Infinite Fighting

Chapter 77: Chapter 68: Ascending the Tower

Strange, but decent-tasting meat, fruits, vegetables, and bread toasted to a golden brown.

It was the best meal Zhang Ji had eaten in days.

Before, out at sea, the most he’d had was some raw fish, or he’d just bask in the sun and drink a cup of moon essence to get by.

It was a rare pleasure to eat so happily.

But for some reason, he suddenly found himself thinking of his roast duck with rice again.

His movements paused slightly as his gaze drifted into the void.

’I’ll go back and eat it sooner or later.’

’And I’ll eat it in the national assembly hall of the Eastern Extreme Country.’

After eating, Zhang Ji soaked in a pool, taking a hot bath.

There was even a hot spring here.

He hadn’t known.

In his past life, when he played the game, he only remembered that the tower-climbing minigame in this place was trash and that the skill from it was very useful. Beyond that, he didn’t know much.

After all, this wasn’t a Ruins Realm that produced any special materials, so it wasn’t very valuable to the Zhang Ji of that time.

But while it held little value for Zhang Ji the player, its value was different for the Zhang Ji who now lived in this world.

This Ruins Realm was the size of a large city, capable of supporting tens of thousands of people. Its resources were abundant, and with a little development, it could become an excellent logistics base.

Zhang Ji understood deeply that even in a world with powerful beings capable of destroying stars single-handedly, an individual could never cover all the bases.

There would always be things he needed others to help with.

With a faction supporting him from behind, his growth would be much faster.

Just as it had been back at the Five Elements Sect.

...

「The next morning.」

Zhang Ji met with Zoeyna again.

Zoeyna had invited him to dine with her.

Also at the table was Hudson.

Zoeyna intentionally tried to ease the tension between the two, speaking a few pleasantries and even making Hudson apologize to Zhang Ji.

Hudson wasn’t happy about it, but he couldn’t go against his mother, so he had no choice but to apologize.

"Your Excellency Zhang Ji, I apologize for my impulsive and rude behavior yesterday..." Hudson said with a bow.

Zhang Ji didn’t bother holding a grudge against a young man who wasn’t even twenty.

It was a minor issue to begin with, and besides, he was plotting to take their heritage—and even their entire Ruins Realm.

So, Zhang Ji remained polite and said, "I accept your apology."

"Thank you for your magnanimity, Your Excellency Zhang Ji. This child has always been impulsive. I sent him to the guard to gain some experience and temper his personality. Who knew something like this would happen," Zoeyna said.

"It was also my fault for showing up uninvited and intruding," Zhang Ji replied courteously.

Although Zhang Ji looked young, he had considerable life experience, so handling such situations wasn’t difficult for him.

Hudson, on the other hand, wore a sour expression.

After all, his father had died when he was very young, and Zoeyna had remained a widow ever since.

Seeing Zhang Ji and Zoeyna conversing so pleasantly made him feel quite uncomfortable.

But he was clearly overthinking things.

Zhang Ji had no interest in Zoeyna. His interest lay solely with the Wind Treasure Pearl.

That thing was both the core of the Ruins Realm and the container of a martial arts legacy.

Either one was enough to make Zhang Ji’s heart race.

After breakfast, Zhang Ji asked casually, as if it were an afterthought, "Matriarch Zoeyna, if I may be so bold, what is that tall tower outside the city for?"

"That is a tower left by our ancestors. It’s surrounded by their Divine Wind Power. Once you start climbing, you’re battered by strong winds, making it impossible to keep your footing. It’s said that anyone who reaches the top can obtain the ancestors’ treasure, but we can’t even climb past the tenth floor. Only some children play there now. We have truly failed our ancestors’ expectations."

As Zoeyna spoke, she glanced at Zhang Ji.

’I think I understand his purpose in coming here,’ she thought.

However, she had no idea what the ancestors’ treasure actually was.

She only knew that such a thing existed.

If Zhang Ji wanted to try and get it, she wasn’t actually that opposed to the idea.

For one, it was something they could see but not touch; no one had managed to obtain it in two or three thousand years.

Secondly, if you traced their lineage far enough back, Zhang Ji shared a common ancestor with them. What did it matter who took it?

If Zhang Ji took it, she could even get a favor out of him.

"Oh? If that’s the case, I’m no expert, but I do have some experience with climbing. Perhaps I could try to retrieve the treasure on your behalf," Zhang Ji said.

Zoeyna smiled, now certain of Zhang Ji’s objective.

This put her much more at ease.

She had been worried that Zhang Ji was a representative from the Guning Country, here to reclaim this land.

Zoeyna said, "Your Excellency Zhang Ji, if you can retrieve it, then no matter what the treasure is, I have the authority to gift half of it to you."

Although she felt Zhang Ji wouldn’t be able to get it, she didn’t want to speak too definitively.

’But what if?’

’What if Zhang Ji really knows what it is and how to pass the trial? I’d still want a piece of the pie.’

Zhang Ji nodded. "Then I thank you for your generosity, Matriarch Zoeyna."

His original plan was just to touch the Treasure Pearl and copy the skill information. He was going to discuss cooperation regarding the Ruins Realm’s core slowly over time.

But since she had offered to give him half of the Ruins Realm’s core right from the start, he certainly wasn’t going to refuse.

With this as a talking point, it would be easier to discuss further cooperation later.

With Zhang Ji having brought it up, he, Zoeyna, and the others soon made their way to the base of the Tower of Divine Wind.

The tower had no stairs. Instead, its inner walls were lined with layers of platforms at varying heights and positions. To ascend, one had to jump from one platform to the next.

At that moment, some children were playing inside, hopping back and forth on the platforms. They couldn’t get very high, however. Before they could even clear the first floor, they were blown off by the chaotic winds, after which they would float down slowly in the center of the tower.

