Same old routine.
After dinner, Di Ruqing naturally followed Zhao Xuan back to his room again.
To an outsider, it would seem as though this was her own room.
The two of them didn't go straight to sleep. Instead, they began to "exercise" late at night.
Ahem.
Don't get the wrong idea.
Not that kind of exercise.
The other kind—the proper kind.
Mental exercise.
In short—meditation.
Time slipped quietly by.
In the blink of an eye, it was already the dead of night.
The bright moonlight poured down like silver gauze, veiling the whole of Hang City in a faint, shimmering glow.
For a moment, the entire city seemed utterly still.
But!
The stillness was only an illusion.
Beneath the veil of darkness, turbulent undercurrents stirred.
Suddenly—
"ROAR!!!!!!!"
A thunderous bellow tore through the night sky.
And then—
"ROAR!!!"
"ROAR!!!"
"ROAR!!!"
The furious howls rose and fell one after another, echoing endlessly.
If one were to look down from above the northern Lingyin Mountains, they would see countless beasts surging out from the mountain depths in a flood.
Thousands—no, tens of thousands of them.
Most were low-level beasts of the Second or Third Tier.
But among them were twenty or thirty Fourth, Fifth, even Sixth Tier land kings.
And leading them—
a massive black gorilla with blood-red eyes.
None of the other beasts dared approach within fifty meters of it.
Clearly—
This was a High-Tier Land King.
Low-tier, mid-tier, high-tier—no matter the level, they all had one thing in common:
each wore a glowing green collar around its neck.
From that alone, one could tell something crucial—
This beast tide was not natural.
It was controlled.
"Wooo! Wooo! Wooo!"
At the very moment the beast tide appeared, piercing sirens blared across the skies above Hang City.
"They're here?"
In the east of the city, atop the tower beside the Hang City Sports Arena,
a plump middle-aged man slowly opened his eyes.
If Zhao Xuan were present, he would've immediately noticed—
This man looked remarkably like Fatty Fu.
"A Tier-7 Land King in the north, huh? I'll go deal with it. You stay here and protect our Nanjiang talents."
Muttering to himself, the man's figure blurred.
A few heavy steps echoed—then he vanished into the night.
Moments later, an old man's figure appeared where he had been, silently taking his place.
Suddenly—
The old man's eyes snapped open, and he shouted coldly:
"How dare you!!!"
A lightning-fast punch followed.
Thunder cracked through the sky—
a lightning bolt as thick as a barrel blasted westward, striking a hidden figure out of the shadows.
The target—a man in a black robe emblazoned with a demonic sigil.
Around forty or fifty years old, his face twisted in a mocking grin.
"Heh, we meet again, old man."
"It's you—09!!!"
The old man's bloodshot eyes widened in rage.
BOOM!!!
Lightning rumbled once more as another thunderbolt tore through the night sky.
But this time, the demon cultist didn't dodge.
Instead—his body shimmered, transforming into pure lightning itself.
The bolt vanished into him harmlessly.
The old man's expression grew darker than the storm clouds above.
The cultist sneered:
"Jie jie jie jie! Old fool, your son's Thunder Fruit ability sure comes in handy!"
The old man's red eyes grew even bloodier. Veins bulged across his temples as grief and fury mingled on his face.
"You… deserve… to die!"
With a roar, he charged once again.
No longer using the Thunder Fruit ability—he knew too well that Logia powers of the same nature were nearly ineffective against each other unless the gap in mastery or strength was vast.
The two clashed fiercely—
Six Powers!
Haki!
Shockwaves blasted through the air, whipping up violent winds over the city.
The old man's mastery of both techniques clearly outstripped the cultist's.
Within moments, he was pressing the enemy hard.
But then—
A massive fireball erupted from below, swallowing the old man whole.
"President!"
"President, sir!"
Down below, elite members of the Ability Users Guild cried out in alarm—
but before panic could spread, the old man burst forth from the flames, singed but unscathed.
