Undead Mage: I Have a Skeleton Clone-Chapter 536 - 382: Gu Master vs. Undead Archmage!

On the arena, Fang Zhou and Gu Yueyuan stood a hundred meters apart, facing each other.

Fang Zhou’s entire body exuded an immensely powerful Mana fluctuation. The sheer force of this energy made everyone present take notice.

Gu Yueyuan’s brows gradually furrowed. He felt the immense pressure emanating from Fang Zhou.

"Your Mana fluctuation... you can’t be far from the Black Iron Middle Rank, can you?"

Gu Yueyuan’s voice carried a hint of surprise, and his expression darkened considerably, as if thunder and lightning brewed between his brows.

This wasn’t because Gu Yueyuan was dissatisfied with Fang Zhou’s rate of progress. Rather, he saw the gap between them in Fang Zhou’s advancement. This disparity made him deeply unsatisfied with his own Cultivation progress.

He had broken through his bottleneck to reach the Black Iron tier nearly half a year ago and had since experienced many bloody battles in practical missions, such as those within the Forest of Nature’s Spatial Fragments.

Despite this, his Mana fluctuation was still noticeably inferior to that of Fang Zhou, who had only advanced to Black Iron two months ago.

This left the usually proud Gu Yueyuan with mixed emotions, but it also ignited his fighting spirit.

Fang Zhou was now fully focused and on high alert, activating his Soul Eagle Eye skill.

The reason was simple: Fang Zhou had learned from Liu Diewu just how troublesome Gu Yueyuan was as an Insect Nest Walker.

Gu Insects were subtle and pervasive, capable of changing size at will.

Large Gu Insects were comparable to Siege Giant Beasts, able to destroy city walls and crush enemy armies. The smaller ones, however, were tinier than mosquitoes and flies—almost impossible to detect with the naked eye. They could infiltrate an enemy’s body unnoticed and inflict lethal damage.

However, Fang Zhou possessed a skill that specifically countered these minuscule Gu Insects: Soul Eagle Eye.

Although Gu Insects were special creatures, they were ultimately living beings and possessed soul fluctuations. With the Soul Eagle Eye skill, Fang Zhou could perceive the presence of any soul fluctuation. No matter how small a Gu Insect was, it could not escape his Perception.

He carefully observed every corner of the arena, ensuring there were no hidden threats.

Fortunately, Gu Yueyuan seemed to possess a degree of martial honor. He didn’t secretly deploy Gu Insects for an ambush, as Fang Zhou had imagined. This gave Fang Zhou a chance for a direct confrontation.

So, Fang Zhou looked up at Gu Yueyuan, using his Soul Eagle Eye skill to search for potential weaknesses.

Based on the calculation method of Fang Zhou’s attribute panel, Gu Yueyuan’s Spirit Attribute was currently around 40 points. This was a remarkable achievement for a second-year student who had broken through to Black Iron less than half a year ago.

According to Instructor Su Xinyan’s standards, when a Professional broke through the bottleneck to the Black Iron tier, their Spirit Attribute would typically double from around 10 points to 20. Taking a Black Iron-grade Spirit Secret Medicine could then raise it to 30 points. After half a year of diligent Meditation, it would be possible to reach a level of approximately 40 points.

This also showed that Gu Yueyuan’s Talent for the Insect Nest Walker Profession was in no way inferior to Instructor Su Xinyan’s Talent for the Undead Mage Profession.

It would likely take him less than another six months to raise his Spirit Attribute to 50 points, at which point he would break through to the Black Iron Middle Rank and become an even more formidable existence.

In contrast, Fang Zhou benefited not only from his own efforts but also from the attribute feedback from his Corpse Clone. Every bit of growth the Corpse Clone experienced in actual combat was fed back to Fang Zhou’s main body, further enhancing his strength.

At this rate, it probably wouldn’t take Fang Zhou more than two months to break through to the Black Iron Middle Rank, further widening the gap between him and his peers.

As mentioned before, with Fang Zhou’s Overturning Talent, coupled with the help of his attribute panel and Corpse Clone, anyone he surpassed could only eat his dust.

After a few pleasantries, Fang Zhou gestured for Gu Yueyuan to make the first move.

Gu Yueyuan’s lips curled into a smirk. "Fang Zhou, I know you must be very confident to challenge me, but I’m no weakling either. My Profession as an Insect Nest Walker is quite special. At each Tier, I can choose one Gu Insect as my Lifebound Gu. My own Energy Attribute then changes to match that of my Lifebound Gu.

"Not long ago, in the Forest of Nature, I acquired an exceptionally rare and powerful Nature Series Gu Insect. Therefore, my current Energy Attribute is the Natural Attribute. Life and death, an unending cycle. My Natural Attribute greatly counters your Death Attribute. You’d best not be careless."

After he finished speaking, Gu Yueyuan entered a combat stance, and his previously mild expression turned serious. His eyes now burned with an extremely cold killing intent, making him seem like a completely different person from his usual self.

His body emanated the Mana fluctuation of a Black Iron Lower, yet it felt more vast and powerful than that of an ordinary person. This Black Iron Mana filled his Invisible Energy Core to the brim, showcasing his deep foundation.

The Energy generated within a Professional’s Energy Core would, in turn, nurture the Energy Core itself. In fact, as long as Energy remained within the Energy Core, it had a nourishing effect on the Professional’s physical body. However, this effect was subtle, far less significant than the improvement gained from a Professional’s active consumption of Energy.

It was like the still water of the sea, which slowly erodes the surrounding rocks over time. This long-term, gradual effect was simply far less intuitive than the violent, direct impact of waves crashing against the shore.