They were clearly treating it as some kind of giant play structure.

After Zoeyna arrived, she gave an order, and an attendant quickly led the children away.

"Your Excellency Zhang Ji, if you wish to try, please go ahead," Zoeyna said to him.

Zhang Ji nodded slightly and walked to the entrance of the Tower of Divine Wind.

He looked up at the towering structure, a strange sense of familiarity welling up inside him.

’Heaven knows how long I spent climbing this tower back in the day.’

’Getting halfway up only to be suddenly blown down and having to start over wasn’t even the worst part.’

’The worst part was being just one step away from the Wind Treasure Pearl, only to be blown down again.’

He had experienced that more than once.

’So, you couldn’t blame me for slaughtering everyone in the Ruins Realm. If you had to blame someone, blame that perverted designer.’

’What a trash minigame.’

"Spiritual Crane!"

In an instant, Zhang Ji entered the Spirit Crane Stance. With a single leap, he jumped over six meters high, bypassed a whole cluster of platforms, and landed on one near the top of the first floor.

The Wind Treasure Pearl glowed, and currents of air flowed through the tower. Zhang Ji felt a pushing force from the wall behind him and from his side, but he wasn’t pushed off. Instead, he used the force of the wind to leap again, vaulting himself even higher.

Leaping rapidly like this, Zhang Ji soon reached the tenth floor, and then surpassed it.

The Tower of Divine Wind was a thousand meters tall. With each floor being ten meters high, it had a hundred floors in total.

The higher he went, the stronger the winds became, and the harder their patterns were to predict.

To reach the top, you either needed the strength of a B-rank to force your way up—a master of that level wouldn’t be moved by these winds.

Or you needed superb skill, having memorized the patterns so well you could climb with your eyes closed.

Or you had to have mastered a martial art from the [Divine Wind Sect] of at least (Fine Five-Star) quality, which would allow you to use and tame the winds within.

In fact, according to the game’s backstory...

Climbing this tower was also a form of training.

It trained the Sun Orphans of the Ruins Realm to develop the Wind God bloodline within them and to master the martial arts of the [Divine Wind Sect].

With enough persistence and talent, one could even become a C-rank master just by continuously climbing the tower.

Unfortunately, their legacy was so fractured that they knew practically nothing.

Down below, Zoeyna and the others watched Zhang Ji easily break their record, and the expressions on their faces subtly changed.

Nearly everyone who grew up here had attempted to climb this tower, dreaming of conquering it.

But not a single person had ever truly succeeded.

Reaching the tenth floor was considered a great achievement.

The force of the wind up there made it impossible for anyone to maintain their footing.

One matriarch, after a failed attempt to climb it, had even tried to destroy it.

But regrettably, they couldn’t do that either.

The tower was indestructible. No matter how they attacked it, they couldn’t even leave a scratch, let alone destroy it.

None of them could have imagined that on this day, an outsider would be on the verge of reaching the top and claiming the legendary treasure left by their ancestors.

At this very moment, Zoeyna even felt a faint trace of regret.

’Was I being too generous? Was that a mistake?’

But then she had another thought. It had always been like the moon’s reflection in the water, unattainable. Now, there was a chance to get half of it, which was far better than only ever being able to look.

...

In his Spirit Crane Stance, Zhang Ji’s movements were flawless.

He could clearly sense the direction and force of every gust of wind, either using it to leap higher or temporarily turning to evade it. He felt no difficulty whatsoever.

Soon, he had climbed past the eightieth floor.

Here, the nature of the wind began to change. The gales that had merely pushed with great force now became aggressive.

"SHOOOM!"

An invisible wave of astral wind swept past. Zhang Ji dodged it by turning his body and tilting his head, avoiding the hit.

The astral wind struck the tower wall and quickly dissipated.

Meanwhile, Zhang Ji leaped to an even higher floor.

The higher he went, the denser the astral winds became.

At this point, dodging alone was not enough.

’Some of these astral winds are meant for the player to shatter with an attack.’

"SHOOOM! SHOOOM! SHOOOM! PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!"

Zhang Ji swung his claws. Blue light flashed as he directly scattered several astral winds, his body forced back a short distance.

The lethality of these astral winds was actually average, with a power equivalent to a professional Seventh or Eighth Rank. It was a wave-like blunt attack, so even if it hit him, it wouldn’t injure Zhang Ji. Its main purpose was to push people off.

Dealing with the raging gales while also fending off the astral wind attacks caused the tower-climbing difficulty to increase exponentially.

But to Zhang Ji, it was nothing special.

Blue light flickered in his palms as he pushed out small, dragon-shaped waves of vital qi. The astral wind waves were directly annihilated, and Zhang Ji himself ascended rapidly.

Ninety-sixth floor, ninety-seventh floor, ninety-eighth floor, ninety-ninth floor...

The one-hundredth floor!

As Zhang Ji’s feet touched the final floor, the surrounding gales suddenly ceased.

Before him, a path led to a platform in the center of the tower not far away.

In the very center of the platform, a cyan pearl at least a meter in diameter floated in mid-air, shimmering with light.

"It’s good to see you again!" Zhang Ji said with a nostalgic smile.

As he spoke, he approached the Wind Treasure Pearl.

Then, Zhang Ji reached out his right hand and pressed it directly onto the pearl.

The next moment, the Treasure Pearl erupted in a cyan glow that enveloped Zhang Ji. A wave of Spirit pulsed out, transforming into a special stream of information that poured directly into him.

Zhang Ji did not resist, allowing all of the information to enter his mind.

This information was none other than...

The (Excellent Seven-Star) martial art from the [Divine Wind Sect]: the [Wind God Kick].

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