Back inside his so-called "cozy" little home within the relic—
What?
Why the quotation marks around cozy?
Well… isn't it obvious?
The entire structure was built almost entirely from Desert Golem corpses. Sure, they were made of some kind of special stone, but at the end of the day—
they were still corpses.
How cozy could that possibly be?
Zhao Xuan originally intended to leave the relic, take the two newly acquired Land King Crystals, and head to the Ability Users Guild to sell them for energy fluid.
But just as he was about to go—
A thought struck him.
Wait a minute…
He'd never actually tried consuming the Spirit Cactus that grew inside this relic!
Sure, based on the unnaturally strong physique and awakened Armament Haki of that Ironhide Boar he'd fought earlier, Zhao Xuan had already suspected that the cactus might possess effects related to enhancing physical strength or even stimulating Haki awakening.
But that was still just a guess.
"What if… it really does help awaken Armament Haki?" he murmured, his eyes lighting up.
"If that's true, the value of this cactus…"
His thoughts trailed off, but the gleam in his gaze said it all.
He hurried over to one of the large Spirit Cacti he'd harvested earlier and sliced off a small piece.
Immediately, a rich, refreshing fragrance filled the air—
so invigorating it made his mind feel sharper just from the scent.
"Good stuff!" Zhao Xuan exclaimed. "Just from the smell alone, you can tell this thing is potent!"
Without hesitation, he peeled off the cactus's outer skin and took a big bite of the soft, glistening flesh.
The moment it hit his tongue, it melted instantly, flooding his mouth with sweetness and vitality.
As he swallowed, a warm current surged in his stomach, then spread rapidly through his entire body.
Everywhere it passed, Zhao Xuan felt his cells practically singing—alive, energized, rejuvenated.
The feeling faded after a short while, and Zhao Xuan immediately opened his status panel.
One glance—and he frowned.
"Hmm… my physique did increase, but that's it. No improvement to Armament Haki at all. Could it be I need to use Haki while the energy is circulating?"
Muttering to himself, he took another bite of cactus flesh.
The warm current returned—
but this time, Zhao Xuan activated his Armament Haki while it flowed through his body.
When the warmth faded, he checked his panel again.
His physique had indeed improved again.
But—
His Armament Haki proficiency hadn't budged.
"Huh? That's strange. So I was wrong? This cactus doesn't promote Haki awakening after all?"
He frowned deeply, thinking back to the Ironhide Boar.
"Could it be that boar awakened Haki purely through talent?"
He immediately shook his head.
"No. No way! Impossible!"
"How could a Tier Three Ironhide Boar—a dumb beast with barely any intelligence—awaken Haki without some kind of external trigger? There has to be another factor!"
His mind raced as he replayed every detail of that encounter in his head.
And then—
"Wait. Wait! WAIT!"
His eyes widened as the memory hit him.
"If I'm not mistaken… that boar didn't just eat the cactus flesh—it ate the entire thing, skin and spines included!"
The realization exploded in his mind like lightning.
He immediately crouched down and picked up the cactus peel he'd discarded earlier.
Examining it closely, his expression shifted from curiosity to revelation.
Because there it was—
The spines embedded in the cactus skin were pulsing faintly with energy.
It wasn't the same type of energy as the fruit's life force—it was denser, sharper, wilder.
"There's no mistake! Absolutely no mistake!" Zhao Xuan's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"These cactus spines must be the key! They're what triggered that boar's Armament Haki awakening!"
Heart pounding, Zhao Xuan wasted no time.
He opened a portal to the outside world, stepping out of the relic and into his small apartment in Tongcheng.
After washing the sand off the cactus peel, he took a deep breath—
and without hesitation, stuffed the spiny cactus skin straight into his mouth.
"Crunch—crunch—gulp!"
He chewed twice, then swallowed.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds…
Then it happened.
A different kind of warmth erupted from his core—short, fleeting, but powerful.
And within that brief span, Zhao Xuan felt something stir inside him—deep in his qi core.
His Armament Haki—which normally required conscious activation—suddenly began to flow on its own.
It surged through his body, riding the warm current, before finally returning to his core.
When the sensation faded, Zhao Xuan snapped open his panel.
And there it was—
+2 proficiency points in Armament Haki.
For a moment, he just stared.
Then—
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"
He burst into uncontrollable laughter.
His grin was radiant, his laughter wild and triumphant.
Because now, he had found it—
the true secret of the Spirit Cactus.
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