"Ding-dong. You have just experienced a hard-fought, evenly matched battle. In this battle, you repeatedly used your various physical techniques at high intensity without pause. You have gained unprecedented insight and understanding toward the Six Styles, Armament Haki, and Observation Haki.
Your Six Styles, Armament Haki, and Observation Haki +1000 proficiency each."
Upon hearing this—
A brilliant smile instantly spread across Zhao Xuan's face.
Six Styles + Armament Haki + Observation Haki.
Eight abilities in total.
And every single one of them increased by 1000 proficiency.
Which meant—
This one battle alone had given Zhao Xuan 8000 proficiency points.
What did this mean?
It meant—
Explosion-level gains.
You have to understand.
The opponent Zhao Xuan faced this time wasn't even strong.
His strength wasn't anything exceptional at all.
Compared to the opponent before him—
That Sarma, the Buddha Son from San'a—
This guy was pathetically weak.
If not for that divine weapon in his hand—
Zhao Xuan suspected the man wouldn't even last a single minute against him.
Yet, despite being so weak—
This single fight had yielded even more proficiency than the fight with Sarma.
A full eight thousand!
This instantly opened a brand-new door in Zhao Xuan's mind.
"Even though this method can't increase my Azure Dragon Fruit proficiency… it massively boosts all my other abilities.
And more importantly—
It genuinely increases my actual combat experience."
"Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
WAIT!"
"If I WANT to increase my fruit ability proficiency at the same time—
That's actually doable too!"
"As long as the enemy is strong enough…
I can fight in dragon form but deliberately rely on Six Styles and pure technique.
Not brute force.
Not crushing them through raw power."
"That way—
I can increase my fruit proficiency and raise my technique proficiency together!"
The moment this thought emerged—
Zhao Xuan's heart instantly ignited.
Excitement.
Eagerness.
Madness.
They surged through his body like wildfire.
Fighting intent—
Soared straight into the sky.
At this moment—
The entire stadium was dead silent.
Everyone—
Whether from Jiuzhou or from the foreign delegations—
Was stunned by this result.
Completely stunned.
After a brief moment of silence—
After a brief spell of shock—
The Jiuzhou side suddenly erupted into laughter and cheers.
"What a kid! What a good kid!"
"A monster of limitless potential!"
"That physique—
He must be close to two thousand, maybe even more!"
"This one has the makings of a King-rank!"
"Hahaha! Did you see that? That movement is clean.
A divine weapon like that?
You couldn't buy one for less than a hundred billion!"
Meanwhile—
On the other side, among the foreign delegations—
The atmosphere was suffocating.
Everyone wore an ugly expression.
Especially the San'a ambassador, Chamal—
His face was darker than the bottom of a burnt pot.
As if someone owed him hundreds of billions and fled.
Cold.
Twisted.
Ugly.
His bloodshot eyes locked onto Zhao Xuan like a viper.
If looks could kill—
Zhao Xuan would've died dozens of times already.
And right at that moment—
Zhao Xuan seemed to sense his glare.
He suddenly turned his head and gave Chamal a look.
Their eyes met.
"Heh."
Zhao Xuan grinned.
Chamal's fists tightened.
His body trembled uncontrollably—
Not from fear.
From pure rage.
After retracting his gaze—
Zhao Xuan casually took out several pouches of energy liquid
and chugged them down.
The seventh-rank referee did not urge him.
Instead, he patiently waited several minutes—
until Zhao Xuan fully absorbed the energy—
before finally speaking:
"Zhao Xuan, do you wish to continue your challenge?"
"Of course."
Zhao Xuan didn't hesitate.
He turned his gaze toward the foreign contenders—
only five remained—
and under their icy stares, Zhao Xuan smiled faintly.
"Referee, I challenge the foreign 'friend' on Platform Five."
"Arrogant!"
"Presumptuous!"
"Seeking death!"
The foreign delegations erupted.
The reason they banded together to barge into Jiuzhou's national exam—
the reason they insisted on competing here—
was precisely to use this grand stage to display their "strength" to the world.
And also—
to see if they could cripple a few Jiuzhou geniuses along the way.
At the start—
their plan was flawless.
They seized the top twenty slots.
They crippled three Jiuzhou geniuses.
Killed one.
Everything went perfectly—
Until Zhao Xuan stood up.
One by one—
Eleven consecutive challenges.
Eleven foreign prodigies.
Nine died on the spot.
Two were spared deliberately—
but all four limbs shattered.
Completely severed.
Even if they survived—
even if reattached—
their future strength would be crippled forever.
And even with healing abilities—
they'd need four or five months in bed.
They were effectively ruined.
Right when the atmosphere grew venomous—
An Eastern Sword Country (Dongying) ability user suddenly spoke:
"Everyone, relax.
That Jiuzhou brat is dead this time.
The one stepping up now is Edo River Sasaki,
the current heir of our Eastern Iaido Sword Style—
the one known as Walks the World.
In our country, he's undefeated among his generation.
With him taking the stage, that Jiuzhou boy is finished."
"…Why does that sound so familiar?"
Everyone subconsciously turned to look at the San'a ambassador.
Because this speech…
sounded suspiciously like something he said earlier.
Under countless stares—
Platform Five's challenger,
the sword prodigy from Dongying,
strode to the arena.
"BWEEEEEP!!"
The whistle blew.
And then—
"Swish!!"
His katana slashed.
A sword-qi shot skyward—
And in the next instant—
it was already in front of Zhao Xuan.
So fast.
Unimaginably fast.
Zhao Xuan didn't even have time to react.
The sword-qi sliced across his chest,
carving out a long bloody wound.
Understand this:
Even without dragon form—
even in normal human form—
Zhao Xuan's physique was 2400.
Speed, reflexes, reaction time—
all directly tied to physique.
