Chapter Ninety-Three: The Great Five-Element Corpse Array

Fitch was utterly ruined at last. Under the venomous, contemptuous gazes of the crowd, the one crying that he was framed and that this was all a conspiracy was dragged away without mercy. Before leaving, Vida told Vannie, "That filthy scum will never appear at Babylon Magic and Martial Academy again!"

Long after Fitch had been taken away, people were still talking about his despicable conduct. Some of the female students remained furious, chattering and cursing him without end, and not a single person felt any pity for him.

Vannie looked rather stunned, as though she had never imagined Fitch could be such a person. She even seemed to doubt whether the matter was true, but the facts lay plainly before her, and she had nothing to say. She could only shake her head and sigh again and again.

Since the thief had been caught, Han Shuo naturally no longer had to worry about the spatial ring. Watching Fitch bring ruin upon himself, he gave a cold laugh in secret. It was all his own doing; Han Shuo could hardly be blamed for being ruthless. If Han Shuo had not discovered the matter in advance, the one being mocked and condemned by everyone now would have been him.

This incident kept the students talking all day. Han Shuo did not join in. In the morning he did not go to the classroom for lessons; instead, he went alone to the training grounds and repeatedly practiced summoning zombie warriors.

Since the direction was already right, all that remained was time. After a morning of repeated practice, Han Shuo finally succeeded in summoning a zombie warrior, which meant he now possessed another powerful spell. Zombies were harder to control than skeleton warriors. To fully unleash the combat power of their sturdy, cumbersome bodies, the controller's skill and familiarity were crucial.

For three straight days, Han Shuo remained in the training grounds, practicing more skillful control of the zombie warrior. Among the various obstacles in the grounds, a zombie summoned by Han Shuo held a heavy iron rod in its hand. Under Han Shuo's mental control, it twisted its body to avoid the obstacles, and under his repeated commands, the iron rod in its hand smashed viciously against the target.

The dark-element witch Kamila had been under Han Shuo's careful surveillance through the primordial demon. Two days earlier, that old witch Kamila had gone once into the principal's office. However, that office was filled with intense magical fluctuations, and Han Shuo was certain there must be a magic barrier within it.

As the principal was a grand mage of the spatial element and possessed extraordinary power, Han Shuo did not dare risk sending the primordial demon in to eavesdrop. Thus he had no way of learning what Kamila and the principal had discussed. Nor did he know whether Kamila had already been to that secret library.

Still, judging from the length of time Kamila spent in the principal's office, Han Shuo believed she had not yet gone there, for after entering she came back out in only a few minutes.

"Sure enough, you're in the training grounds. I knew you'd be staying here." While others were still in class in the morning, Han Shuo was alone in the training grounds practicing control of the zombie warrior when Vannie suddenly walked in and said this.

"Why have you come here? I thought you only taught classes in the afternoon." Even after Vannie entered, Han Shuo did not stop his practice. He casually replied while still controlling the zombie warrior to evade an obstacle with nimble movements.

"I came to find you. Hm, you're mastering it quite quickly." Vannie smiled and praised him. "At this rate, it won't be long before you can move on to the next stage."

Then she paused, her brows knitting in puzzlement. "Brian, although your talent is excellent, your rate of spiritual power condensation should not increase this quickly. Meditation of spiritual power has little to do with talent. Especially at the beginning of cultivation, spiritual power slowly accumulates only through years of persistence. Why is it that in such a short few months, you already possess the spiritual power of an elementary mage? That is truly unbelievable. How exactly did you do it?"

Vannie's bewilderment was only natural. The reason Han Shuo's spiritual power had advanced so quickly was largely due to the effect of the Dark Eye. Amid repeated bouts of splitting headaches, Han Shuo had somehow advanced at astonishing speed. Now that his demonic cultivation had entered the Soul-Shaping realm, the hidden potential in his mind had been awakened, and the speed at which he could gather spiritual power through meditation had risen again. With these layers stacked upon one another, his spiritual power could not help but grow at an incredible pace.

Shrugging, Han Shuo said, "How should I know? My body has always been very strange. Not only is it far stronger than an ordinary mage's, but even when I meditate, my spiritual power gathers very quickly."

"Could you be the legendary body favored by the gods?" Vannie first froze, then her face suddenly lit up with delight as she said excitedly.

At her words, Han Shuo was also taken aback, and he asked blankly, "What is a body favored by the gods?"

"In this world, there is a very small number of people whose bodies are born different from everyone else's. Even in ten thousand people, it is difficult to find one. Their bodies differ somewhat from ordinary people. Some are naturally suited to cultivating battle aura, while others are naturally suited to cultivating magic.

"If such people can find the right path, their achievements are often extraordinary. Because their bodies differ from normal human beings, they are said to have received the favor of the gods. On the continent today, some of the outstanding figures in certain fields are said to possess such a body. Could you be one of them?" Vannie's eyes gleamed with an indescribable excitement as she stared at Han Shuo and cried out.

"Maybe," Han Shuo said. He knew very well that the abnormality of his body was entirely due to the cultivation of his demonic art. It had nothing to do with any body bestowed by the gods. But naturally, he could not provide any reasonable explanation. Being labeled as someone with a body favored by the gods did at least give him a passable excuse.

After Vannie finished her excitement, her expression suddenly turned solemn, and she said gravely, "If this is true, then before your strength is great enough, you must never tell anyone. This body favored by the gods may bring you unimaginable wealth and glory, but it may also get you killed by those with ill intentions before you have even grown."

Han Shuo understood all too well what she meant. If things were as she described, then such a person would be an invaluable treasure to any nation, and there would always be those who would stop at nothing to destroy it. So in truth, possessing such a body was extremely dangerous.

