Inside the Desert Relic, the sounds of chaos thundered across the endless dunes.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A man and a stone giant were locked in a brutal clash—
each strike shaking the very earth.
Zhao Xuan's jaw was clenched tight, his expression wild and frenzied.
Streams of Armament Haki surged endlessly from his core, coating his fists in dense black energy.
Punch after punch, blow after blow!
He met every swing of the Desert Golem's massive stone arms head-on.
Even as his fists were reduced to bloody, mangled flesh,
he refused to dodge, refused to retreat.
He only knew one thing—
to keep attacking.
Fist met stone.
The repeated collisions sent waves of shock rippling outward,
scattering the sand like a storm, shrouding the battlefield in a dense yellow haze.
In the blink of an eye—
man and monster had exchanged dozens of devastating blows.
Though Zhao Xuan's hands were a mess of torn skin and blood,
his unrelenting assault was taking a visible toll on the stone giant as well.
Cracks spiderwebbed across its massive fists—
one after another, deeper and deeper.
Until finally—
BOOM!
With one last earth-shattering strike,
the Golem's colossal stone fist exploded into rubble.
Tiny fractures raced up its arm,
growing wider, thicker—
until they spanned its entire limb.
RUMBLE!!!
The Golem's arm shattered completely, collapsing into the sand below.
Zhao Xuan threw back his head and laughed madly.
"Hahahahahaha! So this is all you've got?!"
His voice echoed across the desert, fierce and untamed.
"Four-tier? That's it? That's all a four-tier beast can do!?"
Still laughing, Zhao Xuan began to walk forward—
one step, then another,
his feet crunching over shards of stone.
Thud!
The Golem roared in rage,
raising one enormous foot to crush him like an insect.
Compared to its vast size, Zhao Xuan looked insignificant—
a mere speck before a mountain.
But the power that erupted from that "speck"
was no weaker than the Golem's own.
"Not playing with you anymore."
Zhao Xuan's voice was low and calm.
He stomped twice—
Tatak! Tatak!
—and vanished from sight.
In the next instant, he reappeared before the Golem's colossal head.
"Tempest Kick!" (Rankyaku)
A crescent of compressed air flashed through the storm of dust.
BOOM!
It slammed into the Golem's face with devastating force.
The left half of its face shattered instantly.
Before the creature could even react—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Zhao Xuan struck again and again,
each blow landing like thunder.
By the fifth strike,
the Golem's entire left side crumbled away,
its massive body collapsing to the ground with a deafening crash.
RUMBLE!!!
A cloud of sand burst skyward, blotting out the sun.
Ding!
You have experienced an exhilarating battle.
Your understanding of Shave, Moon Step, Iron Body, Tempest Kick, Armament Haki, and Azure Dragon Fruit has greatly improved.
All related proficiencies +50!
The system's voice faded,
and Zhao Xuan dropped heavily to the sand, panting hard.
Exhaustion hit him like a tidal wave.
Every muscle trembled; every nerve screamed in protest.
After seven straight days of relentless battle, his strength had grown beyond measure—
but this time, he'd pushed himself further than ever before.
Normally, he could take down a four-tier Desert Golem in seven or eight minutes.
But earlier, after admiring his latest attribute panel,
a dangerous thought had crossed his mind:
What if I fought one head-on? No dodging, no tricks—just pure strength.
And so, he did.
For nearly half an hour, Zhao Xuan and the Golem exchanged blow after blow,
without a single dodge or step back.
Half an hour of full-force combat—
enough to drain every last drop of stamina from his body.
Now, his limbs were heavy,
his muscles trembling with fatigue.
Still—
As he sat there breathing heavily,
his gaze drifted toward the fallen Golem,
and a crooked grin spread across his face.
"Four-tier…" he muttered between breaths,
"isn't so terrifying after all. Hahahahahahaha!"
His laughter rang out wildly across the empty desert.
Then, with practiced ease, he pulled out a pouch of energy fluid,
took a long drink,
and opened his Heaven Rewards Diligence System panel.
[Heaven Rewards Diligence System]
Name: Zhao Xuan
Age: 18
Spirit: 22.68 / 81.11
Constitution: 145.01 / 375.01
Abilities:
Shave (Master: 85 / 8000)
Iron Body (Master: 445 / 8000)
Paper Art (Expert: 60 / 400)
Moon Step (Master: 72 / 8000)
Tempest Kick (Master: 800 / 8000)
Finger Gun (Expert: 315 / 400)
Swordsmanship (Proficient: 88 / 200)
Armament Haki (Expert: 123 / 4000)
Azure Dragon Fruit (Adept: 1796 / 2000)
Looking at his panel, Zhao Xuan couldn't help but smirk.
Each number represented blood, pain, and progress—
And now, he was standing on the edge of something greater.
--------------------------------------------------
Patreon Advance Chapters: [email protected] / KaiOynx