Evan Chu felt secretly delighted to see Quentin Wen fall for his trick, but he kept a helpless look on his face and said, "Since Young Lord Quentin thinks so highly of me, I'll race you. Just hope you don't give me too tough a challenge if you win."
"Don't worry, I won't. Who knows, maybe you'll even beat me. But I promise, whatever condition you set, I'll accept it. You can count on that," Quentin Wen said with a smile, though inwardly he thought, No matter how strong you are, you can't possibly beat me.
There's still nearly two thousand li to Golden Ram City from here. Flying at full speed will drain your Stellar Power like crazy; even if you're fast, you'll slow down eventually and I'll overtake you. No way you can win.
Evan didn't know exactly what Quentin Wen was thinking, but the smile on Quentin Wen's face told him enough. Compete with me in Stellar Power? My Chaos Dragon Force is ten times yours. This time, I'll make you admit defeat fair and square. Can't believe my luck—about to pick up another little brother, and he's one of the Four Young Lords! Not bad at all!
Quentin Wen looked at Evan and said, "It's still two thousand li to Golden Ram City. Let's see who reaches the city gates first—the winner takes all. Sound good?"
"Sure, we'll do it your way! Are we starting now?" Evan played dumb, grinning inside at his good fortune.
"Yeah, let's start now!" Quentin Wen replied, then shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
Evan followed behind at a leisurely pace, then started communicating with Goldwing in his sea of consciousness. "Old Gold, is there any problem if I use your Wind Element power now?"
"Boss, as long as I'm inside you, you can use it anytime you want. No need to ask," Goldwing replied.
With that, Evan activated his Chaos Dragon Force, combined it with Goldwing's Wind Element boost, and instantly shot forward like an arrow, leaving a streaking afterimage as he chased after Quentin Wen.
It didn't take long for Evan to catch up to Quentin Wen. He slowed down to match Quentin Wen's pace, keeping things even, which left Quentin Wen shocked—he'd never heard of anyone moving this fast.
The two of them kept flying like this for about a thousand li. Evan stayed cool and relaxed, not even slightly out of breath, showing no sign of excessive Stellar Power consumption.
Quentin Wen, on the other hand, had been going all out the whole way. He'd burned through a lot of Stellar Power already. With a thousand li left, he could finish, but the energy drain would be a pain to recover from.
Evan said, "Young Lord Quentin, are you letting me win? If so, I feel kind of bad about it."
Quentin Wen didn't understand why Evan said that, so he laughed, "Your speed is really something. Even if I wanted to let you win, I couldn't. There's still a thousand li—let's see who gets there first."
With that, Quentin Wen sped up again, quickly overtaking Evan. Evan called out from behind, "If you lose, will you keep your word?"
"I always keep my word. Let's see if you can actually beat me," Quentin Wen replied.
"Alright! Today I'll show you what real speed looks like." Evan said, then shot past Quentin Wen in a flash, overtaking him by dozens of meters in just a few breaths.
Evan activated his Chaos Dragon Force and Goldwing's Wind Element boost, leaving a streaking afterimage as he vanished from Quentin Wen's sight.
Seeing Evan disappear in front of him, Quentin Wen was more shocked than ever. His own speed was already enough to make others jealous, but this youth's speed was downright terrifying.
If he was right, even most Saint Martial experts couldn't outrun Evan. Looks like he's bound to lose today—he just hoped Evan would burn out and have to stop from overusing his Stellar Power.
Evan flew at full speed. For him, a thousand li was barely half an hour's journey. Soon, a massive city appeared before him—Golden Ram City.
Golden Ram City was under Freewind Palace's jurisdiction, and the palace itself was less than five hundred li away. Evan landed from the sky and strolled toward the city gate.
Looking at the city walls, Evan thought they weren't very tall—probably because no one dared cause trouble here with Freewind Palace so close.
The streets were packed, almost like seas of people. Evan walked slowly through the crowd, knowing Quentin Wen would need a while to catch up.
He didn't go in right away, instead waiting atop the city wall by the gate. Notices were posted there too, but this time not about him—instead, they announced a grand auction to be held in Golden Ram City in two days.
Seeing the word 'auction,' Evan remembered meeting Serena Dream back in the Heavenly Dragon Empire. That auction had brought him plenty of benefits. Funny enough, Serena Dream's auction house rival was also named Quentin Wen.
Many passersby wore extravagant clothes, and Evan noticed lots of them were Divine Martial experts. It looked like this auction would draw people from the Nine Great Sects. He felt a bit uneasy about running into anyone from Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, especially the Hall Mistress.
Soon, Quentin Wen finally arrived. His face was a bit pale—obviously from burning too much Stellar Power.
Seeing Evan waiting with a big smile, Quentin Wen realized he'd totally misjudged him. This youth might actually be stronger than he was. Losing the bet felt like such a waste.
"I just got here myself. Your speed is impressive—there aren't many in the Azure Tide Ruins who could beat you," Evan said with a smile.
"Who exactly are you? Since when did someone like you show up in the Azure Tide Ruins? I really didn't recognize greatness when I saw it. I admit defeat. So—what's your condition?" Quentin Wen asked straightforwardly.
"Are you really willing to accept defeat?" Evan asked, though he already knew Wenqin wouldn't go back on his word—he just wanted to needle him a bit.
"Of course. I always keep my word. As long as it's within my power, I won't refuse!" Quentin Wen replied.
Evan glanced at him and smiled. "My request is simple, and easy for you. I want you to be my little brother—that's it."
Quentin Wen was instantly shocked, staring at Evan in disbelief. "You actually dare ask me to be your little brother? Are you serious? Do you even have the qualifications for that?"