Ghost Bone Amulet

A skeletal dragon with wingspans that blot out the sun and bones as large as mountains weaved through the shattered clouds. Each flap of its wings stirred up an annihilation storm, and it spewed out grayish-white breath that froze and decayed the space in its path.

There are the towering remains of many-headed monsters, and even though only skeletons remain, their remaining will has transformed into a real storm of resentment, howling between the Skull Mountain peaks and whipping up a wailing hurricane formed from billions of fragments of souls.

Further away, deep within a colossal rift piercing the heavens and earth, the desperate, ceaseless shrieks of countless souls echoed, seemingly connecting to the very end of the universe; the mere aftershocks of their sounds were enough to tear apart the stars!

In the center of this infernal battlefield of death and destruction, supporting the crumbling, shattered spacetime, is a banner!

A colossal banner, reaching to the heavens and standing upright, seemingly supporting the entire shattered world! The banner pole, like the spine supporting heaven and earth, was forged from the spine of some unknown god or demon, and was wrapped with countless thick chains of law!

The banner's surface was as black as an eternal abyss that devoured everything, and its edges were no longer adorned with delicate tassels, but with countless stars burning with pale soul flames! Each "star" represented a powerful being that had been completely obliterated and imprisoned here!

On the banner, there were no longer blurry dark patterns, but countless clearly visible, agonizing and howling demonic faces struggling and roaring!

Some of them had a thousand eyes, some had ten thousand arms from their ribs, and some wore broken divine crowns on their heads... Every face was twisted and deformed, filled with extreme pain and resentment, yet they could only writhe and scream in vain on the banner!

Each time the banner flutters, it causes the laws of the entire world of death to tremble, stirring up a soul storm that annihilates all things!

Countless undead lords and abyssal demons, whose power was beyond comprehension, trembled like candles in the wind under the oppressive force of this giant banner, humbly prostrating themselves on the earth made of skeletons and filthy blood, offering up their most primal soul power!

That vast, boundless, terrifying pressure, which transcended the laws of death in the multiverse, slammed into Li Xingyao's consciousness like billions of ancient icebergs! Insignificant! He felt so insignificant that he was less than a speck of dust!

It was as if any of the demonic gazes wandering on that banner could sweep over him, or if that terrifying pressure could reveal even a trace of its true power, and he could be completely reduced to nothingness, with even the trace of his existence erased!

Just as this extreme fear and shock was about to crush his consciousness and completely assimilate him into an insignificant wailing ghost on this battlefield, the dream suddenly shattered!

"Ugh—!"

Li Xingyao suddenly sat up in bed! His heart pounded wildly in his chest, like a war drum being struck by a heavy hammer, almost bursting open! His back was completely soaked with cold sweat, and the icy fabric clung to his skin, bringing a bone-chilling cold.

He gasped for breath, his pupils contracting violently in the darkness, still haunted by the devastating scene and boundless terror of his dream. The screams of countless souls and the resentful roars of demons seemed to echo in his ears.

This was the first time he had such a dream. He subconsciously raised his hand, his fingertips trembling as he touched the spot on his chest where his heart was. There, it seemed, still lingered the chilling imprint of the terrifying pressure from the Ten Thousand Souls Banner in the final moments of the dream, penetrating to the bone marrow, making his very soul tremble.

After a long while, his violent heartbeat gradually calmed down, like a wild horse being forcibly reined in. He raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and looked at the dark blue time display on his wristwatch: 5:58.

There are two minutes left until the alarm is set.

That dream... was too real, too shocking. Li Xingyao wasn't sure if it was an amplified subconscious fantasy, or... if the Myriad Soul Banner was conveying some kind of fragmented information to him.

Li Xingyao shook his head, forcibly suppressing the shock of the dream and a trace of unease from the depths of his soul. Whatever the dream foreshadowed, he was currently far too weak. So weak that he didn't even have the right to investigate. Like an ant gazing at the stars, he gained nothing but awe and fear.

"Become stronger...reach that godlike level!" he muttered to himself, his voice echoing in the quiet bedroom, as if trying to transform his fear into motivation. "Without power, everything is meaningless."

The gentle buzzing of the alarm clock broke the suffocating silence right on time.

A new day begins.

Li Xingyao got up and washed up, preparing to begin a new day of training.

As I meditated deeply, the sky outside the window gradually shifted from inky black to a deep blue, signaling the approaching dawn.

Li Xingyao slowly straightened up, his chest rising and falling slightly as he calmed the stellar energy within his body, which had become somewhat turbulent due to the intense confrontation.

On the opposite side, the agile Swift Assassin student was being helped off the field by a medical robot that had arrived. His left shoulder guard was precisely cleaved by a skeleton swordsman's bone sword. Although it did not injure his flesh, the impact left his left arm unable to move.

This was the toughest battle Li Xingyao had ever fought. After the previous matches, he didn't have much star energy left, and he didn't expect that his opponent in this battle would be far more difficult than he had anticipated.

