As for those two women—
To be honest.
Zhao Xuan had truly felt deep guilt toward them at the beginning.
After all, everything they suffered, the misfortune they endured that day, really did have something to do with him.
On that point, Zhao Xuan admitted it.
He acknowledged it openly.
He had never been someone who avoided facing his mistakes.
Because Zhao Xuan firmly believed in one thing—
Mistakes could make a person stronger.
Making mistakes was not frightening.
Recognizing them and correcting them was what truly mattered.
But if someone made a mistake, refused to reflect, and lacked even the courage to face it—
Then the problem became serious.
However—
The moment Zhao Xuan learned that the two women harbored murderous intent toward him, most of the guilt in his heart dissipated.
He felt remorse over the incident.
But that did not mean he was willing to use his own life to atone for it.
Just as one of them had said while "comforting" him—
Incidents caused by a butterfly effect were not something Zhao Xuan could have foreseen.
In this matter, he had done nothing wrong.
And he felt no regret whatsoever over killing them.
The two women were not wrong either.
After all, they had suffered far too much inhuman torment.
No one was wrong.
The only mistake was this world—
A world where strength ruled all.
After killing them, Zhao Xuan did not move immediately.
He stood silently before their corpses for quite some time.
Only after nearly half a minute did he regain his composure.
"This isn't over yet."
His gaze turned icy as he looked at the headless body of the shorter woman.
"Who knows what method she used to contact her father?"
"Who knows whether she contacted him again later and told him about me?"
"The world is vast, and anything is possible."
"What if she possessed some special communication device that worked even in the Endless Sea?"
"Better safe than sorry."
"Even if the probability is extremely small—so small it's almost impossible—it still can't be completely ruled out."
At that thought—
Killing intent surged from Zhao Xuan's body.
"To be safe, I have to kill the one rushing over as well."
His eyes sharpened.
"If nothing unexpected happens, the one coming should be an eighth-rank king. But his strength shouldn't be too high—most likely a newly advanced eighth rank. Otherwise, how could his daughter not have a life-saving jade talisman?"
A life-saving jade talisman was a powerful treasure known only to those who had reached the eighth-rank king realm.
Each talisman sealed a full-power strike from an eighth- or ninth-rank expert.
Creating one required not only vast resources, but also a drop of the creator's heart's blood.
The eighth rank was also known as the Blood-Refinement Realm.
To advance from seventh to eighth rank, one had to undergo a full-body "blood transformation."
Not literal blood replacement, but refining one's blood with immense spiritual power until it became spirit blood.
If a seventh-rank expert refined half of their blood into spirit blood, they would become an eighth-rank king.
Refining all of it meant reaching mid-eighth rank.
To advance further—
One had to refine the bone marrow, allowing it to naturally generate spirit blood.
Only mid-eighth-rank kings whose entire blood had transformed could create life-saving jade talismans.
Low-eighth-rank kings had refined only half their blood, excluding the heart's blood.
If that woman's father were truly mid-eighth rank or higher, how could he not give his beloved daughter—who dared roam the dangerous Endless Sea at only fifth rank—a life-saving talisman?
Why was Zhao Xuan so sure she was that man's precious daughter?
Simple.
If he didn't care about her, why would he rush over immediately upon receiving her distress signal?
"Which means…"
"I'll be facing a low-eighth-rank king."
At that realization, Zhao Xuan's eyes shone brightly.
Facing an eighth-rank king—
He felt no fear.
Instead—
Excitement surged through him.
His body trembled uncontrollably.
Thrill.
Ecstasy.
Frenzy.
Mad exhilaration.
His face flushed red from anticipation.
After a long moment, he calmed himself.
"Even if he's only low-eighth rank, eighth rank is still eighth rank."
"An eighth-rank expert is far stronger than any seventh-rank I've killed."
"Honestly, with my current strength, even a powerful seventh-rank would be dangerous."
