Douluo: What the hell is the academic master development system?

Chapter 377 The Retired Dead's Old Age
Hearing Chen Ping mention the Super Douluo of his academy, Nana finally felt a little relieved.

But in reality, unless absolutely necessary, Chen Ping didn't really intend to involve Qian Duoduo in this matter.

After all, he still needs to gather a group of trusted subordinates like Nana to work specifically for him.

The saying goes, "It's better to have your own than to have your own parents' wealth."

With Qian Duoduo's intervention, not only were the means he could use reduced by half, but after the matter was completed, it became unclear whether Shrek Academy or Chen Ping had been the ones who had done the work.

In conclusion, Chen Ping closed his eyes and silently chanted a spell. Strange gray runes danced in his hands, and the Gate of the Dead opened in the next moment.

"Now that you've signed a soul contract with me, I should show you the source of my abilities. This will give you a boost in confidence."

Leading Nana into the Gate of the Dead, a chilling sound of muscles grinding and bones cracking could be faintly heard, mixed with the howl of some unknown creature.

Nana subconsciously looked towards the sky where the sound was loudest, and the terrifying sight was something she would never forget.

As far as the eye could see, there was no ordinary sky, but a depressing, lifeless, leaden-gray firmament.

However, what filled her entire field of vision was the scene below that froze her soul.

Mountains, rolling mountains.

But what makes up these "mountains" is not rocks and soil, but the dead! Endless dead!

The white bones were piled up like mountains, and the colorful soul flames stuck together to form mounds.

The skeletons were densely packed, like wriggling white moss, covering every inch of the ground and every mountain ridge.

The zombie dragged its mutilated limbs as it staggered through the bone mountains, emitting low, hoarse roars.

Ghosts and vengeful spirits, like a gray mist, drifted and swirled silently above the pile of bones, bringing a chilling cold.

As far as the eye can see, the horizon remains a series of hills of the dead.

They crowded together, jostling and huddling in small groups, emitting sickening sounds of bones clashing, muscles tearing, and howls and shrieks that converged into a death torrent.

The entire world seemed to be filled only with the colors and sounds of death. The intense aura of the dead was almost tangible, carrying decay and coldness, and it gripped Nana's throat, causing her to suffocate instantly.

To be honest, the scene in front of us was quite frightening. Not only was Nana scared, but Chen Ping was also startled when he first came here.

However, the main reason Nana was so scared was because she couldn't understand the spirit language.

But when Nana connected her soul fluctuations to the same frequency as the soul fires of the undead creatures on the mountaintop, she was immediately able to figure out what they were arguing about.

"To three."

"I'm sorry."

"If you can't afford to lose three times, then you might as well die."

"My hand is all single cards, or a few three-of-a-kinds. What can I do? Come on, let's have a one-on-one fight!"

On the mountaintop of the undead demiplane before them, high-level undead sat in twos and threes, smoking cigars they had bought wholesale from He Caitou, and playing cards.

Since many undead creatures have no flesh left on their faces, when they take a puff of a cigar, it's quite a sight to see smoke billowing from their seven orifices.

Every time the countless spirits below the mountain heard that their leader had won, they would cheer loudly.

These sounds were naturally terrifying to Nana, who had just entered the undead demiplane.

Of course, not all high-ranking undead are playing poker.

For liches, whose intelligence far surpasses that of undead of the same level, simple entertainment like playing cards is utterly unworthy of their noble status.

They all played mahjong, and they didn't bother Chen Ping to get the supplies. They could just pick up some from the ground or take a few bones from their bodies and polish out several sets of skeleton mahjong tiles and a set of human bone dice.

For these liches, whether it's mahjong tiles or dice, they prefer to be made from their own bones.

After all, the former can sense what cards their opponent has when playing.

When the latter doesn't know how to play their cards, throwing a few dice made from their own bones can provide some clever ideas.

Of course, since it is cheating, there is a possibility of being discovered. Previously, a lich couldn't find a mahjong partner to play with, so he called on Snake, a corpse knight.

As a Corpse Knight, Snake's ability to sense the quality of bones and whether they have owners far surpasses that of the liches.

