Off to the side, a blond-haired boy snorted coldly, full of disdain.
Instantly—
Swish, swish, swish!
Dozens of gazes turned toward him, including those of several female examinees.
Feeling the attention, the boy raised his chin arrogantly and said,
"So what if his defense is strong? All he can do is block! Like a damn turtle hiding in its shell—no offense, no bite! Just a useless piece of trash!"
His voice fell, and the entire arena went silent.
No one spoke. But eyes gleamed—some curious, some sharp.
Among the spectators, Di Ruqing clenched her fists tightly.
Her cold eyes fixed on the blond boy, sharp as blades.
Beside her, Fu Jieyan noticed and was about to speak when—
The situation on stage suddenly changed.
The once passive Zhao Xuan, who had been enduring every attack up until now, finally moved.
The massive stone tentacles lashed toward him—
and Zhao Xuan struck.
In a blur—
his hand shot out, and with a single grab,
he seized one of the giant tentacles mid-swing.
Then—
The terrifying power within his body erupted.
"KRRRAAACKKK!!!"
The sound of stone shattering echoed across the arena.
Under Zhao Xuan's monstrous strength,
the massive tentacle was ripped clean out of the ground—
roots and all.
BOOM!
He hurled it off the stage like tossing away garbage,
then reached for the next one.
One after another—
seven enormous stone tentacles were uprooted and thrown aside in seconds.
Only one remained.
Zhao Xuan's eyes narrowed.
He lunged toward the last tentacle—
But before he could grab it, the thing tried to flee,
desperately burrowing back into the ground.
"Trying to run!?" Zhao Xuan sneered.
He stomped forward—
Two steps.
That was all it took to catch up.
He grabbed it firmly—
and pulled.
"KRRRRAAAAAACK!"
With brute strength, he tore it free from the ground.
BOOOOOOM!!!!
But as it came loose—
the tentacle suddenly exploded!
A figure shot out from within,
a leg slicing through the air toward Zhao Xuan's head.
"Exactly what I was waiting for."
Zhao Xuan's expression remained calm—
as if he had known all along that his opponent, Ruan Ji, was hiding inside the tentacle.
He met the incoming kick head-on—
his fist, hardened with Iron Body, swung forward.
"BOOM!!!!"
He had already entered his Partial Dragonization state earlier while tearing out the tentacles.
Fivefold enhancement.
2,400 Constitution.
One punch—
enough to shatter the world.
Ruan Ji was sent flying like a broken arrow,
smashing into the ground offstage.
"CRASH!!!"
The impact carved a massive crater in the ground.
Dust billowed high into the air.
When it cleared,
Ruan Ji lay motionless.
"BEEEEP!!!"
The referee's whistle pierced the silence.
"Contestant No. 1 — Zhao Xuan, victory!"
After the fight, Zhao Xuan and Ruan Ji left the stage while dozens of engineering-type ability users rushed up to repair the arena.
The ring was massive—nearly 80 meters long and wide,
over 6,400 square meters in total.
Roughly the size of a standard soccer field from Zhao Xuan's past life.
Even so, the damage was so severe that it took dozens of Third-Tier engineers nearly half an hour to restore it.
That alone showed the sheer destructive power behind Zhao Xuan and Ruan Ji's battle.
As soon as the repairs finished, the next match began—
two prodigies from Hang City.
One possessed the Shock-Shock Fruit;
the other, the Momo-Momo Fruit.
Their battle was fierce and explosive,
but ultimately, the victor was Wang Defa, wielder of the Momo-Momo Fruit.
The Shock-Shock Fruit was known as one of the most powerful Paramecia-type abilities in all of Shenzhou.
Its destructive power was terrifying—both in single combat and area attacks.
But it had a glaring flaw:
its massive stamina drain.
A few moves were enough to completely exhaust the user.
Thus, Shock-Shock users were often weak in early tiers,
but upon breaking into the Fourth Tier, they underwent a dramatic transformation.
When the body was reforged by the flood of spiritual energy at breakthrough, their destructive potential skyrocketed.
Five minutes later, the third match began.
Contestant 3: Ye Chenliang, the blond boy from Licheng.
Contestant 18: Di Ruqing from Tongcheng.
"BEEEEP!"
The whistle had barely sounded when Di Ruqing moved.
In a flash, she was upon Ye Chenliang.
Her hand extended like a spear—
a Finger Gun strike aimed straight at his chest.
But Ye Chenliang remained unfazed.
There was a reason he had dared to mock Zhao Xuan earlier.
As Di Ruqing attacked, he released all the tension in his body,
becoming as light as a feather.
Using the shifts in air pressure created by her strike,
he effortlessly slipped aside—
the signature of Paper Art.
Di Ruqing spun and kicked—
he dodged again.
Another strike—another graceful evasion.
It was clear he had mastered Paper Art to an impressive degree.
This time, Di Ruqing stopped attacking,
taking two steps back, her cold gaze fixed on him.
"Heh," Ye Chenliang sneered, "what's with that icy face? Try smiling for once."
"Hmph. You mocked Zhao Xuan, but you're no different—a coward who only knows how to dodge."
Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
His smirk vanished instantly.
"You asked for this."
A frigid aura surged out of him,
frost spreading rapidly across the ground.
That was why he had been so arrogant—
he, too, was a Logia-type Devil Fruit user.
He opened his mouth.
"Haaa—!"
A freezing breath burst forth,
and in his hand materialized a gleaming ice blade.
"Don't say I bully women. You're the one who wanted this."
Then he lunged.
His icy blade slashed downward,
aimed directly at Di Ruqing's chest.
But she didn't move.
She stood still, calm, watching him approach.
Until—
The very moment his blade was about to strike—
She moved.
Her Devil Fruit power activated in a fiery burst.
Her delicate hand transformed into molten magma,
reaching up to grip the ice blade mid-swing.
"HSSSSSSSSS!!"
Steam hissed as magma met ice.
Then—
Her right hand clenched into a blackened fist.
"BOOM!!!"
She struck like a cannonball.
In the blink of an eye,
her fist smashed squarely into Ye Chenliang's abdomen.
He barely had time to coat himself in Iron Body and Armament Haki—
But it wasn't enough.
Her Armament Haki, like Zhao Xuan's, was Expert-Level.
"GUHHHH!!"
Ye Chenliang was blasted backward, flying across the stage.
Before he could even hit the ground—
Tap-tap-tap!
Di Ruqing had already moved again,
using Shave to appear right in front of him midair.
Images flashed in her mind—
Zhao Xuan shielding her with his back during the Demon Cult battle,
and this same blond boy mocking him afterward.
Rage ignited within her.
She unleashed a Tempest Kick,
the strike slamming directly into Ye Chenliang's gut.
"Ughhh!"
He hadn't even landed before being launched again—
flung off his feet like a ragdoll.
But she didn't stop.
She chased relentlessly—
one kick after another,
merciless, unrelenting, furious.
Each strike drove him closer to the edge of the arena—
Until finally—
With one final CRASH,
Ye Chenliang's battered body was kicked clean off the stage.
He tumbled to the ground below—defeated.
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