Nighttime in the wilderness was far more dangerous than the day.
Especially deep within the Lingyin Mountain Range, where human presence was rare—once darkness fell, all sorts of Land King-class beasts roamed. It was practically a forbidden zone for humans.
Though Zhao Xuan had great confidence in his own strength, he wasn't foolish enough to court death. He had no intention of wandering through the mountain range at night just to find trouble for himself.
After dinner, Zhao Xuan returned to his hotel and immediately entered the Desert Ruins.
He had nothing else to do at night anyway.
It was far too early to sleep.
And besides—he needed money.
So, why not head into the ruins to smash some Desert Golems and make some quick cash?
With his current strength, slaying Tier-4 Desert Golems was as easy as chopping melons and slicing vegetables—utterly effortless.
He didn't even need to enter his Minor Dragon Form.
In his normal state—without using his Azure Dragon Fruit ability—he could easily pound a Tier-4 Desert Golem into rubble.
One after another!
One! Two! Three! Four! And more!
In just two to three hours, Zhao Xuan had smashed thirty to forty Tier-4 Desert Golems into dust.
"Whew…"
Looking out over the endless expanse of sand, Zhao Xuan's eyes glinted with curiosity.
"How big is this ruin, exactly? Why does it feel like it has no end!?"
Then he shook his head.
Who cared how big it was?
The bigger, the better!
Didn't that mean there would be endless Golems to slay?
Biting down on a chunk of Spirit Cactus, and downing a pouch of low-grade energy liquid, Zhao Xuan once again pushed deeper into the desert.
Deeper—
And deeper—
And deeper still—
Until suddenly—
He stopped at the foot of a massive sand dune.
"There's treasure here—there has to be!"
Zhao Xuan's eyes sparkled as he stared at the dune before him, a mound as large as a small mountain. Countless Desert Golems patrolled its slopes.
That dune was huge—larger than any he'd seen since entering the ruins.
Ordinarily, a dune would be guarded by a single Golem.
But this one… just by sight, Zhao Xuan could count at least five or six.
And judging by their size—every single one of them was a Tier-4 Desert Golem.
A dune guarded by six Tier-4 Golems.
What did that mean?
"Could it be… that the Spirit Cactus growing up there is Tier-4!?"
The thought made Zhao Xuan's blood race.
Third-tier Spirit Cacti were already worth around ten million credits each, due to their ability to aid in the awakening and growth of Armament Haki.
If this was a Tier-4 one…
"That thing could go for several tens of millions!"
But money was the least of his concerns.
Even if someone offered him a hundred million, Zhao Xuan wouldn't sell it.
After all—he still needed it himself.
Now that his strength had broken into the fourth tier, and his Armament Haki was growing increasingly refined, third-tier Spirit Cacti were becoming less and less effective.
He even suspected that once his Armament Haki reached the Master Level, third-tier Spirit Cacti would stop working altogether.
That would be bad news indeed.
His rapid Haki growth was not just thanks to the system—but also because he'd been consuming Spirit Cacti like candy, never sparing the cost.
"I hope that cactus really is Tier-4!"
Zhao Xuan took a deep breath.
Then—
Step, step!
Using Soru, he shot forward toward the giant dune like a streak of lightning.
He had barely reached its base when the roars began to echo.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Several Tier-4 Desert Golems charged down toward him like boulders rolling down a mountain.
Zhao Xuan didn't flinch.
In a flash, he met the first head-on, entering his Minor Dragon Form mid-sprint.
His fist came crashing down.
With a deafening crack, the strike smashed directly into the Golem's stone head—
CRACK!
A shattering sound followed. The creature's head exploded into fragments.
Without hesitation, Zhao Xuan caught the falling Land King Crystal, stuffed it into his backpack, and immediately dashed toward the next target.
"Boom!"
Another blow—another explosion of stone.
Then another, and another.
Within moments, three Tier-4 Golems lay shattered across the sands.
Just as Zhao Xuan turned to climb the dune again—
A gust of killing wind swept from behind.
Without even looking, he spun and struck back with a heavy punch.
His fist met a massive stone arm—
CRACK!
The Golem's arm shattered, crumbling to dust.
"Step, step!"
Zhao Xuan closed in, leapt high, and brought his fist crashing down onto its head.
The enormous creature stumbled backward under the blow, then toppled completely.
BOOM!
Sand and dust billowed into the air.
Before it could rise again—
Zhao Xuan landed atop it and drove his fist straight through its skull.
After finishing off the last of the defenders, he began climbing the dune once more.
Halfway up, two more Tier-4 Golems lunged to block him.
He smashed them both aside without pause.
Then—
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The entire dune began to quake.
Zhao Xuan looked up—and his grin widened.