Upon discovering that the mahjong set was actually made from the lich's ribs, Snake flew into a rage and nearly beat the lich so badly that he needed to activate his life casket.

Chen Ping casually cast a few runes to help Nana connect to the public microphone in the undead demiplane.

Sensing the meaning conveyed by the flickering soul fires of the dead, Nana had an expression that said, "This is no joke."

Why do these seemingly sinister undead creatures only think about winning a few more rounds of mahjong or poker every day?

As if he had guessed what Nana was thinking, Chen Ping clicked his tongue.

To be honest, when the Holy War of the Dead in Electrolux had just ended, the art style of these undead was quite in line with Nana's expectations.

Cold-blooded and ruthless, bloodthirsty and murderous, filled with extreme hatred for the living, his heart is filled with only the impulse to devour souls and the obsession to accompany Elex one last time, seeking only to turn the world into a purgatory.

But after waiting for thousands of years, when he first opened the Gate of the Dead and saw these undead beings.

These undead beings, whose killing intent had been largely worn away by time and who were left only with hatred and wariness towards the living, were quickly attracted by the various entertainment products that Chen Ping had suddenly come up with.

Thousands of years have passed, and even if there is still a desire to devour flesh and blood, it has been given up. It is impossible to spend thousands of years gnawing on the leftover bits of old, dried flesh from zombies.

That thing smells awful when you chew on it, like rubber. You'll be well-behaved after eating it once.

Fortunately, the next moment, Nana witnessed a truly undead creature that matched the character of the undead demiplane.

A terrifying shadow, obscuring the sky, swirled around, emitting a soul-shaking dragon's roar—the very source of the sound from the heavens!

A colossal creature over twenty meters long, its enormous wings whipped up a whirlwind carrying ice crystal fragments with each flap, blotting out the sky and the sun.

Its main body is a grayish-white skeleton, tightly wrapped with muscles that are as black as refined iron, withered yet resilient.

The tattered dragon wings, riddled with holes, strangely supported its hovering in mid-air, like an ominous projection cast by death itself.

Its body was covered by a layer of seemingly thin, yet icy armor that exuded an absolute zero chill. The frosty white luster made Nana have no doubt that it possessed a terrifying defense capable of withstanding a full-force attack from a Soul Douluo. However, what almost made Nana's heart stop was that where the dragon's claws should have been, grew a pair of huge, curved, terrifying hooks that gleamed with a cold, metallic light.

That was definitely not a dragon-like creature. Its shape and sharpness could only belong to the giant claws of some giant eagles that were capable of capturing and killing giant pythons and piercing through wild bears.

The massive claws that should have appeared on the giant eagle, powerful enough to pierce any solid defense, instead appeared on the hind leg of a frost dragon's remains, which can only mean that this was Electrox's 'limb-splitting' work.

At this moment, the Frost Bone Dragon lowered its massive head, with two dark purple, icy soul flames burning in its eye sockets.

When the soul fire swept over the tiny Nana below, a shiver from the depths of her soul made her almost unable to stand.

In her extreme horror, Nana vaguely glimpsed that the open jaw of the bone dragon was not the smooth bone teeth of a giant dragon, but was covered with ferocious, interlocking sharp teeth like a giant guillotine.

Those are the mouthparts of a giant crocodile, yet they've been grafted onto this ice dragon!

Just as Nana was stunned into a blank mind by this undead creation that combined the skeleton of an ice dragon, the claws of a giant eagle, the jaws of a saltwater crocodile, and was covered in frost, the circling frost bone dragon seemed to have noticed their presence, and its huge bone wings suddenly retracted!
"Oh oh oh oh oh!"

A joyful dragon roar rang out, and the next moment, the ice dragon with its limbs reattached fell from the sky, excitedly lying down on the ground, awaiting Chen Ping's instructions.

No?

Chen Ping's pupils constricted sharply. Was this some kind of dragon roar?!
Thinking back to how he had swept through several private libraries in Mingdu to facilitate Elder Yi's research on the nature of martial spirits, buying up all the books with the words "martial spirit" in them, Chen Ping felt a sense of foreboding.

