Chapter 406

"Why do they need a mark to access the House of the Departed?" Negrilis asked along the way.

"Of course you need a mark—otherwise anyone could connect, and it'd be chaos. To get a mark, you need a teleportation array and a Soul-Transmission Flame; through the Soul-Transmission Flame, you link into the House of the Departed's soul network, then use the teleportation array to trade directly…"

Just as he said this, Du Luo Ken burst into a string of strange coughs.

"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong? You're a lich—why pretend to cough?" Luo Ke said irritably.

Du Luo Ken replied with a peculiar expression: "I just thought of something else—none of your business."

"Oh, fine, I'll continue. Without a mark, the House of the Departed won't know which teleportation beacon belongs to you—what if you get teleported to the wrong place? Setting this up is complicated, you know how inefficient those death spirits are—they're lucky if they finish in three to five years, and they're always whining: 'You're dead already, why rush? You've got endless time!' It's infuriating."

Luo Ke clearly still seethed from when she'd gotten her own mark, and seized the chance to vent.

Du Luo Ken nodded in deep agreement—not just here, but all undead across all planes were the same: you couldn't demand efficiency from them, since time meant nothing to them.

The most efficient undead were actually the mindless skeletons and zombies—hardworking, obedient, doing whatever they were told.

After winding through twists and turns, they finally reached the place where Luo Ke had placed her Soul-Transmission Flame: a large, empty room, with a one-meter-diameter teleportation array in the center and a ritual altar in the corner, upon which burned a tiny flame.

"Uh, what kind of Soul-Transmission Flame is this? Isn't this just a wight flame? And it's so small!" Negrilis said at a glance.

Before Luo Ke could explain, Du Luo Ken answered: "It's a wight flame. One used to send thoughts—doesn't need to be strong. The wight flames that receive thoughts need to be vigorous."

"Receive thoughts? You mean using wight flames to receive thoughts, then transmitting them elsewhere?" Negrilis asked.

Before Luo Ke could speak, Du Luo Ken said: "Yes. It's a simplified soul network: a powerful soul entity, combined with countless tiny Soul-Transmission Flames, forms a soul network. Anyone can connect to this network through a Soul-Transmission Flame and communicate with other connected souls."

"Oh? Relay towers?" Negrilis instantly recalled something similar to what Du Luo Ken described.

This time, Luo Ke didn't speak—she just stared wide-eyed, wondering why what they were saying was becoming increasingly incomprehensible to her.

"You mean those relay towers in the Abyss of Despair? I've never seen them, but they're probably the same thing. The Grand Sage wouldn't create something I don't understand—but theirs are made of powerful soul entities, not these small Soul-Transmission Flames. Their soul network is a single line, not a web like this one."

"Just call those powerful soul entities Relay Souls. Relay Souls and Soul-Transmission Flames together form a network—but since they're inherently mindless, you need a mark to connect, so others can retrieve some of your information from the mark."

"That information is stored by the people who manage the Relay Souls—meaning, the person you trade with doesn't know your identity or location, so they can't follow the teleportation array to come beat you up. Security is greatly improved."

Du Luo Ken's explanation made Negrilis understand—and even Luo Ke suddenly got it: "So it's for security! That's why they use marks! I was worried someone would trace the teleportation array and come rob me, so I only built a tiny one—I couldn't even teleport anything bigger."

Negrilis didn't even want to call her out: "You built such a tiny teleportation array because you feared someone would come rob you? Or because you're too poor to build a bigger one?"

"Poor…" Luo Ke was struck where it hurt, and admitted it painfully.

"Security is secondary—the real importance is transactional guarantee. The Relay Souls essentially act as escrow agents for your trades: each transaction, you hand over goods and coin to the Relay Soul, and it handles the exchange."

Negrilis had already sensed something odd; now Luo Ke realized it too, and couldn't help asking: "Why do you know so much? You said you've never been to the House of the Departed, and you don't even have a mark!"

Du Luo Ken spread his hands: "What if I told you I designed the entire system? Would you believe me?"

Negrilis was the first to disbelieve: "I don't believe it. If this trading system is this good, why didn't you build one in the Abyss of Rest?"

Du Luo Ken said: "This involves a new soul network. I can only 'design' the system—I can't 'build' it. Only His Majesty can build it. Do you understand?"

Hearing this, Negrilis understood: just as he could have countless ideas, he never overstepped to make decisions for Ang—he only advised.

Luo Ke had heard all of it, and hesitantly asked: "The 'His Majesty' you're talking about—is that the one attacking the Starburst Array right now?" She pointed upward.

Confirming it was the same one, Luo Ke went limp—oh my, she was just a minor town mayor from a remote village, and now she was tied to royalty? This connection was too thick.

After all that talk, Du Luo Ken was already impatient—he'd never been able to establish this system in the Abyss of Rest because of His Majesty's restrictions, and now he saw one already completed here.

He walked over to the Soul-Transmission Flame, touched the altar a few times, then turned to Ang and said: "My lord, the Soul-Transmission Flame is too weak—it probably needs replenishment."

Ang nodded, pulled out a handful of soul crystals, refined them, and poured all the energy into the Soul-Transmission Flame. The tiny flame instantly surged into a half-meter-high pillar of blue fire, illuminating the entire room in a blue glow.

Du Luo Ken glared at Luo Ke again: "Soul-Transmission Flames require soul energy to sustain—you clearly never bother to feed it."

Luo Ke looked from Du Luo Ken to Ang, especially at the handful of soul crystals in his hand—her visible anguish was obvious even to the blind: "I'm a frail lich—I'm lucky the flame hasn't gone out. What more do you want? These many soul crystals? I'd rather keep them for myself."

Du Luo Ken ignored her, and calmly projected his consciousness into the Soul-Transmission Flame.

He skillfully manipulated the altar's array and the flame, withdrawing and reinserting his consciousness repeatedly—after a while, he suddenly looked up and said:

"Uh… His Majesty copied my design exactly—even the mark control is identical. I seem to have full control over the entire soul network."