Undead Mage: I Have a Skeleton Clone-Chapter 551 - 389: Whip of Suffering, Corrosive Poison Series Skill Tree!

The female student instinctively covered her mouth, staring at the scene in disbelief. She had participated in many stone gambling fairs before, encountering all sorts of people and countless customers, but she had never witnessed such a dramatic scene.

So there really are Ancient Marvels!

Amidst the original lumps of yellow clay, a mottled and decayed rope-like object lay quietly within.

A prompt appeared. "Detected the presence of a Soul Crystal. Absorb as Soul Power? Begin absorption?"

After Fang Zhou silently confirmed, the attribute panel absorbed another 100 points of Soul Power from the decayed object. Right now, more than the Soul Crystal it contained, Fang Zhou was concerned about whether this rope-like Ancient Marvel was still usable.

Amidst the various gazes of amazement, envy, and jealousy, Fang Zhou maintained a calm expression as he carefully channeled his Mana into the long rope. Instantly, he received the answer he was looking for from the attribute panel.

[Unnamed Ancient Marvel] (White Normal, Marvel) A broken long whip excavated from a fossil, for the exclusive use of Negative Energy Professionals. It harbors a mysterious and unpredictable energy. Swinging the whip emits a piercing Soul Scream that can penetrate an Energy Shield, causing a single target within a certain range to feel unbearable pain, making it difficult for them to concentrate on fighting or Casting. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

So this isn’t a long rope, but a broken long whip. And it can penetrate shields to inflict pain on enemies. Even though it doesn’t deal direct damage, I can use it as a Marvel to interrupt enemy Casting.

A surge of joy rose in Fang Zhou’s heart; this was exactly what he needed. He had felt that his Control Skills were lacking during his time in the Black Iron Tier simulation battlefield. He had no immediate inspiration for developing and deducing new Control Skills, so this broken long whip could serve as a temporary solution.

He carefully observed the whip in his hand. Although its exterior was mottled and decayed, he could still feel the strange energy it contained. Since I plan to use it for a long time, I can’t just keep calling it ’the broken long whip.’

Fang Zhou thought for a moment before deciding to name it [Whip of Suffering]. The name was both concise and accurately reflected the Marvel’s effect.

Fang Zhou enveloped his right hand in Undead Mana, gripped the Whip of Suffering firmly, and with a light flick, cracked it in a flourish.

CRACK.

A piercing Soul Scream instantly rang out. Though the sound was faint and weak, the expressions on the faces of the others present changed dramatically. The people nearby involuntarily furrowed their brows, as if they had felt a twinge of pain. A few students instinctively took several steps back, their faces filled with shock.

The difference in value between a functional Ancient Marvel and a completely destroyed one was enormous. The students present all wore expressions of shock and envy, as if they were witnessing an unbelievable miracle.

"An Ancient Marvel! A usable Ancient Marvel!" someone exclaimed, rubbing their eyes as if they were dreaming, unable to believe what they were seeing.

"Fang Zhou hit the jackpot! Why don’t I ever have that kind of luck?" another person sighed, their voice thick with a mix of envy, jealousy, and bitterness.

"Junior, my sincerest congratulations! This... this is the most complete Ancient Marvel I’ve ever seen!" The female student attendant was so excited she was nearly incoherent, her eyes shining brightly.

Fang Zhou smiled faintly and said, "I was just incredibly lucky to have found such an Ancient Marvel. I don’t know its specific functions or if it’s still fully intact. It will still need to be appraised by professionals."

He placed the Whip of Suffering into his Space Storage Capsule and, ignoring the envious stares from the crowd, continued to cut the stones. The black fossil quickly dwindled under a gray shimmer of light, eventually being ground into nothing but a small pile of stone dust on the floor.

After the last few black fossils were cut open, they proved to be empty, just like the previous ones; there were no Ancient Marvels inside. Fang Zhou wasn’t surprised. In stone gambling, you lose nine times out of ten. Gambling has never been a path to riches; on the contrary, far more people have gone bankrupt because of it.

This was not Fang Zhou’s path to development. He knew from the beginning that his main purpose here was to acquire Soul Crystals, not to chase after Ancient Marvels. However, he had also gained 200 points of Soul Power from the attempt, fully achieving his goal.

The Gambling Stone Workshop had three counters in total. Fang Zhou had already purchased all the fossils from the middle counter in which he had sensed the presence of Soul Crystals. All that remained were the low-level fossils at 50 contribution points each and the high-level ones at 200 contribution points each. With plenty of contribution points on hand, Fang Zhou naturally wasn’t going to miss out.

He soon discovered that the high-level fossils from the 200-point counter were indeed a different class of item. Their quantity was significantly smaller than those at the middle counter, but Fang Zhou still detected six fossils that resonated with the aura of Soul Crystals.

Adding the five fossils he screened from the low-level counter, Fang Zhou spent nearly 1,500 contribution points in this next batch, absorbing almost 2,000 points of Soul Power. In addition, he excavated three more Ancient Marvels from these fossils. Unfortunately, the functions of these Marvels were completely lost. The attribute panel showed no reaction to them; they were merely empty shells, good for little more than archaeological decorations.

Fang Zhou wandered around the stone gambling tent for a little longer, and after making sure he hadn’t missed anything, he left, satisfied. Exchanging 2,300 contribution points for nearly 3,000 points of Soul Power, plus a [Whip of Suffering] that would be useful at the Black Iron Tier—for Fang Zhou, this deal was a great success.

Of course, in the eyes of others, Fang Zhou was just a prodigal who had squandered over a thousand contribution points just to gamble for a single usable Marvel. It was only because of his soaring reputation that no student dared to express this attitude to his face.

Before he left, the female student attendant dutifully said to him, "Junior Fang Zhou, our Gambling Stone Workshop restocks every two to three days. If you’re still interested, you’re welcome to come back."

After a moment’s thought, she added hesitantly, "However, it’s wise to be moderate. Small wagers are for fun, but large ones can be ruinous. Even though your talent and strength are exceptional, Junior, and you don’t lack contribution points, it’s best to act within your means when it comes to stone gambling."

After all, they were all students of Sea City Military Academy. Although they ran the workshop to profit from human weakness, they didn’t want to actually drive their fellow students into absolute poverty. Especially if the one being duped was a rising star like Fang Zhou; the academy’s instructors would probably not let them off the hook.

Fang Zhou gave the senior student a bright smile and said, "Thank you, Senior Sister. In that case, I’ll add your contact information. Please be sure to notify me when the Gambling Stone Workshop has new stock."

As he added her as a contact, Fang Zhou was already calculating in his mind. Looks like all those contribution points I’ve been saving will finally come in handy. I’ve also just gained nearly 3,000 Soul Power, so I can start deducing the Corrosive Poison Series Skill Tree as soon as I have time.

Then, he could upload these newly deduced Skills to the Human Alliance Skill Library and receive the corresponding contribution point rewards. With such a virtuous cycle, it wouldn’t take long for him to completely deduce all of his Black Iron Tier Skills. He might even be able to enhance the Corpse Clone’s current Universal Skills, which were at the Black Iron Tier. After all, his Clone was currently facing the Skeleton Lord who commanded an army of over ten thousand. There was certainly no harm in increasing his own single-target combat power.

Furthermore, if he had any surplus Soul Power, Fang Zhou could also consider using the attribute panel to directly max out the proficiency of all the Skills for both himself and his Clone. This would save him a great deal of time and effort in arduous Cultivation.

Leaving the Gambling Stone Workshop, full of ambition, Fang Zhou began to search the other stalls for more resources he needed.