Chapter 564: A Common Enemy, Hitting It Off Immediately

Chapter 564: A Common Enemy, Instantly United

Li Wei flew toward the gathering place of the undead, guided by the coordinates provided by the Elemental Tower.

According to intelligence from the Elemental Tower, the legendary lich had been hiding within the Veil of Death. Defying all odds, he had stirred up an undead catastrophe capable of affecting the entire continent.

At this moment, countless individuals desired nothing more than his death. He dared not venture beyond the boundaries of the Veil of Death. Hidden within its folds, even a demigod-level powerhouse could do him no harm.

The Veil of Death greatly weakened external attacks while simultaneously reviving undead creatures. As an undead being himself, the legendary lich could exploit the Veil's laws to resurrect himself. Even if a demigod-level expert braved the Veil of Death to slay the lich, the latter could simply rise again within its confines—an almost unsolvable predicament.

The only solution was either to exterminate every last undead creature and then strike down the lich once the Veil was dispelled, or lure the legendary lich out of the Veil’s range. However, the lich was well aware of his situation and would never fall for such tricks.

After flying for some time, Li Wei saw that both sky and land ahead were shrouded in thick gray mist. The ominous aura emanating from it marked it unmistakably—the Veil of Death.

As Li Wei approached the Veil, gray mist surged through the air, disgorging hundreds of rotting vultures that launched themselves at him in attack.

Activating the power of his Golden Bone Ring, Li Wei took control of the approaching vultures. The ring allowed him dominion over undead beings, making it effortless to command these low-tier creatures—none exceeding the third rank.

Leading the way, the rotting vultures cleared a path for Li Wei deeper into the Veil of Death.

Simultaneously, Li Wei summoned his death knights using the Golden Bone Ring. Bound to twelve death knights by contract, he could call upon them whenever needed. Yet wary of surveillance by the Elemental Tower, he had hesitated until now. Inside the Veil of Death, however, there was no need for concern—the influence of the Elemental Tower couldn't penetrate here. Thus, Li Wei felt free to fully utilize the powers of his Golden Bone Ring.

Before long, several death knights responded to his summons. Selecting one familiar presence, he called it forth.

Buzz!

A figure materialized midair, gradually taking solid form.

It was Savinia, the Bone Flute Dancer.

"Savinia, long time no see."

"Waaah! Li Wei, you finally summoned me!" she cried excitedly as she threw her arms around his neck.

"You actually summoned Elizabeth last time instead of me—I was so hurt!"

Still appearing like an eternally youthful girl, Savinia retained her childish demeanor despite having a cold body. Though she looked human, flesh served merely as clothing; beneath lay only bones forming her true self.

Li Wei peeled off Savinia, who clung to him like an octopus.

"Don’t cling to me like that—you’ve got absolutely no meat on you, it hurts," he complained.

Hearing this, Savinia touched her own chest thoughtfully before recalling Elizabeth’s appearance. Her eyes widened as realization dawned.

"So you prefer bigger chests? You should have told me earlier! I’ll go get myself a new body right away!"

Li Wei: "..."

Indeed, he did favor more generous proportions—but clearly, this wasn't the time for such talk. Besides, regardless of how attractive Savinia might make her new body appear, it would still remain cold inside. What difference would that make compared to playing with dolls? There'd be no real pleasure involved whatsoever.

"Enough chatter," said Li Wei firmly. "Take me to find the legendary lich."

Upon hearing mention of their master, Savinia immediately straightened up seriously. Seated atop one of the rotting vultures, she gestured forward.

"Follow me. Our master is currently creating an army of bone dragons at the Millennium Blood Pond."

Surprised, Li Wei asked, "Did you bring the Millennium Blood Pond from the ancient battlefield?"

Glancing back at him with a mischievous grin, Savinia replied cheerfully, "We didn’t move it—we followed it when it came running out on its own."

"The Millennium Blood Pond itself is also one of our master’s creations—a death knight named Clyus, the Soulblood Ocean."

"But Clyus is rather special—he awakens very rarely, spending most of his existence asleep."

"The master, in his quest to forge an army of bone dragons, has awakened the slumbering Clyus."

Li Wei, upon hearing this, was somewhat surprised.

He had never imagined that the thousand-year-old Blood Pool was actually an extremely unique undead creature.

"The Sea of Dead Souls?"

His thoughts then turned to the mountain beast Morpheus.

Li Wei noticed that legendary liches seemed to have a penchant for creating special kinds of undead.

Yet he had to admit—the uniquely formed undead were indeed powerful.

"Clyus."

Li Wei murmured the name.

