Undead Mage: I Have a Skeleton Clone

Chapter 783 - 503: Spiritual Remains Knight Lord, Advancing to Bronze Upper! (Part 2)

"Sigh, comparisons are just infuriating! I’ve been stuck at Bronze Middle for years without making any progress, but Fang Zhou managed to advance to Bronze Upper in just a few months. Is the gap between people really that vast?"

...

It wasn’t just the three captains; the other members of the Flame Medal Adventurer Group were also whispering amongst themselves, their gazes fixed on Fang Zhou’s tent with expressions of extreme envy. In this Era of Myth, filled with the endless Human-Demon Blood War, there wasn’t a single Professional who didn’t want to raise their level and become stronger.

Unfortunately, the talents of most Professionals were quite mediocre. It was incredibly difficult for them to even advance to the Black Iron Tier, let alone the Bronze, Silver, or even Gold Tiers that lay beyond.

After stabilizing his Energy Fluctuations, Fang Zhou stepped out of his tent. He smiled, gave the three captains a nod of greeting, and then looked up at the rarely seen bright moon.

Although he appeared to be clearing his mind, his brain was actually racing as he pondered his next steps in cultivation. In terms of his Four-dimensional Attributes, he had now reached Bronze Upper. He was just one step away from touching the Silver bottleneck, so there was no immediate rush. The most pressing issue was to quickly find the remaining two types of Bronze-level Undead Attribute Heavenly and Earthly Treasures to concoct the Professional Potential Potion he desperately needed.

Furthermore, now that his Clone had successfully analyzed the Ghost’s racial talent skill, ’Death Spirit Body,’ the long-stagnant progression of his Soul Series Skill Tree could finally be put on the agenda. He believed that the treacherous and hard-to-defend-against Soul Series skills would provide him with significant support, making his combat abilities more balanced and complete.

At this thought, Fang Zhou was eager to leave this godforsaken Beastman Desert. More than half a month had now passed since he received the War Summon Order from Sea City Military Academy and returned to Beast Fighting City.

After learning about the current situation from local experts like Instructor Shen Zhongyun and the Flame Medal Adventurer Group, Fang Zhou led his vast Undead Army into the Beastman Desert north of Beast Fighting City. However, not long after leaving the city, Captain Yan Yan of the Flame Medal Adventurer Group sent Fang Zhou a message, claiming he might have discovered the reason for the Beastmen’s unusual activity. It turned out they had detected the stench of demonic activity in the Beastman Desert.

However, any enemy related to Abyssal Demons was bound to be extremely powerful. Acting cautiously, Captain Yan Yan shared this valuable information with Fang Zhou, inviting him to join the intelligence-gathering mission.

Fang Zhou had previously received a guarantee from Lieutenant Colonel Shen Zhongyun of the Beast Fighting City military: no experts of the Silver Tier or higher were involved in the current Beastman raids. With Fang Zhou’s current strength, he was essentially invincible against any Bronze Tier enemy. He had already encountered several Beastman raiding parties, all of which he had annihilated with ease, barely considering them a nuisance.

Correspondingly, however, these poverty-stricken Beastmen yielded no spoils of war. Aside from some contribution points and Military Merit awarded by the Beast Fighting City military, Fang Zhou found the task of sweeping through the Beastman territory to be extremely tedious. Therefore, upon receiving the information from Yan Yan, he was naturally thrilled. After carefully weighing the potential enemies he might face, Fang Zhou decisively agreed to join them. For the past few days, he and the Flame Medal Adventurer Group had been operating together.

It was also worth mentioning that under the nourishment of the draconic growth resources Fang Zhou had spent a massive amount of contribution points to collect over the past few months, the Black Gem Young Dragon Tiamat’s awakened skill, ’Heaven and Earth Devouring,’ was being fully utilized. With this massive supply of resources, its growth rate was astonishing. This was especially evident in its size. Including its tail and horns, it had reached an impressive length of six meters. Although it had not yet reached the size of a full-fledged Young Dragon, it was definitely top-tier among draconic whelps.

