Wizard: Grinding experience starting with Knight's Breathing Technique

Chapter 181 Summoning Souls from the Underworld! The Corpse Digger! (2nd Update! 5000 words, please vote!)

After Li Wei finished what he was doing, he came to Teacher Mai Lin's room.

"Teacher, I'm going on a long trip soon, and I probably won't be able to teach for the next two or three months," Li Wei said.

"Is it the Loess Continent you mentioned before?" Mylene asked softly, her head down as she read.

"Yes, teacher. I have a friend over there. I'm going to see him and take care of some things there."

Mai Lin looked up and asked, "I know. By the way, the Tower Master has come out of seclusion and is looking for you. Go and see him."

Li Wei nodded as he arrived at the seventh floor of the White Pagoda.

The tower master was fiddling with a small box that looked a bit like an airplane black box.

Li Wei knew that the Tower Master seemed to be researching some kind of soul transplantation technology from the school of death, wanting to upload his soul into a casket similar to a lich's, and through this method, transform into a fully-fledged alchemical creature, completely abandoning the human brain.

This was certainly a dangerous attempt, but the tower master was extremely stubborn and could not be persuaded no matter what, perhaps because of the person he kept hidden in his memory.

"Li Wei, how's your alchemy and magic array learning going lately?" the tower master asked.

"Tower Master, I have mastered all the first-level alchemy and alchemical rune techniques you gave me before. As for magic arrays, I can only refine some zero-level arrays at the moment," Li Wei said truthfully.

"Excellent, you've done a great job with the magic arrays. I've also heard about the magic arrays you installed in the small garden inside the tower; that was very well done. Once you advance to a first-level magic array wizard, you'll be able to help the tower refine and set up some useful first-level magic arrays. You'll be well rewarded then," the tower master said.

"Yes, Tower Master," Li Wei said.

Although he has been busy with breathing techniques and meditation in recent years, his speed of gaining experience with magic arrays has slowed down a lot.

However, his spell array skill is only one or two thousand points away from the fourth tier. Basically, he can grind it to the fourth tier by the end of this year or the beginning of next year. At that time, he can become a genuine first-tier spell array wizard and learn several key spell arrays, such as the "Shadowless Tracking Spell Array" which can ambush enemies and evade pursuit.

"However, the reason I asked you to come here this time is because I heard you are going to the Yellow Earth Continent, and I would like to ask you to do something for me while you are there," the Tower Master said.

"Please speak, Tower Master. I will do my best to accomplish anything within my capabilities," Li Wei said.

In the Gray Tower, the Tower Master holds absolute authority, and Li Wei has no right to refuse. Moreover, the Tower Master himself treats Li Wei well, so Li Wei finds it difficult to refuse.

However, he naturally cannot make promises that are beyond his capabilities.

"My wife is from the Yellow Earth Continent. Her family is a powerful local wizarding family. I met her when I was a wizarding apprentice. However, her family did not agree to our relationship, believing that I had no future with her and wanted to marry her off to the Flame King Aisidi family, one of the three great families of the Yellow Earth Continent."

In the end, my wife betrayed her family for me, which led to a break with her clan. She never returned to her clan on the Yellow Earth Continent until her death.

Later I heard that my wife's family had declined due to some changes. They used to be a second-circle wizard organization with a second-circle wizard in charge, but now they probably don't even have a first-circle wizard left. Perhaps it won't be long before the family is wiped out.

I don't care whether they perish or not, but I learned from my wife that although her family is small, they secretly possess the coordinates of the entrance to a small resource-rich secret realm that opens once every two hundred years.

When it opened last time, she went in with her people. However, due to an attack by extraordinary creatures, she and her people separated and fled. She acted alone and accidentally discovered an extremely rare [Seven-Day Resurrection Grass] in a deep valley and cold pool in the secret realm. It is a seven-ring herb that is a true treasure that even high-level wizards would go crazy for.

