Chapter 97: Hey kid, don't run!

Roar——!

Just as Su Hao put away Grandpa Andrew's remains and prepared to leave, a dragon's roar suddenly came from deep within this graveyard.

Upon hearing this dragon's roar, Su Hao's gaze grew somewhat dim.

This was a dragon's roar containing a soul attack; if it weren't for Su Hao's Supernatural Second Tier mental power, plus his One Body Two Souls, and the protection of his Spirit Body Cloak,

Probably just this one roar could seriously injure his soul.

After a moment of stunned silence, Su Hao lifted his head and looked toward the source of the dragon's roar, whereupon his face drastically changed.

Holy shit?! Bone Dragon?!!

All that could be seen was, in the deep part of this graveyard under the eerie green ghost fire's light, a huge bone dragon whose entire body burned with blue soul fire, flapping wings devoid of any flesh, flying into the sky.

Even at a distance of twenty to thirty kilometers, Su Hao could still see the ancient dragon's massive build; this bone dragon's wingspan was estimated to be nearly a hundred meters.

For such a colossal creature, let alone other abilities, just diving down from the sky would likely be enough to kill Su Hao outright.

Moreover, the terrifying aura that could be clearly felt even twenty to thirty kilometers away let Su Hao be certain that this was absolutely not a Second Tier monster, at least Third Tier, possibly even Fourth Tier undead.

This is absolutely not an opponent Su Hao can currently face; even with his near-indestructible flesh, he has no qualification to fight it!

Su Hao dared not delay; he immediately put away his Gravity Rock Axe, and, using all his strength, sprinted back along the passage formed by scarlet tentacles and blood flame.

Precisely because this passage existed, nearby skeleton monsters found it hard to approach, and the distant skeleton monsters and undead knights, due to too many skeleton monster deaths near the passage causing overcrowding, could not get close for a while.

Thus, Su Hao's return speed became several times faster than when he came.

In a short while, Su Hao rushed out of the skeleton sea along this passage, running far away without looking back, completely devoid of any desire to linger in battle.

If it were merely these skeleton monsters and the distant Second Tier Undead Knights, Su Hao might still rely on his near-indestructible body and ample scarlet blood to make a splash in this sea of skeletons.

But now, within this sea of skeletons, there is at least a Third Tier, possibly Fourth Tier bone dragon as the final boss; Su Hao had not the slightest thought of stopping.

Joking, going to fight the bone dragon now would be pure suicide. At the same time.

Grandpa Andrew lay collapsed beside the tombstone next to the grave, when suddenly a wisp of pale flame drifted out.

Within this flame, a human elder's face gradually emerged.

"Little friend, you've finally come; I have been waiting here long, following my god's divine edict."

"This bone dragon is called Little White; it's my gift to you for our meeting, possessing strength close to Supernatural Fourth Tier, and can help you resolve some troubles before you've grown up—I don't know if you're still…"

"... Huh? Where are you? Little friend, where are you?"

After that flame blabbered on at length, seeing the empty ground before it, it was instantly dumbfounded.

After glancing around, it quickly spotted the flame passage, and seeing Su Hao's distant retreating back, the flame panicked, shouting loudly: "Little friend, don't run, don't be afraid, Little White means no harm, come back quickly!!!"

However, Su Hao had no intention of stopping; he continued to exert himself and ran farther away.

"How come I feel like someone's calling me?"

"Never mind, I'll just skedaddle for now and talk later!"

Vaguely, Su Hao heard a shout from behind in the graveyard, but he had no intention of stopping at all, not even pausing his steps.

"What a joke—there's a bone dragon guarding there; only an idiot would go back! Also unknown whether due to that graveyard's restriction or something, the bone dragon in the sky, upon flying to the graveyard's edge, simply stopped."

Gazing at Su Hao's back, it let out a long cry, then flew back to land beside that pale flame, the soul fire on its head forming a grieved expression.

Roar——!

"Sigh! You're too impatient!"

The pale flame sighed helplessly.

"I don't even know if he can come back yet; the things my god entrusted haven't been given to him…"

……

Su Hao didn't realize he had just let slip a bone dragon close to Fourth Tier.

