After the Foul Swamp was a vast expanse of Frozen Tundra.

Besides the extremely low temperature, the Demons here mostly possessed some freezing attributes, making them a bit more troublesome than ordinary Demons.

Beyond that was a town that was once a suburb of Sea City, now, of course, a ruin. Fang Zhou planned to cross the Frozen Tundra before nightfall and spend the night at the Town Ruins.

The Town Ruins was less than a two-hour journey from his ultimate destination, the Thorn Jungle. If all went well, he could start exploring the Refining Stone veins in the Thorn Jungle tomorrow morning.

The cold wind howled, and the white grass lay dormant. Fang Zhou seemed oblivious, leading his Skeleton Army against the wind and setting foot on the Frozen Tundra. His Constitution Attribute was approaching 6 points. Although not immune to the extremes of heat and cold, this particular wind had no effect on him.

Sparse, frost-resistant shrubs and scattered stones were everywhere, giving the entire tundra a desolate and chilling atmosphere.

The lead Skeleton had walked less than ten meters when a mound bulged from the frozen soil. A half-meter-long white salamander, shrouded in a faint icy mist, burst out and executed a sweeping attack on the lead Skeleton with its giant tail.

HISS.

The Bone Claw sliced through the air, effortlessly severing the attacker's tail. It was a Frozen Soil Salamander, the most common Lower Apprentice Tier Demon on this tundra. Fang Zhou didn't even need to intervene; it was quickly dismembered by the Skeletons.

They swept through relentlessly. The Frozen Soil Demons, appearing two or three at a time, were no match for the Skeleton Army's merciless mob tactics and all met gruesome ends. In the time that followed, Fang Zhou continuously repeated the process of finding, killing, and seeking more Demons, while his Hunting Points steadily increased.

As he ventured deeper, the variety of Frozen Soil Demons gradually expanded. There were Sharp Claw Beasts with severely mutated claws, Frozen Earth Goblins wielding crossbows and daggers, and even the rare Ice Plain Jackal Wolfman Cavalry, who rode Magic Wolves and were armed with Stone Chains or chain hammers. They were relatively uncommon, but their individual strength ranked among the top of all the Cave Demons Fang Zhou had encountered. While his horizons broadened, his army of the dead gained many more Demon souls.

Soon, after rounding a giant rock, Fang Zhou halted.

Tens of meters ahead lay a rare underground Dark River. Looking up, he saw a group of Demons he had never seen before blocking the stone bridge to the other side of the river. Although they maintained a generally humanoid shape, they were all filthy, with matted, disheveled hair. Moreover, each had a massive body nearly three meters tall and a disproportionately large belly.

Trolls?

Fang Zhou was somewhat shocked. He hadn't expected to encounter such troublesome Demons in the 1st Cave.

Strictly speaking, Trolls weren't like goblins or Kobolds—innately weak, Low-Level Demons with very limited potential. Their room for growth was significant; in the Mythical World, there were even high-level Golden Tier Trolls. However, perhaps due to the limited Energy in the 1st Cave and the regular purges by military academy instructors, of the five Trolls before him, only the most burly one was Middle Apprentice Tier, while the other four were Lower Apprentice Tier.

Based on Talent Attributes and living environments, Trolls came in many varieties, such as River Trolls, Stone Trolls, Swamp Trolls, Fierce Trolls, and War Trolls. These five Trolls living on the Frozen Tundra were, naturally, Ice Trolls.

Fang Zhou recalled the instructors' descriptions of Trolls from his monster compendium class. Trolls possess a natural ability to continuously heal their injuries, with a speed that can almost match the rate of damage from conventional weapons. Only damage from fire, potent poison, and Death Energy could stop their wounds from closing. Besides brute strength and fury, their bodies were covered with assorted muck and decaying matter, providing them with strong physical defense. As Ice Trolls, they could even spit vomit with potent corrosive and freezing effects. It was not only nauseating, but the damage was also considerable.

If he had to name a weakness, it would be their extremely low intelligence. Their Perception wasn't very keen, and their movement speed wasn't particularly fast—a common flaw among tank-type Demons.

Of course, for such challenging Demons, the spoils for defeating them were abundant. A Troll's heart was the source of its vitality and could be used to craft a Constitution Potion. For reference, a single bottle of apprentice-level Power Potion was worth 50 contribution points. Thus, the Sea City Military Academy offered a very generous price for Troll hearts. Fang Zhou estimated that the five hearts from these Trolls would be worth at least 20 contribution points.

His gaze burned as he looked at the still oblivious Trolls, then he shifted his focus to the attribute panel. Before starting the battle, he needed to enhance his Skeleton Army. The Trolls' weaknesses were fire, poison, and Death Energy. As an Undead Mage, Fang Zhou had no affinity for fire, but poison and Death Energy were his specialties.

