Seeing those Mystic Ice Giants that fell into the pits and fissures, Evan Chu felt a bit regretful, but at least there were still quite a few left on the surface. Compared to earlier, this was already much better.
He then slowly scanned the Mystic Ice Giants on the ground with his spiritual sense. For each one, Evan would use the Frostbane Sword to split open its body. Some had already been split, making it easy to search for Phantasite, though naturally, some didn’t have any. Evan wasn’t surprised by this result—he’d run into it more than once before.
After collecting all the Phantasite from the Mystic Ice Giants, Evan counted and found he’d gotten around forty stones—a pretty solid haul.
He stashed them in his storage belt, bringing his total Phantasite haul to almost seventy stones. That made him a little excited inside.
After glancing at the surroundings, Evan flashed away, ready to find a safe spot to recover his Chaos Dragon Force. Killing Mystic Ice Giants had burned through a ton of energy, and in this deadly Land of the Undead, every bit of strength meant another layer of protection.
Besides, making such a racket here would definitely attract some powerful monsters. Better safe than sorry. Evan used Teleport twice in a row and arrived at a small riverside.
There were plenty of trees by the river—towering things, dozens of meters tall, with thick, leafy branches. If someone hid up in the trunk, they’d be almost impossible to spot. Evan picked a big tree as his recovery spot.
Restoring Chaos Dragon Force at his current level—even though Evan was just at the ninth layer of the Divine Martial Realm—still took a crazy amount, no less than a fourth or even fifth-layer Saint Martial expert. Maybe even more. The amount of Starstones he burned made his heart ache.
In the Netherworld, Starstones were basically nonexistent. Netherstones could be absorbed, but they were loaded with ghostly yin. Most people got little out of them, and Evan didn’t want to risk it—unless he ran out of Starstones completely.
After a full day of absorption, Evan’s Chaos Dragon Force was finally restored. He was using his spiritual sense to scan the area. The riverside forest wasn’t that big—about the size of Flowing Cloud City. There were a few Netherbeasts inside, but all of them were weak, probably wouldn’t even drop Phantasite. Evan wasn’t interested in wasting his time on useless trash.
But just as he was about to leave to hunt down other Ghost Clan contestants, a black shadow suddenly streaked through the sky and shot toward the riverbank—blazing fast.
Evan was startled by the sight. At first, he thought it was some powerful monster showing up and was ready to ambush it. But then he realized the flying figure was actually another Ghost Clan participant, just like him.
He could sense thick ghost-qi coming off the newcomer. Anyone who could fly here had to have at least ten Phantasite, meaning their strength had to be top tier.
The figure quickly landed by the river. From the shape, it looked like a woman. Evan found it hard to believe, but what happened next felt even more unreal.
"Finally, I can take a bath. Killing dozens of Flamefang Leopards was seriously exhausting, and all this blood stench is unbearable." The woman said, then glanced around to check if anyone was nearby.
After checking for a long while and sensing nothing, the Ghost Clan woman actually removed her black robe and veil. Instantly, a face of stunning beauty, no less than Roxanne Lin's, appeared before Evan.
Even at a distance, Evan's eyesight was sharp enough to see everything clearly. This woman had completely human features, totally different from other Ghost Clan members—she was actually more perfect than most human women.
At this moment, Evan gave a wry smile: "Is this Ghost Clan girl really about to bathe right here? Looks like I'm about to score the ultimate peeping windfall. It's been ages since I saw a Ghost Clan woman take a bath—especially a gorgeous one. This is gonna be a treat!"
"Heh, Lin Feng, your luck really is something. Running into this kind of eye candy even here—I don't know whether to congratulate you or pity you." Luna, the sword spirit, chimed in.
Evan was startled by Luna's words. "Wait, is she actually jealous just because I saw another woman bathe? Back when I fought with Jenny and Roxanne, she never minded. What's up with Luna today?"
"Luna, are you really not letting me watch? If you don't like it, I'll look away. It's not like I haven't seen beautiful women before—and none of them are as gorgeous as you!" Evan tried to butter her up.
"Cut the sweet talk. This woman is no ordinary character. Her disguise is flawless—even the trial organizers were probably fooled. You seriously think she's Ghost Clan? If so, you're dead wrong.
I only just noticed what sets her apart. She's extremely dangerous, so you'd better be careful. Do not provoke her, or you'll regret it." Luna warned.
Evan felt uneasy hearing that, since he had no idea what Luna meant. He was used to her love of suspense, so he couldn’t help but ask: "What’s so different about her? Is she actually human? Then what’s with the ghost-qi? Does she use Star-Siphon too?"
"I knew you couldn't help but ask. This woman is at least ninth-layer Saint Martial Realm—pretty impressive, right? And she’s not human, she’s Netherkin. Only a ninth-layer Saint Martial Netherkin can gather ghost-qi like that. I suggest you leave now before you get yourself into trouble." Luna said.
Evan was rattled. He never expected to run into such a powerhouse here—and not Ghost Clan, but a mysterious Netherkin, and a woman at that, who was now undressing by the river, about to bathe.
It all happened so fast, Evan was caught off guard. If a Netherkin woman showed up in this trial, what was her real goal? Was she here for the Netherghost Violet Orchid? Or was she infiltrating the Ghost Clan’s core for secrets, so the Netherkin could attack them later?
The more Evan thought about it, the messier it got, giving him a headache. After calming himself, he glanced at the riverside—and nearly fell out of the tree at what he saw next.
Right then, the Netherkin woman stripped down to just her chest wrap and panties—tiny ones, barely covering a third of her rear. It was the first time Evan had ever seen something so vivid, and it stirred up a wild impulse inside him.
Soon, she took off her chest wrap too. Evan felt like something was dripping from his nose, but when he touched it, nothing was there—though the heat in his body kept rising uncontrollably.
The scene was even more enticing than when Evan had seen Selena Yale bathing—because this was the most mysterious Netherkin of all. Evan knew if he didn’t leave now, he’d be the only one to suffer.
His Pure Yang Qi was surging, and the consequences could be serious. It had been ages since he felt this way, but now, thanks to a total stranger from the Netherworld, it was back—he could hardly believe it.
Just as Evan decided to leave, the Netherkin woman slipped off her last restraint, revealing a flawless body. She turned her back to Evan, hiding her most mysterious parts from view.
Her jade-smooth backside was stunning—none of Evan’s women could compare. Maybe it was the distance, maybe just curiosity, but Evan was sure of it.
Suddenly, a bird with a wingspan of nearly two meters burst out of the woods—a flying Netherbeast. The riverside woman was startled and spun around to look toward the forest.
Seeing it was just a flying Netherbeast, she flicked her wrist and fired a streak of black sword-qi from her fingers, shooting the beast out of the sky and killing it instantly.
At that moment, Evan happened to catch a glimpse of the Netherkin woman's front...
Evan saw her, and at the same time, the woman was watching the woods. Suddenly, she spotted Evan’s eyes in the tree and was instantly shocked—she leaped into the river, firing off another blast of black sword-qi like before.
Evan knew he’d been spotted, so he dodged and dropped to the ground. The Netherkin girl in the river glared at him, her face twisted with rage—she looked ready to tear him apart.
Bang! With a thunderous crash, the tree Evan had just been standing on was snapped clean in half, the break so smooth it looked polished—proof of her terrifying strength.
In the water, the Netherkin woman whipped out clothes from her storage ring and dressed in seconds—so fast it was unreal. Then she shot to the shore, stalking toward Evan, eyes blazing with murderous intent. One look told him: she was about to tear the peeper to shreds...