Chapter 155: Someone has learned necromancy!

Chapter 155 Someone Has Learned Necromancy!

Wait, that actually works?

Hearing Sheng Qingquan's inner thoughts, everyone was stunned.

So, it turns out they were the ones with dirty minds?

Sheng Qingquan kept brainstorming, not caring what others thought.

"Stabbing someone directly in the heart might be a bit difficult. People usually protect their vital spots very carefully."

"Holy shit!"

"Got it! What about the mouth? Shoving a fist in, smashing their teeth—that should definitely meet the ability's activation conditions."

"And it’s easier than going for the heart."

"If the opponent is too strong and exchanging blows still doesn’t let me punch their mouth or gouge their eyes, then grabbing their arm or another body part and jamming my fingers into their flesh should have the highest success rate."

"Arms and legs don’t have natural orifices like mouths or eyes, making them harder to penetrate. But eyes are vital spots, while arms aren’t."

"When in danger, using an arm to block an attack to protect vital areas is the smallest sacrifice. Almost everyone does this."

"In a life-or-death fight, trading an arm for survival is a damn good trade!"

"This method is absolutely viable."

"Great, let’s do it!"

Sheng Qingquan thought with satisfaction. Just then, he happened to see the stack of children’s picture books temporarily set aside while cleaning the shelves.

Colorful picture books were piled in several stacks, each nearly half a person’s height. On top of one stack was a *Journey to the West* picture book, with the Monkey King in full regalia, majestically gazing into the distance.

Sheng Qingquan had a sudden epiphany.

He had devoured every version of the Four Great Classical Novels, especially *Journey to the West*. Whether it was comic books, collector’s editions, cartoons, or TV dramas, he had gone through them all. Naturally, key scenes were burned into his memory.

When the Monkey King escorted the monk to the West, he often used one particular trick against monsters—burrowing into their stomachs and wreaking havoc from within.

This was perfect to steal.

"If the opponent is completely out of my league and I can’t even scratch them, what if I ride a mech and let them swallow me whole? As long as I’m not immediately digested, being inside their body should count as zero-distance, right?"

"Or if I can’t stab them—since I can’t win or hurt them—what if I let them hurt me instead?"

"If the enemy injures me, say, by stabbing me with a tentacle, and I clamp down to trap it inside, wouldn’t that achieve the same effect?"

"Zero-distance or not? That’s definitely zero-distance contact!"

"Thinking about it this way, the ability's prerequisites aren’t impossible to meet. It has way more applications than you'd think."

In the blink of an eye, Sheng Qingquan came up with crazy applications. The people around him looked at each other in disbelief, especially Cheng Jingqiao and her father, who finally understood the true value of the battle instinct download he had received earlier.

The group was completely floored the entire time, listening as Sheng Qingquan rapidly brainstormed ways to utilize the skill from angles they’d never imagined.

Once he figured out how to use the skill, Sheng Qingquan ran it by the staff around him. With their consent, he jumped right into testing it immediately.

Of course, he couldn’t use those vicious tactics on his own allies.

So Sheng Qingquan didn’t care whether distance mattered or how to bridge it. He simply placed his hand on a teammate’s shoulder.

But after making contact, Sheng Qingquan didn’t rush to trigger his ability.

"You're completely worthless, can't do anything right, devour everything like a vacuum—must've sucked up to get this job, otherwise how could someone like you land a decent position? Your work skills are trash-tier, you couldn't even beg for money on the street."

The teammate stared at Sheng Qingquan in utter confusion.

Bro, are you serious right now?

Am I really that useless? Are you talking about me? Does my family even have the connections for nepotism hookups? I didn't know that!

That was his first reaction, but soon, the teammate realized why Sheng Qingquan would suddenly say such things.

"Are you married? That hot babe I saw walking with you the other day—is she your wife or your sister? I noticed a few creepy punks following her earlier, but I didn't step in."

"Your parents haven't contacted you today, have they? You haven't called them, right? You don't know they fell from a building earlier, do you? I pushed them."

Sheng Qingquan raked through every awful scenario he'd ever heard and projected it onto himself. Just as he was about to escalate further, the teammate, who had been cooperating by stirring up emotions, couldn't take it anymore.

His eyes burned with anger, and his previously friendly gaze toward Sheng Qingquan vanished entirely.

Sheng Qingquan's expression was so convincing that the teammate momentarily couldn't tell whether his words were true or just part of the experiment to push his buttons.

In the past, the teammate would've firmly believed Sheng Qingquan would never do such things. Ordinary people might not know, but he was well aware of Sheng Qingquan's character.

Unlike many who talk big but screw up small stuff,

Sheng Qingquan had never compromised on major morals. Over the years, he'd stopped doomsday like fifty times, and in daily life, he was a genuinely good person.

His integrity was impeccable—a gold standard in their eyes.