Recalling the Death Knights he had encountered, the Sea of Dead Souls was the sixth such being he had come to know.

Of the twelve Death Knights, he had yet to meet half of them.

The first Death Knight Li Wei had ever met was Sabine.

Later, he encountered the minotaur warrior Aron and the stone beast Morpheus, both of whom had escaped from the Elemental Tower.

Aron the minotaur was known as the strongest sixth-tier undead.

He once stood undefeated against four paladins of equal rank and could even hold his own against priests of the Holy Church who wielded divine magic.

After all, paladins and clerics naturally possessed great advantages over undead beings.

Even under such disadvantageous circumstances, Aron still displayed overwhelming combat prowess.

Morpheus, the stone beast, had the power to manipulate entire mountain ranges.

Once, during the siege of Storm City, he withstood a fire-element forbidden spell—"Heaven's Fire Descends"—and carried others out of the city while enduring the spell’s wrath.

His achievements were remarkable.

It was also during Aron and Morpheus's escape that Li Wei met the fourth Death Knight—Dark Wind "Scar."

Scar appeared as a young man, skilled in dark magic and capable of transforming into a demon.

When Li Wei obtained the Tear of the Goddess in Storm City, he encountered the fifth Death Knight—an Undying Wraith named Elizabeth.

Elizabeth resembled a noblewoman ghost, possessing the ability to create duplicates of herself.

As long as one duplicate remained, she could not truly die.

Her duplicates shared a spiritual connection, allowing them to communicate across distances.

The sixth Death Knight was the Sea of Dead Souls—Clyus.

Ironically, Clyus was among the earliest Death Knights Li Wei had unknowingly encountered.

Only now did he realize that the thousand-year-old Blood Pool was, in fact, an undead entity.

Led by Sabine, Li Wei arrived at the heart of the Shroud of Death.

There, he beheld a massive blood lake with a diameter exceeding a kilometer.

Along the lake's edge rested numerous bone dragons, each stretching twenty or thirty meters in length.

Gurgle, gurgle!

Bubbles rose profusely from within the lake.

A newly born ancient dragon slowly emerged from its depths.

Li Wei cast a deep glance at the blood lake.

No—rather, at Clyus, the Sea of Dead Souls.

If Morpheus the mountain beast was the carrier crafted by the legendary lich to transport undead,

then Clyus, the Sea of Dead Souls, was undoubtedly the lich's ultimate war factory.

Every bone dragon emerging from Clyus was a sixth-tier creature.

Looking around, it was clear that the legendary lich had already created over a hundred sixth-tier bone dragons.

Whoosh!

A fierce wind swept through, dispersing the surrounding aura of death.

A colossal figure entered Li Wei's vision.

Before him stood a bone dragon over a hundred meters long.

Compared to this giant, the twenty-meter-long dragons on the ground looked like mere children.

Sabine called out joyfully when she saw the newcomer: "Dio, let me introduce you—this is Li Wei, chosen by our master as his successor."

"Li Wei, Dio is the strongest among the twelve Death Knights."

Li Wei gazed upon the immense bone dragon, sensing from it an aura of legend.

A legendary-tier bone dragon.

The leader of the twelve Death Knights.

Dio glanced briefly at Li Wei but showed little interest in his identity.

Technically, Dio was one of the legendary lich's Death Knights.

But unlike the others, Dio was not an undead creature created by the lich.

He hailed from the Realm of the Dead.

It was only through a pact with the legendary lich that he became a Death Knight.

In the Realm of the Dead, his name alone could send shivers through other undead.

The Terrorbone Dragon!

The great dragon who spread death.

After a cursory glance at Li Wei, Dio turned and departed,

vanishing back into the Shroud of Death.

He had merely sensed the presence of a human within the Shroud and felt curious enough to investigate.

Upon confirming Li Wei posed no threat, Dio left without further concern.

Sabine watched the retreating dragon with regret. "Dio is the leader of our twelve Death Knights. If you could gain his recognition, you would inherit tremendous power."

Li Wei looked toward the fading silhouette swallowed by gray mist.

He chuckled lightly and said, "Hmph, it's nothing much."

Had he not yet become a legendary mage, perhaps he might have desired such aid.

Now, however, Dio held no more allure for him than any other.

The evil gods have all been fought.

A mere legendary bone dragon is utterly beneath consideration.

Li Wei lowered his gaze to scan the blood lake below, searching for the figure of the legendary lich.

At Savinia’s reminder, Li Wei spotted the silhouette standing at the center of the crimson waters.

