Zhao Xuan was completely unaware of everything that had happened afterward.
Because the moment the golden rat took out the second stone stalactite, Zhao Xuan was already seated cross-legged inside the newly acquired spatial ruin.
He glanced at the stone stalactite in his hand—now pitted and scarred from the golden rat's teeth—with visible disgust.
Without hesitation, he took out a small glass vial.
Using a sharp tool, he carefully scraped a full circle around the surface of the stalactite, shaving off every section that had been gnawed.
Naturally, Zhao Xuan did not waste the powder that fell off.
He collected every last bit into the glass vial.
"Powder scraped from divine medicine… even half a bottle of this should sell for at least five or six hundred million, right?"
Thinking this, Zhao Xuan efficiently stored the vial away.
Then—
He looked at the remaining stone stalactite in his hand.
After taking a deep breath—
He bit down hard.
With one bite, he swallowed more than half of the stalactite straight into his stomach.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Three seconds later—
BOOM!!!
In an instant, boundless life energy erupted violently from Zhao Xuan's abdomen.
His entire body was immediately flooded with dense, surging vitality.
Under the cleansing force of this vast life energy, the countless internal injuries within Zhao Xuan's body began healing at astonishing speed.
In less than five minutes—
All of Zhao Xuan's internal injuries were completely restored.
Not only that—
Bathed in this overwhelming life energy, every organ and every cell in his body became hyperactive.
As if injected with stimulants—
They began greedily absorbing both the life energy and the residual medicinal effects that had previously accumulated inside his body.
The stone stalactite Zhao Xuan swallowed this time was far larger than the one he had consumed before.
Last time, he had only eaten the very tip of the stalactite.
This time—
He swallowed more than half of it.
In terms of quantity—
This was not ten times more.
Not even close.
At least fifteen times more.
What did that mean?
It meant explosion-level excess.
After all—
The small piece Zhao Xuan had eaten previously was already worth two billion.
Fifteen times that—
Three hundred billion!!!
Three hundred billion.
Consumed in a single bite.
If news of this spread—
It would shock the entire world.
Ability users or not.
Low-rank or high-rank.
Even the strongest among ninth-rank experts would be stunned.
Because—
Three hundred billion.
That was three hundred billion!
Three hundred billion swallowed in one second.
What kind of madness was that?
Of course—
After the shock wore off, the reaction would be universal outrage.
Why?
Because—
It was too wasteful.
The life energy contained within more than half of this stalactite was so immense that even an eighth-rank expert might not be able to fully absorb it.
Let alone—
Zhao Xuan, who was merely a fifth-rank expert.
So—
Almost instantly—
The spatial ruin, no larger than a villa, was completely flooded with overflowing life energy.
A vast white mist filled the entire space.
This was not ordinary fog.
It was life mist, formed from life energy that was simply too dense.
Life energy itself was a form of energy—
And a much higher-tier one than spiritual energy.
In theory—
Life energy could also be used to temper organs, the skull, or even blood.
But—
Who would dare?
No one would.
Divine medicine—classified as tenth-tier spiritual medicine—was absurdly rare.
Even in the latter half of the Endless Sea, in the so-called New World where high-tier herbs were abundant, divine medicine was still nearly unheard of.
So—
No one would ever do something like this.
No one—
Except Zhao Xuan.
Because—
There was simply too much life energy.
Far too much.
And it was still pouring out of his body endlessly.
Even after entering Dragon-Man form—
Where his absorption efficiency increased tenfold—
The life energy he absorbed was still less than one percent of what was leaking out.
How could he sit still?
So—
He made a decisive choice.
Since the life energy was overflowing anyway—
He would use it directly to temper his five viscera and six bowels.
Time passed silently.
One hour.
Two hours.
Three hours…
Five to six hours later—
The medicinal effect of the stalactite finally subsided.
However—
Zhao Xuan had only managed to refine five organs and one viscera.
"Damn it… the amount of life energy required to refine the organs is this insane?"
Feeling the life energy inside his body rapidly thinning, Zhao Xuan frowned.
His gaze fell on the remaining half-section of the stalactite in his hand.
His eyes flashed.
"I was planning to save this as a strategic reserve… looks like I have no choice but to use it."
