565 Undead Issues in the Sacred Desert
The Undead in the Sacred Desert slowly but surely overwhelmed the rest of the Sacred Desert. Hundreds of Lords' territories had already been bulldozed, the hard work worth years, if not decades of their lives destroyed within weeks.
However, the threat of the Undead forces didn't lessen. The Undead forces were strengthened instead. Most higher-ups believed that a Greater Lich was the core issue. He controlled the Souls of the deceased and forced them into submission before putting them back into the bodies of the deceased, resurrecting them as Undead without emotions, or control over their bodies.
It was rather easy to tell that some sort of being with profound necromancy mastery was at work, but nobody found the Greater Lich, or whatever being it was that resurrected the dead.
The only advantage was that only a few Summons and Awakened could be resurrected as Undead. Even better was that their combat prowess was nowhere near their peak.
But despite that advantage, no one had been able to overwhelm the Undead forces until now. That was due to a particular factor- The Sacred Desert was a region with few Higher Lifeforms. In a way, the Sacred Desert was similar to the Savannah Region. The regions were not energy-dense, which signaled that the Regions were either not that old yet, therefore, sealing the Sacred Desert for most races, or that something drained the energy within the regions.
Most Human Lords from the Sacred Desert region were pretty young. There were only a handful of Lords from the Sacred Desert at or above the age of 30. The oldest Lord from the Sacred Desert Region was 32-years-old, and it was said that he unlocked the Sacred Desert for mankind.
Michael presumed that it would be the same with the Untamed Jungle, the Zentika Empire, and the Savannah Region once he spread out his wings. More Regions would be unlocked for Human Lords to settle as long as a Pioneer unsealed the region for their race.
The Sacred Desert was just like that. However, they had a similar issue as the Savannah Region. The competition was too fierce. Most Lords were killed before they could advance to becoming Higher Lifeforms. Ascending to a Higher Lifeform indicated that your chances of survival such as the Sacred Desert and the Savannah Region were pretty high. To kill a Higher Lifeform, one would have to sacrifice a lot. It was not worth the effort for most Peak Tier-3 Lords. They would suffer more by getting rid of the Higher Lifeform.
Michael didn't agree with that kind of mindset, and it looked like the Greater Lich was like Michael in that aspect. He and his Undead forces didn't care about their enemies. All they cared about was the conquest and to get rid of all life in the lands they'd claimed.
"Keep me updated with the war in the Sacred Desert," Michael narrowed his eyes. He heard that someone from the Sacred Desert betrayed his brother and he knew that he had to talk to the Zan brothers and their father to find out more about Danny's death. However, something about the Undead forces irked him. He couldn't be certain, but he had a nagging feeling that the Undead forces were somehow involved in his brother's death as well.
Michael understood that he might be reading too much into the Will of the Origin Expanse's actions, but the Miniature Coffin Keychain looked a little bit like a sarcophagus. Now that he knew that Danny's soul was preserved in the keychain, Michael found himself inspecting it more often, and he recalled some comments his brother had dropped earlier as well.
"Primedival Pyramid. Sarcophagus. Undead," He mumbled to himself, but Rebecca glanced over to Michael, "Did you say something?"
Michael flinched. He didn't know that Rebecca was still there. He was certain that he heard her leave after he had asked her to keep him updated. But she had yet to return to her little hole to inspect the memories stored in the Memory Crystals and was staring at him while he was busy thinking about his deceased brother.
"Can you also look into some reports about the Sacred Desert? Preferable information about ancient ruins from the primal rulers of the Sacred Desert? There should have been some Pyramids and other ruins deep inside the hidden regions of the Sacred Desert."
"I can do that," Rebecca nodded. With Greater Analysis and her Inheritance Technique, Perfect Appraisal, it should hardly take an hour to procure the information Michael was looking for.
"Thanks," Michael smiled, trying to hide the hint of sadness and frustration in his voice.
Even if he could possibly resurrect his brother, it was not like the pain in his heart disappeared just like that.
"My Lord!" A young man rushed up to Michael and Rebecca. He was covered in sweat and his clothes were stained with various potion liquid mixtures, "We finished the teleportation array!"
Rebecca exclaimed lightly in response, but Michael merely nodded, "All we need is a proper anchor and we can teleport roughly 2500 kilometers in an instant."
"2500 kilometers? Is that all?" Rebecca's excitement died down in an instant, but Michael merely chuckled.
"This is a short-distance teleportation array. I'm not the head of a noble household who has stockpiled rare and exotic blueprints in my treasury, you know?"
