Chapter 5

One

After safely escaping through the long corridor, Yushinyun immediately headed for the Blood Mist Valley.

Then,

[Experience has reached its maximum.]

[Player's level has reached 10.]

[Strength stat has increased by 3.]

...Omitted...

[Conditions for some skills have been unlocked.]

[Skill, 'Negative Mana Heart' has reached Rank C.]

[Negative Mana in 'Negative Mana Heart' has reached 2nd Circle.]

[Special Ability, 'Necromancy' has reached Rank D.]

[Skill, 'Bone Armor (E)' has been unlocked.]

[Skill, 'Shadow Lodging (D)' has been unlocked.]

[Skill, 'Eye of Terror (D)' has been unlocked.]

[Skill, 'Skeleton Mastery' has reached maximum proficiency.]

[Skill, 'Skeleton Mastery' has reached Rank D.]

[The number of summonable minions has increased to 2 due to rank up.]

[New types of skeletons have been added due to rank up.]

[You can summon 'Skeleton Warrior'.]

[You can summon 'Skeleton Archer'.]

Before long, he achieved the long-awaited level 10 and gained several new skills.

'Three, huh? Good. I haven't had new skills for a while, but I got quite a few this time.'

Bone Armor, Shadow Lodging, and Eye of Terror were all useful auxiliary skills.

But that wasn't all he gained.

The Negative Mana Heart had reached 2nd Circle, significantly increasing his mana capacity.

Skeleton Mastery had also leveled up, allowing him to summon up to two minions simultaneously and gain new classes like 'Warrior' and 'Archer'.

Now, he could probably rest easy without worrying about being assassinated in his sleep.

However, there was still a downside.

As mentioned earlier, all the new skills were auxiliary skills.

He still hadn't obtained a proper long-range attack skill.

'If only one of Bone Spear or Corpse Explosion had been unlocked, it would have been fine.'

These two skills were ones he had frequently used in his previous life.

However, since both skills were obtained through leveling up in his previous life, there seemed to be no other way.

'...Well, still.'

He muttered to himself, trying to console his disappointment.

"I've got everything I can get."

A meaningful smile appeared on his face as a message flashed before his eyes.

[Special Ability, 'Necromancy' has reached Rank D.]

This was the moment he had been waiting for, the prerequisite for his grand plan.

Yushinyun turned his head sharply and began walking toward a specific spot.

A blue glow emanated from where he stopped.

It was the place where three blue-grade undead were buried.

With Necromancy reaching Rank D, the level of undead he could extract essence from had also increased by one grade.

However, Yushinyun did not immediately use the skill.

He seemed to be deep in thought for some reason.

'Indeed, blue-grade undead feel different from white-grade ones.'

As he had said, a mysterious energy that he had never seen in his previous life was subtly emanating from the place where the blue-grade undead were buried.

However, he had already encountered this energy elsewhere.

It was when he met Yujinshang and his subordinates.

Although the energy Yujinshang emitted was slightly different, the essence was the same.

In other words, the nature of this energy was...

'It must be inner energy.'

Indeed, from the moment he realized that blue-grade undead and above possessed a significant amount of this unknown energy, unlike the minimal negative mana, Yushinyun had decided to use inner energy as a substitute for negative mana to solve his mana shortage problem.

However, since everything was still just a hypothesis, he was hesitant to try it out, unsure of the results.

But that hesitation didn't last long.

A determined glint appeared in Yushinyun's eyes as he made his decision.

'There's no other way but to try it.'

There was no other method to quickly regain his strength.

In the current situation, he needed to grasp even the smallest clue.

He carefully examined the area in front of him again.

Whoosh!

The three undead were emitting the same blue light.

However, the attributes of the inner energy they emitted were different.

A calm energy like a still lake.

A fierce energy like a strong wind.

And.

A destructive energy like a raging fire.

He had to choose one of these energies.

For some reason, he was instinctively drawn to the last one.

It seemed the most similar to negative mana among the three.

But he ultimately shook his head.

'The risk is too high.'

He feared that combining two strong energies would lead to uncontrollable consequences.

Therefore,

Swoosh.

He chose the calm energy like a still lake.

After taking a deep breath, he moved his lips.

"Extract Essence."

Whoosh!

The moment he finished speaking, a mist-like light began to flow out from the blue-grade undead.

The light flowed into Yushinyun's body through his hand.

At first, it was a normal flow, just like before.

However,

Rumble! Rumble!

An unusual phenomenon soon began.

A loud resonating sound suddenly erupted.

Yushinyun's body began to tremble.

[Extracting unknown energy from the undead.]