After leaving the graveyard, his steps never ceased; after running for over five hours, he returned to the entrance of the dark dungeon, passed through the long cave, and came back to the surface.

"Hmm… maybe I should run even farther!"

After glancing back at the pitch-black cave, Su Hao once again set his feet and ran farther away.

He ran all the way to the ruins of the goblin tribe, then stopped, found a secluded corner, took out his Soul Nourishing Wood Chair, and sat down to rest.

Afterwards, Su Hao slightly focused his mind and took Grandpa Andrew's skeleton out of his Storage Bag.

……

【Andrew's Skeleton】

Introduction: Sixth Tier Necromancer—Andrew's skeleton left after his death, once a powerful Supernatural Item capable of controlling the undead.

Now, after the erosion of time, its Supernatural power has completely dissipated, absorbed by surrounding undead creatures, turning it into an ordinary skeleton.

……

"What? I went through all that trouble, and you're telling me this is just a ordinary trinket?!"

Looking at the appraisal result's content, Su Hao felt terrible.

But then he shook his head; Grandpa Andrew's message said his skull had the ability to control undead and craft necromancer potions.

And Su Hao had just appraised the whole skeleton, not Grandpa Andrew's skull.

The skeleton as a whole is an ordinary item; this doesn't mean each bone is ordinary. Holding onto a last hope, Su Hao used the Item Appraisal Technique again on Grandpa Andrew's skull.

【Andrew's Skull】

Supernatural Grade: Third Tier

Effect: Sixth Tier Necromancer—Andrew's skull left after his death; after time's erosion, its Supernatural power largely faded, becoming a Third Tier Supernatural Item.

Using Andrew's skull, one can control undead beings within a certain radius whose mental power is lower than one's own.

The stronger the user's mental power, the more undead they can control, and the stronger those undead can be, but not exceeding Third Tier.

If Andrew's skull is used as the main ingredient in crafting necromancer potions, it can enhance the potion's effect, but correspondingly, the risk of taking the potion also increases.

……

Nice!

I never expected Old Andrew's skull to actually be a Supernatural Third Tier supernatural item; this is truly great!

Su Hao grinned, excitedly waving his arm.

With Old Andrew's skull, the main ingredient for the necromancer's potion is now all gathered.

After returning today, as long as we burn some plant ash and refine bone powder, we can begin concocting a Second Rank necromancer's potion.

Once we get the bloodvine and butcher's heart, we can advance to Second Rank.

Thinking of this, Su Hao raised his arm, opened the communication bracelet, wanting to check on the bloodvine collection status.

As soon as he opened the chat interface, he saw multiple messages from Ling Xue'er.

【Ling Xue'er: Boss, Group Six has frost stone for trade; you can trade 50 Lethally Poisoned Arrows or 5 tons of discolor pigment for 50 frost stones.】

【Ling Xue'er: 100 grams of bloodvine received, price is one Lethally Poisoned Arrow.】

【Ling Xue'er: Shan Jinping of Group 4 has a Supernatural First Rank stone to trade; Tian Hui li of Group 5 has a map to trade.】

【Ling Xue'er: Tang Wanxiang of Group 6 has ten hearts of fallen evil dogs, wanting to trade for a First Rank supernatural weapon……】

……

Ling Xue'er's messages numbered twenty or thirty, most of which were people actively seeking trade.

The remaining small portion of messages were items on Su Hao's purchase list, which he paid more attention to.

Among them were frost stone for building refrigeration ice pillars, bloodvine as an auxiliary material for concocting a Second Rank blood mage's potion, and three materials for crafting the Stitching Monster.

In that pile of messages actively seeking trade, most were Supernatural First Rank items, with only one or two each, which weren't very useful to Su Hao.

But there was one ordinary item that caught Su Hao's attention.

It was a map of the Gloomy Dungeon, trading for just two Lethally Poisoned Arrows.

It's likely the person who posted this trade doesn't know where the Gloomy Dungeon is or what kind of place it is.

So he doesn't know the map's value, just trying his luck to see if he can trade for two Lethally Poisoned Arrows. But the seller doesn't know that Su Hao couldn't be clearer—he just came out of the Gloomy Dungeon.

