Chapter 149: The Reincarnation Ritual

"There is no need to go to such trouble. We can just replace the magic stones!" Mavis knew what Hugh was planning; after all, a single batch of refinement was not enough for her use.

"It's almost done!" Mavis, who had been closely monitoring the black mist, sensed that the ritual was about to end and hurriedly urged Hugh to take the test tube and get ready to catch the liquid.

"Drip!" A drop of black liquid fell into the test tube. Hugh could feel a deep longing within his soul, a strong desire to absorb this droplet of liquid.

"This is mine!" Mavis, noticing Hugh's gaze, quickly snatched the test tube from his hand.

"How fascinating! Phantom beings like the undead are actually able to refine such tangible liquids!" Hugh found the ritual incredible and greatly admired the person who had come up with this method.

"Of course! After acquiring this ritual and researching it for so long, I was bound to have some results!" Mavis placed the test tube onto the laboratory bench like a treasured possession.

"Let's continue!" After replacing all the magic stones with fresh ones, Hugh and Mavis resumed the ritual.

"Mm!" It was hard to tell how much time passed, but Mavis and Hugh finally finished refining all the undead spirits.

In the end, the two of them refined a total of five drops of the Wail of the Undead. Mavis kept her eyes locked on the test tubes, looking as though she wanted to pounce on them.

"I'll give you one tube!" Mavis tossed a test tube to Hugh.

"I have these four tubes, which is enough for me," Mavis explained when she saw Hugh's puzzled look.

"Alright!" After a moment of thought, Hugh accepted the potion.

"You can absorb yours here, I'm going to rest for a bit!" Following such a long period of intense concentration, Hugh was feeling quite exhausted. After going out for a meal, he consumed the droplet of liquid and then collapsed onto his bed, intending to get a good night's sleep.

Inside the laboratory, Mavis floated alone in mid-air with her eyes closed, surrounded by the four drops of the Wail of the Undead. She prepared to absorb all of them at once so she could proceed with the reincarnation ritual as soon as possible.

"Ding! Host's spiritual power has greatly increased!"

"Ding! Hugh Bruch: Level 1 Wizard. Bloodline: Abyssal Walker. Strength: 7.12, Agility: 8.91, Constitution: 10.97, Spiritual Power: 56.31, Mana: 56.31 (Mana is determined synchronously by spiritual power), Spiritual Elementalization Progress: 56%, Status: Healthy!"

"Has it increased by this much?" Hugh woke up upon hearing the chip's voice.

Shortly after, he noticed his attribute panel.

"If this is the case, perhaps I can use the Wail of the Undead to accelerate the progress of my meditation method!" Seeing that consuming just a single drop had boosted his spiritual power by so much, Hugh felt tempted. If he could capture more undead spirits, he might soon reach the level required to advance to a Level 2 Wizard.

"Don't even think about doing something like that!" Mavis walked straight through the wall and appeared before Hugh.

"What is this?!" The soul of Mavis before him was now extremely solid. As she walked up to Hugh, if not for her unique soul fluctuations, she would have looked no different from a normal person.

"How is it? How is it? Can I perform the reincarnation ritual now?" Mavis looked at Hugh with joy. The effect of the Wail of the Undead was even better than she had expected, pushing her soul state directly to the level of her prime.

"Yes!" Hugh agreed with Mavis. With her current soul strength, carrying out the reincarnation ritual would be more than sufficient.

"By the way, what did you mean earlier when you said I shouldn't use the Wail of the Undead to advance my meditation method?" Mavis had done much more research into this kind of ritual, so Hugh wanted to hear her opinion.

"Have you forgotten the power you split off previously for that spatial magic item? It is precisely because of that that your spiritual power increased so much after you consumed the Wail of the Undead. If you take it regularly, your physical body will not be able to support your soul strength. However, once you advance to Level 2, you can use this ritual in large quantities!"

Mavis knew that Hugh was eager to increase his strength, but this particular method was definitely not feasible.

"Level 2... So, according to what you're saying, a Level 2 Wizard is all about soul power!" Hugh felt a glimmer of realization upon hearing Mavis's explanation.