Unfortunately, the Seven-Day Resurrection Grass wasn't mature back then. Now, two hundred years later, the herb should be fully grown, and the gate to the secret realm will open in three months. When you go to the Yellow Earth Continent, please also visit the Colin family, where my wife resides. Whether by coercion or bribery, you must enter that secret realm and retrieve the Seven-Day Resurrection Grass.”

Upon hearing this, Li Wei's expression changed. He asked, "Tower Master, do you want this to resurrect your...lover?"

As a pharmacist, Li Wei had naturally heard of the legendary Seven-Day Resurrection Grass, a magical plant that almost only existed in legends. He never expected it to grow in a small secret realm.

This seven-ring herb is more precious than many eight-ring or even nine-ring herbs because it has a legendary function: to bring the dead back to life.

So Li Wei immediately thought of what the tower master wanted to do.

The tower master nodded: "That's right."

"Tower Master, it's not that I don't want to help you, but this task is too difficult. It's more appropriate for you to go yourself for such an important matter. After all, you are a third-ring existence, while I am just a first-ring wizard..." Li Wei said with some difficulty.

After all, if he failed, wouldn't it mean that the Tower Master's failure to revive his lover was due to his own incompetence?

Li Wei could not bear such consequences.

Even if we assume the Tower Master doesn't blame him, Li Wei would still feel guilty if he failed.

The tower master seemed to have anticipated Li Wei's words: "The Seven-Day Resurrection Grass only increases my chances of reviving my wife; it's not absolutely effective, nor is it necessary. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Besides, we don't even know if there's still any Seven-Day Resurrection Grass left in that secret realm. After all, two hundred years have passed; it might have been eaten by some extraordinary creatures in the secret realm."

I have another, more important thing to do. During the years I've been in seclusion, I've been studying the legacy of the Death faction that I received from Harland, and just a few days ago, I mastered the method to enter the Hell plane.

The reason I recently emerged from seclusion is for this reason. I'm about to enter the Hell dimension to search for something else: the [Soul-Summoning Flower]. With this, I'm much more confident that, using the knowledge I've acquired over the past two hundred years from various schools of thought, I can summon my wife's soul from the legendary underworld.

I have already prepared a physical body for her, an alchemical creature, and a soul casket to hold her soul. Once we summon her soul from the underworld, we can be reunited!

The tower master became more and more excited as he spoke, rolling around on the ground and circling around Li Wei. Then he even showed Li Wei the alchemical body he had made for his wife.

It was another ball... only much smaller, standing next to the tower master like the moon orbiting the earth.

Li Wei thought to himself, "Master, how come your aesthetic sense is so unique? Do you really like being a ball?"

Even if the Tower Master's wife were to be resurrected, she would likely be dissatisfied with the body he had created...

But no matter what, the tower master had already put it this way, so Li Wei couldn't refuse.

"After I resurrect my wife, I might go to the Starry Sea with her. You can be the tower master then, hehehe." The tower master laughed.

"No, no, no, Tower Master, you must be joking. I'm not suited to be the Tower Master." Li Wei thought to himself that he wouldn't take on such a heavy responsibility.

But he still had a question in his mind, so he asked.

"Tower Master, summoning souls back from the underworld is something even high-level wizards might not be able to do. This is probably a realm that only great wizards or even legendary wizards can reach. Are you confident in your abilities?" Li Wei asked, full of doubt.

The tower master said, "I certainly can't perform a normal underworld soul summoning. The legendary underworld is a place on par with the astral plane. The powerful beings there are no weaker than the gods. With my meager knowledge and realm, how could I possibly summon my wife back from the endless [Netherworld Mother River] of the underworld? Even with the [Seven-Day Soul Return Grass] and the [Other Shore Soul Summoning Flower], it wouldn't work. But my wife's soul is different."

The tower master, unaware of when, pulled a fragmented brain from his chest, near his heart, as if it were sealed within amber.

When Li Wei looked over, the brain... was actually trembling slightly, which was extremely strange.

