"My tone has always matched my strength. Honestly, I don't think your dark attribute is all that impressive," Evan Yang said with a smile.
"Is that so? Then watch this." Empress Myra gathered her power again and struck straight at Evan Yang.
Evan Yang watched the surge of dark power coming at him, but didn't dodge. He just smiled, stretched out his hand, and Empress Myra saw a burst of dazzling light that instantly shattered her dark attribute attack.
Empress Myra was shocked. When she saw the shining light, she exclaimed, "You actually wield the light attribute!"
"Light restrains darkness. Isn't that pretty simple?" Evan Yang smiled at Empress Myra.
"You... Looks like I have to use my real move." Empress Myra wasn't willing to give up this chance—no matter what, she was determined to defeat Evan Yang. She began gathering power in her hands.
This time was different from before. Evan Yang saw Empress Myra's expression twist as scales spread from her arm to her neck, then her body, and finally her head—until her whole body was covered in scales, and her voice turned strange and distorted.
"Kid, you're dead!" Empress Myra roared. She knew this was a desperate gamble—if anything went wrong, she'd lose her mind completely. She had only one shot at this.
She focused all her power and aimed at Evan Yang. He frowned—this force was at least several thousand times stronger than before. He wasn't sure he could withstand it, but right now, he had no choice but to face it head-on.
Evan Yang took out the Divine Seal, looked at it, and said, "I'm counting on you."
The power Empress Myra unleashed was already right in front of Evan Yang. She herself was nearly spent, staring ahead weakly. Evan Yang shouted, "Divine Seal, manifest!" Instantly, a massive surge of light attribute erupted. Light and darkness collided with a deafening boom, blasting both Evan Yang and Empress Myra away.
Evan Yang struggled to his feet, muttering in frustration, "That power was way too much."
On the other side, Empress Myra lay on the ground, blood streaming out, her eyes unfocused. Seeing her like that, Evan Yang wondered, "Is she dead? Or not?"
Just as Evan Yang was feeling curious, Empress Myra suddenly got up and spoke in a weird, yin-yang voice, "I'm going to kill you."
But after just a few steps, she stopped and said, "I'll kill you later."
Then, in a flash, she disappeared. Evan Yang was puzzled. "What on earth is going on with her?"
Evan Yang couldn't figure out what she meant at all.
Seeing that the trouble was finally over, Evan Yang cleared away the lingering aura on his body—he finally managed to get rid of the trace Empress Myra left. Then he released Melody Wood and Lynn Lin.
Besides them, a little girl also ran out.
As soon as the little girl saw Evan Yang, she hugged his leg and said, "Dad, you made me wait so long!"
Lynn Lin and Melody Wood exchanged glances. Since when did Evan Yang have a daughter?
Evan Yang said awkwardly, "Don't misunderstand—she's actually the Fire Phoenix."
"What? Fire Phoenix? That small? Wait, she's human?" Lynn Lin exclaimed.
The little girl sensed Lynn Lin talking about her and angrily replied, "You're the one who's small! Why wouldn't I be human?" As soon as she finished, flames appeared in her eyes, roasting Lynn Lin's hair straight up.
If Evan Yang hadn't stepped in, Lynn Lin would have ended up as roast pork.
"They're Dad's friends. Don't get so worked up," Evan Yang soothed.
"Friends?" The little girl asked suspiciously.
"That's right. You can call them sisters. They've got lots of fun stuff—let them teach you," Evan Yang said.
Hearing there was fun to be had, the little girl cheered up and immediately latched onto Lynn Lin and Melody Wood. After being scorched by her flames, both women treated her very carefully, afraid to anger her. At the same time, Lynn Lin asked Evan Yang, "What's really going on here?"
Evan Yang gave a wry smile. "I used a special method to speed up the egg's hatching, and out came this little girl. The moment she saw me, she called me Dad and made me play with her. I only just managed to get out now."
Hearing this, Lynn Lin and Melody Wood were speechless. So now Evan Yang had an extra daughter.
"Enough talk. I want to eat—I'm starving," the little girl suddenly announced.
"Alright, let's go find something to eat in the nearby city." Evan Yang wasn't sure if she was really hungry, but since he was responsible for bringing her out, he had to take care of her.
So he brought the little girl, Lynn Lin, and Melody Wood into the city. They picked a tasty inn, ordered food for the little girl, and she ate with a huge appetite—like someone who hadn't eaten in years.
While eating, Lynn Lin asked her lots of questions, but the girl couldn't answer any of them—just like someone with amnesia.
Helpless, they could only watch her eat.
Meanwhile, Empress Myra returned to the palace. When General Hugh saw her condition, he was shocked. "Empress, you—"
"I can't hold on much longer. Quick, I need to go there," Empress Myra said, nearly losing control.
