Inside the President's Office of the Tongcheng Ability Users' Guild.
"Huff… huff… huff… huff…"
Lian Jie's heavy breathing echoed in the quiet room.
The thought that in just five days, the exploration rights of the ruin—once belonging solely to his guild—would have to be shared with others made his heart twist with unwillingness.
Five million!
That was five million a day in profit!
But what worried Lian Jie most wasn't just losing the exclusive exploration rights—it was losing them entirely.
Every ruin was a miniature secret realm.
Inside each ruin, there was an object known as the Heart of the Ruin.
Whoever obtained the Heart of the Ruin would gain control over that ruin, able to freely open or close its entrance.
According to the joint statement issued by the National Ability Users' Association and the government,
any individual or legally registered organization that secured the Heart of the Ruin would be recognized as holding exclusive exploration rights to that site.
Any other group or faction wishing to continue exploring that ruin would have to obtain permission from the owner of the Heart.
In other words—
Five days from now,
Once the Tongcheng Ability Users' Guild lost its exclusive claim, if another guild managed to seize the Heart of the Ruin, Tongcheng's future explorations would depend entirely on their goodwill.
"Zheng Bin's son… he's that top student at Shanghai University, isn't he? And also the vice president of the student council? If that brat gets sent here, the Heart of the Ruin will be gone for sure!"
Lian Jie's expression grew increasingly grim at the thought.
Just then—
Knock, knock, knock!
A series of knocks broke the silence.
"Come in," Lian Jie said curtly.
The door swung open, and a staff member of the guild hurried inside.
"Xiao Liu, what is it?" Lian Jie asked, recognizing the man—Liu Huan, the one in charge of issuing Tier-3 bounty missions.
"President, I think I've found someone—someone who might actually be able to pass the ruin trial and win us the Heart of the Ruin!"
At those words, Lian Jie's eyes lit up.
"Are you serious!?"
"Yes," Liu Huan nodded quickly.
"Good, good! Tell me everything—what's the situation?"
"It's like this, President."
Liu Huan handed over a neatly prepared file as he explained, "The person's name is Zhao Xuan. He's a native of Tongcheng. His parents went missing five years ago. He's eighteen now, just finished the college entrance exams—a prospective university student."
"Zhao Xuan?"
Lian Jie narrowed his eyes. "Why does that name sound familiar?"
"President, he's the one who caused all that buzz in Tongcheng not long ago—the so-called Spiritual mutation case. The one who refused a Logia-type Devil Fruit and instead chose a Zoan-type."
"Ah, him!"
Lian Jie nodded in sudden realization, then asked, "And you believe he's strong enough to get the Heart of the Ruin for us?"
"Please take a look at this."
Liu Huan passed him a tablet.
On the screen, a video was playing—it was the daytime footage of Zhao Xuan defeating Cao Hu with just two kicks.
Lian Jie watched the video several times over, eyes gleaming.
"Incredible speed and power! Even among Tier-3 ability users, he's definitely among the elites. But still…"
He shook his head. "If that's all, it's not enough. At best, he might clear the sixth trial. The seventh, no way."
"Not just that, President—look here."
Liu Huan handed over another set of documents. "He completed fourteen Tier-3 bounty missions today alone. Most were standard difficulty, yes—but one of them was hard difficulty."
"The mission required him to drive out a group of six Grass Pythons living in a mountain spring near an old temple outside the city. All of them were Tier-3 creatures."
"According to the mission issuer, Zhao Xuan finished the job in under five minutes."
That statement made Lian Jie shoot to his feet.
He snatched the file, eyes wide, scanning through it line by line.
After rereading it several times, a broad grin slowly spread across his face.
"Ha ha ha ha! Excellent! Excellent! Xiao Liu, you've done very well—this came just in time!"
Overcome with excitement, Lian Jie clapped Liu Huan on the shoulder, laughing heartily.
"Xiao Liu, do you know where this Zhao Xuan fellow lives?"
"I do," Liu Huan replied with a nod.
"Then let's go—come on! We'll meet him right now and discuss having him explore the ruin on our behalf!"
As he spoke, Lian Jie grabbed Liu Huan by the collar and rushed toward the door.
"P-President, wait! It's nighttime—half past midnight! He's probably asleep by now…"
"Oh—oh, right! I almost forgot!" Lian Jie scratched his head sheepishly. "Then tomorrow morning it is. Xiao Liu, don't bother going home tonight. Just crash here at the guild. We'll head out at first light!"
"Yes, President."
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