It wasn't until long after Shi Xuefei had left that Zhao Xuan finally came back to his senses.
He looked down at the Bureau 794 medal in his hand. Thinking of all the benefits Shi Xuefei had described earlier, his eyes immediately lit up.
"Opportunity! This is definitely a huge opportunity! The big leg of Bureau 794—I'm never letting go!"
What really had Zhao Xuan so excited wasn't just the generous benefits of Bureau 794, but the people within Bureau 794 itself.
According to Shi Xuefei, only those who had successfully passed a Ruins Trial even had the qualification to become members of Bureau 794.
And the difficulty of those Ruins Trials—Zhao Xuan had experienced that firsthand.
Without a doubt, anyone who could pass such a trial was a true genius.
And to Zhao Xuan, geniuses were basically walking experience packs.
Whether he could beat them didn't matter much; what mattered was that through intense battle, he could gain massive amounts of proficiency!
"Big Cow said I can use this medal to enter Bureau 794's Dreamspace, right? If I can enter, others must be able to too. Maybe I can find other third-tier Awakeners in there and schedule some sparring matches… and then fight them in person afterward!"
The thought made Zhao Xuan's eyes gleam brighter and brighter.
"Speaking of Big Cow…"
"If I heard right, didn't she say just now that she was rushing back to the Imperial Capital to open the gate to a newly appeared ruin?"
"This is Tong City though—that's like a hundred and eighty thousand miles from the Imperial Capital! Don't tell me Big Cow can just open a gate and instantly teleport back? If she really can do that, what kind of power level is she at? Could she be… a high-tier Awakened?"
"Hissss—!!"
Zhao Xuan couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath.
"Forget it, forget it. No point overthinking. The most important thing right now is to get stronger before the Provincial Exam. Otherwise, if I trip up at the last moment and don't even qualify for the National Exam, that'd be humiliating!"
Shaking his head, Zhao Xuan hailed a taxi and rushed off toward the site of his next mission.
At that same moment, outside the Imperial Capital—somewhere deep within the mountains—
A shimmering air gate appeared.
And from within it, Shi Xuefei stepped out.
"Xuefei, you're back!"
An old man greeted her with a smile. "So, did that kid Zhao Xuan agree?"
"He agreed, of course he did!" Shi Xuefei nodded.
"Well then, what's your first impression of him?" the old man asked, eyes glinting with curiosity.
The first thing that popped into Shi Xuefei's mind were three big words—Big Cow.
Her refined and delicate face instantly flushed with embarrassment and annoyance. "He's… okay, I guess."
"Hmm?" The old man gave her a funny look.
"Elder Zhao, this isn't the time for small talk," Shi Xuefei said quickly, steering the conversation away. "We should stabilize the gate to the ruins first. If we delay any longer, it'll close—and who knows when it'll open again."
"True enough."
The old man nodded and stood.
"This ruin is an eighth-tier one. I'll handle opening the gate—you focus on stabilizing it. Let's finish within half an hour."
"Yes, Elder Zhao!"
In truth, Zhao Xuan's guess about Shi Xuefei's strength wasn't wrong.
Though she looked like a woman in her mid-twenties, this cool, beautiful onee-san was indeed a high-tier Awakened!
Of course, Zhao Xuan had no idea about any of that.
At that moment, he was out in the northern wilderness beyond Tong City, chasing down a third-tier Ironhide Boar—his first bounty mission of the day.
This particular Ironhide Boar had been causing havoc in the northern farmlands, destroying over thirty acres of crops and ramming to death more than a hundred first-tier livestock at a local ranch.
Its hide was so tough that ordinary third-tier Awakeners couldn't even scratch it—two of them had already failed the mission before him.
But just because ordinary third-tiers couldn't break its defense didn't mean Zhao Xuan couldn't.
After taking a kick from Zhao Xuan in his Minor Dragon Form, the once-arrogant Ironhide Boar that had rampaged without restraint spat out a mouthful of blood.
Then, it ran.
But unlike the usual "drive-away" missions—which typically targeted harmless, docile creatures—this Ironhide Boar was different.
It was vengeful. Extremely so.
If he didn't kill it, once it recovered, it'd definitely come back for revenge.
So one man and one boar, one chasing, one fleeing—before long, Zhao Xuan had pursued it deep into a dense forest.
But now, the Ironhide Boar clearly realized that it couldn't outrun him.
With a roar—
"Snort! Snort snort! Snort snort snort!"
—it spun around and charged straight at Zhao Xuan!
Under the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves, the bristled head of the Ironhide Boar shimmered faintly with an eerie metallic glow.
"This is—!?"
Zhao Xuan's expression shifted.
He met the charge head-on, sweeping his leg across.
Boom!!!
With a thunderous crash, the boar was sent flying backward, slamming into a massive tree before finally skidding to a stop.
Before it could get up, Zhao Xuan was already upon it.
His fingers formed a spear, thrusting straight toward its belly.
"Snort! Snort snort!!"
The boar screamed in rage and pain—the faint glow on its hide flaring again.
Even with his full strength, Zhao Xuan's strike barely pierced through its defense.
"There's no mistake! No mistake at all! Armament Haki! That's definitely Armament Haki! What the hell—since when do third-tier boars awaken Armament Haki!?"
"Something's off! Completely off! One hundred percent off!!"
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