For three long seconds, silence reigned.
Then—
Wooooow!
The entire arena erupted in chaos.
Gasps, exclamations, and disbelief filled the air, echoing across the dueling grounds like rolling thunder.
"W–What just happened!?"
"How did that end so fast!?"
"Li Zhiwei was dominating before—how did he lose after going all out!?"
"Holy crap, look! Look at the ground under him!"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"The bricks—Li Zhiwei hit the ground so hard the tiles broke!"
"No way! Those aren't normal tiles—the arena's paved with reinforced blue bricks! You need at least 100 Dao Power to crack them!"
"You mean Zhao Xuan's already over 100 Dao Power? So he could probably pass the Level 2 Practitioner Exam if he went right now!?"
"Looks that way!"
"Unbelievable… I'm barely at 15 Dao Power! How can someone my age already break a hundred!?"
"…"
The arena buzzed with noise and disbelief.
But Zhao Xuan paid no attention to the crowd.
At that moment, his focus was entirely inward—on the surge of power and insight left behind by that battle.
Almost as soon as Li Zhiwei had been blasted away, the crisp chime of the system echoed in Zhao Xuan's mind:
"Ding-dong! You've experienced a thrilling, high-intensity battle.
Your understanding of Iron Body, Tempest Kick, Finger Gun, Armament Haki, and the Azure Dragon Fruit has advanced dramatically!
Finger Gun proficiency +5.
Azure Dragon Fruit proficiency +5.
Tempest Kick proficiency +10.
Armament Haki proficiency +10.
Iron Body proficiency +20!"
Fifty points!
In a fight that lasted barely twenty minutes, Zhao Xuan's combined proficiency had jumped by fifty points.
That was an explosive leap.
Under normal training conditions, ten minutes of focused practice would grant him, at best, two or three points of improvement.
Twenty minutes—maybe six points total.
But now?
He'd earned eight times that amount.
The moment the system's voice faded, Zhao Xuan's heart surged with excitement.
"Just as I thought," he murmured, clenching his fists,
"battle really is the best form of training!"
A grin tugged at his lips. His pulse raced—not from exhaustion, but from exhilaration.
Before long, word of his overwhelming victory against Li Zhiwei spread throughout the entire Tongcheng No. 1 High School like wildfire.
And while the entire school buzzed with disbelief and awe, Zhao Xuan was already thinking ahead—
Choosing his next sparring target.
By late afternoon, he had made his decision.
His next opponent: Dai Jin, the top student of Class 1—
the undisputed academic genius who had ranked first in the year since his very first day of high school.
When Zhao Xuan sought him out, Dai Jin accepted the challenge without hesitation.
And soon—
a new duel shook the school.
Dai Jin truly lived up to his reputation.
Even though he had no Devil Fruit ability—
even though his real combat experience was far below Li Zhiwei's—
his mastery of the Six Styles was unmatched among the seniors.
Out of the six core techniques—Shave, Iron Body, Paper Art, Moon Step, Tempest Kick, and Finger Gun—
Dai Jin had pushed two of them, Moon Step and Finger Gun, to the Advanced level.
Under the combined precision of those techniques, he managed to drive Zhao Xuan onto the defensive for quite some time—
even after Zhao Xuan had activated his Azure Dragon Form.
For a brief, intense exchange, it looked as though Dai Jin might actually hold his ground.
But in the end—
he too fell before Zhao Xuan's overwhelming might.
There was no shame in it.
The Azure Dragon Fruit's boost was simply too monstrous—
a full fivefold enhancement to every physical and spiritual attribute.
No ordinary human could withstand that.
Yet, even after defeating Dai Jin, Zhao Xuan felt no satisfaction.
The next morning, he was already hunting for another opponent—
another challenge that could push him further.
Throughout the day, he systematically sought out the top students in the third-year classes—
and by sunset, he had beaten nearly all of the top ten ranked fighters in the school.
However—
as his strength continued to grow, his frustration mounted.
Because the stronger he became, the less experience he gained.
His opponents no longer posed a real threat,
the battles ended too quickly,
and the system's rewards became smaller each time.
After defeating the tenth-ranked senior that day, Zhao Xuan came to a startling realization—
There was no one left in Tongcheng No. 1 High who could serve as his sparring partner.
Everyone knew his power now.
Even the top-ranked students who once fought proudly refused to face him again.
And so, when Zhao Xuan approached another class's "prodigy" the next day,
hoping for a duel,
he was flatly rejected on the spot.
Then again.
And again.
Until at last, it hit him—
He had become something else entirely.
A king without a crown.
That was how Zhao Xuan described himself.
But among his peers—
among the countless "geniuses" he had crushed—
he had earned a different title.
The Battle Maniac.
The name spread quietly but firmly, carrying on whispers and awe.