With another Apostle at the Golden Upper Rank joining Su Xinyan, the skeleton clone's efficiency in acquiring knowledge and Soul Power through intercepting meditation would increase. However, the skeleton clone's soul was only at the Black Iron Lower Rank. The gap between it and these two Golden Tier Apostles was simply too vast. As a result, Fang Zhou couldn't develop any other uses for them besides intercepting meditation for the time being.

Thinking of this, he sighed slightly.

If only an Apprentice or Black Iron level Undead Mage would become an Apostle, he thought. Then I could fearlessly experiment with developing the Apostle functions. Unfortunately, the Undead Mage profession is too rare. In the entire history of the Human Alliance, only a hundred have ever been documented. Of those, it's estimated that less than half survived the Human-Demon Blood War and the subsequent Death Qi erosion. In recent years, I'm the only one in the entire Longxia Federation who has awakened as an Undead Mage. Finding a colleague even newer to the profession than me would be pure luck. I wonder if I'll ever find a way to increase the probability of awakening the Undead Mage profession to bolster our numbers. After all, there's strength in numbers!

Fang Zhou shook his head, pushing these troublesome matters from his mind. After resting, he commanded the mighty Skeleton Army to enter the Thorn Jungle.

According to the Cave Demon catalog, the most common type of demon in the Thorn Jungle was the [Predator Flowers]. It attracted prey with its brilliant colors and rich fragrance. Once an unfortunate creature approached, it was instantly devoured.

Fang Zhou soon witnessed a Predator Flowers in the act of hunting. A Stone-Skinned Lizard, seemingly intoxicated by the fragrance, staggered beneath the flowers.

SWISH!

The beautiful cluster of flowers suddenly split open to reveal a gaping maw. Shaking its buds, it swallowed the poor lizard whole.

Fang Zhou wrinkled his nose in disgust. He commanded a few skeletons to move forward and, while the Predator Flowers was still digesting its meal and unable to fight back, tear it to pieces.

Additionally, the jungle was filled with many demons skilled at camouflage. They would lie in wait, and as soon as prey drew near, they would strike.

Fang Zhou had only advanced a few hundred meters when he witnessed an inconspicuous, vine-like Fierce Snake drop from above and, with lightning speed, swallow a slow-reacting Fierce Rabbit.

Thorn Jungle truly lives up to its reputation as the most dangerous hunting area in Cave 1, Fang Zhou reminded himself. Here, the roles of hunter and prey can reverse in an instant.

He remained on high alert, keeping his [Soul Realm] continuously active. By sensing the fluctuations of souls around him, he successfully avoided several ambushes from the jungle's demons.

Meanwhile, outside the Cave, the many students watching Fang Zhou's combat live stream were amazed.

"How did Lord Fang spot that Dry Leaf Magic Butterfly just now? It was so close, yet I couldn't even tell that what looked like a fallen leaf was actually a demon!"

"Ye Fan tried hunting in a jungle yesterday and ended up getting routed, forcing him to give up. He's a [Demon Hunter], known for his agility and perceptive abilities, yet even he was defeated. So how can Fang Zhou, a frail Undead Mage with dull senses, be so at ease in the even more dangerous Thorn Jungle?"

"That's several times now! Fang Zhou hasn't been successfully ambushed even once. I bet he's mastered some kind of powerful detection skill."

"You're right. That's the only way to explain how he can stroll through the Thorn Jungle so leisurely and effortlessly!"

The students of Sea City Military Academy were considered elites of humanity, and they all possessed excellent military acumen. Watching Fang Zhou's combat live stream, they quickly deduced that he must have mastered some sort of detection skill.

However, another student quickly chimed in, confused. "Wait a minute, I just checked the Undead Mage Skill Library. There aren't any Apprentice-level detection skills listed, and Fang Zhou hasn't deduced any before! So where did he learn one?"

Another student speculated hesitantly, "Could it be... in just two days of Cave Hunting, Fang Zhou managed to deduce another new skill?"

The students glanced at each other, and the atmosphere fell silent. Although none of them wanted to admit it, it was the only possibility staring them in the face. After a long moment, watching Fang Zhou move through the jungle as if he were on a casual stroll, one student couldn't help but curse aloud, "What a monster!"

In the Cave Fortress, Su Xinyan and Lu Hu, having returned from the military academy, exchanged a look filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

Lu Hu couldn't help but ask, "Does Fang Zhou know a perception skill?"

Su Xinyan hesitated before shaking her head. "He didn't before he entered Cave 1. During the live stream these past two days, wasn't he always relying on the thermal radar's warnings to detect demons?"

HISS!

Lu Hu drew a sharp breath in shock. "Don't tell me that after fighting the Desecration Ghost Fire last night, he had some kind of breakthrough and comprehended a brand-new perception skill overnight?"

Hearing this, Su Xinyan swayed slightly, her grip tightening on her Magic Staff.

After a long silence, she finally squeezed out a few words.

"When he gets back, I'm going to interrogate him thoroughly!"

「...」

After successfully dealing with several attacks from the jungle demons, Fang Zhou quickly adapted to the rhythm of hunting in the Thorn Jungle. However, the demons here were cunning and difficult to deal with. The Hunting Points and loot gained from killing them weren't particularly substantial. Relying solely on direct confrontation was severely slowing his exploration progress, so he immediately adjusted his strategy.

Leveraging his keen perception of soul fluctuations, Fang Zhou skillfully used the jungle's terrain and vegetation as natural barriers, avoiding unnecessary conflicts with demons whenever possible. As a result, the Skeleton Army's marching speed increased significantly. They flowed like a ghostly torrent, silently traversing the depths of the Thorn Jungle.

Suddenly, Fang Zhou stopped and turned to look at a towering tree to his left. A few vines were climbing up its trunk. Several of these vines were tangled and interwoven together. Each one was as thick as an arm, purple-black, and had a very rough texture, resembling dried-out tendrils that had lost all their moisture. Yet, paradoxically, they were filled with a burgeoning aura of Life Energy.

A hint of delight appeared on Fang Zhou's face. The vines looked like a plant called [Evergreen Ivy].

The [Evergreen Fruit] it produced was considered one of the rare Heavenly and Earthly Treasures.

Not only could it be consumed directly to greatly restore stamina and Spiritual Power, but more importantly, it was a crucial auxiliary material for Apprentice-level Professionals of the Nature Series to break through the Black Iron bottleneck.

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