Two mornings later—
With the help of a seventh-rank Gate-Gate Fruit ability user dispatched by the Kyushu Education Directorate—
Zhao Xuan reached the Imperial Capital in less than ten minutes.
The Imperial Capital truly lived up to its name.
Its prosperity dwarfed even Hangcheng, the bustling heart of South Jiang.
On its streets—
Everywhere he looked—
Ability users walked in endless streams.
Most were mere first or second-rankers…
But fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, and even seventh-rankers could be spotted every so often.
After all—
This was the Imperial Capital.
The very center of Kyushu's political power.
Under the seventh-rank Gate user's guidance, Zhao Xuan arrived at the Kyushu Ability Guild Headquarters—
the main branch of all Ability Guilds nationwide.
From there, staff escorted him to a hotel designated exclusively for National Tournament contestants.
As expected of the capital—
The entire hotel was constructed from high-grade sixth-rank azure bricks.
Even the two receptionists were sixth-rank Grandmasters.
"Welcome, Mr. Zhao Xuan. Which room number would you like to choose?"
A sixth-rank receptionist asked politely.
"Choose a room number?"
Zhao Xuan narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"It seems Mr. Zhao isn't familiar with the National Tournament system."
The Grandmaster began explaining:
"The National Tournament is completely different from the Provincial one.
It uses a ten-day arena-defense system.
There are 50 arenas, numbered 1 to 50."
"Each contestant's initial arena number corresponds directly to the hotel room number they select.
The hotel also has exactly 50 rooms."
"Once the tournament begins—
those with larger arena numbers may challenge those with smaller ones.
But not the other way around."
"In other words, Arena 50 may challenge Arena 49, 48… all the way to 1.
Arena 1 can only accept challenges and cannot refuse—
unless they choose to surrender."
"If the challenger wins, the two contestants swap arena numbers."
"For example:
If you are originally Number 10, and you defeat Number 1—
you become Number 1, and he becomes Number 10."
"Do you understand, Mr. Zhao?"
Zhao Xuan nodded.
"Thank you. I understand now."
"No need for thanks. It's my duty."
The Grandmaster smiled.
"I have one more question." Zhao Xuan said.
"Go ahead."
"Why are there 50 arenas? Kyushu only has 34 provinces and municipalities."
"Ah, that's because this year—
sixteen foreign geniuses from overseas nations are participating."
"Sixteen foreigners?"
Zhao Xuan's gaze sharpened.
Battle intent quietly ignited in his chest.
This was going to be fun.
"Now that you understand everything,"
the Grandmaster said,
"it's time to choose your room.
Although 26 rooms have already been claimed, you may still choose any of them if you wish.
Which number will you select?"
"Room 50."
He didn't even hesitate.
Of course he had to choose Number 50.
Only by starting from the bottom could he challenge every last contestant one by one.
For Zhao Xuan—
Battle was the best form of growth.
Battle was the fastest path to strength.
"Room 50?"
The Grandmaster blinked.
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
"I should mention—
the closer the room is to Number 1, the higher the spiritual energy density.
Room 1 even has a high-grade Spirit Gathering Formation installed.
Its energy density is at least twenty times that of Room 50."
"Even so, you still want Room 50?"
It was an obvious hint to choose Room 1.
"No need."
Zhao Xuan shook his head.
"Room 50."
Spiritual energy was useful—
but for Zhao Xuan?
Not nearly as useful as actual combat.
A full day cultivating in 20× denser energy might not give him half the growth of an hour-long fight.
Seeing Zhao Xuan's certainty, the Grandmaster no longer persuaded him and handed him the room card.
"Thank you."
Zhao Xuan accepted it and left.
For the next three days—
Zhao Xuan stayed inside his sprawling desert relic.
Venturing deeper—
searching for the golden rat,
and hunting for more sun cactus flowers.
During these three days—
Contestants from all over Kyushu,
and from overseas,
moved into the hotel one after another.
The hotel soon became lively.
Every contestant who made it into the National Tournament
was a monster-level genius.
At eighteen years old—
able to reach the fourth rank and fight fifth-rank Grandmasters.
How could such people not be arrogant?
When they heard the National rules—
especially about the density of Room 1's spiritual energy—
Chaos broke out.
These proud geniuses fought fiercely over the rooms.
But none of them displayed their true strength.
It was all light skirmishes—
only one or two tenths of their power.
In the end—
Room 1 went to a foreign contestant from the Eagle Nation.
Among the top 10 rooms,
six were taken by overseas participants.