His expression, however, had grown grave.
He glared into a shadowed alley.
From the darkness, another robed figure stepped out—also wearing the mark of the Demon Sect.
"So," the old man said coldly, "the Demon Sect really went all in this time. Three Elders, all at once!"
In the Demon Sect, only those above the Seventh Tier could hold the title of Elder.
Yes—
the one before him, the one who fought him, and the one controlling the beast tide in the north—
three Tier-7 Elders.
The cultist sneered:
"Jie jie jie jie! What can I say? Hang City's defenses are weak. Only two Sevenths guarding the Nanjiang capital—and one of them's a useless old relic who couldn't even protect his own son and daughter-in-law!"
At those words, the old man's face twisted with anguish.
"I will avenge Xu'er," he growled, "I will avenge him!"
"Hah! Big words. Old man, this will be your death day next year! Kill him!"
Two Demon Sect Elders struck at once.
One against two—
no contest.
Within minutes, the old man was forced on the defensive, blood spraying from his mouth as the battle raged overhead.
Meanwhile, near the Hang City Sports Arena—
at the hotel housing Zhao Xuan and the others—
"Kill!!!"
"Boom!!!"
"Cut them down!"
The streets erupted into chaos.
City guards and Guild elites fought desperately against the invading cultists.
Though outnumbering the enemy three to one, they struggled to hold the line.
The reason?
Nearly every Demon Sect member was a Fruit User.
Among the guards and Guild members, only about a quarter possessed Devil Fruits; the rest were ordinary Awakened.
That ratio was normal—
only those whose mental strength surpassed 20 before age 18 could become Fruit Users.
Across the Divine State, the average was merely 18.
Roughly one in a hundred Awakened qualified.
The Demon Sect, however, had a forbidden ritual—
a way to steal others' Fruit powers.
That was how they survived even as the world's greatest pariahs.
But with Zhao Xuan and the twenty academy prodigies joining the fight, the tide began to turn.
Zhao Xuan dashed forward like a bolt of lightning.
In an instant, he closed in on a Third-Tier cultist.
One kick—
BOOM!!!
The man flew like a rag doll, crashing through a wall.
"Watch out!!!"
Di Ruqing's sharp voice rang from behind.
A sudden gust—a crushing force struck Zhao Xuan's back.
THUD!
Caught off guard, he was sent flying several meters, slamming into the ground.
As he struggled to rise—
a shadow loomed before him.
A hand extended, two fingers forming a spear.
A blackened Finger Gun thrust straight at his throat.
I'll die!
Instinct screamed.
"ROAR!!!"
Without thinking, Zhao Xuan activated his Dragon Form.
All attributes—tenfold!
The attack that would've pierced his throat instead hit his left shoulder.
Even with nearly five thousand physique points—his flesh like iron—
The strike still punched clean through his shoulder.
"Zhao Shi! You bastard!!"
Di Ruqing's furious cry came from behind.
She charged, magma surging around her fist.
Magma Fist!
Her punch slammed forward—but Zhao Shi didn't even look back.
He turned slightly, his own fist—a pitch-black mass wrapped in Master-level Armament Haki—met hers head-on.
BOOM!!!
The ground shook.
Magma burst apart.
A sharp crack echoed—Di Ruqing's arm dislocated as she was blasted tens of meters away, crashing into the ground.
"Wha—!?"
"That's… Master-level Armament Haki!?"
"Zhao Shi—what the hell happened to him!?"
Before anyone could react, Zhao Shi stomped down hard.
His foot pinned Zhao Xuan to the ground.
Even in Dragon Form, Zhao Xuan couldn't move.
Zhao Shi's eyes were cold as steel.
Without a word, his fingers stabbed again—
Another shiver of death brushed Zhao Xuan's spine.
His heart thundered.
Armament surged from his dantian.
Iron Body activated.
Shhhh!
The Finger Gun pierced his neck, leaving a bloody mark but not breaking through.
