Seeing strange insects all around, Evan Yang recognized them—they belonged to that youth. At first, Evan thought the youth had teamed up with the Empress to target him, but when he saw there were only ten, he frowned. "Only this few?"
Back then, he had seen that youth casually summon dozens or even hundreds at a time. How could there be only ten now? Evan watched curiously as the insects approached him.
When the insects suddenly launched a fierce attack, Evan had already wrapped each one in Sacred Flame, but these insects were indeed different—they simply devoured the fire, then burst out and turned toward Evan.
"Is that even possible? Looks like they're truly extraordinary. Can they devour anything?" Evan wondered, both surprised and suspicious.
He cycled through water, wind, lightning, fire, and earth—all to no effect. At this point, Evan was forced to dodge about by the ten insects.
"Vicious enough—so be it. I'll let you into my body." Evan thought for a moment, then sat upright. The insects, as if seeing food, all entered his body at once.
Once inside, they went crazy like bloodthirsty bugs, trying to devour Evan's blood. He sealed each one's position, trapping them inside, and attacked them with Sacred Flame and Ice-fire Sacred Flame.
"Let's see how big your stomachs really are!" Evan challenged the insects, testing whether their energy absorption was faster than his energy output.
Each insect was confined in a tiny space, so endless Sacred Flame was delivered right to their mouths. Naturally, they absorbed endlessly, but the energy was too much. Unlike outside, where Evan attacked broadly and they could pick and choose, here they had to either absorb everything or be burned to death by the excess power.
Evan's theory proved correct. Sure enough, after half an hour, the insects couldn't absorb anymore and were instantly burned to ash. Coming back to himself, Evan muttered, "Good thing it wasn't a whole swarm—just ten. Otherwise, they'd be tough to deal with."
Meanwhile, Empress Myra was controlling the insects. She had thought that once they entered Evan Yang's body, her mission was accomplished. But after an hour passed, she suddenly lost contact with the ten Holy Scorpions, leaving her utterly shocked.
It took her a while to recover, muttering, "Damn it, how could this happen?" Still unable to believe it, she sought out the youth and said unhappily, "Why are the ones you gave me so fragile?"
"Fragile? What do you mean, fragile?" the youth replied, confused.
"The ten Holy Scorpions you gave me—all dead, and they didn't even injure him," said Empress Myra.
The youth was shocked. "Impossible! My ten Holy Scorpions are genuine and pure. How could they be so fragile? How did you use them?"
Empress Myra explained the entire process. After hearing it, the youth frowned, "What's going on? I've never encountered anything like this before."
"I don't know. I want to figure it out too—how did they suddenly all die?" said Empress Myra.
"I'll give you thirty more. Maybe the quantity wasn't enough," the youth said after thinking for a moment.
"If you had that many, you should've given them to me earlier," Empress Myra snapped, glaring.
"I need them urgently. You know I'm about to enter the Bloodfiend Ground, so I need to keep some in reserve. If I gave them all to you, I'd be short. But this time, I really want to understand what's happening, so I've made some tweaks to these thirty. Now I can monitor their every move—you just need to control them," said the youth.
"Alright, got it. Thanks," said Empress Myra, taking the thirty insects and leaving.
Back in her room, Empress Myra quickly prepared. Soon, the thirty insects entered Evan Yang's room again.
Seeing that thirty had come this time, Evan Yang simply opened himself up without hesitation.
The youth, watching from the side, noticed Evan Yang completely ignoring his insects and frowned. He also saw his thirty insects enter Evan's body, but inside was pitch black—he couldn't see anything through them.
Soon, though, the insects were surrounded by flames. The youth did see something: green light, fire, and a sense of cold.
"Weird, what's with the green light? What inside him could be glowing green?" the youth muttered suspiciously as he sensed the light.
After a while, the youth realized the flames were extremely strong—the insects simply couldn't absorb that much. By the time he tried to pull them out, it was too late; they were all trapped inside Evan Yang.
Once all the insects had perished, Empress Myra, looking frustrated and embarrassed, went to consult the youth again. He said, "His insides are really strange. There's green light, and sure, there's fire, but why green?"
"Green light? How is that possible? Fire shouldn't be green unless it's some special kind of flame—but I've never seen him use green fire," Empress Myra said, puzzled.
"Even Holy Scorpions can't do anything to him. I've got nothing left. You'll have to figure it out yourself, Empress," said the youth.
"Let's attack together. I believe the two of us can handle him," said Empress Myra.
The youth immediately refused. "No way."
"Why not?" Empress Myra asked, confused.
"Because I want to wait for him to enter the Bloodfiend Ground. Once he's tempered himself and gathered enough Blood-Marks, I'll take them from him. With someone as outstanding as him, he'll definitely help me get a lot of Blood-Marks," said the youth.
