Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

In the study, Black Mountain paced back and forth, muttering to himself.

"Seven or eight days, someone who is unlikely to be promoted, just happened to go into seclusion before I was about to make my move."

"The collateral branch managers all disappeared, and their families gradually left, leaving only his wife and son to run the business in the city."

"This reaction is clearly abnormal!"

The guards dared not reply and remained kneeling in place.

"Alright, you can go now," Black Mountain said.

After the guards left, Black Mountain stood by the window for a long time. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed, and a suspicion in his mind kept growing stronger.

Lynn has fallen!

The Gray Feather Clan knew they couldn't hold onto their vast fortune, so they cut their losses to survive!

This guess surprised him, but also excited him.

"You'd better really be in seclusion," Black Mountain muttered to himself, "otherwise..."

He didn't say the second half of the sentence.

The wind howled through the cracks in the window at night.

Black Mountain turned and walked to the clothes rack, took down an inconspicuous gray robe and put it on, then used witchcraft to cover his face with a thin layer of shadow.

He pushed open the window, flipped over and leaped out, his toes barely touching the courtyard wall before he soared into the air like a silent owl, darting towards Graystone City.

The distance between Blackrock City and Grayrock City isn't too far, especially for a second-ring wizard flying at full speed.

Black Mountain flew over the wilderness for a while, but felt it wasn't fast enough, so it conjured a giant black raven.

The giant raven had a wingspan of nearly two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters), was entirely black, and had dark red eyes.

Black Mountain landed on the back of a crow, and the giant crow flapped its wings, increasing its speed dramatically, like a black arrow piercing the night sky.

In less than the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn, the outline of Graystone City appeared below.

Only a few scattered lights shone on the city wall, and the soldiers on night patrol huddled against the wall, dozing off.

Black Mountain ordered the giant crow to lower its altitude, swooping over the city wall and landing directly towards the Gray Feather Clan's territory.

He had previously secretly investigated the Gray Feather Clan and knew where Lynn's training room was, so he went straight to the depths of the camp without any hesitation.

The giant crow landed silently on the roof of the training room.

Black Mountain dismounted from the crow's back, lay on the roof tile, and slowly probed the house with his spiritual power.

There was indeed an aura in the cultivation room, the same aura that Black Mountain was familiar with.

Black Mountain was slightly taken aback.

Could it be that I guessed wrong, and Lynn didn't perish, but was actually in seclusion breaking through to a higher level?

He continued his investigation and discovered the anomaly.

The atmosphere was so still.

Heishan closed his eyes and carefully sensed the surroundings, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

A wizard in the process of advancement should have a surging, unstable aura that overflows outwards and may even attract the surrounding energy.

When approaching the critical moment of a breakthrough, the breath will fluctuate like the tides.

But the aura of this "Lynn" was as flat as a stagnant pool, pitifully weak, without even the fluctuations that a normal first-ring wizard should have.

"Something's not right! Something's definitely not right!" Black Mountain thought to himself.

Instead of going in to check directly, he conjured a small black spider and had it crawl in through the crack in the window.

The spider landed on the floor of the training room, its eight thin legs moving silently as it crawled toward the soft cushion in the center.

Black Mountain observes everything from the rooftop using the senses of a spider.

Lynn sat on the cushion, wearing a very casual robe, his eyes closed and his expression normal.

If you get close, you can feel Lynn's breathing and heartbeat; he looks no different from an ordinary person.

The spider trotted along and then stopped in front of Lynn, who did not react.

Black Mountain manipulated the spider to crawl forward two more steps, but there was still no response.

Even after the spider crawled onto Lynn's knee, he still didn't react.

This completely baffled Montenegro.

You should know that Lynn is a proper first-ring wizard, and he is also proficient in the soul system.

His powerful soul gives him extraordinary perception, allowing him to sense everything around him immediately.

Although the little spider he had conjured was well concealed, it was impossible for it to escape his senses at such close range.

Black Mountain once again uses spiders to probe.

The spider climbed up Lynn's knee, up his forearm, up his shoulder, and finally stopped on the side of Lynn's neck.

Black Mountain's senses followed the spider deep into Lynn's body, touching flesh and bones.

It is alive, but lacks the vitality of a soul.

The spider continued forward, climbing up Lynn's chin and then his lips.

Black Mountain even manipulated it to pry open its lips and crawl directly into Lynn's mouth.

Most people would be alert to the sensation of something furry entering their mouth, but Lynn was like a puppet, completely unresponsive.

The spider circled inside Lynn's body once, then crawled out again.

Lynn's expression remained unchanged from beginning to end.

He showed no itching, no resistance, and his pupils didn't even move.

Black Mountain manipulated the spider to continue deeper, burrowing under Lynn's skin, through his muscles, and reaching his chest cavity.

Although it contains internal organs, it clearly does not meet the standards of a first-level wizard.

The whole body is more like a machine with a pre-programmed schedule, still spinning idly.

"Damn it, it's a flesh and blood puppet," Black Mountain cursed under his breath.

Knowing that Lynn was not there, Black Mountain was relieved. He jumped off the roof, pushed open the door of the training room, and swaggered in.

Upon closer inspection, the flaws become even more obvious.

The eyes of this "Lynn" statue were not moving, and the pupils were unfocused, making it appear extremely lifeless.

Black Mountain reached out and grabbed "Lynn" by the neck. The touch was very stiff, as if he were touching a piece of wood through a layer of skin.

Heishan withdrew his hand, his face grim.

He turned and began searching the room.

Since the training room contains a puppet, Lynn's true form is likely seeking a breakthrough in the secret chamber.

If I were to intervene, I might be able to interrupt his breakthrough or even kill him outright.

He carefully examined the four walls and the floor, scanning every corner with his mental energy, and finally discovered a secret passage behind a bookshelf.

Black Mountain pushed open the hidden door, released a spider to investigate, and found no danger before slowly walking inside.

The secret room was not large, with a spirit-gathering magic array placed in the center, and several used magic stones embedded in the array's core.

There are soft cushions for meditation, shelves for holding pills, and stone slabs for recording cultivation progress all around.

There are also Lynn's handwritings on the stone slab, which contain some insights he left behind during moments of inspiration while cultivating.

But there was no one in the secret room.

Black Mountain released dozens more spiders, which searched every corner of the secret room.

There were no secret passages, no traps, and no hidden people.

"Where did this guy run off to!" Black Mountain stood in the center of the secret room, his face so dark it could drip water.

Since he was able to leave behind a flesh and blood puppet, it's highly likely that Lynn hasn't perished, but rather left the family.

Could it be that he was afraid I would secretly harm him because he was afraid he would break through the second ring, so he ran away in advance?

After leaving the training room, Heishan wandered around the rest of the camp.

The further I walked, the heavier my heart became.

The rooms here are almost all empty; it looks like no one has stayed here for the past few days.

The warehouse was unguarded, and only some bulky tools remained inside; all the valuable materials were gone.

The entire Grey Feather Clan's territory was mostly empty.