With the arrival of the beast-army, the forces brought by the Red-Robe Youth couldn’t withstand the slaughter. Especially terrifying was the appearance of the Violet Thunder Fox, who revealed her true beast form—seven tails constantly unleashing bolts of lightning. Even Divine Martial Ninth-Layer experts couldn’t survive two strikes from her thunder, showing just how fearsome her power was.
The beast-army’s sudden alliance left the Frostbane Sect disciples utterly shocked. The two sides had always been like water and fire, yet now they were united against a common enemy—something no one had expected.
The battle ended soon after, though both Frostbane Sect and the beast-army suffered heavy casualties. Joan He quickly organized the disciples to handle the aftermath, but at this moment, everyone’s greatest worry was still their sect master, Evan Chu.
By now, the Violet Thunder Fox had already transformed into her human shape. Her breathtaking beauty made Selena Yale, Lynne Nie, and the others feel jealous—if she weren’t a beast, one might easily mistake her for another of Evan Chu’s women.
“We really have no idea how big brother is doing right now. It’s worrying. Why don’t we send someone out to look for him?” the Violet Thunder Fox suggested.
It was only after the Violet Thunder Fox revealed that she was actually Evan Chu’s younger sister that the women’s doubts were dispelled. They were both surprised and delighted that Evan had such a beautiful—and powerful—beast-clan sister.
“All I know is that Evan and that Red-Robe Youth entered a space black hole to fight. As for the result, no one knows. The black hole is sealed now—no one can say where he might have ended up,” Heaven Ape said.
“That Red-Robe Youth’s strength has reached the Sixth Layer of the Saint Martial Realm. I’m really worried Evan might be in danger, but there’s nothing we can do to help him now. It’s driving me crazy,” Selena Yale said, her face full of anxiety.
“Don’t be so pessimistic, everyone. Evan will definitely be fine—he’s the kind of guy you just can’t kill! Have you forgotten his heaven-defying defenses? And don’t forget, he carries some earth-shaking secrets. I’m sure he’ll show up before long,” Dream Princess said.
“Earth-shaking secrets? What kind of secrets? How come we don’t know about them?” Lynne Nie asked.
“The details will have to wait until he comes back. For now, let’s tally up the casualties in the sect and focus on restoring our strength. Freewind Palace, Sacred Sword Sect, Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, and Bloodfiend Hall are all still unaccounted for—we need to prepare for possible rescue operations,” Dream Princess said.
At the mention of Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion and Bloodfiend Hall, Selena Yale and Lynne Nie both felt a jolt of anxiety. Because of Evan Chu, they’d forgotten their own sects for a while, but now their concern returned in full force.
Selena Yale spoke up: “I’d better go back to Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion and check things out. If it’s really been taken over, we’ll have to wait until Evan returns to do something about it. I just won’t be at ease until I see for myself.”
“I’ll go back to Bloodfiend Hall too. If anything happens to my master while I’m away, I’d never forgive myself,” Lynne Nie said anxiously.
Joan He thought for a moment, then said, “Here’s what we’ll do: Dream Princess, you accompany Selena to Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, and Heaven Ape, you go with Lynne to Bloodfiend Hall. That way, you’ll have backup if anything dangerous comes up.”
“Alright, let’s settle it like this. Send out disciples to quietly gather news about Evan’s whereabouts. Maybe he and the Red-Robe Youth both got badly hurt after breaking out of the space black hole—we just don’t know. Everyone should be mentally prepared,” Selena Yale said.
Without delay, the four of them split up in pairs and left in different directions. Skylar Yule and Luna Chu, whose strength was too low to help, stayed behind in the sect to care for the wounded disciples.
The Violet Thunder Fox remained behind. She had a faint intuition that Evan Chu was still somewhere near Frostbane Sect—weak, but persistent and real.
Several days passed with no news about Evan Chu. The Violet Thunder Fox grew restless. One night, while in her room, she suddenly heard a woman’s voice speaking to her through divine sense.
“Little fox, Evan is gravely wounded right now—why haven’t you gone to save him yet? He’s lying in a valley three hundred li outside Frostbane Sect.”
The sudden voice startled the Violet Thunder Fox, but though she saw no one, she could hear it perfectly clearly. Whether it was good or bad, she had to go and check it out.
She rushed out of her room and soared into the night sky, heading toward the valley. But with the darkness all around, searching for someone was incredibly difficult. After searching for ages without finding anything, she had no choice but to wait for daylight.
Meanwhile, Evan Chu had already fallen into a deep coma. He looked just like a seventy- or eighty-year-old man—hair white, face covered in wrinkles. His wounds had closed, but his breathing was extremely weak.
This was a side effect of using the Timewheel Bracelet—he’d overdrawn his life force far too much. If Evan still had Chaos Dragon Force in his body, maybe he could recover quickly, but now his Dragon Pearl was completely empty, its glow turned a dull gray.
It was a disaster on top of disaster. Luna, the sword spirit, couldn’t separate from Evan now and could only use her powerful divine sense to communicate with the Violet Thunder Fox, instructing her to stabilize Evan’s heart meridians so his cultivation realm wouldn’t regress.
As for death, Evan definitely wouldn’t die. The wood-element vitality in his body was enough to heal his injuries, but there was simply no cure for the side effects of the Timewheel Bracelet.
At dawn the next day, the Violet Thunder Fox began searching the valley again. But after looking all morning with no result, her anxiety only grew.
“Evan is ten li straight ahead, halfway up the mountainside. Hurry and bring him back to Frostbane Sect!” the mysterious voice sounded again in the Violet Thunder Fox’s mind.
It was like finding a lifeline—she flashed into the air and shot toward the spot the voice had mentioned.
Ten li was nothing for her; she arrived in no time. From afar, she saw a figure lying halfway up the mountain and quickly landed beside him.
But when she saw that the person was just an old man of seventy or eighty, the Violet Thunder Fox was thrown off. She’d hoped it was Evan, but it turned out to be an elderly stranger—her hope turned to bitter disappointment.
But since the voice had told her to save this person, his identity couldn’t be simple. The Violet Thunder Fox helped him up and looked closely—his face was uncannily similar to Evan’s, or rather, what Evan would look like aged.
A sense of foreboding filled her heart—could this old man really be Evan? Though she suspected it, she still couldn’t bring herself to believe it. So she called out, “Old sir, wake up! Please, wake up!”
But there was no response at all. Then she noticed the sword lying beside him—and was utterly shocked. It was the Frostbane Sword, a weapon she knew well. In that instant, the clever Violet Thunder Fox realized who this old man was: none other than the big brother she’d been yearning for day and night—Evan Chu…