71: Chapter 71 Breaking Records, the Commerce Department's Plans

As Fang Zhuo confirmed with his mind.

The light and shadow inside the 'Heaven-Reaching Tower' changed. In the Stage A trial, the familiar 10 Level 32 Green Barbarian Oxen slowly condensed in the desert.

"Awoo~!"

Upon seeing Fang Zhuo, the exotic beast Green Barbarian Oxen immediately turned red-eyed and charged from all four directions—front, back, left, and right. The sandy ground shook, kicking up waves of sand and dust.

It was different from last time.

Fang Zhuo's strength had now grown significantly.

He tapped his toes, his body soared, and he unfurled the long blade in his hand before slashing downwards fiercely. A red blade shadow appeared.

The long blade carried Fang Zhuo as he struck the ground like a crushing weight.

Thunder Fire Blade, Second Level!

Life Level 32, base punch strength 24,000kg. Counting the perfection of his Body Micro-Control, this resulted in a total increase of 14.4 times.

This strike carried a force of 345,600kg!

Boom! The slash hit the ground, and the mere aftershock caused the 10 Green Barbarian Oxen to lose their balance and stagger to the ground. Immediately after, the flying gravel and blade energy riddled them with holes, and they all lost their breath of life one by one.

Fang Zhuo twisted his waist, used the long blade to gain leverage, and landed gracefully.

Compared to last time, when he used three strikes and spent nearly half a minute, this time, less than 10 seconds had passed!

"Stage A trial of the first floor passed. Do you wish to start Stage B?"

"Yes."

Coming here this time with the goal of breaking the record, Fang Zhuo responded instantly.

Immediately, in Stage B, that Level 34 Iron-Backed Bear appeared on the edge of the cliff. After performing its signature chest-thumping move, it charged at Fang Zhuo with a thudding sound.

"Die!"

With his back to the cliff, Fang Zhuo took the initiative and charged up. A pale red blade shadow bloomed on the long blade—it was only the first level of the Thunder Fire Blade.

The Iron-Backed Bear was split open from the middle. It didn't even have time to let out a cry of pain before it was shattered into two halves.

"Stage C!"

"To break the record, each wave of Wind Wolves must be killed instantly, or within 10 seconds! This requires at least 30 consecutive bursts of strikes..."

Fang Zhuo took deep breaths, adjusting from the consumption of the previous two strikes. To be honest, wanting to instantly kill 5 Wind Wolves was not easy.

Exotic beast Wind Wolves were much more agile than Green Barbarian Oxen, and they wouldn't foolishly cluster together to charge.

"I'll do my best. My Life Level is only 32, after all; it hasn't reached the limit for the first floor's entry. If I were Level 34, my physical endurance would be much stronger!"

Stage C refreshes five Level 32 Wind Wolves every minute, lasting for 30 minutes. During this period, every time the Wind Wolves are cleared, one can actively refresh the next wave...

The trial challenge began, and the first wave of five Wind Wolves appeared.

They were agile, moving in a 2-2-1 formation—left, right, and front—as they lunged toward Fang Zhuo.

"Kill!"

Fang Zhuo charged forward with his blade. His body was like a cannonball leaving the barrel, his footsteps changing flexibly. As the five Wind Wolves turned, he found an excellent angle.

He raised his hand and struck.

Thunder Fire Blade, Second Level!

A fiery red blade shadow appeared, instantly spreading to the five Wind Wolves and killing them in an instant!

"Refresh early!"

Fang Zhuo roared in his heart while taking a sharp breath. Taking advantage of the five Wind Wolves whose bodies were quickly forming but hadn't yet moved, he slashed backhand.

"Crack—"

Several crisp sounds of bones breaking rang out, and four more Wind Wolves fell to the ground in response.

The last Wind Wolf was the furthest away; it reacted and narrowly dodged.

Fang Zhuo cursed under his breath, strode forward to catch up, and with his long blade cutting through the air, he decapitated the Wind Wolf in one strike.

"Continue, refresh for me!" Fang Zhuo panted, shouting as he raced against time.

...

The third wave, the fourth wave... Wave after wave of Wind Wolves were quickly slaughtered and then actively summoned. On average, Fang Zhuo cleared a wave of Wind Wolves every 9 seconds.

This continued until the twentieth wave.

"Hoo~!"

Fang Zhuo's feet were piled with the corpses of exotic beasts. He panted heavily, his lungs feeling like a dilapidated bellows.

He gasped for a full three seconds before continuing in a low voice: "Refresh!"

The twenty-first wave took 10 seconds to kill.

The twenty-second wave took 10 seconds.

...

The twenty-eighth wave took 11 seconds.

The twenty-ninth wave took 12 seconds.