"Looks like… I'll have to use the life-saving jade talisman Elder Jiang gave me."
He glanced down at the jade talisman hanging at his waist.
"According to Elder Jiang, it contains his full-power strike—enough to kill most seventh-rank experts outright, and severely injure even an eighth-rank king if they're unprepared."
At that thought—
A bold plan rapidly formed in his mind.
Zhao Xuan sat down cross-legged on the deck, digesting the remaining medicinal energy in his body as he quietly waited.
Two hours later—
A rumbling sound echoed across the sea.
Zhao Xuan opened his eyes.
A small sailboat was racing toward them.
Soon, it arrived beside the Black Shark Pirates' ship.
With a sharp whistle of wind—
A bald, muscular man who resembled the shorter woman leapt onto the deck.
His face was pale, his breathing ragged.
Clearly, he had exhausted himself rushing here from Tianxing Island thousands of kilometers away.
As he caught his breath, he scanned the deck.
Then—
His gaze locked onto Zhao Xuan.
For just 0.01 seconds—
A strange glint flashed across his face.
Then it was replaced by disbelief.
But Zhao Xuan caught it.
Perfectly.
"Heh," Zhao Xuan sneered inwardly.
"Like daughter, like father. We're both from Jiuzhou, yet your first reaction upon seeing me… was greed."
"You brought this upon yourself."
At that moment, the bald man spoke:
"Zhao Xuan? Why are you here? Have you seen my daughter, Yan'er?"
"Yan… Yan'er…"
Zhao Xuan's face filled with grief and rage.
This time, it wasn't an act.
His mind replayed the moment he discovered his desert space ruin completely emptied—tens of billions' worth of resources gone.
"W-What happened!?" the man asked urgently.
"Uncle… it's like this—!"
Suddenly—
Zhao Xuan violently jolted his internal organs.
"Pff!"
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
His aura instantly weakened and destabilized.
"Yan'er… she…"
"Yan'er—what happened to her!?"
The bald man leaned closer.
"Yan—Yan'er—"
Zhao Xuan weakly muttered—
And activated the life-saving jade talisman clenched in his palm.
BOOM!!!!!!
A terrifying aura erupted.
Towering lightning burst forth.
Elder Jiang—an elderly yet fearsome thunder-type natural-element ability user—had sealed his full-power strike within that talisman.
Thunder roared.
The bald man didn't even have time to react.
He was exhausted.
Unprepared.
Caught completely off guard.
Lightning engulfed him.
The thunder shook the heavens.
For dozens of kilometers, the sound echoed.
Sizzling sounds followed—
Like flesh roasting.
Then came screams.
Bloodcurdling screams.
The lightning vanished as abruptly as it appeared.
What remained—
Was a charred figure.
The bald man.
His body was blackened, flesh destroyed.
Most critically—
His entire left arm and shoulder were gone, burned to ash.
"Tsk… pity."
Zhao Xuan frowned.
The strike had been aimed at the chest.
But the man instinctively twisted at the last instant.
Now—
He knelt on the deck, smoking, howling in agony.
Strike while he's down.
Zhao Xuan opened the space ruin and grabbed a massive pile of top-grade medicinal herbs—worth over ten billion—and swallowed them whole.
Even an eighth-rank herb.
His aura surged back rapidly.
Within seconds, he recovered to nearly seventy percent strength.
That was enough.
"ROAR!"
He transformed into dragon-man form and charged.
A thunder-wrapped, Armament-coated punch smashed forward.
"You… dare…!" the bald man roared hoarsely.
They clashed.
BOOM!
Zhao Xuan staggered backward dozens of steps.
The bald man only swayed.
Yet—
Zhao Xuan laughed wildly.
"HAHAHAHA—AGAIN! AGAIN!"
He charged.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Nearly a hundred times.
The bald man's breathing grew chaotic.
Then—
They both staggered back.
Victory was tipping.
Zhao Xuan laughed like a madman—
And charged once more.
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