In the midst of the clamor, Su Tiankuo trembled, holding up a teacup and silently taking a sip, swallowing down a mouthful of old blood from his throat.
Just half an hour ago, he had been commenting to the instructors on Fang Zhou’s lack of displacement life-saving skills and how he was prone to surprise attacks and decapitation.
Unexpectedly, before the words even landed, Fang Zhou gave him another harsh slap in the face.
How many times has it been? Sure enough, Su Tiankuo and undead mages are not destined to get along!
Meanwhile, on the training ground, watching Fang Zhou grow a pair of skeleton wings out of thin air and successfully turn danger into safety, Bai Xiaochan jumped up in excitement,
"Awesome, Fang Zhou, forever a legend!"
Ye Fan, Gu Zhiqiu, and others were also shocked, silently speechless.
With both offense and defense, control and mobility, plus a host of skeleton minions, how are we supposed to fight this kind of monster?
This No.1 seed spot, we can do without!
...
In the outpost hall.
Watching the flying axe miss, the horned demon let out a wailing of despair, then lowered its head and launched a death charge at the fearless skeleton army.
Fang Zhou also let out a slight sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he had successfully simulated the [Skeleton Wings] before the battle, otherwise, it could have ended badly.
Just relying on the [Skeleton Shield] might not have withstood that flying axe, which would have allowed the horned demon boss to make a comeback from behind.
But now, having lost its weapon and gravely wounded, the horned demon, facing the encirclement of Fang Zhou and the skeleton army, couldn’t possibly make any more waves.
Under Fang Zhou’s final skeleton flying spear, the horned demon fell down in frustration and helplessness.
Fang Zhou steadied his somewhat agitated spiritual power, surveying the battlefield around him.
The skeletons were down to less than 20, and his spiritual power was nearly exhausted, even the newly simulated skeleton wings had been put to use.
This battle could be described as unleashing all his combat strength and revealing all his trump cards.
Fang Zhou shook his head slightly, compared to the horned demon as a main combat unit of the abyssal demons, the skeletons seemed as fragile as white paper.
If not for their sheer numbers and lack of fear of casualties, they could hardly pose much threat to the horned demon.
Luckily, the victor was ultimately himself.
However, if winning at difficult difficulty was this hard, what kind of scene would the abyss difficulty be?
"Task completed, took 19 minutes and 20 seconds, clearance rating [Perfect], received 9 contribution points as clearance rewards."
"First-time clearance of [Horn Demon Outpost] at difficult difficulty, received 12 contribution points as first clearance rewards."
"Congratulations, Junior Sergeant Fang Zhou, your team is the first team in your grade to clear [Horn Demon Outpost] at difficult difficulty. All team members receive 30 contribution points as grade first clearance ranking rewards, and achievement blessing: Simulation Battlefield loot drop rate +1% (cumulative 8%)."
"Congratulations, Junior Sergeant Fang Zhou, your team cleared [Horn Demon Outpost] at difficult difficulty in 19 minutes and 20 seconds, ranked 45th on the historical speedrun leaderboard. Expected monthly ranking reward: 9 contribution points."
"Loot drop triggered, obtained [Split Arrow] skill book*1, exchangeable for 10 contribution points."
"After waiting 5 minutes, you may continue to challenge the abyss difficulty."
The [Split Arrow] skill is exclusive to archers, and of no use to Fang Zhou, so he casually exchanged it for 10 contribution points.
Fang Zhou roughly calculated that this difficult difficulty of [Horn Demon Outpost] brought him a net gain of 64 contribution points, which was quite substantial.
Looking at the battlefield in disarray, Fang Zhou felt some hesitation in his heart.
Should he continue to challenge the abyss difficulty?
He glanced at his attribute panel.
[Name]Fang Zhou
[Profession]Undead Mage
[Tier]Apprentice·Middle Rank
[Attributes]Strength 4, Agility 4, Constitution 4, Spirit 6.2
[State]Soul Split
[Equipment]Apprentice Set
[Skills]Skeleton King Meditation Method (Perfection), Summon Skeleton (Perfection), Skeleton Flying Spear (Mastery), Skeleton Shield (Mastery), Skeleton Shackles (Mastery), Calm and Relaxed (Skilled), Domination Skeleton (Skilled), Resurrection of the Dead (Beginner), Skeleton Arrow Rain (Skilled), Skeleton Wings (Skilled)
As a middle-rank apprentice, the skills he possesses are already quite comprehensive.
The current limiting factors for his strength are his own spirit attribute and skill proficiency, but these two can’t be improved overnight.
This means that Fang Zhou’s current strength has already reached a bottleneck.
Tightly gripping the magic staff in his hand, Fang Zhou quickly made up his mind.
Continue the challenge!
He wants to see where his limits lie.
However, the strength of demons in the abyss difficulty might be beyond what he can handle head-on.
Perhaps, it’s time to come up with some tactics.
After paying 8 contribution points, Fang Zhou once again entered the [Horn Demon Outpost].
In the training ground, the trainees started discussing fervently when they saw this.
"Fang Zhou is being too reckless! He struggled so much with the difficult difficulty, and now he wants to clear the abyss difficulty?"
"Indeed, I admit his strength is far ahead of ours. But after all, he’s just an apprentice who has just broken through to middle rank; his spiritual power isn’t that high. Even if he knows more skills, without enough spiritual power, it’s just for show."
"The teams that clear the abyss difficulty are those stuck at the peak of apprentice middle rank, with perfect skill configurations of ’seed’ trainees. Fang Zhou is undeniably strong, but he’s only one person, trying to clear it is simply wishful thinking!"
In the corner, Ye Fan lifted his head to watch the live broadcast, his gaze bright and full of anticipation.
Fang Zhou, where exactly is your limit?
...
"Task: Kill all demons and reclaim the Riverfront Outpost."
In the thick fog, after summoning the skeleton army, Fang Zhou did not hurry towards the outpost.
He spread out 40 skeletons, starting to explore the fog-covered jungle.
In Fang Zhou’s view, with his current strength, trying to assault the abyss difficulty’s [Horn Demon Outpost] head-on like before would likely be beyond his reach.
If that’s the case, it’s better to switch battlefields proactively.
The simulation battlefield technology was only developed successfully a few years ago and isn’t very mature, with a modeling scene giving off a sense of being small-sized.
Therefore, the fog-covered jungle wasn’t as large as Fang Zhou imagined, but it sufficed.
Fang Zhou commanded 40 tireless skeletons to dig a cleverly hidden pit trap near the road leading to the outpost.
This pit trap was both deep and wide, taking the skeleton army a considerable amount of time, and it was outfitted with several exceptionally sharp skeleton flying spears.
This trap was tailor-made for the horned demon boss in the outpost, enough to trap it, making it difficult to escape in a short time.
The most ingenious part was that Fang Zhou camouflaged the pit with a layer of robust branches, ensuring it wouldn’t trigger when lightweight creatures like skeletons or little inferior demons stepped on it.
This was the battle site Fang Zhou chose.
Next, with his spiritual power already heavily consumed, Fang Zhou took out a bottle of [Low-grade Spiritual Recovery Potion] and drank it without hesitation.