For a time, Fang Zhou entered a period of joyful, explosive growth.

Taking advantage of the temporary lull in the Blood Moon Tide, his territory was free from external threats. The Clone diligently farmed and rigorously conducted research in the Wasteland of Strife. Both his personal strength and the power of the Corpse Tomb under his command were increasing by the day.

Meanwhile, his main body absorbed the attribute feedback from the Clone while hunting on the familiar outskirts of the Fierce Beast Mountain Range.

Every night, whenever he had free time, Fang Zhou would use his Spiritual Power to wear down the Space Equipment left behind by the Fox Tail Bandit Group. That group had been quite wealthy; out of eighteen members, six possessed Space Equipment. Even with the owner dead, this equipment was not easy to open. Fang Zhou could only use his Mana to patiently grind away the remnant spiritual imprints inside.

Erasing the imprint and opening a single piece of Space Equipment took at least five days of effort. This was only possible because Fang Zhou’s Spirit Attribute was already approaching 100, nearing the bottleneck of a Bronze Mage. For an ordinary Black Iron Tier Mage, the time required to erase a spiritual imprint would at least double. For a Combat Professional, it was an even more hopeless task. It was practically impossible for them to erase the imprints within Space Equipment using their own abilities.

During this period, Fang Zhou also finished studying the Defense Array. When activated to its maximum state, this abridged version could generate a Shield Value at the very limit of Upper-Rank Black Iron, with a peak consumption of thirty Magic Stones per hour. Its minimum activation produced a Middle-Rank Black Iron Shield, consuming ten Magic Stones per hour. However, if a Mage was stationed to supply Energy through Meditation, the minimum consumption could be reduced to less than three Magic Stones per hour.

After the Shield was shattered, it would take several minutes to reactivate. Furthermore, each time the Shield was shattered, the Runes on the portable Protective Array sustained damage, so it was best to prevent the Shield from breaking at all. The array’s maximum protective coverage was a radius of one hundred meters. However, a larger Shield range would dilute its Defense Power and increase the array’s energy consumption.

Who knew where the Fox Tail Bandit Group had obtained this Defense Array. It had clearly passed through several hands and was extremely old. The Runes inscribed on it had reached a stage where they required maintenance.

This made Fang Zhou consider that after advancing to the Bronze Tier, perhaps he could redeem knowledge from the Sea City Military Academy to become a part-time Array Master. Then, he could personally repair this Defense Array himself.

...

After nearly a month of hard work, Fang Zhou emerged from the mountains with another large haul. The returns from hunting Fierce Beasts were becoming increasingly smaller for him. At the same time, he was now reluctant to join a more powerful Team.

Working for someone else is out of the question. It’s much more interesting to be my own boss.

After submitting the Fierce Beast clearing mission and earning some contribution points and Magic Stones, Fang Zhou returned to Beast Fighting City. It was time to tie up some loose ends. All twenty members of the Fox Tail Bandit Group had died at his hands, and he wondered if they had left behind anything else of value.

Every little bit counts; I’m not leaving anything behind.

He opened the Space Equipment from the six members, taking stock of all the Magic Stones and various materials inside. In total, they were worth approximately 30,000 Magic Stones. He didn’t plan on keeping their enchanted equipment, either. Black Iron Tier equipment was useless to him now, so he might as well sell it for some money.

As for a channel to sell these illicit goods, he would naturally go through the official channels of Beast Fighting City. The loot in Fang Zhou’s possession had been legitimately won from the Fox Tail Bandit Group, acquired legally under the witness of Lieutenant Colonel Shen Zhongyun. Of course, it could be sold openly. If it were the Fox Tail Bandit Group trying to offload their illegally plundered enchanted equipment, they would have had to go through the shadowy black market. In such a scenario, the value of the equipment would have been drastically reduced.

Fang Zhou had no intention of giving the equipment to his friends; after all, it was stained with blood. He didn’t know what kind of trouble these items might attract later, so selling them was the safest and most prudent option. For all he knew, a particular piece of equipment could have been stripped from the corpse of another victim by the Fox Tail Bandit Group. If the original owner’s relatives happened to see it, it could lead to unpleasant speculation and bring about unnecessary trouble.

Upon returning to Beast Fighting City, Fang Zhou sold all his spoils of war at once, including all the enchanted equipment from the Fox Tail Bandit Group. If one were to sell such equipment on the black market, its price would be cut in half. If the equipment was damaged, the price would be slashed even further. Fortunately, Fang Zhou went through the official reclamation channels of Beast Fighting City.

In total, there were over thirty pieces of enchanted equipment from the eighteen bandits. After selling them all, he received a full 30,000 Magic Stones.

This is quite a windfall. No wonder these people love robbery; it really is a fast way to make money.

Besides the equipment, the Protective Array was also quite valuable. Even this abridged version was worth around 10,000 Magic Stones. However, Fang Zhou didn’t plan to sell the array for now. This item was highly cost-effective, and if he were to manage his own Team in the future, a Protective Array would be indispensable. Such portable Protective Arrays were impossible for Black Iron, Bronze, or even Silver Tier Array Masters to create.