The pitch-black rules spread deep beneath the earth like roots, and at the first glance Richard cast upon them, he knew he’d found the rules that birthed the great wraith.
Without wasting time, Richard took out his Magic Wand, and with a gentle tap on the ground from its tip, a fissure large enough for him to enter cracked open. From the fissure, sounds like the wailing of hell’s Evil Ghosts carried up with the dark wind, causing one’s hair to stand on end.
Yet, neither the man nor the bird present was ordinary, and instead of instilling fear, the wailing only piqued their interest.
"Caw, what have you discovered down there?"
Richard shook his head slightly, "I don’t know either, but we’ll find out once we take a look."
With a light jump, Richard entered the fissure in free fall. Upon seeing Richard enter, Ulysses followed by flying into the fissure.
Within the fissure, concentrated Death Energy nearly turned tangible. If this energy were to spread outside, a mere gust of wind could convert an unprepared Goblin Army into undead.
"Caw, such dense Death Energy," Ulysses, engulfed in Black Flame, burned away all nearby Death Energy. Though this energy posed no threat to him, the intense Death Energy would greatly impact the luster of his feathers.
Richard’s Eye of Truth observed the rules below growing denser, his tone carrying a hint of reverence, "If I’m not mistaken, since the moment this world gave birth to these rules, every creature’s Residual Soul that dies here has been drawn underground."
"Caw? All Residual Souls? Hasn’t this world already turned into an Undead World by now?" Ulysses exclaimed in shock.
To the World Master, a mortal’s life is but a brief rest, and to the world, the life of a World Master is also a short respite. Over such lengthy years, even the most negligible strength accumulating could shake the heavens and earth.
"But it’s curious, this world hasn’t become an Undead World," Richard’s voice brimmed with wonder, "The world’s rules have firmly bound this Death Energy underground, forming a massive Energy Cycle."
As he spoke, Richard felt the space around him fluctuate.
The next moment, he and Ulysses were in a space resembling the Deep Sea. Here, concentrated Death Energy was like seawater, and Specters touched by green ghostly flames wandered the Sea of Death like lantern fish.
"Within this Energy Cycle, a world exclusively for Undead Creatures has emerged."
At this moment, Richard’s vision had turned completely black. Death Rules mixed with this world’s unique rules, covering his eyes like a curtain.
Simultaneously, the Death Rules and those special rules left an imprint on Richard’s soul with astonishing speed.
At this rate, if he’s lucky, he could fully grasp the Death Rules in twenty years. Even with poor luck, he simply needs more observation.
"Caw, you’ve struck gold this time," Ulysses admired this space, astonished, "If the Death Gods from our world found out about this, even Main God Level Death Gods might go mad.
If these rules were introduced to nations revering Death Gods, a Main God emerging would be a certainty."
"Provided they can see these rules," Richard said calmly.
"Without the Eye of Truth, even you couldn’t directly see these rules."
This hidden rule is deeply concealed, and without the Eye of Truth, an ordinary World Master couldn’t directly observe it. Even a Six Rings Great Wizard or a figure like a Main God would find it challenging to see without in-depth study of the curtain.
"That’s true," Ulysses slightly nodded, "What do you plan to do with this space?"
Richard looked at this world, and a somewhat mad idea crossed his mind.
"Ulysses, do you think these rules can draw in the souls of those insects too?"
"...Perhaps...?" Ulysses responded uncertainly, "Since it can attract native souls, there’s no reason it couldn’t absorb other creature’s souls. The question is, which holds higher priority, it or the Illusion Rules of those insects."
"Haha, looks like I’ve gained another useful tool," Richard laughed heartily.
"But before that, I’d suggest you first incorporate these rules into your Divine Country," Ulysses advised, "Coupling these rules with Divine Power could collect most of the souls of war-dead believers during a war.
At that time, whether for resurrection or to form a Heroic Spirit Army, both would be excellent choices."
"Hmm? I recall the conditions for making Heroic Spirits were quite stringent?" Richard asked, puzzled, "How come, according to you, any believer’s soul can become one?"
"What you refer to, to be exact, should be called Holy Spirit. It’s different from a Heroic Spirit Army."
"Huh? You can talk about Heroic Spirit Army?"
Richard was more surprised. The Heroic Spirit Army, at first glance, would be the mainstay of future trade between two civilizations. How could the Gods Civilization possibly reveal the technology for creating a Heroic Spirit Army to someone from the Wizard Civilization?
"Special permission from the Divine King before leaving," Ulysses’s tone carried some helplessness, "He believes you have great talent in the Divine path and warmly welcomes you to join the Gods Civilization. Of course, the more important reason is, this technology requires a Divine to utilize.
