At the entrance of the ruin—
By the stone monuments.
The instant the fifth stone tablet lit up—
Whoosh!
The entire crowd erupted.
"He passed the fifth stage! The fifth stage is cleared!"
"How long was that!? Was it even a minute?"
"No way, definitely not! At most forty or fifty seconds!"
"The fifth stage's trial was to defeat a Tier 3 Mystic Bird, right? A Tier 3 Mystic Bird isn't weak at all! He beat it that fast!?"
"If I remember correctly, Miss Di also cleared the fifth stage in about forty or fifty seconds, didn't she?"
"Tsk tsk tsk…"
"Unbelievable…"
The crowd burst into shocked chatter.
Even the young girl who had kept a calm, aloof expression since the beginning now showed a flicker of surprise on her face.
Zhao Xuan, however, was completely unaware of the commotion outside.
At this moment—
He was frantically dealing with the assault of three Tier 3 Mystic Birds in the sixth stage.
Because the three birds coordinated well with each other, Zhao Xuan was forced onto the defensive, relying on Iron Body and his formidable physique to tank their blows head-on.
Within moments, fresh crimson claw marks streaked across his skin.
Fortunately, that disadvantage didn't last long.
When the three Mystic Birds swooped in again, Zhao Xuan finally made his move.
Finger Pistol!
Cold light flashed—his strike pierced through the air like a dragon's lunge.
It slammed into one of the Mystic Birds.
"Chirp!"
With a sharp, agonized cry, the creature was sent flying, crashing into the ground several meters away before vanishing into white light.
With one down, the remaining two were easy prey.
Zhao Xuan repeated his attack—one, two—each impaled by his piercing strikes.
Stage Six, cleared!
A flash of white light—and Zhao Xuan appeared in Stage Seven.
Meanwhile, outside the ruin, at the stone tablets—
The sixth monument burst into brilliant gold.
"He cleared the sixth stage!"
"Finally! The next one's the seventh—six Tier 3 Mystic Birds at once!"
"Looks like Zhao Xuan's starting to lose momentum. He finished Stage Five in under a minute, but Stage Six took him almost ten minutes."
"Miss Di took less than five minutes for Stage Six, didn't she?"
The onlookers murmured among themselves.
Not far away, the young girl—Di Ruqing—showed a faint expression of disappointment.
She shook her head and turned around, preparing to leave.
But suddenly—
A stunned shout erupted behind her:
"He—he—he—he—HE PASSED!!!"
"What? Passed? What passed?"
Di Ruqing froze, startled.
Then, as if realizing something outrageous, a bold yet absurd thought flashed through her mind.
She snapped her head toward the stone tablets.
When she saw the seventh tablet glowing gold—
Her pupils contracted violently.
Her expression froze in disbelief.
Whoosh!
The crowd erupted again.
"He passed!? What the hell!?"
"What's going on!? What just happened!?"
"This—this—this—how long has it been!? Not even thirty seconds, right!? Zhao Xuan already cleared the seventh stage!?"
"Wasn't the seventh stage supposed to require defeating six Tier 3 Mystic Birds!?"
The entire place fell into stunned silence.
Every single person was utterly dumbfounded—brains blank, unable to process what had just happened.
It wasn't the fact that Zhao Xuan defeated Tier 3 Mystic Birds that shocked them.
Even though he took twice as long as Di Ruqing on the previous stage, they still believed he'd eventually pass Stage Seven.
But this—!!
No one expected him to be this fast!
Half a minute!
What did that mean?
It meant Zhao Xuan had crushed the seventh stage with overwhelming force—complete domination!
Which also meant—
He hadn't even used his full strength in the previous six stages.
That was why the entire audience stood frozen in disbelief.
In truth, here's what happened:
The instant Zhao Xuan entered the seventh trial space, he was ambushed by all six Mystic Birds at once.
He managed to block the first wave with Iron Body—but a claw still grazed his cheek, leaving a streak of blood.
And that—
Made him angry.
In his own words:
"You can hit me—but you don't touch my face."
Enraged, he unleashed the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit.
Under the Dragon's Might, the six Mystic Birds froze midair—their movements slowed dramatically.
That was all the opening Zhao Xuan needed.
Moments later, all six birds lay slain by his Finger Pistol.
Back at the ruin's entrance—
Just as the crowd was still reeling from Zhao Xuan's unbelievable speed at clearing Stage Seven—
The eighth stone tablet suddenly flared gold.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/HorizonStudios0