Chapter 41: Gu Che, Beaten Until He Doubted His Existence, and His Shattered Worldview

Three minutes later.

Gu Che lay on his back on the ground, his pupils slightly dilated as he stared at the sky, his eyes filled with confusion.

The bones throughout his body felt as though they had been crushed and reassembled; even breathing carried a tearing pain.

Trying to move his fingers brought only a heart-piercing agony; he didn't know how many ribs were shattered, and the blood qi churning in his chest made every gasp feel like swallowing razor blades.

Large patches of the green dragon scales on his exterior had fallen off, exposing the flesh-and-blood-blurred skin beneath; the self-healing ability of his dragonified state was frantically repairing his injuries, yet it did little to alleviate the pain.

Physical pain meant nothing to Gu Che.

During his training in the Imperial Capital, relying on the powerful self-healing of the Azure Dragon Fruit and Jiang Jiang Qingyao's "Both Hands" as a safety net, he had often pushed himself to the brink of death more than once.

What he truly could not accept was the completely overwhelming gap in strength displayed by Ye Xuan.

He had clearly gone all out!

His Dragon-Human form was fully activated, his Dragon Aura erupted, and he had even unleashed his trump card, the "Dragon Breath"!

And the result?

Ye Xuan hadn't even dodged; he simply raised a fist, directly smashed through Gu Che's dragon scale defense, and immediately followed up with a combo of strikes whose movements Gu Che couldn't even see clearly.

By the time he realized what was happening, he was already lying on the ground.

Was this reasonable?

No one had told him that Ye Xuan's strength was this great!

"Still want to fight?"

Ye Xuan stood to the side, looking down at Gu Che, who was doubting his entire existence, his tone flat.

Gu Che: "."

Fight? Fight my ass!

If they fought again, he feared his entire person would die.

Gu Che took a deep breath, completely ignoring the pain in his body, tilted his head up to look at Ye Xuan, and asked:

"Just now, how much of your strength did you use?"

"I only used spiritual energy; it doesn't count as using much."

"Less than ten percent, I suppose."

Ye Xuan said after thinking for a moment.

After all, he hadn't even drawn his sword, nor had he used the Three Thousand Lotus Heavenly Flame; he had merely circulated his spiritual energy to strengthen his physical body and thrown a casual punch.

Saying ten percent was already an overestimation.

"."

Gu Che's expression froze.

He turned his head back, staring blankly at the sky with lifeless eyes, his entire person seeming to have lost its soul.

Less than ten percent?

He, the dignified wielder of the Azure Dragon Fruit ability, ranked third on the Great Xia Supernatural List, had gone all out, yet couldn't even force the other party to use ten percent of their strength?

At this moment, Gu Che felt his worldview shatter more thoroughly than the bones in his body.

He had not thought that Ye Xuan was lying to him.

There was no need.

Although he hadn't finished reading Ye Xuan's information, if Ye Xuan were merely an Ability User, it would be impossible for him to possess such tremendous power.

Could an Ability User, merely by circulating spiritual energy throughout their body, crush a holder of a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit so thoroughly that they had no power to resist?

If an Ability User could do that, he would eat his own words!

Therefore, Ye Xuan must be a holder of a Heavens Treasure, and that Heavens Treasure provided Ye Xuan with a massive amplification, allowing Ye Xuan to possess formidable strength even without actively using the Heavens Treasure.

"I should have finished reading all your information before coming."

After a long while, Gu Che said in a hollow voice.

"Whether you read it or not, the result wouldn't change."

Ye Xuan's tone remained utterly waveless; under an absolute gap in strength, so-called intelligence held no meaning whatsoever.

Gu Che's strength could not be called weak; at the very least, he was far stronger than those mutated beasts in the Mist Hidden Mountain Range, enough to make Ye Xuan resort to using spiritual energy.

His physical constitution was very high, comparable to Ye Xuan's current state, but regarding pure physical potential alone, Gu Che, who had consumed the Mythical Zoan-type Azure Dragon Fruit, was slightly higher.

If in the future he could reach the level of strength of Kaido of the Hundred Beasts, even without mastering Haki, Ye Xuan would likely find it difficult to defeat him; but by the time he reached that level, Ye Xuan would likely have already fished in the System countless times, and the gap between the two would only be greater than it is now.

"However, you were indeed impulsive."

"Although I don't know how you became the Chief Instructor of the East Sea War Zone, rushing to fight an opponent without even finishing reading their information..."

"This is not something an instructor should do."

If in the future, when dealing with mutated beasts, or even enemies who wish to disrupt order and establish themselves as kings, Gu Che acted as impulsively as he did now...

Then no matter which day he died, Ye Xuan would not be surprised.

"This point, I naturally know."

"Although I enjoy combat, I am not someone who disregards everything for the sake of fighting."

"Towards enemies, I would only feel that I wasn't cautious enough; it is absolutely impossible for me to act like I did just now."

Gu Che understood Ye Xuan's meaning.

The reason he had come so urgently this time was not only because of the strength Ye Xuan displayed while battling mutated beasts in the video, but more so because Ye Xuan was one of their own.

Towards one's own people and towards enemies, the approach is naturally different.

Moreover, although he hadn't finished reading all of Ye Xuan's information, wasn't Ye Xuan's understanding of him also derived solely from the information revealed on the Supernatural List?

Aside from being an Azure Dragon Fruit ability user, what useful information was there on that list?

Therefore, in his view, only when neither he nor Ye Xuan knew the other's information could it be considered a fair fight.

He just hadn't expected the gap in strength between the two of them to be so vast.

"As for the title of East Sea War Zone Chief Instructor, it is merely a designation."

"In terms of combat, I do not feel qualified to teach them anything."

Gu Che possessed a clear understanding of himself.

He indeed had more experience in life-and-death struggles, and due to his own self-healing ability, he could throw caution to the wind and fight opponents recklessly.

But that was something cultivated based solely on his own capabilities.

If you asked him to teach, what could he possibly teach?

The reason he was the Chief Instructor was simply because he was the one who consumed the Azure Dragon Fruit; if someone else had eaten the Azure Dragon Fruit, then he would never have become the so-called Chief Instructor.

"Rumble—"

A low rotor sound approached from afar, breaking the brief silence; Ye Xuan and Gu Che simultaneously looked up as a black helicopter hovered at low altitude, its powerful downdraft whipping up dust from the ground and rustling the surrounding trees.

The cabin door slid open, and two figures leaped out in succession—

The first to land was a purple-haired girl, agile and nimble, wreathed in fine arcs of electricity that exploded with a "crackle" upon impact, creating a ring of Lei Guang that perfectly dissipated the force of her descent.

Dancing sparks among her hair strands illuminated her heroic features, while the Electro Vision at her waist shimmered with a soft purple light.

Immediately after, another graceful figure drifted down.

Her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, her white hoodie snapping loudly in the wind, landing as lightly and silently as a falling leaf.

"Yo, has the Great Azure Dragon turned into a dead snake?"

"Looks like you got beaten quite thoroughly."

"Running over before even finishing reading the message—only you would do something like that."

Lin Lin Ruoxi kicked the corpse-like Gu Che and couldn't help but tease.

Jiang Jiang Qingyao had already stepped forward quickly, a red glow rising in her palm.

"Fractured ribs, a comminuted fracture of the right arm, and internal organ trauma."

"Why does this not look like a sword wound? It looks more like it was dealt by fists."

"And your dragon scales..."

Gu Che closed his eyes in utter despair:

"Shattered, all shattered."

(End of Chapter)