22: Chapter 22: Bestowing the Name "Tianming"

Crack!

The skeleton of the No. 1 Lich thickened amidst a series of delicate, crisp snapping sounds.

The bone staff in its hand also began to elongate.

The skull at the head of the staff expanded by a full size.

The ghost fire spewing from its eye sockets and mouth shifted from eerie green to eerie blue.

Dark purple runes flowed slowly across its grey-black robe.

More than a dozen bone ornaments dangled from the hem of the robe, clinking softly as it moved.

It waited for about half a minute.

The blood-red light finally dissipated.

A brand-new existence stood in the center of the sacrificial pool.

It was a head taller than all the other Liches.

With its bone staff propped against the ground, eerie blue ghost fire spewed from the eye sockets of the skull atop the staff.

In its hollow eye sockets, the eerie blue soul fire burned bright and clear.

It walked from the altar to stand before Xu Qin.

It knelt on one knee.

It held its bone staff horizontally across its chest.

Its skull was bowed low.

Beep!

The panel popped up.

[Congratulations! Undead Hero promotion successful!]

[Undead Archlich · Hero]

Level: 1 (0/500)

Attack Power: 35 (Magic - Shadow / Ranged)

Defense: 12

HP: 200/200

Mana: 500/500

Range: 25 meters

Loyalty: 100/100 (Eternally Loyal)

Morale: None

Hero Traits:

[Independent Commander: Can lead up to 500 Undead Race units to act independently, executing tasks assigned by the lord (hunting, gathering, patrolling, sieging, etc.). The command limit increases with the hero's level.]

Hero Skills:

[Death Wither (Active - Area): Centered on itself, releases a death force field with a 15-meter radius. All enemy living units within range take 8 points of shadow damage per second, movement speed is reduced by 40%, and the "Fear" effect (Attack Power - 20%) is applied. Lasts 8 seconds. Cooldown 30 seconds. Mana cost: 80]

[Wither (Active - Area): Casts a curse on all enemy units within a 12-meter radius. Reduces defense by 40%, attack speed by 30%, and movement speed by 35%. Lasts 15 seconds. Cooldown 35 seconds. Mana cost: 60]

[Undead Tide (Active - Area): Centered on itself, all friendly Undead Race units within a 12-meter radius recover 5 HP per second for 12 seconds. Simultaneously removes all negative status effects from friendly undead. Cooldown 30 seconds. Mana cost: 70]

[Legion of the Dead (Active - Area): Converts all corpses of killed living creatures within a 20-meter radius into Undead Race units. Can convert up to 15 corpses per cast. Cooldown 60 seconds. Mana cost: 120]

After reading this, Xu Qin slapped the Archlich's shoulder armor.

"You're freaking awesome!"

The reason he was so ecstatic was naturally due to the hero trait [Independent Commander].

At Level 1, it can lead up to 500 Undead Race units to act independently.

Xu Qin's breathing grew heavy.

Independent action.

The Archlich could take five hundred undead out to fight on its own!

He didn't need to lead the team personally!

Xu Qin looked at the Archlich kneeling before him, his voice trembling slightly.

"I... I can finally slack off!!!"

Immediately, he stroked his chin in thought.

"I must give our Archlich King a good name."

Naming the Skeleton Warthogs Pig Seven and Pig Eight was because he hadn't put much thought into it.

But a hero is different.

A hero has to lead troops into battle.

The name needs to be imposing.

"Underworld King?" Xu Qin shook his head. "Too early. I haven't even declared myself king yet; if you're called that first, it's taboo."

"Dark Bone? Sounds like an assassin."

"Ghost Light? Too petty."

Xu Qin held his chin and circled the Archlich twice.

Eerie blue soul fire, dark robe, bone staff.

Tian... Ming.

"Tian Ming!"

Xu Qin said it to himself twice, and it sounded smoother the more he said it.

"Wielding the power over all the undead in the world, executing the laws of the netherworld and death."

"Good, that's the one!"

The Archlich Tian Ming lowered its head slightly.

The eerie blue soul fire in its eye sockets flickered.

The panel said "No Independent Will."

But Xu Qin always felt that flicker was a bit different.

It felt like a response.

"Tian Ming." Xu Qin patted Tian Ming's shoulder armor. "This is a name I racked my brains to come up with for you, so don't embarrass me."

Since the name was settled, what was next...

Xu Qin looked up at the sky.

The sun was leaning west, but it was still far from dusk.

Should he go grind for a bit more?

Tian Ming was only Level 1, with 200 HP.

That number might be intimidating to ordinary lords.

But whenever he thought about Dragon Lord James's Level 1 dragon, Xu Qin couldn't eat or sleep in peace.

That guy had an attack power of 1888.

One breath of dragon fire.

200 HP?

His mere two thousand troops might be wiped out instantly.

"Can't stop, must grind!"

That's right, even if he wanted to rest, it couldn't be now.

Because the stock of soul energy was only over two hundred points, not even enough to build one Bone Transport Cart.

Tian Ming didn't have an inventory; going out to fight was purely for leveling up.

But what about the supplies? Someone had to carry them, right?

Xu Qin counted on his fingers.

Level 4 Graveyard takes twelve hours.

After that, the Level 5 Graveyard would likely take twenty-four hours.

All six buildings needed to be upgraded.

The defensive walls also needed to be put on the agenda.

Once the newbie protection period ended, having no walls was like running around naked.

All these things consumed resources.

The more Xu Qin calculated, the more anxious he became.

That thought from just a moment ago about "finally being able to slack off" was completely gone.

In its place were resource accounts that gave him a headache.

But then again, his Undead Race was actually pretty good.

Three thousand troops that didn't eat, didn't need wages, didn't complain of fatigue, and didn't throw tantrums.

But what about those lords who chose the Elves or the Dwarf Race?

Just feeding hundreds of mouths every day could eat through their entire inventory.

They also had to worry about morale in real-time and carefully maintain loyalty.

"My employees are still the most cost-effective in the entire continent."

Xu Qin walked to the bone vault.

Inside, there were still about 120 skeletons stored up.

"Convert them all."

A purple light flashed.

120 new undead were added to the ranks.

He pulled one Acolyte out and stuffed it into the Cursed Temple to turn it into a Lich, filling the vacancy left by Tian Ming's promotion.

Then he summoned a new Acolyte to keep the logistics at full capacity.

"Let's go."

Xu Qin flipped onto the Warthog.

"Tian Ming, follow me."

"All troops, move out!"

This time, the target outpost Xu Qin chose was seven kilometers away.

This was the closest one to the territory.

Because the nearby outposts had long since been cleared out.

One hour later.

The Skeleton Vulture scouting from the air sent back intelligence.

Inside the valley was a large Sand Jackal settlement.

Eighty-seven red dots.

Three large red dots.

That meant there were three leaders here.

If he had encountered an outpost of this scale before, Xu Qin would definitely have started micromanaging, detailing the position and attack order of every unit.

But now, it wasn't necessary.

"Tian Ming."

The Archlich stepped forward.

"You take this fight."

Xu Qin pulled out five hundred units from the army formation.

Three hundred Undead Sand Jackals, one hundred and fifty Minotaurs, twenty Liches, and thirty Skeleton Warthogs.

"The rest, follow me to seal off the valley entrance. If any run out, I'll take care of them."

Tian Ming took over command.

It stomped its bone staff on the ground.

Five hundred undead separated from the main formation and lined up in battle formation behind Tian Ming.

Xu Qin rubbed his butt and jumped off his mount, taking over two thousand three hundred undead to blockade the valley exit.