The next morning, Evan Chu opened his door and found Lillian Zhang waiting outside. "Have you been here long?" he asked.
"Not too long. Can we leave now?" Lillian Zhang replied, not once looking at Evan since he'd opened the door. Her tone was a bit rushed.
"Sure. Looks like you didn't sleep at all last night. It's just killing the Poison King, you know—no need to make such a big deal out of it. If you don't rest well, your strength won't be at its best. Don't tell me you don't even understand that much?" Evan said.
"Mind your own business. Since we can leave, let's go. There's still some distance to the royal capital, and I bet the Poison King is ready and just waiting for us to walk into his trap," Lillian Zhang said.
Evan Chu flashed into the sky. He'd thought about saying goodbye to Lin Ruoxi and the others, but figured that would only make things harder for them, so he simply left. Once Evan moved, Lillian followed, flying up beside him and giving him a glare, but she didn't say a word.
"How about we race to see who gets to the royal capital first?" Evan said with a grin. He'd always found Lillian Zhang's strength mysterious—she might be Fifth-Layer Venerable Martial Realm, but he was sure she had some shocking martial arts up her sleeve, like that bloodless sword technique.
"Fine, but I want a wager. What if you lose? Also, your strength is higher than mine, so your speed's obviously faster. I need a few breaths' head start before you chase me," Lillian Zhang replied.
Evan thought for a moment and said, "Alright, what do you want for the wager? And what if you lose?"
"If I lose, you can ask me to do anything and I'll agree—even my body, if you want. But I know you won't be interested in that, so I'm not worried," Lillian Zhang said.
"That's a pretty good wager. If I'm not mistaken, you're still a virgin, right? I can smell that unique scent. But even if you are, I'm not interested. All I want is for you to answer a few questions honestly," Evan Chu said with a laugh.
Evan instantly unleashed his movement technique, combining instant-shift with Wind element mastery to the absolute limit. After a few rapid shifts, he caught sight of Lillian Zhang’s figure ahead—just as Lillian noticed Evan closing in behind her, her shock was even greater than his.
“What is this guy, really? His strength is unbelievable—not to mention his body is immune to every kind of poison. And now his speed is terrifying too. The old sword spirit said that once you master Swordflight, nobody in the Netherworld could outrun you, but how is this possible? I can’t lose. I have to beat him!” Lillian muttered fiercely to herself.
She instantly channeled her Netherforce to the max, her speed shooting up even higher than before. Evan, meanwhile, was rapidly closing the gap behind her, his determination to win burning in his chest. The distance between them shrank bit by bit—Evan’s excitement grew, while Lillian’s tension mounted.
In the end, Evan managed to overtake her, arriving at the outskirts of the royal capital several breaths ahead. But the effort left him utterly exhausted—the full-power instant-shift, especially when paired with Wind Transformation, drained his mind and spirit tremendously.
When Lillian caught up, her face was a little pale. Swordflight had drained her energy too, and seeing Evan win made her respect him even more.
“You win. I didn’t expect your speed to be so insane. I’m totally convinced. How did you make your instant-shift so fast? What’s your secret?” Lillian asked, still catching her breath.
“Once you fully master the Wind element, you can do it too. I’ve won, so you won’t go back on our bet, right? I trust that the future Human King won’t break her word—even if you’re a woman, I know you’ll keep your promise.” Evan replied.
“What do you want to ask me? If I know, I’ll tell you. But now’s not the time for questions, is it?” Lillian said.
“Right. We’ll talk after the main business is settled. But rest assured, once you become Human King, I’ll make sure the Nether Lord and Shade Lord sign that agreement with you. Consider it my reward for accompanying me to the Death-Tower Grounds.” Evan said.
With that, the two of them headed straight for the main road to the royal capital. Since they were here to make everyone submit, they were determined to stir up a huge commotion—most importantly, to wipe out the Poison King’s entire clan.
The Human royal capital was even bigger than the Shade and Netherkin capitals, and far more prosperous. From a distance, they could see the towering city walls and the hundreds of soldiers stationed atop them.
The main road was packed with travelers—old folks, women, merchants, street vendors—an endless sea of people and carriages. Evan and Lillian blended into the crowd, drawing no attention at all.
Before long, they reached the city gate. Evan noticed that all the guards here were at least Eighth Layer Saint Martial Realm or higher, and each held a portrait, matching every entrant against it.
“Evan, that portrait is you! Looks like you’re pretty popular—the royal capital’s guards are going all out to check everyone, just because of your face. You must be quite a big deal.” Lillian teased.
“Heh, who do you think gave the order for such a grand welcome?" Evan laughed.
“Probably that Cheng Xinmei you humiliated. She’s the only one with the authority to mobilize these guards right now. Looks like she’s getting ready to hold you accountable. Still, it’s weird she isn’t searching for you all over Human Territory.” Lillian said.
“Humiliated? Heh, do you want me to humiliate you too? If you provoke me, I won’t care that you’re half an old maid. At least you’re still a virgin—that’s enough for me.” Evan replied, half-joking, half-mocking.
“You dare?! If you try anything, I’ll chop off your—just like that girl I saw cut off a guy named Jiuling and fed it to the dogs! Don’t think I can’t deal with you just because you’re strong!” Lillian shot back.
“Relax, relax! Looks like there’s going to be a fight at the city gate. But honestly, slaughtering these guys isn’t worth the effort. Why don’t you help me smooth things over?” Evan grinned.
“Handle it yourself. I’m too lazy to bother. I’ll go ahead and find out where the Poison King’s mansion is. You’d better hurry—he’s a Fifth Layer Venerable and his poisons are deadly. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to me, right?” Lillian said, then strode through the gate, paid the entrance fee, and disappeared into the city.
Before leaving, she turned and gave Evan a faint smile—a smile that made Evan’s heart skip a beat. Did this woman really not wear a mask? That smile was almost too much to handle.
Just then, a guard approached Evan, holding up the portrait and comparing it to his face. When he realized who Evan was, his expression lit up with excitement. “Sir, you’ve finally arrived! We’ve been waiting for you for a long time!”
Evan was a bit confused. He’d been planning to kill all these guards, but hearing this, he was caught off guard. So he asked, “What’s going on here?”
(Please provide the raw text for line 34 to continue translation.)
(Please provide the raw text for line 35 to continue translation.)
(Please provide the raw text for line 36 to continue translation.)
(Please provide the raw text for line 37 to continue translation.)
(Please provide the raw text for line 38 to continue translation.)
(Please provide the raw text for line 39 to continue translation.)
(Please provide the raw text for line 40 to continue translation.)
(Please provide the raw text for line 41 to continue translation.)
(Please provide the raw text for line 42 to continue translation.)
(Please provide the raw text for line 43 to continue translation.)