Chapter 131: Advancing Two Levels 2

“Thank you, my two masters.”

Manda bowed deeply as he spoke, but inwardly he was extremely uneasy.

By now, he had more or less guessed Niuniu’s true identity.

Before his death, Manda had once been a knight of the Church of Light. He had fallen in battle and, for reasons even he no longer understood, eventually become what he was now.

Most of the memories from his former life had long since faded, leaving only scattered fragments behind.

But some things were engraved too deeply into the soul to ever be forgotten.

Niuniu’s aura was one of them.

So was her appearance.

Royal blood among the angels.

Just what kind of existence did that represent?

That realization alone was enough to make Manda nervous every time he addressed Niuniu as “Master.”

“There’s no need for that.”

Kent suddenly remembered the various plans Niuniu had wanted him to help with.

Wasn’t there a perfectly suitable subordinate standing right in front of them now?

His expression immediately became much warmer.

“From now on, just do your best to serve your little mistress.”

“This servant will obey every command of the Little Mistress!”

Seeing that Niuniu did not object, Manda became so excited that he immediately dropped to his knees before her.

Niuniu merely waved one tiny hand.

An existence of Manda’s level was hardly enough to interest her.

Still, when she remembered that having someone around to handle troublesome matters—and take the blame when necessary—might prove useful, she reluctantly acknowledged him with another casual wave.

To Niuniu, it was nothing.

To Manda, however, that tiny gesture meant everything.

He was so overwhelmed with excitement that even his legs began trembling as he stood.

His imagination immediately ran wild.

If he truly followed Niuniu from now on, just how far might he rise?

The possibilities alone were enough to make him feel light-headed.

But after a short while, Manda gradually calmed himself.

There was still something deeply strange about Niuniu’s presence here.

She should not have appeared in a place like this.

More importantly, Manda had no idea how much time had passed since the era he still vaguely remembered.

His soul had lain dormant for far too long.

“Ah... I’m probably only Level Five.”

Kent examined his own condition and immediately looked disappointed.

“I only advanced two levels. How depressing.”

In truth, Kent was being absurdly greedy.

He had forgotten just how enormous the amount of mana required for each of his advancements actually was.

And the soul they had refined had already lost a large portion of itself before entering the array.

There had not been that much magical power left to absorb in the first place.

Even so, Kent had already reached the peak of Level Five.

He was only a tiny step away from Level Six.

“Be satisfied.”

Niuniu flew over and settled comfortably onto Kent’s shoulder.

“Let’s go. I don’t want to stay in this disgusting place any longer.”

“All right!”

Kent’s spirits immediately rose.

“Let’s go beat up that damned dog outside!”

His body had now been completely transformed.

He had a Level Nine subordinate at his side.

Big Nose possessed teeth capable of chewing through almost anything.

And Niuniu’s true strength remained impossible to fathom.

With such a formidable group behind him, Kent suddenly found himself hoping that the Hellhound that had chased him earlier was still waiting outside.

The thought of that miserable beast sent a wicked grin spreading across his face.

He had not forgotten how it had hunted him down and forced him into this underground nightmare.

Now that the tables had turned, Kent wanted nothing more than to beat that damned Hellhound so badly that it would regret ever laying eyes on him.

Kent’s newfound arrogance was not entirely without reason.

Just looking at Manda was enough to see the difference.

Not only had his body become noticeably taller and more powerful, but the dense aura of death surrounding him had also faded considerably.

Even his once withered, corpse-like skin had begun to look less hideous.

Overall, however, the greatest change was that his strength now felt far more restrained.

Less obvious.

And far more dangerous.

In truth, much of the reason Manda had remained stuck at Level Eight for so long had been psychological.

He had always known that the moment he advanced to Level Nine, he would face the mysterious danger of gradually disappearing.

That fear had become an invisible shackle around his cultivation.

Now that the hidden threat had been removed, Manda would probably have broken through sooner or later even without absorbing the fragment of soul.

The fusion had merely accelerated the process.

Sometimes, the mind truly did have an enormous influence over strength.

“Go back to your old territory.”

Niuniu looked at Manda.

“Don’t get involved with us for now. Spend some time stabilizing your new level.”

“In a few days, go capture that Joko you mentioned.”

“When we need you, we’ll summon you.”

“Right!”

Kent suddenly realized something as well.

“We definitely can’t take you outside with us.”

“If we did, we’d be in serious trouble.”

He thought for a moment, then changed his mind.

“Actually, don’t bother going back to your old territory.”

He swept one hand toward the surrounding underground region.

“This place belongs to you now.”

“From today onward, you’re the boss down here.”

“Any undead creature that refuses to obey you—capture it.”

“We’ll have uses for them later.”

Only now did Kent fully remember what creatures like Manda represented in human society.

If he openly walked around with a Level Nine Death Knight at his side, the entire underground world might start hunting him.

And once he reached the surface, the situation would be even worse.

Humanity itself would probably regard him as an enemy.

