The choice was made!
Aside from the one fruit Zhao Xuan selected—the Azure Dragon Fruit—the remaining nine Logia-type Devil Fruits dissolved into light and drifted back to the Tree of Demons.
The chosen fruit, however, shot toward Zhao Xuan like a comet.
It slammed straight into his chest.
The next instant—
a surge of scorching warmth burst out from his heart.
Wherever the warmth spread, every cell in his body seemed to cheer in ecstasy, greedily absorbing the immense power contained within that energy.
Zhao Xuan's physique began to increase.
No—
to call it an increase would be an understatement.
It was skyrocketing.
20! 25! 30! 35! 40…
In just the blink of an eye, his physique had already broken past the 40-point mark—
and it was still climbing.
Zhao Xuan was completely immersed in the euphoric sensation of his body strengthening beyond human limits. He couldn't pull himself out of it even if he wanted to.
At that same moment—
the white radiance that had enveloped him gradually faded away.
Zhu Qingtian and the others stared at Zhao Xuan, their expressions complicated—
confusion, irritation, mockery, disbelief… all mixed together.
"Brother Zhao Xuan," Zhu Qingtian finally broke the silence, "why didn't you choose a Logia-type Devil Fruit? Didn't you read the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia?"
At those words, Qiu Ji and the others froze.
Right! That had to be it—
He must not have read the encyclopedia.
Otherwise, how could anyone possibly not choose a Logia-type fruit?
Realizing this, the crowd looked at Zhao Xuan with a mix of pity and scorn. Some even smirked, eyes full of schadenfreude.
But Zhao Xuan, feeling the overwhelming power coursing through his veins, merely smiled and shook his head.
"No… I've read the encyclopedia."
Of course he had.
Two days ago, he had already memorized every single Logia-type fruit listed in the book.
He had fully intended to pick one of them.
But in the end—
The temptation of that Azure Dragon form was simply too great to resist.
"Then why?" Zhu Qingtian pressed, utterly baffled. "Why give up a Logia fruit?"
Everyone's gazes locked onto Zhao Xuan.
"Because my intuition told me," Zhao Xuan said calmly, "that I should choose that fruit instead of any Logia-type."
"Your… intuition?"
Zhu Qingtian and the others frowned.
"Then what kind of fruit is it?" Zhu asked again. "A Superpower-type?"
"No," Zhao Xuan replied. "It's Zoan-type."
The moment those words left his mouth—
Everyone froze.
"What!?"
"Zoan-type!?"
"Your intuition told you to pick a Zoan-type fruit!?"
They all exclaimed in disbelief.
"Zhao Xuan," Qiu Ji said, shaking his head with mock disappointment, "I thought you might actually become my rival one day… but to think you'd throw that away for a gut feeling and pick a Zoan fruit. You've really let me down."
With that, he turned and left the Demon Space, arrogance once again plastered across his face.
Once Qiu Ji was gone, the others soon followed, one after another.
"Sigh… Brother Zhao, you were too impulsive," Zhu Qingtian said, shaking his head. "Among the three types of Devil Fruits, Zoans are recognized as the weakest!
"But don't be too discouraged. Even if you can't become a powerful fruit user, with your talent, you could still become a formidable Haki master. I've heard the president of our Magic Capital University—a mighty Eighth-Rank King—is a Haki expert with no fruit ability at all."
"Don't worry, Brother Zhu," Zhao Xuan said with a genuine smile. "I'm not disappointed. I don't regret my choice."
"You…" Zhu Qingtian sighed deeply. "Ah… Brother Zhao, it's okay, you don't have to hold it in. If you want to cry, just cry—it's bad for your health to bottle it up! Anyway, I should get going."
Obviously—
Zhu Qingtian completely misunderstood him, thinking Zhao Xuan was forcing himself to smile.
He quickly exited Demon Space as well.
Now alone in the empty realm, Zhao Xuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Seriously… I'm not disappointed! Why won't any of you believe me? I can hardly stop smiling right now!"
He muttered to himself, watching his physique values continue to soar at a frightening pace.
In just a few short moments—
his physique had already broken past 70.
Although the rate of increase had slowed somewhat,
it was still astonishingly fast.
At this pace, Zhao Xuan even suspected that his physique might soon break past the 100-point mark in one go.
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