Rebecca blushed at Michael's response. Most Descendants didn't have to worry about collecting a wide variety of blueprints. The rarest and most extraordinary blueprints in their family treasury were loaned to them to create large-scale teleportation arrays and various other unique structures, and returned to the treasury once the constructions had been completed.
Michael couldn't do that.
Well. He could ask other households for their extraordinary blueprints, but no family would hand over their most valuable assets to him just like that. Certain blueprints and structures were the reason some families reached their current status. The blueprints were even more valuable than their Inheritance Techniques and Legacy Arts.
"2,500 kilometers is already a good distance. It will help us travel through the Untamed Jungle once we start expanding our territory and it will be easier to connect the settlements via teleportation arrays as well. The energy density within the Untamed Jungle can maintain the constant drainage of the teleportation arrays easily." Michael shrugged and Rebecca Zauber nodded.
"That's a good idea. If you want, I can analyze the energy efficiency of the teleportation arrays. Maybe, I can find some flaws and upgrade the energy efficiency. That way you will have to worry less about the energy consumption when you activate the teleportation array."
Rebecca's offer sounded nice, but Michael was pretty sure that he wouldn't have to use the teleportation array anytime soon. It was just good to have an array ready for the time he would actually need it. Constructing a single teleportation array was rather time-consuming, after all!
Michael was about to say something but Rebecca jumped around like an excited squirrel. He shut his mouth and allowed her to follow the young man who led the young Descendant back to the teleportation array.
"Whatever! Improving the teleportation array is not a bad idea," Michael chuckled.
Now that he was alone again, it was finally time to sort out the techniques he'd obtained. This included Breathing Techniques, Core Techniques, Soul Refinement Techniques, Body Refinement techniques, and Mind Refinement techniques.
He was already using pretty good techniques, but it wouldn't harm him to further improve the techniques at his disposal. It was important to stay up-to-date especially when he had better techniques stored in the War Rune's spatial storage.
However, before Michael could start retrieving all the techniques he'd procured over the last few weeks, his thoughts went astray. He couldn't focus on the techniques because something else was bothering him.
He was thinking about his brother since Rebecca mentioned the Sacred Desert. While thinking about ways to rescue Danny, Michael's mind drifted off toward his mother. Michael understood that he had to do something else before he could focus on the massive number of techniques he'd procured.
Michael returned from the Origin Expanse but instead of meeting his mother right away, he searched for Kraft Viton first.
He knew that he was avoiding the inevitable but that didn't mean he couldn't try.
Kraft Viton lifted an eyebrow when he noticed Michael standing in front of his office.
"I didn't expect to see you today, or anytime soon. I was pretty certain you wouldn't leave the Origin Expanse until we arrived at the academy," Kraft Viton smiled encouragingly at his youthful student. He could sympathize with Michael. His life was far from simple.
"I didn't really want to return, but I cannot avoid it forever. Avoiding the problem means that I stay in my comfort zone…
and staying there shall lead to stagnation. I cannot afford stagnation. The price for being weak is too heavy for me to pay."
"If that's what you think."
Kraft Viton gestured to a chair but Michael shook his head. He knew that he would stay too long with Kraft Viton once he sat down.
Instead of sitting down and finding comfort in talking to Kraft Viton, Michael retrieved the goods he wanted to sell. Most of them were spoils of war and the goods he'd extracted. This included a massive stash of blueprints and Artifacts.
Michael also had a batch of 8 Tier-5 Artifacts, and some treasures of the 3 Tier-5 Lords, whom he had punished, to sell.
"Can you convert everything into Inferior Energy Stones and Intermediate Nutrient Pills?"
"Of course. That won't be an issue. Since you'll need many Intermediate Nutrient Pills to upgrade your physique, now that your natural constitution is loads higher than before, I will give you more Intermediate Nutrient Pills. You should have more than enough Inferior Energy Stones for the time being. Or do you want more Energy Stones?" He inquired calmly.
Michael clicked his tongue reproachfully. Sometimes, he felt like Kraft Viton was too smart for his own good. But that was his charm.
"I assume that you don't want to start your training session with me just yet. Just tell me when you are ready. I'm rather busy because of you, but I can spare more than enough time as long as I say that it's for your training," Kraft Viton smiled slyly. He gave Michael a crafty wink as well.
However, Michael could only nod. Before he could commence his training with Kraft Viton he had to face a loads stronger enemy.
He had to talk to his mother!
[Author Note: I understand that some people might complain about the following chapters, but stay with me. More action - blood, sweat, and body parts - shall appear shortly! What do you think will happen between Michael and his mother? How will the Fang family's drama unfold? What else will happen? Share your opinion about the Fang family and everything else. Feel free to give me suggestions and your ideas haha~]
