The expansion of my forces has reached a bottleneck. Among the undead army of over fifty thousand, all manner of melee, ranged, and defensive units are fully equipped and rationally configured. Our combat power has reached its short-term peak.

Since we’ve found traces of Ghosts, we might as well pursue them to the end. We’ll ascertain the enemy’s situation and prepare to initiate a new round of Lord wars on our own terms. This concerns whether my Corpse Clone can rapidly seize and absorb the Soul Series racial Talents of the Ghosts. More importantly, it will determine if my main Undead Mage body can successfully deduce and perfect the Soul Series Skill Tree. Judging from when the Corpse Clone devoured and analyzed the Zombie Race’s ’Corrosive Poison Incarnation’ Talent, relying on it to kill Ghosts one by one to analyze their Talent is simply too slow. Moreover, the more powerful the individual, the greater the progress in Talent analysis provided upon their death and consumption. If I can directly kill their most powerful Ghost Lord and seize the Blood Moon Blessing they carry, it should drastically accelerate the attribute panel’s analysis of the Ghost Talent.

Fang Zhou immediately decided to command Tidamia to make searching for Ghosts, capturing Ghosts, and scouting the Ghost territory the primary focus of the territory’s military and political affairs.

Tidamia’s Soul Fire flickered as it bowed its head toward Fang Zhou. "As you command, my lord."

Afterward, it mounted its horse and charged out of the Lord’s Hall.

Fang Zhou watched Tidamia’s hastily departing figure, his gaze deep and tinged with a hint of expectation. The task of finding the Ghost Lord would now be Tidamia’s responsibility. Meanwhile, he needed to devote his energy to mastering the Authority of Corpses, striving to research a method for synthesizing Undead Attribute resources as soon as possible.

***

Deep within the Fierce Beast Mountain Range.

BOOM!

The ground shook. Amidst an energy explosion, a Fierce Beast five meters long, resembling a rhinoceros but far more savage, crashed to the ground with a thud. The Scale Armor on its chest was shattered, pierced by a gaping, bloody hole three meters in diameter. Scalding blood, about to erupt like a fountain, was instantly blocked by a surge of undead energy.

Clad in a light-gold Mage Robe and wreathed in undead energy, Fang Zhou approached the corpse and gave a light wave of his left hand. The Black Gem Young Dragon Tiamat, which had been hovering over his head, swiftly swooped down. Its tail lashed out like a venomous viper, piercing the beast’s corpse with a sickening squelch. As its Dragon Breath flared, visible streams of Flesh and Blood Essence were devoured and absorbed by Tiamat through its tail, causing its aura to grow steadily stronger.

As the Flesh and Blood Essence was consumed, the Fierce Beast’s corpse shriveled at a visible rate. In just a few minutes, the Bronze-Tier Fierce Beast’s body appeared dull and lifeless, exuding the stench of decay as if it had been dead for days. Only then, its aura now a notch stronger, did Tiamat retract its tail in satisfaction. It spat a gout of Dragon Breath onto its tail, cleansing it of all filth.

Fang Zhou reached out and held Tiamat, whose scales felt even smoother than before, scratching it under its chin. "Not bad, Tiamat. It seems you’re well-suited for a hunter’s life in the Fierce Beast Mountain Range."

After advancing to the Bronze-Tier, Tiamat’s body, including its tail, had reached a length of about three meters. Yet it still coiled around Fang Zhou’s arm as it did when it was small, nudging his hand with its prominent, horned head.

"Master, you’re the amazing one! You killed this Demon Rhinoceros that was about to break through to the Bronze Middle-Rank with a single Skeleton Flying Spear. I’ve been eating so well lately."

Fang Zhou nodded slightly and said with a smile, "Tiamat, we have an old saying in Longxia: a good appetite is a blessing. I’m about to reach the Bronze Middle-Rank myself. Eat as much as you can. My undead will take care of whatever you can’t finish."

As he spoke, Fang Zhou gently shook the Soul Shattering Magic Ball in his hand. A gray light shot out and struck the shriveled corpse of the Fierce Beast.

BANG!

