Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

Lynn's figure emerged from the white light of the teleportation array, with the familiar Bone Spire teleportation area beneath his feet.

The number of people in the teleportation area was much less than last time. Previously, the war was at its most intense, and the apprentices used the teleportation array to travel to various demiplanes to "fill in the gaps".

The area was sparsely populated, suggesting that the war was over.

Lynn took a deep breath. The air was filled with the unique, dense negative energy and death aura of the Eternal Night Graveyard, just as it had been when he left, yet it gave him a long-lost feeling of...familiarity?

Tsk... After spending so much time in the main world, I'm actually starting to miss this place.

Without delay, Lynn left the teleportation area and went straight to his mentor Gregor's laboratory.

The apprentices encountered along the way still bowed respectfully, most of them being first-class or second-class apprentices, with very few third-class apprentices seen.

Some of the apprentices appeared extremely inexperienced, clearly freshmen recruited in the last two years.

It seems this war has caused considerable damage to the academy; even third-class apprentices have become rare commodities.

Upon arriving at Gregor's laboratory, Lynn reached out and pushed open the heavy bone door.

Hmm...it seems my access hasn't been revoked yet; this lab is completely unguarded against me.

Inside the laboratory, a familiar scene came into view.

Gregor was operating at full power, with countless energy arms flashing with various colors of light flying around the laboratory, precisely operating various instruments and materials.

The air was filled with a complex mix of smells from medicine, metal, and burning energy.

Gregor himself was standing in front of the central control panel, his brow furrowed as he stared at a throbbing tumor with a pained expression on its surface.

Sensing someone enter, Gregor waved his hand impatiently without looking up: "Didn't I tell you not to disturb me... huh?"

He turned his head sharply, his gaze landing squarely on Lynn.

Lynn chuckled.

Gregor's eyes suddenly lit up with an astonishing light.

"Good lad, you finally decided to come back!"

Then, the sound abruptly stopped.

"You...you're in the Second Ring Road?!"

Gregor's voice carried a rare hint of surprise. He put down his tools, walked around Lynn, and looked him up and down.

"You've only been gone a few years? Three? Four? You kid... you're a monster!"

There was no jealousy in his tone, only the excitement and admiration of a researcher seeing a "successful experimental subject".

After all, Lynn is considered his greatest masterpiece, and it will probably be difficult to replicate in the future.

Lynn bowed slightly: "I've managed a breakthrough by sheer luck. How have you been, mentor?"

"Good? Good my ass!" Gregor immediately reverted to his usual complaining mode, pointing to the piles of failed products and problems in the laboratory.

"The replica of 'Death Blossom' always falls short in terms of adaptability to the rules of the soul and the newly formed body!"

"There are still a few hybrid models involving curses and soul toxins, and the energy conflict problem remains unresolved... You're back just in time! Quick, take a look at these nodes..."

As expected of a research fanatic, Lynn hadn't even settled in before Gregor eagerly pulled him to the control panel, where he pulled up several complex three-dimensional witchcraft models and experimental data.

Lynn did not refuse. With a thought, his [Analysis] ability silently activated, and the thirty workstations were quickly assigned tasks to begin dealing with the difficult problem raised by Gregor.

The two seemed to have returned to their apprenticeship days.

Lynn temporarily "hung" these difficult questions on the analytical panel in his mind, saying:

"These are some interesting questions. I need some time to sort them out and will answer you before I leave."

"Professor, is there any new news from the academy lately? I've been away for quite a while, so I'm a bit out of touch."

Upon hearing this, Gregor pursed his lips and casually remarked while fiddling with the equipment, "News? What news could there be?"

"By the way, Morpheus, that skinner, has been acting like a madman for the past two years, buying up pure, high-level souls at exorbitant prices everywhere. He even personally led a team to several dangerous planes."

"It seems he's planning to refine his third main soul in preparation for breaking through to the third ring."

Morpheus?

Lynn's eyes narrowed slightly.

This man, who once sent his apprentice to assassinate his enemy, seems to have not given up on improving himself.

Could it be that he was provoked by his own promotion to a formal wizard?

Hmm... that's quite possible. This old guy has a pretty strong sense of crisis.

Perfect timing! Before he advances to the third ring, this is a good opportunity to settle our scores.

The thought flashed through Lynn's mind, but he didn't express it.

I'll go back and find out first, see if there's an opportunity to make a move this month, or see if I can lure him out.

"In addition, the war with that coalition of academies finally ended a year ago."

Gregor spoke in a flat tone, as if he were talking about something trivial.

"After fighting for so long, both sides have lost quite a few third-class apprentices."

"Especially on our side, we were already outnumbered, and this battle has completely depleted all the resources we had accumulated."

"In the end... we still couldn't win. We lost some resources and gave up two demiplanes before those guys were willing to retreat."

Lynn remained silent for a moment.

Although he had expected it, hearing that the Spire of Bones had finally compromised still left him somewhat emotional.

The college held out for several years, but ultimately could not escape ceding territory and paying reparations.

It was truly a case of losing both wife and army, a complete waste of effort...

"Fortunately, the losses at the formal wizard level were not significant," he said.

This is the key point. Apprentices can be trained again, and planes can be plundered again, but if the core strength is lost, the foundation will be shaken.

"Hmph, those old guys are cunning; how could they possibly let a formal wizard risk their life?"

Gregor chuckled and then looked at Lynn.

"You've come back this time to get your Second Ring Road certification?"

"Certification is one of them," Lynn nodded.

"The main problem is the lack of magic stones. I also want to collect some materials to upgrade my undead."

Gregor raised an eyebrow: "Materials for advancing to the Cataclysmic Undead level? Those aren't cheap; the academy's exchange office is a real rip-off."

"Instead of spending a lot of money to buy them, it's better to catch them yourself. You can get undead and collect some materials along the way to exchange for resources."

"Catch them in the wild? High-level undead are hard to find." Lynn frowned.

"Of course."

Gregor walked to the wall, pointed his finger in the air, and a rough dimensional star map unfolded. He pointed to several areas marked with danger symbols.

"The stable and safe areas have been completely looted over the years. At most, you might encounter newly promoted Calamity-level undead. If you want something good, you have to go to these places."

"Deeper within the Rotten Abyss, in some ancient tombs of the Shadow Realm, or... the demon battlefields of the Bone-Eatering Starfield front that have not yet been completely cleared."

"Only there might be any survivors, or even, if you're lucky, a newly born undead."

"However, you know how dangerous these places are..."

Lynn's gaze swept over the dangerous areas one by one, following Gregor's directions.

These places are more suitable for formal wizards below the level of Stigmata to "explore".

The chances of encountering a Cataclysmic undead are indeed high, but there is also a possibility of encountering a level 6 Nightmare undead.

Unlike the Eternal Night Graveyard, it doesn't follow any agreement like "not to attack wizard apprentices first".

Some undead or demons may even relentlessly hunt down wizards due to hatred stemming from dimensional invasions.

"I understand, thank you for your guidance, mentor." Lynn already had a plan in mind.

The mentor is right. Instead of spending a lot of money to upgrade the undead, it's better to just capture some that are already there, and you can even loot them along the way.

As for danger... with my current strength, as long as I don't encounter any Saint-level combatants, escaping shouldn't be difficult.