At this moment, Evan Chu was gambling everything. He only half-understood how to borrow Stellar Power, but to answer the middle-aged man's final question, he had to go all out—even if it meant ending up battered and broken.
As soon as his Star Point resonated, Evan's mind instantly entered a state of clarity, as if his entire consciousness soared to the distant Big Dipper in the sky. He could distinctly sense the unimaginable strength of Stellar Power from one of the Big Dipper stars.
The middle-aged man stared fixedly at Evan, who now stood motionless like an old monk in meditation. That last sentence of his had especially piqued the man's curiosity—could this kid really borrow Stellar Power?
This was a skill that only God-Lord-level cultivators and above could comprehend. To borrow Stellar Power, one must first form a Star Point within the body. There are countless stars in the sky, but forming a single Star Point in the dantian is incredibly difficult.
Some people spend tens of thousands of years in seclusion and still fail to form a Star Point—the difficulty is beyond imagination. It all depends on one's insight and fortune; lacking either, success is impossible. Yet Evan's unwavering confidence made the man doubt his own judgment.
But Evan's earlier performance was equally astonishing. To endure half a stick of incense within his Space Domain is something no one below God-Lord level in the God Realm can do. Yet this guy, still just a late-stage Immortal Emperor who hasn't even ascended, managed it—the implications were too much for him to process.
Right now, he could only hope to witness a miracle. This kid had already given him too many surprises—his attack power was monstrous, he could unleash Divine Cleave and Ninefold Divine-Dragon Metamorphosis. If he could truly borrow Stellar Power, maybe his master's great vengeance could finally be avenged.
Just then, a white pillar of light suddenly shot down from the sky. It was so bright that it was almost impossible to keep one's eyes open, but it lasted only a few breaths before vanishing.
The entire pillar of light poured into Evan's body. Seeing this, the middle-aged man's expression changed drastically—this was the unmistakable sign of borrowing Stellar Power, and it was an exceptionally powerful star at that. For a moment, he felt lost in a fog, unable to believe what he was witnessing.
Once Stellar Power entered Evan's body, he felt overflowing with strength. But perhaps he'd pulled too fiercely this time—his body couldn't withstand it, and it felt like he was about to explode, his face turning ugly as the pressure mounted.
This overwhelming energy inside him had to be released, or Evan Chu risked dying from internal explosion. The middle-aged man seemed to notice Evan's predicament and immediately shouted:
"Kid, you really can borrow Stellar Power! Hurry and release it, or you'll be torn apart by the energy. Attack me—use your strongest move!"
Evan's mind was reeling, already pushed to his limit. Hearing the man's words, he didn't hesitate—he gripped the Frostbane Divine Sword and unleashed Divine Cleave at full speed.
This strike was even more powerful than the one he'd unleashed with Ninefold Divine-Dragon Metamorphosis. The middle-aged man had no choice but to counter with a rapid palm strike; earlier he could ignore Evan's attacks completely, but now he actually felt danger.
Though the palm seemed simple, it was actually composed of dozens of overlapping strikes. In the air, countless palm shadows collided with Evan's fierce sword-qi, and for a moment, heaven and earth shook, sun and moon lost their light.
A violent energy storm swept out in all directions, instantly leveling both sides of the valley into dust. Only the cliff behind the middle-aged man was protected by an invisible energy barrier, untouched. Evan realized that must be where the God-Venerable left his treasure.
Yvonne Xuan, Nolan Nangong, and the others were terrified by the attack. When the energy storm erupted, they quickly set up protective barriers, but were still badly injured. Covered in dust, they crawled up from the ground, blood at the corners of their mouths.
"Such a powerful energy attack—Linfeng must be fighting that monster right now. But we're far too weak to help him. What should we do?" Nolan Nangong said, full of worry.
"We're all feeling the same, but we can't go and make things worse for Linfeng. If he's really in danger, he'll have a way to escape. We don't need to worry about him. For now, let's just wait here—though maybe even this spot isn't safe. We should move back a bit; their attacks are just too overwhelming," Yvonne Xuan said.
"Yvonne's right. If we rush in, Linfeng might not even be able to escape if things go bad. Everyone, look out for your own safety and leave this place as soon as possible!" said Serena Frost.
Everyone stared in disbelief at the ruined valley. Jade Qin's face was the ugliest of all—such a devastating attack must have destroyed Loveless Sword Tomb as well.
"I'll go back to Loveless Sword Tomb and check—maybe some disciples survived. Nolan, Second Elder, Luna, let's go together. This time things really got out of hand!" said Jade Qin.
Hearing Jade Qin's words, everyone realized just how serious things were. "If you hadn't said it, we wouldn't have thought of that. There's no time to waste—let's hurry back, or it might be too late."
With that, Jade Qin and the others left Falling-Sun Gorge, leaving Yvonne Xuan, Serena Frost, and the Emerald Immortal Empress behind to wait for Evan Chu.
Meanwhile, Evan Chu had been blasted hundreds of meters away by the middle-aged man's palm strike, crashing to the ground and not getting up for a long time. The man himself was also knocked back dozens of meters before stabilizing, his chest heaving and face pale.
"This kid's Stellar Power is insane—it actually reached mid- to late God-Lord-level attack strength. He's a freak of nature. I just hope my counter didn't injure him," the middle-aged man worried.
Evan wasn't physically hurt, but the weakness after borrowing Stellar Power made him miserable. His head felt like it was splitting open; he gritted his teeth, knowing he still hadn't found the right way to borrow Stellar Power.
Enduring the pain, Evan forced himself to stand, his face just as ugly. The middle-aged man flashed over, and seeing Evan had no injuries, finally relaxed.
"You've answered all three of my questions perfectly. You may claim my master's treasure—you're the fated one I've waited tens of millions of years for. But I do have a few questions I need you to answer," the man said.
"What do you want to ask? I need to recover a bit first—let me catch my breath, and then we can talk," Evan said, gritting his teeth through the pain...