The mission was to slay a fifth-tier Land King–class beast deep within the Lingyin Mountain Range.
After leaving Hang City, Zhao Xuan sped northward.
Before long, he had completely left the city's boundaries and stepped into the vast wilderness of Lingyin.
Following the map's markings and the mission's description, he advanced toward the nest of the fifth-tier beast he was assigned to hunt.
Half an hour later—
After crossing two mountain ridges and entering a small hill basin,
Zhao Xuan finally arrived at the location noted in the mission records.
He searched the hillside for a while,
and eventually found his target.
A Fire Fox.
As the name suggested—
a fox-type Land King beast capable of breathing fire.
A fox's vision, hearing, and sense of smell were exceptional to begin with.
And this one was a fifth-tier fox.
The instant Zhao Xuan spotted it—
it also detected him.
But the Fire Fox didn't flee.
Instead, like a tiger prowling its prey,
it bared its sharp teeth and slowly crept toward him.
It circled him at a distance of about thirty meters,
moving in an arc as it observed him.
Its red eyes flickered with a strange glint.
Clearly—
it was assessing Zhao Xuan's strength.
Rustle…
The next second—
As if confirming that Zhao Xuan carried no threatening aura,
the Fire Fox suddenly sprang into action.
Whoosh!
It lunged at him viciously.
Thirty meters—
It closed the distance in less than a heartbeat.
Its speed—
was no slower than Master Mei's.
Zhao Xuan didn't move.
He just watched as those razor-sharp claws were about to rip into him—
"ROAR!!!!!!!!"
The Azure Dragon Fruit's power exploded.
A bloodline-level pressure erupted from Zhao Xuan's body,
instantly drowning the Fire Fox in an overwhelming sense of dread.
Its instincts screamed danger—
and it tried to retreat.
But it was already too late.
Zhao Xuan's fist smashed outward like a meteor.
BOOOOM!!!
His punch collided with the Fire Fox's claws—
Backed by over ten thousand points of physique,
and reinforced by Armament Haki—
the force behind this blow was terrifying beyond words.
Crack—crack—crack!
Bones snapped like brittle twigs.
Its entire right forelimb was shattered on the spot.
The punch didn't lose momentum—
and slammed directly into the Fire Fox's torso.
"SKREEEEE!!!"
With a miserable shriek,
the fifth-tier Fire Fox was blasted away like a ragdoll.
BOOM!
It crashed into a massive tree—
THUD!
Splitting the trunk in half.
"Trying to run?"
Zhao Xuan's expression turned cold.
The Fire Fox struggled to its feet,
its body swaying, one foreleg limp—
and scrambled toward the distant mountain forest.
But Zhao Xuan stepped down lightly—
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Using Shave,
he streaked after it like a ghost.
Sensing him closing in,
the Fire Fox panicked.
It turned its head—
and opened its bloody jaws.
"FWOOOOSH!!!"
A torrent of blazing flames surged toward Zhao Xuan.
Two punches tore out—
BOOM! BOOM!
He shattered the flames with raw force,
and immediately arrived before the Fire Fox.
One punch.
BOOM!!!!
Lightning crackled around his fist as it hammered the Fire Fox's skull.
THUD!!
It flew dozens of meters before crashing heavily into the ground.
"Tough bastard. Still not dead?"
When Zhao Xuan caught up again,
the Fire Fox—barely alive—struggled up once more to flee.
"Boom!"
Another punch to the skull.
THUD!
The Fire Fox was smashed into the earth,
creating a crater.
The shockwave rippled outward,
making the ground tremble for nearly a hundred meters around.
Strike while the beast is weak.
Zhao Xuan didn't hesitate.
He rained down punch after punch—
Seven or eight blows in rapid succession.
Only then did the Fire Fox finally stop moving.
From the moment Zhao Xuan found it
to the moment it died—
Not even three minutes had passed.
The fight was completely one-sided,
a pure, brutal domination.
Because it was a cross-tier kill,
the system rewarded Zhao Xuan with:
+20 proficiency in Armament Haki
+20 proficiency in the Azure Dragon Fruit ability
Zhao Xuan exhaled lightly.
"This fight was easy only because it underestimated me."
"If it hadn't lowered its guard,
hadn't taken my first full-power strike head-on,
and hadn't had its leg broken so early,
chasing it would've been a lot harder."
He quickly reviewed the combat in his mind.
His eyes suddenly gleamed.
"When I don't activate my fruit ability,
the aura I release is only at a fourth-tier level."
"In the perception of Land King beasts,
I appear weak."
"Unless the beast is unusually sharp or already near sixth tier—
they won't treat me seriously."
"Just like this Fire Fox.
