Chapter 648: Section 435: Undead Ready
Having received the approval from Ba Qi, the Sea Snake Lady immediately sent a message.
Soon, aboard the Softie, the Fin Spirit received her orders.
She had always been held captive on the flagship of the powerless pirate group, personally guarded by the Sea Snake Lady. Although the Fin Spirit had been coerced into signing a Magic Contract, the Sea Snake Lady did not fully trust its binding power. She was concerned that the newly favored Undead Faction might secretly sabotage the contract, so she adopted a prudent response—keeping the Fin Spirit under her close watch as much as possible.
When the Fin Spirit received the message, her expression shifted slightly as she sighed inwardly, “What was destined to come, has finally arrived.”
Having been apprehensive about this, she now felt a sense of calm with her fears becoming reality, no longer as anxious as before.
“If it were just me alone, I would now be completely at the Sea Snake Lady’s mercy. But fortunately, the ship ghost has come, and I did not place my trust in the wrong person.”
Although the Fin Spirit was only of Silver Level, she possessed an unusually keen intellect.
Ever since being taken hostage, she had been devising ways to escape her plight.
During the battle at Matsukaze, she had intentionally revealed her status as a traitor, deliberately letting the ship ghost and his party escape.
On one hand, she genuinely could not bring herself to do it. She had been summoned by the ship ghost and had served as his alchemy assistant for a long time. During this period, she received the ship ghost’s mentoring. He even secretly broke some principles of the Undead Orthodoxy, teaching her much knowledge about Soul Veins in advance. The ship ghost was a benefactor to the Fin Spirit. With her nature still intact, she continuously used Soul Crystals to fend off the erosion of negative energy and could not bring herself to betray her benefactor.
On the other hand, the Fin Spirit knew that she could not break free from her current predicament on her own and needed external help.
A few days earlier, through a method she had reserved within the Water Ghost, she secretly made contact with the ship ghost. The moment she received news from the ship ghost, the Fin Spirit was almost overwhelmed with excitement. The sliver of hope she had carefully preserved in despair suddenly burst forth with a bright light.
“I understand,” the Fin Spirit sent her response, indicating that she had gotten the message.
She immediately began to make contacts.
First, she contacted the ship ghost and others, and only then did she reach out to her former Da Ji Tribe.
It goes without saying, although the Fin Spirit was an Undead Mage, she had never exposed herself. The Sea Snake Lady’s Disguise Magic was also quite formidable. The Fin Spirit had stayed on the Softie for many days, and no one had detected her true identity.
The Ghost Ship lurked somewhere in the White Hair Sea Trench.
Since the ship ghost and the Fin Spirit had established their secret communication, they had not made any more attacks but had instead hidden here, patiently waiting for the right moment.
On one hand, this was because their combat strength had already improved as much as possible, leaving little room for further rapid advancement. On the other hand, the primary purpose for the ship ghost and the others to come here was to rescue the Fin Spirit. They did not want to compromise their own safety for a minor gain.
The ship ghost had been waiting for news from the Fin Spirit, and upon receiving it, he immediately summoned the others to commence their action plan.
The Little Prince was the first to emerge from his cabin and came onto the deck. He raised his arm and shouted, “The day has finally arrived!”
He could hardly wait. Among all of them, he was the least patient.
Ku Feng was the second to appear on deck. As a zombie fighter and Undead Samurai who had originally canceled all blade technique training, he still maintained a considerable level of patience.
These days, he had stopped performing action skills and instead, spent his time in the cabin practicing his Static Skill—holding his long sword in meditation.
This method of training had indeed broadened Cang Xu’s horizons.
In Cang Xu’s view, meditation had always been a practice exclusive to Mages.
Curious as any seasoned Mage might be, Cang Xu could not help but ask Ku Feng about it when an appropriate opportunity arose.
Ku Feng replied that even though he was not a Mage and could not absorb external energy through meditation, the pursuit of blade technique involved a combination of action and stillness. Action meant wielding the blade, pondering over chopping methods, refining the angles of movements, and testing them in actual combat. Stillness involved continuous meditation to establish an ineffable connection with the weapon and to tap into the Martial Artist’s Spiritual Power.
Ku Feng also introduced to Cang Xu that such a fighter philosophy came from the Eastern region of the Holy Bright Empire.
Ku Feng himself was more reticent, but as Cang Xu had spent these days with them, he had gained their respect, and that respect deepened as time went on.
So, Ku Feng explained in detail to Cang Xu.
“The Eastern Empire, eh…” Cang Xu sighed. He knew that the Martial Artists’ training in the Eastern Empire had always had a refined theory of cultivation, with a style and richness distinct from other parts of the Empire.
Cang Xu couldn’t help but think of Rou Cang.
This powerful Gold Level fighter was the first formidable presence they encountered after leaving Mysterious Monster Island. To this day, Cang Xu still had a vivid impression.
And Rou Cang was from the Da Ji Monastery, a strong religious organization located in the Eastern Empire.
The ship ghost also joined the discussion, saying, “Indeed, a portion of Martial Artists and Samurai do practice Static Skills. Although they do not have Mana Pools, meditation does allow them to tap into their own Spiritual Power.”