For the thirtieth wave of Wind Wolves, Fang Zhuo unleashed three full strikes. As he slashed out the final Thunder Fire Blade and the last Wind Wolf fell to the ground convulsing, the long blade in his hand also clattered to the ground.

"Should have... broken the record?"

Fang Zhuo's arms went weak. He had unleashed fifty-six Thunder Fire Blade strikes with almost no pause, draining all the strength from his body.

"Stage C trial of the first floor passed. Total time taken: 5 minutes and 1 second."

"Congratulations! You have refreshed the best record for the first floor of the 'Heaven-Reaching Tower'. Reward: 10 hours of usage time for the High-Civilization Gravity Chamber."

Hearing the notification sound, a smile appeared on Fang Zhuo's weary face.

Not bad. He was exhausted to death, but fortunately, he had successfully broken the record for this floor.

10 hours of usage time for the gravity chamber...!

Thinking of this, the corners of Fang Zhuo's mouth couldn't stop curling upward, and he felt like he was walking on air: "Go home, eat. I wonder how Shi Wei is doing with the preparations...?"

"I hope there's some improvement, otherwise Sister Lan from the Supervision Department is going to have quite a feast...!"

...

Heaven-Reaching Tower First Floor Ranking: First place, Fang Zhuo, time taken 5 minutes 1 second. Second place, Zhou Zeyu, time taken 5 minutes 12 seconds. Third place, Meng Fan, time taken 5 minutes 24 seconds.

At the same time the 'Heaven-Reaching Tower' record was refreshed, the information was also synchronized to the group's internal combat power ranking list.

Senior Group Combat Power: 236, Fang Zhuo, Life Level 32, perfect Body Control and Micro-Perception, Thunder Fire Blade Second Level, combat power increase 14.4 times (8 * 2.6).

This news quickly spread throughout the various departments of the group. It wasn't exactly a sensation, but it did cause quite a stir.

Supervision Department. Sister Lan had specially changed into a dress today—a black spaghetti strap dress—and applied light makeup. She was clearly taking the dinner at Fang Zhuo's house later very seriously.

Before pushing open the office door, a colleague with glasses and a rather nerdy, engineering-student vibe called out: "Sister Lan, the combat power ranking for the Senior Group has been updated!"

"Hmm?" "Did Fang Zhuo move up?"

Sister Lan turned back and asked. Seeing her colleague was a bit excited, she couldn't help but be curious; it looked like the ranking had improved significantly.

To be honest, she had been instructed by the department manager to contact Fang Zhuo and curry favor in advance, but she really didn't think Fang Zhuo could break into the top ten of the Senior Group ranking after one year of the training period.

It was mostly just official business. Besides, she just wanted to build a good relationship with a genius who had a customized contract.

"He rushed to 236th place. His combat power increase has reached 14.4 times!"

The engineering-type man pushed up his glasses and clicked his tongue: "His Life Level is 32, but his combat power increase multiplier is already no lower than the geniuses at Level 36 or 37 in the group."

"Also, he broke the record for the first floor of the 'Heaven-Reaching Tower'."

"Combat power increase of 14.4 times!" Sister Lan took a deep breath, pulled up the strap of her dress, and strode toward Fang Zhuo's residence.

It looked like this meal would have to last a while longer. Who knows, maybe Fang Zhuo could really obtain the power to choose his own department?

142nd Floor. Commercial Department of the Starry Sky Martial Artist Group. Inside the manager's office, a woman with a good figure was bowing while reporting: "Manager, that's the situation..."

"It seems now that Fang Zhuo really has a chance to break into the top ten of the Senior Group within a year. His comprehension is no worse than a Martial Aspect talent. In a few years, he might be the second Wang Jinhua."

"Combat power increase of 14.4 times..." The Commercial Department manager sitting in the chair was a middle-aged man with sharp eyes; one could tell just by looking at him that he was very shrewd.

"Go see Fang Zhuo now and try to pull him into our Commercial Department. His potential, as it appears now, really is enough to qualify for a customized contract. The department heads' vision is still as sharp as ever."

The Commercial Department manager stood up and paced to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking outside Starry Sky Base City. In the far distance, there was a bright spot—that was Future Base City.

"Yes!" The woman turned to leave.

"Wait a moment. Promise him that if he joins our Commercial Department, he won't have to take on any group business in the future; he can continue to focus on his cultivation with peace of mind."

"Ah?" The woman was surprised: "Isn't this condition too good?"

Any genius contract offered by a martial artist group comes with abundant resources, but it's not charity. After the training period, martial artists must work for the group.

"Fang Zhuo has a Martial Arts Junior College credential. The title of the number one Martial Arts Junior College student—he will have a chance to snatch it from Jiang Chen of the Future Group in the future. The commercial value in that is enough!"

The Commercial Department manager's eyes were deep, his expression determined.