But today was different. Today, they'd encountered the Queen Beecicada.

What if Sheng Qingquan had been influenced by the Beecicada and acted this way?

It wasn't impossible just because Sheng Qingquan was physically present. The teammate knew Sheng Qingquan's abilities—any plant on Tianlanxing could become his avatar, allowing him to act remotely.

So, could the Beecicada still be alive? Had Sheng Qingquan not shaken off its influence?

Thinking back, the way that Beecicada died did seem suspicious. Was it another fake death?

The teammate's head was spinning.

Visions of his family getting hurt flashed before him, filling him with shock, worry, panic, and rage.

Seeing this, Sheng Qingquan triggered his ability.

The ability's effect was universal likability—a +5 charisma bonus.

But since everyone already viewed him favorably, it was hard to tell if the ability had worked. That's why Sheng Qingquan had deliberately pushed his buttons first.

Having achieved his goal, Sheng Qingquan used the ability, and the teammate's hostile gaze instantly transformed.

Grabbing his head in disbelief, the teammate exclaimed, "What the—how did I think that messed-up shit about you?"

"I totally fell for that?"

Come on, man, it was obvious Sheng Qingquan would never do such things.

The staff member not only became friendly again but was also consumed by guilt.

Sheng Qingquan just wanted to test a skill—what’s the harm in that?

Right, the staff member knew full well that Sheng Qingquan had spoken that way on purpose. Yet now, he didn’t find it problematic at all. Instead, he felt awful for having been hostile toward Sheng Qingquan despite knowing the reason.

This was totally out of line!

"How could I do this?!" He desperately wanted to make things right with Sheng Qingquan but couldn’t think of anything to do.

The staff member floundered, looking at Sheng Qingquan. "Is there anything you want? Please, let me make it up to you!"

"As long as it’s within my power, I’ll give it my all!" he said earnestly.

After speaking, he gazed at Sheng Qingquan expectantly, like he’d walk through fire for him.

Sheng Qingquan had only used his skill on this one person, so while others were within the five-meter range of the skill’s effect, they were still clear-headed.

They watched as someone who had been perfectly fine moments ago suddenly turned into... *this* mess.

"Look at him, acting like he’s worthless, practically throwing himself at him. If I recorded this on my phone right now, it’d be perfect blackmail fodder!"

It was painful to watch.

Tao Qingmiao couldn’t help but reach into her pocket for her phone. Honestly, she was barely keeping it together.

When she said this, she didn’t bother lowering her voice—if anything, she cranked it up a notch.

At this distance, he couldn’t *not* hear it.

Yet, despite that, Tao Qingmiao noticed her colleague blew her off completely. Normally, he was quite prideful, but now, even after being mocked like this, he didn’t react at all. Instead, he remained laser-focused on Sheng Qingquan.

Compared to his usual self, it was a total 180.

If she didn’t know the reason, she’d have thought he’d been possessed.

Well, the experimental results were clear enough.

Sheng Qingquan deactivated the skill.

The staff member snapped out of it.

He covered his face with his hands—Ugh, he wanted to *vanish*!

The onlookers pitied him hard.

"Hey, don’t beat yourself up," Sheng Qingquan explained. "I used some mushroom spores earlier, which gave you a slight trip. Under their influence, it was easy for you to feel hostile toward me."

So it wasn’t that he distrusted him.

As for the rest—

"No wonder, when everyone was first affected by the Queen Beecicada, they thought it was an intelligence-reducing aura."

Someone couldn’t help but remark, "Honestly, seeing you acting like a total simp just now, anyone who didn’t know the context would’ve assumed you’d been hit with the stupid stick."

Hearing this, the staff member chilled out a bit. Moreover, now that he was lucid again, he got his act together.

Though mortified, he still tried to piece together how he had felt moments ago.

"It was like being hexed. Even though someone nearby hinted that something was wrong, and I understood the hint, hearing it not only didn’t snap me out of it—I genuinely believed she was wrong."

"Making amends to a victim isn’t some dark secret. Refusing to admit mistakes and not making amends—that’s the real black mark for me."

"Exactly. I don’t know if you can understand, but at that moment, I had my own logic. I just tuned everything else out."

"I just wanted to be good to him, to make it up to him."

"That was all I could think about," he said, turning to Sheng Qingquan with sincerity. "If you’d told me to off myself right then, I’d have done it."

"It gets that extreme?"

"Damn, this skill’s way stronger than we figured!"

However, Sheng Qingquan was well aware. This only worked because the staff member’s abilities were far weaker than his, they were in close proximity—even touching—and he had focused the skill solely on him.

"But I have a feeling that if you’d asked me to betray my country, I would’ve refused, though with immense pain and guilt."

"Gone, but not all the way gone," Tao Qingmiao remarked sharply.

"You drew a line, but just barely."

