Time passed quietly.
The Storm Belt was such a strange sea region.
This chaotic stretch of ocean separated the Paradise in the first half of the Endless Sea from the New World in the latter half.
Because of the violent, chaotic spatial energy blanketing the Storm Belt, it was impossible for people to use space doors created by spatial-type Devil Fruit users to cross it directly.
Even a high-grade Ninth-Rank spatial ability user could not do so.
There was only one way to travel between Paradise and the New World—
A specially built ship.
But crossing the Storm Belt by ship required a considerable amount of time.
And it was precisely this time that gave Zhao Xuan the best opportunity to grow.
Five hours later.
The warship from Life Island finally sailed out of the Storm Belt.
The moment it exited, Toroy immediately closed his eyes and fully activated his Divination Fruit ability.
"Well? What's the situation?"
"How is it?"
The three Ninth-Rank Emperors beside him asked the moment he opened his eyes.
"The brat's location has shrunk considerably, though he's still some distance away. And while the place he's in is technically international waters, it's already quite close to Kyushu's territorial sea. We must find him as quickly as possible. I suspect he may have already contacted Kyushu."
Toroy's expression was grave.
"When I divined his position just now, I also divined the final outcome of this trip."
"Although the result says we will successfully kill him… the process does not seem smooth."
"Not smooth?" One of the Ninth-Ranks frowned. "Then we should hurry. The sooner we find him, the better. We can't afford complications."
Immediately, under the full power propulsion of two Ninth-Rank Emperors, the massive warship accelerated and sped across the sea.
Zhao Xuan, of course, knew nothing of this.
But—
He had mentally prepared for it.
After all, what he had done inside Life City was simply too outrageous.
At least seventy elite talents from various nations had died by his hands.
And he now possessed tens of trillions worth of Life Energy resources.
So he didn't even need to think to know—
He had absolutely become the number one target of every major force in the Endless Sea.
Devil Fruits came in all kinds of strange varieties.
Zhao Xuan never believed that hiding inside a relic space meant no one could find him.
So—
Right now—
He was re-tempering his skull as quickly as possible.
Because he had prior experience, the second tempering process was incredibly smooth.
His first tempering had taken nearly six hours.
The second one?
Half that time.
Just three hours.
After finishing the second tempering, Zhao Xuan didn't hesitate for even a moment. He immediately stripped the Life Energy from his skull by force.
Then came the third tempering.
Even faster.
One hour—done.
This was perfectly normal.
Nothing mysterious about it.
Practice made perfect.
After the third, he immediately began the fourth.
And so—
As Zhao Xuan continued tempering again and again—
Time quietly slipped by.
Meanwhile—
The four Ninth-Rank Emperors from Life Island had already reached the sea region where Zhao Xuan's deserted island was located.
To save time.
To find and kill Zhao Xuan as quickly as possible—
They split up and began searching the vast ocean separately.
"Whoosh—!"
A dark figure descended from the sky.
One of the Life Island Ninth-Ranks landed on the deserted island.
A powerful burst of Observation Haki spread from his body.
In an instant, it covered the entire island.
And then—
He noticed something.
The lake at the center of the island had dried up.
And very clearly, it was not natural. The lakebed still held thick mud, showing signs that external force had caused the water to disappear.
"Could this be Zhao Xuan's doing?"
The Ninth-Rank's eyes lit up.
"Step! Step!"
His figure vanished from the spot.
Seconds later, he stood at the center of the dried lakebed.
"Boom!"
Vast spiritual power surged from his mind.
After scanning the lakebed thoroughly, the light in his eyes grew brighter.
Then—
With a wave of his hand, he took out from his relic space a Boundary-Breaking Pearl, something only a Ninth-Rank spatial ability user could create, specifically used to open relic spaces.
He pressed the pearl to his forehead.
Under the eruption of spiritual power—
"Wooo—!"
Ripples of space surged outward from the pearl.
And four or five meters ahead—
A relic entrance crack appeared.
The moment the crack formed—
Vast Life Energy surged out from within.
"Found you!!!"
His eyes gleamed.
Inside the relic—
Zhao Xuan, who had just completed his fifth re-tempering and was about to begin the sixth, suddenly opened his eyes.
"Someone's here."
"So they found me this fast?"
"I wonder… just how strong I am now?"
After sensing that his relic space had been forcibly opened from outside, there was not the slightest hint of worry on Zhao Xuan's face.
Instead—
He looked at his attribute panel.
And his face filled with intense excitement and delight.
[Heavenly Reward System]
Name: Zhao Xuan
Age: 18
Spiritual Power: 4650.14 / 4650.14
Physique: 16434.23 / 16434.23
Abilities:
Shave (Extraordinary: 22900 / 640000)
Iron Body (Extraordinary: 30100 / 640000)
Paper Art (Grandmaster: 23600 / 640000)
Moon Step (Grandmaster: 22300 / 640000)
Tempest Kick (Extraordinary: 29100 / 640000)
Finger Pistol (Grandmaster: 22400 / 640000)
Swordsmanship (Grandmaster: 1 / 640000)
Observation Haki (Master: 13100 / 160000)
Armament Haki (Master: 5100 / 160000)
Conqueror's Haki (Master: 124101 / 160000)
Azure Dragon Fruit (Master: 20000 / 160000)
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