"Congratulations, Senior Sergeant Fang Zhou. Your team is the first in this grade to clear the Shelter Defense Battle on Easy difficulty, earning a grade first-clear ranking reward of 15 contribution points. You have also received the achievement blessing: Simulation Battlefield Loot Drop Probability +1% (Cumulative: 9%)."

"Congratulations, Senior Sergeant Fang Zhou. You cleared the Shelter Defense Battle on Easy difficulty in 18 minutes and 30 seconds, ranking first on the historical speedrun leaderboard. You are expected to receive a ranking reward of 9 contribution points this month."

"Loot drop triggered. Obtained: [Alchemy Embryo] x1. Exchangeable for 15 contribution points."

"You may challenge Normal difficulty after a five-minute waiting period."

A series of pleasant prompts echoed in Fang Zhou's ears, almost overwhelming him.

First in the grade for the first clear! First in historical speed!

Fang Zhou nodded in satisfaction. Everything was proceeding as he expected.

After working so hard to create such a powerful attribute panel and Skill Combination, he refused to believe anyone could be faster.

The scale of battle in the Shelter Defense Battle was much larger than the Horn Demon Outpost meant for Middle-Rank Apprentices. This meant that for teams of regular students, the difficulty was naturally higher, and the time required for completion was much longer.

But that was only true for others.

However, for an Undead Mage like Fang Zhou, whose combat power far surpassed that of his peers, this increase in battle scale was a piece of cake. As long as the battle scenario wasn't artificially split into two areas—like in the Horn Demon Outpost, which added a great deal of unnecessary non-combat time—it posed no problem.

The more tightly the Demons clustered, the faster his killing efficiency became, all thanks to his Skeleton Army and Death Ripple skill. Therefore, his killing speed alone was enough to crush that of a three-person team of Upper-Rank Apprentice Professionals.

In fact, if Fang Zhou hadn't wasted a little time watching the cutscene, his completion time of 18 minutes and 30 seconds could have been even shorter.

Fang Zhou exited the Simulation Battlefield, lay down in the Simulation Pod, and rested with his eyes closed for five minutes. Then, without delay, he immediately entered the Shelter Defense Battle on Normal difficulty.

What he didn't know was that in this very training ground, many second-year students who had come to challenge the Shelter Defense Battle that night were now gathered in front of the large screen, watching a livestream of his combat performance.

Previously, Fang Zhou had challenged the Little Inferior Demon Camp for Lower-Rank Apprentices and the Horn Demon Outpost for Middle-Rank Apprentices, both located in the first-year students' training ground. Each time, he had attracted a huge amount of attention among the first-year students.

However, for second-year students like Lu Renjia and Lu Yiyi, the impact of Fang Zhou's incredible achievements had considerably diminished by the time the news reached them.

Nothing could compare to the shock of witnessing Fang Zhou single-handedly clear the instance with such unstoppable momentum today!

A second-year student holding a Magic Staff watched Fang Zhou's every move in the Simulation Battlefield and couldn't help but exclaim, "Is that the first year's number one Seed Student, Fang Zhou? It's only been three or four months. How has he already broken through to the Upper-Rank Apprentice level?"

A companion beside him took up the topic, his tone filled with disbelief. "Fang Zhou is an Upper-Rank Apprentice, sure, but so am I. So why do I get the feeling that we aren't challenging the same Shelter Defense Battle?

"I still remember when my teammates and I first challenged it on Easy difficulty; we had to try two or three times.

"In the end, it was only with the help of the complex and ingenious tunnel system deep within the Shelter that we were able to establish a solid defensive line.

"Even so, we had to make huge sacrifices to withstand the enemy's assault.

"The Punishment Hunter Li Guang, that one-armed female Warrior, and several other important NPCs all died heroically to cover our retreat.

"It was only because of their sacrifices that we barely held on long enough to meet the minimum clear conditions.

"But Fang Zhou not only challenged it alone, he even dared to choose the most difficult starting position: the Thick Fog Jungle.

"He single-handedly annihilated such a powerful Demon Battle Group, and he made it look so effortless. He's truly a prodigy that only appears once in a century!"

The Mage student with the Magic Staff couldn't help but turn to Lu Renjia and ask curiously, "How did you manage to get Fang Zhou to join your team?"

Lu Renjia grinned proudly. "I have my ways. Actually, I noticed how extraordinary Fang Zhou was just one month after the first-year students had their Awakening. At the time, I was on a mission assigned by the military academy to maintain order, and I happened to witness his outstanding performance in the Little Inferior Demon Camp for Lower-Rank Apprentices. He was practically unstoppable, conquering four difficult stages in a row. He not only took first place on the grade's first-clear rankings for every difficulty, but he also secured the top spot on the historical speedrun leaderboard. I figured it wouldn't be long before he broke through to the Upper-Rank Apprentice level, so I quickly reserved a team-up spot with him."

Lu Yiyi also chimed in, "Master Fang Zhou plans to challenge the Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulties of the Shelter Defense Battle by himself today. When it comes to the most challenging Abyss Difficulty, he'll team up with me and Lu Renjia to see if we can clear it together."

Hearing this, the second-year Mage's face was filled with unconcealed envy. "You guys are so lucky. Teaming up with a powerhouse like Master Fang Zhou..."

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