The Gloomy Dungeon is a huge underground space; plus numerous light-absorbing stones, even with full-intensity light sources, it remains hard to illuminate, making exploration extremely difficult.

If he had a map of the Gloomy Dungeon, Su Hao's future exploration would be much easier.

Joining the God Summer Doomsday Investigation Group is truly the right choice!

Su Hao couldn't help but sigh.

Items like bloodvine, frost stone, and the materials for crafting the Stitching Monster, if Su Hao had to gather them himself, even knowing where they are, would waste a lot of time just traveling.

But now it's different: just send a trade message, pay a small irrelevant cost, plus a fee for Ling Xue'er's effort, and you can get these items, saving a lot of time.

Afterward, Su Hao smiled slightly, tapped the communication bracelet with his finger, and sent three messages.

【Su Hao: The price for frost stone is fine, 50 Lethally Poisoned Arrows is fine.】

【Su Hao: Also, I want the hearts of fallen evil dogs, the fire worms' heat storage bags, zombie flesh, and the Gloomy Dungeon map; price is fine. I have a spear and bow for supernatural weapons—ask which they want.】

【Su Hao: Next time you come, bring all these; as payment I'll provide a Supernatural First Rank bow and arrow as a fee for your trouble.】

Almost as soon as those three messages were sent, Su Hao received Ling Xue'er's reply.

【Ling Xue'er: Boss boss, I have all these items here; can I deliver them to you tomorrow? Luckily, Leyun is also back, with nothing to do now, I can bring her along.】

【Su Hao: Good, then see you tomorrow.】

Su Hao smiled slightly, then glanced at the 99+ group chat messages, casually turned off the communication bracelet, and began today's synthesis.

As for the trade messages in the group chat, let Ling Xue'er handle them.

Inside the Ice Snow Hall, Su Hao was frozen for twenty to thirty hours, losing a day's synthesis opportunity; now he can't afford to waste any more time.

As for what to synthesize today, Su Hao had already decided while on the road.

First to synthesize is the Cursed Black Bone.

Now Old Andrew's skull and the wraith's soul crystal are in hand; as long as we concoct the necromancer's potion, we can begin synthesizing the potion.

The Cursed Black Bone enhances curse and necromancy magic, making it the most suitable supernatural item on Su Hao for synthesizing the necromancer's potion.

Moreover, Su Hao has five Cursed Black Bones; he can first synthesize them once to upgrade the bone's supernatural grade, then use it to synthesize with the necromancer's potion.

Having decided, Su Hao hesitated not, taking three Cursed Black Bones from his storage bag.

Synthesize!

The next moment.

A golden light wrapped the three Cursed Black Bones, forming a golden orb.

As the synthesis progressed, the golden orb's volume gradually shrank, its golden light growing brighter.

Not long after.

The golden orb shrank from basketball size to the size of a child's fist, bursting with blinding golden light.

Then the golden orb vanished; the original three Cursed Black Bones became a single fragment, the size of an infant's fist, surrounded by drifting black vapors.

【Demon Shard Bone】

Supernatural Grade: Second Rank

Effect: The bone shard of a special demon proficient in necromancy and bone magic, left after death; carrying it nearby strengthens necromancy and bone magic power.

After using a special release to fuse it into the body, there's a small chance to gain one of the demon's bone or necromancy magic from life.

……

Great, it's now Supernatural Second Rank!

Su Hao nodded in satisfaction; after synthesizing the Cursed Black Bone, the enhancement to necromancy will definitely improve further.

Moreover, the synthesized demon bone shard also grants a bonus to bone magic, such as bone walls and bone claws, which necromancers can learn.

If we use the demon bone shard to synthesize the necromancer's potion, we will certainly gain some of its functions.

After advancing, Su Hao will gain dual bonuses to bone and necromancy magic; adding his own blood magic, he can effectively use three magics, all of which are enhanced.

In addition to the boost in mental strength and physique from consuming supernatural blood, Su Hao felt that after his advancement, once he familiarized himself with second-rank abilities and crafted a set of equipment for himself, he could go find the Bone Dragon to arm-wrestle.

