Sword Spirit Luna had burned through a ton of soul power killing the Mystic Ice Toad and Flame Spider. Now her voice was so weak it barely sounded alive. Evan Chu knew she’d suffered plenty for his sake.
He pulled out the soul-nourishing herb the Fire Dragon had given him and said, “Thanks, Luna. Take your time and recover. I’ll have Shadow fetch the beast cores and the Heaven Crystal.”
Shadow appeared in front of Evan Chu. “Shadow, go get the beast cores from the Mystic Ice Toad and Flame Spider, and grab the Heaven Crystal off the ground. As for the corpses, you can eat those yourself.”
Shadow still looked half-asleep, but Evan Chu could tell he’d grown a lot bigger—definitely just had a breakthrough.
“Big Brother, I’m on it! Who’d have thought a dump like this would have such amazing stuff lying around? Seriously, what luck.” With that, Shadow scampered off.
The bodies of the Mystic Ice Toad and Flame Spider had already been hacked to pieces by Sword Spirit Luna, so Shadow quickly found their beast cores and brought them back in his mouth.
Then Shadow grabbed the Heaven Crystal, which was about the size of a chicken egg, and brought it over. Evan Chu tossed both beast cores into his storage ring—planning to feed them to Goldwing and the Violet Thunder Fox when Goldwing woke up and the fox hatched so they could break through.
He kept the Heaven Crystal in his hand. Its warmth was obvious, and Evan Chu could feel the energy pulsing inside it. Too bad he couldn’t absorb it yet—he could only watch helplessly as the energy faded away. It was driving him nuts.
Shadow swallowed both ancient beasts’ corpses whole and dashed back. “Big Brother, I can’t believe these two showed up here. You’ve got insane luck—and hey, mine’s not bad either! After eating these guys, I should hit Seventh Rank soon. Then I’ll really be able to help you out in a fight.”
“Shadow, can’t you shrink down? If anyone sees you this size, they’ll treat you like a demon beast and try to kill you. How am I supposed to let you out in public?” Evan Chu said, worried.
“Let me shrink after I finish digesting this breakthrough, okay? Changing shape right now would mess with my advancement. Also, Big Brother, you actually used the Timewheel Bracelet’s power—seriously reckless!” Shadow scolded.
“Like I had a choice? If I hadn’t used it, we’d all be dead. I just didn’t expect it to backfire this badly. Surviving cost me way more than I bargained for.” Evan Chu grumbled.
“You’ll be stuck like this for at least another day. It’s a real shame about the Heaven Crystal—if you could absorb it right now, you’d probably break straight into the Heaven Martial Realm. But after a day, half its energy will be gone. I’m off to digest those two beasts’ power.” With that, Shadow vanished.
Evan Chu stared speechlessly at the spot where Shadow disappeared. That guy always left half his explanations hanging—he’d start talking about Evan’s condition, then immediately switch to himself.
One more day? Damn, this was torture. Evan Chu clutched the Heaven Crystal, feeling its energy slowly leaking away. It hurt like hell, but there was nothing he could do.
The temperature around him slowly returned to normal, but the illusionary forest was wrecked—dozens of meters of open ground, all the trees wiped out by Mystic Ice and Flame.
When night fell, Gavin Wei finally woke up. He saw Evan Chu sitting alone and rushed over, nearly going crazy from the pain all over his body.
“Big Brother, you’re okay?” Gavin Wei blurted. He was stunned—he’d fainted dozens of meters away, but Evan Chu looked perfectly fine. He had no idea what to say.
“I’m fine. Go take care of Lynn—I need to cultivate here for two days. After that I’ll be back to normal. Nobody’s allowed to disturb me. You two should rest up too; we’re all pretty banged up.” Evan Chu ordered.
Gavin Wei nodded. “Don’t worry, Big Brother—I’ll keep the area locked down, nobody’s getting through to bother you. I’ll look after Lynn too. Gotta take care of Big Brother’s woman, right?”
Evan Chu’s face darkened. “Gavin Wei, what did you just say?” This guy was really getting into his own nonsense.
“Nothing, nothing! I’ll go stand guard outside the woods—just holler if you need me!” Gavin Wei said, then hurried off.
Waiting was torture, and watching the Heaven Crystal’s energy slip away was even worse. Evan Chu barely made it through the night, but by noon the next day, he suddenly sensed his Chaos Qi stirring faintly inside him.
It was slow, but it was real. Evan Chu was thrilled, and started carefully circulating his Chaos Qi, beginning to absorb the Heaven Crystal—now only the size of a pigeon egg.
Absorption was slow, but better than nothing. As the Heaven Crystal’s energy flowed in, it pooled around his Earth Star Pellet and instantly transformed into Chaos Qi—several times faster than normal Stellar Power.
Time crawled by as Evan Chu cleared his mind and quietly absorbed the Heaven Crystal’s power. Sun rose, moon fell, and by the next morning, all his weakness had vanished.
His absorption sped up even more. By noon, the Heaven Crystal in his hand was completely gone. The Chaos Qi in his Earth Star Pellet grew denser, almost starting to liquefy.
He guided his Chaos Qi through every meridian in his body, cycling it over and over. After several circuits, Evan Chu threw his head back and howled, leaping to his feet with a huge grin.
“The Heaven Crystal really is a treasure! I actually broke through to the Eighth Layer of the Earth Martial Realm—this feels incredible!” Evan Chu cheered, fired up.
“Don’t get too excited yet, Evan. Breaking through is great, but your mental state needs to keep up. With your current mindset, you can’t fully control the power of the eighth layer. You’ll have to figure it out as you go.” Sword Spirit Luna reminded him.
Luna’s voice surprised Evan Chu. Usually, after absorbing soul power, she’d be gone for ages before reappearing.
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“I’m back. The Heaven Crystal’s energy helped me a lot too. It’s time to head for the Royal Capital and get the Fire Spirit Pearl. You should start cultivating the first transformation of Ninefold Stellar Transformation,” Luna said.
“But I already have the Earth Spirit Pearl. Why not practice the earth transformation first?” Evan Chu asked, puzzled.
“The Earth Spirit Pearl’s attribute is earth—mainly defensive, and its offensive power is the weakest among the major elements. You can only practice the earth transformation after mastering the others,” Luna explained.
Evan Chu instantly felt a little disappointed. “So I have to master the other four transformations first? Who knows how long that’ll take…”
“Not necessarily. If you can push any one of the previous transformations to its absolute limit, you can practice the earth transformation too. It might be painful, but with your constitution, as long as you break through to the Fourth Layer of Starforge Body, you’ll manage,” Luna said.
“So if I reach the Fourth Layer of Starforge Body, or master any of the first four transformations, I can practice it?” Evan Chu asked.
“Exactly. But don’t rush it—Ninefold Stellar Transformation isn’t some ordinary martial art. It’s way beyond the normal scope. Once you master all nine transformations, you’ll understand,” Luna said.
Evan Chu didn’t say anything, because just then Gavin Wei and Lynn came over. After two days of recovery, Lynn’s injuries were mostly healed and color had returned to her face.
“Big Brother, are you alright?” Lynn asked, concern in her voice.
“I’m fine. Let’s go—we’ve already wasted days here. Who knows if the Royal Capital Guard recruitment deadline has passed? We’d better hurry!” Evan Chu urged.
“Haha! Finally, we’re heading to the Royal Capital! This time, I’m definitely going to pass!” Gavin Wei shouted, fired up.
And so, three travel-worn figures hurried down the road to the Royal Capital…