"So, under the skill’s influence, aside from their deepest convictions, they’d be willing to do anything else?"

Sheng Qingquan chewed on that. Since they weren’t entirely sure, the others pushed him to run another test.

The staff member, who had just participated in the experiment, quietly crouched in a corner to call his family. Whimpering, he needed his family to patch up his bruised feelings.

No one disturbed him. Tao Qingmiao borrowed a healing device from Cheng Jingqiao and set it aside.

Once preparations were done, she turned to Sheng Qingquan. "Test it on me—then tell me to hurt myself."

"Whoa, you’re jumping straight to that?"

Sheng Qingquan was stunned. But despite his thoughts, under Tao Qingmiao’s firm gaze, he nodded silently.

"The healing device’s right here—should be fine."

Sheng Qingquan followed the same routine—messing with Tao Qingmiao’s head to make her hate him before activating the skill.

With Tao Qingmiao drowning in guilt and eager to make amends, Sheng Qingquan commanded, "Cut yourself. Only blood pays for what you’ve done!"

"Seriously? There’s gotta be another way!" Though even drowning in guilt, Tao Qingmiao still hesitated.

She disabled her armor, picked up a fruit knife, and held it over her wrist—couldn’t quite go through with it.

To test it properly, Sheng Qingquan had kept some distance from Tao Qingmiao while using the skill, staying right at the five-meter edge.

Luckily, the Cheng family’s living room was spacious enough—even then, Sheng Qingquan had to stand on the balcony to maintain the distance.

Watching her waver, Sheng Qingquan stepped closer, moving back into the living room.

As he approached, Tao Qingmiao’s expression went from doubt to determination.

When he was just a few steps away, Tao Qingmiao gritted her teeth—raising the knife to slash her wrist.

Sheng Qingquan placed a hand on her shoulder, and the knife froze.

"Did the skill glitch?"

The others instinctively suspected the same. Otherwise, as Sheng Qingquan moved closer, Tao Qingmiao should have been increasingly affected.

She should only have grown more obedient—how could she suddenly stop the knife and withdraw her hand?!

Just as everyone was puzzled, Tao Qingmiao abruptly raised her hand, turned the blade inward, and without hesitation stabbed toward her left eye.

Alarmed, Sheng Qingquan lunged to seize her wrist, snatched the knife away, and immediately deactivated his skill.

Even without the knife, she kept clawing at her eye, but then went limp like a deactivated machine.

"After physical contact just now, I suddenly felt that just slashing my wrist meant nothing—that little wound wouldn’t make things right. Ripping my eye out might barely make a dent in how guilty I feel."

Clearly, his ability wasn’t failing.

Self-harm came in levels.

A cut on the wrist was serious, of course, but with a treatment device on hand, timely care would prevent any real harm—you wouldn’t even get a scar.

Losing an eye, however, was different. If she lost one eyeball, a treatment device couldn’t fully regenerate it—only a medical pod could. And she might never score a pod.

In other words, yanking her eye out would’ve doomed her to blindness. Best case? A decade of blindness before securing a medical pod slot for recovery.

And that was only because she was a special civil servant, allowing her to skip the line for non-fatal cases.

"Besides, treatment never crossed my mind." Even though mere minutes earlier, she had borrowed the treatment device from the homeowner.

"I just genuinely felt I didn’t deserve treatment, shouldn’t seek it. This was my penance! As long as it made you forgive me, losing an eye was a small price to pay."

"So his ability wasn’t failing—its effects had indeed intensified."

Apart from Tao Qingmiao, Sheng Qingquan ran his ability on a couple coworkers and quickly grasped the key factor.

Cheng Jingqiao and her father, who had been observing on the sidelines, got fidgety and insisted on trying it themselves.

When not only Sheng Qingquan refused but even the staff opposed the idea, Cheng’s father couldn’t help but ask in confusion, "What’s the worst that could happen? Isn’t this basically a game, right? With safety guaranteed, wouldn’t more samples be better?"

"My daughter and I are ordinary people, untrained. You’re missing baseline civilian data—why not take this chance to grab it?"

Easy data grab, zero hassle.

"No need." Just as the Cheng father-daughter pair thought it was a sure thing, Sheng Qingquan shut them down hard. "We’re good on samples."

This was just a skill test, after all. The differences between actual aliens and Azure Starians were vast—real combat’s all about improvising.

Most importantly—

"I don’t use my abilities on ordinary people. Not even for experiments. No danger, no exceptions. That’s the bottom line."

The Cheng father and daughter instantly realized they’d overstepped—they had thought too little and oversimplified things, crossing a line.

They backtracked with red faces. Sheng Qingquan, however, didn’t mind.

It was normal for ordinary people to overlook details and want to try something that looked fun. Especially when everyone else present had experienced it—naturally, they didn’t want to be left out.

But some things they could afford not to consider—he couldn’t. Principles slip away one compromise at a time, so there could be no compromise.

