Before long, Zhao Xuan effortlessly and cleanly finished off the remaining two members of the Three-Arab Alliance.
Only after confirming their deaths did he finally let out a long breath.
"Whew…"
However—
Zhao Xuan did not linger at the scene.
No—more precisely—
He did not stay at all.
After swiftly looting the three corpses, he immediately ran to Choi Ji-mun's body and picked up the Spatial Ruin Core that had fallen from it.
Then, without the slightest delay, he rushed back to the site where he had previously fought the Silver Guards.
After spending a few minutes collecting all the spoils, Zhao Xuan took stock—
And realized something.
He had struck it rich.
Fifteen Silver Guards meant fifteen Life Stones.
Two of those Life Stones had been swallowed by Choi Ji-mun.
So in the end, Zhao Xuan obtained thirteen.
One hundred million each—
That alone was 1.3 billion.
But these thirteen Life Stones were merely pocket change.
The real windfall came from Choi Ji-mun, Jin Soo-yeon, and the three members of the Three-Arab Alliance.
From their bodies, Zhao Xuan obtained five Spatial Ruin Cores.
Four of them had extremely small internal spaces—
Not even ten cubic meters—
But even so, each could sell for at least one hundred million.
The fifth core, however, was truly valuable.
Worth tens of billions, minimum.
Its internal space was roughly the size of a small island.
That core had come from Choi Ji-mun.
From this alone, it was obvious—
Choi Ji-mun had been anything but ordinary.
But now, how formidable or extraordinary he had once been no longer mattered.
Because he was dead.
Dead beyond any doubt.
Aside from that—
Zhao Xuan also discovered a large number of spiritual herbs and medicines inside those five ruin cores.
Altogether, they were worth roughly three billion.
And as expected—
Nearly eighty percent of them had originally belonged to Choi Ji-mun.
"A massive haul! A massive haul! A massive haul!"
After a rough estimate, Zhao Xuan realized—
This single sequence of battles had netted him nearly ten billion.
"…This money is way too easy to earn."
He couldn't help but sigh.
At that moment—
Tap tap tap tap—
Tap tap tap tap—
From the distance came the rhythmic, thunderous sound of marching footsteps.
"Has half an hour already passed?"
Zhao Xuan narrowed his eyes and looked toward the source of the sound.
On the distant street, a full fifteen-man Silver Guard squad was advancing straight toward him.
Seeing this—
Zhao Xuan showed no panic whatsoever.
Instead, his face lit up with wild delight.
The reason was simple.
Each Silver Guard carried a Life Stone worth one hundred million.
Fifteen of them meant 1.5 billion.
And with Zhao Xuan's current strength, he could wipe them out well within ten minutes.
Tap!
Grinning ear to ear, Zhao Xuan took the initiative and charged straight toward the Silver Guards.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Violent collisions shook the heavens.
Same tactic as always—
Zhao Xuan first used the explosive burst of the One-Second Technique to eliminate the squad's captain and vice-captain.
Then, relying on his overwhelming speed and strength, he switched to harassment tactics—
Picking off the remaining thirteen one by one.
One.
Then another.
Then another.
From start to finish, the entire battle lasted about eight minutes.
1.5 billion—secured.
After looting the bodies, Zhao Xuan immediately left the area.
The reason was simple—
To conceal his tracks.
The Life City was massive, yes—
But the commotion from that fight had been anything but small.
It would easily attract unwanted attention.
If others discovered that Zhao Xuan alone had wiped out an entire Silver Guard squad, then everyone he encountered afterward would treat him with extreme caution.
That would be bad.
Very bad.
After all—
How was he supposed to keep playing the role of an ambusher if everyone was on high alert?
Cough.
Whether he could continue being an ambusher didn't actually matter much to Zhao Xuan.
What he truly feared was others using the rules of the Life City Ruins against him.
There were plenty of people inside this ruin who harbored deep hatred toward him.
If they learned that Zhao Xuan could single-handedly annihilate a full Silver Guard squad—
They would panic.
They would rush.
And they would desperately want to kill him before he fully matured.
Though all these foreign geniuses were only Seventh-Rank—
Because of their strange and powerful Devil-Fruit-like abilities—
They were far more troublesome than the ancient city guards.
Zhao Xuan could defeat fifteen Silver Guards alone in under ten minutes.
But if he were surrounded by fifteen top geniuses from different nations—
He didn't believe he could kill them all.
Escape would be impossible.
No—
He wouldn't even need fifteen.
Ten.
Or even six or seven—
That would already be deadly.
…
"No. No. No. Absolutely not."
Outer City, residential district—inside a narrow alley.
Zhao Xuan shook his head as he frowned deeply.
"I can't keep hiding forever."
"My strength will eventually be exposed."
"And once it is, those who hate me—especially Hawkins and his group from the Bald Eagle Nation—will likely mark me as their primary target."
"There are seven of them, and none are weak."
"And Hawkins' Observation Aura is at Grandmaster level."
"He might notice me before I ever notice him."
