But she still looked at Fang Zhou with obedient trust.

The moment the liquid entered her throat, Vigus’s eyes burst with an intense silver-white light. Her spirit body began to disperse uncontrollably. The unique, translucent figure of the Death Elf resembled mist scattered by the wind, revealing the soul anchoring point within her. Fang Zhou immediately activated the pre-inscribed Concentration Meditation Array, binding the overflowing spiritual essence between the Soul Pillars.

"Don’t resist the tearing sensation," Fang Zhou’s voice cut through the psychic scream. "Remember the tremor of your birth!"

In agonizing pain, Vigus had a sudden realization and willingly relinquished control over her spirit body. The dispersed spiritual essence reversed its rotation, forming a soul vortex like a miniature black hole. The Pale Spring began to reveal its true power. Vigus saw countless memory fragments emerge from the vortex—they were the dying moments of all previous drinkers of the Pale Spring.

Fang Zhou’s warning came at that moment. "Don’t get lost in the flashbacks of death! Grab that silver-white thread..."

Following Fang Zhou’s command, Vigus’s fingertips plunged into her own chest, pulling a strand of silver-white thread from the soul vortex. She wrapped the thread around the ring finger of her left hand, and her once pitch-black fingernails were instantly coated in silver runes.

When Vigus re-formed her body, the soul pressure unique to the Bronze Tier compelled the low-tier undead standing guard around her to bow in submission. Her new, silver-white hair drifted on an unseen current, with a tiny Soul Prism suspended at the end of each strand.

Her Double Casting and Strong Magic talents, which could previously only be used for Black Iron spells, had now reached the Bronze Tier. And, just like the Black Gem Young Dragon Tiamat, Vigus successfully comprehended a third beneficial skill during this promotion: Death Energy Tide.

The Death Energy Tide skill would cause the power of Fang Zhou’s next Death Attribute Skill to slightly increase whenever he, as Vigus’s Contractor, cast one. This effect could stack up to ten times.

With his current, extremely enhanced attack power, Fang Zhou could often kill enemies of the same tier in a single hit using his burst damage alone. As a result, he generally didn’t need to use many skills. However, in sustained or group battles, Vigus’s newly awakened Death Energy Tide skill would undoubtedly make him even more formidable. One could only imagine the terrifying destructive power Fang Zhou could unleash with a Skeleton Storm or Skeleton Heart-Piercing Flying Spear after accumulating the maximum ten stacks from Death Energy Tide!

***

After resting for a day or two in Beast Fighting City, Fang Zhou contacted Instructor Lu Hu, who was far away on Blue Star at the Sea City Military Academy.

According to his agreement with Instructor Lu Hu, Fang Zhou had not only successfully advanced from the Upper Rank of Black Iron to the Lower Tier of Bronze during his training in the Fierce Beast Mountain Range, but he had also participated in the sudden battle against the Demon Worshipers, successfully killing a Six-armed Snake Demon Lord and two other members of the sect. From any perspective, Fang Zhou had far exceeded the requirements for the level-skipping task assigned by the Sea City Military Academy.

Therefore, after Fang Zhou submitted his level-skipping application to Instructor Lu Hu, the Sea City Military Academy issued him a special certificate without even requiring a basic theoretical test. The moment he received the certificate, Fang Zhou officially became a fourth-year student—a member of the graduating class—at the Sea City Military Academy.

After dealing with these miscellaneous matters, Fang Zhou had planned to return to the Sea City Military Academy, which he hadn’t seen in a long time. However, his mind was preoccupied with the ruins of the Naraku Civilization that he had previously learned about. After consulting with Master Sandro and Instructor Su Xinyan, he decided to remain in Beast Fighting City for the time being to recruit a group of capable adventurers and explore the Naraku Civilization ruins deep within the Fierce Beast Mountain Range.

In Beast Fighting City, the adventurer groups, composed of professionals of different levels, each had their own unique characteristics. Fang Zhou visited some of the most renowned ones.

For instance, there was the Star Expedition Team. Its leader was a Bronze Middle Rank Warrior with a wealth of combat experience and leadership abilities. The vice-captain was a Bronze Middle Rank Mage proficient in elemental and support magic, and they also had two Bronze Lower Rank Thieves adept at reconnaissance and trap disarming.

Then there was the Ironblood Adventurer Group, led by a valiant and decisive Bronze Middle Rank Swordsman who was a retired military officer. The group had three vice-captains, all Bronze Middle Rank Archers specializing in long-range attacks and sniping. Two Bronze Lower Rank Shield Warriors were responsible for defense and drawing enemy attention. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The Shadow Adventurer Group was led by a Bronze Middle Rank Assassin skilled in stealth and assassination. Its vice-captains were two Bronze Middle Rank Rangers specializing in tracking and wilderness survival. They had also recruited two Bronze Lower Rank Warlocks capable of summoning bloodline spirits to launch curse attacks.

Another was the Eye of the Storm Adventurer Group, whose leader was a Bronze Middle Rank Elemental Master capable of manipulating the four elements: wind, thunder, water, and fire. The vice-captain was a Bronze Middle Rank Summoner who could call various elemental creatures into battle. Two Bronze Lower Rank Berserkers, famous for their strength and frenzy, served as the group’s main force.

These adventurer groups left Fang Zhou dazzled and spoiled for choice.

For the next while, Fang Zhou split his time between searching for a suitable team at the Adventurer Association and digesting the gains from his recent battles. Originally, he had planned to use the six broken Demon Blades from the Six-armed Snake Demon Lord as raw materials to forge his own equipment. In the end, however, he slightly repaired the six Demon Blades and gave them to the "revived" Six-armed Snake Demon Corpse Puppet.