Watching Evan Chu sit cross-legged, simultaneously absorbing the stellar power from two Starstones, Selena's heart stirred. She murmured inwardly:
Evan, Evan, when will you reach the Divine Martial Realm? The divination says only when you reach that realm can we truly be together. Am I really supposed to wait decades for you?
At this moment, Evan Chu had no idea what Selena was thinking. He was fully focused on absorbing the stellar power and converting it into Chaos Qi.
His Earth Star Pellet could no longer contain Chaos Qi. The stellar power he absorbed was converted and flowed throughout his meridians. Evan felt the Chaos Qi in his meridians growing ever more substantial.
After absorbing the sixth high-grade Starstone, the Chaos Qi in his meridians reached saturation. He knew he couldn't absorb any more—if he did, the Chaos Qi might go berserk, possibly forcing a breakthrough to the fourth layer of the Starforge Body.
Right now, Evan Chu absolutely didn’t dare to break through to the fourth layer of the Starforge Body. Doing so would be courting death, and there simply wasn’t time.
Slowly circulating his Earth Star Pellet, he noticed the dragon-shaped pattern on its surface growing clearer. He didn’t know how much time had passed when suddenly, the dragon’s eyes snapped open and the pellet began spinning rapidly.
This phenomenon startled Evan Chu. The pellet spun faster and faster, and he felt completely unable to stop it.
His face grew tense. After a moment, a dragon’s roar echoed in his heart, the pellet’s spinning slowed, then stopped altogether. Evan saw that the Earth Star Pellet had grown noticeably larger.
The Chaos Qi in his meridians began pouring into the newly enlarged Earth Star Pellet. When all the Chaos Qi had gathered, the pellet emitted a crisp sound.
Immediately, all the Chaos Qi was absorbed. Then, the pellet slowly began circulating again, automatically releasing Chaos Qi to flow through his meridians for one full circuit before drawing it back in.
A wave of comfort swept through his body. Evan felt his meridians were tougher than before, and his strength had clearly increased. Now, his Chaos Qi reserve was enough to unleash the fifth form of Demon-Breaking Fist three times.
He knew he had broken through. Now he was truly at the ninth layer of the Earth Martial Realm, just one step from Heaven Martial Realm. He knew that once he reached Heaven Martial and awakened part of his bloodline with the power of the Dragon Scale, he could break through several subrealms at once and truly count as a formidable expert.
Using inner sight, he checked his Earth Star Pellet and found the dragon pattern was now completely clear. The Divine Dragon had seven claws, with two more budding protrusions that looked like claws not yet fully formed.
Evan opened his eyes and stood up, realizing it was already late at night. Stars dotted the sky, the moon half-hidden behind clouds, letting a little moonlight through.
“Congratulations on reaching the ninth layer of Earth Martial Realm, Evan. Your breakthrough was unusual—I actually heard a dragon’s roar. Do you have a Divine Dragon bloodline?” Selena asked calmly.
Though Selena sounded calm, she had been speechless during Evan’s breakthrough. When the dragon’s roar echoed in his heart, his body flashed with golden light and a massive golden dragon’s shadow erupted from within him.
The pressure was so immense that even Selena, at Divine Martial Realm, felt suffocated. The Divine Dragon soared once around them in the air before plunging back into Evan’s body.
Evan himself was completely unaware of all this; all he felt was the dragon’s roar in his heart.
“That’s right. Fewer than five people in the world know I have a Divine Dragon bloodline—including you. I hope you’ll keep this secret. It’s precisely because of this that my cultivation progresses much more slowly than others.”
But once I awaken my bloodline, my strength will skyrocket. Selena, I’ll need your help." Evan said.
Selena was moved by Evan’s trust. She looked at him and asked, “How can I help you, Evan? As long as it’s within my power, I’ll do my best.”
Evan knew that asking Selena for help meant owing her a favor, but some things were simply beyond his current ability. He asked, “Do you know where I can find any Spirit Pearls?”
Selena was briefly stunned by Evan’s question, then asked, “Why do you want Spirit Pearls? They’re extremely rare treasures. Will they really help your strength?”
“Exactly. If I can obtain the Five-Element Spirit Pearls, my strength will increase rapidly. I must get stronger—my mother is still waiting for me to rescue her, and I worry about her constantly,” Evan said.
Since Selena was from the Demon Clan, there were things she needed to know. Although Evan wasn’t sure whether they’d end up as enemies or as fate had foretold, for now she was wholeheartedly helping him.
“Where is your mother now? If it’s not too dangerous, I can try,” Selena said.
“If you go, you might never return. The strongest there should be at Divine Martial Realm. Do you know the Dragon Shrine? That’s where my mother is imprisoned,” Evan said helplessly.
“The Dragon Shrine is extremely hidden. I only know that you can reach it through the Azure Tide Ruins, but I don’t know the exact location. Evan, you came to the Royal Capital for the Fire Spirit Pearl possessed by Skylar Yule, didn’t you?” Selena said.
“Yes, but that’s not the only reason. After I killed the Sea Dragon Empire’s Third Prince, I fled to the capital on purpose. Later, I learned Skylar Yule had the Fire Spirit Pearl and decided I had to get it. Do you know of any other places with Spirit Pearls?” Evan asked.
“I only know that in the Mermaid Kingdom of the sea region, there is a Water Spirit Pearl. But getting it won’t be easy—you need to be prepared,” Selena said.
At that moment, Goldwing suddenly flew back and reported, “Boss, I’ve spotted the people you’re waiting for. There are more than thirty of them, three large carts, five riders, and the rest are on foot. Right now, they’re resting about two hundred li away.”
Evan looked at Selena and said, “That’s a lot of people—could be troublesome. If they’re all Heaven Martial Realm, it’s manageable, but if there are one or two Divine Martial experts among them, it’ll be very hard to seize the Skyshaker Bombs.”
“It probably won’t be that bad. Two hundred li should bring them here before noon, just as I estimated. There’s still about an hour until dawn. You two wait here—I’ll go check the situation and report back,” Selena said, vanishing into the night sky.