"This is my wife's brain. After she was murdered, I picked up her head, which had been severed by the enemy, and collected the only remaining piece of brain lobe, sealing it in this container made of special material. Originally, I just wanted to keep it as a memento, but many years later, I discovered that this brain was still trembling slightly... The fact that the brain of a person who had been dead for so many years was still moving undoubtedly shocked me."

After in-depth research, I discovered that a wisp of my wife's soul remained in this brain. According to many scholars in the school of death, as long as the soul is not dead, the person is not dead. So, in a sense, my wife did not die; she left a trace of her soul in the world.

After observing her for the past century, I have discovered that the residual soul fluctuations within her brain are becoming increasingly faint, like a candle flame in the wind, which may be extinguished at any moment.

If this wisp of soul is extinguished, then unless I become a legendary wizard, possessing the qualifications and power to communicate with the beings of the underworld, and openly enter the underworld to find my wife's lost soul on the [Mother River of the Underworld], no one will be able to summon it.

So I can't wait any longer. Whether I succeed or not, I have to give it a try.

Now that I have clues about the Seven-Day Resurrection Grass and the Other Shore Summoning Flower, with these two rare treasures and the help of my most respected teacher Salman, I feel that success is not impossible.

It is extremely rare for a person to leave behind a remnant soul in the mortal realm after death. Before reaching the level of a high-ranking wizard and before the birth of a primordial soul, physical death means that the soul must leave the mortal realm and enter the underworld.

The soul can only linger in the human world for a mere seven minutes. I believe my wife may possess some undiscovered secondary talent or special constitution; otherwise, this situation is impossible. No one can forcibly keep a dead person's soul in the human world.

Therefore, while others may not be able to perform the act of summoning a spirit, perhaps under these favorable circumstances, I can!

The tower master said excitedly, his entire sphere trembling and emitting a buzzing sound of steam. He had been preparing for this day for far too long.

Li Wei pondered deeply, feeling that there was something else that could leave the soul in the world in another form.

That is... the Armored Scorpion.

This is a strange insect that can devour souls.

In the legends of some civilizations, the scarab scorpion is intricately linked to the scarab beetle of the underworld.

However, it is clear that although the souls devoured by the Armored Scorpion remained in the human world, it was better for them to return to the underworld, because their souls became nourishment for the Armored Scorpion's evolution, and there was no possibility of them being resurrected.

In the end, Li Wei could only say, "Tower Master, I will strive to complete this mission perfectly! I also hope you return victorious from the Hell Plane!"

With the Tower Master's strength, he could at most venture into the third level of Hell, and the Other Shore Soul-Summoning Flower sounds like a very precious item; it's not certain that it even exists in a place like the third level of Hell. Of course, the Tower Master must have found some clues to dare to go in, otherwise he wouldn't have taken such a risk.

Li Wei finally understood that the reason the Tower Master was so eager to improve his strength, even to the point of becoming an alchemical creature, was all to revive his wife before her remnant soul disappeared.

It's hard to imagine that such unwavering love exists in the wizarding world; this is something Levi cannot comprehend at this stage.

What he considered a weakness, the tower master seemed to regard as the most precious thing...

Perhaps this is love.

Reluctantly, Li Wei left the Gray Tower. Before parting, the tower master gave Li Wei an extremely valuable blueprint for an alchemical creature as payment for his mission.

Upon seeing the description of the alchemical creature blueprint, Li Wei was slightly taken aback.

"The Corpse Digger, a first-ring alchemical creature, is the strongest first-ring alchemical creature. There is a record of a first-ring alchemical wizard using the Corpse Digger to kill a second-ring wizard."

"The main materials needed for the refining process are: the corpse of a powerful humanoid creature, preferably a giant or troll; a large amount of mithril and obsidian, with the obsidian content being as high as possible; in addition, three different types of first-level alchemy formula combinations are required, one defensive, one speed-type, and one offensive, as well as several first-level alchemical cannons..."

