“Teacher!” Huo Yuhao became excited when he saw the projection. Wasn’t this a projection of the Calamity Necromancer Electrolux?
Electrolux’s white clothes fluttered atop his translucent body, but he wore a faint smile on his face as he looked at Huo Yuhao. He calmly said, “I’m very happy that you’re able to see this, Yuhao. The fact that you can means that your spiritual power has become strong enough for you to absorb what I have to teach you.”
Huo Yuhao’s excited emotions instantly settled down as if he’d been splashed with cold water. He had no doubt that this was something his teacher had left behind before he’d passed away, and that this was just a projection based on his spiritual imprint, not Electrolux himself.
Huo Yuhao forced himself to focus, and listened intently to Electrolux’s words.
“Yuhao, I’ve hesitated for a long time, and have debated on whether or not I should pass my necromancy to you. After all, necromancy is considered evil to many people due to its relation with death, corpses, and spirits. Many humans will naturally develop a sense of fear towards necromancy. I’ve thought long and hard about it, and about you as well. In the end, I’ve decided to teach them to you anyway.
“Necromancy is only one branch of the magic contained within my world, and it’s not a frightening thing at all. Furthermore, it’s the type of sorcery that’s closest to a human’s origin and essence. Everything about necromancy stems from life. In fact, the first breakthroughs in necromancy were made so that humans could prolong their own life—so that they could fight against the laws of nature. However, when humans dove deeper into necromancy, some necromancers went down a different path, choosing to slowly deviate from the original path. They relied on necromancy to strengthen themselves, and proceeded to kill other living beings in order to steal their life energy in order to do so.
“I was once a mighty necromancer. In the beginning, I possessed the element of light, and was adept with all sorts of light-type magic spells. However, I became filled with vengeance and hatred after certain things happened to me, thus I delved into necromancy by relying on my talents and opened up a whole new path for myself—light-based necromancy. I won’t tell you the unfortunate events that I’ve had to go through, but before you can completely receive my teachings on necromancy, you must remember that necromancy is dangerous because of its strength, and because of its forbidden realms. If you descend into the darkness within necromancy, you will be destroyed by it. You can practice necromancy, but your heart must still be shrouded in light. These are the words that I shall imprint into the deepest regions of your soul so that you won’t be blinded by revenge nor hatred no matter where you are. I don’t hope for necromancy to be spread or glorified by your hands; my only wish is that my lineage will continue.
“I’ve studied and perceived your world closely, and realized that your world is different from my own: In my world, the existence of gods is equivalent to your spirit reaching such an extremely high level that it evolves. When that happens, you will drift illusorily through space, as if your body has been transformed into countless elements, and you won’t be able to control anything about yourself anymore. However, in your world, there seems to be a special energy that takes you to another realm once you reach that level. This is actually becoming a god, but it’s a pity that I won’t live to see you reach that level. If that day does occur, please keep my necromancy as part of your abilities. That is my greatest wish.
“My most profound and sophisticated spells have been integrated into your memory. You’ll be able to use them as long as you continue increasing your spiritual power. At first glance, light and necromancy may seem to be at odds with each other, but in truth, all things can be connected together so long as you find something that they have in common—somewhere where both things intersect. And that concept is life for light and necromancy.
“Only when light shines on the world do we have life. Sunlight and water have been the most important things for life and survival since the oldest days of humanity. On the other hand, necromancy studies the power of death. One is about life, while the other is about death. But the truth is, they’re just focused on opposite ends of life. Life and death aren’t mutually exclusive, and under certain circumstances, they’ll even be attracted to each other, and can be alternated between one another.”
“...”
Huo Yuhao listened quietly to Electrolux’s teachings, and slowly perceived all of the complex and sophisticated necromancies kept within his memories. He felt as if he’d entered another world.
He’d always wanted to learn more about necromancy from Electrolux. However, Electrolux had only taught him some foundational things before, and even then had barely scratched the surface. It was only at this moment, when the lineage and teachings that Electrolux had left for him were officially unsealed, that he truly understood how unfathomable and mystical necromancy was.
Furthermore, Huo Yuhao gradually came to understand what his grey soul ring represented.
What Electrolux had left for him wasn’t as simple as information and lessons—it also included a necromantic framework that Electrolux had personally created. Huo Yuhao had to use the energy within his own body as the foundation when he used necromancy, followed by his spiritual power to perceive the element of light between heaven and earth. He had to do everything in tandem and in resonance with his life origin to do anything at all.
Huo Yuhao could no longer use his other martial souls when using necromancy. His grey soul ring represented the necromancy framework that Electrolux had left behind for him, though it wasn’t actually a soul ring.
However, from a pragmatic perspective, possessing Electrolux’s necromancy teachings was equivalent to having a third martial soul. And yet, it wasn’t a martial soul—it was superior to one. This “martial soul” couldn’t be boosted with soul rings, but it would become stronger alongside Huo Yuhao’s soul power and spiritual power.
According to Electrolux’s explanation, a necromancer’s life energy and life force were exceptionally important. Life force was presented as soul power in this world.
This was because necromancy would cause a negative backlash tp the necromancer’s own body when practiced. Furthermore, necromancy spells that relied on the power of light required continuous resonance through life. Huo Yuhao possessed Life Gold, so he didn’t lack life energy, which in turn was one of the most important reasons why Electrolux had been willing to pass his necromancy on to him. Electrolux had previously told Huo Yuhao that the reason necromancers were considered evil was mostly because necromancers didn’t have enough life energy to continuously practice necromancy, which was why they had to extract life energy from other living beings. This process was cruel and full of bloodshed, thus it was natural that other people would misunderstand.
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It was midday the following day when Huo Yuhao awoke up from his meditation. He was still a little fatigued despite just waking up. Fortunately, they’d already competed yesterday, so he had an entire day to rest up. Tomorrow was the final round of the round robin section, and the Tang Sect was up against Shrek Academy.
“Are you alright, Yuhao?” Wang Dong’er asked concernedly. She’d just walked out of the bathroom and seen that Huo Yuhao’s face was a little pale.
Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “I’m alright, I’m just mentally exhausted. I’ve gained so much. Do you remember when I told you that I had a teacher from another world? The truth is that what you guys saw yesterday and the abilities that I used weren’t those of an evil soul master. They came from this teacher of mine, and he calls it necromancy.”
“Necromancy?” Wang Dong’er stared at Huo Yuhao in surprise.
Huo Yuhao nodded and replied, “Yes, it’s called necromancy. Initially, I thought necromancy was no different from an evil soul master’s abilities. To be honest, I’ve always been quite against necromancy, which is why I don’t typically use it. However, I understood a lot more now that I’ve absorbed the memories that my teacher left behind for me. I’ve understood that necromancy, an evil soul master’s abilities, and any force in the world aren’t inherently wrong per se. The only difference lies in whether the use is suitable, and is dependent on the user’s personality and state of mind. These two things form the crux of the issue.”