Melting the Dark Ice on the sculptures required a substantial amount of Wizard Power and mental energy; while using the Soul Summoning Spell to revive Margaret's tribesmen require even more Wizard Power and mental energy!
Yang Ling only managed to revive twenty of Margaret's tribespeople after three days, which was less than ten percent of all the ice sculptures!
Yang Ling felt a little regret, while Margaret was extremely excited. Twenty tribespeople was not a lot, but amongst them were fierce warriors and experienced priests… All of them were the elites of the tribe during the time of the Land-Sea War. Their powerful abilities gave Margaret hope that the tribe would once again rise to prosperity.
By reviving twenty people from the Vandal Tribe, besides obtaining the gratitude of the female leader Margaret and her tribespeople, Yang Ling had also managed to absorb a good amount of Chilly Ice Energy.
His muscles had become more solid, and the radius of his Ice-sealing Domain had increased by a large step. He would definitely catch his enemies off guard if he suddenly unleashed the Ice-sealing Domain while engaging in close combat. In their sparring sessions, even the Corpse Wizard King and Dark Dragon King faced trouble when dealing with Yang Ling. All of them suffering defeat in his hands!
Furthermore, not only was he getting more and more experienced in using the Soul Summoning Spell, he had also achieved a breakthrough in his mental energy. Even without casting the Ice-sealing Domain, Yang Ling was able to form a Chilly Ice Arrow or Chilly Ice Spear out of thin air, giving him the ability to use preliminary long-range attacks. Coupled with his powerful close combat abilities, and his teleportation like Earth, Water and Wind Evasion Techniques, his offensive and defensive capabilities had reached unprecedented heights.
Other than the lethal Corpse Poison, the strange Magical Spell Formation also released an ice-cold chilly air from time to time, making the entire plaza as cold as a refrigerator. Margaret and the rest of her tribespeople could not stay for too long, but to Yang Ling and the so-called Ice-sealing Evil Demon that was the purple rat Little Ice, this was a rare holy land for training.
Within the ice-cold plaza, not only was the purple rat Little Ice able to release ice-sealing magic that was more powerful than usual, its speed when it came to training was also extremely fast. According to its memories, it might be able to evolve from a level nine Magical Beast to a powerful Level Surpassing Magical Beast soon if it consumed a large number of Dark Sand Ores and absorbed a substantial amount of the Chilly Ice Energy.
In order to create a holy land for training in the underwater mine, and more for making it convenient for him to investigate the secrets of the Magical Spell Formation, Yang Ling spent an entire day in the underwater mine after reviving the twenty people from the Vandal Tribe. He set up an Imprisonment Restriction within the entire mine, layering it with an Illusory Formation and Killing Formation. Any fish that unintentionally swam into the mine would be violently torn to shreds by the energy of the restrictions in the blink of an eye.
For convenience's sake, Yang Ling decided to build a Magical Teleportation Formation within the plaza that could directly teleport him to and from the Sallero Harbor. He had brought with him ten simple Magical Teleportation Formations for his journey out at sea. After placing the formation on the ground, all he had to do was complete a simple set up process and he would be able to use it as per normal.
Just like that, not only could he come here to train whenever he headed out for a new exploration, he could also tightly connect the Dark Sand Island and the Magical Beast Territory.
After this, as long as he controlled the pirates on the island, he would be able to establish firm control over the Dark Sand Island. He would be able to ensure the safety of the Magical Beast Territory over three thousand miles of its surrounding ocean by stationing a powerful naval force on Dark Sand Island, guaranteeing the safety of merchant ships coming into the territory.
After returning to the island, as a way to express her gratitude, the female leader Margaret specially invited Yang Ling and the Corpse Wizard King to attend a lavish banquet, under the name of welcoming the holders of the Skeleton Plaque.
Before this, she had not been able to do any preparations in her hurry, as Yang Ling and the Corpse Wizard King had come to the island suddenly. This time, she instructed the pirates to prepare a sumptuous dinner, bringing out the finest wine and delicacies on the island.
"Hey, I heard that the leader had found a crystal mine at the bottom of the sea!" a bald pirate whispered the information he had heard after drinking a large mouthful of rum.
"A crystal mine? Tsk tsk, this time, there's no way that we could finish spending the crystal coins!" A shifty-eyed pirate was incredibly excited. He whispered as he looked at the female leader who was so busy her face was red not far away, "Hehe, it's no wonder that the leader seems so happy, she's getting more and more alluring!"
"Hehe, you bastard, you dare lust over the leader. Be careful that she slices off your genitals and soak it in wine!" The bald pirate laughed, finishing the rum in his cup, "I heard that there was a large group of Long-haired Evil Demons near the crystal mine. Fortunately, the two holders of Skeleton Plaque were around. Otherwise, our brothers who had gone underwater would not have been able to return!"
"That's right, I heard that the holder of the Skeleton Plaque with the black hair killed over a thousand Eight-clawed Octopuses in the blink of an eye, and even massacred hundreds of Long-haired Evil Demons!"
…
After taking a few gulps of wine, the pirates started softly discussing the events, looking at Yang Ling who was sitting beside the female leader from time to time.
After coming to shore, the female leader had issued a stern order for the pirates who had went on the journey to maintain secrecy, in case the secret of the underwater mine was exposed. Unexpectedly, the more mysterious the dozen pirates acted, the more guesses it invited from the other pirates. Soon, baseless rumors of various kinds spread about the island.