The [Group Brutality Skill], derived from his Clone's [Brutal Strike], worked by applying a Death Energy buff to his summoned Undead Creatures to enhance their attack power. Now, he intended to strengthen this skill once more. To perfect the [Skeleton Flying Spear], he had previously acquired the apprentice-level Undead Mage skill [Touch of Corrosion], which added Corrosive Poison Attribute damage to the spears. Now, he would use [Touch of Corrosion] as a Skill Material to enhance [Group Brutality Skill]. To ensure success, Fang Zhou opened his personal terminal and spent 5 contribution points to purchase another copy of the [Touch of Corrosion] Skill Insights from the Undead Mage Skill Library.

Attribute panel, enhance!

The thought flashed through his mind, and a prompt immediately appeared on the attribute panel.

"Detected Skill Materials available to perfect [Group Brutality Skill]. Estimated to consume 10 points of Soul Power."

"Proceed with perfecting?"

Fang Zhou immediately confirmed. Instantly, as Soul Power was intensely consumed, inspiration burst forth in his spiritual world. A vortex, coalescing with the power of Death and Corrosive Poison, was silently forming.

"[Group Brutality Skill] has been successfully perfected!"

[Group Brutality Skill] (Apprentice Tier, Mastery): For a certain duration, grants subordinate Undead Creatures Death Energy and Corrosive Poison Attribute damage, increasing their attack power. The magnitude, duration, and area of effect are determined by the user's Spirit Attribute and Skill Proficiency.

Fang Zhou gripped the apprentice's Magic Staff, his eyes filled with pity as he looked at the Trolls. With the enhanced [Group Brutality Skill], he estimated that his Skeleton Army alone could easily tear these Trolls to pieces without him having to intervene personally.

「At this moment, on the stone bridge over the Dark River.」

The five ugly Ice Trolls were either sitting or lying down, enjoying the icy gale of the Frozen Tundra. Fang Zhou, leading his army of 40 Skeletons, emerged from behind the boulder. To conserve Spiritual Power, he chose not to use his ranged advantage by launching a preliminary volley of [Skeleton Flying Spears]. Instead, he left 10 Skeletons to guard him and commanded the other 30 to charge straight at the Trolls.

Upon discovering Fang Zhou, the Trolls' eyes began to glow, and without exception, they all started drooling profusely.

"Meat, delicious meat!"

"Eat meat, eat meat!"

Shouting as they went, the five Trolls either clumsily picked up broken wooden clubs from the ground or simply rushed the Skeleton Army with their bare hands. Fang Zhou couldn't help but shake his head lightly. Indeed, they were lowly intelligent Demons.

RUMBLE...

Although the Ice Trolls were stupid, they had traded wisdom for strength. As they drew closer, Fang Zhou could feel a faint vibration in the ground, even from his position at the rear.

Just five Ice Trolls, and they have such a presence? They're indeed much stronger than the likes of Kobolds.

Seeing this, Fang Zhou grew even more cautious. He commanded the main body of Skeletons to form a defensive formation while a smaller contingent smoothly fanned out to the flanks, preparing to leverage their numerical advantage and encircle the Ice Trolls.

The Ice Trolls let out beastly roars as they charged forward. The distance between the two forces wasn't great, and the fastest-charging Troll soon swung its club against a Skeleton's bony body. The Skeleton was a Middle Apprentice Tier creature, further boosted by [Domination Skeleton]. Even so, it was knocked back two steps by this mere Lower Apprentice Tier Troll, its Soul Fire dimming instantly.

Fang Zhou's eyes narrowed. Just from that single blow, it's clear these Ice Trolls have much stronger single-combat power than an Abyssal Little Inferior Demon of the same tier. Even compared to a Horned Demon Boss without the enhancements of a Giant Axe or Heavy Armor, they are by no means inferior.

Though Trolls were famous for their vigorous Life Energy, their Attack Power was certainly not weak.

At that moment, the other Ice Trolls roared and charged in. Their three-meter-tall bodies gave them immense charging power. In the first exchange, five or six Skeletons were knocked back or sent flying several meters. It seems these Ice Trolls must have some kind of additional strength bonus, granting them a powerful formation-breaking capability.

Furthermore, the Ice Trolls' seemingly filthy, thick skin possessed terrifying Defense Power. Fang Zhou watched as a Troll, surrounded by several Skeletons, had several wounds torn open by their Bone Claws. Yet, as soon as the Skeletons retracted their claws, the wounds closed and healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

This was the Trolls' most terrifying talent: their self-healing ability.

But this is where it ends.

As the Ice Trolls were tightly surrounded by the Skeleton Army, Fang Zhou's eyes sharpened, and he lightly waved his Magic Staff. A black-and-green, malevolent light swiftly enveloped the 30 Skeletons in the front Battle Group.

[Group Brutality Skill]... Time to show these Trolls what true brutality is!

Subsequently, under the enhancement of [Group Brutality Skill], the Skeletons' already sharp Bone Claws and fangs were coated with a dim sheen.

Death Energy!

Corrosive Poison!

The two damage attributes that were most effective against Trolls had been quietly applied.

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