Evan Chu hurled his Frostbane Sword like a hidden weapon. The youth facing him thought it was almost funny—until sword-light flashed along the blade, packing terrifying power. He rushed to block with his own longsword, but his weapon was no divine artifact. Cracks split the blade in seconds, then it snapped clean in two.
His own sword—broken by Evan’s blade! It was hard to accept. But what was even scarier? Evan hadn’t even touched the Frostbane Sword. It hung in the air, moving without any force behind it.
Seeing things go south, the youth bolted backwards. But the Frostbane Sword chased him relentlessly, always hovering exactly one foot behind his back, no matter how fast he ran.
What freaked him out most was that when he stopped, the sword stopped too, floating in midair like it was alive. In the end, panic took over—he dashed off at top speed, but Frostbane Sword stayed glued to his back, never more than a foot away.
Finally, the youth collapsed, helpless, and cried out, “Boss! You win! I surrender—just let me call you Boss!”
The moment he finished, the Frostbane Sword whipped around and flew straight into Evan Chu’s hand.
“So? Convinced yet? I said I could beat you in one move, and I was right. If I wanted your life, it’d be even easier—just one more foot, and you’d be done.” Evan made a throat-slitting gesture as he spoke.
“I’m convinced—really convinced! Boss, from now on, I’ll follow you, and all my brothers are yours too. You gotta look after us!” The youth’s face was full of awe and admiration; he worshipped Evan Chu, heart and soul.
Evan Chu was in a great mood, but he still had to lay down some rules. “You wanna be my little brothers? Fine—but there’s one condition. If you can’t accept it, forget it.”
“Boss, just say the word! Whatever the condition is, we’re in!” the youth shouted, eager and fired up.
Evan grinned, "It’s simple. You just gotta do whatever I say—no questions, no complaints! But relax, I’d never send you to your deaths for no reason, or make you do anything truly evil."
Evan Chu’s voice rang out loud and clear, reaching everyone. After witnessing his duel, most folks—including Gus Bullard and Lily Tang—were still stunned, barely able to process what they’d seen.
Rhea Yang couldn’t help but smile to herself. "This Evan Chu is seriously amazing. Pulling off a sword move like that—he’s a total genius, no question."
After a long moment, Gus Bullard finally blurted out, "Holy crap, is this guy even human? That sword just chased people on its own—what kind of technique is that?!"
Sterling Yates and his crew stepped up, bowing respectfully to Evan Chu. "Boss, my name’s Sterling Yates. I’m pledging myself to you—me and all my brothers. Whatever you say, we’ll obey, even if it means dying without regret!"
“Good! That’s what I like to hear! From now on, we’re brothers. As long as I’m alive, nobody will bully you—no matter how strong the enemy is. Unless I’m dead, I’ll protect every last one of you, even if it’s with my dying breath.”
Evan Chu believed that if you wanted to make your mark in this world, you had to build something real—and loyal followers were key. One person alone could never change everything.
Gus Bullard walked up and declared, "Evan Chu, we wanna follow you too!"
Evan grinned, "Heh, if you all think so highly of me, I’d be an idiot to turn you down!"
"I won’t follow you!" Rhea Yang suddenly announced, her voice proud and clear.
Evan Chu looked at Rhea Yang, a little puzzled—then suddenly got it. "I never asked you to follow me. Honestly, you’re one of the few people I can’t afford to mess with. Don’t be mad, alright? I’ll keep my promise to you, but right now I’ve got way too much on my plate. I hope you’ll understand, okay?"
Nothing about Evan’s words was fancy, but somehow, Rhea Yang’s eyes filled with tears. She didn’t say a word—just nodded.
Lily Tang walked right up to Evan Chu, grinning. "Evan, you really didn’t let me down. Being your woman feels pretty damn good!"
"Oh yeah? Feels good, huh? Honestly, you already look pretty good without sticking out any more—if you did, I might just lose control!" Evan shot Lily a wicked smile.
"You—you pervert! You never change, do you!" Lily Tang’s face turned bright red. Evan Chu, saying stuff like that in front of everyone… but honestly, her heart was sweeter than honey.
"From now on, we’re all brothers. In this brutal place, we’ve gotta help each other, stick together, and finish our mission as soon as we can." Evan Chu’s voice was full of passion.
"One more thing—listen up! Sea Dragon Academy broke the rules this time. They sent honors-class disciples into our ordinary-class zone, so we might run into their top guys. It’s way more dangerous now, so stay sharp!" Evan said seriously, making sure everyone understood the stakes.
Sterling Yates exploded, "Son of a bitch! Honors-class guys in here? We’re just asking to get slaughtered! Sea Dragon Academy’s got no shame!"
"Yeah, we should warn the other students ASAP. Otherwise, they won’t even know what killed them! Boss, how’d you find out?" one of the younger guys asked.
Evan Chu grinned, "I found out while killing a Sea Dragon guy—he slipped up, thought I was honors-class, and let the truth drop. So everyone, be careful. First thing we do is warn the others. We’ll handle the mission as we go."
Evan Chu had already ordered the fallen students buried, and the wounded were being helped along. After two hours, his group made it into a thick forest, with a canyon running along one side.
They hadn’t gone far when birds and monster beasts burst out of the woods, scared out of their minds. The whole mountain seemed to tremble.
Evan Chu thought, "Don’t tell me we’re about to run into a high-rank monster beast." Suddenly, dozens of people came sprinting out of the trees—including someone he knew well: Gabe Goldstone.
"Run! There’s a sixth-rank monster behind us!" someone shouted as they dashed past Evan Chu.
"What? Sixth-rank monster?" Evan didn’t hesitate—he yelled to everyone, "Move it! Run!"
No joke—a sixth-rank monster could go toe-to-toe with a seventh-layer Earth Martial expert. Evan had killed an even stronger one before, but it cost him dearly; he’d spent a whole week recovering his Chaos Qi and burned a Lion Spirit Fist just to win.
This beast might be sixth-rank, but taking it down would still be risky—especially with so many little brothers to protect. If he slipped up, the consequences could be brutal.
As soon as Evan yelled, everyone bolted. Even the wounded students suddenly found their legs, sprinting faster than rabbits. Evan and the others stared in shock. "Damn! Weren’t you guys supposed to be hurt?"