Chapter 435: Section 222: Cang Xu’s Equipment
The Undead Magic System, though a burgeoning school of practice, has already developed into three distinct veins:
Bone Vein, Corpse Vein, Soul Vein.
Cang Xu was an Undead Mage of the Soul Vein, characterized by the creation, containment, and manipulation of ghosts.
The specifics of controlling ghosts were akin to a demon energy ship assembling alchemy components.
The more components there were, the more functions the demon energy ship naturally had and the stronger it became.
However, there was a limit to this number. How many pre-installed slots the demon energy ship was designed to have, and how much demon energy the Mana Pool could supply, all significantly determined the type and quantity of alchemy components that could be loaded.
For Cang Xu, it was his spirit quality and mental strength.
A small flowerpot cannot grow a large tree.
Cang Xu’s talent was even poorer than Zi Di’s, originally just at the Bronze Level. It was only after transforming into an Undead Mage that his talent limit broke through to the Black Iron Level.
“Soul Crystals can increase one’s Soul Essence, thereby naturally raising one’s mental strength.”
“My spirit needs to continuously strengthen to control three Silver Level ghosts.”
As one’s spirit continuously strengthens, a Soul Vein Undead Mage can ultimately become an army of one, commanding countless ghosts in battle.
“Moreover, according to the Undead Inheritance message I received, there is even higher-level Soul Vein magic. It includes spells for transforming ghosts, allowing ghosts to enhance their combat power, move swiftly, or reduce the burden on the spirit of the Undead Mage, and so on.”
“The most important method is to reduce the erosion of negative energy on the body.”
Thinking of this, Cang Xu couldn’t help but look down at his own palms.
A Mage’s power comes from external energies like Fire Element and Wind Element.
Using these energies leads to the (Mage/Mage’s) body being inevitably eroded.
Over time, most Mages’ physical qualities are not high.
Undead Mages suffer even greater drawbacks in this aspect.
They endure the erosion of negative energy, which leads not only to physical decay, but also affects their temperament.
Over time, Undead Mages begin to harbor disgust, hatred, and even a strong desire for the destruction of living beings.
The evil reputation of the Undead faction stems partly from this.
Of course, the main reason is that they touched upon the taboo of souls and violated the core interests of the divine.
In order to counteract the erosion of negative energy, Cang Xu modified his body and became a living dead.
He made his utmost efforts to maintain his humanity with difficulty.
Yet this state was precarious.
Especially the previous melee, which made him use a lot of Undead Magic, significantly exacerbated the erosion on his body.
“The method I used to transform my body is just a result of my research.”
“At the Undead Gathering, Mages exchange knowledge, which should enable me to gain insights and better counteract the erosion of negative energy.”
Cang Xu held expectations for the Undead Gathering.
Because he had too many things to acquire.
These things were almost impossible to obtain in a normal market.
This was Cang Xu’s first time participating in an Undead Gathering, and he had no experience.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t had the opportunity before. Even among the inheritances of the Soul Vein Undead Mage he had received, there were several contact methods for attending local Undead Gatherings.
But Cang Xu never went.
He was extremely cautious. For him, once his identity was revealed, everything would be over. He could no longer continue to serve as a Housekeeper, and his family would be destroyed because of it.
Cang Xu’s cautious choice, invisibly, made him miss many opportunities. But it also benefited him, allowing him to survive to this day.
Many forces deliberately spread false news, set traps, and lured Undead Mages to participate in gatherings to kill them!
Now, Cang Xu was actively participating in an Undead Gathering.
His approach had undoubtedly become much more aggressive.
On one hand, he had real companions now, with external support.
On the other hand, the vast sea, far from the Holy Bright Continent, also gave him more room to exercise his abilities.
The last aspect was the coercion of circumstances.
In the previous melee, Cang Xu was influenced by the Devil’s Coin, and he exposed his identity.
Looking back now, he felt a chill in his heart.
It was too dangerous.
Luckily, he was disguised as an elder of the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce; otherwise, the trouble would have been immense!
There was also the fact that he had sent out a ransom note, but had long received no reply, which made Cang Xu wary.
“Logically, the Hundred Needle Family should have replied already.”
“It seems that something has gone wrong!”
“I must become as strong as possible to handle any future accidents and crises.”
The Undead Gathering also contained dangers.
He needed to arm himself as much as possible.
Speaking of which, the survivors had bought quite a few good treasures at the auction.
They weren’t convenient to use during the chaos, to avoid exposing their identity.
But now, some important equipment had already been disguised with Deception Skill and Anti-Intelligence Prophecy Skill, ready for righteous use.
Cang Xu began to inspect his equipment.
A brass Fresh Water Bottle.
A small compass—a Palm Compass.
A damaged Water Magic Book—inside were three Golden Level Water Magic Spells: Water Arrow, Water Serpent, and Fog Skill.
There was also a Death Replacement Puppet made mainly out of a dismal green wood.
Except for the Magic Book, the other three items were all Silver Level artifacts.
The Fresh Water Bottle could meet the freshwater needs of 200 people for one day, and after discussing, the survivors temporarily placed it on the Iron Lump.