The Bone Dragon is the most famous kind among undead creatures, and its strength far surpasses that of its peers; if he could be slain, certainly plenty of good things could be refined! Afterwards, Su Hao stored the Demon Bone Shards in his Storage Bag and took out three Ice Snow Gems.

The Frost Ice Stones have been purchased, and with the extreme heat disaster arriving the day after tomorrow, it's also time to start building the Refrigeration Ice Pillar.

"Synthesis!"

Su Hao's thoughts turned, a golden light enveloped the three Ice Snow Divine Stones, forming a golden orb, beginning today's second synthesis.

Not long after, the golden orb burst into dazzling light, then vanished, leaving a sapphire-blue gemstone the size of half a fist and snowflake-shaped, appearing before Su Hao's eyes.

【Ice Snow Divine Stone】

Supernatural Grade: First Rank

……

"Ah? Three first-rank Ice Snow Gems shouldn't synthesize into a second-rank item, should they?"

Upon seeing the content displayed in the appraisal result, Su Hao couldn't help but frown slightly.

According to his past experience, after synthesizing three identical items, the item's supernatural grade can be increased by one rank.

Just like three drops of ordinary contaminated blood, after synthesis they become first-rank supernatural scarlet blood, and three drops of first-rank scarlet blood, after synthesis, likewise increase to second-rank supernatural grade.

But this time, the synthesis result turned out to be an exception.

Three first-rank Ice Snow Gems, after synthesis, the resulting item's supernatural grade remained first-rank.

The Synthesis Heart would not malfunction, so the likely cause for the synthesis not increasing by one rank is that this Ice Snow Divine Stone produced has an effect as powerful as an ordinary second-rank supernatural item.

"That must be it!"

Su Hao nodded, his gaze continuing downward.

【Effect: A basic divine stone within the Ice Snow Divine Realm can increase the surrounding ice element concentration, strengthen ice element magic's effect, and weaken fire element magic's power.】

【If a large number of Ice Snow Divine Stones are placed in the same location for a long time, they can permanently alter that area's environment, causing other elements to decrease and ice element concentration to greatly increase, making it more suitable for the growth and enhancement of ice snow creatures.】

……

"What? The Ice Snow Divine Stone actually has the ability to permanently alter the environment—this truly is a first-rank supernatural item?!"

Su Hao first stared blankly, then immediately showed an expression of ecstatic joy.

Then, if Ice Snow Divine Stone is used as the main material to build a Refrigeration Ice Pillar, wouldn't it also have the permanent climate-altering effect like the Ice Snow Divine Stone? Others' constructed Refrigeration Ice Pillars are merely supernatural air conditioners.

If Su Hao uses Ice Snow Divine Stone as the material, the resulting structure would likely be a supernatural building capable of altering the environment—fundamentally not on the same level.

"Too bad, one Ice Snow Divine Stone isn't enough; I need to synthesize the Ice Snow Divine Stone up to second rank!"

Building the Refrigeration Ice Pillar requires, besides the designated material of fifty Frost Ice Stones, either ten of any first-rank supernatural material or one second-rank supernatural material.

Su Hao currently has only nine Ice Snow Gems left on him.

Therefore, directly using first-rank Ice Snow Divine Stones to build the Refrigeration Ice Pillar, the materials are insufficient; the Ice Snow Divine Stone must be upgraded to second rank.

The good news is, there are still nine Ice Snow Gems, and synthesizing two more first-rank Ice Snow Divine Stones poses no problem.

I just don't know whether synthesizing three Ice Snow Divine Stones will be able to raise the supernatural grade to second rank……

"The remaining uses aren't enough either; let's leave it for tomorrow."

Su Hao thought for a moment, then set aside the matter of synthesizing Ice Snow Divine Stones.

Today's synthesis count is down to only two left; to synthesize a second-rank Ice Snow Divine Stone, three more syntheses are needed.

Moreover, Ling Xue'er won't be able to deliver the Frost Ice Stones until tomorrow, so there's no rush today either.

Furthermore, for the remaining two syntheses, Su Hao had already planned something even more important than synthesizing a second-rank Ice Snow Divine Stone: synthesizing the second-rank skill—Crimson Tendrils.

(PS: Today's update reached ten thousand words!)

Today's update reached ten thousand words! (End of chapter)