Inside the bald man's ruin space.
Amid Zhao Xuan's wild laughter—
The system's notification arrived right on time.
"Ding! You have just completed an exhilarating battle. You have gained new understanding and insights into all your abilities (excluding swordsmanship). All ability proficiencies +5000!"
"Ding! You have completed an exhilarating battle and achieved a cross-realm kill against an eighth-rank expert. Your invincible belief has grown stronger. Your Conqueror's Haki has autonomously advanced and broken through to the Grandmaster level!"
The instant the system notification ended—
BOOM!!!!!
Zhao Xuan felt the already vast Conqueror's Haki deep within his mind surge violently.
In that single moment, its quantity at least doubled.
Immediately afterward—
Driven by instinct—
That overwhelming aura erupted from his mind in a torrential wave.
It was different.
Completely different.
Master-level Conqueror's Haki and Grandmaster-level Conqueror's Haki were no longer the same thing.
At the Master level, Zhao Xuan could not freely control it.
He could not even activate Master-level Conqueror's Haki while in human form—
Unless he was in an extreme emotional state such as intense rage.
In his Dragon-Man form, he could release Conqueror's Haki under the stimulation of dragon might—
But that was nothing more than dumping it out all at once.
He had no precise control over its power, its range, or its impact.
But now—
Everything had changed.
After advancing to the Grandmaster level, Zhao Xuan could clearly feel it.
Even without entering Dragon-Man form—
Even in his most ordinary human state—
He could freely manipulate Conqueror's Haki.
He could now control its intensity and area of influence exactly as he wished.
What did this mean?
The second stage.
Yes.
From this moment onward, Zhao Xuan had officially entered the second stage of Conqueror's Haki.
[Heaven Rewards Diligence System]
Name: Zhao Xuan
Age: 18
Spirit: 124.23 / 501.13
Physique: 563.86 / 3023.45
Abilities:
Shave (Grandmaster: 3800 / 32000)Iron Body (Grandmaster: 12000 / 32000)Paper Art (Grandmaster: 4500 / 32000)Moonwalk (Grandmaster: 3200 / 32000)Tempest Kick (Grandmaster: 10000 / 32000)Finger Pistol (Grandmaster: 3300 / 32000)Swordsmanship (Master: 1935 / 16000)Observation Haki (Master: 42000 / 80000)Armament Haki (Master: 38000 / 80000)Conqueror's Haki (Grandmaster: 1 / 160000)Azure Dragon Devil Fruit (Master: 28900 / 80000)
"Hahahahahahahaha!"
Looking at his status panel—
At that outrageously luxurious panel—
Zhao Xuan threw his head back and laughed uncontrollably.
His laughter was wild.
Unrestrained.
Filled with overwhelming excitement and exhilaration.
After laughing for quite some time, Zhao Xuan finally calmed down.
He swept his gaze across the bald man's ruin space.
When his eyes landed on the pile of spiritual herbs in the corner—
They instantly lit up.
Zhao Xuan slowly climbed to his feet.
Dragging his exhausted body, he walked step by step to the pile of herbs.
After giving them a glance—
A look of disdain appeared on his face.
"So damn poor… You're an eighth-rank expert, yet your savings don't even compare to White Emperor Pirates or Black Shark Pirates."
Yes.
The bald man was poor.
Painfully poor.
His ruin space was practically empty.
Aside from this pile of herbs—there was nothing else.
And even this pile wasn't large.
Zhao Xuan estimated that its total value was at most seven or eight hundred million, not even half of Black Shark Pirates' wealth.
"Poor bastard! A real damn poor bastard!"
Zhao Xuan cursed inwardly.
In truth, Zhao Xuan had misunderstood him.
The bald man was clearly someone who had only recently broken through to the eighth rank.
To reach the eighth rank, one must refine half of their blood into spirit blood.
That process required an astronomical amount of spiritual energy.
Without five or six billion worth of resources, breaking through was nearly impossible.
Moreover—
The stronger one's physique, the more resources were required.
Stronger blood absorbed more energy.
Which meant—
Not long ago, the bald man had actually been quite wealthy.
But all his money had been burned in his breakthrough.
"Actually… maybe it's not a loss. No—wait."
Zhao Xuan shook his head, eyes gleaming.