The dead beast’s corpse suddenly convulsed. Its body began to shake and struggle, the movements growing more and more violent. A moment later, the desiccated, rotting corpse exploded, and a blood bead the size of a pinky finger floated into Fang Zhou’s hand. Seeing that he had extracted the very last of its Flesh and Blood Essence, Fang Zhou nodded in satisfaction and tossed the bead to the cluster of Corpse Warriors that had gathered behind him.

During this period, he had successfully deduced the Artificial Undead Skill to the Bronze-Tier. He could now skillfully create the new undead creatures designed by his Corpse Clone, such as Corpse Warriors, Corpse Shooters, Corpse Knights, and Corrupt Hatreds. However, compared to ordinary Advanced Zombies, these more powerful new undead varieties had higher requirements for corpse materials and were more difficult to produce.

In order to more quickly amass an army of Artificial Undead in the Summoning Tomb that was capable of fighting, Fang Zhou had taken only a few days of rest in Beast Fighting City before heading deep into the Fierce Beast Mountain Range, intending to hunt more Bronze-Tier Fierce Beasts. According to his plan, after gathering a rich supply of corpse materials, he would create an undead army with a balanced mix of melee, ranged, and defensive units. Then, he would go to the Adventurer Association in Beast Fighting City to recruit a group of skilled Adventurers and explore the ruins of the Naraku Civilization deep within the mountain range.

Gazing at the patch of jungle he had slaughtered empty, Fang Zhou consulted his map, then turned and led his Undead Army deeper into the mountains.

「A few days later.」

Leaden clouds pressed down, making it hard for the many creatures of the Fierce Beast Mountain Range to breathe.

A Demon Worshiper with bluish-purple skin covered in silver scales lay in wait atop a towering birch tree, resting with his eyes closed. Suddenly, he seemed to sense something. His eyes snapped open, and a savage smile spread across his face.

I can’t believe I ran into a Human Alliance dog in less than half a month. Looks like my luck is good. He appears to be a Bronze Lower-Rank Mage... hmm, and an Undead Mage, the easiest type to assassinate. He delivered himself right to me; he’s already entered my detection range. According to Lord Azklos’s command, I can kill him!

If he could drain and devour this young Mage’s Mana Essence, even if it didn’t restore his Tier, his injuries would at least be mostly healed. As for whether he could win, the Demon Worshiper never even considered it. As an elite Shadow Demon at the peak of the Bronze Upper-Rank, he still possessed overwhelming combat power against these so-called talented Professionals of the Human Alliance, even though he was heavily injured and his Tier had been suppressed by the World Barrier, dropping him a minor rank. Not to mention, this young Mage was just a Bronze Lower-Rank Undead Mage. Once he got in close, the boy would be his to slaughter!

***

Fang Zhou trudged forward through ankle-deep humus, startling clusters of will-o’-wisps with every step. Twelve Skeleton Bats hung upside down from dead branches, their wing membranes trembling subtly with the fluctuations of his Soul Link, weaving the slightest rustle of grass or gust of wind within a three-mile radius into a dense web of information. Three Corpse Knights clad in rusted Bone Armor led the vanguard, their hooves wreathed in Dark Blue Soul Fire that turned obstructing thorns into dust.

Suddenly, a piece of rotten birch bark fluttered down from a branch. The warning from his Soul Eagle Eye felt like a steel needle stabbing into his temple. Fang Zhou snapped his head up—the bark, which should have fallen straight down, was spinning bizarrely in mid-air. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as his Bronze-Tier Soul Perception shrieked a frantic warning. His vision was abruptly shrouded in a pale blue filter.

In his undead vision, a distorted, transparent silhouette was plummeting straight down from the thirty-meter-high treetop!

CLANG!

A thin assassin in a black robe descended from the sky. The crimson dagger in his hand scraped against the Bone Shield formed by Death Protection, striking a shower of sparks.

Another desperado from a bandit group? Since entering the depths of the Fierce Beast Mountain Range, Fang Zhou hadn’t encountered any fellow human Adventurers. After being attacked by this individual who was presumably of the same species, his first thought was of the Fox Tail Bandit Group he had so carefully dealt with. A moment later, however, Fang Zhou quickly dismissed his own assumption.