Chapter 337 - 126: I Am Lynch, I Have Become Stronger

Chapter 337: Chapter 126: I Am Lynch, I Have Become Stronger

When he returned to his room that night, he was mentally drained, but his gains were also substantial. It was a painful sort of pleasure.

On the third day, however, his mentor ramped up the intensity of the special training once more.

She even entered the fray herself, suppressing her Spiritual Power to his level for a "friendly" Undead Magic duel.

Lynch was utterly crushed by her endless stream of High Tier techniques and combat wisdom, leaving him exhausted in body and soul.

But whenever he was on the verge of collapse, Annabella would casually fling a Soul Lash at him, calling it, "Helping you perk up and deepen your painful understanding of Soul Magic."

The feeling was so intense that Lynch’s soul nearly left his body. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

But he had to admit, the effects were outstanding. A single lash not only forcefully drove away all his fatigue, but his spirit actually grew a sliver more condensed amid the agony.

By the fourth day, Lynch felt like an iron billet being repeatedly hammered in a forge. Every ounce of his Spiritual Power and every shred of his Mana had been squeezed to the absolute limit.

He began to suspect his mentor was treating him as a test subject for some new kind of Undead material.

On the fifth day... Lynch finally broke.

It happened when Annabella walked in with her new assignment: a "Spiritual Power Weaving" exercise. It required him to simultaneously maintain seven different Low Tier Magic Models while simulating a changing battlefield environment.

Sporting dark circles under his eyes that would make a Ghoul jealous, he said in a near-pleading tone, "Mentor... I’m begging you, please go back. The academy needs you to hold down the fort, and the Negative Energy Array at Legion headquarters is waiting for you to oversee it! I... I need time to digest all this. Really, if we keep going, I’m going to be broken..."

Looking at Lynch’s miserable state, as if he’d been ravaged by dozens of Undead Demonesses, Annabella smacked her lips, seemingly wanting more. "Hmm~ Your fundamentals seem solid enough, and there’s still more potential to be unearthed. The effects of this training have been acceptable. Fine. Since you’re begging so sincerely, we’ll call it a day."

She clapped her hands and turned to her junior, Charlotte, who had been watching dumbfounded, acting as both audience and assistant the entire time. "Pack up. It’s time for us to go. If we stay any longer, a certain someone is going to run off crying to the mermaids for comfort."

Lynch: "..."

’Mentor, your sense of humor is truly hurtful at times.’

After seeing off a very satisfied Mentor Annabella and a reluctant Charlotte who kept looking back with every step, Lynch practically crawled back to his room and face-planted onto his soft, large bed.

He remained there for three solid days and nights.

During that time, he barely moved, except when Esther curiously poked his face or Dragon Flame licked him awake, demanding to be fed. He was either in a deep sleep or in Meditation, striving to recover his over-expended Spiritual Power and Mana.

Not until the morning of the fourth day did the soul-deep exhaustion finally dissipate, leaving him feeling completely revitalized.

’Phew... My mentor’s training is incredibly effective, but it’s just as draining on the student...’ Lynch thought, rubbing his still-throbbing temples with a sense of lingering fear.

But he also had to admit that after these few days of hellish tempering, his control over his Spiritual Power, his subtle perception of death energy, and his practical application and understanding of various Undead Magic spells had all reached a new level. His foundations had been solidified even further.

Having recovered, Lynch immediately threw all his energy into studying the Death Codex.

The first thing he chose to study was, naturally, the unique Secret Technique created by Teacher Lester: the Profound Yin Body Refining Spell. It was a combination of Qigong theory and some wild, fantasy-inspired ideas.

After all, this was a Secret Technique that could strengthen his body and save his life.

As he studied the Spell in detail, Lynch couldn’t help but marvel once more at his teacher’s boldness and ingenuity.

The core principle of the Spell was to channel a highly purified form of Negative Energy—which his teacher called "Profound Yin Qi"—to progressively temper one’s own flesh, bones, and organs. The ultimate goal was to strengthen the physical body, compensating for the inherent fragility of a Necromancer in close combat.

At higher levels of cultivation, it could even slow aging and enhance one’s fundamental life force.

However, the ideal was grand, but reality was harsh. Lynch found the very first step of cultivation to be a thorny problem.

Namely—how to obtain Profound Yin Qi.

The Scripture listed several methods of refinement.

The first, most highly recommended by Lester and also the most efficient, was to build a massive, composite Array for converting and purifying Negative Energy.

The second method was to find a border region between the prime material plane and the Netherworld, build an Array to draw out the Netherworld’s death energy, and then purify it.

Beyond that, there was even a crazy plan to sneak into the Netherworld and "steal energy"...

Given Lynch’s current Tier Two strength and the resources available in Lakefront Town, these methods were all completely unrealistic. They either had prohibitively high technical requirements and enormous costs, or the danger level was off the charts.

’Thankfully... Teacher Lester also mentioned a slower, but more universal, basic method.’ Lynch’s gaze fell upon a description in the Spell’s appendix: "Directly refine ’Profound Yin Qi’ from high-purity Negative Energy Crystals using a specific, slow technique."

"This method is inefficient and results in significant waste, but it has the advantage of being safe, controllable, and its materials are relatively easy to obtain."

’Relatively easy to obtain?’

The corner of Lynch’s mouth twitched.

’High-purity Negative Energy Crystals... Since when has that stuff ever been considered "easy to obtain"? An ordinary Necromancer would have to move heaven and earth just to get a single piece, and they’d guard it like a priceless treasure.’