If you Wizards can develop the technology to form a Heroic Spirit Army without becoming Divine, we’ll accept the loss."
There was a certain confidence in Ulysses’ words. As a civilization, the Gods Civilization was confident that the Heroic Spirit Technology could not bypass the requirement of becoming a god. If Wizards were willing to produce a batch of divine Wizards for a mere fraction of the Heroic Spirit Army, then the Gods Civilization would be fine with it.
The Gods Civilization is a very inclusive civilization. They can absorb masters of native worlds and do not mind incorporating masters of civilized worlds.
"Really confident, aren’t they," Richard remarked in awe.
Ulysses replied with a touch of pride, "The Heroic Spirit Technology was initially researched by the Sun God King, perfected by the God of Change and a group of Death Gods and War Gods, and finally concluded by the Eternal God King. In the entire Gods Civilization, including the Divine Kings, fewer than ten gods understand the Heroic Spirit Technology.
Moreover, the power systems of the two civilizations are entirely different. If this could be cracked, the Gods Civilization might as well join your Wizard Civilization."
Richard smiled but felt a tinge of curiosity in his heart.
Is this technology... really that difficult?
Emerging from underground, Richard resealed the fissure and informed the Immortal Country Development Department of the precautions regarding drilling work.
This massive energy cycle does not exist at a single altitude. In many places, the cycle is relatively shallow. Although the werewolves could not reach it when drilling wells, the goblin drilling machines could definitely penetrate it.
It would be problematic if an accident occurs.
When sending the notification, Richard also introduced Ulysses to the White Wolf God. As the Crow God, Ulysses’ position in the divine system was second only to Richard. Now that Ulysses had awakened, he could finally entrust these messy chores to Ulysses.
Acquainting with the White Wolf God could aid future cooperation.
"Greetings, Crow God," the White Wolf God bowed slightly to Ulysses.
Ulysses scrutinized the White Wolf God and exclaimed, "The subordinate god you have selected is quite capable. A World Guardian plus a Racial God — in our place, becoming a high-level god would be a sure thing, and eventually becoming a Main God is not impossible."
Richard’s lips curled into a smile, but in his heart, the words once spoken by the Sect Leader resonated.
"Destiny... Fate... What exactly is my mission? Where is the end?"
Leaving the White Wolf God’s palace, the man and the bird returned to the Secret Realm. In the Secret Realm, Ulysses handed the Heroic Spirit Army technology to Richard.
As the feather shattered, Richard did not feel an overwhelming surge of information akin to a tidal wave. The information he received was sparse, consisting only of a ritual and its usage precautions. The ritual itself was quite simple, comparable in complexity to a four rings witchcraft.
But as a wizard who had been researching for many years, Richard understood very well that the complexity of something does not correlate with its research difficulty.
Oftentimes, the simpler something is, the more complex its research becomes.
"So, any thoughts on cracking it?" Ulysses asked merrily, seeing Richard in a daze.
"...Let’s change the topic. Do you have any suggestions regarding the construction of the Divine Country?"
Looking at the simple ritual in front of him, Richard wisely abandoned the delusion of cracking it.
Considering something designed by the Divine King, how could it possibly be simple? No matter how outlandish fate might be, it wouldn’t be this outlandish.
Ulysses didn’t dwell on the Heroic Spirit Army topic. After pondering for a while, he offered his suggestion.
"I’d suggest you use the Divine Country as an auxiliary magic. Those flashy Divine Countries often require complex rules and divine positions, but a simple Divine Country is less practical than just throwing a fireball.
My personal recommendation is to acquire that rule from Immortal Country and establish a Heroic Spirit Hall, a duel arena, a rebirth pool, and a tavern in the Divine Country.
In this way, your Heroic Spirit Army can directly train within your Divine Country..."
"Stop, why does this sound like some territory development game?"
"Game?" Ulysses queried in confusion.
Although there was no language barrier between him and Richard, Ulysses had never been exposed to online games and couldn’t comprehend the deeper significance even though he understood the surface meaning.
"...Never mind, forget I said anything. Please continue."
"Gah, how mysterious," Ulysses muttered and continued, "Let me explain, you can treat the Divine Country like a low-level miniature illusionary dimension. Within this dimension, you can perform limited rule construction, even if the rules are preposterous.
And these constructions are the external manifestations of the rules we’ve researched that can be constructed.
The Heroic Spirit Hall can convert souls into heroic spirits, the duel arena allows heroic spirits to compete, the rebirth pool can revive dead heroic spirits, and the tavern needs no explanation. It allows heroic spirits to indulge in pleasure.
This setup doesn’t require special divine positions. The life rule needed by the rebirth pool is something you possess, which suits your current situation perfectly."