"Lord… Commander?" Du Leisi stood there, frozen, utterly confused as to why Dai Hao would be so furious just because of a single letter.
Dai Hao threw the letter at him, then stood up and began pacing, his face twisted with anger.
"Hua Bin… has been crippled!"
"How dare Shrek humiliate the Duke's Mansion!"
Gulp — Du Leisi swallowed hard, hurriedly reading through the letter. Only then did he realize that Dai Huabin, the legitimate second son of the White Tiger Duke, had been crippled—his limbs destroyed—for harassing a female classmate and making threats against her.
And to make matters worse—
Shrek Academy was demanding a compensation of one million gold soul coins for the female student's mental trauma.
"Please, calm your anger, Commander!" Du Leisi tried to reason, his tone earnest.
"With war looming, Shrek is the Star Luo Empire's greatest ally. If we offend Shrek at a time like this... that's the last thing His Majesty wants to see. Besides… the Second Young Master was indeed in the wrong."
"That still doesn't justify what happened to Hua Bin!" Dai Hao shouted.
But after gritting his teeth, he could only swallow his rage. After all, this was Shrek Academy—a true giant on the continent. Even with two hundred thousand soldiers under his command, he was no match for them.
"I'll go to Shrek myself and demand justice!"
"I used to clap in delight when the Cheng family fell from grace. Now, thinking back, how ironic—if the lips are gone, the teeth feel the cold!"
Du Leisi could only sigh inwardly, not daring to argue further.
The eldest young master acted upright and honest, a model figure who'd made a name for himself in the northern legion—a natural successor to the commander's mantle.
But the second son of the Dai family...
Tsk tsk.
Really not up to par.
"Humans are each a spiritual body. The soul gives birth to the flesh, thus life exists. The cycle of death is the gathering of departed souls into the realm of death, then new souls are born from that realm and enter the world of the living."
Electrolux spoke softly.
"This repeats endlessly?" Su Wen asked.
"Indeed." Electrolux nodded.
"That is the duty of a Necromancer."
"To desecrate souls is the gravest insult to a Necromancer. Though the rules of death in this world are incomplete, allowing those inferior beings to imprison the souls of the dead… once I ascend… heh." Electrolux gave a faint smile.
Hiss... Su Wen couldn't help but marvel.
If things were as Elder Yi said, then the Holy Spirit Cult was facing the greatest "calamity" in its history.
After all, by his estimate, at least sixty percent of the Holy Spirit Cult's martial souls relied on imprisoning or devouring souls to strengthen themselves.
Such as the Myriad Souls Banner, Necromancer's Tower, and so on...
If the Necromancer forcibly claimed all souls, there'd be a real show to watch.
Overnight, the Holy Spirit Cult's strength would be cut in half.
"Of course, I still need to become a god first…" Electrolux took a deep breath, his expression grave. Though his aged hand trembled slightly, a faint sliver of the power of death gathered in his palm.
The power of death in this world was unclaimed.
Bit by bit, he'd "hacked" into its core, successfully gaining control.
Though he was but a remnant soul now, he already carried a faint aura of the Necromancer.
"Kid, interested in learning necromancy?" Electrolux smiled.
"I am." This time Su Wen replied honestly.
He didn't dare mention love again—fearing Elder Yi would obliterate him (physically).
"Good." Electrolux exhaled deeply.
Then, his gaze softened as he looked at Su Wen, lifting a finger to point in midair.
Buzz!
A dense deathly aura enveloped Su Wen.
Black mist swirled within the golden tree, enveloping everything. Even Ah Yin grew restless, only calmed by Su Wen's consciousness in his spiritual sea. Otherwise, she'd likely be worried for Su Wen's safety and end up fighting Electrolux.
Electrolux remained serene.
"Hold your breath. Focus."
"What I'm imparting to you is a lifetime's worth of necromancy, condensed into a single gray soul ring. I'll still need the realm of death for now, but perhaps in the future, I'll bestow the Necromancer's godhood to you…"
Huff, huff…
A torrent of knowledge flooded into Su Wen's mind.
His powerful spiritual force quickly diluted the pain of the influx, and his expression gradually steadied.
He soon realized this "gift" included not only necromancy, but also all sorts of contract magic, teleportation magic, and more from Electrolux's home world.
"Contract magic."
In the spiritual sea—
Su Wen stared at the intricate runes before him, pondering. In truth, regarding the conflict between soul beasts and humans on Douluo Continent, he preferred to fix the underlying soul ring "bug" and introduce a pet beast system...
In essence, it wasn't unlike Huo Yuhao's soul spirits.
But as humans and soul beasts tried to coexist, contact was inevitable. Since the Silver Dragon King refused to leave, why not try a "spirit world" approach?
Create dojos, and so forth...
The advantage of this path was to sever the forced bond between soul beasts and humans' core interests once and for all.
Such a contract would make the relationship between human and soul beast not master and servant, but rather the closest of friends and partners.
"All right, since you've inherited my legacy, get lost for now. In a few days, I'll begin my ascension ceremony. Don't bother me until then." Electrolux waved his hand, expressionless, and unceremoniously ejected Su Wen.
Su Wen muttered inwardly.
Teacher was definitely still mad about his earlier slip-up.
Outside the golden tree.
Inner Court.
Inside a villa.
Su Wen sprawled on the sofa, counting on his fingers.
"I've arranged Gu Yue Na in the Star Dou Great Forest. She definitely won't make it to the Sea God's matchmaking event. Senior sister is busy and I sent her to liaise with the Sea Princess tribe in the Sun Moon Empire."
"And Nan Nan—sent to the Star Luo Empire under Aunt Jiang's name…"
"But that's about as much as I can shift." Su Wen frowned.
"As for Juzi… Forget it, I'll see if there's a way later. What a headache." Su Wen sighed.
"Hey, Little Wen!"
The bathroom door opened, steam swirling out, revealing a long snowy leg and half a body. Ma Xiaotao, clad in a bathrobe, her fiery red hair tied in a ponytail, looked at Su Wen with sparkling red eyes: "Come, bathe with your big sister!"
Cough cough cough... Su Wen shook his head.
"Sis Tao, please have some self-respect!"
"Hmph!" Ma Xiaotao snorted, striding over on her long white legs, her curves undulating.
She looked down at Su Wen from above.
"Self-respect? That word isn't in my dictionary!"
With that, she grabbed Su Wen's arm and dragged him toward the bathroom.
Leaving behind the boy's expression of utter resignation...