This wasn’t because Lynch was playing favorites. Bloodfang had only been Tier Three in life, so reaching the Tier Three Middle Stage now was already the result of Lynch’s best efforts.

The Corpse Demon was different. It had been a Tier Four Gnoll Chieftain in life, giving it a much stronger foundation. Raising it back to Tier Four would be comparatively easy.

As for Esther... even Lynch couldn’t quite grasp the little Vampire’s potential.

She was a creation personally transformed by Pale Elegy. Her promotions seemed exceptionally easy; as long as she drank some blood and got some sleep, her strength would increase steadily. Lynch didn’t need to spend any extra resources on her, which saved him a lot of trouble.

The reason the Corpse Demon was still stuck at Tier Three Peak was twofold.

First, Lynch had previously been only Tier One, which meant his [Zombie Enhancement Skill] was stuck at the peak of LV3, unable to break through to LV4. This limited the strengthening effect on it.

Second, and more importantly, Tier Four Undead Units placed an extremely high demand on a Necromancer’s Commanding Power.

With the Spiritual Power he had at Tier One, maintaining a long-term spiritual link with a Tier Four Corpse Demon would have occupied the majority of his Commanding Power. And since he still had many other Soul Fire units to command personally, his Commanding Power would have certainly been insufficient.

Therefore, Lynch no longer insisted on forcing it to Tier Four.

In fact, his Commanding Power had already started to run short back when both the Corpse Demon and Esther were promoted to Tier Three Peak.

To cope, he had to give up direct command over Bloodfang, instead letting the Corpse Demon lead it. He also transferred away a large portion of his command authority over the Soul Fire Skeletons—excluding the Netherworld Skeletons and Skeleton Mages. Only then was his Commanding Power barely sufficient.

Now that Lynch had successfully been promoted to a Tier Two Mage, his Spiritual Power had taken a leap in both quality and quantity. The previous bottlenecks and limitations were naturally gone.

’It’s time for the Corpse Demon to be promoted to a Tier Four Purple Zombie.’

A hint of anticipation flashed in Lynch’s eyes.

A single Tier Four Purple Zombie was already a powerful enough force to be a major deterrent in the Red Ridge Mountain region.

After all, the strongest Undead Units that even his senior brother, Raymond, had revealed so far were merely two Tier Five Bronze-Armored Corpses.

Less than a year ago, when Lynch’s formation was charged by Anthony’s two Tier Six Bronze-Armored Corpses, not a single one of his subordinates could withstand a single blow. Even his strongest tank unit at the time, the Black Corpse, was sent flying by one of them with a single punch, suffering grievous injuries.

’If I had one or two Tier Four Purple Zombies, even if they still couldn’t defeat a Tier Six Bronze-Armored Corpse, they could at least delay and entangle it. Then, I could use my Undead Army to overwhelm it with sheer numbers. I wouldn’t be in a situation where I’m completely powerless to fight back again.’

At the thought, Lynch felt a flicker of excitement. He immediately stood up and issued a mental command.

’Corpse Demon, follow me.’

An eerie green Soul Fire flashed in the eye sockets of the previously motionless Corpse Demon. It immediately started walking, following closely behind Lynch into the garrison’s basement.

The basement had long since been extensively expanded and renovated, converted by Lynch into a special Necromancer structure: the Sleeping Tomb.

Fluorite stones embedded in the walls cast a faint, cold glow, illuminating dozens of neatly arranged corpse-nurturing coffins on the floor.

The coffins were made of various materials—some of stone, others of wood—but all of them emanated fluctuations of Negative Energy. This filled the entire basement with a sinister, deathly aura.

The two largest corpse-nurturing coffins sat in the center of the tomb, belonging to Bloodfang and the Corpse Demon.

The origins of these corpse-nurturing coffins were rather complex.

Some of them came from the ancient tomb where the Black Corpse was originally found. Lynch had commissioned his old classmates from the Undead System department, who were still at the academy, to excavate all the coffins from the tomb. They were then transported to Lakefront Town via a merchant caravan.

For this, Lynch had paid a hefty "service fee" and a cut.

The rest he had personally cobbled together bit by bit, using knowledge from his mentor and senior brother, combined with notes and materials found among Anthony’s legacy.

Although they were probably not as effective as the ancient coffins from the tomb, they were sufficient for his current stage.

Originally, Lynch had planned to place the little Vampire Esther’s magnificent crystal coffin here as well. After all, the Yin energy was most concentrated in this place, making it beneficial for Undead Creatures.

But when the little one heard about this, she shook her head vehemently, strongly protesting that she didn’t want to stay with a bunch of "big, dumb, stinky" zombies.

Lynch tried to persuade her, but the little one was resolute, and he couldn’t change her mind. On second thought, he figured that as a special, intelligent life form, a Vampire’s habits might indeed be different from those of ordinary Undead Creatures, so he dropped the matter.

Now, that crystal coffin remained in the corner of Lynch’s bedroom, serving as Esther’s exclusive "princess bed."

Shaking off his stray thoughts, Lynch ordered the Corpse Demon to lie down inside the Negative Energy enhancement Array.

Once the Corpse Demon was lying down, he took the last few mid-grade Negative Energy Crystals, their energy mostly depleted, from his Space Ring. He also retrieved several precious Yin Attribute enhancement materials and arranged them in order.

On the far left was a small portion of [Quenching Yin Bone Powder], followed by a jar of [Preservative Corpse Oil] with only dregs remaining... and finally, less than half a bottle of [Shadow Earth Dragon Spinal Fluid].

These were all treasures he had "solicited" from his senior brother, Raymond. He had been using them sparingly, saving them for this very moment.

With all preparations complete,

Lynch began the final enhancement process.