「Late at night, in the dormitory.」

Fang Zhou lay on his bed, his mind focused on the Skeleton Clone.

Brutal Strike!

As the spear thrust forward once more, an upper-rank Apprentice Skeleton collapsed with a final, resentful shudder.

Fang Zhou joyfully saw that the Skill Proficiency for [Brutal Strike] on the attribute panel had successfully reached [Instinct].

A prompt then appeared in the Skills Bar.

"Detected that [Brutal Strike]'s Skill Proficiency has reached [Instinct]. Soul Power can be consumed to deduce its higher-tier skill."

"Estimated consumption: 100 Soul Power. Begin deduction?"

For days, Fang Zhou had forcefully suppressed the urge to send his Skeleton Clone deeper into the Burial Wilderness to grind monsters and level up, waiting patiently for this very moment.

Of course, he wouldn't hesitate. "Begin deduction!"

As a large amount of Soul Power was consumed, the Skeleton Clone's Soul Fire flickered violently. The memory of practicing Brutal Strike hundreds of times churned endlessly in his mind. The trajectories of the bone spear finally condensed into a single, razor-sharp flash of light.

"Successfully deduced skill: [Brutal Heavy Strike]."

[Brutal Heavy Strike] (Black Iron, Skilled): Instantly unleashes immense power to attack an enemy, causing an Armor-Piercing effect. Power scales with the Strength attribute and Skill Proficiency.

Compared to the Apprentice-tier [Brural Strike], the Black Iron-tier [Brutal Heavy Strike] not only added an Armor-Piercing effect but also represented a qualitative leap in power.

Fang Zhou looked at the Skeleton Clone's attribute panel.

[Clone] Skeleton Warrior

[Tier] Black Iron · Lower

[Attributes] Strength 34, Constitution 32, Agility 32, Spirit 30

[Equipment] Bone Long Spear +1 (White Common), Skeleton Armor (White Common)

[Skills] Skeleton Chosen One (Black Iron, Instinct), Skeleton Armament (Black Iron, Instinct), Brutal Heavy Strike (Black Iron, Skilled), Charge (Apprentice, Mastery), Weapon Specialization (Apprentice, Perfection), Block (Apprentice, Skilled), Battle Cry (Apprentice, Skilled)

[Apostle] 1

After days of frenzied slaughter since breaking through to lower-rank Black Iron, the Skeleton Clone's Four-dimensional Attributes had grown significantly. This gave it a decisive attribute advantage over typical lower-rank Black Iron Skeleton Warriors.

Furthermore, it now possessed a +1 Refined Bone Long Spear and had successfully deduced the Black Iron-tier skill, [Brutal Heavy Strike].

Fang Zhou had set a leveling principle for his Skeleton Clone: bully the weak and achieve victory through brute force. Following this, the Clone's combat power now far surpassed that of the Skeleton Warrior he had previously encountered. He could finally explore deeper into the Burial Wilderness.

The denser the blood moonlight, the more powerful the Undead it could nurture.

At the edge of the Burial Wilderness, lower-rank Apprentice Skeletons were common. Middle-rank Apprentice Skeletons were relatively rare, and upper-rank ones were almost unheard of.

But as the Skeleton Clone delved deeper into the inner layers of the Burial Wilderness, Black Iron-tier Skeleton Warriors were the norm!

Soon, Fang Zhou stopped.

A special Skeleton had appeared in his line of sight.

A Great Shield Skeleton Warrior...

Looking at the warrior in the distance, which was far stronger than any Apprentice Skeleton and wielded a Bone Shield, the Soul Fire in Fang Zhou's eye sockets flickered.

I can't be careless. He reminded himself as fighting intent surged within him.

He held his bone spear in a reverse grip and walked straight toward the Great Shield Skeleton Warrior.

This Skeleton Warrior's sensory range was clearly much greater than that of the Apprentice Skeletons. When Fang Zhou was still twenty meters away, it suddenly spun around. Its head, containing flickering Dark Blue Soul Fire, turned toward Fang Zhou's position.

Then, before Fang Zhou could even make a move, the Skeleton Warrior raised its Bone Shield and charged toward him.

However, its Agility attribute was obviously not high. In Fang Zhou's eyes, its charge was pitifully slow.

A one-on-one showdown!

Fang Zhou raised his bone spear, activated the [Charge] skill, and rushed to meet the incoming Great Shield Skeleton.

Ten meters!

Five meters!

Three meters!

When the distance between them was only three meters, the bone spear held tightly in his hands trembled violently as he thrust it toward the Great Shield Skeleton's head.

Brutal Heavy Strike!

CLANG!

The Great Shield Skeleton's combat instincts made it raise its Bone Shield at the last possible second, blocking the path to its head. The collision of the spear and shield produced a metallic sound.

A soft crack followed.

Under the Armor-Piercing effect of [Brutal Heavy Strike], the Bone Shield proved useless. It didn't just fail to block the spear thrust; it shattered, exploding into a cloud of fragments.

Kick 'em while they're down!

Fang Zhou's Soul Fire surged. Aided by his powerful Four-dimensional Attributes and the [Weapon Specialization] skill, the bone spear delivered another flawless thrust.

CRACK!

With a crisp sound, the Great Shield Skeleton's skull was pulverized by Fang Zhou's spear.

Its Soul Fire shattered.

The struggling bones of the Great Shield Skeleton fell apart at the same moment, clattering to the ground.

Under the overwhelming power of the Skeleton Clone, this Great Shield Skeleton, renowned for its defense, returned to dust without withstanding a single blow.

Now was the time for the harvest!

With practiced ease, Fang Zhou bent down and placed his bone palm over the pile of bones, which were much sturdier than those of his previous victims.

[Skeleton Armament] activated!

In the next moment, a thick, warm current surged from the bones and began to enhance Fang Zhou's skeletal body.

When the Great Shield Skeleton's bones had turned to flying ash, Fang Zhou opened his Clone's attribute panel to check the spoils of battle.

Strength attribute +0.2, Constitution attribute +0.3, Soul Power +0.6.

Gazing at rewards several times richer than before, Fang Zhou's Soul Fire burned fiercely. He lifted his head to look at the Blood Moon in the sky, which seemed eternal and unchanging.

Although the battle with the Great Shield Skeleton was brief, it allowed him to gauge his own strength among the lower-rank Black Iron Skeleton Warriors.

In this immediate area, at least, the Skeleton Clone was essentially uncontested.

The Soul Fire in his eye sockets blazed. Now that he had found a suitable hunting ground, it was time to let the slaughter begin!

With Four-dimensional Attributes far exceeding those of ordinary Skeleton Warriors, an impressive array of skills, and the +1 Refined Bone Long Spear—a mighty weapon—Fang Zhou was unstoppable in his hunt.

The bone spear thrust out relentlessly.

The sheer force behind his thrusts was enough to tear apart a newly advanced Skeleton Warrior with a Strength attribute of just over ten, reducing it to a pile of bones.

CRACK.

CRACK.

「Two hours later.」

With quiet footsteps, Fang Zhou crossed a small hill made entirely of shattered bones.

Another Giant Axe Skeleton Warrior appeared in his sights.

The moment Fang Zhou saw the Skeleton Warrior, it also saw him.

There were no unnecessary exchanges.

The instant they spotted each other, both Fang Zhou and the Skeleton Warrior charged.

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