As Shen Hongyu left, the female trainees around Bai Xiaochan couldn't wait to ask, "Xiaochan, I've just completed one-fifth of the visualization. What's your progress?"
Bai Xiaochan replied softly, "I've completed half the visualization."
Among the thirty or so trainees present, more than twenty had not exceeded one-fifth in their progress.
Bai Xiaochan's progress of half was like a thunderclap in their ears.
Especially for those who had only completed one-seventh of their progress, they even doubted if they were dreaming.
How could there be such a big gap between people?
Someone else asked, "Zhiqiu, what about you?"
"Me, two-thirds progress,"
Gu Zhiqiu spoke with an indifferent tone, seemingly without any intent to show off.
But two-thirds — this progress left all the trainees present astonished.
Seeing this, Gu Zhiqiu's mouth lifted slightly, feeling quite pleased.
At this moment, Bai Xiaochan jumped in front of Fang Zhou, her big eyes blinking.
"Fang Zhou, what's your progress?"
The other trainees perked up their ears, feeling very curious.
Gu Zhiqiu and Bai Xiaochan had rare professions, and their meditation progress far exceeded ordinary people. Although enviable, it was barely acceptable.
But Fang Zhou was supposedly the weakest Undead Mage.
It was well known that Undead Mages progressed slowly due to the barriers between life and death.
How could Fang Zhou, of all people, be praised by Instructor Shen alongside Gu Zhiqiu and Bai Xiaochan?
Fang Zhou thought it over. Since Instructor Shen already knew his progress, there was no need to hide it.
He replied directly, "I've successfully entered the Beginner phase."
Successfully entered the Beginner phase?!
This statement fell like a bombshell on the ears of the surrounding trainees, instantly stirring waves in their hearts.
Especially Gu Zhiqiu, who initially believed his two-thirds visualization was enough to triumph over everyone.
Unexpectedly, Fang Zhou jumped out, and his progress was even more astounding.
With Instructor Shen having spoken earlier, he didn't suspect Fang Zhou of boasting.
Recalling his earlier smug demeanor, Gu Zhiqiu's face reddened slightly.
But he quickly adjusted his mindset and, after accepting reality, proactively asked Fang Zhou about methods to speed up meditation efficiency.
Fang Zhou was not secretive. Although meditation success mainly depended on talent, there were indeed some small techniques for using Spiritual Power.
He generously shared these techniques, and for a time, all the trainees listened attentively to Fang Zhou sharing his experience.
The more they listened, the more they admired him, and alongside their admiration came a sense of pity.
Why would such an outstanding talent awaken as an [Undead Mage]?
A person with such gifted talent and feeling could definitely shine brightly if placed in another rare profession or even a common profession.
...
In the principal's office, Su Tiankuo perused the records handed over by the instructors.
"Two-thirds progress? Not bad. With a strong awakened profession and good intrinsic talent, it's worth nurturing,"
"Halfway? Hmm, it's a rare support profession, the talent is not bad, it's worth nurturing."
"Hmm?"
Su Tiankuo suddenly sat up straight, looking at the report in his hand.
"Completed the meditation Beginner phase in less than a day? Which profession's genius is this?"
Immediately, his expression darkened.
"Undead Mage? Fang Zhou? Even stronger than Xinyan's talent?
Hmph, what's the use of just meditating? Being able to fight is what truly matters!"
...
In the dormitory, Fang Zhou sneezed.
He rubbed his nose, "Who is talking about me? No matter, let's practice skills first."
As he did yesterday, he first exhausted his Spiritual Power and summoned 22 new fragile skeletons.
"[Summon Skeleton]'s skill proficiency improved!"
With a wave, he banished them back to the Undead Realm, and Fang Zhou was delighted to see his Summon Skeleton skill proficiency rise from [Beginner] to [Master].
Thus, each time he summoned skeletons, both the number and their strength increased significantly, and the duration also extended greatly.
Calming his excited mood, Fang Zhou opened his personal terminal and browsed through the Universal Skills Library, feeling a bit hesitant.
In the afternoon's interaction, he learned many things from Gu Zhiqiu, Bai Xiaochan, and others.
Among them were recommendations for choosing universal skills.
For Fang Zhou, the urgency was to select a powerful combat skill for his skeleton clone.
The skeleton clone was following the combat profession route, and among the universal skills for combat, the most useful were [Brutal Strike] and [Charge].
The former emphasized explosive power, while the latter focused on rapid movement.
Both aspects were exactly what the skeleton clone needed.
Thinking it over, Fang Zhou decided to prioritize [Brutal Strike].
After confirming on his personal terminal, he used his last free access to exchange for a [Brutal Strike] skill book.
The personal terminal lit up, and a cultivation technique demonstration projection appeared before Fang Zhou.
Soon after, there were changes in the skills bar on the attribute panel, showing a learnable skill (+).
Fang Zhou looked at the skill bar on the clone's attribute panel and focused his attention on the "+".
"Detected learnable skill material, can consume 10 points of Soul Power to quickly enter the Beginner phase."
"Do you want to start learning?"
Fang Zhou confirmed directly, "Start learning!"
The consumption of 10 points of Soul Power made the soul fire of Fang Zhou's skeleton clone flare wildly.
It was as if he had stabbed with a long spear made of bones thousands of times, finally mastering the correct way to exert force.
"Learning skill [Brutal Strike] succeeded!"
[Brutal Strike] (Apprentice level, Beginner): Unleashes enormous power in a sudden burst to attack an enemy, with power determined by strength attribute and skill proficiency.
After [Skeleton Armament], the skeleton clone finally mastered a second practical skill.
Excited, Fang Zhou continued to wield his long spear made of bones, clearing out outer skeletons.
Soon, he locked onto a target, decisively using [Brutal Strike], eager to see the actual power of this skill.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
The soul fire within Fang Zhou's skull dimmed slightly, and then the tip of the bone spear seemed covered with a layer of ghostly blue flame.
Under Fang Zhou's great strength, the new fragile skeleton he targeted was crushed to dust.
Strength +0.01, Soul Power +0.1.
Feeling a slight warm current formed by Skeleton Essence streaming into his body, Fang Zhou nodded in satisfaction.
Compared to his normal attacks, this [Brutal Strike] was at least twice as powerful.
It was worth spending those 10 points of Soul Power to quickly enter the Beginner phase.
However, the skeleton clone still needed to consume Undead Power to use skills.
Considering his current strength, he could use [Brutal Strike] up to three times before exhausting the Undead Power in his body.
Fang Zhou looked around and saw a few scattered skeletons nearby.
Based on his estimation, with a few more hours of sweeping tonight, the skeleton clone could advance to Middle Rank Apprentice.
At that point, the new fragile skeletons would no longer provide much Skeleton Essence.