"Now that we have that out of the way, it's finally time for me to get some needed practice!" Clark murmured as he escaped once more into the night.
He did not even have to go out as he just used another pseudo teleport using the switch skill with his Blood Twin.
And for the first time in this new day, our good gamer has visited once more his favorite setting for an adventurous trip. A barren desert.
This has become his usual playground to conduct his odd and myriad experiments with. Alas, it was only unfortunate that he could not use the same spot he went to earlier because it was nighttime at that place.
Clark instead searched for another fresh desert venue that has still a lot of sunlight left in them.
"BLINK!"
"BLINK!" two figures arrived one after the other. One wore an azure robe while the other person donned on a black cultivator's garb.
The former was of course Clark and the latter was his newly converted disciple.
"Tell me your name." Clark said unto the old man before him.
The dead assassin has no more cover on his face and Clark could see clearly enough that he was like them old goats from the Lu Family that he had seen earlier.
The undead killer's countenance was already well assaulted by time and its heartless changes.
"I am Tan Zan, master." the dead assassin answered promptly.
"Tell me, Tan Zan... do you hate me for killing you?" Clark was curious to know the answer to this question.
"It is my honor to be murdered by you, master. This has given me the chance to serve you in death and I will most certainly not fail your expectations from me."
Tan Zan nodded gravely as if these very words were now the mantra for his existence.
It would have been good to hear this kind of pledge at other times but at this moment, the feeling that Clark felt was absolutely far from delight at all. It gave him the chills and creeps instead.
"What's happening here, Nancy? I thought that these people retained at least their humanity in them. How come this old dude seems even happy that I put an end to his miserable life?"
Clark asked the system for guidance.
"Corpse Reincarnation, although powerful, still cannot defy the ancient laws of life and death, host.
This person may appear living as both his mind and body could provide evidence to his continued existence but the same could not be said to his soul.
This summon is nothing but a soulless heap of meat. It could not anymore feel any emotion of love and hate nor could it dream and retain obsessions of the heart. It is nothing but an empty shell.
A faded copy of its true self. Nothing more, nothing less." Nancy responded.�
"Hmmm... A bit disappointing."
"And here i thought that this technique was like Edo Tensei wherein the summons could still feel and even give priceless warnings and advice to their foes when they were forced to fight their loved ones."
"Oh well, not even I can change this skill's description. But i wonder how good it would be if i could somehow create new spells and fashion them exactly like i wanted."
"I would be invincible if i had that ability!"
Clark was lost in his thoughts and has not been able to escape from it until the 30th breath. And when he did, Clark only had one order for his first NPC summon.
"Attack me."
"Yes, master." Tan Zan responded without any emotion whatsoever and just did what was asked of him.
What he failed to become in his life, he accomplished that in death. Tan Zan has now truly become a perfect assassin.
Not anymore living on the edge of death but has already embraced it as a fact of life.
"CHICKEN FLIES TO THE MOON!"
"BANG!" the desert sands exploded in the rampage of one man. Under the great heat of the sun, his figure could be seen dashing from left and right in a pretty intimidating manner.
"Pfft! Where the hell did the name come from?! How could a flashy technique earn this kind of ugly title?"
Clark almost laughed out loud on the spot but he managed to control his chuckles in order to observe his opponent's way of fighting.
"Interesting!" Clark mused.
Although Tan Zan was abruptly shortening the distance between them but in just one glance alone, it could be seen that this was not just a normal move but was indeed rather crafty.
Tan Zan would swerve from left to right and it would grant a mirage of afterimage that made it extremely unpredictable to counter.
'If Tan Zan and me were on the same level at 3rd Stage Mortal Shedding Realm, I doubt that I could escape from this difficult charge. I would not last 10 seconds at this intensity at all.' Clark noted the halved cultivation of his summon.
'It seems that i need to learn a few secret techniques for myself after this. But I'll be sure to get lots of freebies after I destroy the assassin's lair later.'
Clark concluded as the former assassin's shadow traversed mercilessly towards him.
Still, even if Tan Zan appeared incredibly fast on these hot desert sands but in Clark's eyes, the man could not have appeared anymore slower before him.
"BOOM!" A flying man without wings soared the skies and dropped a body slam on its target. Alas, all he hit was empty air and some pebbles of molten dusts scattered in all directions.
"Come at me." A voice resounded behind Tan Zan and when the undead assassin turned around, he witnessed that his master has now occupied his recent spot.
