Douluo: The Throne of Ice

Chapter 65 The Empire's Threat, The Undead Demiplane and First Encounter with Undead Creatures

The carriage traveled along a somewhat bumpy road. After a long while, she turned her gaze away from the window and leaned on Shu Yan's shoulder again, though she still felt somewhat disappointed.

"Ayan, actually, just like you said last time, the continent is destined to be plunged into another bloodbath in the near future."

"The Western Sun Moon Empire is stirring up trouble. Their soul guidance technology is at least a thousand years ahead of our original three continents. In fact, even now, no true level nine soul master has appeared in our original three continents..."

"Whether it's the Empire or Shrek Academy, the most powerful Soul Masters are all stuck at the level of level eight and a half. But what about the Sun Moon Empire? They have at least more than two hands' worth of level nine Soul Masters. How terrifying is that on the battlefield? The deterrent effect of a level nine Soul Master on a real battlefield is almost no less than that of a Super Douluo, because they are almost lethal to low-level Soul Masters and even ordinary soldiers..."

"Leaving aside the ever-expanding ambitions of the Sun Moon Empire, even looking only at the empire's internal affairs, the corruption among its upper echelons and nobility has already followed the same path as the Heaven Dou Empire ten thousand years ago. However, under these circumstances, it is impossible to carry out large-scale reforms domestically again. Initially, my brother placed his hopes on Shrek Academy, but later he changed his mind. If we could use the entire nation's resources to cultivate a Limit Douluo with ultimate attributes, wouldn't everything be able to change?"

Shu Yan shook his head, amusedly pinching Xu Jiujiu's fair nose.

"It's unlikely. Even if I became a Limit Douluo with the ultimate attribute according to the original plan, at most I could only protect the empire for one or two hundred years without fundamentally solving the problem. That would be an absolutely foolish thing."

"Stop thinking about these things. Since those old folks have had enough of living, they can't blame us for being ruthless."

"After I obtain my sixth spirit ring, I will use Elder Yi's power to eradicate them completely. As for the forces of their respective factions, it would be good if they were willing to surrender, but if they are not... the beings in the undead demiplane happen to need a batch of high-quality flesh and blood energy..."

The unfamiliar vocabulary appeared again, and Xu Jiujiu and Xue Di's attention was instantly drawn to it.

"Well, what big thing have you gotten yourself into this time, and you're keeping it all secret from us? Shu Yan, you've really gotten bold..."

Hyotei threw the snacks in his hand onto the table and then said angrily.

Xu Jiujiu and Xue Di also cast suspicious glances over, seemingly waiting for Shu Yan's explanation.

Looking at the inquisitive or curious gazes on the three women's faces, Shu Yan couldn't help but feel helpless.

Glancing at Luo Qinghan, who was already deep in meditation in the corner, Shu Yan casually said something in his mental sea, and after receiving a slight response, he said:

"Well, I'll have to tell you sooner or later anyway, so it's fine to tell you a little earlier."

"I have already given you a brief introduction to Elder Yi. Now, I will explain Elder Yi's abilities and the gifts he has given me."

"In his own world, Elder Yi was already a powerhouse who had reached the limit. In other words, Elder Yi's strength was almost infinitely close to that of a god. Becoming a god would not be difficult for Elder Yi. In fact, if Elder Yi wanted to, he would be the undisputed god of death. But why did Elder Yi only have a wisp of divine consciousness left and end up in our Douluo plane? I cannot say more about the reason. This is Elder Yi's privacy, and we should respect it."

"With the help of the vast life energy of the Gold of Life, Elder Yi's condition has basically stabilized. He has also remembered many past events and has begun to slowly teach me his necromancy, which is completely different from the power of the Douluo plane system."

"The undead demiplane is easier to understand. There are many, many planes in this world. Each plane is a planet and also a main world. This involves some knowledge of space, which I cannot explain clearly for now. But you only need to know that Elder Yi once used his powerful strength to create some smaller worlds, which are called demiplanes."

"Through the soul imprint left by Elder Yi, I roughly tried out some of the simplest necromancy, but to be honest, although Elder Yi gave me free access to the undead demiplane, I've never actually been inside, let alone know how many powerful undead creatures are inside..."

Shu Yan finished speaking in one breath, then looked at the three women who were already in shock, waved his hand helplessly, and continued:

"If you want, you can go in and take a look now. I haven't grasped the essentials of necromancy yet, but with Elder Yi's permission, entering and leaving the undead demiplane is still very simple."