It sensed my aura.
Thought I was only fourth-tier.
So it charged in recklessly."
Then—
A bold, insane thought
burst into Zhao Xuan's mind.
"If that's the case…
can't I use this advantage…"
"…to hunt mid-to-high-grade fifth-tier Land Kings?"
"And maybe—"
His eyes burned with wild excitement.
"Maybe I could even ambush
those sixth-tier Land King beasts
that are fast, high-attack, and low-defense?"
"Fourth tier slaying a sixth tier…"
"FOURTH TIER SLAUGHTERING A SIXTH TIER!!!"
"If I can do that—!!!"
Zhao Xuan felt his blood boiling.
His face flushed crimson.
His breathing deepened.
His entire being trembled with anticipation.
His cells felt like they were cheering inside him—
vibrating with exhilaration.
And even more shocking—
The mysterious "qi" deep within his mind,
the Overlord's Haki he couldn't fully awaken—
loosened slightly.
"If I can really pull this off…
I might awaken Overlord's Haki early!"
Zhao Xuan clenched his fists.
Eyes blazing.
But—
Zhao Xuan wasn't reckless.
He didn't act impulsively.
He shut his eyes and forced himself to breathe deeply.
"Hah… hah… hah… hah…"
Dozens of breaths later,
he finally calmed down.
"Can't be impulsive.
Cannot be impulsive."
A sixth-tier Land King
was no joke.
"I still can't confirm whether all Land King beasts
will fail to sense my danger level
before I activate the fruit or enter dragon form."
"And second—
I need a proper map.
I need to know the territories of the fifth- and sixth-tier beasts.
Especially the low-defense types.
Only then can I test this safely."
He immediately turned around
and sprinted back toward Hang City.
On the way—
Every fourth-tier Land King beast he encountered
died instantly
and was thrown into his relic space.
Money.
All of it was money.
Before coming to Hang City,
before breaking into fourth-tier,
Zhao Xuan had always thought he was pretty wealthy.
But after breaking into fourth tier—
He realized the truth.
He was broke.
Utterly, laughably broke.
Low-grade energy potions could barely sustain his body now.
A single low-grade vial cost 200,000 yuan—
and restored only a sliver of stamina.
And the recovery was slow—
five full minutes per vial.
A fourth-tier fighter needed at least ten vials
to recover 80% of their stamina.
Ten vials = fifty minutes.
Way, way too slow.
Thus, middle-grade energy potions were essential.
One vial restored most of a fourth-tier's strength
in one minute.
Even a fifth-tier could recover 50–60% in that time.
But—
Each vial cost 2 million.
And that was just the potions.
Middle-grade herbs?
Middle-grade spiritual fruits?
Even the cheapest ones were 700,000 each.
Most were over a million.
Two hours later—
At dusk—
Zhao Xuan returned to Hang City's Ability Guild.
After submitting the mission, he received 4.5 million.
Then he emptied his relic space, selling everything:
13 fourth-tier Land King beast corpses
1 fifth-tier Land King beast corpse
Total earnings:
73.5 million.
Including the mission reward:
78 million.
Sounds like a lot?
But Zhao Xuan—
spent it instantly.
First:
A detailed map of all mid-tier Land King territories in Lingyin.
Cost: 20 million.
And it was worth every coin.
The Guild spent massive manpower and time updating it each quarter.
With this map—
Zhao Xuan was confident he could multiply the cost tenfold.
After buying the map,
he had 58 million left.
He immediately purchased
29 vials of middle-grade energy potion.
All his money—gone.
But he wasn't done spending.
He then set his sights on a spiritual fruit—
Monkey King Fruit.
370 million per piece.
A fourth-tier fruit that accelerated mental power recovery
and boosted mental growth.
He was satisfied with his physical stats.
But mentally?
He was extremely dissatisfied.
His physique was nearly six times stronger than his mental strength.
Most ability users had a ratio of 2:1 or 3:1.
Anything higher was dangerous.
Too much disparity—
and the body's strength could exceed what the mind could control.
According to Elder Jiang Youde:
If mental strength lagged tenfold,
you'd start losing control.
Twentyfold—
you could only fight at 70–80% of your strength.
Thirtyfold—
you'd become helpless, unable to react or move properly.
Zhao Xuan's sixfold gap was still manageable—
but he had to prepare early.
Because both the Azure Dragon Fruit and Armament Haki
would continue increasing his physique dramatically.
So—
He gritted his teeth
and spent ALL remaining savings
to buy seven Monkey King Fruits.
"'Martialists must be rich'…
They weren't kidding at all."
Zhao Xuan stared at his bank account—
with only 1000 yuan left—
and silently tightened his fists.
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