At 2400—
he should've been monstrously fast.
Yet even so—
He never even SAW the sword-qi being released.
And that wasn't the most terrifying part.
The instant the whistle blew—
Zhao Xuan had already begun activating the Azure Dragon Fruit,
preparing to enter Micro Dragon Form.
Yet he was still—
A whole step too slow.
His fruit activation—
or rather, the time needed for dragon power to surge—
was slower than that sword-qi.
That was the real problem.
Devil Fruit abilities normally activate extremely fast.
Dragon Form takes two or three seconds.
Micro Dragon Form takes less than one.
Yet—
This sword-qi struck faster than that.
Which meant—
From swing to impact—
less than a second.
"Interesting.
Interesting!
Interesting!!"
"Hahahahahahaha!"
Feeling the burning pain on his chest—
seeing the long sword wound—
Zhao Xuan didn't panic.
Instead—
He laughed.
His expression, his eyes—
Once again became wild.
Excited.
A little insane.
He stared at the Dongying swordsman the way—
A starving wolf looks at prey.
Or like a pent-up man suddenly seeing the woman of his dreams stepping out of a bath.
"A lunatic."
The swordsman frowned.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Three more sword-qi.
In an instant—
they slashed toward Zhao Xuan.
This time, Zhao Xuan was mentally prepared.
He had already entered Micro Dragon Form.
His attributes multiplied fivefold.
His senses sharpened.
He managed to capture the trajectories—
barely.
But even so—
He dodged only two.
The third carved a bloody line across his arm.
"You dodged my sword-qi? Hmph. Interesting."
The swordsman's brow lifted.
Then—
His hands blurred.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Multiple sword-qi roared forth.
Zhao Xuan's Observation Haki burned at full power.
He dodged—
and dodged—
and dodged—
But the sword-qi was simply too fast.
Too fast.
Within moments—
His body was covered in fresh cuts.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Blood dripped steadily to the floor.
But Zhao Xuan still stood firm.
Still dodged.
Still focused.
Gradually—
bit by bit—
His reaction speed climbed.
His anticipation sharpened.
He used Observation Haki—
not just well—
but better and better.
Until—
He could sense the sword-qi 0.01 seconds earlier.
Then 0.05 seconds earlier.
A tiny shift—
but a massive leap.
The Dongying swordsman's expression darkened.
"You damned—
You damned, damned BASTARD!"
"You dare—
YOU DARE use me as a whetstone!?"
"You dare take me lightly—
ME—
and use me to TRAIN!?"
"You want to die!
You WANT TO DIE!!"
Fury consumed him.
With a roar—
His left hand suddenly gripped a second katana.
Dual blades.
He slashed.
And sword-qi flooded the air like a storm.
Double the quantity.
Zhao Xuan was instantly overwhelmed.
Sword-qi slashed his body again and again—
thinner cuts, deeper cuts, countless cuts.
He looked like he had been carved apart by a thousand blades.
But still—
He refused to transform fully.
He stayed in Micro Dragon Form.
He endured—
because this was an opportunity.
His one chance to force explosive growth in Observation Haki.
He dodged what he could.
He tanked what he couldn't.
Three minutes.
Five minutes.
In less than five minutes—
he went from dodging one-third
to dodging two-thirds of the sword-qi.
His growth was frightening.
The swordsman realized it.
And snapped.
"You forced this!
YOU FORCED ME!"
"I didn't want to reveal my true power yet!
I wanted to save it for fighting Alexander for first place!"
"BUT YOU—
YOU MADE ME DO IT!!"
His voice cracked with fury.
Suddenly—
He activated his Devil Fruit ability.
Sword-qi flared—
Warped—
and vanished.
The next instant—
It appeared RIGHT next to Zhao Xuan's body.
"Shhhh! Shhhh! Shhhh!"
Every blade struck true.
"W-What!?"
Zhao Xuan's eyes widened slightly.
Because—
This time—
Observation Haki detected nothing.
No trajectory.
No warning.
No sense of incoming attacks.
It felt as if the sword-qi simply teleported into him.
Without pause—
More sword-qi appeared out of thin air
and slashed across his body again.
His left shoulder split open—
white bone visible.
"No…
No!
I can't keep taking this!"
"If this continues—
he'll carve me to death!"
Gritting his teeth—
"ROOOOAAAAAR!!!"
Zhao Xuan erupted.
Dragon Form—full transformation.
Physique soared—
24,000.
The deep wounds across his body healed rapidly—
most closing instantly.
Only the deepest remained.
"I refuse to believe—
I refuse to BELIEVE
I can't catch your tricks!"
This time—
Zhao Xuan did NOT charge at him.
He stood still.
Closed his eyes.
And poured every ounce of mental power
into Observation Haki.
The swordsman snarled.
"Courting death!"
Sword-qi flared.
Vanished.
Reappeared around Zhao Xuan.
Slashed into him—
Again.
And again.
And again.
Blood flew.
But Zhao Xuan did not break focus.
He stood firm.
Eyes shut.
Muscles relaxed.
Mind calm.
Observation Haki—
pushed far beyond its limits.
One minute.
Three minutes.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes passed.
Dragon Form Zhao Xuan—
once more covered in blood—
stood silently.
Then—
"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"
Dozens of sword-qi flew at him again.
This time—
Zhao Xuan suddenly moved.
His entire body softened.
Paper Art.
He bent—
twisted—
slipped between the blades—
"Shhhh—shhhh—!!"
He dodged two.
Only two…
But—
It was a breakthrough.
A massive breakthrough.
His eyes snapped open.
A sharp grin spread across his face.
He looked straight at the Dongying swordsman and spoke—
Each word like a knife:
"I.
Have.
Seen.
Through.
Your.
Little.
Trick."
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