Some said that the female leader had found a crystal mine that had a monstrous yield underwater; Some said that they found a batch of treasure that a group of pirates had left behind several hundred years ago. Some even said that they found a large amount of precious treasures that the Sea Tribe had pillaged from the continent, consisting of countless premium crystal ores, high-level Essence Crystals, and gemstones…
There were countless baseless rumors flying around, but they all shared a commonality. That was that the female leader and the group had encountered a large number of terrifying monsters under the water, and if not for the holders of Skeleton Plaque accompanying them on the journey taking action, their brothers that had gone underwater might have been exterminated.
Some said that the holder of the Skeleton Plaque Yang Ling had abilities deep beyond comprehension, able to kill thousands of Eight-clawed Octopuses with a single sword. Some said that Yang Ling was a Domain-level fighter, killing a few hundred Long-haired Evil Demons alone in the blink of an eye. In fact, some even said that Yang Ling was a rare Wizard, killing the souls of thousands of monsters using a terrifying curse…
After delivering a clean defeat to the Berserker Novgorod, Yang Ling's powerful offensive capabilities had left an indelible mark in the hearts of the pirates, winning their respect. After the underwater exploration, many rumors were spreading throughout the island, with the pirates propping up his rumored abilities to a god-like level.
"Brothers, today, let us use our finest wines to welcome our guests from afar. Welcome the powerful Sir Fred and Sir Galic!"
After personally pouring a cup of rum for Yang Ling and the Corpse Wizard King, the female leader grinned as she stood up, leading the pirates in toasting their two benefactors. The longtime wish of the tribe has finally been fulfilled in her hands, and the revival of her tribe was to be anticipated. She was definitely immensely grateful to Yang Ling and the Corpse Wizard King.
Fiery red hair, sharp twin blades, coupled with the fiery red armor…
Looking at the energetic, influential female leader that seemed to ooze a wild quality, Yang Ling had a glint in his eyes. A woman like that gave him a special feeling.
If Anna was a beautiful lily and Alice was a refreshing apple, then the female pirate before him was a wild horse, a wild horse that gave him a unique sensation when he rode it.
"Seeing the beautiful female leader is our honor. However, I disagree with one point!" Seeing the pirates fall silent in surprise, looking at the confused Margaret beside him, Yang Ling smiled, pausing before he said, "We are not guests from afar, we are brothers who share weal and woe!"
"Hehehe, we, are good brothers who would make a move on beautiful women together!" Yang Ling had just finished saying his piece when the Corpse Wizard King beside him joined in the fun while raising his glass of wine. He did not censor himself, much to the worry of Yang Ling."
"That's right, we are good brothers!"
"Alright, we will make our move on the ladies together after we capture them!"
…
Yang Ling shook his head and let out a bitter smile, sipping on the wine while pretending that he did not hear anything. He did not expect the rowdy pirates to cheer loudly, gulping down their bowls of wine and wolfing down the meet, all of them toasting the Corpse Wizard King who had an evil smile.
"Sir, might I know when you guys are leaving. Is it convenient for you to stay on the island for a few more days?" Seeing the Corpse Wizard King quickly get on good terms with her subordinates, Margaret was all smiles, once again pouring Yang Ling a glass of wine.
"Miss Margaret, regrettably, we would have to leave during the next two days!" Looking at Margaret's eager gaze, Yang Ling naturally knew the intentions behind her words.
There were still several hundred Vandals in the underground mine, and Margaret would naturally hope that Yang Ling would revive all of her tribesmen before leaving. Unfortunately, there were just too many of them. It was not something that could be done in just a few days. Thus she was embarrassed to ask Yang Ling for the favor.
Do I continue acting as a so-called holder of the Skeleton Plaque, or… Directly tell her about my identity?
Yang Ling started deliberating after taking a sip of rum. Originally, he had wanted to use the identity as a holder of the Skeleton Plaque to infiltrate the inner headquarters of the pirates, instigating fights between the pirates while searching for an opportunity to kill Ymir's father, the One-eyed Dragon. However, after understanding Margaret's identity and wish, as well as reviving twenty of her tribespeople, Yang Ling had a new idea.
After building the powerful naval force, it was only a matter of time before he exterminated the pirates and opened naval paths. He could let Ashnamov deal with this matter, and not have to spend too much time on it himself. Goode was responsible for the policies in the territory, and Casey held the fort when it came to defense, which meant that he did not have to spend too much energy on them.
Training Wizard Techniques, exploring the Tailun Continent and searching for the relics of the Ancient Wizards was his next course of action.
Even though there was no need for him to spend too much of his energy on the pirates, Yang Ling would not miss the opportunity to make use of Margaret's faction to establish control over the Dark Sand Island and other nearby islands.
In order to revive the rest of her tribespeople, Yang Ling estimated that the female leader Margaret would even try to assassinate the One-eyed Dragon for him if he asked her to, much less attack the other pirates and help him defend the outer seas of the Magical Beast Territory.
It was not possible that the other party would refuse him after he further freed her from her worries by dispelling the poison of the Crimson Pill using the Water from the Spring of Life, then supplied her with a large amount of rations, weapons, and intelligence.