Meng Hongzhuang rummaged through her bag and handed a stack of messy materials to Fang Zhou. "My initial thought was this: Skeletons are Undead Creatures that prioritize quantity over quality. So, is there a way to use certain skills to transform their mass numerical advantage into a quality advantage for a few individuals?

"We Natural Summoners do have similar skills. However, adapting them into a skill suitable for Undead Creatures is incredibly difficult."

Fang Zhou quickly browsed through Meng Hongzhuang's drafts, his eyes suddenly brightening. He had already grasped the rough outline of her concept.

If you summoned 100 skeletons and used a specific skill to make each one sacrifice some of its attributes, those attributes could all be channeled into a single skeleton leader. Then, this skeleton leader's individual combat power would be greatly enhanced, solving the Sea of Bones Skill's problem of lacking strong individuals.

Although this was just a preliminary idea, the Skill Materials were incomplete, and the attribute panel didn't yet show any "Inference Skill" prompts. Nevertheless, Fang Zhou had a premonition that this line of thinking was absolutely feasible.

Thus, he offered his sincere encouragement, "Hongzhuang, your idea is excellent. Besides the skills from the Natural Summoner profession, you should also look into similar skills from other professions. Additionally, Instructor Su Xinyan, as a Golden Tier Undead Mage, can give you a lot of inspiration. After all, creating a new skill from scratch is bound to be a huge challenge. You only need to provide the inspiration and direction; leave the specific inference work to me."

Meng Hongzhuang nodded firmly.

She glanced at a triumphant-looking Bai Xiaochan and silently steeled her resolve. Losing the battle was one thing, but losing face was another. How could she let Bai Xiaochan lord it over her?!

Sensing the explosive tension between his two young assistants that was about to detonate, Fang Zhou was inwardly ecstatic but kept his voice gentle. "Xiaochan, Hongzhuang, you're both indispensable to me. If the Undead Mage profession successfully rises one day, your two names will absolutely be on the honor roll."

For Fang Zhou, emphasizing importance, making grand promises, and fostering competition were all talents that came to him effortlessly. Bai Xiaochan and Meng Hongzhuang were two simple assistants; they had never encountered such tactics before. They were quickly fired up by Fang Zhou's encouragement, their passion boiling as they grew eager to throw themselves into the great cause of revitalizing the Undead Mage profession.

Seeing the time was right, Fang Zhou assigned Bai Xiaochan a new task to research Control Skills, then left the research lab.

On the way back to his dorm, Fang Zhou couldn't help but reflect. Initially, he had recruited Bai Xiaochan as a project assistant simply to better aid his own cultivation. It was purely a move made on a whim. Now, however, it seemed that this decision was saving him a lot of time and energy, and even bringing unexpected surprises.

Good deeds really are rewarded!

「...」

Back in the dormitory, Fang Zhou opened his personal terminal and browsed the Human Alliance Skill Library.

The twelve powerful shield skills Bai Xiaochan had listed for him had all received the full endorsement of Instructors Su Xinyan and Lu Hu, both Golden Tier experts. Each one could be considered a premium skill for Magic Professionals.

Now, he had to seriously consider which of these shield skills' essences he should absorb to enhance his Skeleton Shield.

After deliberating for a long time and combining it with his own combat experience in the Simulation Battlefield, Fang Zhou made his decision.

First, [Telekinesis Shield], which could effectively defend against indirect attacks, was a must-pick. Second, [Frost Shield], with its invaluable slowing and even freezing effects, was also a must-pick. Third, [Thorn Shield], for its ability to counter-damage Physical Attacks, was another must-pick. Finally, [Mirror Shield Skill], with its chance to reflect magic, was a definite must-pick.

At the Apprentice Stage, if the [Skeleton Shield] could possess these four magical effects, it would already be nearly perfect.

After confirming the Skill Materials, Fang Zhou immediately redeemed these four shield skills on his personal terminal. His contribution points were still plentiful, so to improve the inference effect, he also redeemed the [Skill Insights] for all four skills. The original price was 80 contribution points, but through the official reimbursement process, Fang Zhou only needed to pay 40.

"Sufficient Skill Materials detected to perfect the skill. Estimated cost: 80 Soul Power."

"Proceed with perfection?"

Over the past week, Fang Zhou had drastically increased the time he spent controlling his skeleton Clones to grind monsters and level up, so his Soul Power had accumulated much faster.

He silently confirmed. 80 points of Soul Power were rapidly consumed, and he quickly mastered the magic structure of the four premium shield skills. In a Burst of Inspiration, he successfully inferred a more comprehensive and formidable version of the [Skeleton Shield] skill.

"Successfully perfected the skill [Skeleton Shield]!"

[Skeleton Shield] (Apprentice Level, Perfection): Channels Undead Mana to form a Bone Shield that effectively defends against all direct and indirect attacks. It reflects a certain proportion of damage from Physical Attacks, has a chance to reflect magic attacks, and inflicts paralysis on surrounding enemies when shattered. Defensive capability and magic effects are determined by the user's Spirit Attribute and Skill Proficiency.

Compared to the brief skill description from before, the new version of the [Skeleton Shield] was more powerful by a significant margin. It had perfectly absorbed the advantages of [Telekinesis Shield], [Frost Shield], [Thorn Shield], and [Mirror Shield Skill], and its magical effects had already reached the limit for the Apprentice Stage.

Fang Zhou casually conjured a Skeleton Shield. He reached out, feeling the shield's texture, which was much tougher than before, and nodded in satisfaction.

Thanks to his own ingenuity and a little help from Bai Xiaochan, Meng Hongzhuang, and others, he now possessed another ultimate skill, following the creation of the [Skeleton Flying Spear] with its four damage attributes.

Xiaochan, Hongzhuang, you two need to keep working hard!

「...」

The next day, Fang Zhou entered the Abyss Difficulty [Horn Demon Outpost] again to test the new version of the [Skeleton Shield] skill.

The effect was even better than he had imagined. The Abyss Demon Children, who had previously countered him so effectively, were now helpless. No matter how they used their Magic-Devouring Talent, they couldn't drain any Spiritual Power from Fang Zhou while he was protected by the Skeleton Shield.

Even the Horned Demon Boss, wielding a Giant Axe, couldn't break the solid Bone Shield with a full-powered strike. When it braced against the shield's counter-damage and finally shattered it with all its might, it was instantly paralyzed by the shield's breaking effect and rooted to the spot.

Fang Zhou stood far in the back, watching the impotently raging Horned Demon Boss with great pleasure.

Easily crushing a once-formidable enemy… This feeling is truly exhilarating.

After exiting the Simulation Battlefield, Fang Zhou casually uploaded the latest versions of [Skeleton Flying Spear] and [Skeleton Shield] to the Human Alliance Skill Library.

Soon, he received a reward of 300 contribution points from the Human Alliance.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.