On the deserted island.
Zhao Xuan stood there alone, overwhelmed with excitement for quite some time.
It took nearly five or six minutes before he gradually regained his composure.
After taking a deep breath, Zhao Xuan quickly stepped into the unknown, mysterious ruin.
As a wave of dizziness swept over him—
In the next instant!
Zhao Xuan appeared inside a space that was not particularly large.
This space was roughly the size of the small hill outside.
The mountain-goat giant beast that had previously been devouring grass and trees on the island was now curled up inside this comparatively cramped space.
In front of it stood a small tree about the height of a person.
Several crystal-clear fruits hung from its branches.
"That is—"
Staring at the small tree in the distance and sensing the aura emanating from the fruits, Zhao Xuan's eyes instantly lit up.
"A seventh-tier spiritual herb!"
A brilliant smile immediately spread across his face.
"As expected, the Endless Sea really is a good place. No wonder it attracts so many high-tier powerhouses—so many that even most of the world's ninth-tier Emperors gather here. On a random deserted island, you can casually stumble upon a seventh-tier spiritual herb!"
Zhao Xuan felt a surge of excitement in his heart.
To be honest—
Before this, he had actually felt a bit of regret over his impulsive decision.
After all, during the national examination, he had killed quite a few foreign prodigies.
And the elders behind those prodigies had all issued ruthless threats in the underground world.
They said that if Zhao Xuan dared to enter the Endless Sea, he would definitely die.
Yes.
Zhao Xuan had been scared.
Genuinely scared.
After all—
Those people were eighth- and ninth-tier existences, a full four or five tiers above him!
Zhao Xuan was merely a fourth-tier cultivator. How could he not be afraid?
But now—
His mentality gradually stabilized.
Because there was an old saying in Kyushu: Fortune is found amid danger.
"What's there to be afraid of? Who doesn't know how to make threats?"
"Besides, even if you want to kill me, you still have to find me first. The Endless Sea is so vast—do you really think you can locate me?"
With that thought, the last trace of unease in Zhao Xuan's heart dissipated.
He shook his head and quickly refocused.
Scanning the cramped ruin space, he frowned slightly.
"That said… how exactly do you enter the ruin's trial space?"
Zhao Xuan hadn't forgotten about the Ruin Baptism that followed completing a trial.
But—
This ruin didn't seem to have a trial space at all.
Using Observation Haki, Zhao Xuan swept the entire area, yet found no sign of a trial entrance.
"What's going on?"
Confusion arose in his mind.
"Could this be a special type of ruin—one that can't be bound?"
He pondered for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.
"Forget it. If I can't understand it, then so be it. Missing one Ruin Baptism isn't a big deal. With that big golden rat around, am I really going to lack ruins in the future?"
With that, Zhao Xuan snapped back to focus.
Tap. Tap.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the silent ruin space.
In the next moment—
Zhao Xuan appeared in front of the man-height small tree.
"ROAR!!!"
Amid the furious roar of the sixth-tier mountain-goat beast, Zhao Xuan reached out and firmly grabbed the tree trunk, intending to uproot it entirely.
However—
The instant his hand touched the trunk—
A terrifying suction force suddenly engulfed his entire body.
Under this overwhelming pull, Zhao Xuan's mental energy began flowing uncontrollably into the small tree.
-10!
-10!
-10!
His mental energy plummeted rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, it dropped below three hundred.
And it kept falling.
Moments later, it fell below two hundred.
Dropping! Dropping! Dropping—continuously dropping!
Within just a few seconds, Zhao Xuan's mental energy was reduced to less than fifty points.
Only then did the terrifying suction suddenly stop.
At the same time—
The final unripe fruit on the tree abruptly turned red.
It became just as crimson as the other four fruits.
"Huff… huff… huff…"
As the suction ceased, Zhao Xuan finally managed to pull his hand away from the trunk.
He collapsed onto the ground, face pale, gasping heavily.
At that moment—
Suddenly.
A massive spiritual energy vortex appeared above Zhao Xuan's head.
The vortex spun rapidly, generating a powerful suction force.
Under its pull, countless streams of spiritual energy converged from all directions and were drawn into the vortex.
After being compressed frantically, they condensed into a single drop of pure white spiritual liquid.
The droplet fell from the bottom of the vortex and landed on Zhao Xuan's head.
Instantly—
Zhao Xuan felt his mind, which had been in complete chaos due to the massive loss of mental energy, become crystal clear.
+0.5
+0.5
+0.5
At this moment—
If Zhao Xuan were to open his attribute panel, he would see that his total mental energy was steadily increasing.
On average, it rose by one point every two seconds.
This continued for a full minute.
One minute later—
The massive spiritual vortex above his head dissipated.
Before Zhao Xuan could even react—
"ROAR!!!"
The furious roar of the mountain-goat beast echoed nearby.
It looked extremely enraged.
As if—
As if Zhao Xuan had stolen something incredibly important from it.
It charged toward Zhao Xuan in fury.
"Scram!"
Zhao Xuan smashed out a punch.
Boom!
The mountain-goat beast was sent flying, crashing violently into the spatial wall of the ruin.
After letting out a few miserable cries, it lowered its head toward Zhao Xuan, as though expressing submission.
Zhao Xuan couldn't be bothered with it.
He slowly got up from the ground.
"So that's how it is."
Staring at the small tree, he muttered to himself.
