A Yuan’s body was simply too long, so it could only curl around in a circle within the courtyard.
After confirming that it really was A Yuan, the two girls ran up to it and began whispering to it.
Having traveled all the way from Zone 2224, A Yuan seemed a bit tired.
It lay down on the ground and fell asleep, allowing the two girls to stroke it freely, its mood remaining calm and relaxed.
Left to the side, Bai Qiu didn’t mind at all—he was happy to have some free time.
He had already planned to challenge the Tower of Heaven again, and going now was just as good.
…
Fifteen minutes later.
Bai Qiu had slain the Hydra Serpent on the 45th floor and retrieved the Dragon-Slaying Star Breath Spear.
The mana he had consumed was instantly restored.
It had to be said—the Tower of Heaven was a great place.
His proficiency with Spear of Converging Mana Thrust was already close to halfway.
With two more runs, he believed he could max it out and push it to the next level.
So far, the monster lineup in the Tower of Heaven was exactly the same as before.
The question was whether it would remain the same after level 50.
If it did, that would mean these monsters were merely projections, and he could clear floors without restraint.
If not…
Then he might be able to try taming some of the more docile monsters for cultivation.
Bai Qiu took out a pink gem.
Its surface was a semi-transparent, multi-faceted crystal, with countless tiny star-like points of light inside.
Though only about the size of a fist, it contained immense extraordinary power.
“So this is the Radiant Star? Not bad,” Bai Qiu muttered.
This Radiant Star could block a single B-rank attack.
That meant it could easily withstand his ultimate move combined with the Dragon-Slaying Star Breath—Converged Piercing Star!
With this activated, even casting a Noble Phantasm at point-blank range would be no problem—there was no need to worry about being interrupted.
After putting the Radiant Star back into his spatial ring, Bai Qiu selected his reward and ascended to the next floor.
For the first 40 floors, Bai Qiu hadn’t even used the Dragon-Slaying Star Breath Spear.
The monsters were simply too weak, and the space too small—the pressure generated when activating the weapon alone could crush them into pieces.
So instead, he used long spears like the Purgatory Darkflame Spear to practice casting Noble Phantasms without incantation.
By now, he had reduced the casting time to 1.8 seconds—and it could go even lower.
However, this was pushing C-rank weapons to their limits.
Bai Qiu had already rotated through all his remaining C-rank spears.
By the time he reached the 40th floor, even the Purgatory Darkflame Spear was on the verge of breaking, forcing him to take out the Dragon-Slaying Star Breath Spear to continue clearing.
At this moment, in Tower of Heavens across multiple regions, countless players stared intently at the number that advanced one floor every twenty seconds.
The rhythm was so familiar that there was no need to guess who was climbing.
…
Zone 2201.
Li Zhongjun rubbed his temples in fatigue.
Over the past few days, the military had already taken control of six safe zones—from Zone 2200 to 2205.
However, he felt that this was already their limit.
Even though Zone 2201 had 12,000 soldiers, once you excluded non-combat personnel in logistics, only about 6,000 could actually be deployed.
After setting aside forces for Zone 2201 itself, that left only around 1,200 soldiers stationed in each of the other zones.
And those 1,200 soldiers not only had to deal with dangerous monsters in the surrounding areas—so that civilian players could safely hunt and level up—but also had to encourage civilians to make use of their own strengths.
Those skilled in combat would receive basic training and be organized into new squads.
Those who disliked fighting could work under the logistics department, helping with resource distribution…
The more people you manage, the more complicated things become.
The kind of high-speed, rollercoaster-like resource flow Bai Qiu maintained was not something just anyone could replicate.
Bai Qiu wasn’t exactly someone who only cared about himself, but compared to the military—who had to manage the food, clothing, shelter, and equipment upgrades for nearly 100,000 people—his burden was practically nonexistent.
The resources extracted from the asteroid ore vein were usually refined by the system in one go.
Based on blueprints, the system would produce the first prototype, after which specialists would replicate and manufacture them.
After all, having the system produce a single set of C-grade equipment cost 100,000 Sanctum Coins.
There was no way he could afford to outfit every soldier that way.
So in the early stages, a team’s balanced development would inevitably be slower than that of a powerful lone fighter.
Only after things stabilized—once key resource points were secured—could the team begin to heavily invest in cultivating talent.
“And also… the Rider class—how exactly can it bring out its true class characteristics?” Li Zhongjun muttered, frowning.
Rider-class players could wield Noble Phantasms with any kind of weapon—swords, spears, staffs, daggers, even bows and greatswords.
But they all shared one common issue: their Noble Phantasms were generally weaker.
At the beginning, both Casters and Archers were considered the weakest classes.
But once Archers improved their accuracy, the only truly weak class left was the Caster.
Now, Archers had become the most sought-after class among players.
Meanwhile, Casters were gradually rising as well—especially due to the need to deal with monsters like the Hydra serpent, which had low resistance to magic.
Of course, part of that rise was thanks to Bai Qiu’s production and sale of mental power potions.
While it wasn’t enough to completely carry the Caster class…
As long as one could raise their Spirit power to C-, learn a full set of magic skills, continue taking potions to increase elemental affinity, and keep practicing diligently…
They could elevate the Caster class into the top three among the Seven Classes.
At present, the ranking of the Seven Classes was:
Archer, Berserker, Saber, Lancer, Caster, Assassin, and finally… Rider.
The reason the Caster class ranked among the top three was because it had a strong advantage against the Tide Boss—the King-tier Hydra Serpent.
Meanwhile, the once-average Rider class had now become the weakest class…
Of course, there were exceptions.
Li Zhongjun had found a Rider-class player who possessed a mount, and discovered that once a Rider had a mount, not only did their attributes increase, but even their class Noble Phantasm would change and become stronger.
In other words, there were no useless classes—only people who hadn’t yet unlocked their full potential.
Based on this, the Rider class might actually be one that shines in the later stages…
…
When Bai Qiu reached the 50th floor, the enemy waiting for him was no longer the Water Dragon from before.
Once again, his assumption was proven correct.
[Noble Phantasm — Spear of Converging Mana Thrust!]
The moment he saw the enemy, Bai Qiu unleashed his ultimate move.
The originally aggressive Armored Emperor Crocodile instantly lost its momentum and hurriedly turned to dive into the water.
But just as half of its body entered the water, Bai Qiu’s attack had already landed…
A clean one-hit kill.
Looking at the still-intact Dragon-Slaying Star Breath Spear, Bai Qiu felt quite satisfied with its performance.
In truth, he had been worried that repeatedly using Noble Phantasms might cause even a B−-grade weapon like this to overload and break.
Fortunately, its mana adaptability and conversion efficiency were far better than he had expected.
At this rate, it seemed that even after using Noble Phantasms fifty times in a row, the Dragon-Slaying Star Breath Spear would still be able to handle it.
— The end of the Chapter–
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