Undead Mage: I Have a Skeleton Clone-Chapter 495 - 357: Soul Essence Leap, Luxurious Magic List 2

Next, Fang Zhou had many skills he wanted to exchange for. Above the Black Iron Tier, even within the same tier, the exchange prices for Skills varied greatly among different Professionals. Universal Skills were particularly expensive. They had low requirements yet considerable power, encapsulating the wisdom and effort of countless pioneering Professionals. In contrast, the exclusive Skills for specific Professions were slightly cheaper.

Fang Zhou carefully calculated his contribution points and Soul Power, deciding to exchange for the most crucial Skills first.

First was the essential "four-piece set" for Black Iron Tier Magic Professionals: [Friend of Life], [Language Mastery], [Summoned Mage Mount], and [Strong Calmness]. Each of these four Skills was originally worth 300 contribution points, for a total of 1,200. After his discount, the final price was only 400 contribution points.

Next were the eight class-specific Skills for the Undead Mage. Their prices ranged from 100 to 200 contribution points each, with an original total of 1,200 contribution points, which also cost him just 400 after his discount. In addition, the corresponding Skill Insights for all these Skills cost another 800 contribution points.

As for the Black Iron Tier Skill Materials that Fang Zhou might need for deriving new Skills, he decided not to exchange for them yet. He had no concrete plans, and his contribution points were already tight.

He then purchased one bottle each of the Black Iron Tier [Strength Secret Medicine], [Constitution Secret Medicine], and [Agility Secret Medicine]. Their original total price was 2,000 contribution points, but after his 70% discount, they only cost 600. After a moment’s thought, Fang Zhou also bought some resources for his cultivation during the Black Iron Tier.

30 bottles of Weak Effect Spiritual Recovery Potion, originally 300 contribution points, now 90.

30 bottles of Weak Effect Soul Calming Potion, originally 600 contribution points, now 180.

Just like that, the 4,000 contribution points Fang Zhou had painstakingly saved were almost completely spent.

If not for his efforts over the past two months—combined with a little help from his attribute panel—enhancing many Apprentice Tier Skills to their limits and submitting the results to Sea City Military Academy and the Longxia Federation, he never would have accumulated so many contribution points. If not for his status as Sea City Military Academy’s Number One Seed and the discounts from the Undead Mage research project fund, which stacked for an unprecedented 70% discount, Fang Zhou could never have afforded these resources at such a low price. And if Sea City Military Academy hadn’t been promoted to the First Military Academy under his leadership, causing all resources to be sold at a reduced price, he might not have been able to acquire these essential items the moment he advanced to the Black Iron Tier.

Fang Zhou felt a rare pang of anxiety as he looked at his nearly depleted contribution points.

Next, I have to use my Soul Power where it counts most and swiftly convert these exchanged resources into actual combat power.

However, Fang Zhou wasn’t worried about earning more contribution points. He had now grown from an ordinary Apprentice to a Lower Black Iron Tier Undead Mage. This meant that if he could develop new Black Iron Tier Undead Mage Skills through research or enhancement, just as he had during the Apprentice Stage, he would receive corresponding research grants based on the reward mechanisms of the military academy and the Undead Mage research group. The reward for developing a single Black Iron Tier Skill was typically more than ten times its market value, meaning he could earn at least 1,000 contribution points per Skill.

Although Fang Zhou spent a fortune enhancing his abilities, his capacity to earn was just as immense.

That’s the kind of confidence you get when you have a cheat system.

Having settled the resource exchange, Fang Zhou knew it would be a while before he received the items. So, he simply sent a message to Su Xinyan on his personal terminal.

[Ordinary Apprentice] (Fang Zhou): Instructor Xinyan, mission accomplished. I’ve successfully broken through the bottleneck and advanced to the Black Iron Tier.

However, a long time passed with no reply. Fang Zhou shook his head slightly and went back to controlling his Corpse Clone, having it fight monsters to level up. But this experiment brought an unexpected surprise. With his successful breakthrough to the Black iron Tier, his Soul Strength seemed to have taken a qualitative leap. He discovered he could, for a short period, focus on two completely different scenes at once.

Half of his vision was in the quiet and peaceful meditation room, where he sat alone, immersed in his own world of Meditation. The other half of his vision was on the cold, desolate Corpse Hills, where his Corpse Clone was locked in fierce combat with various monsters. This multitasking ability had been almost unimaginable for him in the past. Previously, attempting to focus on two scenarios at once would only leave him dizzy and unable to maintain his concentration. Now, however, that discomfort was significantly reduced. It was as if reaching the Black Iron Realm had also enhanced his Soul Power, making it possible for him to divide his focus.

A bold idea suddenly flashed through Fang Zhou’s mind. He quickly had his main body retrieve the portable Concentration Meditation Array he had obtained earlier from his storage space. He set the array to mobile mode and carefully positioned it on himself, ensuring it could move with his body without affecting its function.

Once everything was ready, Fang Zhou stood up. He controlled his main body to slowly walk out of the meditation room while continuing to manipulate the Corpse Clone in the Undead Realm, keeping it engaged in battle on the cold wasteland. Since he was inside Sea City Military Academy, which was relatively safe, Fang Zhou still focused most of his attention on his Corpse Clone, far away in the Undead Realm.

Initially, he felt a slight dizziness from processing information from two different scenes at once. However, with the help of the portable Concentration Meditation Array, this discomfort quickly subsided. As his body moved, Fang Zhou gradually adapted to this state of multitasking. He began experimenting, having his main body perform various actions on the Sea City Military Academy campus. He went from simple walking to more complex jumping and even tried picking up a book to read. Each step tested whether he could manage more tasks while maintaining control over his Clone. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

When Fang Zhou finally reached Training Ground 1, he made an exciting new discovery. Compared to when he was at the Apprentice Tier, where he could only operate on a single thread, controlling either his main body or his Clone, he found a stunning change. Now that his main body had broken through to the Black Iron Tier, he could actually achieve a degree of multitasking. While his Clone was engaged in intense hunting, his main body, while unable to reliably cast spells in combat, could perform less demanding activities. This included running, jumping, reading, conducting tactical training, and even engaging in simple research or problem-solving.

For Fang Zhou, this was undoubtedly a significant milestone on his path of cultivation. Previously, he had to choose between controlling his main body’s actions or operating his Clone to hunt in the Undead Realm. The other party had to remain completely stationary or in a meditative state. The Concentration Meditation Array had already significantly extended the time he could operate his Corpse Clone. If things had stayed as they were—his main body rendered vegetative while he controlled the Clone—twenty-four hours in a day would not have been enough for him.

But now, with the help of the portable Concentration Meditation Array and his main body’s breakthrough to the Black Iron Tier, this problem was naturally solved. He could have his main body perform other activities while he controlled the Corpse Clone, which greatly enhanced his time efficiency.

The portable Concentration Meditation Array is going to completely change my cultivation methods. With its help, I can be in a classroom listening intently to a lecture while my Skeleton Clone is out hunting and battling monsters. This will make my days so much more productive! The cultivation plan that was once limited by time now has far more possibilities.