The three women exchanged glances, their astonishment undisguised, but at the same time, a strong sense of curiosity and eagerness arose within them. Finally, it was the Snow Empress who spoke:

"Let's wait until we find a place to stay tonight; it's not really suitable here."

Hyotei and Xu Jiujiu nodded in agreement with Xue Di's view.

Shu Yan chuckled softly, but did not refuse. He said in a low voice:

"At our speed, it shouldn't be difficult to reach Xuan Yu City before dark. We'll deal with that then..."

……

Time flew by, and the once bright sunshine began to slant westward. The blood-red sunset, paired with the boundless fields, painted a breathtaking picture on the distant horizon. Amidst this magnificent scenery, the dark city walls finally appeared at the edge of the distant fields, and the flow of people returning home gradually came into view, indicating that everyone had finally arrived at their lodging for the night, Xuan Yu City.

After paying the ever-present entrance fee, the group finally entered the city without incident.

After Luo Qinghan woke up, the group randomly found a large hotel to check in. After quietly eating the dinner prepared by the hotel, they went back to their respective rooms.

As night deepened, Shu Yan, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed, suddenly heard a crisp sound of a door opening.

Opening his eyes, Shu Yan looked at the three women standing before him, and then said with considerable emotion:

"The three of you even share the same habit of entering rooms without knocking..."

Xue Di and Bing Di glanced at Shu Yan but didn't say anything. Xu Jiu Jiu was completely confused. She had followed Bing Di in after seeing her open the door and come in so easily... Now, Shu Yan's words made it seem like there was more to their story...

Of course, this was just a digression, and Shu Yan quickly got back to the main topic.

"Just to clarify, entering the undead demiplane means we have to completely leave our original world. I'm not sure what that world is like, so please be mentally prepared."

The three women nodded in agreement. Seeing this, Shu Yan didn't say anything more. He gently called out in his sea of ​​consciousness, and then the soul imprint that Electrolux had left in his sea of ​​consciousness instantly erupted. A chilling aura that made one's hair stand on end suddenly burst forth from Shu Yan's body, and a sense of deathly stillness immediately filled the hearts of the three women. After a long while, they touched their exposed, cold skin and couldn't help but gasp.

With a soft rumble, a pitch-black door suddenly opened from behind Shu Yan, and a cold wind carrying the aura of death rushed in, causing the various furnishings in the room to sway and shake. However, the pitch-black door and the chilling aura emanating from Shu Yan were well controlled, and not a single trace of it leaked out of the suite.

Shu Yan walked first toward the pitch-black gate, which seemed like a bottomless abyss, and then said:

"Come on, just follow my lead from now on."

Xue Di didn't say anything and followed Shu Yan's footsteps. Bing Di looked at Xu Jiu Jiu beside her, hesitated for a moment, then took her hand and followed with her...

……

After a moment of dizziness and weightlessness, the four of them landed safely.

They landed high in a barren mountain range, so the view they saw was vast and breathtaking.

This is a world with extremely dim lighting. A strange black sun hangs high in the sky, emitting an eerie and ominous purple light.

Looking out from the high ground, there was little vegetation on the mountains and gentle slopes in the distance, a desolate scene. A cold wind blew from somewhere and was quite biting. Shu Yan pulled Xu Jiujiu to his side. This world had a strong suppression of the light attribute. Although the Star Crown Martial Soul was of the starlight attribute, it was still somewhat related to the light attribute, so Xu Jiujiu could not escape the fate of being suppressed.

Xue Di stood beside Shu Yan, her vast and boundless spiritual power spreading outwards. Then, she said with some surprise:

"Although you describe this as an incomplete plane, its vastness truly exceeds my imagination. However, aside from the already formed land here, any further exploration outwards or upwards only leads to endless darkness and nothingness..."

Shu Yan nodded, then said:

"The purpose of Elder Yi in creating this place was to study an extremely powerful form of necromancy. Over thousands of years, the undead creatures here have multiplied and thrived, and now they have reached a scale and strength that should not be underestimated."

"Because of Elder Yi's existence, I can freely enter and exit the Undead Demiplane, so you don't need to worry too much about my safety in the future. If there is any danger, I can immediately enter here. Even a Limit Douluo would never be able to detect me here. To put it bluntly, even if he could detect me, he would definitely not be able to enter here. This Undead Demiplane is also an excellent means of protection for me."

"Furthermore, as I mentioned before, Elder Yi granted me the authority to control the undead creatures in this world. This is what we should value most. To date, there are thirteen types of undead creatures in this world."

