CHAPTER 165: CHAPTER 165: SKILLS FIRST, PROFESSION PIONEER

Many of the students present were hearing this news for the first time.

They gasped, their eyes filled with shock as they looked at Fang Zhou.

A mere Apprentice could inspire a Golden Tier Professional to develop a brand new Golden Tier Skill?

Since the Era of Myth, such a thing had been unheard of in the decades-long history of the Human Alliance!

「...」

Unaware of the discussions about him, Fang Zhou hummed a little tune on his way back to the dormitory.

First, he took stock of his Equipment and Marvels, then mentally simulated tomorrow’s arena challenge for a while.

To put it bluntly, the combat prowess he had demonstrated during the previous Cave Hunting was on a level that completely crushed the other military academy seeds.

In Fang Zhou’s prediction, only two people would have the courage to challenge him in the arena tomorrow. One was Ye Fan, that chunibyo teen who only grew more determined with each defeat. The other was Meng Hongzhuang, a battle fanatic who had always wanted to compete with him in the art of summoning.

If anyone else wasted their precious challenge opportunity on him, they had to be out of their minds.

Students capable of becoming military academy seeds were certainly intelligent and wouldn’t normally do something so foolish.

After running a few simulations, all of which predicted his victory, Fang Zhou felt at ease, convinced it was a foolproof win.

The position of Sea City Military Academy’s No. 1 Seed was as good as his; failure was not an option!

Standing up, Fang Zhou grabbed a Spiritual Recovery Potion and the Slime Candle he had traded from Meng Hongzhuang, then headed into the Skill Training Room, which he hadn’t visited in three days.

Sitting on a meditation cushion, he examined the Skills Bar on his attribute panel.

Among the skills his main body had mastered, those from the Skeleton Series, such as [Skeleton Flying Spear], [Skeleton Shield], and [Skeleton Shackles], had all reached [Perfection] proficiency.

Elevating these skills to [Instinct] proficiency would require a vast amount of time and effort.

Even enhancing Skill Proficiency through the attribute panel would consume hundreds of Soul Power.

This cost was a bit too steep for the current Fang Zhou. It was something he could afford, but not something he needed to do.

After all, his main body was developing steadily in the secure rear.

With persistent practice, he could eventually raise all these Apprentice-level skills to [Instinct] proficiency. There was no rush to use Soul Power for a shortcut.

Thinking this, Fang Zhou gently shook his head.

No matter how many excuses I make, it all boils down to one thing: I simply don’t have enough Soul Power to afford such an extravagant expense. A single penny can confound even a hero! Skeleton minions, you all need to pull yourselves together!

Snapping back to reality, Fang Zhou looked at his Skills Bar again.

Fundamentally, the entire Skeleton Series skill tree originated from the Skeleton Clone’s [Skeleton Armament] Talent.

Even if he raised them to [Instinct] proficiency, they wouldn’t provide positive feedback to the Clone, so practicing them wasn’t urgent.

The [Group Brutality Skill] was effective in combat, but like the Skeleton Series skills, it stemmed from the Clone’s [Brutal Strike] skill and thus couldn’t provide any additional feedback.

Among the remaining skills, the [Skeleton King Meditation Method] remained in a state of passive meditation due to the Clone’s existence, requiring no special practice.

[Calm and Relaxed] was special. Its active use had a long cooldown, making it impossible to practice.

[Domination Skeleton] was a Passive Skill. While it might have room for enhancement, it didn’t require active practice either.

After eliminating them one by one, a glint of determination flashed in Fang Zhou’s eyes.

That left only three skills he needed to actively practice: [Resurrection of the Dead], [Soul Realm], and [Mental Shock].

If he could raise these three skills to [Instinct] proficiency, they would surely provide some excellent positive feedback for the Skeleton Clone.

Fang Zhou stroked his chin, once again lost in thought.

Of these three skills, the lowest priority was clearly [Mental Shock].

Until Instructor Su Xinyan proposed a viable enhancement path, this area-of-effect damage skill, which consumed a vast amount of Spiritual Power, seemed rather impractical.

As for the other two, [Resurrection of the Dead] and [Soul Realm], one was a powerful Healing Skill and the other a rare detection skill. Both had proven extremely useful in his combat experience.

Which one should I choose?

After some serious consideration, he took the Skeleton Clone’s current state into account. Fang Zhou ultimately decided to practice the [Soul Realm] skill first, striving to raise it to [Instinct] proficiency as soon as possible.

I wonder what kind of skill could be developed for the Clone based on [Soul Realm]?

Filled with this anticipation, he threw himself into practicing the [Soul Realm] skill with great vigor.

With the bonuses from his Equipment and Gemstone, his [Calm and Relaxed] skill, a Spiritual Recovery Potion, and the Slime Candle—under this fourfold enhancement—Fang Zhou’s Spiritual Power recovery speed was extremely fast. This significantly extended the time he could practice his skills.

Naturally, the rate at which his Skill Proficiency improved far surpassed that of the other students.

After tomorrow’s arena challenge, Fang Zhou also planned to unbind the [Night Watcher I] Rune from the [Summon Skeleton] skill.

Once the cooldown period ended, he would bind it directly to the [Soul Realm] skill.

By then, the Spiritual Power cost of casting [Soul Realm] would decrease dramatically, which would in turn boost the efficiency of his practice.

Time is no object in cultivation; it only awaits a dedicated heart.

Two and a half hours of practice passed quickly. Fang Zhou, his Spiritual Power exhausted, stood up wearily.

He silently gauged his progress. With one more session like this tomorrow, his [Soul Realm] proficiency should advance from [Beginner] to [Master].

He was very satisfied with this incredible speed.

However, human greed knows no bounds.

[Soul Realm] was a new skill Fang Zhou had comprehended while purifying the Desecration Torch’s core, and he hadn’t yet uploaded it to the Human Alliance Skill Library.

Besides Fang Zhou and Su Xinyan, no other Professionals had learned this skill.

Therefore, the military academy’s resource exchange treasury naturally did not contain any Skill Insights for [Soul Realm].

This was the plight of a Professional pioneer like Fang Zhou.

Blazing a trail through the wilderness, every step was fraught with difficulty.

There was no guide ahead, no safety net behind; he could only rely on himself.

Fortunately, Fang Zhou had a tiny bit of help from his attribute panel, which had allowed him to progress so steadily.

Taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind of these distracting thoughts. Fang Zhou left the Skill Training Room and hurried toward the Concentration Meditation Room.

Next up was his favorite part: the hunt.

He took out a bottle of Soul Calming Potion, drank it in one gulp, and smiled faintly before closing his eyes.

Skeleton Clone, activate!