Nodding to show that he understood, Han Shuo changed the subject and asked, "You said you came to find me just now. Is something the matter?"

"The last time, I mentioned a test to you. It is meant to determine the students' true strength and record their current level. From apprentice mage up to advanced mage, our Babylon Magic and Martial Academy has the authority to certify these ranks. Such ranks are recorded in the archives of the Magic Guild and will follow you for life. They are symbols of both your strength and your identity.

"Once you go beyond the level of advanced mage, it means you've graduated from Babylon Magic and Martial Academy. After that, if you want your improved strength to be recognized, you must go through the special examination of the Magic Guild. For mages, a certified rank is proof of your future development, and it is very useful." Seeing Han Shuo ask, Vannie smiled and explained.

"So that's how it is. When does this test begin?"

"Tomorrow morning. If the students feel their strength has improved, they will take the initiative to participate. You have never taken a test before. I think passing the elementary mage test shouldn't be difficult for you, so I have already registered you. Tomorrow morning, the test will be held in the dark-element training grounds, and I will be there as well. Don't forget."

"No problem."

"By the way, Brian, the spells you told me about last time, 'Reanimation of the Dead' and 'Netherworld Canopy'—no matter how you obtained them, absolutely do not tell anyone, and do not use them in front of others. Before your strength is sufficiently great, such spells are likely to bring you enormous trouble. You should understand that, right?" Just as Vannie was about to leave, she suddenly reminded Han Shuo once more in earnest.

Without needing her reminder, Han Shuo understood perfectly well. He nodded and said, "Don't worry, Teacher Vannie. Other than you, I haven't told anyone else. I know you have been very good to me, which is why I told you without holding anything back. No one else will ever gain my trust!"

"Who was being good to you? You talk nonsense!" Vannie's cheeks reddened. She looked a little pleased. Shooting Han Shuo a glare, she then smiled and walked out.

"Of course, it's our beautiful and kind Teacher Vannie, with the perfect figure and all!" Han Shuo called after her departing back, grinning shamelessly.

But Vannie did not answer him. Only when she reached the doorway did she murmur, "That little brat is becoming more and more outrageous."

After Vannie left, Han Shuo did not continue practicing his zombie control. After thinking it over, he left the training grounds and, with the primordial demon scouting around him, went to the back mountain, through a hidden corner within the tomb, and returned once more to the Land of the Dead.

Since he had promised Lawrence that he would help him obtain a piece of black iron ore, Han Shuo could not go back on his word even for the sake of five thousand gold coins. Bringing the little skeleton with him into that mine shaft, he worked amid the rumbling for an entire afternoon before finally digging out a small piece of black iron ore, which seemed enough to satisfy Lawrence's needs.

The black iron ore in the mine was not inexhaustible. With the recent days of continuous excavation, Han Shuo discovered that he had to go deeper and deeper into the mine, and dig for a very long time, before he could obtain even a little black iron ore. As a metal of extreme rarity, the ore truly seemed to exist in scant amounts. It had not taken long for the vein to nearly run dry.

Beneath that surging waterfall, after cultivating his demonic art for a while, Han Shuo suddenly remembered something on the road back to the Land of the Dead. In Chu Canglan's memories, there was likewise mention of a kind of zombie, and in his original world Han Shuo had also indeed heard of zombies existing.

After carefully recalling Chu Canglan's memories, Han Shuo suddenly felt his heart stir. According to those memories, zombies were merely a low-level existence, usually formed when a person who died in a place heavy with yin energy absorbed some of the yin energy between heaven and earth.

Among low-level zombies there was also a special group. After death, they were buried in places where yin energy was extremely abundant, and if that place happened to be one of the Five Absolute Lands, then after years and years of absorbing yin energy and the strange substances of that land, there was a very small chance that an exceedingly powerful zombie would take shape.

According to the properties of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, the Five Absolute Lands were respectively the Land of Metal Absoluteness, the Land of Wood Absoluteness, the Land of Water Absoluteness, the Land of Fire Absoluteness, and the Land of Earth Absoluteness. Zombies that could take shape there, after absorbing enough yin energy and the power of the five elements, were called Golden-Armored Corpses, Wooden-Armored Corpses, Water-Armored Corpses, Fire-Armored Corpses, and Earth-Armored Corpses.

After these five kinds of zombies formed, they were far stronger than ordinary zombies. Most wondrous of all, these zombies, formed through the absorption of sufficient yin energy and the power of the five elements, could each wield the power of metal, wood, water, fire, or earth. If the five kinds of zombies gathered together and formed the Heavenly Corpse Five-Element Grand Formation, its power would be truly terrifying.

However, such zombies were already extremely rare, and on top of that they had never been controlled by anyone. They were hostile to one another, while cultivators also hated and hunted them. Thus it was very difficult for all five kinds of zombies to gather together.

Within Chu Canglan's memories were detailed descriptions of the various particulars of how these five-element zombies formed. Chu Canglan even possessed secret techniques to hasten the emergence of such zombies, as though he had once studied this field. Having obtained all this, Han Shuo suddenly felt as though he had stumbled upon a priceless treasure, and in an instant he began to consider refining such five-element zombies.

With the restraint of undead magic, once these zombies formed they would obey Han Shuo unconditionally. Han Shuo had already discovered that the location of the Land of the Dead was itself a Land of Earth Absoluteness. The other four absolute lands could be searched for slowly; at present, all that was lacking were some of the materials in Chu Canglan's secret techniques that could hasten the rapid formation of such zombies, and then he would be able to refine an Earth-Armored Corpse.

The moment this thought arose, Han Shuo immediately resolved to try to refine these five special zombies and use them to form the Heavenly Corpse Five-Element Grand Formation.