75: Chapter 75: The Outcome of the Great Battle, and the Third Stage of the Thunderfire Blade's Progress

Zhao Wuxie's one-year training period had ended, and he had officially entered the Logistics Department.

He had signed a customized contract last year and successfully fulfilled the requirements of his contract's third condition, obtaining a portion of phoenix essence blood.

Now that he had made his move, his Life Level was revealed beyond doubt.

"Level 39!"

"It looks like he used the phoenix essence blood. In just over a year, his Life Level leaped to the pre-transcendent stage. A Level 39 fighting a Level 37—how did the Commercial Department even agree to this?"

Fang Zhuo was surprised.

Meng Fan had joined the group last November and signed an s-rank contract. His one-year training period wasn't over yet, but he had already finalized his future placement with the Commercial Department.

His Life Level was Level 37, which could be considered extremely high!

He must have used many natural treasures behind the scenes, and the effects might not be much worse than phoenix essence blood.

In terms of Body Control, there was no gap between them; both were at the perfect Micro-Perception level, with a physical force multiplier of 8.

Their manual cultivation was the same as well; both were at the boundary of the third stage of the Thunder Fire Blade, with a burst amplification of 2.6 times.

Their overall combat power amplification was the same, both at 20.8 times.

However, at Life Level 37, the base punch force was 59,000 kg.

While at Life Level 39, the base punch force was 73,000 kg.

"It seems the Innate Divine Ability granted by the Federation's top-ranked Martial Aspect, 'Zhenyue Giant Spirit', really is of immense help in battle."

It made sense; otherwise, it would have been impossible for Meng Fan to break into the group's top ten combat power ranking with a Life Level of 37.

Inside the Civilization Arena.

Facing Meng Fan's menacing saber strike,

Zhao Wuxie did not retreat but charged forward instead. Raising his hand, he also slashed out a fiery red saber shadow—likewise the third stage of the Thunder Fire Blade!

The two clashed head-on, colliding violently in mid-air.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing rang out, and Meng Fan was sent flying backward.

Zhao Wuxie laughed heartily and said, "Brother Meng, what are you waiting for? If you don't use your famous 'Zhenyue Giant Spirit' Martial Aspect now, you won't get another chance!"

"As you wish."

Meng Fan stabilized himself, took a deep breath, and suddenly activated the Innate Divine Ability granted by his Martial Aspect, 'Giant Spirit God'.

*Riiip—*

With the crisp sound of tearing fabric, his white training uniform ripped open on the spot. Bulges of muscle swelled up, his bones thickened by two sizes, and his entire frame shot up by nearly half a meter.

He truly looked like a giant, looking down on the entire field.

"Try taking another strike from me."

Meng Fan leaped high into the air, flipping his wrist to slash down with his long saber.

The fiery red saber shadow was thirty percent faster than before!

At that moment, Fang Zhuo's pupils contracted slightly as he suddenly grasped the inspiration that had flashed through his mind earlier.

"That's it! My base strength is currently lacking, but I can try slashing down from a height, utilizing the impact of gravitational potential energy to strike at the fastest possible speed. Perhaps... I'll have a chance to execute it!"

Fang Zhuo stood up with a whoosh and immediately ran toward the cultivation room.

Bai Shiwei glanced at Fang Zhuo's retreating figure. Sensing something, a look of delight appeared on her face.

...

On the way to the cultivation room, Fang Zhuo ran into Wang Jinhua.

Wang Jinhua was clad in combat gear, carrying a saber on his shoulder as he rushed fiercely toward the elevator, his face looking rather grim.

Fang Zhuo didn't speak, only nodding in greeting.

His mind was currently flooded with inspiration regarding the third stage of the Thunder Fire Blade, and he didn't want to be interrupted.

Wang Jinhua was clearly in a hurry as well; he didn't speak either, only nodding slightly.

The 80th floor.

Inside the cultivation room.

Upon entering, Fang Zhuo immediately took a long saber from the weapon rack, walked to the center of the room, and began to try it out impatiently.

He leaped up violently, swinging his arm in a semi-circle as he slashed down heavily at the metal dummy in front of him!

With a sharp *whoosh*,

the blade tore through the air, and a fiery red saber shadow emerged, followed by the sound of sparks showering outward.

