Chapter 1017: Secondary Primal... Corpses

While others murmured among themselves, Seeing Ange silently observed this world—he saw far more than anyone else: warped space, ripples of elements, flashes of light…

This region was unlike any other place—the primal forces were overly abundant.

On that "blossom cluster," the concentration of chaotic primal energy was higher than anywhere else; if he could refine the chaotic energy, he might forge himself a primal body.

The chaotic mist he obtained from the Grand Councilor was extremely scarce—only enough to manifest a few seeds; he dared not attempt anything larger, like the insect god's heart he now desperately wanted, since such things required insect ash fluid as potent fertilizer.

The ash extracted from burning the Undying Flame was far weaker in fertility and versatility, resembling wood ash in effect—only more durable.

Insect ash fluid was powerful: it could replace wood ash, bird droppings, electrified air, revive life, and even restore petrified creatures to life.

Unfortunately, the insect god's heart required too much chaotic mist; acquiring enough from the Grand Councilor was nearly impossible—yet here, the chaotic energy was so abundant.

Secondly, the "blossom cluster" contained regions with abnormal devouring forces; from Seeing Ange's eyes, space there subtly caved inward, indicating something within that zone generated devouring primal energy.

Beyond that, the entire City of the Undead was saturated with dark elements; from Seeing Ange's gaze, the entire "blossom cluster" radiated dark elements like a black flower.

Dark elements, chaotic energy, devouring energy—thus, the City of the Undead already possessed three abundant primal forces, a veritable primal ore deposit; he longed to plant Dead Fruit Trees upon it.

While he quietly observed, Anthony and the others had finished speaking with Sage Kab and Dek, returning to report:

"My lord, Sage Kab wishes to obtain a Soul Stone—a device that seals a fragment of one's soul within, allowing perception of the soul's state from great distances. Duroken suggested a Lich's Life Vessel could achieve the same, but he refused—he wants only the Soul Stone."

Silvercoin added: "I checked the catalog—Soul Stones are extremely rare; the chance of acquiring one on the market is very low."

Lord Nai Ge continued: "I recall—the making of Soul Stones isn't difficult. Use a geomantic crystal as material, then compress it with intense mental force, 'squeezing' internal channels capable of holding spirit. Though called Soul Stone, 'Spirit Stone' would be more accurate."

Seeing Ange tilted his head.

Lord Nai Ge explained: "You just use your mental force to 'squeeze' it. Our mental strength is insufficient—when the Mage Alliance made Soul Stones before, they mobilized over a thousand mages working together. Now we're too lazy to find so many—can you handle it yourself?"

Seeing Ange nodded, pulled out a geomantic crystal, and was about to squeeze it when Anthony stopped him: "My lord, wait a moment."

He glanced back and saw Dek and Kab were not far away, then whispered: "Too easy a thing won't be appreciated. I'll have Silvercoin tell him this is rare, we're not even sure we can find one, and we haven't negotiated the price yet—let him wait a few days before we discuss it."

"Then Silvercoin asked if his stone tablet needed maintenance—Duroken can clean, polish, and engrave it. In exchange for maintenance services, he offered us a plot of land here to grow things—he agreed, and told us to pick any unoccupied spot ourselves." Anthony spoke, pointing to the widest trace line on the blossom cluster below.

Seeing Ange nodded eagerly—he had just wanted to plant Dead Fruit Trees on the "blossom ball." He'd originally planned with Dek to find a safe, convenient spot, but upon arriving, he realized the City of the Undead was where the primal forces were richest—so the blossom cluster was truly the best place.

As if fate answered, Seeing Ange was delighted—he pointed to a space depression on the trace surface, where the devouring energy was strongest; if choosing, he would choose that spot.

Anthony went to negotiate, also bringing several large sacks of clothing as extra gifts for Kab, to use as favors.

Kab loved the gift; from the fervent interest of the surrounding liches in the clothing, it was clear garments were precious here—not for warmth, but for modesty, a spiritual need.

This also indirectly confirmed that the undead here were all sentient beings; only when sentient undead grew numerous and developed social structures would such spiritual needs arise.

Without social needs, what difference does it make lying naked in a pit?

Kab led them to the trace surface and said: "This area is yours. Centered here, over five thousand square kilometers have no loam—anything without loam, you may cultivate upon."

"We're deeply grateful—you won't find us near any loam-covered land," Silvercoin quickly assured.

After Kab left, Silvercoin said: "Wasn't that a bit excessive? We traded a few sacks of clothing for five thousand square kilometers of land?"

Lord Nai Ge snorted: "What's strange about it? This land clearly has no value—any large bubble in the Sea of Omniscience spans thousands of square kilometers."

Silvercoin shook his head: "That's different. The Sea of Omniscience was seized by force—we fought, we risked our lives. Here, we gave only a few sacks of clothing. Even if it's just usage rights, five thousand square kilometers is still five thousand square kilometers."

Even Silvercoin, a merchant, felt it was excessive—then it truly was excessive.

"Still, this place is enormous—we couldn't tell from above, but now that we've landed, I feel its surface area may exceed that of the Main Plane," Anthony said.

Lord Nai Ge doubted: "Could it really be that big? The Main Plane has hundreds of millions of people—can this place be larger?"

Silvercoin affirmed: "Yes. Most of the Main Plane's surface is ocean—but even counting oceans, this place's surface area is far greater. We're standing on both the front and back sides."

The trace surface had a front facing outward—and naturally, a back facing inward—so its total surface area roughly doubled.

Thus, a surface area larger than the Main Plane—capable of housing hundreds of millions—held only hundreds of thousands of high-level undead. It was vast and sparsely populated.

Calculating this, Anthony sighed regretfully: "What a waste—hundreds of thousands of undead doing nothing. They must be organized for development."

Everyone whispered quietly, but all eyes followed Seeing Ange. When choosing the location, he had instantly pointed here—and now he was searching again, clearly having discovered something.

Sure enough, Seeing Ange walked to the most severely depressed space, dug for a while, and unearthed a pile of fragments.

"Hmm?" Duroken suddenly turned his left palm, staring at a ring on his middle finger.

Inside the ring's bead, black powder had previously settled at the bottom—but now it all leaned toward the direction of Seeing Ange's unearthed fragments, no matter how Duroken rotated the ring.

"What are these things?" Everyone rushed over. Lord Nai Ge asked.

"Secondary primal… corpses," Seeing Ange hesitated to say—he finally understood why the primal energy here was so abundant.