From the top of the dune, seven more Tier-4 Desert Golems were charging down toward him in formation.
Counting the ones he had already slain—there had been twelve of them guarding this dune in total.
That could only mean one thing:
There was treasure at the summit.
Zhao Xuan's excitement spiked.
Without hesitation, he charged upward to meet them.
The seven Golems moved in crude coordination—but compared to Zhao Xuan's speed, they were painfully slow.
Their massive bodies made them clumsy.
And their famed defenses? Against Zhao Xuan, they were paper-thin.
What followed was not a battle.
It was a massacre.
None of the seven even managed to touch him before being smashed apart one by one.
Once they were gone, the climb became easy.
Before long, Zhao Xuan reached the summit.
At the top of the enormous dune, a small cactus grew quietly.
It was smaller than even the third-tier Spirit Cacti he'd seen before—but the energy radiating from it was astonishing.
Even before he approached, Zhao Xuan could already feel the dense spiritual aura emanating from it.
"This… this is definitely a treasure!"
He stared intently at the cactus—and then froze.
"Wait a second… is that… a flower?"
Indeed—a tiny flower bloomed at the cactus's crown.
"Cacti… can bloom?" Zhao Xuan muttered in disbelief.
He approached cautiously.
As he neared, a soft fragrance filled the air—refreshing, pure, intoxicating.
Instantly, Zhao Xuan's entire body grew warm, a gentle heat flowing through his limbs and gathering within his core.
His Armament Haki began to stir on its own, circulating gently through his body along with the warmth.
"This feeling—!"
His eyes lit up.
"This is exactly like the first time I ate a Spirit Cactus!"
He trembled with excitement.
Just breathing the fragrance had a comparable effect to eating a third-tier cactus!
Then what if he actually ate the flower itself?
His heart pounded.
"This is it—this is definitely a treasure! A hundred percent!"
Unable to resist, Zhao Xuan carefully plucked the flower.
The instant he did—
The cactus beneath it withered rapidly, turning to dust.
He glanced down quickly.
The flower remained intact in his hand.
He exhaled in relief.
Looking out from the dune's summit—two to three hundred meters high—he still saw no end to the endless desert ruins.
And no dunes nearly as large as this one.
With midnight approaching, Zhao Xuan decided it was time to return.
"Alright, I'll explore further next time. That's enough for tonight."
It took him nearly half an hour to return to his base near the ruins' entrance.
He dumped a large bag of Tier-4 Land King Crystals onto the ground, then hurriedly pulled out the cactus flower again.
Bringing it close, he inhaled deeply.
Instantly, his Armament Haki began to surge again.
Sitting cross-legged, Zhao Xuan quietly guided the flow within him, savoring the warmth spreading through his body.
After about a minute, the fragrance's effects faded.
Zhao Xuan opened his eyes—glowing with excitement.
"This effect… it's even stronger than eating half a Spirit Cactus! No doubt about it—this flower is a Tier-4 spiritual herb! Maybe even higher!"
"If just the scent is this strong, what happens if I eat it?"
The temptation gnawed at him.
But he hesitated.
"No, wait. What if the flower's power lies only in its fragrance?"
After wrestling with the thought for a while, Zhao Xuan finally calmed down.
"Right—the Dream Realm Archive! When I first met Fatty Fu there, didn't he say Bureau 794's Dream Realm had a massive database containing all known herbs and medicines?"
Without delay, Zhao Xuan exited the ruins and used his Bureau 794 insignia to enter the Dream Realm.
He made straight for the Archive.
Inside were records of hundreds of thousands of spiritual herbs and medicines.
Luckily, the Bureau had cataloged them scientifically, making searches fast.
After only a few minutes, Zhao Xuan found what he was looking for under the keywords desert, cactus, and flower.
Cactus Flower – A Tier-5 spiritual herb.
Once plucked, it emits a fragrance lasting up to three months.
Inhaling its scent enhances the awakening and growth of Armament Haki.
Consuming its petals grants a high chance to awaken Armament Haki; for those who have already awakened it, rapid improvement follows.
(Effect applies to those below the Grandmaster level.)
"Holy sht!*"
Zhao Xuan's eyes bulged.
"It's a Tier-5 spiritual herb!? Even the weakest Tier-5 herbs cost hundreds of millions! One that boosts Armament Haki awakening and growth must be worth a fortune!"
He was overjoyed for a long while before finally regaining composure.
"Consuming the petals… rapidly promotes Armament Haki growth."
His eyes lit up again.
Without another thought, Zhao Xuan left the Dream Realm, returned to the ruins, plucked a single petal, and swallowed it whole.
The next instant—
A wave of scorching energy burst from his core.
His Armament Haki roared to life, surging and expanding wildly within him.
It was growing—fast.
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