Evan Chu continued to absorb the stellar power from the Star Crystal. Right now, he wasn't worried about Luna's safety at all—those two top experts had already been heavily injured by his sword, and with Luna's current strength, finishing them off would be a breeze.
The cyan barrier around him had faded away. Evan glanced at Jade Chu and asked, "Qing'er, are you alright?" Though the greeting was simple, it showed his genuine concern for her.
Jade Chu replied from inside the storage ring, "Hehe, big brother, you really underestimate me! You think those two little brats could hurt me? Relax, I just need to recover for a while. The Azure Spirit Barrier isn't something I can use freely—it drains a ton of spiritual power."
Evan was left speechless. This girl called those two experts 'little brats'—but thinking about it, she was a million-year-old monster herself. Yet she called him 'big brother,' so didn't that make him a monster too?
"Azure Spirit Barrier? Is that the cyan shield? How long will you need to recover? If there's anything I can do to help, just say the word!" Evan said.
"No need. Just let me sleep for a few days and I'll be fine. I still have a ton of higher-realm info to digest, so I'll come out once I've sorted through it. Of course, if you run into trouble like this again, just call me—I'll be perfectly safe," Jade Chu said.
Evan didn't say anything more. He glanced down and saw Luna had already taken human form, holding a small silver sword, but instead of immediately killing the two, she seemed to be saying something.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Marcus Yang, the Ghost Clan expert, stared at Luna in terror. He couldn't see through her cultivation at all; Luna gave off an aura even more frightening than the Ghost King himself.
Luna smiled, dazzling and carefree, "You don't need to know who I am. But you dared to hurt my man—clearly, you don't know what's good for you. Once I extract your memories, it'll be the end for you both."
But seeing Luna like this, the two experts felt their hearts freeze. Their meridians and bones had already been shattered by Evan's sword; if they weren't so powerful, they'd be dead by now. Yet this hazy young woman before them was even more terrifying than Evan—she was simply unbearable.
Luna glanced at the two, then sent a beam of white light from each hand into their heads. Instantly, pain twisted their faces—this was Luna’s soul-extraction art, drawing out all the useful information she needed.
Extracting both at once was a clear display of multitasking skill—Luna’s ability to split her focus far surpassed Evan’s. In no time, she stopped; she’d already gotten everything she wanted.
Then she said, "Time to send you off. Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick."
With a flick of her wrist, the small white sword shot out, multiplying into giant white sword shadows that struck the two. Evan recognized this as Luna’s Immortal-Slaying Sword Array—he’d seen her use it once before, and its power was terrifying.
But at this point, the two were already unconscious from the soul-extraction art, so they never even realized the full might of the Immortal-Slaying Sword Array.
In moments, both were killed by the Immortal-Slaying Sword Array. Luna frowned slightly, then with a thought, summoned their storage rings to her hand and quickly flew back to Evan.
"Thanks, Big Sis Luna. If you hadn’t helped, I really couldn’t have finished off those old monsters. Their storage rings have Netherghost Violet Orchids, right?" Evan asked, eyeing the rings in Luna’s hand.
"Yes. The Ghost Clan guy had three, the Shade Clan guy had two. Not a bad haul. So, what’s your next move?" Luna replied honestly.
"Five? That’s amazing! If I could kill a few more of these guys, it’d be even better—but that’s probably wishful thinking," Evan said.
"You think experts like these are everywhere? From their memories, I learned that most Netherghost Violet Orchids in the Netherworld were destroyed in the last great war. There’s still one place that has them, but it’s extremely dangerous—and strange, too."
"Sometimes even Venerable Martial experts go in and never come out, while Divine Martial cultivators walk out safely with Netherghost Violet Orchids. It's happened many times—sometimes only the strong survive, sometimes only the weak. It's a bizarre place," Luna said.
"A place like that? That's seriously weird. Do you know the exact location? Why don't we go check it out?" Evan said, fearless as ever.
"Of course I know where it is, but I think you should hold off for now. What you need most is to raise your strength until you can fully protect yourself. Plus, you should check on Roxanne Lin and Ryan Ouyang too—don't let anything happen to them," Luna said.
"I know, I just want to know the name of the place. I won't go right now. Speaking of Roxy, I really do miss her," Evan said.
"Let's go. We shouldn't linger here—find a hidden spot and recover your strength. Once you're strong enough, I'll tell you where it is!" Luna said. She turned back into a small white sword and flew into Evan's brow, leaving the two storage rings in his hand.
Evan stopped absorbing the Star Crystal, teleported several times to a mountaintop, and scanned the area with god-sense. Confirming nothing was amiss, he resumed absorbing the stellar power.
Meanwhile, Grimchart City was in chaos. The surviving Ghost Clan members were all talking about the event, calling Evan an unrivaled powerhouse. Some even flew straight to Blackspirit City to report to the Ghost King, demanding revenge for Grimchart City's destruction.
News of Grimchart City's annihilation spread quickly across the Netherworld. Within days, all Five Netherworld Races knew about it—a mysterious youth had reached the Venerable Martial Realm, ignored the five-race pact, and used overwhelming martial power, apparently provoking a five-race war.
At the same time, the Ghost King issued a bounty: anyone who kills this youth will get one million Netherstones; verified informants will get one hundred thousand. The Ghost Clan dispatched four top experts to hunt him down.
Evan, of course, knew nothing of this. He was quietly absorbing energy from the Star Crystal when a Mysterious Human Elder appeared over the ruins of Grimchart City, surveying the destruction. 'This is the result of a powerful sword-qi attack,' he muttered. 'I wonder if this youth is the Golden Dragon bloodline owner Hong'er mentioned...'