"If he charges me immediately after spotting me, that's manageable—I can burn some Life Stones and escape using One-Second Technique."
"But the problem is—!"
"What if he doesn't attack right away?"
"What if he follows me from afar, waits until I'm fighting Silver Guards, and then strikes when I'm distracted?"
"That would be disastrous."
"No. Absolutely not."
Zhao Xuan's gaze turned icy.
Ten words flashed through his mind:
Strike first—or be struck down.
"Our relationship is already irreconcilable."
"We're bound to clash sooner or later."
"Instead of waiting for them to come after me once they learn my true strength…"
"I might as well take the initiative."
"Before they know what I'm capable of—kill them by surprise."
Zhao Xuan was not indecisive.
On the contrary—
Once he made a decision, he acted immediately.
However—
This time, he did not rush to search for Hawkins' group right away.
Because—
He had only triggered two waves of Silver Guard pursuit so far.
One more remained.
If he sought out Hawkins now and failed to finish them—
And ended up being marked instead—
That would be catastrophic.
So Zhao Xuan headed toward the outermost edge of the Life City.
There, in a secluded spot, he quietly waited for the final Silver Guard pursuit.
Time passed.
Half an hour later—
Tap tap tap tap tap—
Zhao Xuan opened his eyes.
The last Silver Guard squad had arrived.
"I've been waiting for you."
He licked his lips.
Tap!
Using Shave, he charged forward.
Seven minutes later—
Boom!
As the final Silver Guard fell, the battle ended.
Ding!
You have experienced an intense battle. You have gained new insights into all abilities (excluding swordsmanship). All ability proficiencies (excluding swordsmanship) +2000.
"…It keeps decreasing."
Zhao Xuan frowned while looting the bodies.
"First time was 3000. Second was 2500. Now only 2000?"
"I'm starting to suspect that if this keeps happening, I'll eventually get zero proficiency for wiping out a whole squad."
He sighed and shook his head.
"Whatever. I'll deal with that later."
"The proficiency gain may be dropping, but the money sure isn't."
He looked at the Life Stones in his hand, smiling.
"Money's secondary. Life Stones are what really matter."
"They're weaker than divine medicine, sure—but I can get fifteen in ten minutes."
"The ruins stay open for three days."
"If I can gather a few thousand Life Stones in that time—plus my divine stone bamboo shoot…"
"I might actually break into the Seventh Rank using life energy."
His eyes lit up.
He remembered vividly how much his physique had increased when he advanced to Sixth Rank using life energy—
One thousand points instantly.
If Sixth Rank gave that much—
What about Seventh Rank?
After all—
The gap between Sixth and Seventh was a true chasm.
Cross it, and one could suppress entire groups of Sixth Ranks.
And that was with spiritual energy advancement.
Using life energy instead?
The result was unimaginable.
His heart stirred.
"…Still, gathering that many Life Stones in three days won't be easy."
He shook his head.
"Enough dreaming."
"My priority is Hawkins."
"Better I kill them first—before they make the first move."
With that—
Zhao Xuan cleared his thoughts.
His gaze sharpened.
And then—
He vanished.
…
The Life City was enormous.
If Hawkins' group didn't reveal themselves, finding them wouldn't be easy.
But—
They had entered the city for one reason:
Life Stones.
And in the outer city, the only way to obtain Life Stones was to fight Black Guards, Silver Guards, or Golden Guards.
Fighting meant noise.
And Hawkins' group—eight people strong—would target Silver Guards.
Silver Guards patrolled more frequently closer to the inner city.
A fifteen-man Silver Guard squad could not be defeated quietly.
So Zhao Xuan headed inward—
Listening for the sounds of battle.
Along the way, he wiped out every Black Guard patrol he encountered.
Why not?
They were valuable.
Even if they didn't guarantee Life Stones—
A squad of fifteen usually dropped two or three.
That was two or three hundred million—easy money.
With Zhao Xuan's strength, killing fifteen Sixth-Ranks took mere seconds.
That was why he cleared every Black Guard he met.
As he moved closer to the inner city—
Silver Guard patrols became more frequent.
He resisted the urge to attack them.
This area was crowded with foreign cultivators.
Any disturbance would attract attention.
Before dealing with Hawkins—
Zhao Xuan did not want to expose his strength.
So he avoided all patrols and moved swiftly through the streets.
Soon—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of intense combat echoed ahead.
Zhao Xuan's eyes lit up.
He rushed over—
But unfortunately—
The group fighting the Silver Guards was not Hawkins' team.
It was a squad of burly white men—
From the Polar Bear Nation.
Six of them.
Perfect coordination.
Four Silver Guards were already dead.
Zhao Xuan observed briefly—
Then left.
His goal wasn't Life Stones.
It was Hawkins.
Just as Zhao Xuan departed—
One of the Polar Bear Nation women spoke coldly:
"The one watching us has left."
The moment she finished—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The six suddenly unleashed far greater power—
Crushing the remaining Silver Guards.
They had been holding back.
Hiding their strength.
They had already noticed Zhao Xuan.
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