This time…
Zhao Xuan rested for a full half-hour.
Only when his body recovered to nearly ninety percent did he finally nod in satisfaction.
He retraced his original path and sprinted toward the Berserk Bear's valley.
Before long, he approached the valley—
"ROOOOAAAAARRRR!!!!"
Before he could even get close, the Berserk Bear's furious roar shook the sky.
"…Oh come on."
Seeing the massive bear standing guard at the valley entrance, Zhao Xuan froze.
Was this necessary?
Seriously—was THIS necessary?
Was the bear THIS worried about him!?
Zhao Xuan began mentally cursing nonstop.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
The Berserk Bear was already charging toward him like a living mountain.
"Good! COME!"
Zhao Xuan roared and charged right back.
Fist met paw.
Man clashed with beast.
Instantly, the two were tangled in a violent brawl.
"WOOO—OOO—OOO!"
The shockwaves from each impact whipped up violent gales.
Nearby sixth-rank Land Kings trembled in fear.
Again.
Again.
Again.
This time—
Zhao Xuan wasn't here to harass.
He was here to break through using real combat.
So—
Every time he was sent flying, he immediately rushed back.
Their repeated impacts shook the earth.
Ancient trees shuddered madly.
Stones and branches blasted away in all directions.
The ground itself collapsed under the pressure of their collisions.
Every seven or eight blows the bear landed—
Zhao Xuan had to chug a mid-grade energy fluid mid-flight.
He had no choice.
Even in Dragonman form—
His physique of over ten thousand—
Felt like paper in front of that monster's strength.
Worse—
Mid-grade energy fluid needed time to activate.
A whole minute.
Not long… but way too long in a fight like this.
At first—
He could barely slip in a few counterattacks.
Not that they mattered.
His strongest punches felt like scratching an iron wall.
But gradually—
He fell behind.
"BOOM!!!"
Another brutal collision.
Zhao Xuan was sent flying again.
Mid-air, he quickly pulled out another mid-grade energy fluid and swallowed it whole.
"No—no no NO!"
"This won't work!"
"I only have three bags left—! I have to ration them!"
"But wait…"
His eyes suddenly lit up.
"This time… I lasted several minutes! Much longer than before!"
"Once I disengage, the proficiency reward will definitely be more than fifty points!"
That thought filled him with burning anticipation.
He couldn't wait to break through the Azure Dragon Fruit.
Couldn't wait to beat that damn bear into the ground.
Just then—
"BOOM!!!"
The bear smashed down another massive paw.
Zhao Xuan glanced toward the valley entrance behind the bear—
And an idea sparked.
A dangerous, brilliant idea.
He acted immediately.
He leapt into the air—
Then punched straight into the descending paw.
"BOOM!!!!"
He was blasted away—
But this time—
He didn't rush back.
Instead—
He used the momentum to sprint deeper into the valley.
Yes.
You guessed it.
Zhao Xuan had one plan:
Steal the bear's home.
"ROOOOAAAAARRRR!!!!"
Realizing what he was doing, the bear roared in fury.
It charged after him with thunderous steps.
One chased.
One escaped.
At full speed—
Zhao Xuan quickly reached the cliff deep inside the valley.
On the cliff—
Was a massive cave.
A rich, invigorating fragrance drifted from within.
Just inhaling it snapped Zhao Xuan's tired spirit awake.
"Sixth-rank Spirit Bee Honey!"
"There must be a TON stored inside!"
Without hesitation—
Zhao Xuan dashed into the cave.
Behind him—
Two or three kilometers away—
The Berserk Bear realized he entered its den.
It roared like a maddened demon and charged after him.
Zhao Xuan rushed deeper.
The cave was enormous—
As if the entire mountain had been hollowed out.
Even with his speed—
It took half a minute to reach the deepest chamber.
And then—
He saw it.
A watermelon-sized golden rat—glowing entirely gold—was crouched at a stone basin, gulping down sparkling sixth-rank Spirit Bee Honey.
"You… absolute—!"
Zhao Xuan nearly exploded.
NIMA—
YOU LITTLE SHIT!
He fought that bear for half a day—
FOR THIS HONEY.
And THIS bastard?
A FOURTH-rank golden rat—!?
It was the one enjoying it!?
The rat finally noticed Zhao Xuan and froze.
