Lin Muxue's expression turned grim. She rejected the idea of exchanging treasures without hesitation. While it might have been possible with other pirate crews, the fact that Qiao Ling'er was with the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew made it hopeless.
Li Cang's face was heavy with anger and despair. His right arm was truly going to be amputated.
Ye Yu entered the Mystic Realm, drawing the attention and curiosity of many. No one had succeeded yet—could Ye Yu do it?
Lin Muxue didn't leave immediately but waited. If he failed, she would also ask embarrassing questions.
Having suffered such humiliation herself, she wanted to witness Ye Yu being humiliated in front of the world.
Li Cang whispered a suggestion into Lin Muxue's ear.
"Xue Er, Ye Yu has gone in now. Should we take this opportunity to strike against the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew? The humiliation we suffered today is too great."
Not only were Li Cang and the Chosen One Pirate Crew humiliated, but Lin Muxue was the most embarrassed. She wanted to act but shook her head directly.
"Are you an idiot? I'm injured, and you're injured too. If our Chosen One Pirate Crew fights them, we'll definitely be at a disadvantage."
Li Cang whispered, "There's also the Azure Dragon Pirate Crew. They haven't gone far. We could contact them and join forces to deal with the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew."
Lin Muxue was slightly tempted but ultimately decided against it.
"Wang Quanshi is also injured. Even if we join forces, we might not be able to inflict much damage on the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew. After all, their combat strength is not weak. That's why Ye Yu felt confident entering. Xia Ling, Zhao Yan'er, even Sun Long and Zhou Xing are probably stronger than you. Blame yourself for being too useless, or else we could have tried."
Lin Muxue was furious. She was injured because she participated in the Mystic Realm, while Li Cang, the former vice-captain, had been toyed with by Ye Yu and turned into a cripple.
Li Cang felt utterly humiliated, especially in front of Lin Muxue.
At this moment, Sun Long and the others felt a bit regretful.
"They didn't take the opportunity to attack. I was ready for a big fight."
Zhou Xing nodded. "I was also looking forward to them taking the chance to attack us. It seems they have some self-awareness."
...
Meanwhile, Ye Yu entered the Mystic Realm, and the scene before him shifted. He found himself standing on a ring.
Soon, he learned the information about this Mystic Realm: it was a challenge to push one's limits.
Before him appeared a humanoid Exotic Beast, eight levels higher than him—a level 28 Exotic Beast.
Ye Yu quickly understood why weaker pirate captains entered and came out severely injured, and even the stronger ones did the same. It was because the challenge was tailored to one's own strength.
If a level 10 entered, they would face a level 18; if a level 12 entered, they would face a level 20.
The Exotic Beast's combat strength was formidable. Even for top-tier prodigies, who could fight beyond their level, it was generally understood that they could at most handle an opponent six or seven levels higher.
This was why the Mystic Realm was called a challenge to push one's limits. Everyone faced an Exotic Beast that was slightly stronger than their own limit. If they couldn't defeat it, they failed the challenge, unable to surpass their own limits.
Clearly, Lin Muxue, Wang Quanshi, and other top prodigies had faced Exotic Beasts eight levels higher than themselves and had not emerged victorious.
There was also a time limit—one hour. If they didn't defeat the Exotic Beast within that time, they would be teleported out.
If they were defeated and faced the risk of death, they would also be teleported out.
This was why everyone came out injured.
However, for Ye Yu, being eight levels higher was not the limit, because his ability to fight above his level was even more formidable. Being eight levels higher was an insurmountable gap for any prodigy, but for Ye Yu, who possessed an even more terrifying ability to fight above his level, it was nothing.
The humanoid exotic beast was a humanoid mantis, two meters tall, which suddenly moved with incredible speed. Its scythe-like hands slashed rapidly, creating a storm of blades.
Ye Yu swiftly dodged and threw a punch, which the mantis also evaded quickly.
Clearly, its speed, Observation Haki, and Armament Haki were all impressive.
"No wonder so many people fail to pass. This mantis exotic beast is already formidable, and being eight levels higher makes it even more challenging. But for me, it's not that difficult. Besides, it's a great training partner, so I'll just use one hand."
Ye Yu placed his left hand behind his back, which made the mantis's eyes turn cold, feeling disrespected.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The mantis moved rapidly, constantly flickering around Ye Yu, leaving behind afterimages that made it hard to discern its true position.
This was exactly what Ye Yu wanted. The more formidable the opponent, the better it would serve as a training tool. He carefully sensed with his Observation Haki.
Suddenly, the mantis attacked from a blind spot, its scythe-like hand sweeping horizontally.
Ye Yu took half a step back, narrowly avoiding the attack. If the mantis had slashed vertically, Ye Yu would have sidestepped, just barely evading it.
The mantis was shocked. Ye Yu's Observation Haki and speed were both incredibly strong.
Ye Yu gestured, "Faster. You still can't make me feel any danger. The weights I've been carrying haven't even been removed yet."
This shocked the mantis even more. How could someone move so fast while still carrying weights? It seemed impossible.
However, Ye Yu wasn't lying. He indeed had weights on his body—on his arms, legs, and torso. Each weight was 100 pounds, and there were ten in total, making it 1,000 pounds in all.
Moreover, it wasn't noticeable because the weights were thin and small iron blocks. The reason they were so heavy was that additional weight had been applied to them.
Among the combat crew of the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew, there was an Ability User who had eaten the Weight-Adding Fruit.
Unlike Admiral Fujitora's Gravity-Gravity Fruit from the Pirate King, this user could only add weight to any object or person. For example, adding 100 pounds to a sesame seed would make it weigh 100 pounds. Adding weight to a person would increase their weight, making movement difficult.
Currently, his limit was adding 100 pounds of weight.
Fujitora's ability involved gravity, manipulating its strength and direction, so the Weight-Adding Fruit was a lower-tier version of the Gravity-Gravity Fruit.
This was why Ye Yu could carry 1,000 pounds of weight.
Ye Yu placed great importance on physical combat because he knew better than anyone that his true strength lay not in swordsmanship, but in physical combat.
Many people currently believed that Ye Yu's swordsmanship was his strongest skill, but that wasn't the case.
While his swordsmanship was a combination of Roger's, Hawkeye's, Rayleigh's, and Red Hair's techniques, his physical combat—his strength, defense—was something that all seven Non-Ability Users possessed and mastered. Moreover, he also had the strength of Demon Oz.
Therefore, Ye Yu's true strength wasn't in swordsmanship, but in physical combat. His own power, combined with Haki, could surpass even Garp at his peak without needing to wait until later stages.
It was hard to imagine how strong Ye Yu's physical combat would become in the later stages.
Thus, Ye Yu placed immense importance on his physical combat, spending more time and effort on it than on swordsmanship.
At this moment, he was using the mantis as an excellent training partner for his physical combat.
The battle continued, and the mantis grew increasingly furious, its speed becoming more intense, and its attack frequency rising higher. Ye Yu, who had been holding back, finally felt the pressure and began to fully engage in the fight.
Two figures flashed rapidly across the arena, their movements so swift that they were nearly impossible to catch with the naked eye. Only during the brief pauses of each collision could one glimpse them for a fleeting moment.
With every clash, bursts of energy and sharpness erupted, and the arena quickly became riddled with cracks, on the verge of collapse.
Even while restraining himself, Ye Yu fought with great exhilaration.
Meanwhile, outside.
Li Cang sneered, "It's been so long, and he still hasn't come out. He must have failed. Just wait for him to be asked the most humiliating question."
Lin Muxue also took delight in the situation, eagerly anticipating Ye Yu's failure and his eventual exit.
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