Late one night, Evan Chu found an opportune moment to act. Tomorrow was the day when the three great legions would join forces to attack the city and star mines guarded by the Sky Tiger Legion. Right now, the strongest cultivator in the Ink-Blood Legion was the early Saint Venerable Nathan Yates—the one Old Goldwing had mentioned.
Whoosh!
A sharp wind broke the silence as a steel dart flew into Nathan Yates's tent, carrying a small note attached.
"Vice Commander Yates, you're a smart man. If you want to avenge Aaron Yates, come alone to the river three hundred li northeast."
Nathan's expression changed slightly. He wanted to summon his deputy, but then thought—maybe this was the opportunity he'd been waiting for?
After all these years of lying low, he'd never had a chance to rise. When would he ever get another shot? Maybe this was his turning point!
So, Nathan disguised himself, donned a black cloak, and flew northeast toward the river.
The one who arranged the meeting was, of course, Evan Chu. He wrote the note and gave it to Old Goldwing to deliver—after all, no one could match Old Goldwing's speed.
When Nathan arrived at the riverbank and saw no one around, he was shocked. "Just what kind of expert is this? Hiding here, and I can't sense a thing? Or maybe... he's not here at all?"
"Ha, I'm right here."
The air rippled, and Evan Chu's Light Transformation avatar appeared.
Evan wasn't sure he could persuade Nathan Yates, so he kept his true body hidden. If he failed, he'd be stuck here—and with his current cultivation, he couldn't beat Nathan anyway.
Sure, he'd killed the Blood-Demon Patriarch before, but that was a totally different level. Nathan's strength was unfathomable—just his surface power could crush twenty Blood-Demon Patriarchs, let alone Evan himself.
"Late-stage Saint? Hmph! Are you kidding me?"
Nathan glanced at Evan's avatar's aura and turned to leave without hesitation.
Evan called out, "If you walk away now, you'll never avenge Aaron Yates—or at least, you'll never do it with your own hands."
Nathan didn't even look back. In his eyes, Evan was just a weak ant, not even worthy of conversation. The fact that he hadn't killed him with one blow was already mercy.
Seeing Nathan still trying to leave, Evan waved his hand—Lynton Chu stepped forward to block him.
The moment Lynton Chu's peak Saint Lord aura flared, Nathan stopped in his tracks. He stared at Lynton, stunned—this guy actually had the power to fight him head-on! The dense Stellar Power radiating from Lynton was terrifying, giving Nathan a real sense of threat.
"You? What's going on here?"
"Just one of my avatars—no need to be surprised."
Following Evan's intent, Lynton Chu spoke on his behalf to Nathan.
"You were about to walk away because you thought I wasn't strong enough—or qualified—to help you get revenge, right? Heh, but actually, it's just the opposite. I called you here to give you an opportunity."
As Lynton spoke, Evan's other elemental law avatars appeared one by one, circling from the outskirts—only Evan's true body stayed hidden.
"These... all of these are your avatars!"
Nathan was utterly stunned—all the avatars were late-stage Saint peak, and on closer inspection, their power wasn't simple at all. Plus, there was one at Saint Lord peak. If the avatars were this strong, how terrifying was the true body?
At that moment, Nathan finally believed Evan wasn't bluffing.
"What do you mean by 'opportunity'? Speak plainly—I don't like beating around the bush."
"Good! I don't like beating around the bush either."
Though it was Lynton Chu speaking, every word was directed and controlled by Evan himself.
"It's simple, really. I've set my sights on the Pearl-Mountain Star-Region and want to take it—but those three legions are in the way. I'm looking for a chance to get rid of them."
And I found out that when the Ink-Blood Legion rose to power, your brother Aaron Yates fought them. Commander Marcus Inkblood could have spared him, but he killed him to eliminate future trouble.
Marcus Inkblood even made you his Legion Vice Commander, but that was just a way to suppress you—and maybe to get rid of you when the chance arose, since your existence was always a threat to him.
That's probably why, even though your power surpassed his, you never dared break through to mid Saint Venerable. Suppressing your cultivation all these years must've been tough, right? You wanted to kill him, but you were afraid of his Hall-Master uncle—and he’s got your nephew and sister-in-law as hostages. So you held back.
Or maybe it's not just fear—after all, that bastard has your nephew and sister-in-law locked up. Honestly, your situation worries me."
As Lynton finished, Nathan was shocked—these were secrets buried deep in his heart! How could Evan possibly know?
"Don't overthink it. It's not that complicated. I captured a few Ink-Blood Legion squad leaders and searched their souls for the truth. The rest was just deduction. So—did I get anything wrong?"
"No, not at all. You're completely right! What do you want to do?"
"Simple. Order your men to cooperate with me and turn coat in tomorrow's battle. My true body will wipe out one of the legions; you kill Marcus Inkblood and take command of the Ink-Blood Legion. As for the last legion, they won't be a threat anymore."
After Evan finished, Nathan didn't agree right away.
"How can I trust you? What's in it for me? You know that if I kill Marcus Inkblood, there's no going back—and my sister-in-law and nephew are still over there!"
"That's easy. One of my avatars can turn invisible at any time—I can sneak into the Duskmire Dynasty tonight and rescue your sister-in-law and nephew. All you need to do is send me a soul-message."
Once that's done, you won't need to worry about a way out. From now on, you can follow me—and I think you'll be happy to.
Even after Lynton finished, Nathan still shook his head. "I can't just trust you like that. Follow you? What's the benefit? Besides, I don't even know who you are."
"Who am I? You'll know once it's done. As for my offer—you can take it or leave it. The benefit? I'll give you my word: someday I'll stand at the very peak of the Star-River Dominion, and you'll bask in the glory of my banner. How far you go from there is up to you.
But for now, I can give you the chance for revenge with your own hands. Since I want this star-region, no one else gets to touch it—Marcus Inkblood must die. If he dies before you act, don't blame me for taking your revenge."
That's all for now. Before tomorrow's battle, if you decide to act, cut down the Ink-Blood Legion's banner as the signal. If not, you'll just end up buried with those three fools."
Whoosh!
Lynton Chu and the nine elemental law avatars vanished one by one, while Evan's true body never appeared. As the conversation with Nathan ended, Evan entered meditation, communing with the stars he'd gathered lately—preparing for another meteor shower...