This sound was music to Fang Zhuo's ears!

The long saber slashed down, carrying immense force, and struck the metal dummy.

Boom!

With a loud explosion, the metal dummy, which could withstand the full-force strike of an ordinary Level 37 Advanced Martial Artist, shattered on the spot, its fragments scattering all over the floor.

"It worked!"

"The third stage of the Thunder Fire Blade!"

Fang Zhuo was overjoyed, his lips curling into a delighted smile.

With that strike just now, his base punch force was 24,000 kg, his perfect Micro-Perception Body Control amplified it by 8 times, and the third stage of the Thunder Fire Blade amplified it by 2.6 times.

The explosive force of that single strike reached a whopping 499,200 kg!

This past half-month had really caused him a great deal of distress.

Without mastering the third stage of the Thunder Fire Blade, relying solely on daily cultivation to break through his Body Control into Inner Sight would be extremely difficult!

He had originally planned that if he still couldn't master the third stage of the Thunder Fire Blade, he would leave the Starry Sky Group headquarters and head out to the Wilderness Area to train!

Even if he had to face the Ding Family's retaliation and brave the risk of being assassinated by martial artists whose Life Levels were five levels higher than his, he had to take the risk to get a reward like 'phoenix essence blood'!

Savoring the hearty, unrestrained strike from earlier, Fang Zhuo felt entirely refreshed.

"Keep going!"

"Try to consolidate it!"

He took a step forward, twisting his waist and swinging his arms. His spine straightened section by section with a crisp cracking sound as force gathered bit by bit in his hands.

He slashed out with his long saber with absolute resolve!

However, the expected fiery red shadow did not appear.

"No..." Fang Zhuo frowned, leaping high into the air once more to slash downward.

The familiar sound of flying sparks rang out, and a fiery red blade light flared!

"...Hmm, this situation..."

Fang Zhuo felt a bit helpless.

If you were to ask whether he had mastered the third stage of the Thunder Fire Blade, you could say he had! But you could also say he hadn't. It was more like he had 'sort of' mastered it...!

"Ultimately, it's the limitation of my Life Level; my strength is still slightly lacking. But it's enough. At least when I leap to execute the third stage, I can carefully perceive my body's force exertion... and use that to comprehend breaking through to Inner Sight!"

"Once my Life Level rises a bit more, executing this third stage will naturally fall into place."

Fang Zhuo executed jump slash after jump slash.

Every time he executed the third stage of the Thunder Fire Blade, he would stop and carefully sense the mysteries of physical force exertion guided by this SS-rank manual's moves.

Fang Zhuo didn't find this kind of cultivation tedious at all; in fact, he could faintly feel his body growing excited!

"With every slash of the Thunder Fire Blade's third stage, the strength of my entire body twists into a single rope and then explodes violently... I've finally gotten a clue on the path to Inner Sight...!"

Fang Zhuo was completely absorbed.

It wasn't until evening, when Bai Shiwei gently pushed open the door to the cultivation room and slipped inside, that Fang Zhuo finally stopped.

*Gurgle~*

His stomach let out a growling sound.

Bai Shiwei giggled, covering her mouth as she carried a food container and set it on the table. She smiled and asked, "Hubby, have you made progress with the third stage of the Thunder Fire Blade?"

"Yeah... half-mastered."

"Half-mastered?"

Fang Zhuo explained with a smile.

After listening, Bai Shiwei couldn't help but find it amusing. "Needing to use a jump slash to borrow force... It sounds pretty comical, but you really are a genius, Hubby. To think you could actually come up with this and make it work!"

"Eat dinner first. I made it especially for you."

"..."

Hearing this, the smile on Fang Zhuo's face froze.

But seeing Bai Shiwei's bright eyes and white teeth, with fine beads of sweat on her forehead as she looked at him with an expectant gaze,

he couldn't bear to let her down.

"By the way, Wife, what was the result of the big battle this morning?" Fang Zhuo asked as he took small bites of her 'dark' cuisine, only to find that it didn't actually taste that bad.

Had Shi Wei's cooking skills really improved a bit?

"Zhao Wuxie won, but it was a pyrrhic victory."

Bai Shiwei sighed softly.