Undead Mage: I Have a Skeleton Clone

Chapter 633 - 430: Racial Advancement, the Terrifying Naraku Zombie! (Part 2)

For the past few days, Fang Zhou had been rushing tirelessly through the various parts of the Corpse Hills without a moment’s rest. The one and only thing he did was enslave every Black Iron Upper Skeleton Warrior he encountered, turning them into his underlings.

Over the past six months of hunting, Fang Zhou had discovered that neither the Bone Burial Wilderness, populated by Apprentice-level Skeletons, nor the Corpse Hills, home to Black Iron Skeleton Warriors and Zombies, were as boundless as he had once imagined. He once believed the Undead Realm was endlessly vast. But now, with his improved Four-dimensional Attributes and enhanced mobility, it no longer seemed so enormous.

The vast majority of Black Iron Upper Skeleton Warriors in the Corpse Hills were already subjects of the Skeleton Lord. The rest were hidden in secluded locations, so concealed that even the Skeleton Lord’s own Skeleton Battle Group struggled to find them.

This made it extremely difficult for Fang Zhou to obtain the large amount of Corpse Essence he needed to break through his racial bottleneck and advance to Bronze.

However, Fang Zhou was not in a hurry. Before him, a bright path for the undead had already unfolded. The raid on the Bone Castle—the burning, killing, and looting—had already removed the final stumbling block to his advancement to a Bronze-tier Undead.

All he needed to do now was slowly absorb Skeleton Essence. Once he reached the peak, he could rely on the boost from his attribute panel to naturally break through his racial bottleneck. Besides, if there was one thing the Corpse Hills had in abundance, it was Middle and Low Tier Skeletons.

So, Fang Zhou turned his attention back to the outer reaches of the Corpse Hills. With his army of nearly one hundred Skeleton Servants, he began to frantically hunt the Skeletons there, and the amount of Corpse Essence he obtained skyrocketed!

Whether it was a Black Iron Upper or a Black Iron Middle Rank, as long as it was discovered by one of Fang Zhou’s Skeleton underlings, it would inevitably be surrounded and killed, becoming fodder for his evolution.

This feeling of growing stronger step by step was incredibly satisfying for Fang Zhou. He quietly estimated his own progress.

At my current rate of consumption, it won’t take more than a few days to accumulate enough Corpse Essence for a final push to break through the racial bottleneck and successfully advance to Bronze. When that time comes, I’ll definitely storm the Bone Castle and thoroughly claim the Skeleton Lord’s rich legacy.

This thought filled Fang Zhou with vigor.

He swung himself onto the Yellow Springs Nightmare and continued to race across the vast Corpse Hills. Any Undead he encountered was instantly reduced to a pile of shattered bones under his mount’s hooves and his spear’s thrust. The progress bar for his racial advancement ticked upward, little by little.

...

The next morning, after traveling for another two hours, the invigorated Expedition Team finally approached their target.

"Human boy, we’re almost there."

A hoarse, unpleasant voice sounded from behind Fang Zhou. He turned his head to see Guna, the leader of the Mud Spring Banshees, approaching on her Swamp Slime. The old Mud Spring Banshee had milky white cataracts covering her eyes, making her look nearly blind. However, Fang Zhou knew she could see farther and more clearly than anyone else. Because the countless Big Crows wheeling through the sky were her eyes.

"We are almost there," Leader Guna repeated herself. Then, she lifted a Big Crow from her arm, letting the ill-omened bird flap its wings and soar high into the air. "A few kilometers ahead, in the hilly area, stands the Undead Ruins that came from another world."

"Halt the team!" Fang Zhou shouted. "Leader Guna has found the tomb where the Undead Demons are located. Let’s discuss how to attack it!"

"What’s there to discuss?" the Werewolf leader said nonchalantly, lazily twirling the flail in his hand. "Humans on the left, our Wolf Howl Tribe on the right. The Poison Fang Tribe and the Demon Swamp Tribe will bring up the rear. We’ll just charge in together and take the heads of those putrid bastards."

