Chapter 38 Mastery

The City of Gold!

Descending from the pyramid, Liu Zhi could not help but utter a sigh of amazement.

It had been two days now, and he had managed to get a preliminary understanding of the situation outside the pyramid. Though the pyramid of the City of Gold had not been utterly destroyed like everything in the Palace of the Underworld, the constant presence of hint messages at every step had disappeared. The entire city was empty and silent, like a deserted place devoid of life and sound.

Liu Zhi spent two full days exploring the interior of the pyramid. He saw many things depicted in the murals, but none of it was useful; there was nothing related to skills in that information. At most, it allowed him to learn some of the city’s history.

What did convince Liu Zhi of the city’s name was the gold hidden in the pyramid’s corners. From the various golden ornaments, it was clear how much the city’s former inhabitants adored gold. Among these decorations, a significant number featured serpentine designs—pendants, rings, armlets—wherever one could imagine a decorative piece, there was a serpent motif.

But this was not what Liu Zhi sought. He was willing to spend time searching here not just to uncover the hidden knowledge of the city, but also to find a way to survive.

After all, he still needed to stay here for nearly five months. Currently, he had neither food nor shelter. Though he could temporarily sleep inside the pyramid, it was no long-term solution. He had to make proper preparations.

Moreover, Liu Zhi hadn’t forgotten that he had a rival somewhere in this world. That competitor might have arrived a bit later, but the danger he posed had not vanished. Liu Zhi had to ensure his own safety.

If not for being forcibly assigned to this task, Liu Zhi would have considered taking the gold he’d found and leaving the City of Gold for a nearby port. There, he could learn and practice many things—improving his cooking skills, for example, or finding someone to spar with and hone his swordsmanship.

But now, his daily sword training could only be done by dueling with his undead subordinate, the Soulbound Naga.

Speaking of which, after taking up his current profession, Liu Zhi realized that the necromancer was not as advantageous as he had imagined.

The main reason for this was his lack of magical power.

As a necromancer, his magic and spirit were in a one-to-ten ratio. This meant that, under normal circumstances, he only had thirty-three points of magic. However, one piece of his necromancer’s set, the Crystal Skull, doubled his magical power, which gave him a total of sixty-six points.

Yet, as the Lord of the Underworld Palace, he had to provide thirty points of magic each day to maintain the existence of the palace itself.

It was easy to imagine: without the magic-doubling effect, with his meager magic reserves, after supporting the palace, he’d only be able to summon three undead servants. At that point, organizing an undead army was out of the question. Even just sending out two or three undead for chores would require careful planning, lest he run out of magic.

He certainly couldn’t become the sort of spellblade he had joked about.

What frustrated Liu Zhi even more was that the Soulbound Naga was no ordinary undead servant. It cost one point of magic to summon her from the Underworld Palace, but it also cost another point to send her back.

The real catch, though, was that if he didn’t send the Soulbound Naga back, he had to supply her with three points of magic daily to maintain her. If she was injured, he had to spend even more to keep her in good condition. Calculating it all, just maintaining this one Soulbound Naga required about five points of magic each day. If a major battle loomed, he’d have to reserve at least ten points for her.

This meant that Liu Zhi had only twenty-six points of magic to use freely.

For a mage, what could such a paltry amount accomplish? Two moderately powerful spells, perhaps, and then he’d be spent.

Thus, Liu Zhi was forced to realize that until he mastered skills to further increase his spirit, he would have to rely on his swordsmanship and tools like the Thunder Coral to survive.

“It’s really something—a city brimming with mystery and curses, yet I can’t find a single new skill,” Liu Zhi muttered in frustration.

Just then, the Soulbound Naga emerged from the nearby jungle. She no longer kept her four arms empty; in her upper pair, she held Liu Zhi’s poisoned longsword and the dagger he’d seized from York.

Through regular sparring with Liu Zhi, the Soulbound Naga had learned Basic Sailor Swordsmanship, Indigo Gale Swordplay, and the Secret Z Slash. Though it was impossible to gauge her precise swordsmanship level, Liu Zhi felt she wielded these techniques even better than he did.

This realization was a blow to Liu Zhi’s confidence. He had thought himself naturally talented with the sword, but it seemed he was nothing special after all.

Still, he quickly regained his motivation; he noticed that dueling with the Soulbound Naga steadily improved his sword skills, and the rate of progress was decent—now and then, a little +1 or +2 notification would pop up.

If he hadn’t been so focused these past few days on searching for hidden magic or mysteries in the City of Gold, he might have spent even more time practicing with her.

While Liu Zhi scoured and analyzed the murals, the Soulbound Naga would take the initiative to search the nearby area for food. After all, Liu Zhi was still a living man—he needed to eat.

Now, the Soulbound Naga returned with her lower arms holding some freshly cut leaves from the trees—edible plants Liu Zhi had identified with his knowledge of jungle survival. That had been his diet for the past two days.

Taking the leaves from her, Liu Zhi couldn’t help but ask, “Did you find any other creatures? Even a rabbit would do.”

The Soulbound Naga shook her head.

“How about in the river? Are there any fish?”

She shook her head again.

“Never mind. Keep watch over the exit, and if the giant serpent returns, remember to warn me.”

The Soulbound Naga glanced at him, then turned to leave.

At that moment, Liu Zhi suddenly noticed something amiss. He called out, “Hold on a moment!”

The Soulbound Naga stopped, standing motionless before him.

Liu Zhi stepped forward to check her over, and before long, he sighed. “I knew it. Nothing comes truly free.”

With that, he raised his hand and sent one point of magic into the Soulbound Naga’s body.