The Iron Lump was rather lacking in supplies, as it had set sail in the heat of battle and initially had very few provisions on board.
The compass was a navigational tool and was also given to Cang Xu, in case he got lost in the future and needed to determine the course by himself.
Of the survivors, only two Mages were suitable for the Water Magic Book, and now that Cang Xu was about to take the risk of attending the Undead Gathering, he was, of course, given priority equipment.
The last Death Replacement Puppet…
Seeing this artifact, warmth couldn’t help but well up in Cang Xu’s heart.
This was originally bought by Cang Xu and Zi Di at the auction for the Dragon-man youth.
But the Dragon-man youth took the initiative to hand this artifact over to Cang Xu, to prevent any accidents.
Apart from these four artifacts, there were those that Cang Xu already had.
Such as the Human Skin Storage Bag sewn into the chest, shroud cloth, five Fire Magic Rings, one Magic Recharge Mask, and one Magic Bracelet.
Inside the Human Skin Storage Bag, there were many spellcasting materials, such as Dead Sea shell fragments, dried ghost face mushrooms, legs of Ghost Spiders, and so on.
Some Magic Scrolls were mainly acquired from Mysterious Monster Island.
Many Magic Potions. The survivors had a strong potion production capability, and a few days later, more potions would be added to Cang Xu’s potion reserves, taking them to the limit.
There were other items bought at the auction.
But they were not very suitable for Cang Xu.
Such as the arrow-dodging headband, it wasn’t Mage equipment, and it served fighters.
Similarly, the Mushroom Dance Shoes and moss tight-fitting clothing were not suitable for Cang Xu.
The Sun Halo was a Golden Level component used for constructing artificial gardens and other projects.
Glass armor and the Holy Tablet plate armor were even less suitable for Mages.
“In the end, there’s also a Feathered Snake sail.”
The Feathered Snake sail was neatly folded inside a wooden box, almost filling it up.
Cang Xu, carrying the wooden box, stepped out of the captain’s cabin onto the deck.
Apart from him, there was no one on deck, with the female Mage Qing Xin standing in the lookout of the Main Mast, responsible for scouting.
Seeing Cang Xu, she slowly descended.
As a Wind Element Mage, she was better at flying than Mages of other schools.
When she left the island, she didn’t have any equipment on her.
But now, on her left wrist, she wore a Magic Bracelet.
There was also a Silver Level Treasure, the Life Protector, which was temporarily assigned to Qing Xin.
The Magic Bracelets originally came in a pair, with both Zi Di and Cang Xu possessing one each. The one Qing Xin wore was exactly the equipment that Zi Di lent her.
She also had the Life Protector, which was a good treasure that could save lives and heal wounds through blood-sucking.
Neither Cang Xu nor Zi Di could use the Life Protector.
Because they were Undead, the healing energy produced by the Life Protector violently conflicted with negative energy.
What healed a normal patient would harm Zi Di. If applied to Cang Xu, it would disrupt the life-death balance of his body, causing backlash.
Seeing Qing Xin, a wave of disgust immediately arose in Cang Xu’s heart.
This was a side effect of his repeated use of Undead Magic.
“Come, help me hang this sail,” Cang Xu suppressed his disgust, opened the lid of the wooden box, and revealed the sail inside.
Qing Xin looked surprised, “A Golden-Level sail?”
When Cang Xu and Zi Di bought this sail, she was still a slave, imprisoned, and unaware of it.
Spell—Mage’s Hand.
This was a very basic Spell whose effect was to allow the mage’s Spirit to interfere with the physical reality and remotely control objects as if with an invisible hand.
Due to its overly simplistic Magic Model, the Spell could be cast very quickly, requiring only a minimal amount of Mana.
This also determined its limit; it was only suitable for daily use, such as remotely writing with a pen, or assisting with taking materials during a Mage’s experiment.
Under Cang Xu’s Mage’s Hand, the Feathered Snake sail in the box was suspended in the air, then unfolded in midair.
“I’ll help you,” Qing Xin cast Mage’s Hand too.
She tore down the old sail from the Main Mast.
Cang Xu quickly replaced it with the new sail.
The Feathered Snake sail was very ornate, dazzling Qing Xin once it was put up.
But they weren’t successful yet.
Because the Iron Lump was a demon energy ship and next, Cang Xu needed to connect the Feathered Snake sail with the Mana Pool.
This was somewhat troublesome.
As the Iron Lump was only a Bronze Level demon energy ship, it wasn’t designed with any alchemy components for the sail.
Thus, Cang Xu and Qing Xin had to construct a channel themselves.
It was difficult to activate the Feathered Snake sail without Mana infusion.
It was a Golden Level equipment; the Mana it consumed was something Cang Xu and Qing Xin couldn’t sustain, it needed the Mana Pool.
In fact, even the Mana Pool of the Iron Lump was hard-pressed to meet the Feathered Snake sail’s use requirements.
The Feathered Snake sail did not match the Iron Lump.
However, it was only for the time being.
“Once defeated by the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, this ship and sail will legitimately become spoils of war,” Cang Xu thought to himself.