Evan Chu couldn't help but laugh, his eyes flashing with mockery as he glanced at the young man. "That kind of talk might fool a three-year-old, but not us."
"You must have something wrong with your head. Do you really think we're idiots?" Rhea Yang, standing behind Evan Chu, couldn't help but curse out loud.
The young man's gaze turned cold, his face darkening as he let out a chilly laugh. "I'm only thinking of your safety. Carrying all that stuff really isn't safe for you two."
As he spoke, the young man had already closed the distance to just a few meters from Evan Chu and Rhea Yang. The longsword in his hand began to emit faint energy ripples, clearly preparing to strike at any moment.
Evan Chu looked at him with disdain; at best, this guy was just third layer Earth Martial Realm. Killing him would be effortless. "The stuff's right here in my hand. If you've got the guts, come and take it. She's got even more Magic Crystals on her."
Rhea Yang shot Evan Chu a look, quickly realizing what he meant—he was about to kill someone.
A cold gleam flashed in the young man's eyes as he sneered, "If you two insist on being stubborn, then I'll just have to do it myself. Don't worry, I'll be gentle." As he spoke, the longsword in his hand erupted with surging stellar force and he stabbed toward Evan Chu at full strength—a killing move, no mercy at all.
A fierce killing intent flashed in Evan Chu's eyes. The Frostbane Sword was already in his hand. With a flash of sword light and a crisp sound, the young man's longsword snapped cleanly in two.
"Pfft!" The young man spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning deathly pale as he collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.
Evan Chu's single sword strike not only broke his weapon but also injured his internal organs. He'd only used sixty percent of his power, just to test his current strength, but he hadn't expected it to be so overwhelming—a single move left the opponent crippled.
"Th-this... this can't be real... No way..." Staring at the snapped sword in his hand, the Sea Dragon student was utterly stunned. The blow was so overwhelming, he nearly fainted. But what really shattered his world was that the person who crushed him—a kid who looked barely sixteen or seventeen—had done it in a single move.
"Nothing's impossible. Regretting it now? Are all Sea Dragon Academy idiots like you? Heh! Too late for that. Time for me to take care of your stuff!" Without hesitation, Evan Chu drove his sword straight into the guy's chest.
Rhea Yang hadn't said a word the whole time. Watching Evan finish the kill so quickly, she couldn't help but feel a chill. That was a Sea Dragon Academy ordinary-class disciple, at least Earth Martial third layer—a senior, by the looks of him. Yet he died like a total joke.
The Sea Dragon youth died unwilling, but Evan only found a storage belt on him. Inside: one Magic Crystal—he'd only killed a single beast, apparently. Still, there were a few decent things.
A low-grade Starstone and a handful of pills of unknown grade went straight into Evan's pocket.
"Magic Crystal's yours. I'm taking the rest!" Evan didn't bother to ask Rhea's opinion, just tossed the crystal her way.
"Evan Chu, you really are impossible to read. Well, thanks, I guess!" Rhea grinned, not shy at all, and slipped the Magic Crystal into her own storage belt.
"Let's move. Looks like Sea Dragon Academy folks are crawling all over this area!" Evan figured if he ran into one, more could show up soon. Lone wolves he wasn't afraid of, but if they came in packs, having Rhea—the so-called burden—could be trouble.
Rhea nodded. "I can't tell if teaming up with you is a mistake or not."
"Come on, you know who I am. Stick with me, you'll be living the good life!"
"Want some poison?"
"Poison? Hey, you're not planning to slip me something, are you?" Evan shot her a wary look.
"Please. You're not worth it. My poisons are as rare as Starstones—think you're worth wasting one?" Rhea kept up her playful tone.
"Tch, what's with the mask anyway? Too ugly to show your face?"
Evan quickly changed the subject. This girl actually used poison? He remembered Lily Tang saying the Yang clan was famous for fire-weapons, not poison. If he pissed her off and she slipped him something, he'd be screwed. Who knew what her poisons could do?
Evan's words left Rhea momentarily stunned. She stared at him, then finally asked, "You can tell I'm wearing a mask? No way. Did Lily Tang tell you?"
"Nope. I'm not that close with her. Why would she tell me? She did drop a hint though, and I guessed the rest. Didn't expect to be right." Of course, Evan wasn't about to say Luna told him—she'd never believe it anyway.
Rhea's face softened. "Did Lily say anything else?"
"You really wanna know?"
"Forget it! I'll ask her myself next time!" Rhea refused to play along.
"Tell me about your Yang Gate fire-weapons and I'll spill. Fair trade, right?" Evan was honestly curious about her clan's secrets.
"Are you trying to bargain with me? Listen up: I don't do threats. If you want to know Yang Gate's secrets, keep dreaming!" Rhea's words were as fiery as ever.
Evan stopped talking. With someone like her, he'd only end up driving himself crazy. He strode ahead alone.
Rhea trailed behind, knowing Evan was probably mad, but her pride wouldn't let her explain.
They walked in silence. Two hours later, Evan and Rhea reached a patch of forest ravaged by battle—blood everywhere, and two corpses on the ground, riddled with wounds.
Judging by the wounds, both had been killed by humans. Not far away, two storage belts lay tossed on the ground.
Evan picked up the belts and checked them. "No Magic Crystals or Redshine Stones, just junk. Looks like someone already cleaned them out."
From their clothes, they were Heavenly Dragon Academy students. Evan figured they must've run into Sea Dragon Academy guys—otherwise, they wouldn't have been slaughtered.
Rhea scanned the area, spotting a bunch of footprints headed in the same direction. "Let's go somewhere else. See those tracks? At least five people went that way. If we follow, we're just asking to die. Better to steer clear."
"Scared? I wanna rack up some kills and see if their belts have anything good." Evan didn't care—even ten ordinary-class students together weren't worth worrying about.
Rhea shot Evan a look. "You're not scared, so why should I be? How about we make it a contest—see who racks up more kills?"
"You're on! Like I'd lose to you!" Evan laughed, fired up.