Chapter 271: The tri-colored bone staff

“Aowuuuu…”

Han Shuo was screaming in extreme agony on the oval altar in the second layer of the Cemetery of Death. Thick green light wreathed his body. His head in particular was showing a jasper-like luster. The ethereal light seemed to be the color of the most lustrous of green jade.

Han Shuo's mental strength still grew at a crazy rate during this process. However, the brand from the evil god from an unknown source actually wanted to penetrate deep into his soul, ordering him to become a loyal follower of the religion of the evil god until death. This was a kind of soul brand similar to the one that Han Shuo imprinted on the little skeleton and earth elite zombie. Once his soul was stamped by this brand, he would never be himself again.

This was absolutely something that Han Shuo didn’t want!!

Although his brain felt like it was being cut by ten thousand blades, Han Shuo still held on, his eyes bulging in agony. He roared madly in rage, trying to alleviate the pain in some way.

However, the power of the soul brand was becoming ever greater as the growing green halo above the altar grew brighter. In his panic, an enormous, pitch black figure appeared in Han Shuo's consciousness. The massive body seemed to blot out the sky. Its green pupils were like two huge full moons, as it glanced over all beings as if looking down upon weak, tiny ants.

The enormous pressure filled the heavens and earth, making it difficult for Han Shuo to even breathe. This kind of endless presence tasted of immortality, like a star existing for billions of years in the galaxy.

“Submit. There will be no pain, only eternal life!”

A spirit imprint suddenly broke into Han Shuo's mind, repeatedly tempting him. It seemed that if he just relaxed and accepted this brand, the suffering would be gone in the next moment, and his life would be endless.

“No!!”

Han Shuo screamed tragically, his hands clutching his head as he rolled around on the ground. The Demonslayer Edge stored in his body abruptly shot out terrifyingly intense killing intent. The negative feelings of fear, resentment, and thirst for destruction coalesced into a force that instantly flowed into the demon infant to form a resistance.

The Demonslayer Edge shrank into a beam of light, bringing every fiber of power within Han Shuo to bombard the shadowy figure that'd been born from the panic within his mind.

Crack...

A crisp sound, like the breaking of fragile glass, resounded clearly in Han Shuo's mind. The colossal figure shattered into spots of starlight. The lights suddenly gathered into the Demonslayer Edge.

In the blink of an eye, the agony that had ripped apart his heart and pierced his lungs disappeared. Within his consciousness, the frenzied rate of growth that his mental strength had enjoyed suddenly stopped. The green light curtain above the altar also disappeared without a trace.

The Eye of Darkness in Han Shuo's hand vanished, replaced with a green bone staff. The upper part of the staff was formed by three skulls.

The bone staff was one meter and thirty centimeters in length, and was made out of a green, jade-like material. The three skulls weren’t human, and were respectively yellow, blue, and purple. The yellow skull had three big eye sockets, the blue one had a horn, while the purple one was riddled with finger-sized holes.

Although their shapes were strange, the skulls were as small as a fist, each one looking more sinister than the one before. These three skulls integrated perfectly with the staff, the three skulls looking in different directions as they crowned the staff.

Han Shuo slowly calmed his breathing. In the end, he fainted and fell listlessly to the ground in a comatose state.

However, whilst unconscious, the bone staff in his hand emitted yellow, blue, and purple rays of light from the three differently shaped skulls. The three lights were like silk ribbons that glided into his nose and mouth at the same time.

Blood was still flowing from Han Shuo's mouth and nostrils due to the piercing agony he had just experienced. Each plume of hot blood slowly drifted into the three skulls under the guidance of the tricolored lights. The three skulls gleamed with increasing light.

The three skulls finished absorbing the fresh blood from Han Shuo's mouth and nostrils. The staff shone with brilliant light that then slowly dispersed, returning to its normal lustre.

After who knew how long, Han Shuo gradually came to. His whole body ached to the extreme, as if his meridians and bones had shattered. There wasn't a place that didn't scream out with pain.

On the other hand, after experiencing explosive agony, his mind was now much more clear and comfortable. When Han Shuo looked down at the bone staff, he was startled. His eyes were full of confusion; he simply didn't know where this bone staff had come from.

“Ah, where is the Eye of Darkness?!” Han Shuo was greatly shocked in the next moment as he discovered that the Eye of Darkness, that had been in his hand during the whole ordeal, had vanished.