Li Wei looked at the final design of the alchemical creature on the alchemical blueprints.

It was an alchemical creature that was over five meters tall, weighed over fifty tons, held a giant axe in its right hand and a round shield in its left, and was covered in bloodstained plate armor and grotesque metal spikes. It exuded an aura of savagery and bloodlust.

Legend has it that during the Wars of Civilization, these alchemical creatures were deployed on the battlefield to... collect the corpses of the enemy, hence the name "Corpse Diggers." They would grab enemies, impale them one by one on their spikes, and then, covered in corpses, rampage across the battlefield.

The moment Li Wei saw the appearance of this alchemical creature, he knew that this was the alchemical creature he wanted!

With its rugged, terrifying, and grotesque art style reminiscent of Warhammer 40K mechs, Li Wei could already picture the scene of this behemoth tearing apart a first-ring wizard and brawling against a second-ring wizard after he created it.

Equivalent to another... monster, Livy.

"I'll start refining it once I get back from the Yellow Earth Continent. With this thing guarding Blackfire Island, every one of them that comes will die. And I can even innovate a bit and try to condense the runewords of [Power] and [Hermit] onto this behemoth, giving it an even more terrifying power boost and the talent of invisibility. It would be so awesome."

After bidding farewell to Teacher Mai Lin, Li Wei, carrying the newly acquired blueprints, hurriedly returned to Blackfire Island.

But as soon as he returned to Blackfire Island, before Li Wei even set foot on the island, when he was more than ten kilometers away, he sensed something was wrong within the range of his Black Serpent's Letter's perception.

A familiar aura was lingering in his cave.

Li Wei's memory suddenly went back to two years ago.

Back in Hotwind City, he remembered that there was an aura between the first and second rings beside Dog, which gave him a strong sense of danger. It was suspected to be a second-ring wizard. At that time, Li Wei waited until the other party left before he made his move.

I never expected this person to actually come to my cave.

"The opponent may be a second-ring cultivator. Although my strength has increased dramatically, I should avoid a head-on confrontation until my breathing technique reaches the twelfth level or I advance to the second ring."

Reason told Li Wei that life is only once, and once it's over, it can't be brought back to life. Reality isn't a web novel. Even if he had many trump cards, he should leave the challenge of going against a higher level to the protagonists in the novels.

He wasn't without support; with the Gray Tower behind him, he could easily call for reinforcements.

No, it's shaking a snake!

"I'm going to find Johrman right now! You better stay in my house and don't run away!"

Li Wei hid in a faraway place, speechless. He really didn't expect to encounter such a situation of being usurped, but he was also fortunate that he had gone out, otherwise he would have inevitably had a fierce battle with the Second Ring, which might have been life-threatening.

And so, Li Wei left the Gray Tower and then hurriedly ran back.

The tower master stared at Li Wei, who had returned, his small head filled with great confusion: "Why are you back again?"

Li Wei said helplessly, "Tower Master, I'd like to borrow Yoman for a fight. Don't worry, it's a sure win, and Yoman won't get hurt."

"What enemy?" the tower master asked.

"A dark wizard, possibly a second-circle being, whom I can't defeat on my own, so I'd like to ask Yoman for help," Levi said.

"Should I have Mylin handle this?"

"No need, Joelman is fine."

"Alright, go ask Yoman if he agrees. I can't make the decision for him," the tower master said with a smile.

"Okay."

Li Wei hurriedly went to the first floor and patted the head of the resting Joman snake. Joman opened its eyes, its pale golden vertical pupils staring at Li Wei, its tongue flicking out.

"Yorman, it must be so boring staying in here every day," Levi said with a squinty smile.

Joelman nodded the snake's head in agreement.

"Then I'll take you to kill someone."

Li Wei grinned, flicked out his forked tongue, and spoke in a cold and cruel voice.

2nd update, 10000 words! 4000 extra words today, 58000 words still owed.

(End of this chapter)