Skeleton Knight (Seeking Collection and Recommendation)

Before long, following the pitch-black passage, the group soon encountered a pack of eleven skeletons. Among them were five Skeleton Shield-Bearers and six Skeleton Infantry, who, upon reviving, stretched their legs and charged toward Zhao Fu's group.

At this moment, ten Goblin Champions, clad in iron armor and wielding shields that were two meters high, 1.2 meters wide, and four inches thick—essentially door panels—formed a shield wall. Since the passage was ten meters wide and the shields totaled twelve meters in width, a Goblin Champion had to step back slightly, but the resulting wall completely blocked the charging skeletons.

No matter how the Skeleton Shield-Bearers rammed into them, the shield-bearing Goblin Champions remained as immovable as mountains.

Seeing this effect, Zhao Fu felt somewhat satisfied and ordered them to open a gap to let a few skeletons through.

Two Goblin Champions obeyed, each angling their shield, and as a few of the charging skeletons slipped inside, the Goblin Champions immediately closed the gap again.

The few skeletons that had broken through were now faced with ten burly men clad in iron armor, each wielding a large iron hammer.

With a single swing of a hammer, a skeleton was smashed to the ground; after a few more blows, it scattered into a pile of bones. Compared to sharp blades, blunt weapons were actually far more damaging to skeletons. Soon, Zhao Fu used this method to wipe out the entire group.

This group of skeletons yielded eleven blue-grade weapons and nine Soul of Martial Refinement items. Since exactly three were for shield-bearers, Zhao Fu immediately had the Goblin Champions use them.

This was the special method Zhao Fu had prepared. First, he had spent time equipping the Goblin Champions with large shields and oversized iron armor, and now that the Goblin Champions had also learned the Shield Mastery skill, their immense strength made them perfect shield-bearers.

Everyone present—the Goblin Champions, the infantry wielding large iron hammers, and the archers—had almost all used a Soul of Martial Refinement.

Previously, Zhao Fu had been reluctant to use the Soul of Martial Refinement, as these were no ordinary items; they could almost always unlock skills of C- grade or higher. It felt like a waste to use them on people with F or E-grade aptitude, whose growth potential was quite limited.

But now, he realized that this was merely a small price to pay to obtain even more Soul of Martial Refinement items.

The Goblin Champions unlocked the C- grade Enhanced Shield-Bearing, the ten infantrymen unlocked the C- grade Enhanced Heavy Strike, and the archers gained the same Stone-Shattering Arrow skill as Zhao Fu.

Li Wen and Liu Mei also used the Soul of Martial Refinement; Li Wen used an archer's soul, and Liu Mei used an infantryman's soul, both gaining their respective skills while bringing their skill proficiency to the "Proficient" level or higher.

The only one present who did not use a Soul of Martial Refinement was old Rogge, as his age made him unsuitable for close-quarters combat.

The strength of the group was now self-evident; killing these skeletons was effortless, and their speed was more than twice as fast as before. The main reason was that they were specifically countering these skeletons: the shield-bearing goblins had become a solid iron wall, and the ten infantrymen, swinging their heavy iron hammers, achieved results several times better than hacking away with blades.

They continued forward!

Blue sparks of soul fire ignited in the darkness. This time, seventeen skeletons revived: five Skeleton Archers, six Skeleton Shield-Bearers, and six Skeleton Infantry.

Facing so many, the group showed no fear and attacked in an orderly fashion. The archers' first volley pierced the skulls of three Skeleton Infantry, the Goblin Champions raised their shields to hold the line, and they once again used their previous method to quickly slaughter the skeletons.

As for the other dropped items, there was no need to dwell on them, though one Soldier Soul did drop, which gave Zhao Fu a pleasant surprise. The drop rate for a Soldier Soul was extremely low, though Captain-level skeletons were guaranteed to drop one.

Just as he said this, a Skeleton Captain leading a dozen or so skeletons charged over. This time, the Skeleton Captain was a Skeleton Archer with sharp, ruthless marksmanship; Zhao Fu's men were nearly struck several times.

But in the end, the Skeleton Captain was quickly surrounded and killed by Bai Qi and the others. As expected, it dropped a Soldier Soul, and the bow in its hand was a silver-grade weapon.

[Cloud-Flow Bow] Grade: Silver. Attributes: Strength +3, Constitution +1, Agility +2. Description: Once a top-tier gold-grade weapon, the Cloud-Flow Bow could not withstand the erosion of time and has become an ordinary silver-grade weapon.

Zhao Fu kept the Cloud-Flow Bow for the time being, as he sometimes used a bow for attacks. They continued forward, killing several more waves and obtaining three more Soldier Souls. They encountered no major surprises; the passage seemed endless, pitch-black and deep, with no bottom in sight.

"Clop, clop, clop..."

A sound like horseshoes hitting the ground echoed from ahead. Zhao Fu realized what it was, and without him needing to say a word, everyone else realized it too.

Sure enough, before long, several Skeleton Cavalry appeared before them. These Skeleton Knights were mounted on skeleton horses. Both the warhorses and the armor they wore had been preserved, though they looked tattered and appeared to be only white-grade, while the weapons in their hands were mostly blue-grade.

As the five Skeleton Cavalry appeared, they drew their longswords and charged toward Zhao Fu's group, swinging them wildly.

Zhao Fu immediately shouted, "Shields up!"

The Goblin Champions raised their giant shields with both hands, forming an iron wall, and braced themselves for the impact. Zhao Fu also ordered the archers to attack.

Arrows flew out; most were dodged by the Skeleton Cavalry, and the few that struck caused little damage, merely causing the skeleton soldiers to falter for a moment. Their speed did not slow, as they were mounted on skeleton horses.

Seeing the Skeleton Cavalry about to crash into them, four Fireballs and one Wind Blade were fired, landing right in front of the charging cavalry.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of explosions rang out. The combined force of so many spells detonating at once was astonishing, directly blasting the two leading Skeleton Cavalry off their horses. The three cavalrymen behind and to the sides were less affected and continued their fierce charge.

However, they were helpless against the shield wall formed by the Goblin Champions and could not jump over it. The giant shields were two meters high, and after the Goblin Champions raised them with both hands, they reached 2.3 meters. Most horses could not jump that high.

The Skeleton Knights could only urge their skeleton horses to ram into the shield wall, hoping to break through.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three dull thuds echoed as the skeleton warhorses slammed into the giant shields. The Goblin Champions gritted their teeth, holding their shields firm and taking the full force of the impact.

At this moment, Zhao Fu first ordered the archers to shoot the two dismounted Skeleton Cavalry, then had the Goblin Champions open two gaps to let the remaining two Skeleton Cavalry inside.

As soon as the two Skeleton Cavalry charged in, the ten infantrymen split into two groups, raised their iron hammers, and used all their strength to smash the legs of the skeleton horses, forcing them to the ground.

Following that, the men swarmed them, raised their heavy iron hammers high, and unleashed a chaotic barrage of strikes, smashing the two Skeleton Cavalry to death. The final Skeleton Cavalry was also surrounded and killed.