Chapter 295: Undead Plane, Old Bones

"The price to open a planar rift is fifty thousand; are you certain you wish to proceed?"

The mage standing before the colossal iron-and-gold ring adjusted his spectacles and questioned the four figures standing before him.

Generally, this was not something worth asking, but it was rare for such a small group to pay such a steep price to open a rift; fifty thousand was no small sum.

"We are certain. The target plane is the Undead Realm."

Zieg nodded in confirmation. This was indeed their destination, and there were only two places in the mechanical floating city capable of opening such a rift.

One was the Beacon Longbridge, which was open to everyone—this very spot—and the other was the high tower housing the Central Council, where ordinary people were forbidden to enter.

"The Undead Realm, I see. Very well, wait a moment while I activate the spatial bridge."

The mage in charge of the Beacon Longbridge, seeing Zieg’s confirmation, ceased prying into their affairs. He turned and walked into the tower built beside the "Beacon Longbridge"—which looked like a massive metal ring—and began the process of opening the rift to the Undead Realm.

"Zzzzzzt!"

Surging flows of magical power converged, circling and accelerating within the massive metal ring, filling the magi-technical circuits embedded inside. A "drill" designed to pierce the planar barrier began to take shape, and a relentless humming sound became clearly audible.

In the center of the giant iron-and-gold ring, a pitch-black sphere appeared. The sphere began to collapse inward, expanding outward into the surrounding space as it did so, its color shifting into a more complex state.

The expanding sphere formed something akin to a curtain, flickering with iridescent colors, filling the inner ring of the metal structure. Its surface rippled, generating waves like those of an ocean.

Opening a planar rift is an arduous task. Thick spatial barriers lie between different planes, and once the relative position of the target plane is determined, one must use immense power to tear an opening in the barrier to allow travelers to pass through.

How much power is required for a forced opening? Let it suffice to say that draining a legendary mage dry might not even provide a tenth of what is needed. Thus, the Beacon Longbridge of the Alchemical Mechanical City employs an ingenious method called "Synchronization."

First, a massive spatial bubble is created and pushed to the edge of the planar barrier. Then, the properties and parameters of this bubble are continuously adjusted until it infinitely approaches the spatial characteristics of the target plane.

Once "synchronization" is achieved, the bubble can deceive the planar barrier, slowly merging with it like two real bubbles—the smaller spatial bubble dissolving into the vast, boundless one.

Planar travelers must remain within this spatial bubble, following it as they are transported to the corresponding plane.

Upon returning, they re-enter the spatial bubble and are pulled back to their original plane. For the traveler, this spatial bubble acts as a bridge that connects two planes without allowing them to be lost forever; this is the origin of the name "Beacon Longbridge."

The calculations involved are beyond imagination.

The ripples on the iridescent surface within the iron-and-gold ring gradually ceased, and the overall color shifted to a pure, translucent deep blue. This meant the planar rift was open; Wang Yu and his companions could now depart for the Undead Realm.

"The old rules apply. Before you head to the corresponding plane, I must offer a few words of caution: the Undead Realm is deeply hostile to the living, and your strength will be suppressed."

"Do not provoke any liches you encounter there; their power is not on the same level as the liches here. Do not provoke the Skeletal Serpents; those entities may well be creatures spawned by that plane specifically to hunt the living..."

The mage managing the Beacon Longbridge stepped out of the tower, routinely reciting the precautions for those about to embark on planar travel.

However, Wang Yu and his group had already done their homework and preparations; everything the mage said was already known to them. It was the mage’s final reminder that mattered most.

"This is the return device. You have one month. Before time runs out, return to the spot where you arrived in the Undead Realm and activate it; the Beacon Longbridge will pull you back."

The mage handed a crystal ball-like object to Zieg and explained how to return.

Having secured their return ticket, the four did not linger. They stepped directly into the massive spatial portal, passing through the planar rift toward the Undead Realm.

As Wang Yu entered the rift, he could feel the spatial coordinates shifting. Although they were not walking themselves, the spatial bubble containing them had already begun moving at extreme speeds, propelled by the Beacon Longbridge.

