The lightning instantly soared into the clouds and continued upward. This feeling of being high above the Ninth Heaven, looking down upon the mortal world, was something Seven had never experienced before.
No wonder it's often said that flying is a human dream.
It truly makes one feel refreshed and clear-headed.
In just a few short seconds, Seven had reached the White Sea, at an altitude of 10,000 meters above sea level.
Floating above the sea of clouds, Seven took out the Eternal Pose pointing to the Gold Country. After determining the direction, he once again transformed into lightning and streaked through the clouds.
Thinking of that golden pillar in the Gold Country, Seven was full of motivation, wishing he could just tear through space itself.
To be precise, the Gold Country was once part of Jaya Island. Four hundred years ago, it was split into a ground section and a high-altitude section by the impact of a giant Knock Up Stream.
The ground section is now called Mock Town.
The high-altitude section includes areas such as the Gods Island, Upper Yard, and the Golden City, Shandora.
The residents of the Gold Country, the Shandians, have for generations guarded the Poneglyph stone tablet that records the Ancient Weapon, Poseidon.
Last time, when he arrived with the Roger Pirates, he couldn't take that golden pillar with him, which had haunted his dreams for a long time.
Fortunately, this time, no one can stop him!
Since Mihawk was still on the ship, Seven came to the Gold Country only to purchase the musou isshin. As for occupying the Sky Island, he would wait until after Mihawk came up.
After all, if Seven were alone and happened to lose to the local gangs... it would be too embarrassing.
Due to the system, Seven had snatched the opportunity that originally belonged to Eneru and ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, so it wouldn't hurt to act as the Thunder God of Sky Island.
Stealing one opportunity is stealing; stealing two is also stealing.
When the golden pillar he had been dreaming of appeared in his sight again, every pore in Seven's body was screaming:
"You grandson of a turtle, are you still going to show off!"
The golden pillar in front of him was the one Luffy and the others missed during the Skypiea Arc: a cylindrical golden pillar 10 meters in diameter and 60 meters in height.
It weighed about 90,000 tons, which was enough to purchase the musou isshin that Seven had been longing for.
After taking several deep breaths, Seven still felt his scalp go numb, his breathing become erratic, and his heart thumping incessantly.
That is the Divine Artifact, the musou isshin!!!
Trembling, he found the musou isshin listed on the Trading Platform and reached out to touch the golden pillar.
"Do you wish to spend 88,888 tons of gold to purchase the Divine Artifact, musou isshin?"
Seven didn't hesitate: "Yes~ Purchase it."
"Ding, purchase successful."
"Detected that the musou isshin exceeds the tolerance of the current dimension. It will be restricted to a Super Supreme Grade Blade. As compensation, you are granted cultivation experience for the Musou no Hitotachi."
The transaction was successful, and a huge chunk of the golden pillar disappeared, leaving only a small part of the base.
At the same time, an unsharpened tachi lingering with purple lightning appeared in Seven's hand.
[musou isshin: Super Supreme Grade Blade, bound, automatically matches the user's height, Haki amplification 100%]
"Good heavens, 100% Haki amplification!"
He casually swung the blade and successfully unleashed a Flying Slash. A purple sword beam pierced through the clouds. Seven felt extremely refreshed, as if he had just drunk a cup of ice-cold cola on a scorching summer day.
He couldn't help but throw his head back and laugh wildly.
"Buddy, are you still showing off now?"
Letting you f*cking show off! I've bought the musou isshin, let's see how you explain this to your wife.
"Jie jie jie..."
Halfway through his laughter, Seven suddenly remembered: the other guy at least has the fair-skinned, beautiful, and long-legged Raiden Makoto... "You really f*cking deserve to die!!"
That idiot who traveled to Teyvat really lived the life Seven dreamed of—
A divine wife with fair skin, beauty, and long legs.
A cold, wavy-haired divine sister-in-law.
But thinking about it another way, fortunately that idiot was there, otherwise how could he have bought the musou isshin?
Seven caressed the blade lovingly. On his slightly youthful face, his peach blossom eyes were filled with deep affection, as if he wished he could sleep while holding the musou isshin from now on.
Holding his beloved blade in his left hand, Seven muttered in his heart: Use [Musou no Hitotachi cultivation experience].
"Ding, a friendly reminder: the cultivation experience for the Musou no Hitotachi is too vast and is very likely to cause the host to faint. Please choose an appropriate time to use it."
"Tch," Seven snorted coldly.
"Are you kidding me?"
"A mere Musou no Hitotachi wants to make me faint? Use it."
When that obscure and vast torrent of knowledge was forcibly poured into his mind in a nearly tyrannical manner, Seven blacked out immediately.
His body, lying on the ground, twitched incessantly.
Crimson blood flowed non-stop from his eyes, nostrils, and mouth. His body frantically sent signals to his brain: Sleep, go to sleep, I beg you.