The Eye of Darkness was the key in and out of the Cemetery of Death. Once it disappeared, he could only use the transportation matrix to leave the Cemetery of Death, which would be a tremendous setback.

Suddenly, Han Shuo looked closely at the bone staff and noticed that its jade-green color was the same as the color of the Eye of Darkness. The staff felt extremely familiar in his hand.

A thought struck him. Han Shuo tried to use the bone staff in the same way he'd used the Eye of Darkness. When the bone staff immediately shot out a familiar green halo, Han Shuo understood what had happened.

Staring fixedly at the bone staff for a while, Han Shuo became more and more surprised. However, when he recalled the matter of the evil god invading his soul, he fearfully put the staff back into his space ring. He didn't dare to try out its power in a situation when his magical yuan was exhausted and body was extremely fragile.

Closing his eyes to recall the events that occurred before he fell unconscious, Han Shuo couldn't help but feel fortunate. He secretly thought that this Cemetery of Death was really not that simple. When that evil god infiltrated his mind, the horrifying pressure from that shadowy figure on him had been truly unthinkable for Han Shuo.

Han Shuo was certain that the colossal figure was definitely the true appearance of the evil god. Han Shuo completely understood what the evil god’s brand wanted to do to him. This made him even more grateful to have escaped, and he became more cautious of the Cemetery of Death.

In the next moment, Han Shuo remembered what the shadowy figure said, “Let go of everything and accept this spirit force. It will help you reach the power of a grand magus!”

Ecstatic, Han Shuo chanted a spell to summon one ordinary skeleton. Eight skeletal warriors immediately appeared on the altar. Feeling the smooth circulation of his vast mental strength, Han Shuo was overjoyed upon discovering that his mental strength had made a shocking advancement.

The same necromancy spell meant that the results would be different based on the level of one’s mental strength. Generally speaking, a magic spell could be divided into five levels based on one’s mental strength.

Take summoning a skeletal warrior for example. A novice magic apprentice with weak mental strength could only summon one skeletal warrior. However, for journeyman mages, they could unleash the second level of the spell due to their stronger spirit force, allowing them to call upon two skeletal warriors.

Han Shuo summoning eight skeletal warriors meant that he had reached the fourth level of the spell. This was more than enough proof for his terrific improvement in mental strength. According to the explanation in necromancy magic books, Han Shuo understood that one would reach the fourth level of the skeletal warrior summon only when their mental strength advanced to grand magus.

“Truly unexpected! This was all true! To advance to grand magus all of the sudden! This Cemetery of Death is strange, but truly miraculous!” Han Shuo was ecstatic. He couldn't help but laugh heartily despite his current fragile state.

Struggling to sit up, Han Shuo's eyes shone brightly as he look around. He saw that this second level was half the size of the first one. The surrounding area was empty, except for the oval altar in the center. No items were stored in this secret room.

The second level was centered around the altar beneath Han Shuo, a mysterious magical formation was set up to occupy the entire room. There was nothing else except for it, seemingly a place to cleanse the soul and improve mental strength.

Han Shuo rested for a while before leaving the second level of the Cemetery of Death. He sat in the center of the magical formation, slowly gathering his exhausted magical yuan and restoring it bit by it.

After about five days, Han Shuo heaved a sigh of relief and murmured in good spirits, “Although the evil god invaded my soul this time, it was actually rather useful. Not only did my mental strength advance to grand magus level in one fell swoop, even my magic cultivation showed signs of great improvement!”

Han Shuo wasn't in a hurry to leave. He stayed in the Cemetery of Death, spending the entire day and night to indulge himself in the study of necromancy magic. Although he had the power of a grand magus, he still needed to brush up on some necromancy spells. Thanks to the absorbed memories from Clarendon, Han Shuo could officially begin his preparation for the archmage level, and those memories played an important role.

Han Shuo practiced necromancy magic in the Cemetery of Death without rest or food, as if he was possessed. He repeatedly cast all archmage level spells. He practiced every day until his mental strength was completely exhausted. Afterwards, his mental strength improved slightly with meditation.

Over ten days, Han Shuo could skillfully release the several archmage level necromancy spells that he’d gained from Clarendon. As for the two new spells written in the book of “Necromancy Magic” that he’d picked up in the Cemetery of Death, it was difficult to grasp them in a short amount of time. Han Shuo decided to not waste any more time and left the Cemetery of Death via the transportation matrix.

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