"My control over magic and my perception of the void are weakening. The synchronization has begun."

Avia’s voice reached them. The girl felt the change in the nature of this space; an invisible repulsion and suppression were bearing down upon her—the plane’s rejection of an outsider.

"Same here. My physical strength, including the battle aura within my dragon form, is being suppressed. I don’t know how much will remain when we reach the Undead Realm, but the magi-technical circuits inscribed on my dragon body should still function normally."

Zieg also indicated that his strength was being suppressed. This was the result of the space they occupied undergoing synchronization; as the properties of this space grew closer to those of the Undead Realm, the suppression they would face in that realm began to manifest in advance.

"Ah, I can't ignite the fire."

The red dragon girl, Noelle, held her palm upward, drawing upon her life force and attempting to burn it to ignite the Flame of Sorcery. But each time, only a tiny spark appeared, a ghostly green flicker that vanished into the void as soon as it emerged.

"It’s normal. The Undead Realm inherently rejects life force. The Flame of Sorcery, an art that ignites fire by sublimating life force, will suffer the most severe suppression in the Undead Realm."

Zieg patted his sister’s head, explaining this while he and Avia turned their gaze toward the last person in the space, Wang Yu. They had already speculated about Wang Yu’s situation in the Undead Realm.

"Hmm, I am not suppressed. As of now, all my powers can be used normally, including the Flame of Sorcery, provided it does not leave my body."

Wang Yu held a flame of ghostly green sorcery in his hand, fierce and vigorous, showing no signs of suppression. He looked at Avia and the professor, confirming that he felt no rejection from the Undead Realm.

"My battle aura, the power of the War Chariot, the Flame of Sorcery, and my physical strength are all functioning normally, no different from how they are in the main plane. But any power that leaves my body is still suppressed."

As Wang Yu spoke, he tossed the ball of sorcery fire away, and the flame extinguished instantly in the air.

The fact that the Undead Realm would not reject or suppress Wang Yu was something Wang Yu and Avia had already anticipated. This outsider was "too foreign"—if even the main plane didn't reject him, there was no reason for the Undead Realm to react to him.

"That’s a good thing. This means you can exert your full strength in the Undead Realm and should become the most formidable force among us."

"The overall power level of the Undead Realm is inferior to the main plane; the main issue is the suppression. Even legendary-level powerhouses are suppressed to the level of a low-tier Great Knight. With your strength as a Great Knight, Wang Yu, you should be able to handle most of the threats in the Undead Realm."

Zieg was not surprised, given that Wang Yu possessed a body capable of charging directly into the void, and he proceeded to analyze the advantages this brought.

"Alchemical items won't be affected either..."

As the group checked their changes in strength while waiting for the planar rift to reach the Undead Realm, the spatial shift gradually came to a halt. They had arrived.

A spatial portal appeared before the four. The scene outside was visible through the gateway: a desolate, dead world where pale, dim light illuminated a grey, decaying landscape.

"Step!"

Wang Yu was the first to walk out, setting foot on the soil of this realm belonging to the dead, turning his head to survey this strange and distinct territory.

The destination of this planar rift was a valley in the Undead Realm, a low-danger zone previously scouted by the mechanical floating city. There were few undead wandering nearby, making it look even more devoid of life—if one considers the undead to be life at all...

Looking up, Wang Yu found the source of the pale light illuminating this undead world: the sun of this plane.

"Tsk, why does this look familiar? Though not exactly the same, isn't this the Ring of Darkness?"

The sun in the sky looked as if it were about to extinguish; its center had turned pitch black, with only a ring of oppressive fire burning around the edges. It looked like a ring of fire, as if the flame were dying, and this world, along with this decaying sun, was heading toward total extinction.

Scanning the surroundings again, he could see quite a few dead trees standing in the barren soil of the valley. This indicated that life had existed here before, which meant it might truly have become an Undead Realm because of this dying sun—hardly a coincidence.