Did he not carefully distinguish beforehand and buy a few lousy books like "The Romantic Affairs of Martial Souls"?

"Shut up, forget everything you've read in books these past few months, and don't yell like that again."

Seeing that the ice dragon in front of him had obviously learned a lot of random things in the past few months, Chen Ping quickly gave the ice dragon a lesson.

"Roar--!!!"

A roar filled with death and icy chill tore through the deathly silence of the undead plane.

Hearing the dragon's roar that could almost kill a child on the spot, Chen Ping nodded in satisfaction.

It's alright, the art style of these ice dragons in the undead demiplane is still salvageable.

"So, Nana, now you believe I can rescue your parents, right?"

Chen Ping gently nudged Nana with his elbow, pulling her back from her dazed state since entering the undead demiplane.

"Ah, I believe it, I believe it."

Nana's language system was somewhat paralyzed at this point, and after a while she nodded repeatedly, her admiration for Chen Ping as if he were a towering mountain.

"Alright, I still have some research to do. Now, climb onto the back of this ice dragon and let it take you to my teacher. He's always been very curious about your ghost martial soul."

"Don't think that these undead in the demiplane are just mindless skeletons. They are all very intelligent, not much less so than human children. If you bully them, they will hold a grudge."

Upon hearing this, Nana's face showed a somewhat indescribable expression, her eyes filled with three parts shock, three parts helplessness, and four parts disbelief, like a palette of colors.

Is it true? If I bully these guys, I'm already lucky they won't bully me back, right?

As she shakily climbed from the dragon's wing skeleton onto its spine, until the ice dragon beneath her carried her into the air and flew towards the Netherworld Sun in the undead demiplane, Nana felt a sense of unreality.

"Dad, Mom, wait for me. Wait for me to kill all those who hurt you, wait for me to save your souls."

Nana murmured to herself, two lines of tears already sliding down her cheeks.

During their rapid flight, these tears transformed into sparkling, translucent beads, falling towards the undead demiplane.

The next day.

A tall, slender figure slowly walked out of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

Her dark red hair was styled into a neat ponytail, and her black outfit concealed much of her allure in the evening light.

As she passed the academy gate, the guard on duty at the gate only glanced at her before letting her out with a smile.

Who doesn't know Nana, the currently incredibly popular star of the academy?

She earned her place in the next Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, representing the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, solely through her own strength.

Ordinary students cannot freely enter and leave the academy; they must have special permission from a director-level teacher.

But Nana was clearly an exception. She had long been granted special permission to enter and leave the academy at will.

Of course, this special privilege wasn't obtained by Nana based on her grades; someone had put in a good word for her.

This also shows the intricate and interdependent relationship between the Holy Spirit Cult, the Royal Family, and the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

Once outside the academy, Nana noticeably quickened her pace.

After turning several corners and seeing that no one was around, she said in her mind, "Master, I have left the school."

Soon, a faint gray light appeared in Nana's pupils, as if someone was looking at the surroundings from her perspective.

"Okay, then just go to your Holy Spirit Church's branch altar according to the original plan."

"With your soul, which I have a pact with, as a reference point, and with just a certain amount of time to guide the spell circuits, I can quickly open a necromantic portal next to you."

"That's why I insisted on signing a contract with you. Only in this way can I maximize the use of my methods."

Hearing that Chen Ping, who was located in the undead demiplane, could easily talk to her and even open a portal to her after a short period of guidance, Nana's admiration for Chen Ping grew even stronger.

"Okay, everything will proceed as planned. I will let you know when we arrive."

Nana took a deep breath, trying her best to calm her somewhat agitated emotions, before emerging from the dark corner and heading towards her destination.

Chen Ping felt somewhat uncomfortable being called "master" by Nana, but he didn't know what would be more appropriate for her to address him, so he could only let her call him that for the time being.

　Let's add some minor characters, preferably from the Holy Spirit Cult and the undead. I've also noted down that muscle-bound martial spirit character; he'll get a chance to appear later.

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　　Chapter 375 was banned, so I deleted a portion of it. Readers who missed chapter 375 can refresh the page later to check.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)