Queenie Tong was one hundred percent sure that the girl she spoke to on the phone—Lynn Chen—was also full of feelings for Evan.
Before this, Queenie had always envied Lynn Chen's relationship with Evan.
She envied how Lynn had known Evan so early, gone through so much together, and most importantly, from Lynn’s words, it sounded like she didn’t even need to try that hard to get close to Evan—it didn’t really matter.
After all, Lynn’s mom was seriously awesome.
She’d managed to win over Evan’s mom more than once, both subtly and directly.
Looking at it this way, in Evan’s mom’s mind, she probably wanted Lynn to be her daughter-in-law.
Compared to someone like Queenie, who only entered Evan’s life halfway and barely had any real connection, Lynn was holding a full hand of trump cards.
But now, it seemed even Lynn’s odds weren’t that great anymore.
Lily Zhao.
Queenie’s mind flashed to the woman currently in the room with Evan, and she couldn’t help but feel a wave of discouragement.
Maybe she’d just never seen a woman this perfect before—looks, aura, that hard-to-resist vibe that made you want to get closer, to know her, even if you knew you’d get burned.
Maybe this was the kind of person Evan would willingly spend his whole life with?
Queenie thought about it, but nobody could give her an answer. Next to her, Yvette Locke really was exhausted—her eyes closed, her little head tipped over, and she leaned against Queenie, fast asleep.
Inside the room.
Lily Zhao looked at Evan, lying there with his eyes closed.
She checked several times, and all she could feel was Evan’s strong heartbeat—which meant he was in no real danger.
But inside Evan, his spiritual qi was totally empty—completely drained. The weird thing was, his meridians and bones were actually tougher than before.
"I really have no idea what kind of monster you are."
Lily watched him for a long time, sighed softly, her face full of complicated emotions.
She also checked out the Lyria Blossom.
The Lyria Blossom slowly revolved inside Evan, giving off soft strands of dark-black light. The glow was gentle—not the slightest hint of aggression.
Seeing the Lyria Blossom act just like always, Lily Zhao was clearly a little surprised.
"I really thought you’d show up."
Lily Zhao stared for a long while, then finally shook her head.
She really couldn’t figure it out. When the third Heavenly Tribulation struck, Evan was still just Evan—he wasn’t pulled in by the aura inside the Lyria Blossom. So in the end, he didn’t turn into his ‘true self’ to face the third tribulation.
But somehow, Evan came out of the third Heavenly Tribulation without a scratch!
Sure, the cost was huge—he ended up completely unconscious.
But this kid was only at late-stage Foundation Establishment.
Lily Zhao just couldn’t wrap her head around it. It was way beyond anything she’d imagined. Plus, after the third Heavenly Tribulation, Heaven didn’t keep going—it just packed up and left.
That made it even more unbelievable for Lily Zhao.
Time ticked by, second after second.
Evan felt like his body had exploded—blown apart, then put back together again.
His consciousness had been asleep for ages, but finally, in the darkness, he slowly opened his eyes.
"All my spiritual qi is gone, my inner strength is gone, and my body’s weak."
"But my body isn’t damaged, and there’s no lasting trauma from the Heavenly Tribulation. Just need a bit of recovery and I’ll be fine."
Evan sat up, looked around the room.
Nobody was there.
It was a hotel room. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, he could see the night outside, cold as ice.
It was already late at night.
"Lyria..."
Suddenly, Evan remembered something and checked the Soul-Sacrifice Beauty Scroll.
Inside the scroll, Lily Zhao was sleeping peacefully.
She was already a soul body, and after burning so much spiritual qi, she was completely exhausted.
Seeing Lily still there, Evan finally felt a bit more at ease.
"So I actually survived the Heavenly Tribulation?"
"But... how?"
Evan just couldn’t figure it out.
The third Heavenly Tribulation should’ve been enough to wipe him out completely.
But Evan had blacked out, and when he woke up, he was totally fine.
A faint, eerie light glimmered on the ceiling above.
Evan spaced out for a while, then suddenly thought of something and swiped his hand.
A tiny black box appeared in his palm.
The Fourfold Sword Array.
"Swords, come forth."
Evan focused his mind.
Suddenly, four longswords appeared.
Ancient Sword Dust Departure, Misty Rain, Sudden Clarity, Enlightenment.
The four swords stood before him, their blades sharp and imposing.
"How... is this possible?"
Evan stared in disbelief for a long time.
Except for Ancient Sword Dust Departure, whose blade was covered in cracks, the other three swords—which should have been broken—now appeared perfectly intact.
Not only were they unharmed, but compared to before, there was something about them Evan couldn’t quite describe.
They seemed sharper, and there was a faint sense of majesty about them.
"What on earth happened?"
Evan couldn’t figure it out, so he summoned the female soul and asked her what happened.
After the female soul explained everything in detail, Evan instinctively glanced at his left hand.
The dragon on his left hand was sleeping.
Back when the Heavenly Tribulation was approaching, it had kept its dragon eyes open. Now, it was back to how it was before.
"I guess you saved my life, and you reforged the swords too."
"If it’s a blessing, not a curse, then so be it."
Evan sighed. The dragon on his left hand seemed to be far more important than he’d thought. Unfortunately, he knew nothing about it, and couldn’t wake it up at all.
Sitting there, Evan planned to use the Foundation Establishment Dao Chapter to recover.
But then he realized—the world’s spiritual qi was already thin, and now, around him, he couldn’t sense even a trace.
"Must’ve been drained by the Heavenly Tribulation. For now, I’ll have to hurry to Miaoshou Sect and get some Spirit-Nurturing Pills to restore my qi."
The night passed.
The next morning,
Lily Zhao was still sleeping. For a soul body like her, every bit of spiritual qi spent was gone for good—especially since the qi here was so thin it barely existed.
Evan wasn’t too worried. As long as Lily Zhao was intact, he could help her wake up when the time came.
He opened the door.
Outside, You Mingdao, who had been sitting cross-legged, immediately stood up. His face was full of reverence and awe, along with excitement and admiration as he looked at Evan.
"Young Lord, you’re awake!"
You Mingdao didn’t dare show any disrespect.
No kidding.
If someone could survive such a terrifying Heavenly Tribulation without a scratch, crushing him would be as easy as squashing an ant.