Upon seeing the legendary lich, Li Wei immediately sensed an aura about him that clashed with his surroundings.

He descended toward the heart of the blood lake.

Splash!

The blood surged and rippled, as if something beneath the surface was about to burst forth.

Moments later, the lake returned to stillness.

Li Wei landed safely atop the blood-red surface.

Staring at the figure before him, Li Wei hesitated momentarily on how to address him.

Call him master?

Something in his heart resisted the idea.

To Li Wei, only Torresta was his true master.

Even though Torresta was merely a fragment—a separated avatar—of this legendary lich, there remained a distinction between the two.

Seeing Li Wei's silence, the legendary lich turned around.

When Li Wei caught sight of the face beneath the hood, he couldn’t help but show surprise.

This was the first time he had seen the legendary lich’s true visage.

Until now, the lich had always appeared cloaked, his features obscured.

His appearance bore no resemblance to ordinary liches.

In fact, he looked no different from a living human being.

Ordinary liches usually possessed frail, sickly bodies—sallow skin, gaunt faces, even pallid or bluish complexions were common.

For a lich, the body was already dead; it served merely as a vessel for the soul.

Changing bodies was as casual and simple as changing clothes.

Without careful maintenance, the body would decay rapidly.

And since bodily death did not harm the lich itself, many simply waited until their current shell rotted beyond use before acquiring a new one.

Yet the legendary lich’s body seemed alive, bearing none of the hallmarks of death.

Gazing upon that oddly familiar face, Li Wei remained silent for a long while before finally speaking: “Teacher.”

Regardless of everything, the legendary lich had, in some measure, been his teacher.

Calling him that was acceptable.

Certainly better than calling him “father-in-law,” after all.

The legendary lich nodded slightly. “Mm, you’ve come.”

“How is Sainte?” he asked without delay, concern evident in his voice.

Li Wei smiled. “She’s undergoing the Sacred Dragon inheritance. Once she completes it, she should be able to break through directly to the eighth tier.”

“She’s already stronger than you are now.”

Hearing this, the legendary lich didn’t seem offended—he actually smiled with joy.

“That’s good.”

“So you found the Time Dragon’s treasure,” he said.

Li Wei sighed wistfully. “Indeed. The quest was full of twists and turns, but we managed to gain much in the end.”

Curiosity flickered across the lich’s expression. “Oh? What happened?”

Starting from their journey into the snowfields, Li Wei recounted everything to the legendary lich.

The lich listened intently like a diligent student, hanging on every word related to Sainte.

From the frozen tundra to the endless sea, Li Wei told him everything he and Sainte had experienced.

As he heard of all the trials Sainte endured, the legendary lich grew visibly pleased.

“So the Sacred Dragon King hid himself within the endless ocean. No wonder the Demon Dragon King could never find him.”

“The city you mentioned—the Abyssal City—is it truly a relic left behind by the ancient merfolk race?”

Li Wei nodded. “Most likely.”

The legendary lich mused thoughtfully before replying, “Then that explains how the Sacred Dragon King managed to stay hidden for so long.”

Watching him, Li Wei felt a twinge of dissatisfaction.

After all, the Sacred Dragon King was technically the legendary lich’s father-in-law.

Yet here he stood, referring to him coldly as “the Sacred Dragon King,” devoid of any emotional tone—as if speaking of a stranger.

Having finished catching up, Li Wei quickly explained the purpose of his visit.

“This time I came because I promised the Elemental Tower that the Death Shroud would vanish temporarily…”

After hearing him out, the legendary lich replied, “If the Death Shroud disappears, the Elemental Tower will surely unleash wide-scale forbidden spells against the undead horde.”

“Their real goal is to destroy the army of the dead. Once the undead are wiped out, the Death Shroud will naturally fade away.”

Before coming, Li Wei had already prepared his reasoning.

“Teacher, your reason for unleashing the undead apocalypse… was revenge, wasn’t it?”

The legendary lich responded, “Correct.”

Li Wei continued, “So long as vengeance is achieved, whether the undead remain or not shouldn’t matter, right?”

The lich studied him silently for a moment before asking, “Do you know who I seek to take revenge upon?”

A faint smile curved Li Wei’s lips. “We share a common enemy.”

“The Emerald Prince!”

The legendary lich gave Li Wei a deep, penetrating look. “What do you know?”

During those days spent searching the endless seas for news of the Sacred Dragon King...

Torresta's avatar spent a month gathering information from various sources, finally learning the detailed process of the Poison Dragon Cave hunting operation targeting the Wind Poison Dragon.

He also obtained an unexpectedly important piece of news.

(End of chapter)