The two had only exchange places after this short initial engagement. Tan Zan nodded in understanding and did not need any reply before he followed his summoner's bidding.
The same movements flowed like water and this experienced assassin outdid his decaying body. He was at the peak of his strength right now and although the present could really not compare to the past Tan Zan because of his current debuff state, but the deadly assassin did his best to bridge the gap with unbelievable finesse.
This time around though, Clark did not plan on dodging but wanted to test his agility for a change.
"SCRATCHING PUNCHES OF A BABY DUCK!"
"BOINK!"
"BOINK!"
"BOINK!" Tan Zan threw countless combos of punches that seemed to mimic the merciless strikes of a snake.
It was only sad that the name of this new technique also seemed too ridiculous to the ears of our bored gamer.
"What the hell is wrong with these names? These techniques must have been nerfed by some god or something!" Clark thought even as he stood his ground and danced around the crazy offense of Tan Zan.
A few moments elapsed and it could be judged already how vastly Clark has outmatched his opponent.
The two were standing on different levels and the gap between them could not be anymore bridged by the use of one or two techniques alone.
"This is so cool!" Clark was smiling through it all because he had seen an exact situation like this one in the movies before.
'This must be how Peter Parker felt when he was fighting with the bully in school!'
'Man, this is dope af!" Clark was exhilarated with this incredible feeling he had right now and it outright beat the rush from his earlier fights. He did nothing but one shot his opponents to death before.
But this... This was way way more exciting!
"More. Chase me some more!" Clark commanded with a smile and the gamer in him could not have been more alive than the present.
He looked like a child that had a close friend running at him in a cat and mouse game. If someone was around to see this, they would have no doubt sprouted questions left and right.
'How good would it feel if this was Ning Xi or Tang Xinyue instead?!' Clark muttered but the play never relented.
The game lasted for more than 20 minutes until our good gamer finally had his fill in playing hide and seek with his newest summon.
"That was a great workout, Tan Zan. Thank you." Clark said to his able practice partner.
Although this person was no longer human as he already lacked the most vital component of being one but Clark has not the heart to treat Tan Zan like a cold unfeeling toy. At least, not yet.
"It is my pleasure to be of service, master. Use me as you will. My existence only has meaning because of your will." Tan Zan replied like a trained crazy fanatic for ages.
'It's weird having a masochist follower around. And to think that it will only increase with time.'
'SIGH!'
'But i guess i will get used to this sooner or later.' Clark contemplated in silence because from this point onward, corpse reincarnation will have to be used unto sentient entities that he would kill in the future.
It was just too impractical to use them other else since people that can talk have a lot more uses than having them mute monsters that could only growl and roar for speech.
At least by doing this, Clark would have more strategic uses for his summons.
'But this much must remain a secret for now!' Clark decided. He did not want to get tagged as an evil cultivator this early in the gameplay.
'Do my summons from corpse resurrection also gets revived when obliterated, Nancy?" Clark asked, checking if he has more facts from this skill that he may have mistakenly assumed to be right.�
Just like his misconception about his summons' souls earlier.
"Affirmative, host. The creatures that are summoned using the Corpse Resurrection Ability are almost indestructible. The same also applies to the Create Skeleton Skill. And in the event that they do get destroyed, recreating their bodies would only take one second at the most." Nancy replied.�
"FUCK ME! This is a broken skill indeed!" Clark's eyes widened in disbelief.
This was too good to be true and so he could not help but entertain doubts about this information. In the end, our bored gamer was forced to ask to assuage his uncertainties.
"Do they have any weakness at all, Nancy?"
"Affirmative, host. If this skill is unbeatable in this world then the system would have already banned the use of such an ability.
It would make your experience extremely easy and the Elder God behind me wouldn't like that at all.
Corpse Resurrection and Create Skeleton can only be unmade by using holy skills and this world has a big organization that specializes in that rare field. The Buddhist Monks and Priests.
This powerful group of cultivators are based centrally in the Holy Continent and prided themselves as the b..." Nancy answered in length but Clark was already deaf to the system's succeeding words.
All he could hear ringing audibly inside his ears was this familiar catchphrase...
"AMITABHA!"
"Sweet!" Clark's excitement bubbled up to the brim. He spent a few precious seconds inside his fantasy world before waking up with a nagging question in his mind.
"Tan Zan." Clark called.
"Command me, master!" Tan Zan complied readily.
"Why does the name of your secret techniques sound so lame?"