In terms of strength, it had naturally advanced to Bronze Middle, making it even more helpful to Fang Zhou. Of course, with Fang Zhou’s current power, he didn’t lack a fighter like Tiamat. Its more valuable role was serving as his mount.

Fang Zhou had briefly tried riding Tiamat and found it even more suitable as a mount than a regular Skeleton Warhorse. Its gait was almost perfectly consistent, producing no jarring motion. Moreover, its back was wide enough to even allow Fang Zhou to sit cross-legged. Paired with the special saddle gifted by Major General Ning Danxin, the experience was truly comfortable. The only slight shortcoming might be its weight. But that was no problem, because Tiamat was a dragon, and it could fly! Even when entering difficult terrain like swamps, its movement wouldn’t be severely hindered.

Under the cover of the concealment Marvel that Instructor Su Xinyan had custom-made for it, Tiamat appeared to outsiders as just an extra-large Earth Dragon. It looked a bit strange for an Undead Mage, who had no shortage of mounts, to be riding a particularly robust Earth Dragon. But then again, Mages tended to have their quirks. Given Fang Zhou’s level of strength, no one dared to question him about it.

So, Fang Zhou comfortably rode Tiamat, leading his Undead Summoned Creatures as he and the Flame Medal Adventurer Group continued to hunt Beastmen.

Now aware of the high probability of a link between the Beastmen and demons, Fang Zhou signaled to Yan Yan in subsequent battles not to be so merciless. Instead, they would let a few slip through the net, allowing them to escape after the fight. He then had Jing Fei and the others track them, hoping to find a lead. This was a much better strategy than searching blindly. The Beastmen were fast, but they were no match for an Assassin like Jing Fei or the Skeleton Bats circling overhead.

With his new subordinates joining the effort, Fang Zhou was no longer satisfied with hunting ordinary Beastmen. He was eager to go for a bigger prize.

Initially, their efforts bore no fruit. Perhaps it was because they hadn’t yet reached the core territory of the Beastmen, where there were more places to hide. It was also possible that the Beastmen they released were simply too low in strength and status to matter. But later, when Fang Zhou resolutely decided to forgo easily obtainable Military Merit by releasing several Bronze Elites, such as Beastman Commanders, they finally made a breakthrough.

...

「At noon, on a desolate plain.」

Surrounded by his Undead Summoned Creatures, Fang Zhou stared with some surprise at the very ordinary-looking little dirt pit before him.

"Jing Fei, are you sure this is the place?"

Jing Fei nodded repeatedly. "Yes, Lieutenant Fang Zhou. I followed your orders and tracked the fleeing Beastmen. I discovered that they all eventually ducked in here and never came back out."

The Wanderer beside him chimed in, nodding eagerly. "Yes, Lord Ark. We were watching, too. They never came out."

But the pit was so small and shallow. Forget a large creature like a Beastman Commander; even an ordinary rabbit probably wouldn’t choose it for a den. Still, Fang Zhou knew that Jing Fei and his Reconnaissance Squad wouldn’t lie to him. This meant one of two things: either they had all been deceived by an illusion, or the hole was concealed by Phantom Magic.

Uncertain of the conditions inside, Fang Zhou knew his ordinary Undead Creatures lacked the necessary intelligence for a scouting mission, and he was reluctant to risk Jing Fei and his men. After some thought, he summoned the Berserker Heroic Spirit, Olaf. Among his Undead Summoned Creatures, this one was not only the strongest but also the most intelligent. A task like this shouldn’t be too difficult for him.

Of course, to prevent any accidents, after explaining the mission, Fang Zhou also cast a series of beneficial spells on Olaf to give him an edge. Then, Fang Zhou watched as Olaf stepped into the dirt pit and vanished in an instant.

Thankfully, through his Soul Link with the Berserker Heroic Spirit, Fang Zhou could see that his summoned warrior was unharmed and had not been attacked.