"One hundred and sixty Life Stones, and four Spatial Ruin Cores!"
Life City Ruins, Outer City, somewhere.
Zhao Xuan was counting his spoils.
"This haul is worth roughly two hundred and fifty billion."
Murmuring to himself, Zhao Xuan's eyes immediately lit up.
"My earlier calculations were wrong. To gather 7.5 trillion, I don't actually need to kill 6,500 Silver Guards. Those four ability teams that attacked me—each of them can probably provide at least two to three hundred billion, right?"
"Even if each of the four teams only gives me two hundred and fifty billion, plus the two hundred and fifty billion I just earned, that's already 1.25 trillion."
"Subtracting that, I'd still need 5.25 trillion."
"Although 5.25 trillion is still an enormous amount, it's far less than the original 6.5 trillion."
"Forget it. No point overthinking it—no time to waste."
He shook his head, temporarily clearing his thoughts, then turned toward the Golden Rat that had been following him.
"Where's the next group?"
"Ji-ji! (That way!)"
The Golden Rat pointed in a direction, then darted off first.
Zhao Xuan followed closely behind.
Man and rat moved swiftly through Life City.
Before long, Zhao Xuan encountered the second group that had previously attacked him.
When he found them, they appeared to have just finished a battle and were cleaning up the field.
Clearly—
They had just wiped out a Silver Guard squad.
Their team also had a Master-level Observation Aura user.
So—
Before Zhao Xuan even got close, the group—whether looting bodies or regulating their breathing—stopped what they were doing and turned toward his direction with alert expressions.
Then—
After a short while—
They saw Zhao Xuan.
Pale-faced. Panicked. Staggering. Constantly glancing back over his shoulder.
Running toward them at full speed.
"That guy is—"
"Zhao Xuan! It's Zhao Xuan!"
"The walking one-hundred-billion!"
"Looks like he's being chased!"
"What luck! We were just discussing whether to spend time hunting him down—and now he delivers himself to us!"
"…"
As they watched Zhao Xuan flee toward them in apparent desperation, all eight of them showed unmistakable excitement.
After all—
Zhao Xuan's head was worth one hundred billion.
"Kudo, did your Observation Aura detect any pursuers behind Zhao Xuan?"
The burly black leader suddenly asked a young Eastern man in the team.
"No—none!"
Kudo shook his head quickly.
"Captain, Zhao Xuan's escape speed is quite high. Whoever was chasing him was probably shaken off already—wait! He realized it! That kid noticed he lost his pursuers! He's turning around—he's running!"
As soon as the words fell—
Everyone focused their gaze.
Sure enough, Zhao Xuan—who had been fleeing toward them in panic—suddenly turned and ran in the opposite direction.
"Running?"
The black leader sneered viciously.
"You think you can escape?"
With that sneer—
He stomped the ground repeatedly.
"Tap! Tap!"
In the next instant, he charged toward Zhao Xuan at full speed.
Zhao Xuan used the same old tactic.
Feign weakness.
Seeing the burly man charging at him aggressively, Zhao Xuan slightly loosened the suppression on his life energy.
His weakened body recovered somewhat, and his speed suddenly increased.
"Hmph. You damn brat—don't even think about escaping!"
Seeing Zhao Xuan accelerate, the black man snorted coldly and pursued even harder.
One chased, one fled.
Soon, they had completely separated from the other seven.
As he failed to close the distance, the black man's brows slowly furrowed, and caution began to rise in his heart.
Why was the annual casualty rate in the Life City Ruins so high?
Was it because of the city guards?
No.
The real reason wasn't the guards—
It was people killing each other.
Why would they do that?
Isn't that obvious?
Life City was a public ruin, not controlled by any single nation or faction.
Those who entered came from hostile countries and rival forces.
When enemies met inside the ruins—
Could they coexist peacefully?
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
And beyond that—
Greed.
Wealth moved hearts.
Murder for treasure was commonplace on the Endless Sea.
For these geniuses who lived on the Endless Sea, killing to seize resources was routine.
That was why the black man suddenly became wary.
He feared Zhao Xuan had secretly allied with others to ambush him.
Just as he considered retreating—
Suddenly—
Zhao Xuan, who had reached a wide open plaza, had his aura violently destabilize.
"His extreme technique just ended!"
The black man's heart leapt with joy.
Still cautious, he didn't rush in immediately.
Instead, he scanned the area with Observation Aura, carefully checking the plaza and Zhao Xuan's condition.
After confirming there was no ambush—
And that Zhao Xuan was genuinely "weak"—
He finally relaxed.
"Tap!"
The next moment—
He lunged straight at Zhao Xuan.
Then—
The instant he entered within three meters—
"WHOOOOSH!"
Zhao Xuan completely released the life energy he had suppressed for so long.
In an instant—
Vast life energy enveloped his entire body.
His chaotic aura stabilized.
Then—
BOOM!!!
The moment his weakness vanished, a terrifying presence erupted from within him.
"Not good!"
Feeling that terrifying aura—one comparable to an Eighth-Rank King—the black man's face changed drastically.
Before he could react—
Zhao Xuan's fist had already slammed forward.
"Zhao Xuan, how dare you!!!"
Rage exploded through the black man.
After all—
He was a Seventh-Rank Venerable.
A man who had crossed the great divide.
And Zhao Xuan?
Just a Sixth-Rank Grandmaster.
How could a mere Sixth-Rank dare attack him?
How could he not be furious?
"BOOM!"
The black man reacted decisively, instantly activating his extreme technique.
But—
Just as he was about to counter—
BOOM!!!
Zhao Xuan's Conqueror's Aura erupted violently.
In an instant, overwhelming willpower flooded into the black man's mind.
His thoughts went completely blank.
0.01 seconds.
Just one hundredth of a second later, he regained clarity.
That sounded short.
But—
For Zhao Xuan—
It was more than enough.
Because this punch—
Was not ordinary.
It was a technique inspired by Kaido.
A derivative of Thunder Bagua.
So fast—
That within that 0.01 second—
It smashed directly into the black man's skull.
Tenfold amplification from the Azure Dragon Fruit.
True Man Mode amplification from the One-Second Technique.
The power of this punch was horrifying.
One blow—
Completely stunned the black man who had just recovered from the Conqueror's suppression.
His brain shook.
Stars exploded in his vision.
Then—
Zhao Xuan threw a second punch.
Then a third.
Punch after punch.
Seconds later—
Pop.
The black man's head exploded.
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