CHAPTER 65: CHAPTER 65: LEAVE IT TO THE SECRETARY

Fang Zhou slightly nodded and then looked at Meng Hongzhuang, saying, "Hongzhuang, you will be responsible for collecting skills that can enhance the combat power of my summoned creatures.

Just like Xiaochan, if I can derive new skills for undead creatures based on your research results, I will give you at least 10 contribution points as a performance reward.

As for battle sparring, there’s no hurry.

I’m a bit busy these days, and you also need to focus on cultivating to break through to an apprentice middle rank as soon as possible, only then can you enjoy fighting to your heart’s content."

Hearing Fang Zhou reject her battle request, Meng Hongzhuang looked somewhat unwilling.

She bit her lip and finally said, "Okay, Fang Zhou, I won’t let you down.

You’re right. Compared to you, my strength is still too weak."

Fang Zhou chuckled to himself.

He knew that one of the reasons Meng Hongzhuang was willing to be his assistant was the contribution points and the privileges of the research group, and the other was to exchange insights on summoning skills with him.

Fang Zhou had seen this Natural Summoner’s battle footage. Although she was petite, at her core, she was a battle maniac just like Ye Fan.

Given that, he couldn’t easily agree to Meng Hongzhuang’s request for a battle.

Dangling a carrot, the little assistant would work better, wouldn’t she?

...

Another week passed.

Fang Zhou’s life was more fulfilling than before.

In a 24-hour day, excluding the unchangeable 6 hours of military academy courses, he practiced skills in the skill training room for 2 hours and focused on controlling skeleton clones in the concentration meditation room for 6 hours each day.

In the scattered remaining time, he also had to sweep through the simulation battlefield, study the insights on Undead Mage cultivation sent by Su Xinyan, and gather all knowledge beneficial to an Undead Mage.

Of course, he also had to constantly urge Bai Xiaochan and Meng Hongzhuang, his two little assistants, not to slack off.

Occasionally, he was exploited by Su Xinyan, in terms of inspiration.

Lately, Su Xinyan had stabilized her Golden Lower Rank state and had successfully mastered Golden Tier spells like [Summon Vampire Monarch] and [Summon Dark Guard], emblematic of an Undead Mage.

Currently, she was trying to summon stronger undead creatures by leveraging her close connection with the Undead Realm.

In Fang Zhou’s mind, there were many powerful undead creature images, like Stone Golem, Terror Knight, Bone Dragon, Corpse Witch, and so on.

This undoubtedly provided much inspiration to the pondering Su Xinyan.

She mentioned that she had already sensed a very strong soul fluctuation in the Undead Realm and was striving to summon this brand-new undead creature.

Fang Zhou was naturally pleased to see this and often discussed and explored with Su Xinyan.

He hoped Su Xinyan would pave the way for the future of the Undead Mage profession, saving him the trouble.

This week also witnessed Fang Zhou’s physique attribute exceeding 5 points, incredibly strong, enabling him to withstand such high-intensity training.

However, hard work pays off, and his strength increased significantly.

Currently, Fang Zhou’s time in clearing Abyss Difficulty [Horn Demon Outpost] had reduced to 18 minutes, ranking second on the historical speedrunning leaderboard, only behind the team of three [Flame Dragon Knight] Wen Jiu.

After class, Fang Zhou hurriedly made his way to the research lab.

Today was the day Bai Xiaochan and Meng Hongzhuang, his two little assistants, reported their research progress to him.

If they hadn’t been slacking off, he would soon update his skills again.

In the research lab, Bai Xiaochan and Meng Hongzhuang were already waiting.

To Fang Zhou’s surprise, Bai Xiaochan wore a look of smugness, while the usually assertive Meng Hongzhuang seemed a bit evasive and not very confident.

Sitting behind the desk, Fang Zhou crossed his hands, stretched out his long legs, looking every bit the research group boss.

"So, how are things, you two? Who wants to report first?"

Bai Xiaochan immediately raised her hand.

"Fang Zhou, I have searched all the apprentice-level shield skills for Magic Professionals for you.

After eliminating some severely flawed skills, I have collected a total of 12 powerful shield skills.

Among them, [Mana Shield] is a Universal Skill. Its advantage lies in its overall balance against various forms of attacks, though it consumes a lot of Spiritual Power.

[Telekinesis Shield] is an exclusive skill of a [Telekinesis Master]. Its advantage is decent defense against indirect attacks like the Magic-Devouring Talent of Abyss Demon Child, but it requires a highly complex magic model and high talent.

[Thorn Shield] is exclusive to [Wild Shaman]. Its advantage is having some counterattack effect on physical attacks, but its own defense is not very strong.

[Mirror Shield Skill] is exclusive to [Light Mage]. Its advantage is a certain reflection probability against magic attacks, but it’s rather fragile against physical attacks.

[Frost Shield] is exclusive to [Frost Mage]. Its advantage is causing slowdown or even freezing effects on attackers when hit, but it’s easily countered by Fire Attribute skills.

There are several other skills, namely..."

As Fang Zhou perused the research report Bai Xiaochan handed over, he listened to her report on these 12 powerful shield skills, nodding to himself.

Not bad at all, judging by this report, Bai Xiaochan put in a lot of hard work this week.

The 12 shield skills carefully chosen inside are essentially the epitome of wisdom from the predecessors.

However, earlier Su Xinyan had already told him that apprentice-level skills have limits and cannot pursue perfection alone.

[Skeleton Shield] can only carry limited magical effects, so not all these 12 shield skills could be used.

Next, he still needed to choose the best to pick some of the most needed magical effects to perfect the [Skeleton Shield].

Thinking of this, Fang Zhou tapped the research report in his hand, looked up at Bai Xiaochan, who had a face asking for praise, and smiled, saying, "Well done, Xiaochan.

I already have a lot of inspiration and am confident in perfecting the [Skeleton Shield].

By then, the 10 contribution points for performance will be transferred to your account."

Upon hearing this, Bai Xiaochan made a victorious gesture with excitement, then turned to look at Meng Hongzhuang, taunting, "And how is the research of a certain shorty this week?"

Meng Hongzhuang, no longer as strong as before, hesitatingly said to Fang Zhou, "Fang Zhou, sorry, I underestimated this earlier.

Skeletons as undead creatures, whether summoned or enhanced, are vastly different from the beast-like creatures I’m familiar with.

I might need more time to sort out my thoughts before I can report back to you."

Fang Zhou didn’t criticize Meng Hongzhuang.

Seeing her dark circles and slightly tired expression, Fang Zhou knew this strong assistant didn’t slack off.

Actually, he also understood that Meng Hongzhuang wanted to apply the experience of a [Natural Summoner] directly to an [Undead Mage], which would be very challenging.

Spending more time wasn’t a problem, as long as there was a result in the end, Fang Zhou would benefit greatly with no loss.

So, he kindly comforted, "Don’t rush, Hongzhuang.

If you have some general ideas, you can also talk to me about them."