Zhao Shi's eyes narrowed.
He struck again, hitting Zhao Xuan's abdomen.
Another red mark bloomed.
"…Interesting," Zhao Shi murmured. "Your fruit power isn't ordinary. An Ancient Zoan, perhaps?"
He grabbed Zhao Xuan by the throat, lifting him effortlessly.
"I've heard tales of the Ancient Zoan's resilience—but to think it could let a mere Third Tier survive my full strike…"
As he muttered, a shadow lunged again—
Di Ruqing, dislocated arm and all, roaring in fury.
"LET HIM GO!!!"
Zhao Shi didn't even flinch.
"Get lost."
One punch.
She flew.
Crashed into the hotel wall again.
Dust billowed.
Furious shouts rose from the battlefield—Fatty Fu and the others charging to help—but Zhao Shi ignored them.
He threw Zhao Xuan to the ground like trash.
"You're lucky," he said coldly. "I was going to kill you. But now—I think I'll keep you alive. Until I strip your power for myself."
His eyes gleamed murderously.
"And before that, I'll deal with your friends."
His foot came down.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
Zhao Xuan's arms and legs shattered under his stomp.
Then Zhao Shi strode toward Fatty Fu and the others.
What followed was slaughter.
No one could withstand a single blow.
Blood splattered the streets.
Then—his gaze flicked toward the ruined hotel.
A slim silhouette stepped through the collapsing wall—
Di Ruqing.
Her body now burned like living magma.
Zhao Shi's grin widened. "Oh? You broke through?"
At the sight of Zhao Xuan lying broken and bloody, Di Ruqing's eyes turned crimson.
"You… I'll kill you! I'll KILL YOU!!!"
She charged.
A spear of molten rock formed in her hand.
The air screamed as it flew.
"Hmph. Pathetic."
Zhao Shi's blackened fist met it head-on.
BOOM!!!
The spear shattered—
but in that instant, molten magma burst outward, engulfing him.
"Tricks!" he spat, swinging his fists.
Blow after blow extinguished the magma.
But from within the haze, Di Ruqing struck again—
Magma Fist!
The condensed molten punch slammed into Zhao Shi's abdomen—
his flesh seared black.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
His scream ripped through the night.
He lashed out in rage—one kick sent her crashing back again.
Panting, he looked down at his charred stomach.
A Tier-5 master… wounded by a mere Fourth Tier novice.
Rage boiled over.
In a blur, he appeared before her, grabbed her by the hair, and lifted her like a doll.
"You've made me angry," he hissed. "I won't kill you quickly. You're his woman, aren't you? Do you care about him? Then you'll watch as I tear his Fruit from him and leave him to die screaming."
Punch.
Kick.
She fell again and again—yet each time, she crawled back up, body broken, eyes blazing.
Until finally, she collapsed completely, unable to stand.
"Pathetic," Zhao Shi sneered. He turned away—
—but a sudden gust behind him froze him mid-step.
He spun—
And there stood Zhao Xuan.
Broken, bloodied, but standing.
A monstrous aura radiated from him.
Zhao Shi's expression twisted.
"Oh? You recovered already? Impressive."
He lunged, hand reaching for Zhao Xuan's throat.
"You think regeneration makes you untouchable? I'll break you again—"
But before he could finish—
Zhao Xuan moved.
His hand shot up like lightning—grabbing Zhao Shi's arm.
"What—!?"
CRACK!!!
A brutal downward strike—
and Zhao Shi's arm snapped like dry wood.
His scream pierced the heavens.
Then—
A devastating kick sent him flying into the collapsing hotel.
BOOM!!!
The building crumbled.
Moments later, Zhao Shi staggered out from the rubble, pale and trembling.
His left arm hung uselessly at his side.
"So… you've advanced to Fourth Tier too, huh?" he rasped.
"But so what?!" His voice cracked into a shriek. "I'm still Fifth Tier!"
And with that, he charged once more—
The battle was far from over.
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