His opponent was too fast; in the low-level arena, he could close the distance with his opponent almost instantly.

The watch emits a soft hum, and the virtual screen pops up automatically:

[Number of wins: 43. Points earned: 865. Current total points: 865.]

[Item already followed for redemption: [Ghost Bone Amulet], Required Points: 850. Status: Available for redemption.]

Li Xingyao's gaze lingered for a moment on the words "Redeemable," and the lingering noise from the surrounding stands seemed to vanish instantly. 865 points—this was the result of countless hours of intense training and victory after victory over the past four weeks. Without hesitation, his fingertip lightly tapped the screen.

[Redeem successful. Item: [Ghost Bone Amulet] has been transferred to the logistics sequence and will be delivered to your personal locker by the school's intelligent system. Please check your locker.]

Upon seeing this message, Li Xingyao finally let out a long, thorough sigh of relief. An indescribable sense of ease, mixed with intense anticipation, washed away the fatigue that had accumulated over the past few days. He raised his hand to wipe the fine sweat from his forehead and left the arena area that had brought him such rich rewards.

Walking back to his apartment, the evening breeze carried a chill, brushing against his back. He brought up the online store interface on his watch, skillfully typing in a few keywords. Soon, a product detail page for "Shadow Lizard Leather Armor (Normal)" popped up.

The leather armor in the picture was exquisitely crafted, with a dark gray hue, and the price tag clearly stated: 7000 Federal Credits. He carefully compared the performance parameters: tanned from alien beast soft leather, excellent physical defense, embedded micro-star energy circuit (providing approximately 15% stamina recovery bonus and a slight acceleration effect on mental energy concentration)... All of these were completely consistent with the "Lightweight Mage Leather Armor" in the reward options provided by Lin Wei.

The price in the mall was a full 40% higher than he had privately estimated. When Li Xingyao was about to settle the final payment with Lin Wei, he chose the lightweight leather armor.

Li Xingyao stared silently at the number, his opinion of Lin Wei rising even higher. The price of the reward items she offered was significantly lower than the market price.

It reveals an attitude: she is never stingy with valuable and trustworthy partners. It also demonstrates her channel advantage, allowing her to acquire equipment at a lower price than similar items, something Li Xingyao currently lacks access to.

Looking back on the past four weeks of sparring, Lin Wei was like the most meticulous researcher on the training field. Every instruction was exceptionally precise, and she was very careful in sorting out the data. Occasionally, she would even give away some meditation aids that were hard to find on the market.

The two developed a tacit and efficient research relationship.

Li Xingyao frowned slightly, but because they had been in contact too much lately, his classmates, including the easygoing Chen Hao, all seemed to think they were "close." Chen Hao had mentioned that some of Lin Wei's potential suitors had already started to vie for his attention.

But Li Xingyao knew in his heart that they weren't in that kind of relationship. Lin Wei was the kind of person who desperately craved power and knowledge, and she had clear goals and well-defined plans. It was impossible for her to be distracted by irrelevant feelings at this stage.

Those occasional displays of gentleness and approachability may simply be her way of demonstrating high emotional intelligence.

"A mutually beneficial arrangement, each getting what they need." Li Xingyao closed the online store, feeling at peace. He really liked this clear and straightforward relationship. He opened his contact list and sent Lin Wei a message: "Lin, I'll pay the remaining balance for that leather armor, thanks. Tuesday afternoon, same place, the last lesson?"

The message was quickly replied to, concisely: "Okay. I'll prepare in advance, see you then."

Back in that cold, monotonous yet familiar "public housing" apartment, the smart home system silently lit up its guide light strip. Li Xingyao went straight to his personal locker in the corner of the entrance hall, and after verifying his identity, the locker door quietly slid open.

Li Xingyao returned home and opened the delivery package. Inside lay a small, dark box, about the size of a palm, made of a material that resembled wood or bone, with no fancy decorations on its surface.

The box felt cool to the touch, with a peculiarly warm feel to the surface. At its center was an abstract rune composed of several nested triangles, emanating a faint yet clear fluctuation of cold energy.

Li Xingyao took a deep breath, sat cross-legged on the cold floor, and carefully opened the box.

The box is lined with soft, deep purple velvet, and an antique-looking amulet lies quietly in the center. The main body is the milky-white skeleton of some unknown creature, polished to an extremely smooth and warm finish, with the naturally formed spiral patterns clearly visible.

In the center of the skeleton was a strange crystal, the size of a grain of rice, with what appeared to be a slowly swirling, flowing dark purple nebula inside. The entire amulet exuded a constant, pure, and icy aura, as if it could penetrate directly into the skin and soothe a restless spirit.

【Ghost Bone Amulet (Common)】

[Effect: Slightly amplifies the necromancer's mental power and slightly increases mental power regeneration speed.]

[Description: Carved from the bones of an unknown beast imbued with the aura of death, and inlaid with fragments of a special star core. Requires a necromancer class to use.]