"Hunting Points +45."

"Soul Power +1."

This intense battle propelled Fang Zhou's Hunting Points past Meng Hongzhuang's, allowing him to claim the top spot. Moreover, his score was now over twenty points higher than hers, creating a gap that would be very difficult to close.

Judging from the increase in Hunting Points, Fang Zhou had killed at least 150 Fierce Ravens in this single wave, a worthy trade for fifty percent of his Spiritual Power.

He rested briefly against a large tree, then commanded the remaining 20 Skeletons to dissect the Fierce Raven corpses that littered the ground. These troublesome Demons were tough to deal with, but the rewards for killing them were generous. Their necks contained venom sacs that could be used to poison weapons or concoct poisons. The military academy's buyback price was 1 Contribution Point for every 10 venom sacs.

While waiting for the Skeletons to clean up the battlefield, Fang Zhou opened his personal terminal to record his gains and reflections from the battle. His current combat style was relatively simple: summon a large number of Skeletons to act as meat shields on the front line while he hid behind their protection and cast skills to deal damage.

Facing flying Demons like the Fierce Ravens, Apprentice-level Skeletons couldn't form skeletal armaments and could only fight back with their Bone Claws, resulting in a naturally low kill efficiency. If he could enable these summoned Apprentice-level Skeletons to condense skeletal armaments beforehand, just like his Skeleton Clone, it would undoubtedly give their combat effectiveness a massive boost.

In this battle, for example, if a dozen Great Shield Skeletons had been holding the front line with another dozen Skeleton Archers providing long-range fire, the situation wouldn't have been so tight and perilous.

Although Fang Zhou possessed the highly improved skill 'Skeletal Wings' and was confident he could escape the Fierce Ravens' encirclement, he preferred to avoid such risks. As an Undead Mage with a fragile constitution—only a few points higher than the Earth Knight Zhao Yuan—using himself as bait was something best avoided.

Fang Zhou carefully noted his thoughts in his memo. Once the Cave Hunting ended, he was going to make his two little secretaries, Bai Xiaochan and Meng Hongzhuang, work their butts off. They absolutely had to grind out a useful skill for him!

「...」

「In the First Company's classroom.」

Seeing Fang Zhou calmly detonate his 'Skeleton Shield' to kill the Fierce Raven leader in one fell swoop, an adoring female student leaped to her feet in excitement. "He won! That's Fang Zhou for you!"

A student muttered in confusion, "Why did the Fierce Raven leader just drop out of the sky after the 'Skeleton Shield' broke? It was as if it was under some kind of control."

A quick-thinking student immediately opened his personal terminal, logged into the Human Alliance Skill Library, and searched for the 'Skeleton Shield' skill.

Soon, he had a revelation. "Fang Zhou actually perfected this skill a few days ago! Now, when the 'Skeleton Shield' is broken, it inflicts a paralysis effect on nearby enemies, reflects physical damage, and even has a chance to reflect magic skills. That's just too overpowered!"

Upon hearing this, the classroom erupted into an uproar. Even the normally impassive instructor couldn't help but widen his eyes in shock. The 'Skeleton Shield' already had commendable Defense Power. With so many new effects, it was likely top-tier among all Apprentice-level shield skills.

To perfect a newly developed skill to this degree in just two short months... Everyone knew Fang Zhou was a genius Undead Mage, but no one had imagined his genius reached this level!

A student watching Fang Zhou's live broadcast couldn't help but shake his head in amazement. "The scariest part is that Fang Zhou isn't just a brilliant researcher; he's an incredible fighter. If it were me, even with the 'Skeleton Shield' skill, I never would have thought to use myself as bait to lure the Fierce Raven leader in such an intense battle."

"Exactly. Whether it's courage or combat awareness, he's far stronger than I am. Watching Fang Zhou fight gets my blood boiling! If only I could execute tactics as masterfully as he does someday."

While the students were wholeheartedly admiring and praising Fang Zhou, the student who had previously made sour remarks was now red-faced, quietly hiding in a corner.

「...」

After a dozen minutes or so, the 20 Skeletons had efficiently dissected the corpses on the ground, collecting a total of 120 venom sacs, worth 12 Contribution Points. Some of the Fierce Ravens' venom sacs had been destroyed during their fight with the Skeletons and couldn't be collected. Fortunately, the sacs were only the size of an adult's pinky fingernail, so they didn't take up much space even in large numbers.

Fang Zhou found a sealed bag to store them in. By now, his backpack was already full of loot. Looking at the ravaged jungle and the Skeletons covered in filth, blood, and venom, he frowned with a hint of disgust. The smell from these Skeletons was truly hard to describe and spoiled their military bearing.

Previously, Instructor Su Xinyan had suggested that once he was promoted to Black Iron and could learn Black Iron-level skills, he must learn a universal Black Iron-level skill for Magic Professionals called 'Friend of Life'. The 'Friend of Life' skill included various minor cantrips useful in daily life, such as the 'Wind-Sending Skill', 'Washing Skill', 'Dust Removal Skill', 'Water Creation Skill', 'Lighting Skill', and so on. These small tricks weren't for combat, but they consumed very little Spiritual Power and could greatly improve a Magic Professional's quality of life.

Such a refined and practical skill was far more elegant than anything the boorish Combat Professionals had, who were always shouting, "Heaven to the left, Warriors to the right!" No wonder Magic Professionals, self-proclaimed "Mages," always looked down on the unrefined Warriors.

Glancing at the time, it was already 5 PM. There were less than three hours before the Magic Energy Moss went dormant and the Cave plunged into darkness.

Fang Zhou hesitated for a moment. The encounter with the flock of Fierce Ravens had been unexpected. Although the result was perfect and the spoils were bountiful, his Spiritual Power was severely depleted, with less than thirty percent remaining.

Should I proceed with the original plan to clear out the Goblin Cave?

While he hesitated, a ghostly wailing sound broke the dead silence of the jungle. Fang Zhou looked up and saw the strange trees rustling as another strong gust of wind swept through the Cave.

He shook his head slightly. In less than a day, there had been dense fog, heavy rain, and now strong winds. The Cave's climate was truly harsh.

Pulling out a bottle of Spiritual Recovery Potion, Fang Zhou made his decision. With the strong winds picking up, finding a stable place to spend the night in the Cave would be difficult. It would be better to scout the Goblin Cave first. If there were no Demons or only weak ones inside, he would just claim the cave as his own and spend the night there. If the Demons inside were too strong, beyond his current ability to handle, he would come up with another plan.

Fang Zhou no longer hesitated. He downed the potion, then sat cross-legged and activated his 'Perfection' level 'Calm and Relaxed' skill.

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