Taking a deep breath—
He opened his mouth—
And swallowed the remaining piece whole.
Although this remaining piece was smaller than what he had eaten before—
Anyone who had seen bamboo shoots knew—
Thin at the top, thick at the bottom.
So although it looked smaller—
Its actual mass was only slightly less than the previous portion.
If the first portion had been worth three hundred billion—
Then this remaining piece was worth roughly two hundred and fifty billion.
The moment it entered his stomach—
An enormous surge of life energy exploded forth once again.
The thinning vitality inside Zhao Xuan's body instantly became overwhelmingly dense.
Time flew.
Four to five hours later—
BOOM!!!!!
As the medicinal effects faded—
A terrifying aura erupted violently from Zhao Xuan's body.
His eyes snapped open.
Excitement and exhilaration blazed within them.
A radiant smile spread across his face.
"Sixth rank!"
Feeling the powerful beating of his heart, Zhao Xuan's grin widened.
He immediately opened his status panel.
"One thousand points!!!"
Seeing his physique soar past four thousand, Zhao Xuan was ecstatic.
Yes.
His physique had increased by a full thousand points.
Four thousand.
Ordinarily, for a sixth-rank Great Grandmaster, four thousand physique was not impressive at all.
Some ordinary fifth-rank Grandmasters could reach that level.
After all—
There were countless herbs in this world that boosted physique.
Add in Armament Haki and Iron Body, which also increased physique upon advancement—
Four thousand was nothing special.
But—
This was four thousand without activating the Azure Dragon fruit.
Once he entered Dragon-Man form—
With a tenfold attribute boost—
His physique would reach a terrifying forty thousand.
Forty thousand.
That was no small number.
It could already rival eighth-rank experts.
No—
More accurately—
Dragon-Man Zhao Xuan's forty thousand physique could overpower most eighth-rank experts outright.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Zhao Xuan burst into wild laughter.
"With my current strength, even facing an eighth-rank low-tier king head-on, I shouldn't lose ground!"
His grin grew brighter.
"To think… using life energy instead of spiritual energy to refine my organs actually boosted my physique by a thousand points!"
A dangerous thought surfaced.
"What if I use life energy to refine my skull and advance to seventh rank… how much spirit would I gain?"
His breathing quickened—
But he quickly calmed himself.
"Bullshit. Absolute bullshit."
"The spiritual energy required to advance from sixth to seventh is over ten times what's needed from fifth to sixth."
"That means using life energy for skull refinement would require over ten times what I just used."
"In other words—"
"I'd need at least ten full stalactites."
"One stalactite is worth five to six hundred billion."
"Ten of them would be five trillion."
"Five trillion… just to go from sixth to seventh?"
"Only an idiot would do that."
With that thought, Zhao Xuan immediately abandoned the idea.
Shaking his head, he left the ruin space.
Back in the desert ruin—
The first thing he saw was the golden rat lying belly-up atop a sand dune.
He walked straight over.
"Chirp? (Something?)" the rat lazily asked.
"I have a task."
Before Zhao Xuan finished speaking, the golden rat snapped upright.
"Simple task. Open another ruin entrance. You said there were two on this island."
"Chirp? (Same rules?)"
"Same rules."
"Chirp! (Let's go!)"
One man, one rat left the desert ruin.
Under the rat's guidance, they reached a lake at the island's center.
Splash.
The golden rat jumped in.
"Chirp! (What are you waiting for? Get in!)"
Zhao Xuan followed.
At the lake bottom—
The rat slashed the air twice.
A ruin rift appeared.
Water poured in like a broken dam.
The lake drained completely.
Zhao Xuan's face darkened.
So why did I jump in?
The rat scratched its head awkwardly.
Zhao Xuan sighed, tossed it four petals as punishment.
Then—
A sudden chirp.
Another stone stalactite appeared.
Bite-scarred.
Divine.
Zhao Xuan froze.
Another one?
His eyes lit up.
The rat proudly chirped, offering it as an apology.
Zhao Xuan grabbed it instantly.
A win.
A massive win.
Then—
A realization struck him.
"…Wait."
"Why does that rat still have another stalactite?"
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