"Pretty much, you'll understand when the time comes!" Mavis did not offer too much explanation; things like this could only be truly understood through personal experience.

"When should we prepare for the reincarnation ritual?" Mavis asked impatiently. She had been without her own body for several millennia, and now she was eager to rush Hugh.

"There's no need to rush this; there are still some things to prepare!" The components of the reincarnation ritual were quite complex, and much of the knowledge involved was something Hugh had not yet encountered. However, with Mavis around, Hugh could roughly carry out the ritual.

"I'm curious, what will your strength be like after this reincarnation ritual?" The two of them returned to the laboratory to prepare for Mavis's reincarnation ritual.

"If the process goes smoothly, I'll be roughly at the Level 1 Wizard stage. Spiritual elementalization and everything else will have to start over from scratch, but my soul is fundamentally that of a Level 2 Wizard, so even starting over, my progress won't be very slow," Mavis replied after thinking for a moment.

"Besides, I plan to replace the mermaid bloodline inside Mafi's body with that of the Purgatory Serpent!" As she spoke, Mavis stole a glance at Hugh. After all, she now belonged to Hugh, and if he didn't agree to let her absorb the bloodline of the Purgatory Serpent, she would simply have to accept it.

"Won't the two bloodlines conflict with each other?" Hugh was curious about what it would look like once the mermaid bloodline and the Purgatory Serpent bloodline fused within Mafi's body.

"Don't worry, they won't! I've examined the mermaid bloodline inside Mafi; it's already very thin. The bloodline of the Purgatory Serpent will devour this trace of the mermaid bloodline on its own!" When Mavis said this, she felt a surge of secret joy. Hugh asking such a question undoubtedly meant he agreed to let her absorb the bloodline of the Purgatory Serpent. That was a creature capable of reaching Tier 5 upon reaching adulthood; Mavis grew excited just thinking about it.

"I see! However, after the reincarnation ritual is completed, you'll need to wait a while before absorbing the bloodline of the Purgatory Serpent."

"Ah? Why is that?" Upon hearing this, Mavis's face instantly wrinkled into a frown, thinking Hugh was going back on his word.

"If you absorb it immediately, and Holy Round City really sends people to investigate, do you think you can hide it?" Hugh did not want to be exposed because of a bloodline issue. He was certain that Holy Round City possessed detailed information regarding Mafi.

"That's true, I suppose!" Mavis thought about it and realized it made sense; the matter of the mermaid bloodline could not be hidden from the people of Holy Round City.

"Right! You can start drawing the wizard array we'll need; I'm almost done on my end!" The materials required for the reincarnation ritual were numerous. After browsing through the trading district, Hugh had managed to gather most of them, and whatever was missing could be found inside the spatial magic item.

Hugh couldn't help but marvel at the foundation of a Level 3 Wizard. Countless varieties of materials and medicinal herbs were stored within, and among them were even two chests of fire-element energy crystals set aside, which conveniently benefited Hugh.

"Alright, I understand!" Hearing that it was time to get down to business, Mavis perked up.

Mavis ground several pieces of high-grade magic stones into powder and added some other minerals and materials, preparing to use these substances to draw the wizard array for the reincarnation ritual.

"These rituals of mine were passed down from ancient times. I reckon the reincarnation ritual you saw has been heavily abridged. Although this ritual is complex, the materials used with it are relatively simple. The process of the reincarnation ritual you showed me earlier was simple enough, but many of the materials mentioned on it were ones I've never even heard of!"

Mavis drew the wizard array as she spoke. She had waited far too long for this day, and she had rehearsed these drawing methods in her mind countless times, so she executed them effortlessly now.

"Mm!" Hugh gave a simple acknowledgement, but deep down, he completely agreed with Mavis's words. Hugh had looked at both versions of the reincarnation ritual, and indeed, Mavis's version was much more stable.

The difference lay in the drawing of the wizard array. The reincarnation ritual Hugh found in Holy Round City seemed to have major flaws, but its core components remained identical to Mavis's version.

The process of preparing the materials was not overly difficult for Hugh; the only slightly complicated part was the dream beast energy core required at the very end of the reincarnation ritual. The slightest lapse in concentration could result in being pulled into a dreamscape.