Behind him, Avia, Zieg, and Noelle also emerged from the portal. Unlike Wang Yu, who felt nothing special, they all felt quite uncomfortable; this world was not only rejecting the living but also rejecting them as visitors from another plane.

"My strength seems to be only that of a low-tier formal mage."

Avia roughly estimated her strength; her original power as a Great Mage had dwindled significantly.

"If I fully manifest my dragon form, I probably only have the strength of a low-tier Great Knight."

Zieg’s strength had dropped even more severely. The stronger the individual, the greater the suppression; this was all the power a legendary dragon could exert here.

"It’s not a big problem. Our main goal isn't combat; the priority is to reach the location pointed to by the scale your sister gave you. Once we get there and see Arelian, we can consider other things."

As Wang Yu spoke, his gaze rested on the top of a distant hill, where some ethereal figures were fluttering about—one of the most common types of undead, the Banshee.

Those ghosts seemed to be hunting other, lower-level undead. Some skeletons, their eye sockets burning with cold blue soul-fire, were snatched into the air by the banshees, their bones shattered by the banshees' shrill wails, their soul-fire swallowed.

This world, devoid of the living, also had its predators and prey, though the target had shifted from flesh and blood to the soul-fire that sustained the "life" of the undead.

Avia opened a portal to the Seed of Eden space and released two alchemical vehicles prepared in advance. These pure alchemical creations would not be suppressed by the Undead Realm.

"Boom! Boom!"

The alchemical engines roared, surging with immense power as the two motorcycles carried the quartet across the wilderness of this desolate, silent world.

Devoid of flora, the parched earth—its microbial existence a mystery—erupted into thick clouds of dust beneath the spinning wheels.

Pre-prepared silence wards and scrolls of undead breath masked their presence and sound entirely, ensuring they would not draw the attention of the true masters of this realm: the undead.

The journey across barren plains and through rotting forests proceeded smoothly, as Wang Yu and his companions deliberately skirted the grim castles swarming with lesser undead and the graveyards where zombies and skeletons crawled, for those were the domains of high-ranking undead lords.

Bone vultures circling the sky and corpse-vines slithering beneath the soil—creatures that instinctively hunted anything in motion—could not match the speed of the alchemical machines and were easily left in the dust.

One death knight, however, riding his undead steed and leaving a trail of burning soul-fire in his wake, managed to catch up to the speeding bikes.

He was promptly unhorsed when Avia struck his mount with a third-tier boulder of slumber; before the peak-level knight could even react, Wang Yu lunged at him, using his superior knightly strength to brute-force the soul-animated armor into a pile of scrap.

That suit of armor now lay within the Eden Seed, destined to serve as research material.

With his power unsuppressed, Wang Yu could walk through this realm with impunity, provided he avoided the absolute apex predators of the undead plane.

Even an Abomination—notorious among inter-planar travelers for its immense strength, toxic fluids, and bloodthirsty nature—would likely meet a grim end against him, only to have its bloated belly ripped open and its innards shredded by a man whose regenerative capacity allowed him to shrug off the most virulent rot.

After traveling for nearly a day, the four arrived at a basin surrounded by mountains; it was strangely devoid of both high-ranking undead dwellings and wandering lesser spirits.

"This must be the place. There is a being here who can reach Aerielian; we need only call out with the secret phrase she left behind."

Zieg spoke as he dismounted, walking to the edge of the basin before his form suddenly swelled, his dragon shape manifesting to unleash a deafening roar—a command in the ancient tongue of dragons.

"Rumble, rumble."

Following the cry, the basin began to tremble, and a powerful aura swept across the surroundings, sending a shiver of dread through Avia, Zieg, and Noelle. The pressure was of legendary caliber—could this be a high-ranking undead lord?

The earth shattered as a colossal skeletal frame burst from the soil, its tattered wings beating as it took to the sky, its frame bristling with jagged, menacing bone spurs.

Beyond the fiercely burning soul-fire in its sockets, the entire dragon skeleton radiated a ghostly green flame, the essence of its spirit fused into every bone. It was a legendary bone dragon.

And its name, as it turned out, was Old Bones.