「A short while later.」

Finally, as the last wisp of Negative Energy streamed into the Corpse Demon, the light of the Negative Energy Array faded, and the remaining mid-grade Negative Energy Crystals crumbled into a fine, grayish-white powder.

This meant that the current round of enhancement was finally complete.

WHOOM—

A ferocious aura erupted from the Corpse Demon. It shot upright, then quickly rose to its feet.

Its body had swelled, making it a size larger. Now standing nearly 3.5 meters tall, its skin had taken on a purer, deep purple hue. Its musculature was more pronounced and menacing, as if forged from pig iron.

The claws on its fingertips were longer, gleaming with a menacing cold light. The Soul Fire within its eye sockets had also grown more focused and vibrant.

A Tier Four Purple Zombie!

Lynch sensed the Corpse Demon’s powerful aura, and a look of gratification appeared in his weary eyes.

’A success!’

’I finally have my first Tier Four general!’

This gave him a much greater sense of security about his survival in the Red Ridge Mountain region.

But his joy lasted only a moment before being washed away by the harshness of his situation.

He looked at the pile of depleted crystal powder on the ground and the empty material containers, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

’Resources... I’ve run out again.’

Between his promotion to Tier Two and enhancing his contracted Skeletons like Bone Jade and Bone, as well as zombies like the Corpse Demon and Blood Fang, his resources had been consumed at an alarming rate.

His resources came from many places: "donations" solicited from his senior apprentice-brother, his own savings, materials fleeced from his mentor, some exchanged from the military, and even some mid-to-high tier undead materials traded for ore with passing merchant caravans. However, he had already used up the vast majority of it.

The resources for the Corpse Demon’s promotion were the last of his reserves, which were now completely gone.

"Maintaining an Undead Corps really is like burning through money..." Lynch sighed.

A Tier Four Corpse Demon was certainly powerful, but its future upgrades and maintenance would require a vast amount of resources.

Furthermore, Bone Jade, Bone Shield, and even his Bone Mage would soon be ready to advance to Tier Three, which would also require costly resources.

’Life is tough...’

Lynch felt quite helpless.

But he seemed to have forgotten one thing...

He was only a newly promoted Tier Two Necromancer, yet his Undead Corps was already on par with that of some Tier Four Necromancers who had been at their rank for a while.

In fact, when factoring in his special units like Esther, equipment like the Death Banner, and his other trump cards, he was even stronger than they were...

In short, if someone like Lynch was crying poor, other Necromancers would probably have no choice but to jump off a cliff.

After dealing with the Corpse Demon’s promotion, Lynch retracted it directly into his Bone Bracelet.

He could feel that since his promotion to Tier Two, his Commanding Power limit had increased significantly. Even though the Corpse Demon had advanced to Tier Four and now took up much more Commanding Power, he still had a considerable amount to spare.

However, if he were to re-establish his spiritual link with his other Soul Fire Skeletons—like Bone Shadow, the Bone Wolf, and the Bone Jackals—his Commanding Power would be stretched thin once more.

And in the near future, Esther would also reach Tier Four.

Bone Jade, Bone Shield, and the Bone Mage would also soon advance to Tier Three.

When that happened, they would naturally consume more Commanding Power, and the amount that was currently sufficient would once again become strained.

To avoid this, he would have to find a way to increase his Spiritual Power, for instance, by acquiring some Spiritual Power-enhancing equipment.

And without exception, all of that required either money or military merits.

Fortunately, Lynch had anticipated this and had already used his military merits to place an advance order for Tier Two equipment, which he could equip immediately upon his promotion.

The military had notified him two days ago that his order had arrived. Now that he had successfully been promoted, it was the perfect time to go and pick everything up.

With this in mind, Lynch went back to the second floor and retracted Blood Fang into the Bone Bracelet as well.

The Bone Bracelet, which originally had enough space for four Soul Fire units, was now crammed to capacity holding these two massive Purple Zombie generals.

"Tsk. This piece of equipment was once a huge help, but now... I guess it’s just better than nothing," Lynch muttered helplessly, rubbing the bone bracelet.

’I’ll have to find a way to upgrade it when I get the chance.’

As for Esther, Red Rabbit, Bone Shield, and the Guard Skeletons under its command, Lynch housed them all within the Death Banner.

The artifact had a vast internal space capable of storing a large number of Undead Units. A small, specialized pocket of the Nether Realm within it even allowed Soul Fire units to reside there without perishing.

Of course, the Death Banner wasn’t without its flaws. Its deployment speed was much slower than the Bone Bracelet, making it better suited for large-scale battles with ample preparation time. In contrast, the elite Soul Fire units stored in the Bone Bracelet could be summoned for battle much more quickly, making it more useful in an emergency.

For now, using the two in tandem barely met Lynch’s needs.

After stowing away his main forces, Lynch took stock of the resources in his Space Ring and prepared to head to Orlando, the headquarters of the North Wind Legion, to pick up his order.

He walked straight out of the garrison post, following a newly paved stone path toward the mountain behind the town.

About a quarter of an hour later, he reached a level clearing halfway up the mountain, where a fenced-in area with several sheds had been built.