Zhu Ziyang had been incredibly busy these past few days.
By day, he moved constantly between the outer and inner court—attending lessons in the outer court and heading to Sea God Island to train under Mu En, learning Dominion Over the World. At night, he continued his studies under Electrolux, delving into light magic and necromancy.
Although he was supposed to study both disciplines, Electrolux confessed he barely remembered any light magic—only high-level forbidden spells far beyond Zhu Ziyang's current capabilities. Instead, Electrolux encouraged him to focus on necromancy.
The necromancy that Electrolux practiced was a combination of death magic and summoning, involving the manipulation of death energy, crafting of summoning contracts, and calling upon undead creatures.
Zhu Ziyang began with the basics: cultivating and wielding the power of death.
Thanks to his powerful martial soul, Zhu Ziyang could easily channel death energy from within himself. However, whenever he did, his light attribute would retreat—like sun and moon, the two could not coexist. Because of this, he rarely used his first soul skill. This split would remain until he learned to fuse the two forces.
"Death, in essence, is the stripping and corrosion of life force,"
"The basic application of death energy is to convert stolen life force into pure elemental energy for cultivation..."
"It's effective, but wasteful. About 80% of the life force dissipates, with only 20% benefiting the user—an unfortunate but unavoidable trade-off..."
"But with soul rings involved, I've had a thought—perhaps we can store the life force inside a soul ring first, convert it there into elemental energy, or even directly into soul power... That might improve the efficiency... Though ultimately, using it to extend a soul ring's age would be far more worthwhile."
"More advanced use involves directly refining life force via death energy... It's the most difficult kind of energy to refine—but the benefits are immense."
"Life force doesn't just strengthen the body—it elevates the very essence of life, increasing longevity itself..."
That evening, in his dorm room, Zhu Ziyang sat before a potted flower in full bloom.
He extended his right hand, palm open, gently pressing against a petal. A faint gray glow swirled in his palm.
Then—it happened.
The vibrant flower withered almost instantly. Its leaves yellowed, then crumbled. The stem dried out, shriveled, and collapsed into blackened rot. In the blink of an eye, the once-beautiful flower turned to decay, as if all its life force had been sucked out.
Yes—this was the result of life force being completely drained.
Zhu Ziyang's face lit up with joy. He had succeeded.
"Excellent! Truly worthy of my teaching!" came Electrolux's voice in his mind, brimming with pride. "Now you've grasped the basics of death energy. Your next step is to begin converting that stolen life force—into elemental energy, or even into soul ring years!"
"Yes, Teacher!" Zhu Ziyang responded, elated.
The young man immersed himself completely in training.
Sea God Island
After a training session, Zhu Ziyang was preparing to cross the lake back to the outer court—when he noticed something strange.
On the surface of Sea God Lake, a blue silhouette ran toward the island in a panic. With each step she took, a thin sheet of ice formed beneath her feet. Behind her, a second figure—red as flame—pursued with intense aggression. The pursuer had blazing wings and was fully wreathed in fire.
Two figures—one fleeing, one chasing—raced into Zhu Ziyang's view. He blinked, recognizing the pursuer.
Ma Xiaotao!
This was the first time he'd seen her since the student exchange event—three or four months ago. Though he had spent more time on Sea God Island lately, aside from Zhang Lexuan, he hadn't met many inner court students. Seeing Ma Xiaotao again was a surprise. After all, he remembered her vividly—bold and powerful, with a fiery presence.
But something was clearly wrong.
Even from a distance, Zhu Ziyang could sense her unstable aura. Her normally stunning face was flushed with a sickly red, her expression dazed. It seemed she was chasing the blue-haired girl purely on instinct.
Only now did Zhu Ziyang notice that the girl being pursued also wore the red uniform of an inner court student. Her striking blue hair and beautiful face rivaled Ma Xiaotao's—but she was clearly in bad shape. Her uniform was scorched and tattered, exposing fair skin. Her messy hair made her look like a princess in distress.
Zhu Ziyang's sharp eyes spotted four soul rings—two yellow and two purple—hovering behind her. She was about the same age as Ma Xiaotao, and already a Soul Ancestor. Truly worthy of the inner court.
As they got closer, Zhu Ziyang began to hear them.
"Ma Xiaotao, you crazy woman—stop chasing me!"
"So hot... I need... water..."
The blue-haired girl nearly exploded in frustration but dared not stop running. She just prayed someone on the island would notice and help.
She spotted Zhu Ziyang by the lakeside. At first her eyes lit up—then her expression fell. An outer court student? A first-year?! she cursed inwardly. Of all the times...
"Run! Go back to the island and get help—tell them Ma Xiaotao is losing control again!" she shouted, her voice hoarse.
Zhu Ziyang didn't know the full story, but he quickly grasped the situation. Ma Xiaotao's martial soul must have some kind of instability that caused this berserk state.
He started to turn and run—when something changed.
Ma Xiaotao heard the girl's call and noticed Zhu Ziyang standing there. Her fiery gaze locked onto him, and for a brief moment, a flicker of clarity passed through her eyes.
Then she accelerated—racing past the blue-haired girl and heading straight for Zhu Ziyang.
What the hell?! Zhu Ziyang panicked. He didn't know why she was charging him, but now was not the time to think. He instantly summoned the Scythe of Silent Judgment, his first soul ring glowing.
A pale gray arc of blade energy shot out toward Ma Xiaotao.
It was one of his few long-range attacks—if he could stop her for even a second, it would help.
Ma Xiaotao, despite her unclear mind, still retained her combat instincts. With a graceful flip and sidestep, she avoided the attack and kept closing in.
Zhu Ziyang nearly groaned. Why the hell is she coming after me?!
But there was no time to ponder—he shouted to the girl ahead, "Hey! Senior! Don't just stand there—help me out!"
The blue-haired girl snapped out of her shock. Her eyes had locked on Zhu Ziyang's soul rings—three of them—but now wasn't the time to be stunned. She raised her hand and summoned a Staff of Frost. Her fourth soul ring lit up, and she unleashed a wave of freezing mist toward Ma Xiaotao.
But as the mist drew near, the heat radiating from Ma Xiaotao's fiery wings vaporized it completely.
The blue-haired girl stomped in frustration. "Ugh! My mist can't even get close—my fourth soul skill's useless!"
But Zhu Ziyang had no time for her complaints. Ma Xiaotao was already within three meters of him!