Kent had absolutely no desire to become the public enemy of the entire human race.

That realization left him rather depressed.

He had originally imagined that, with a Level Nine subordinate, he would finally be able to strut around wherever he pleased.

Instead, he had ended up with an underling who could never be shown in public.

Not only could Kent not parade Manda around openly, he would have to hide his existence with extreme care.

If anyone discovered the truth, then no matter how vast the Twin-Star Continent might be, Kent could easily find himself with nowhere left to hide.

Fortunately, his disappointment did not last long.

Another idea quickly occurred to him.

Manda could remain underground and build his own power here.

That would effectively give Kent a hidden army.

If someone ever became truly unbearable in the future, Kent could simply send Manda and his undead subordinates to deal with the problem.

And then there were the underground mineral deposits...

The moment Kent thought of mines and precious ores, his eyes lit up.

He immediately pulled Manda aside.

After quietly giving him a series of instructions, Kent gave the Death Knight an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

“Yes, Master.”

Manda secretly glanced toward Niuniu, then thumped his chest confidently.

“I will remember everything.”

As far as Manda was concerned, Kent’s requests were hardly difficult.

The things his master wanted were utterly worthless to most undead creatures.

Gemstones.

Ores.

Rare minerals.

Such things held almost no value in their eyes.

Besides, most undead had very little to do anyway.

If they were going to spend eternity wandering around aimlessly, they might as well dig up a few treasures and use them to please their master.

Once everything had been arranged, Kent lifted Daphne onto his back.

He had little choice.

Niuniu refused to let Daphne wake up yet, and Manda still needed to escort them back toward the surface.

It would be troublesome if Daphne saw him.

And so, Kent set off in an exceedingly strange state.

Niuniu sat comfortably on one of his shoulders.

Daphne lay unconscious across his back.

Behind them, Big Nose had no choice but to pump his short little legs as fast as he could.

His round, plump body bounced with every step, layers of flesh wobbling as he hurried after Kent.

The sight was both ridiculous and strangely endearing.

What disappointed Kent most was that he had originally hoped to run into a few foolish enemies along the way so he could test his newly enhanced strength.

Unfortunately, Manda had only just reached Level Nine.

His enormous aura surged outward like a storm.

Long before the group approached, every creature capable of movement had already fled without a trace.

There was nothing left for Kent to beat up.

Even the statue on the surface had lost the mysterious glow it once possessed.

And so, Kent retraced his original route with Niuniu, Big Nose, and Daphne.

Manda, meanwhile, wasted no time.

He was already eager to go settle matters with several of his old enemies.

“I hate the dark.”

Niuniu muttered unhappily.

The Light spell Kent had cast earlier had already faded, leaving the surrounding passageways shrouded in darkness once again.

Kent had no choice but to cast another illumination spell.

It was not because he was afraid of Niuniu.

Rather, Kent genuinely felt that she had treated him extremely well.

Besides, he was still sorting through the memories he had absorbed, and he had to admit that Niuniu’s tiny appearance was simply far too adorable for him to stay annoyed with her for long.

As Kent continued organizing the newly acquired memories, he gradually discovered that a large portion of the old creature’s alchemical knowledge concerned the creation of puppets.

According to those memories, alchemical puppets could generally be divided into two major categories.

The first was the metal mechanical puppet.

This type was comparatively simple to manufacture.

Magic crystals were used as its primary power source, while metal formed the main body. Tendons and bones taken from magical beasts were often incorporated as supplementary materials.

Defensive and offensive magic arrays were then engraved into the puppet’s structure.

Because the process was relatively straightforward, metal mechanical puppets had a high success rate and could even be produced and deployed on a large scale.

Most of the required materials were also fairly easy to obtain.

Only certain critical components—such as the power core and the central magic arrays—required truly rare and valuable materials.

The second category was far more sinister.

Biological puppets.

These were created using high-level magical beasts or powerful professionals as the foundation.

Unlike metal puppets, the process focused primarily on manipulating the soul.

Because of that, the requirements placed on the alchemist were extremely high.

At the very least, one had to be a high-level alchemist before even attempting such a procedure.

Even then, the success rate was extraordinarily low.

The necessary materials were also exceedingly difficult to obtain.

Dragon blood, for example, was merely one of the most basic ingredients.

Soul Crystals and numerous other rare materials were also required.

But the greatest problem was not the cost.

It was the nature of the technique itself.

Anyone discovered creating biological puppets would become a target hunted by virtually every major power on the continent.

There was good reason for that hatred.

In the past, countless powerful individuals had died at the hands of the people closest to them.

That was because the essence of biological puppet creation lay in altering memories.

An enemy could be turned into an obedient slave.

Worse still, the wife or children of an enemy could be transformed into weapons and ordered to murder the very person they loved.

That was why practitioners of biological puppet alchemy were despised and hunted across the entire continent.

After all, no one wanted to die by the hand of the person they trusted most.