Chapter One: The Return

Stepping out of the teleportation channel, Liu Zhi had not yet taken stock of his surroundings when a tremendous force shoved him forward. He was pushed from a wooden floor into a pile of sticky, black mud. Feeling the gentle drizzle falling from the sky and looking at the dark muck clinging to his body, Liu Zhi was at a loss for words.

Before he could even climb to his feet, a voice rang out, "Isn't that Sandru? I heard this is your last chance. So, did you succeed in your profession change? Looking at your frail appearance, I bet you didn't. But don't worry, you were always destined to serve as scenery in the Underworld. Perhaps I could ask my mentor to let you work as a gatekeeper in my city. Rest assured, with our years of friendship, I’ll take good care of you."

Following the direction of the voice, Liu Zhi saw a tall, lanky man standing on a nearby wooden boardwalk, accompanied by a monstrous stitched creature nearly three meters tall, made entirely of green slabs of flesh. In front of the man, several rat-headed figures dressed in leather armor, each barely one and a half meters tall, seemed to be blocking his path.

Liu Zhi rose from the mud, instinctively stretching out his hand, and the Death Staff appeared automatically in his grasp. Feeling the texture of the staff, Liu Zhi lifted his head, "Sorry, but I succeeded. I am now a full-fledged Necromancer. Are you happy for me?"

The man stared at Liu Zhi's face for a long moment before snorting heavily. With his follower in tow, he turned and left without another word.

At that moment, another voice echoed from the boardwalk, "Student, you’ve completed the game task. Please come up, and don’t occupy the landing point."

Looking up, Liu Zhi saw the speaker was a ratman with a beard and hair as white as snow. Unlike the other ratmen armed with spears, this elder held a cane crafted from white bone.

Seeing these ratmen, a memory deep within Liu Zhi, belonging to Sandru, surfaced. He understood these ratmen were the kin of the Dean of Bone Wind Academy, serving as servants and laborers within the institution.

He braced himself against the edge of the boardwalk and climbed out of the mud. Glancing around, Liu Zhi found the world before him peculiarly strange.

He stood in a swamp within a forest, surrounded by thick, black, foul-smelling mud. The entire city was constructed atop the swamp, supported by wooden piles and consisting of timber houses. Years of perpetual rain had allowed moss to flourish across the wooden walkways, making it easy for anyone to slip and fall into the mire.

Because few stones could serve as foundations for the wooden piles, not every house had the luxury of being built directly above the swamp. Most structures were layered atop others, their rooftops forming a vast, tiered fortress of wooden dwellings of all sizes.

Liu Zhi stood at the entrance to this immense fortress. Looking up, he saw a sign assembled from white bones.

"Bone Wind Academy!"

Entering through the main gate, Liu Zhi noted that aside from wood, bones were the city's most abundant material. Its inhabitants seemed fond of using bones to craft signs, decorations, and even streetlamps. The ratmen patrolling the streets wore bone helmets, whose radiance revealed that these were no ordinary gear.

After passing several small taverns, Liu Zhi followed Sandru’s memories to a particular wooden house. Its doorway was flanked by bundles of dried herbs, and Liu Zhi wondered how the owner managed to dry them in a place so drenched by perpetual rain.

He pushed the door open and stepped inside. Oddly, despite being able to estimate from the outside that the house was no more than fifteen square meters—about the size of Liu Zhi’s alchemical hut—upon entering, he found himself in a spacious suite with three rooms and a hall, totaling eighty square meters. Though every room was crammed with all manner of items, the disparity between inner and outer space was clear.

His entrance startled an elderly man sorting through the clutter. This ancient figure’s skin seemed ready to slough off, his hunched frame barely reaching one meter eighty, and his frail body looked as though the wind could blow him away.

Hearing someone enter, the old man turned and revealed black teeth beneath a face painted with oily pigments. "Isn’t this our genius Sandru? Judging by your appearance, you succeeded in your profession change?"

"Yes, Mentor, I succeeded," Liu Zhi replied, bowing his head. He remembered clearly: without this old man’s intervention with the Dean and his own clan’s patriarch, Sandru would have been cast into the Underworld after failing his profession change three times.

"Very well, so long as you’re back. I’ve got some fresh poison toads; want to try a few?" The old man said, reaching for a small jar and fishing out a live pink toad.

With his level-three knowledge of poisons, Liu Zhi immediately recognized how deadly the toad was. Yet the old man nonchalantly tossed it into his mouth as if it were chewing gum.

After devouring several poison toads, the old man produced paper, pen, and a crystal orb, placing them on the relatively clean table nearby. "Enough, don’t just stand there. You’ve graduated, so get lost and go home. My debt to your grandfather is settled. Come, place your hand here—must I ask twice?"

Amid the mentor’s roaring commands, Liu Zhi stepped up to the crystal orb and pressed his hand upon it.

In the next instant, Liu Zhi’s attribute panel appeared within the orb.

[Name: Sandru]
[Profession: Necromancer]
[Level: 1]
[Mana: 100/170]
[Title: Ide I]
[Secondary Professions: Extraordinary Sailor Lv1, Apprentice Poisoner Lv1]
[Attributes: Strength 4.2, Agility 3.8, Constitution 4.8, Spirit 5.8]
[Active Skills: Basic Sailor Swordsmanship Lv4 (3976+0/9000), Sail Handling Lv4 (0+0/9000), Night Dagger Swordsmanship Lv1 (1559+0/9000), Z-Secret Sword Lv1 (2113+0/9000), Indigo Windchase Swordsmanship Lv2 (1053+0/18000), Goldsmithing Lv4 (14/900), Simple Tool Crafting Lv4 (196/800)]
[Profession Skills: Soul Summoning Lv2 (187/5000), Lasha’s Eye Meditation Lv1 (877/9000), Vampiric Touch Lv1 (665/9000)]
[Passive Skills: Magic Knowledge Lv3, Necromancy Knowledge Lv4, Basic Science Lv3, Basic Language Lv3, Fish Knowledge Lv1, Jungle Survival Lv4, Toxicology Lv3, Cooking Lv2, Botany Lv3, Herbalism Lv2, Architecture Lv1, Mysticism Lv4 (Maya, Inca, Aztec, Weather, Sun, Death, Sacrifice, Deity-Kukulkan, Deity-Inti, etc.), Mysticism Lv4 (Demon)...]
[Advanced Skill: Urban Planning Lv1]
[Special Skill: Lord of the Underworld Palace Lv1 (1084/9000)]
[Training Knowledge: Rotskin Werewolf Lv1, Stormwave Fishman Lv1, Eagle Warrior Lv1]
[Experience: 3032]