As a rule, whatever the Werewolf leader agreed with, the Snake-man leader was bound to oppose. The tall, thin creature blinked his yellow snake eyes and sneered, "It’s not that simple, you stupid dog! HISS... If the Undead Demons were so easy to defeat, we wouldn’t have needed to ally with the humans in the first place."

"The area around the tomb is unnaturally cold," Guna said, rubbing her arm where the crow’s claws had just been, a phantom chill remaining. "It must be the result of some kind of Array causing the Negative Energy to become too concentrated. My ’eyes’ tried to get closer, but even their feathers were covered in frost."

"This is terrible," the Snake-man leader shivered. "We Snake-men fear little, but the cold is our greatest weakness. It makes us incredibly drowsy. That’s why when winter comes, we all huddle in our tribe and hibernate."

"The protective camouflage of the Snake-men’s scales can deceive the eyes of mortals, but it has no effect on Undead Creatures," Guna said. "We Mud Spring Banshees of the Demon Swamp Tribe also fear the cold. In a cold environment, our already sluggish movements become even slower."

"What about the werewolves?" Fang Zhou asked with a frown.

"The Wolf Howl Tribe fears nothing!" the Werewolf leader roared, raising his flail. He thumped his furry chest and declared, "Our pelts can resist the cold! And if any Skeletons show up, just leave them to us werewolves! TSK, TSK..."

The large werewolf stared at the Skeleton Warriors Fang Zhou had summoned to guard the expedition’s perimeter and couldn’t help but slurp up some drool.

If not for that last little action, I might actually have been moved by his bold words. Fang Zhou thought.

After a brief discussion, the vast procession was divided into two groups. The Snake-man leader, along with the Snake-men of the Poison Fang Tribe and the Mud Spring Banshees of the Demon Swamp Tribe, would remain behind to provide support. The Werewolves of the Wolf Howl Tribe were tasked with handling any Skeletons or other creatures that might appear outside the tomb, ensuring the main force could charge into the Undead Tomb unimpeded.

With battle preparations complete, the team advanced. The Natural Expedition Team, already racially diverse, became even more eclectic with the temporary addition of their swamp allies. There were the human Warriors, represented by the Calamity Squad, Gale Squad, and Thunderfire Squad. There were the Natural Allies, including the Flower Elf, Natural Centaur, and Flower Butterfly Girl. And finally, there were the Swamp Natives: the Mud Spring Banshees, Snake-men, and Werewolves.

Under the threat of the Demons occupying the Undead Tomb, these three completely disparate factions had miraculously formed an Alliance Army, marching in a great host toward their target. It was a bizarre sight that could only appear in the Era of Myth.

Fang Zhou glanced at Guna, the Mud Spring Banshee leader beside him. Are these Chaotic Neutral allies really reliable?

Guna sensed Fang Zhou’s gaze. Riding her Swamp Slime close beside him, she offered a terrifying smile in response. In her hand, which was as withered as a chicken’s claw, she gripped a strangely shaped Bone Staff, and she wore a goat skull as a helmet. It was quite clear, however, that she was far more interested in the brawny Mutated Demon Claw Frog Fang Zhou was riding than in Fang Zhou himself.

After advancing cautiously for some time, Fang Zhou and Guna gave a warning simultaneously.

"Halt! Unidentified situation ahead."

Just as Guna had reported, the temperature plummeted as they neared the tomb. A layer of white snow now covered the ground, making the silhouettes of a group of dark figures ahead stand out even more clearly.

"Lord Fang Zhou, be careful," Kai said softly. "They look like a group of armed soldiers." He peered forward, then added, "...or Zombies."

Those dark figures certainly didn’t look like living people. From the moment Fang Zhou spotted them, they had been standing stock-still, not even shifting their posture in the slightest.

A Werewolf scout at the front let out a howl. "Who goes there!"

Its voice was loud enough to echo off the surrounding mountain walls. Even a deaf person should have been able to hear it, yet the dark figures remained motionless.

By now, however, Fang Zhou had gotten a clear view of the figures through his Soul Eagle Eye. He shook his head and said, "They’re all people who froze to death..."