[Warning! Unverified energy. Caution is advised.]

He ignored the warning and accepted the unknown energy.

'It's hot!'

The unknown energy possessed a fierce, boiling heat, completely opposite to negative mana.

His entire body began to burn like a ball of fire.

He tried to endure the heat and channel the unknown energy into his mana circuits.

'Good, it's working!'

He succeeded on the first try.

The unknown energy began to flow through his mana circuits without any resistance.

Now, there was only one thing left to do.

He had to send the unknown energy to his mana heart, where negative mana was concentrated, and attempt to fuse them.

'With this flow, it should work without any major issues, right?'

Contrary to his worries, nothing unusual happened, and an optimistic outlook formed in his mind.

But the next moment,

Boom!

His prediction was shattered.

'Gah!'

Yushinyun's face suddenly contorted.

It couldn't be helped.

A pain unlike anything he had experienced before enveloped his entire body.

The moment the unknown energy tried to enter his mana heart, the negative mana in his body began to rage uncontrollably.

It seemed to be enraged by the invasion of its territory.

Boom! Boom!

Moreover, as the unknown energy also fiercely attacked the negative mana, the situation worsened.

The damage was entirely borne by Yushinyun.

"Cough!"

A mouthful of black blood spewed from his mouth.

Boom! Bang!

Every time the two opposing energies clashed, the sound of thunder echoed in his ears.

'...If this continues, my entire mana circuit will go berserk!'

A berserk mana circuit meant death.

He concentrated all his strength to stabilize the two energies.

The most intense conflict was in the heart, where the mana heart was located.

The unknown energy was trying to force its way into the heart, while the negative mana was desperately trying to block it.

However, defense was easier than offense, even in reality.

The unknown energy couldn't penetrate the mana heart at all.

He was on the verge of giving up.

'Not even a small amount of energy is accepted. No, I didn't expect the negative mana to resist so fiercely.'

The intense conflict, with no room for compromise, was causing excessive energy to accumulate in his heart, putting a strain on his body.

'The unknown energy can't enter the mana heart. Then...!'

Yushinyun decided to use the backup plan he had thought of.

'Create another mana library and store the unknown energy there!'

He took another bold step.

He had already created a unique mana library, the Negative Mana Heart, in his heart.

Now, he began to create a second mana library elsewhere.

No necromancer in his previous life had ever attempted to create multiple mana libraries.

Even if successful, it would only have drawbacks and be extremely dangerous.

The basic principle of a mana library was to store negative mana in numerous divided sections and recombine it when needed.

However, with two storage spaces, the negative mana would be split and recombined in two places, doubling the time required for use.

Moreover, the negative side effects on the body would also double, a terrifying prospect for all necromancers.

But Yushinyun had no choice but to make this decision to secure a space to store the unknown energy.

He deliberated for a moment.

He needed to send it to another location.

As far away from the heart as possible.

Where should he send it?

'Upwards?'

The first place that came to mind was his head.

But.

'No, that's too risky...'

He quickly dismissed the idea.

The risk was too high.

If he failed and the unknown energy went berserk, he could become a vegetable.

Then where should he send it?

Boom! Bang!

Time was running out.

The conflict between the two energies was intensifying, and Yushinyun's complexion was turning pale.

'Alright, I'll send it downwards!'

Yushinyun used his last bit of strength to forcibly move all the unknown energy from his heart to the lower part of his body.

The unknown energy resisted, and his condition worsened.

He swallowed the blood rising in his throat and didn't stop. He knew that stopping now would mean the end.

After forcibly holding the energy in his abdomen,

'Just a little more! A little more!'

He struggled to maintain his focus.

Finally,

Whoosh! Whoosh!

'Success!'

Fortunately, a new mana library was successfully created in Yushinyun's lower abdomen.

The wild unknown energy settled there and began to calm down.

As the unknown energy was completely separated from its territory, the negative mana also gradually calmed down.

The negative mana and the unknown energy acknowledged each other's existence and stopped conflicting.

It was more of a truce, with the negative mana in the heart's mana heart and the unknown energy in the lower abdomen's mana library, each maintaining their own boundaries.

"Haa, haa!"

Yushinyun panted heavily, his body drained of all strength.

Then, his eyes suddenly lit up as he noticed something.

It was as if...

[Successfully absorbed unknown energy from the undead.]

[Analyzing the nature of the unknown energy.]

[Analysis complete.]

[Congratulations. Absorbed 30 days' worth of 'Yunxin Gong' inner energy.]

'Got it!'

His eyes shone like a predator that had sunk its teeth into its prey's neck.

Martial World's Top Ranker in a Previous Life