Even though no one had used their full strength—
and several Kyushu contestants didn't bother participating in this pointless scramble (just like Zhao Xuan)—
Twenty or so Kyushu contestants competed against sixteen foreigners—
And still—
Among the top ten rooms, Kyushu only secured four.
It was obvious—
The foreign nations had come fully prepared for this National Tournament.
They claimed it was for friendly cultural exchange.
But they came with clear ambition.
Zhao Xuan knew none of this.
These three days—
Aside from coming out once to eat—
he spent the rest of the time entirely within the relic desert.
He never managed to catch the golden rat—
But he did gather more than ten cactus flowers.
All because of that golden rat.
Its sense of smell was absurdly sharp—
able to locate cactus flowers from far away.
For two days straight—
Every time Zhao Xuan found it,
it was battling the guardian stone statues for the flower.
As soon as it saw Zhao Xuan—
it fled instantly.
After Zhao Xuan killed the stone statues and harvested the flower—
he would follow the direction the rat escaped in.
And every time—
he discovered a new giant sand dune.
After three repetitions—
Zhao Xuan realized something:
The golden rat was likely a treasure-seeking species.
So—
He tried communicating with it.
Whenever he found it—
He would pluck a cactus petal, place it on the sand, and retreat far away.
Gradually—
After a few attempts—
The golden rat lowered its guard.
Every time Zhao Xuan retreated,
it would rush over, snatch the petal, and run.
After several exchanges—
A kind of mutual understanding formed.
The rat found the flowers.
Zhao Xuan killed the stone statues.
And then—
they split the loot.
A cactus flower had eight petals.
Zhao Xuan—
as a virtuous young citizen—
always gave the golden rat one petal.
Yes.
Just one.
He was that generous.
That day—
Zhao Xuan followed behind the golden rat toward another massive dune.
Suddenly—
RING RING RING!
The alarm he set two days ago rang.
"Time already?"
Zhao Xuan stopped walking.
Far ahead, the golden rat also halted.
It turned around—
eyes filled with confusion.
"Squeak?? Squeak squeak squeak??"
As if asking:
The hell are you doing?
Why aren't you following?
"I've got something to do.
I'll come back in ten days."
After two days together, Zhao Xuan understood—
Though the rat was only fourth-rank—
its intelligence was comparable to a seventh-rank Land King.
It couldn't speak human language,
but it understood every word.
"Squeak-squeak!"
The rat stood upright atop a small dune—
waving its tiny paws at him in a very humanlike gesture.
Go, go! Don't take too long!
"Interesting."
Zhao Xuan smiled, tossed a cactus flower (with 4 petals remaining) onto the ground, and said:
"I'll head out first."
He turned and began running toward the relic exit.
The golden rat saw the petals—
and its eyes lit up instantly.
Then—
Its expression flickered.
It hesitated—
as if making a decision.
And then—
its gaze firmed.
"Squeeeeeeak!"
It shot into the air—
flew toward Zhao Xuan—
and called out loudly.
"You need something?"
Zhao Xuan stopped, puzzled.
The rat didn't come too close—
hovering 40–50 meters away.
Then—
It waved its paw.
Space rippled—
and a crystal-clear stalagmite materialized.
"That—!"
Zhao Xuan froze.
Then his eyes widened.
"Isn't that the stalagmite from the spirit honey pool in the violent bear's cave!?
The one I forgot to take!?
For it to treasure it like this—
it must be insanely valuable!
And I missed it!?"
While Zhao Xuan cursed his misfortune—
The golden rat snapped off a finger-sized piece from the tip and tossed it onto the sand.
Then immediately hid the rest.
After that—
it pointed at the small fragment, squeaked twice, and left.
Once it was gone—
Zhao Xuan raced forward.
The moment he approached the fragment—
A surge of intense spiritual energy assaulted his senses.
"Holy—shit!!"
Zhao Xuan swore aloud.
"What is this thing!?"
"How can it hold this much spiritual energy!?"
"The purity alone surpasses mid-grade energy fluid by miles!"
"This tiny piece…
is worth at least twenty bags of mid-grade fluid!"
"Holy sh*t—
What did I MISS that day!?"
Disappointment washed over him—
deep and bitter.
After a long moment, he recovered.
Shaking his head, he pushed aside all unnecessary thoughts.
"I'll think about that after the National Tournament."
"Once the tournament ends—
I'll figure out how to get the rest of that giant stalagmite from the golden rat."
"Also—
that ability it just used…"
"It looked exactly like a space-type ability."
"Could it be…
one of the legendary Land King beasts who naturally awaken Devil Fruit powers?"
--------------------------------------------------
Read 30 Chapters ahead: [email protected] / KaiOynx