Too late.
"GET LOST!"
Zhao Xuan slapped it like a baseball.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
The rat slammed into the wall like a cannonball.
Hearing the distant tremors of the approaching bear, Zhao Xuan frowned—
Then immediately dropped down beside the basin—
And drank.
He drank like a madman.
"GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG!!!"
He gulped mouthful after mouthful—
Forty… fifty gulps—
Until the basin was completely empty.
Just then—
The Berserk Bear arrived at the cave entrance.
It instantly sensed what happened.
Its treasured honey—
GONE.
"ROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!"
Its enraged howl shook the entire cavern.
Hearing the furious roar echoing behind him, Zhao Xuan grinned.
Heh.
Angry?
Good.
Choke on it.
Without hesitation—
He opened the relic-space entrance and jumped inside.
The golden rat, still dizzy from being slapped away, froze when it saw the portal—
Then its eyes flashed.
It bit off a glittering tip of a stone stalactite, stuffed it into its mouth—
And darted into the relic space right before the portal closed.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three—
Only after three whole seconds—
Did the Berserk Bear arrive.
It saw the emptied honey pool—
And the gnawed-off crystal stalactite tip.
The bear froze.
Then—
"ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!"
Its earth-shaking, sky-splitting roar spread for miles.
Meanwhile—
Zhao Xuan knew none of this.
Because at that moment—
He was enduring the violent medicinal flood of forty to fifty gulps of sixth-rank Spirit Bee Honey.
Forty–fifty gulps.
What did that mean?
One normal gulp is ~40ml.
A big gulp ~60ml.
Zhao Xuan had taken huge gulps.
Meaning—
He had drunk two to three liters of sixth-rank Spirit Bee Honey.
What was that worth?
Insane.
World-shattering.
Fifth-rank Spirit Bee Honey:
20 million per 100ml.
Sixth-rank:
70–80 million per 100ml, minimum.
Often priceless.
Even by minimal estimate—
Two liters = 20 × 70 million = 1.4 billion.
In a few seconds—
Zhao Xuan drank 1.4 billion worth of honey.
Even the richest clans wouldn't dare such extravagance.
Zhao Xuan felt like his skull was exploding.
The medicinal power surged through his brain like lightning.
His vision darkened—
And he fainted on the spot.
Just before losing consciousness—
He vaguely saw the golden rat sprinting past him, cheeks puffed out with something hidden inside.
He also faintly heard a system notification…
…
Inside the relic-space—
The golden rat scurried far away from Zhao Xuan.
If Zhao Xuan were awake, he would be shocked—
Because the rat, though only fourth-rank,
was as fast as his full-power speed.
It vanished into the desert in a blink.
But moments later—
A flash of gold—
The rat returned.
It eyed unconscious Zhao Xuan.
Its gaze flickered oddly.
Then—
Step by step—
It approached him.
It raised its tiny golden paw—
And slapped Zhao Xuan across the head.
SMACK.
Then again.
SMACK SMACK SMACK.
As if avenging being slapped earlier.
"Chi! Chi!! Chi!!"
After a few satisfying slaps, the rat looked pleased.
Then—
Swoosh—
It disappeared into the desert again.
Zhao Xuan knew nothing.
He lay unconscious like a corpse.
Time passed silently.
One day.
Another.
Another…
Who knew how long had passed—
Until—
Suddenly—
The "corpse" lying motionless for days—
Opened his eyes.
But his body—
Was skin and bones.
Every cell in his body screamed hunger.
He couldn't even stand.
He crawled inch by inch to the three remaining bags of mid-grade energy fluid.
Weakly, he grabbed one—
And chugged it.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Only after all three did his body's weakness begin to fade.
Still starving—
He staggered toward the corpses of the Land King beasts he stored earlier.
And began eating them raw.
One.
Two.
Three…
After three whole corpses—
His hunger and weakness finally vanished completely.
"Huff… huff…"
After resting a bit, Zhao Xuan muttered:
"How long was I unconscious!? How was I this starving? And—why did I even faint in the first place?"
He tried recalling—
And suddenly—
His mind felt unbelievably clear.
Every memory, even from his previous life, became lucid.
"Sixth-rank Spirit Bee Honey! Right! I drank a TON!"
His eyes flashed sharply.
He opened his status panel—
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