Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1768: Deep Meditation

-----

Maria’s eyes, which gazed upon everything like a pair of crimson moons in the sky, slowly closed and then reopened. She found herself in the midst of a land shrouded in darkness, filled with ghosts, nightmares, and twisted reality.

This was her Soul Realm, in a remote region where all the darkest energies and elements converged. It was the place where Maria had been meditating for the past few days, taking full advantage of the Time Dilation.

"Phew, do they have to be so melodramatic? Archdemons are certainly something. That guy Satan acted like a saint, yet he was the one who destroyed three of Leviathan’s cities before I had to intervene and stop his army. In the end, I figured I might as well kill him, or this chaos would never stop.

Now, with the Layer of Wrath under my control and many more Demons at my command, things should become smoother. The Layer of Lust is next, followed by Gluttony. After that, I’ll stop. I don’t want to destroy the remaining three... unless they attack us first. If that happens, we’ll go all out."

Maria sighed, glancing at her hands. They overflowed with immense quantities of strange, flame-like energy—Infernal Energy.

She had already possessed some Demonic Energy after killing and devouring the Sin of Sloth, but since then, she had rarely used its powers, except when she wanted to sleep deeply.

"I gained the ability to transfer their power into myself and even summon them to my side if I ever need to... but for now, I want them to retain their strength and independence."

Maria always had the option to consume their power and grow even stronger, but she refused to let them vanish. Instead, she kept them close.

Nonetheless, like Spirits, she could summon them along with their demon armies and even fuse with them temporarily.

She had also acquired two new title skills: [Archdemon Queen of Envy: Lv1] and [Archdemon Queen of Wrath: Lv1], which granted her these abilities.

Both Leviathan and Satan now appeared in her "Spirits" menu, unlike any other Undead she had recruited before. This meant their transformation had turned them into Spirits, even though that hardly made sense to her.

The strangest part was that they both showed 100/100 Affection toward her.

"It’s been almost two weeks now... Everyone has progressed so much."

Maria smiled, a wave of relief washing over her. Things had gone well. Her family and disciples had continued to grow, and all of them had reached the Bleeding Nightmare Star Realm through constant Cultivation and sparring—with her included.

Maria kept refining her abilities. Over these two weeks, though no new Martial Arts emerged, she polished all her existing ones to perfect 100% comprehension and gained a few ideas for new techniques that would likely bloom in battle.

However, she had hit a wall in her Cultivation. Her Bleeding Nightmare Star had reached the highest possible stage—Expert Stage—and refused to advance further.

It was supposed to shatter and explode into a nebula, but it had yet to even crack properly. Maria had already concluded that she needed to face more foes and continue refining her Consciousness, Soul, and Martial Sense.

"I’m really talentless... The only way I can grow is through battle, hahah."

Maria laughed bitterly at her inability to break through this bottleneck, yet she felt genuine happiness at how strong she had become—and how far everyone else had come.

"The next battle will likely be the last. We’ll face everything that remains here: the Vampire Family Heads, that detestable Emperor, probably that dragon... and the saints too. They’ll surely call for reinforcements like before, so I’m expecting even more Vampires.

We also need to locate the souls of the Blood Demon Sect members. According to the Vampires, they’re inside the Vampire Sect building. Then we have to find the Heavenly Demon, whom the Heavenly Saints sealed behind the throne of the Heavenly Emperor. He turned him into a golden statue using the powers of that dragon."

Over these days, Maria had uncovered many truths: how the Heavenly Emperor manipulated the Calamities with Formations and special Artifacts, and how closely he was linked to the Gold Dragon—as if the beast were his loyal pet, always answering his call.

"Hmmm, we’ll uncover the full truth once we fight. Let’s get ready."

Maria sensed tiny cracks forming in her Bleeding Nightmare Star Core. It felt on the verge of shattering, but it always stopped there, never fully breaking.

"I need to fight more—to feel deeper connection with my moves, my techniques... my blade."

As she pondered this, Maria stepped through a black shadow portal, leaving the wasteland behind. She entered her pagoda and soon joined a few family members enjoying snacks and tea in the garden on the middle floors.

"How did it go? Were you able to break through?" Lucifer asked, greeting her with a gentle smile.

"No, it seems I can only get there through battle," Maria shrugged. "I used to despise fighting, but now it just flows naturally... I don’t even know how."

"Well, isn’t that for the better?" Partner asked. "So when do we move out? I’m getting impatient..."

"There are two more days left, right?" Emeraldine wondered.

"Yes, after tomorrow," Maria nodded. "Until then, I’ll keep grinding in hell."

"Grinding?" Partner tilted her head.

"Yeah, you see..."

Maria explained what she had been doing in hell, earning a range of mixed reactions.

"Woah, you can really do that now?!" Alma exclaimed. "I-I don’t even know what to think... cool, I guess..."

"So you’re conquering hell?" Emeraldine asked. "That escalated quickly. Are you sure about this?"

"We’re destroying the tower, so we need as much power as possible," Maria shrugged. "And they attacked me first. Might as well retaliate. I’m not someone who lets others step on me."

"Hm," Lucifer nodded. "Well said. I’m in favor of that plan... How are things progressing there?"

"Satan was just recruited," Maria said. "With that, we control two layers, and we’re going after two more."

"Does time pass faster there?" Partner asked.

"Yeah, much faster than even here," Maria replied. "Maybe it’s how that dimension is structured... Whatever the case, I never realized I was this powerful. I’m starting to grasp the true strength behind my abilities as an Outer God."

"The Concepts?" Lucifer asked.

"Yes. It’s not just a Concept—it feels like something beyond that, perhaps an Authority Concept? I don’t know how to define it properly," Maria said. "But it can alter reality enough to overcome or destroy things that should resist it... Archdemons are supposedly immune to becoming Undead, immune to normal death, and immune to Curses, yet I can inflict all of those on them. I can force them to die no matter what, raise them as undead, and weaken them with my Lifeforce-sapping Curses."

"So that’s how you’re advancing..." Emeraldine nodded. "It’s amazing what you’ve become, Maria. I’m truly proud of how far you’ve come! Though some might call you scary, you’re still you—and that’s what matters."

"Yeah..." Partner nodded. "But aren’t you training too much?"

"I might be," Maria giggled softly. "But it’s all to help everyone survive. I can’t slack off, unfortunately! Anyway, let’s enjoy some tea and snacks for now."

-----