Chapter 950: Awakening the Undead, Chain Reaction

Seeing this scene, Xia Duo only felt his scalp tingle; in truth, he could also open a Negative Energy channel, but he was unwilling to come into contact with Negative Energy, nor could he convert Undead as efficiently as High Priestess Morton.

After all, he had no intention of becoming a necromancer.

But that method of seemingly granting Wisdom to Undead was not something he could achieve; he did not even have the slightest clue how.

In fact, before today, Xia Duo had seen many Undead, such as the Night Watchers of Savile Territory, and the Goblin Undead created by Priest Mote, the cemetery guard of Daxia Territory.

But not a single one had red light glowing in its eyes or possessed Wisdom; the Goblin Undead went without saying—they were like a joke, needing to be tethered with ropes, unable to even perform basic communication.

And the Night Watchers also required living people with Wisdom to command them; the commander was usually a rotating Death Priest or a specific soldier inheriting a special duty.

The Undead Night Watchers could not accomplish anything good on their own.

Undead are driven by Negative Energy, and Negative Energy is not just a type of energy; it is the opposite of life, and also the opposite of order.

If one were to use a popular term from Earth to describe it, then Negative Energy could also be called "entropy."

Therefore, in Xia Duo's view, Undead are inherently unable to be associated with things of order and negative entropy like 【Wisdom】.

But the fact that Undead can possess Wisdom is an undeniable truth; it is just that he had never seen it with his own eyes.

Xia Duo was very interested in Undead that possessed Wisdom and self-awareness, but that was as far as it went; once he saw such an existence with his own eyes, it shook his mind even more.

Living creatures like humans, Elves, and Dwarves, when traced to their source, actually feed on Positive Energy; even the Drow who live in the sunless Underdark and fear sunlight have their life existence maintained by Positive Energy.

Upon contact with Negative Energy, the life of a Drow will wither just the same.

Such creatures might be called "Positive Energy creatures," while Undead are natural "Negative Energy creatures."

The two are naturally opposed and difficult to coexist.

Seeing High Priestess Morton so easily create a group of Undead that seemingly possessed Wisdom, how could Xia Duo not be shocked!

Once Undead spread, where would there be room for living creatures to survive!

Although this High Priestess Morton was invited by the Seventon Council to help and should be quite trustworthy, there was no fear of the other party having excessive evil intentions.

But everything that followed caused a deep sense of wariness and vigilance toward High Priestess Morton to rise in Xia Duo.

Just then, that group of red-eyed Murloc Undead began to pounce toward their original kin; their combat style was extremely simple, with no strategy to speak of—they just rushed up and released Negative Energy.

The living Murlocs struck by the Negative Energy wilted almost in the blink of an eye; as the Negative Energy shock from the Undead Murlocs continued, the lives of the living Murlocs quickly came to an end.

And when a living creature, regardless of how its life ends, dies, it releases Negative Energy.

It is just that the speed at which a corpse releases Negative Energy after a normal death is very slow; as long as there is no accumulation of a large number of corpses, it is difficult for even Negative Energy to gather.

But those were normal deaths; yet now, these living Murlocs were killed by Negative Energy, and they released a large amount of Negative Energy the moment they died.

It was as if all the Negative Energy that would have been slowly released during a normal death was concentrated and released at once.

Thus, a chain reaction appeared; a phenomenon resembling dark mist created by the gathering of a large amount of Negative Energy began to spread northward along the Wolfburg River, and any living creature along the way was swallowed by this constantly spreading dark mist.

And High Priestess Morton appeared completely indifferent, standing motionless, silently watching everything happening to the north.

……

Seemingly noticing the wary and vigilant expressions on everyone's faces, Archmage Olong took the initiative to explain: "To deal with these Murlocs quickly and properly, this is already the best method. Rest assured, High Priestess Morton will handle everything well!"

Xia Duo did not respond; not only him, but Niya was also silent. If she had harbored doubts in the past about Netheril banning necromancers, then now, she had no doubts at all.

If it were just researching Negative Energy, that would be nothing; the hallmark of a necromancer is the mass production of Undead, and Niya had already seen the consequences of a large number of Undead appearing.

If this were not prohibited, then many things would truly become uncontrollable.

In terms of treating Negative Energy, Undead, and necromancers, the Elven Nations are more radical than Netheril; at least Netheril still allows the existence of Undead, and researching Negative Energy is also fine, only the large-scale production of Undead is prohibited.

But in the Elven Nations, as long as Undead are discovered, the only result is to be destroyed; likewise, Negative Energy and necromancers are handled the same way.

Looking at High Priestess Morton in the distance who was completely unlike a living creature, a chill permeated Niya's heart, and she rarely felt a sense of agreement with the actions of the Elven Nations.

She moved her feet to lean toward Xia Duo's side, touched the back of her husband's hand, and quietly sent a Sending: "The Murloc Tide is resolved, but the impact of the Negative Energy flow is hard to eliminate; is there really no other way?"

"Didn't Archmage Olong say this is the best method? Since the higher-ups arranged for High Priestess Morton to come, they must have considered the subsequent effects. Just watch with peace of mind!"

Xia Duo answered this way, though it was also to comfort himself; in the current situation, there was indeed no way to clear the Murlocs as efficiently as High Priestess Morton.

Even if he used his Personal Space to clear them in batches, it could not compare to the efficiency of High Priestess Morton.

And these two methods of theirs—one manual, one nearly fully automatic—consumed energy in completely different ways.

And if someone else were to do it, even if a Great Arcanist were to take action personally, they would likely be exhausted after clearing so many Murlocs.

As for ordinary people, if there were sufficient time, perhaps they could clear them slowly.

But the New Year Festival was coming soon, and it was winter, freezing cold; how could one conscript a large number of ordinary people to clear Murlocs!

Perhaps it was for this reason that the Seventon Council or the Seven Towers decided to ask High Priestess Morton to take action, so as to quickly eliminate the impact.

……

Darkvision allowed Xia Duo to see at night, but it was ultimately not as convenient as during the day; before long, the torrent of Negative Energy spreading northward along the Wolfburg River disappeared from his field of vision.

At this moment, High Priestess Morton, who had been standing motionless on the riverbank, suddenly moved; she turned her head and stared at the crowd with her red-glowing eyes.

Having witnessed the previous scenes, and with the Negative Energy torrent yet to dissipate, everyone felt a shiver in their hearts. Then, Archmage Olong relayed on her behalf:

"We are leaving. The Negative Energy torrent has already headed north, and High Priestess Morton needs to follow it to maintain control. As for the blockage at Maihete Lake, Master Bailun gave specific instructions earlier; High Priestess Morton will handle it well, so you need not worry."

After speaking, Olong turned and nodded to High Priestess Morton, bowing, and the latter responded as if in acknowledgment, her eyes flashing, before she jumped into the river and merged with the Negative Energy torrent.

Immediately following, the Negative Energy torrent starting from the river channel at the original site of the Tower of Time began to slowly shrink toward the north, taking with it those Murlocs that had already been converted into Undead.

Leaving behind only a stretch of clear, transparent river water, gently swaying.