“A more general term for this kind of Spiritual Power is Spiritual Energy. Spiritual Energy is also the foundation for Divine Officers. Only those with exceptional talent in Spiritual Energy can go further.”
Cang Xu heard this explanation for the first time and began to ponder, “Fighting energy, Mana, Spiritual Energy… do they correspond to Fighters, Mages, and Divine Officers?”
Cang Xu couldn’t help but press the ship ghost for answers.
The ship ghost shook his head and refused to elaborate further, saying, “This is knowledge from the high-level Soul Vein inheritance. A casual chat is fine, but to speak in detail would go against the principles of the orthodoxy.”
Privately, Cang Xu speculated even more, “The core spells of the low-level Soul Vein inheritance are the Reduction Techniques. The spells to test the potential of the Undead should be recorded within the middle-level Undead Inheritance. And within the high-level Soul Vein inheritance, since it’s related to the Divine Officers, it’s probably about how to become a Desecration Priest, isn’t it?”
Cang Xu firmly committed this guess to memory.
After all, it was one of the reasons he had joined the ship ghost’s crew.
To become a Desecration Priest, naturally, one would need to use a Memory Crystal. Regarding the alchemy device that creates memory attributes, the survivors had one.
“If I could obtain a high-level inheritance and directly master the complete usage of Memory Crystals, it would be of tremendous help to everyone. It’s a pity that I can’t even get my hands on a middle-level inheritance, let alone a high-level one.”
Cang Xu felt quite helpless about this.
He had been able to obtain the low-level inheritance because the Undead Orthodoxy had decreed that this part could be traded.
But what followed would be a test of ability and loyalty.
Just on the first criterion alone, Cang Xu was ruthlessly eliminated.
Despite the fact that he was undergoing a Bloodline Mutation, Cang Xu knew that with the trend of the mutation, the first condition would still not be met.
“This is troublesome,” Cang Xu sighed inwardly.
He wasn’t concerned about saving the Fin Spirit; he just wanted to be part of this operation to continue building rapport with the ship ghost and others.
Cang Xu was the third to appear on deck, and soon after, Qing Xin also came out.
Wind Element Mage Qing Xin had been living in darkness these days.
Due to the lack of sunlight, her complexion was pale.
As a normal person, to survive underwater, she had to maintain breathing at all times. Even a simple activity like eating became much more difficult. What was more troublesome was that, as the power of the Undead Mages grew, Qing Xin had to face an ever-increasing presence of negative energy.
So, the days on the Ghost Ship were becoming more and more unbearable for Qing Xin.
Although she had tried hard to prove her worth, by now, she had inevitably been marginalized.
With the Undead Mages’ strength increasing, Qing Xin had become practically invisible.
However, she also showed a resilient and forbearing side, enduring this harsh living environment silently without a word of complaint.
Cang Xu nodded slightly to Qing Xin, “From now on, just stay calm inside the ship. Unless absolutely necessary, do not expose yourself. Otherwise, it will greatly interfere with your public activities in the future.”
Qing Xin managed a weak smile at Cang Xu, indicating she would definitely follow instructions and not cause any trouble for them. But when the time came to contribute, they only had to issue the command, and she would assist with all her might.
In short, Qing Xin positioned herself correctly.
The sound of clashing bones echoed continuously.
It was the Little Prince commanding his skeleton subordinates, concentrating a large number of elite Skeleton Archers at the ship’s rail, the prow, and the stern, serving as ranged firepower.
Many ghosts emerged from their bodies, then quickly merged back into the Ghost Ship—this was the ship ghost making temporary, minor adjustments.
Soon, these souls were all drawn back into the Ghost Ship, thoroughly reconsolidated.
Finally, the ship ghost appeared before everyone and made a brief speech before battle, “We have been preparing for this battle for a long time. Now, just follow my commands, and we are sure to win!”
Clearly, he was not Zong Ge or the Dragon-man youth; he wasn’t adept at pre-battle speeches.
But among this crew, his authority was undoubtedly the highest. Thanks to his daily management, everyone looked to him for leadership.
Cang Xu and the others nodded solemnly, indicating they were ready to fight.
Even the Little Prince, who had reservations about the Fin Spirit, was willing to actively cooperate with the ship ghost.
Seeing this, Cang Xu couldn’t help but feel moved, “Although the Undead Mages live in an exceedingly harsh environment, it has also made them united. Of course, the premise is that the problem of negative energy erosion has been addressed. Those Undead Mages gradually eroded by it will have their wills twisted, becoming insane, loathing all living beings, and their rationality will continuously decline, unable to engage in normal communication and cooperation.”
The ship ghost immediately sank into the deck and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Cang Xu knew he hadn’t just moved down to the lower deck but had merged with the Ghost Ship itself.
The aura of the Ghost Ship briefly expanded and then contracted again; its Level also continuously dropped, quickly falling from Golden Level to Silver Level. Within a few seconds, it declined to Black Iron Level and continued to plummet, reaching the limit at Bronze Level.