"You mean to say that those people are planning to ambush me at the city gate when it reopens in three days?"
Inside the Life Ancient City, somewhere within.
Zhao Xuan looked at the Big Golden Rat in front of him and asked calmly.
"Jiji jiji! (That's right!)"
The Big Golden Rat chirped repeatedly in affirmation.
"Hmph. They really think highly of me—fourteen people, fourteen Seventh-Rank Venerables, joining forces just to deal with a Sixth-Rank Grandmaster like me."
As he spoke, Zhao Xuan's gaze suddenly turned icy cold.
"But if they want to kill me, it won't be that easy. Who kills whom is still up in the air!"
Muttering to himself, Zhao Xuan suddenly asked,
"By the way—have those two groups split up yet? Or are they still together?"
The moment he asked this, killing intent surged violently in his heart.
Clearly—
If those two groups dared to separate—
Then Zhao Xuan would dare to charge in without hesitation!
As the saying goes—
Strike first and gain the advantage; hesitate, and you suffer!
"Jiji jiji! (They're still together!)"
The Big Golden Rat chirped.
"Ah, what a pity."
Hearing this, Zhao Xuan let out a regretful sigh.
Just as he was sighing, the Big Golden Rat chirped again:
"Jiji jiji jiji!"
"What? You're saying they're planning to hunt Gold Guards? And they said it themselves?"
Zhao Xuan's eyes instantly lit up.
"Jiji! (Yes!)"
The Big Golden Rat nodded rapidly.
A playful smile immediately appeared on Zhao Xuan's face.
At the same time—
A bold plan quickly took shape in his mind.
"If I suddenly strike while they're fighting Gold Guards…"
Thinking of this, Zhao Xuan's eyes gleamed.
"There's still plenty of time. I'll play with you slowly."
"First, I'll go check on the last remaining ability-user team. Let's see if I can wipe them out first—better safe than sorry."
With that—
Zhao Xuan set off once again.
Guided by the Big Golden Rat, he headed straight toward the final ability-user squad that had previously attacked him.
This time—
Zhao Xuan was smarter.
He first had the Big Golden Rat carefully sniff the area.
After confirming there were no other people lying in ambush nearby, Zhao Xuan repeated his old trick—pretending to be chased, panicking, and running straight toward them.
This routine of Zhao Xuan's—
This old, familiar tactic—
Was astonishingly effective.
Its success rate was extremely high.
Of course—
That was on the premise that they didn't know Zhao Xuan's true strength.
After all—
No one would suspect that a Sixth-Rank Grandmaster would dare to attack a group of Seventh-Rank Venerables head-on.
Although Zhao Xuan's acting wasn't particularly convincing—
And his panic would be easy to spot as fake if one looked closely—
Unfortunately—
His chaotic, weakened aura was completely real.
And far too real.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The battle came fast and ended just as fast.
In less than a minute, all six members of that team were dead.
"Now there's only one group left."
Zhao Xuan's eyes flickered rapidly.
Then—
He summoned the Big Golden Rat once more.
After tossing it the two cactus flowers he had promised earlier, Zhao Xuan said,
"I've got a new mission for you."
"Jiji jiji!"
The Big Golden Rat immediately puffed out its chest proudly.
"The task is simple. Go secretly follow that group from earlier. When they start fighting the Gold Guards, come inform me immediately."
Zhao Xuan spoke with chilling killing intent.
"Jiji! (No problem!)"
The Big Golden Rat nodded.
"Go on."
Zhao Xuan waved his hand.
In the next instant—
Whoosh.
The Big Golden Rat vanished from the spot.
Once it left, the surroundings fell silent.
Zhao Xuan first calmly tallied his recent gains.
Although that last group had only six people—
The value of the loot he obtained from them was far from small.
Nearly four hundred billion.
That's right.
After converting all the relic cores, life stones, and other resources into Jiuzhou currency—
The total came to a full four hundred billion.
"Three thousand five hundred billion."
After adding up the total value of all his assets, Zhao Xuan's eyes brightened.
"Only three thousand five hundred billion left. Just three thousand five hundred billion!"
As he thought this, Zhao Xuan's face gradually flushed.
A surge of excitement and anticipation swept through his entire body.
"I wonder just how much benefit breaking into the Seventh Rank using life energy will bring."
"With my current strength, I can already confront Eighth-Rank lower-tier Kings head-on."
"Once I cross the chasm using life energy and break through to the Seventh-Rank Venerable realm, I might even rival Eighth-Rank peak powerhouses!"
The more he thought about it, the more excited Zhao Xuan became.
So excited that—
"Hu… hu… hu… hu… hu…"
Even his breathing became rapid.
After quite some time, he finally managed to calm himself.
Then—
He casually opened the attribute panel that he hadn't checked in a long while.
[Heaven Rewards Diligence System]
Name: Zhao Xuan
Age: 18
Spirit: 394.23 / 523.13
Physique: 2863.86 / 4123.45
Abilities:
Shave (Grandmaster: 14,800 / 32,000)
Iron Body (Grandmaster: 23,000 / 32,000)
Paper Art (Grandmaster: 15,500 / 32,000)
Moonwalk (Grandmaster: 14,200 / 32,000)
Tempest Kick (Grandmaster: 21,000 / 32,000)
Finger Pistol (Grandmaster: 14,300 / 32,000)
Swordsmanship (Master: 1,935 / 16,000)
Observation Haki (Advanced: 53,000 / 80,000)
Armament Haki (Advanced: 47,000 / 80,000)
Conqueror's Haki (Master: 11,001 / 168,200,000)
Azure Dragon Fruit (Advanced: 39,900 / 80,000)
He smiled.
Looking at his attribute panel, Zhao Xuan couldn't help but grin.
"Just nine thousand more. Only nine thousand more proficiency points, and Iron Body will break through to the Transcendent Realm."
"Eighteen years old. Transcendent Iron Body."
"Do you know what that means? If this got out, it would shock everyone!"
Zhao Xuan couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"Still, gaining nine thousand proficiency points in a short time won't be easy."
"My strength keeps increasing. Even though I'm still fighting above my rank, the proficiency I gain from battling Seventh-Rank geniuses is getting less and less."
"At the beginning, I could get nearly three thousand points. In the last fight, I only got five hundred. Sigh…"
At this thought, Zhao Xuan's eyes suddenly flickered.
"Once I finish dealing with that group, I'll go straight after the Gold Guards."
"Defeating a Gold Guard squad should give a decent amount of proficiency, right?"
"After all, there are two genuine Eighth-Rank guards in a single Gold Guard team."
As Zhao Xuan muttered to himself—
Suddenly—
A flash of golden light appeared before his eyes.
In the next moment—
The Big Golden Rat suddenly appeared in front of him.
"You're back already?"
Zhao Xuan looked at it—
And his killing intent surged once more.
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Read Chapters ahead: [email protected] / KaiOynx