Leaving the relic space—
It was 7 a.m. outside.
The sky was just beginning to brighten.
Zhao Xuan spent a few minutes washing up, changed into his specially-made clothing—
the kind that wouldn't tear apart when he entered his dragon form—
and quietly waited.
8 a.m.
A broadcast echoed through the hotel.
All fifty contestants of this year's Kyushu National Final for prospective university students stepped out of their rooms one after another.
Tall, short, fat, thin—every type of person was present.
There were even many blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigners among them.
Under the guidance of two sixth-rank Grandmasters, the group headed toward the Imperial Capital Stadium, not far ahead.
Zhao Xuan's first impression of it:
Huge.
Ridiculously huge.
Far bigger than the Hangcheng stadium—
by several orders of magnitude.
Everyone took their seats according to their room numbers.
Then—
BWOOOOOOO—!!!
A seventh-rank Arbiter gave the command.
And the National Tournament—
began instantly.
No speeches.
No ceremony.
No nonsense.
Just pure combat.
The stadium fell silent.
The spectators shifted their gazes toward Zhao Xuan and the other contestants.
Those qualified to attend as spectators—
Almost all were sixth-rank Grandmasters and above.
Many were seventh-rank Sovereigns.
There were even several eighth-rank Kings seated among them.
Beyond that—
Foreign diplomats, foreign academy representatives, and the escorts protecting foreign contestants—all had the right to watch and were seated in their own sections.
After a brief silence—
A topknot-wearing contestant from the small island nation of East Sakura rose first.
He was Number 11.
He challenged Number 10, a contestant from Haiqing Province.
Under everyone's intense stares—
Both stepped onto the arena.
And then—
A fierce battle instantly erupted.
At first, Zhao Xuan watched with mild interest.
But—
The more he watched…
The more bored he became.
Yes, the fight was intense.
Their blows shook the stadium again and again—
But to Zhao Xuan—
They were simply too weak.
Not because they were weak—
But because he was far too strong.
Both were fourth-rank.
Both could threaten a fifth-rank Grandmaster.
But in Zhao Xuan's eyes—
He could defeat either of them with bare fists,
only using Armament Haki and the Six Styles.
Four punches.
Maybe three.
No need for dragon form.
"No fun…"
Zhao Xuan lost interest and leaned back lazily.
Then suddenly—
The battle shifted.
The East Sakura contestant erupted with power—
Three consecutive sword strikes—
Driving the Haiqing contestant back step by step.
Finally—
A clean, merciless slash—
directly severed his left arm.
Even when the Haiqing contestant shouted surrender,
the East Sakura fighter did not stop.
His blade continued to fall—
"STOP!!!"
A seventh-rank Arbiter blocked it just in time, using externalized Armament Haki to halt the descending blade.
"If he already surrendered, why did you not cease your attack!?"
The Arbiter glared coldly.
"Oh—
my blade has no eyes.
I must've misjudged my strength.
Hehe…"
The East Sakura contestant replied in clumsy Kyushu language.
Then, acting polite, he bowed deeply toward the bleeding Haiqing contestant:
"Sumimasai~ Truly sorry!
I didn't know you were so weak.
If I had known you were this fragile,
I would've held back much more~!"
The moment the words fell—
The entire stadium froze.
Foreign officials and teachers smiled—
But all Kyushu citizens—
Their faces darkened instantly.
The Haiqing contestant himself—
Face pale—
Coughed blood from rage and collapsed unconscious.
"Oh dear~ he fainted?
He coughed blood?
Referee, this has nothing to do with me!
I merely spoke the truth.
I wasn't insulting him.
I only meant to encourage him.
Who knew Kyushu people had such fragile hearts~?"
His tone emphasized those last words.
"Kyushu people have such fragile hearts."
Instantly—
The entire stadium's atmosphere turned ice cold.
The Arbiter's expression grew stormy.
But after glancing at the foreign diplomat seating area—
He swallowed his anger.
"Challenge successful.
Next match."
Before anyone could react—
SHH—
A blond-haired foreign contestant stepped forward.
"I challenge Number 8!"