"This ruin does have a trial. Whoever can supply enough mental energy to fully mature this seventh-tier spiritual tree nurtured by the ruin passes the trial."
He glanced at the mountain-goat beast and suddenly laughed.
"No wonder it was so angry. It must have discovered this ruin long ago and used its mental energy every day to nurture this tree. It finally matured four of the five fruits—just one more and it would have passed the trial and become the master of this ruin."
"And then I intercepted it."
"Should I say I'm lucky… or that its luck is simply terrible?"
After staring at it for a moment, Zhao Xuan shifted his gaze to the small tree—
More precisely, to the five crimson fruits hanging from it.
"Fruits that require massive mental energy to mature… I wonder what their effects are."
His eyes flickered.
He waved his hand and directly closed the ruin entrance.
Then he plucked a crimson fruit from the tree.
Feeling the abundant spiritual energy within it, Zhao Xuan took a bite.
The instant he did—
A refreshing coolness surged straight into his mind.
Zhao Xuan felt his exhausted spirit recover rapidly.
"T-This—!!!"
His eyes widened as ecstasy and disbelief flooded his face.
"This fruit… this fruit can directly restore mental energy!"
Direct mental energy restoration!
What kind of concept was that?
An explosive one.
Zhao Xuan dared swear—
A single fruit could easily sell for hundreds of millions.
After all—
There were countless herbs that restored physique or stamina.
But herbs that directly restored mental energy were extremely rare.
"I wonder how much mental energy one fruit can restore."
Thinking that, Zhao Xuan opened his attribute panel.
His total mental energy was 431.23.
But his current usable mental energy was only around seventy.
"Seventy."
After committing the number to memory—
Zhao Xuan quickly swallowed the entire fruit.
One or two minutes later, the fruit's effects ended.
"The effect kicks in pretty fast—just over a minute."
The joy on Zhao Xuan's face deepened.
He reopened his attribute panel.
"Two hundred seventy!"
"One fruit restored two hundred points of mental energy in just over a minute!"
"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!"
"Treasure! Absolute treasure!"
Zhao Xuan was ecstatic.
"And resting near this tree seems to accelerate mental energy recovery!"
Murmuring to himself, Zhao Xuan closed his eyes again.
More than ten minutes later—
He suddenly opened them.
Excitement surged across his face.
"It's real! It's really real! I wasn't imagining it—resting near this tree truly speeds up mental recovery!"
After celebrating for a while, Zhao Xuan gradually calmed himself.
For safety's sake—
He casually closed the ruin entrance again.
Then Zhao Xuan shut his eyes and focused entirely on restoring his mental energy.
Time passed quietly.
Just as Zhao Xuan was fully immersed in recovery—
On the sea surface.
Three medium-sized ships approached at high speed.
"Found it! Third Boss, we found the island!"
A lookout holding binoculars shouted excitedly.
Hearing this, a burly man strode out of the cabin of the central ship.
He took the binoculars, glanced at the distant island, and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! My luck today is incredible—barely left the base and I already found a ruin!"
His expression then darkened.
His gaze shot toward the sky.
Watching the massive spiritual vortex gradually dissipating, a cruel smile appeared on his face.
"What a pity the Ruin Baptism was taken by someone else. Damn it—daring to touch a ruin within Black Shark Pirates' territory. They really don't know how to spell 'death.'"
Soon—
The three pirate ships docked at the shore.
A group of Black Shark Pirates leapt ashore and advanced swiftly toward the island's interior under the burly man's lead.
Before long—
Following the fading spiritual vortex in the sky, they arrived at the small hill.
Here, a brief explanation is necessary.
Due to the special environment of the Endless Sea—
Whenever a ruin's baptism occurs, the commotion is enormous.
It affects the outside world.
A massive spiritual vortex always forms in the sky above the ruin.
Once such a vortex appears, it means a nearby ruin has been bound.
As a result, passing a ruin trial in the Endless Sea easily attracts attention.
There is no order in the Endless Sea.
Only survival of the fittest.
Therefore—
Solo travelers are rare.
Most people move in groups of three to five.
Because individual strength is limited.
With companions, even if the spiritual vortex attracts other powerhouses, you at least have allies to face them together.
Returning to the matter at hand—
The Black Shark Pirates immediately spotted the desert ruin entrance on the hill.
Yes.
When Zhao Xuan had left the desert ruin earlier, he was too eager to find the hidden ruin entrance and forgot to close the desert ruin entrance.
"You two—go in and scout the situation."
After glancing at the entrance, the Black Shark Pirates' Third Boss pointed at two lackeys and gave the order.
"Yes… yes!"
"Yes, Third Boss!"
Taking a deep breath, the two men cautiously entered the desert ruin.
The pirates left outside remained on high alert, ready for battle.
Five minutes later—
One of the fifth-tier scouts rushed out, face flushed with excitement.
"Third Boss! We've struck it rich! We've struck it rich!"
"Speak!" the burly man demanded.
"It's a super-large ruin! We ran at full speed for two or three minutes and still couldn't see the end!"
"Not only that—at the entrance, there are piles of spiritual herbs and several ruin cores. Just those alone are worth at least two or three billion!"
"Is that true?!" the Third Boss' eyes lit up.
"It's true! Absolutely true! I wouldn't dare lie to you! Their value might be even higher!"
Hearing this, the Third Boss could no longer sit still.
"You few keep guarding outside. Everyone else—follow me in!"
With a single command, the group surged into the desert ruin.
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