Chapter 387
387 – Absorbing the serene luster gem
The extremely cunning bone dragon Zasika was around fifteen meters long. His body was made out of thick and solid white bones, as though it was built from the hardest iron and stone. Its body was also overflowing in rich death qi.
When the bone dragon roared, all the higher ranked undead creatures started to flee, while the low ranked undead creatures stood still, shivering under the pressure of the bone dragon’s imposing aura.
The netherworld’s bone dragon was different from the Profound Continent’s standard dragon race. As a special clan of dragons that were born in the netherworld, bone dragons possessed enormous strength from the moment they were born. This was because they were formed from pure white bones that were resistant to the majority of physical and magical attacks.
Bone dragons were peculiar creatures brought up in the netherworld’s unusual environment. They were also able to nimbly manipulate the netherworld’s death qi, even possessing a few mystical dragon breath abilities. This resulted in them being more powerful than most dragon clans in the Profound Continent.
The three undead creatures that had planned to surround and attack the little skeleton had already fled in different directions upon hearing the bone dragon’s roar, no longer interested in attacking the little skeleton. The little skeleton who had obtained the serene luster gem while bone dragon Zasika wasn’t paying attention immediately flew toward Han Shuo. When he was about to reach Han Shuo, Han Shuo immediately abandoned the skeletal body he had condensed from death qi and willed his consciousness to float by the little skeleton’s side.
Once Han Shuo’s consciousness reached the little skeleton’s side, the little skeleton shoved the serene luster gem into Han Shuo’s wraith-like consciousness without a second thought. He then urged the bone demon to escape into the distance.
When the bone dragon flew out of the pitch-black spring, it immediately emitted the imposing aura of a high ranked undead creature. Once the numerous undead creatures had fled, he stared at the rapidly fleeing little skeleton and roared, “Sinister, despicable skeleton, you won’t be able to escape.”
After uttering a long, loud cry into the boundless sky, the bone dragon directly pursued the little skeleton. The bone demon beneath the little skeleton had been remolded by the little skeleton with the bones of the supreme ranked magical creature found within the taboo land of the Profound Continent. Within the netherworld, the flying speed of the remolded bone demon was actually extremely quick. Even the lightning quick bone dragon Zasika wasn’t able to catch up in a short period of time.
At this moment, the serene luster gem that the little skeleton casually stuffed into Han Shuo’s consciousness suddenly blended with the mental energy within his consciousness. A mysterious mental energy suddenly entered Han Shuo’s consciousness, gradually combining with the original mental energy within.
“Father, I ought to return!” while Han Shuo was slowly comprehending the little skeleton’s words, the little skeleton suddenly transmitted a message.
Much time has passed. As Han Shuo also had a mental connection to the earth zombie and the other zombies, he could directly send the little skeleton to their side. In that case, the little skeleton and bone dragon Zasika would be separated by an extremely large distance and the bone dragon would naturally be unable to endanger the little skeleton again.
Once the little skeleton reminded Han Shuo, he smiled as he nodded his head and then sent the little skeleton back to the netherworld. Even after the little skeleton had left, Han Shuo still pondered on the little skeleton’s narration. The things that the little skeleton had just mentioned exceeded Han Shuo’s comprehension, causing Han Shuo to momentarily be unable to adapt.
Han Shuo had gained a new level of understanding of the netherworld from the little skeleton’s descriptions. He was also clear that that world was different from what he first imagined. It seemed like not all the creatures in the netherworld could be summoned by necromancers. Many formidable undead creatures that had transcended the bindings of their position would definitely not be restricted by the strength of a necromancer’s contract.
Shaking his head, Han Shuo stopped thinking about matters concerning the netherworld. Han Shuo then chanted a spell and utilizing his mental energy, rows of bone spears took shape in front of him, silently forming motionlessly in the air. Han Shuo simply counted the number of bone spears and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the number of bone spears had increased by a third. This meant that Han Shuo’s mental strength had indeed improved substantially. Although his mental strength was still within the realm of grand magus, the stronger his mental strength, the might from a spell would also be greater. Currently, Han Shuo could release that many more bone spears with the same spell. This sufficiently proved that Han Shuo’s mental strength had indeed undergone substantial improvement in the netherworld.
“Serene luster gem. Truly a good item. However, why would a serene luster gem appear under the Cemetery of Death? Also, why would the skeletal staff be able to let the soul enter the netherworld, could it be that there was some kind of connection between the Cemetery of Death and the creatures in the undead world?” Han Shuo knitted his brows as he contemplated.
Han Shuo couldn’t resolve this question in a short time. However, he knew that the Cemetery of Death definitely contained many secrets and planned to carefully explore the Cemetery of Death after a period of time, to take a look if there were other items that he had yet to discover.
After his consciousness had entered the netherworld, Han Shuo had lost track of time. Now that he had returned to the Profound Continent, Han Shuo didn’t know how long had passed, hastily exiting the hidden room and returning to the ground level of his official residence and calling Steward Kallas over.
Steward Kallas immediately spoke when he rushed over, “Lord Count, where have you been the past few days! Miss Phoebe has come over three times to look for you and His Majesty has also requested for you to head to the royal palace and meet him. Furthermore, there has been bad rumors about you spreading around, making me extremely anxious.”
“What bad rumors?” Han Shuo first grasped the main issue, inquiring from Kallas about the harmful news about himself.
“This… this…” Steward Kallas hummed and hawed, only replied fearfully when Han Shuo stared at him, “There has been rumors spreading that you are a member of the Calamity Church. Very few ordinary people know about the Calamity Church but many nobles and people of status understood that the Calamity Church was an evil organization.
Han Shuo was shocked when he heard Kallas’s response. The Calamity Church was the symbol of evil in the eyes of many nobles. Of everyone in the continent that knew of the Calamity Church’s existence, there shouldn’t be many that held good impressions of them.
Han Shuo had never dared to have too much contact with the Calamity Church precisely because he was afraid of leaving such an impression. Never would he have thought that although he always kept a distance from them, such a situation still happened in the end.
Without much consideration, Han Shuo knew who the rumors had originated from. Apart from the Church of Light and Lawrence’s political enemies, Han Shuo did not have many enemies within the Lancelot Kingdom. In recent days, it was the moment for Han Shuo who was rising rapidly within the kingdom to have major undertakings. However, it was precisely this rumor that could ruin Han Shuo.
This matter was quite thorny. Han Shuo hesitated a moment, before replying Steward Kallas, “I understand. You can withdraw first and help me invite Prince Lawrence and Miss Phoebe over. Just tell them that I want to talk to them tonight.”
After giving Kallas his orders, Han Shuo immediately left the manor. He hesitated a moment, before heading to the Dark Mantle’s headquarters to look for Candide.
When Candide saw Han Shuo, he immediately said, “Why have you only appeared now! Come with me to meet the king. I’m aware of your affairs and have already spoken to his majesty about it previously. This matter has become quite huge, we must handle it carefully.”
While on their way to the royal palace, Candide pointed out that the rumors had originated from the Church of Light, eldest prince Charles as well as the Grand Duke. As one of the three heavyweights of Dark Mantle, it was naturally very simple for Candide to investigate such a matter.
Han Shuo and Candide discussed for a while, before directly entering the royal palace through the Dark Mantle’s teleporting array, immediately heading for King Uhtred’s palace.