The Number 8 contestant—a cold-faced young man from Beihu Province—stood without a word and leapt onto the arena.
BWOOOOO—!!
The match began.
Another fierce clash.
Strong—
But still too weak for Zhao Xuan's standards.
Even their strongest attacks only reached the level of a high-grade fifth-rank.
Child's play.
Zhao Xuan sighed, popped a Monkey King Fruit in his mouth, nibbled a cactus petal, and began meditating.
Time passed.
A sudden series of angry shouts burst around him—
"Bastard!"
"Too much!"
"How dare he!"
Zhao Xuan opened his eyes.
The fight had ended.
The winner—
the blond foreign challenger.
The loser—
the Beihu contestant.
And he was in a horrible state.
Far worse than the Haiqing contestant.
Left eye gouged out.
Both legs broken.
Chest collapsed inward.
Barely alive.
"Your opponent already lost consciousness—you still didn't stop!?"
The Arbiter roared.
"I didn't hear him surrender."
The blond foreigner spoke solemnly:
"I thought he was pretending to be dead to trick me.
Who knew he was really this weak?
He couldn't even say the word 'surrender' before fainting."
He turned to the Arbiter:
"Referee, is such a weakling really a provincial champion of Kyushu?"
The Arbiter's expression turned pitch black.
The entire stadium—
aside from foreigners—
was filled with fury.
Zhao Xuan's expression also grew cold.
He watched the Beihu contestant being carried away.
Then looked at the group of foreign contestants gathered in the distance—
smirking, whispering, mocking.
It was intentional.
Every bit of it.
"Let's hope you're not doing this on purpose."
Zhao Xuan murmured coldly.
"Otherwise—
don't blame me
for being ruthless later."
A wave of killing intent rose in his chest.
Then—
The third challenge began.
Again—
A foreign contestant initiated it.
He challenged Number 4—
a female contestant from Shaning Province.
The whistle blew.
Lightning split the sky.
Magma surged.
Both were natural-type Devil Fruit users.
This time—
Zhao Xuan finally opened his eyes fully.
"Not bad."
Their power level—
was at least low six-rank,
barely enough to pique his interest.
The battle dragged on for half an hour—
Until the Shaning girl fell behind.
She was eventually kicked away—
And before she could land—
The foreigner lunged again.
Kick after kick after kick—
Ruthless, nonstop.
No chance to breathe.
No chance to speak.
No chance to surrender.
Soon—
Her body was covered in wounds,
blood everywhere,
barely conscious.
"STOP!!"
The Arbiter finally couldn't tolerate it.
He struck out with a palm—
But—
BOOM!!!
A gust of power erupted from the foreign seating area.
A dark-skinned middle-aged man appeared instantly, blocking the Arbiter's palm.
And in that same moment—
SPLURT!!!
The girl's scream rang out.
The foreign contestant's foot slammed into her abdomen.
She coughed a mouthful of blood—
And fainted.
The Arbiter's killing intent surged.
He immediately signaled for healing ability users to carry her away.
Then glared murderously at the high-ranking ability user from the Samak Kingdom.
"You people…
very good."
"Referee, arena duels are sacred."
The Samak Sovereign said calmly.
"How could you intervene without cause?"
"That girl did not lose consciousness nor surrender.
The duel had not ended."
"How can you interrupt a fair fight?"
He smiled faintly.
"These rules were made by Kyushu, were they not?
Or do you refuse to follow your own rules?"
The Arbiter's expression turned stone cold.
He glared at the Samak Sovereign—
Then spoke through gritted teeth:
"Challenge successful.
Next."
Three rounds.
Three Kyushu contestants.
All brutally defeated.
Arms severed.
Legs broken.
Eyes gouged out.
Injuries bad enough that even with healing fruits,
they'd need months of recovery.
And for geniuses—
months of lost training
was catastrophe.
Meanwhile—
The foreign contestants were smiling.
Laughing.
Exchanging high-fives.
Their seating area was lively, cheerful—
A sharp contrast to the suffocating anger
on Kyushu's side.
From this alone—
It was obvious.
Everything that happened—
Was planned.
Coordinated.
Deliberate.
They came with hostile intent.
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