"Not only is it not a loss—this is a massive profit!"
He quickly calculated.
"I spent nearly ten-plus billion in resources fighting this guy, but I pushed Conqueror's Haki straight into Grandmaster level—gaining at least sixty to seventy thousand proficiency points. That alone makes this a huge win."
"Even if I emptied my entire fortune, it would still be worth it!"
"Besides, even though he only had seven or eight hundred million on him, his ruin space itself is worth a lot!"
Zhao Xuan glanced around and muttered,
"This space isn't huge, but selling it for five or six hundred million shouldn't be a problem. Added together, that's thirteen or fourteen hundred million."
His expression finally relaxed.
He sat down directly in front of the herbs and began eating them by the handful.
After devouring roughly half, he stopped.
Calmed his breathing.
And began healing.
At the same time, he attempted to use the excess medicinal energy he couldn't absorb to temper his internal organs.
Yes—
Zhao Xuan, who had only just refined his limbs and reached fifth-rank Grandmaster yesterday, was already attempting to temper his internal organs and charge toward sixth-rank Great Grandmaster.
Time passed silently.
One hour.
Two hours.
Three hours…
Seven to eight hours flew by.
During this recovery, Zhao Xuan's nearly exhausted stamina and spirit rapidly recovered under the sheer volume of medicinal herbs.
He had consumed far too many.
In fact, if his goal had been mere recovery, he wouldn't have needed to eat more at all.
The residual medicinal energy inside his body was already more than enough.
The reason he continued was simple—
He wanted to push for a breakthrough.
Inside the silent ruin space—
Suddenly—
Cough! Cough! Cough!
A violent coughing fit erupted.
Zhao Xuan felt his throat go salty.
The next instant—
A mouthful of blackened blood sprayed out.
His once ruddy complexion turned pale.
He slowly opened his eyes, his expression grave.
Over these seven or eight hours, most of his effort had gone into refining his internal organs.
Given the massive medicinal energy within him, success should have been guaranteed.
But—
He failed.
Not a single organ was successfully refined.
"Damn it…"
Zhao Xuan's face was pale, brows tightly knit.
"I've fought too many high-level experts across realms. Their overwhelming power caused severe internal injuries. My internal organs are riddled with damage."
"If these injuries aren't healed, I'll never refine my organs—let alone reach the sixth rank."
"Divine medicine… I need divine medicine!"
"Only divine medicine can completely repair internal damage!"
"Divine medicine…"
His eyes suddenly lit up.
A memory surfaced.
An image of a massive stone stalactite.
"Whoosh!"
Zhao Xuan leapt to his feet.
"Hahahaha! Heaven never seals all paths! If I remember correctly, that big golden rat has a divine medicine!"
"With its temperament, getting it shouldn't be hard!"
Thinking of how obsessed the rat was with flowers, Zhao Xuan grinned.
He stored the remaining herbs, retrieved the ruin core, exited, and entered the desert ruin.
Inside the desert ruin—
The first thing Zhao Xuan saw was the golden rat lounging atop a pile of cactus flowers, legs crossed, blissful.
He walked over.
The rat didn't move until Zhao Xuan stood before it.
"Chirp? (You need something?)"
"Yes."
Zhao Xuan took out a cactus flower.
The rat instantly sprang up.
"Chirp! (What is it? Speak!)"
"You remember that stone stalactite you gave me before?"
The rat hesitated.
Then opened a spatial rift.
After rummaging around, it pulled out the stalactite.
"Chirp? (This?)"
Zhao Xuan's face darkened.
The stalactite was full of bite marks.
At that moment—
A horrifying realization struck him.
"Don't tell me… you've been using it as a chew toy?!"
The rat calmly began grinding its teeth on it.
Zhao Xuan snapped.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
"That thing is worth tens of billions!"
After regaining composure, he said,
"Let's make a trade."
"One flower for the stalactite."
The rat refused.
"Two."
"Three."
It hesitated.
"Four."
"Deal!"
Trade completed.
After Zhao Xuan left—
The rat happily pulled out another intact stalactite.
Behind it—
A cavern filled with divine medicine.
Every single stalactite.
Divine.
Medicine.
The one in the bear cave?
It had been placed there by the rat.
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