"So you planned this from the start? You never meant for him to die by my hand, so the insects you gave me were all fake," Empress Myra exclaimed, shocked by the youth's intentions.
"Wrong—you misunderstood. That wasn't my intention. I do have that plan, but if Empress wants to act, I insist on helping. But if you want me to act myself, I won't. I hope you understand," said the youth.
"Twisting words—so be it. I don't need your help. I'll go to your desert and borrow your town-suppressing treasure myself," Empress Myra snorted coldly.
"It won't help—even if you go, that artifact is already sealed. Unless I return from the Bloodfiend Ground, you can't access it," said the youth.
"What?" Empress Myra was shocked after hearing this.
"I think you'd better go back to your own place and fetch your own treasures," the youth said with a smile.
Empress Myra glanced at the youth, then snorted, "Working with you is pointless." She flickered away, ordering the Meyor Great General and others to keep watch on Evan Yang and not let him escape.
As for Empress Myra, she went off to retrieve her treasures. Evan Yang noticed her departure and wondered, "Is she giving up on dealing with me, or planning to run away?"
But remembering that Empress Myra had sworn an oath with him, he figured she wouldn't disregard her own life so easily. He calmed down and waited for the remaining time to pass.
A few days later, while Evan Yang was cultivating, a voice called out, "Come out and fight."
The voice belonged to none other than Empress Myra. Evan Yang flickered out of the town and came to the outskirts, where he saw Empress Myra standing atop a mountain ridge.
"Today I'll give you one last chance. If you don't obey me, today's the day you die," said Empress Myra.
Evan Yang laughed. "Empress, you're joking. Just days ago, you tried all sorts of weird insects against me and failed. So, what are you planning to use today?"
Empress Myra drew a sword—a transparent blade threaded with faint yellow light. Evan Yang immediately saw it was no ordinary weapon and asked curiously, "What's that?"
"This is a divine weapon. Its power is immense—even I can only unleash part of it, but even that is enough to kill you," Empress Myra said with a cold smile.
Evan Yang's eyes showed surprise and doubt. If what she said was true, this fight might actually be tough for him.
Seeing Evan Yang's expression, Empress Myra sneered, "Come on."
"What's the name of that sword?" Evan Yang asked.
"Xuehan Sword," Empress Myra replied with a smile.
"Xuehan Sword?" Evan Yang echoed, suspicious. Just as he wondered what was special about it, a wave of cold air rushed at him. If not for the Sacred Flame inside him, he'd have become an icicle.
Even so, the area around Evan Yang was already frozen solid.
"Kid, now you know the sword's power. That was just its aura—if we really fight, you'll have no chance," Empress Myra said coldly.
At that moment, the Soul-Devouring Divine Sword inside Evan Yang began to tremble, as if eager to come out and fight. Evan soothed it, "Don't rush, I'll let you out soon."
Seeing Evan Yang muttering, Empress Myra sneered, "What? Want to die? Scared already?"
"If mere sword aura could scare me, I'd be pretty cowardly," Evan Yang retorted. Flames rose around him, melting all the ice formed by the sword's aura.
Evan Yang then stood opposite Empress Myra, eyeing the sword. "It's a fine blade, all right. Looks like I'll have to get tough today."
Evan Yang knew there was no avoiding a fight today, so he drew the Soul-Devouring Divine Sword. When he revealed his blade, the Xuehan Sword trembled in response.
Empress Myra glanced at the sword and was shocked, "Soul-Devouring Divine Sword? You have such a heaven-defying artifact!"
"Just lucky—got it years ago," Evan Yang replied with a smile.
"Looks like I'm in for quite the haul. Not only can I find the Fire Phoenix, but I can get the Soul-Devouring Divine Sword too. Heaven hasn't forgotten me! With these, I'll be stronger than ever—entering that place won't be just a dream!" Empress Myra said excitedly.
"Makes no sense," Evan Yang commented.
"No worries—once you're dead and I claim the Soul-Devouring Divine Sword, I'll explain everything to you before your soul dissipates," Empress Myra laughed loudly.
"We'll see if you have the ability," Evan Yang replied.
"Soul-Devouring Divine Sword isn't something someone like you can wield—watch out for backlash," Empress Myra sneered.
"Backlash? I don't know about that, but I do know my sword has a strong effect on people's souls. So you'd better be careful, Empress—don't get caught off guard," Evan Yang said with a grin.
"So you know about the soul-destroying power of the Soul-Devouring Divine Sword?" Empress Myra asked, suspicious after hearing Evan Yang's words.
"Soul-destroying power? That's just the beginning—my artifact has plenty of abilities. You'll experience them soon enough," Evan Yang said with a smile.