"These thirteen undead creatures are of different races and vary in strength, much like the human soul master system. The weakest species are the most numerous and the weakest individually, while the strongest species are the fewest in number and the strongest individually. It's no exaggeration to say that this is an undead army that completely obeys my orders. Moreover, even if I bring them to the continent, the powerful figures there will never suspect me. Instead, they will focus their attention more on those evil soul masters..."

Hyotei clicked their tongues in disapproval, then said with a touch of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing both admiration and reflection):

"You know, he really does have a bit of that evil spirit master vibe... But that old man is indeed quite capable, able to create a small world for a god-like body. The terror of such a method is unheard of..."

After a long pause, she tugged at Shu Yan's sleeve, but instead of finding her own thoughts and opinions, she pointed to a valley not far away, swallowed hard, and then said with difficulty:

"Ayan, what are those?"

Shu Yan and the other two looked in the direction Xu Jiujiu was pointing. In the dark valley, a scarlet light was flashing. As a series of messy footsteps sounded, the creatures hidden in the darkness slowly appeared. They were none other than a group of the weakest skeletons in the undead demiplane.

Seemingly drawn by the scent of fresh flesh and blood, the soul fire in the eyes of these skeletons leaped even more intensely. But before they could get any closer, a stream of gray energy appeared in Shu Yan's hand again. Then, with a wave of his hand, they turned around and retreated back into the dark canyon, as if they were being controlled.

"These are just ordinary skeletons from the undead demiplane. In fact, if you use your mental power to sense them, you'll find that their combat power is about the same as that of an ordinary middle-aged man without soul power. They are among the weakest in this world. But they have the advantage of sheer numbers. According to Elder Yi, the number of these things is almost endless. Of course, that's only within the limits that the world can withstand."

Shu Yan offered a casual explanation, paying little attention to the group of undead creatures that were so eager for fresh flesh and blood, and then led the three of them toward the distant mountain peak.

Walking on the nearly dark black earth, the group looked around and, apart from the skeletons, discovered quite a few other low-level undead creatures. These undead creatures were almost identical to the skeletons, belonging to the type where individual strength was average but the number of species was large, but there were inevitably some exceptions.

Looking at the gigantic white skeleton below, which was over five meters tall, Shu Yan briefly sensed it and then said:

"This should be the king among the skeletons in this area. If we convert it to the strength of a human soul master, it would be around the Soul Emperor to Soul Saint realm."

After observing the skeleton king below, which had been watching the group of people intently, Hyotei finally voiced her question:

"Shu Yan, I'm a little curious, just what level has the most powerful being in this plane reached?"

"this……"

Shu Yan was momentarily speechless. To be honest, he didn't know how to answer Hyotei's question. After thinking for a moment, he consulted Ilex in his spiritual sea before finally saying:

"My understanding of the Undead Demiplane is not very deep. It's hard to say what level the most powerful beings here would be at in our Douluo Plane. They might be at the Title Douluo level, or they might have reached the Super Douluo level. I need to learn more about this before I can draw a conclusion. After all, Elder Yi is still asleep and can only give me the simplest response based on that soul imprint. He can't explain anything in detail."

Hyotei responded with an "oh," but didn't press the matter further.

Xue Di walked ahead alone. She stood before a precipice, frowned slightly as she looked at the distant scene, then turned back and said:

"But what we can be sure of now is that there are definitely powerful individuals in this small plane who can rival the level of a Title Douluo. You'll see once you come and take a look."

The three of them came to Xue Di's side and followed her gaze, and for a moment they couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

Below the cliff lies an endless plain, filled with white skeletons whose eyes gleam with blood-red soul fire. In the center of all the skeletons, several giant skeletons, their colors noticeably deeper and darker, stand like absolute kings, ruling over all the white skeletons.

"When I used my spiritual power to explore this world earlier, I sensed several hidden but powerful auras deep within. Those dark golden skeletons are comparable to a Title Douluo. Ayan, why don't you try controlling them?"

"I speak softly," Xue Di said, pointing to the largest and most distinctive dark gold skulls.

Shu Yan was taken aback for a moment, but did not refuse. He simply said:

"I'll give it a try. Elder Yi has given me comprehensive permissions, but I haven't had enough time to understand them, so it's hard to say whether I can control the other party for now. But if Elder Yi fully awakens, I'm sure there won't be any problems..."

Xue Di gave a soft "hmm," then continued to look down...

……

(End of this chapter)