Once the matter concluded, Sheng Qingquan’s life returned to tranquility.

Maybe the universe decided he’d earned a break—for whatever reason, over a year passed quiet as a mouse.

Even during the longest periods before, Azure Starians had never experienced such prolonged tranquility.

So long that Sheng Qingquan even began to suspect the apocalypse crisis might never return.

But every time this thought crossed his mind, a glance at his cheat ability instantly jolted him awake.

One morning, Sheng Qingquan suddenly noticed that the intermediate necromancy spells in his necromancy inheritance, which had always been sealed, had now inexplicably unlocked.

They had changed from being unusable to a state where they could be studied and used.

He had acquired the necromancy inheritance a very, very long time ago.

However, due to the absence of magic on Azure Star, he had only ever been able to use a handful of weak spells with barely any combat use.

They were mostly useful for making shrimp shells scuttle into drains to clean up garbage.

Otherwise, they were next to useless.

Still, no matter how ineffective, it was still necromancy.

Regrettably, even when Sheng Qingquan taught these low-level spells to others without reservation, and even if they practiced religiously, memorizing every convoluted incantation flawlessly, however fast or smoothly they recited, or how authentic their pronunciation, the spells never worked.

Both Sheng Qingquan and the authorities suspected environmental factors were to blame.

Azure Star was a zero-magic world.

This much they were certain of.

Previously, an enemy from a magical world had arrived severely injured after traversing space, only to find no magic particles to absorb on Azure Star, preventing recovery. In the end, Sheng Qingquan and his allies grinded them down.

Necromancy was unique—more about the "undead" than the "magic." Had it not been the necromancer Clara who arrived, but any other mage, Azure Star's forces wouldn't have had to rack their brains.

They could have simply exploited the enemy's inability to absorb magic particles to exhaust them.

For Azure Starians, the zero-magic nature of their world was a double-edged sword. While it weakened certain enemies from magical worlds, the absence of magic particles also meant that even if they learned the spells, they couldn't cast them.

Even necromancy, which relied less on magic, was no exception. Without Clara's genius or Sheng Qingquan's special conditions, ordinary people could hardly overcome this limitation.

Even for Sheng Qingquan, the inheritance had only granted him low-level spells, while intermediate and higher-tier magic remained sealed.

If the advantages had once outweighed the disadvantages, now, as Azure Star grew stronger, the tables had turned.

"Now that intermediate magic has unlocked, does this mean…"

Just as Sheng Qingquan pondered this, his phone buzzed.

It was the Liaison.

When Sheng Qingquan answered, he heard the Liaison's voice, wavering between excitement and worry.

"A soldier has successfully cast necromancy!"

"Though all he managed was to make the leftover fish bones flop weakly on the ground before collapsing, sending fish bones flying—it still counts as a success!"

"Everyone nearby witnessed it, and they’ve checked the security cameras. The bones really moved! It wasn’t an illusion."

Though necromancy had never worked before, the authorities hadn’t entirely given up. A squad of soldiers had been muttering spells over chicken bones, duck bones, and all sorts of bones after their daily training.

Over time, though they kept at it and never slacked, they’d pretty much given up hope.

Who would've thought someone actually succeeded today?

No wonder the Liaison couldn't contain his excitement.

The beginning is always the hardest part. With one person succeeding, there will soon be a second, a third...

Just then, the Liaison paused mid-sentence. After a brief silence, he excitedly told Sheng Qingquan,

"Someone else just succeeded!"

A second person has already succeeded.

This meant that Tianlan Star was finally on the verge of mastering the power of necromancy.

Sheng Qingquan quietly informed the Liaison that part of his inheritance had unlocked.

Some things went without saying—both sides understood perfectly well.

After a long silence, Sheng Qingquan spoke, "Does this mean Tianlan Star is no longer a world without magic?"

The Liaison received another update.

"Academician Ma and his team just contacted me. That spirit stone shell you lent to the lab—it feels noticeably warmer and smoother than before. Almost like it did when it still contained spiritual energy. Though the difference is still huge, it’s clearly no longer just an empty shell."

Academician Ma and his team had never seen a real spirit stone with their own eyes, but Sheng Qingquan later used mushroom spores to create an illusion, allowing them to observe and sense the spirit stone up close.

So when the spirit stone shell began to change, these experts who'd been studying it tirelessly were immediately alerted to the change.

"In the Immortal Cultivation world, once a spirit stone’s energy is drained, it can gradually replenish by drawing spiritual energy from the air."

The experts had long speculated that magic particles and spiritual energy might be one and the same. It was just that the magic world and the Immortal Cultivation world had evolved different cultivation systems, giving rise to two distinct paths—hence the distinction between magic and Immortal Cultivation.

If that were truly the case...

"Then is this the Spiritual Resurgence?"