A deafening dragon roar thundered across the shattered arena. Evan Chu stared in disbelief as the masked youth’s sword-qi manifested an Ice Dragon phantom, unleashing a wave of Coldflame-like chill that came crashing straight at him.
He frantically slashed back, then launched Shifting Position, his movement technique, leaving behind a blur as he darted to the side.
Dreams are always beautiful, but reality is cruel. The wind element hadn’t truly fused into his movement—his sword attack was instantly unraveled by the opponent.
He’d only managed to move halfway before the Ice Dragon phantom intercepted him, freezing him on the spot. Savage sword-qi tore into his body, shredding him from within.
Evan Chu was horrified—what kind of martial technique could unleash this kind of power? If this bastard swung his sword again, he might really kick the bucket right here.
This was probably the most dangerous moment Evan Chu had ever faced. Luna’s advice was solid, but he just hadn’t grasped the wind element deeply enough—he couldn’t boost his speed to the limit, so dodging was out of the question.
Bone-piercing ice and ruthless sword-qi battered his body, opening dozens of wounds so deep you could see bone. Blood instantly soaked Evan Chu, turning him into a walking corpse of red.
No one saw this coming. Jenny Sima broke down sobbing at Evan Chu’s bloody state, powerless to help—she staggered and nearly collapsed to the ground.
Evan Chu’s heart was racing. He couldn’t die here—there were still so many things unfinished. The Iceflame Crystal he’d fought so hard for hadn’t yet cured Roxanne Lin’s Vermilion Bird Mark, his mother was still suffering, and—
Just then, the masked youth’s smug laughter rang out: “Weren’t you supposed to be hot stuff? Weren’t you fast? Run, then—why aren’t you running now? I’ll send you straight to the afterlife!”
Down below, Marcus Gongsun and Elder Victor Xu were both wracked with worry. If Evan Chu couldn’t shatter the ice binding him, he might really die under that youth’s sword.
Marcus Gongsun even wanted to rush onto the stage, but Flynn Yun blocked him: “Trying to break the tournament rules, are we?”
Marcus could only stand there helplessly, watching as the masked youth closed in on Evan Chu step by step.
At that moment, every member of Heavenly Dragon Academy was drowning in despair. They all knew their number one genius was about to fall—one after another, faces turned pale with loss.
Evan Chu frantically cycled all the Chaos Qi in his body, pouring every ounce of strength outward. As the youth’s sword slashed down, he finally shattered the ice sealing him.
But there was no way to dodge that savage sword—he slipped aside at the last second, but a gash at least a foot long ripped across his back, nearly exposing his organs.
He rolled across the ground, barely escaping the youth’s attack. Evan Chu endured searing pain as he dragged himself dozens of meters away—by now, he was nothing but a blood-soaked figure.
Blood dripped nonstop, staining the ground, but Evan Chu ignored it—his eyes locked straight onto his opponent, filled with unyielding tenacity and willpower.
Suddenly, a pain unlike anything before erupted inside him—far worse than breaking through the third layer of the Starforge Body. It felt like something was clawing to break free, rampaging through his veins.
“Damn, you really are hard to kill,” the masked youth sneered. “Still alive after all that? Guess you’re lucky, but this time you won’t be so fortunate!”
This time, water element particles gathered around the youth’s sword—a sure sign he was charging up another devastating move.
"No! Evan! No!" Jenny Sima screamed from the stands, her tears streaming down like rain.
"Didn’t you tell me to believe in you? Didn’t you say my man is the best? You can’t die! What will I do if you die? What about Roxanne? What about Xiaoxiao? What about Old Goldwing? He’s put his life in your hands!"
Jenny Sima’s words stabbed into Evan Chu’s heart, hurting him even more than the pain raging inside his body.
I can’t die! If I die, Old Goldwing will die, and Shadow will die too! No! Evan Chu screamed in his heart, frantic.
Meanwhile, the youth’s martial technique was ready—another dragon roar echoed across the arena...
But at that moment, something inside Evan Chu changed. Maybe it was Jenny Sima’s desperate cries, maybe it was the life-and-death bond with Shadow and Goldwing—whatever it was, a sliver of his sealed bloodline awakened, just like Roxanne Lin’s Vermilion Bird Mark once did, triggered by boundless rage.
Evan Chu’s aura exploded higher and higher, shooting from the fifth layer of the Earth Martial Realm straight to the eighth, then the ninth. His eyes turned blood-red, facial muscles twisted, and with all those wounds he looked like a hell demon standing there—fierce and terrifying.
Agony tormented him, so intense even his stubborn nature couldn’t endure it—he let out a furious roar, but it wasn’t human. It was a dragon’s roar that shook heaven and earth.
Suddenly, golden light blazed from Evan Chu’s body—a golden dragon phantom coiled around him, and everyone watching was stricken with terror.
The Ice Dragon phantom lunged toward Evan Chu—but then, in a dramatic twist, it stopped dead just two meters away.
It was as if an invisible aura barrier surrounded Evan Chu, blocking everything—the savage ice sword-qi couldn’t advance another inch.
Right now, Evan Chu felt an unprecedented power raging inside him—if he didn’t release it, he’d explode and die. The masked youth in front of him was the perfect target for all that fury.
"Aoo!" Evan Chu roared, but it wasn’t human speech—it was pure dragon language. He was fully conscious, but there was no time to wonder what was happening.
His only thought was to kill the youth before him. He swung the Frostbane Sword with all his might—a slash carrying golden sword-qi, several meters long, wiped out the Ice Dragon phantom in an instant, leaving nothing behind.
The golden sword-qi, radiating boundless majesty, surged straight for the masked youth, who was now shaking with terror. Flynn Yun tried to rush onto the stage, but Marcus Gongsun grabbed him.
"What, you want to break the tournament rules now?"
Flynn Yun was truly burning with anxiety, forced to watch as the golden sword-qi swallowed up his academy’s top student. A miserable scream echoed across the shattered arena...