"Understood," General Hugh replied, then took Empress Myra beneath the monster specimen building. At the cliff's edge, Empress Myra called out, "Great Lord Dark-Yin, let me feel better!"
A massive surge of dark energy appeared on her body, and she began rolling on the ground in agony. "Ah, ah!"
Agonized screams echoed everywhere, reaching the land above.
On the ground, General Hugh was horrified. "What on earth is happening to the Empress?"
Everyone in the imperial capital was baffled—what was that sound, and why were such agonized screams echoing in the middle of the night?
The screams lasted a long time. In one corner of the palace, the Desert Envoy frowned, "What's going on?"
Brute King asked, "Chief, this is terrifying. When will the Empress let us out?"
"Wait. She won't keep us locked up forever—unless she doesn't want our alliance anymore," the Desert Envoy said.
Brute King nodded, but at that moment, a sudden tremor shook the ground, causing all the palaces to sway. The weaker ones began collapsing.
Chaos erupted in the palace. The Desert Envoy said, "Let's go—now's our chance to leave. Something's wrong with the capital."
The desert people didn't hesitate—they followed the Desert Envoy out. Many strong cultivators noticed the anomaly; the entire capital was shaking, and some areas were already sinking.
Ordinary people died instantly, while the strong had already flown into the sky. Looking down, they saw the capital sinking.
In the sky, General Hugh exclaimed in terror, "Has the Empress really lost control?"
Suddenly, everyone heard loud laughter from underground: "Heaven helps me—so comfortable!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the sinking accelerated, and the entire capital vanished in an instant.
A huge creature crawled out: a scale-covered, scorpion-like monster emerging from underground. People gasped and fled, while General Hugh asked, "Empress? Is that you?"
"Yes—and no. If you follow me, I won't kill you," the scorpion said, smiling at General Hugh.
General Hugh felt the scorpion was terrifying, so he nodded, "I am willing to obey your orders."
"Good, good. Your Empress really wants to find that human. Help me find him—make sure you do," said the scorpion.
"Understood," General Hugh replied, then left. The scorpion gradually shrank, finally turning into a human identical to the Empress—but her tone was strange, alternating between female and male voices.
News of the Meyor Dynasty's fall quickly spread everywhere. People found it hard to believe—the dynasty famous for its insects had collapsed.
Meanwhile, far away, Evan Yang watched the little girl helplessly.
"Have you given her a name yet?" Lynn Lin asked.
"I haven't thought about it," Evan Yang replied, feeling troubled.
"Call her Yang Huo," Melody Wood laughed.
"Yang Huo? Not bad," Lynn Lin laughed. Evan Yang, still troubled, said, "Well..."
"Anyway, she's sticking with you. You'd better take good care of her," Melody Wood laughed.
"Looks like that's all I can do," Evan Yang said helplessly.
Melody Wood looked at Yang Huo and laughed, "She's really adorable."
"If she's not angry, she really is adorable," Lynn Lin laughed.
Yang Huo smiled, "I'm not angry."
After eating her fill, Yang Huo stood up and said, "I want to play."
She rushed outside by herself. Evan Yang, Lynn Lin, and Melody Wood were startled and hurried after her. On the road, Yang Huo found everything fresh and exciting—she wanted this, then that.
Meanwhile, in a nearby room, two people were watching Evan Yang and his group. One stood gloomily while the other, who seemed like a subordinate, reported, "I've collected all his details. He just arrived here. Those two women—one is from Southspirit Palace, the other from the Wood Family. They're our buyers this time."
"Alright, got it. Find a place," the gloomy man said.
"I'll handle it right away and lure him to the destination," the subordinate said.
"Make sure nothing goes wrong."
The subordinate nodded and left. Out on the street, as the group was strolling, a carriage suddenly barreled toward Yang Huo.
Seeing Yang Huo about to be hit, Evan Yang quickly flashed forward and stopped the carriage.
The carriage backed up a few steps, then someone inside shouted angrily, "Are you blind? How dare you block the road!"
"Sorry, but your carriage nearly hurt my daughter," Evan Yang said.
"Whose daughter is so precious that she dares block my carriage?" the person inside retorted.
"Are you even reasonable?" Lynn Lin scolded. At that moment, people gathered around, surprised at the carriage, then looked at Evan Yang and his group, clearly outsiders.
"Such beautiful women—and another one, not bad. Both are beauties. You all should come with me," the voice inside said. Suddenly, a cauldron dropped from the sky, trapping Evan Yang and the others. When the cauldron lifted, they had vanished.
Now inside the cauldron, Evan Yang frowned and asked, "What kind of treasure is this?"
"So unreasonable! Who is this guy, anyway? That brat, you have to teach him a lesson—he's infuriating!" Lynn Lin scolded.