Arrogance and pride—they could get a man killed.
Zhao Xuan knew that all too well.
He didn't let his victory—defeating a Tier-4 creature with only a third-tier body—make him too smug or self-satisfied.
Because…
In his eyes, if he could do it, then there was no reason others couldn't as well.
Think of those descendants from the great families.
They'd been raised on spirit herbs and elixirs since childhood, trained by professional cultivation teams, and taught their clans' exclusive secret arts. How could their strength possibly be weak?
Take Di Ruqing, for instance.
Back in his second year of high school, Di Ruqing had already awakened Armament Haki.
And yet, the Di Clan of Tongcheng wasn't even considered notable among the Nine Provinces.
Even within the Nanjiang Province, they barely counted for anything.
After all, Di Ruqing's father, Di Wenbin, was merely the modest Admiral of Tongcheng, a minor Tier-4 Lesser Grandmaster.
In this world, Tier-4 cultivators were called Lesser Grandmasters.
Tier-5—Grandmasters.
Tier-6—Great Grandmasters.
Tier-7—Revered.
Eighth-tier—Kings.
Ninth-tier—Emperors.
——
Once Zhao Xuan regained his composure, he immediately began searching for the second reward for passing the relic trial—the Heart of the Relic.
But!
After circling the area several times, he still couldn't find the Heart he was looking for.
"Huh? What's going on? Could it be… under this Tier-4 Desert Statue's corpse?"
Muttering to himself, Zhao Xuan began searching through the "corpse."
After a bit of rummaging, he actually found the Heart of the Relic hidden beneath the Desert Statue's body.
But that wasn't all—he also discovered a diamond-shaped crystal the size of a fingertip.
It glowed with a dim, yellowish hue.
Even just holding it, Zhao Xuan could feel the energy pulsing within.
"What's this?"
His brows furrowed in confusion.
"It came from this Desert Statue's skull… Could it be something like a demon beast's core crystal, like in those fantasy novels?"
"There's some powerful energy inside… no idea what it's for though. Forget it! I'll just ask President Lian when I'm back in Tongcheng."
Zhao Xuan casually pocketed the diamond crystal.
Then, his gaze fell back onto the Heart of the Relic.
"According to President Lian, all I have to do is thrust my Spiritual Power into the Heart, stain it with my essence, and it'll be bound to me…"
He murmured to himself as he pressed the Heart against his forehead.
At once, his Spiritual Power surged outward—
Like a thick, dark rod, it stabbed fiercely into the Heart of the Relic.
Not everyone was qualified to bind a relic's heart!
Each Heart was protected by a barrier of spiritual energy.
Only by breaking through that barrier could one's spirit enter and claim it.
Thrust! Thrust! Thrust!
Zhao Xuan jabbed again and again—seven or eight times in a row—
Until, after nearly twenty points of spiritual energy were consumed, his dark spiritual rod finally broke through the barrier and entered the Heart.
Then—
His spiritual energy rampaged wildly inside, charging through the Heart's interior.
Before long, the Heart of the Relic had taken on his form.
At the moment of successful binding, Zhao Xuan's face erupted in sheer delight.
"Holy sh*t—jackpot! It's a special-type Heart of the Relic! And it's a spatial-attribute! "
Ecstatic—
He was completely overcome by joy.
A spatial-type relic heart—what did that mean?
It meant that its entrance portal wasn't fixed.
In other words—
Wherever Zhao Xuan wanted to open it, he could.
Which meant that from now on, no matter where he was, Zhao Xuan could use this Heart of the Relic to open a gate leading into the Desert Statue's relic world—entering and leaving at will.
And what did that mean?
It meant he now possessed an enormous, portable storage dimension!
"I wonder how big this relic actually is…"
With that thought, Zhao Xuan suddenly leapt to his feet.
He exited the trial space and stepped fully into the relic's interior.
Thud! Thud!
He stomped the ground, then sprang upward.
Using Moon Step, he ascended to a height of twenty or thirty meters.
Gazing across the endless sea of desert sand, Zhao Xuan's smile grew—
not twisted, exactly… but dazzlingly wide.
——
——
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/HorizonStudios0