Everything before his eyes began to twist and deform, as if he were in a bizarre and grotesque dream—
Amidst thousands of thunderstorms, a vague silhouette held the musou isshin, showing only a side profile and a chin.
"No thought, no attachment, no desire..."
"The Musou no Hitotachi is the ultimate secret technique, the dreamless and matchless strike."
That voice lingered in his ears, refusing to dissipate, sounding like an echo from another world.
At the same time, the pressure emitted by the vague silhouette was like an abyss and a mountain, pressing Seven's back until it bent, making him unable to lift his head.
A deity cannot be looked upon directly.
Crack~ The sound of bones breaking echoed repeatedly.
Seven was bleeding from his Seven orifices, the blood flowing like a river, as he struggled with all his might to straighten his spine.
"I am also called Bar~zeb!"
Just as Seven's consciousness was about to dissipate and his brain was on the verge of crashing, a red-black Haki, more powerful than ever before, suddenly erupted from his body.
The Conqueror's Haki tore through the sea of clouds, instantly spreading across the entire island and knocking every living thing on it unconscious.
Immediately after, the red-black Haki rapidly contracted, covering Seven's entire body and finally allowing him to regain consciousness.
Huff~ Huff~
Seven was drenched in sweat, lying on the ground and panting heavily, looking extremely miserable. Even so, his left hand still tightly gripped the musou isshin.
To use a famous Teyvat quote: There will always be mortals on the ground who dare to brave the lightning's majesty.
"Huo huo huo~ Ha ha ha ha."
"Even if it's a god, don't think you can make me yield!"
With Seven as the center, the red-black Conqueror's Haki tore through the sea of clouds once again.
Conqueror's Haki is a manifestation of one's spirit.
It cannot be learned through training; only when the owner's own spirit is enhanced will the Conqueror's Haki be strengthened.
During the infusion of the Musou no Hitotachi, Seven had faced the divine pressure directly, and his spirit had been enhanced once again.
Unlike the previous times when he used Haoshoku to clear the field, this time the red-black Haki wrapped around Seven's entire body and spread to the blade of the musou isshin.
The advanced application of Haoshoku: Conqueror's Coating.
An extremely absurd thing was born: Seven, who had not yet mastered Armament Haki or Observation Haki, had instead mastered the advanced application of Haoshoku.
It was simply beyond ridiculous.
He was like a Great Swordsman who had maxed out his attack skill points but hadn't put any into defense or insight skills.
Gurgle~ His stomach was growling.
The slightly cool night breeze blew gently. Seven hurried to take out food and water from the system space and began to eat.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
After eating enough food and water for twenty people, Seven rubbed his slightly bloated stomach and let out a very satisfied burp.
The musou isshin he had been longing for was in his hands. Although it had changed from a Divine Artifact to a Super Supreme Grade Blade, at least he was compensated with the Musou no Hitotachi.
This could be considered as setting the tone for Seven's future cultivation. Namely: Great Swordsman, Three Types of Haki, and Fruit ability.
Having eaten and drunk his fill to restore his stamina, Seven put the remaining base of the golden pillar into the system space and continued scavenging for gold in the Gold Country until the system space was full.
"I can't fit any more. Let's see if there are any posts on the Trading Platform from people willing to exchange items for gold."
If there's another idiot, wouldn't that be wonderful!
[flying cloak (Black): 1,000 points, infinite endurance, never erode. Seller's message: Magic item, first come first served]
[Fruit Tablet (Silver): 20 points, 2 hours of charging for 2 hours of endurance. Seller's message: None]
[Never erode flat shoes: 100 points, your choice of size, your choice of color]
Seven glanced at the pair of Great Grade Slippers on his feet and painfully bought a pair of white flat shoes. If the quality was good enough, he would buy more in a few years after his body development stabilized.
He browsed through it briefly.
Seven found that in the entire platform, there was only one total dimwit like the one from the Teyvat continent; there was no second one.
"Dimwit brother, if you have the ability, list the Mistsplitter Reforged and Haran Geppaku Futsu as well. I have so much gold, I don't know how to spend it."
During the Skypiea Arc, the only time Luffy's crew acted like pirates should, each of them carried a bag of gold from the Gold Country.
And in Water 7, they exchanged it for 300 million Berries.
"Looking at it this way, the gold in the system space is worth about several billion Berries."
Seven immediately thought of a way to farm points: exchange gold for Berries, use Berries to buy Devil Fruits, and then sell the Devil Fruits to the system.
After confirming there were no more omissions, Seven took a step forward and leapt straight down from the edge of the Sky Island.
From an altitude of 10,000 meters, he plunged toward the vast sea.
Accompanying the rapid descent, the wisps of clouds were torn apart, and the wind scraped his cheeks like a blade. An almost uncontrollable excitement erupted from deep within his chest.
"Ah——!!!"
Seven let out a long howl. The sound was high-pitched and free, carrying the thrill and ecstasy of the fall, piercing through layers of the sea of clouds and echoing in the night sky.
This is freedom.