To test his own theory, Evan Yang continued practicing for a while. Once he was certain, he waited for Gavin Bai to throw a punch—then Evan slipped aside and drove his fist straight into Gavin's right armpit. "Ah!" Blood poured from Gavin Bai's armpit.
"You—you—how do you know my fist technique?!" Gavin Bai was completely stunned that Evan could use his own family's style, staring in terror.
"Hmph!" Evan ignored him and threw another punch, landing it right on Gavin's dantian. Even with treasure armor, the shock still made Gavin Bai suffer—he spat several mouthfuls of blood, his aura weakening sharply.
Gavin Bai staggered back several steps, staring at Evan in horror. "Who are you, really? How do you know my fist technique?!"
"Your fist technique?" Evan sneered, though he was curious why his own execution seemed stronger than Gavin's—just the force behind his punch felt much greater than Gavin's.
"Of course! That's the Bai Family's Diamond Fist! Only Bai clan members can master it, but you're not one of us!" Gavin Bai was both shocked and terrified, demanding answers again.
"Who cares about your Diamond Fist? As long as I can punch through your so-called treasure armor, you're nothing but a paper tiger!" Evan finally understood—it was just a Bai Family fist technique.
"You—you can't kill me! If you do, the Bai Family will never let you go!" Gavin Bai had been careless—he thought his treasure armor made him invincible, never expecting Evan could use his own fist technique.
Seeing Gavin Bai's expression, Evan felt no sympathy. He knew full well that if he didn't deal with Gavin now, he'd face the entire Bai Family later. And right now, no one would know what he was about to do.
Gavin Bai had no idea what Evan was thinking. As Evan stepped closer, Gavin pleaded in terror, "I'll give you my treasure armor and everything else—please, just let me go!"
"Treasure armor?" Evan paused for a moment after hearing this. He realized Gavin's clothes really were something special. Since Gavin offered it up, Evan wasn't about to refuse—he immediately ordered Gavin to take it off.
Faced with Evan's threat, Gavin Bai glared at him viciously, then reluctantly took off the treasure armor and tossed it on the ground. "The treasure armor is yours. Now can you let me go?"
Evan picked up the treasure armor and turned it over a few times, noticing how light it was. He asked curiously, "Did your Bai Family refine this themselves?"
"No, our Bai Family found it by accident in an independent space," Gavin Bai replied, sweating and enduring the pain.
"Oh? So there was only one spirit artifact?" Evan was intrigued by Gavin's explanation that the armor came from a special space.
"How would I know? I wasn't the one who found it," Gavin Bai grumbled, annoyed by Evan's questioning.
Evan stashed the treasure armor, then, without another word, smashed a heavy punch into Gavin's dantian. "Pfft!" Gavin Bai stared at him in unwilling rage, then collapsed backward onto the ground, blood trickling from his mouth.
"Hah, that's what you get for bringing this on yourself!" Evan moved to Gavin Bai's side and took the cloth pouch from his body—the real prize Evan was after. Since Gavin was the Bai Family's young master, Evan was eager to see what was inside.
But just as he was about to check the contents, a cry of "Ah!" sounded nearby. Evan cursed inwardly and turned around, only to have a burning-hot body press up against him.
Having taken the Heaven-grade Pleasure Pill, Tara Chu finally lost control—even the low-grade Restricting Powder couldn't hold her anymore, so she could move freely. The moment she broke free, she threw herself at Evan.
"Miss Chu, wake up!" Evan saw that Tara Chu's whole body was burning hot, her watery eyes now bright red as she stared at him, her hands moving wildly all over his body.
Seeing the drug's effects had taken hold and she couldn't hear him, Evan grew anxious. He tried to push her hands away and shake her awake, but nothing worked—the pill seemed to have seeped into her very bones.
"I want..." Tara Chu, her body burning, whispered as she threw herself onto Evan.
Hearing that, Evan's blood surged even more. "Oh god, if this keeps up, someone could die."
Tara Chu looked at Evan like he was prey, gripping him tightly and pressing herself against his chest. Evan wanted to push her away, but couldn't bring himself to—plus, he had to suppress the raging blood inside him, afraid it would burst out of control.
Evan felt two soft things pressing against his chest, along with Tara Chu's faint fragrance. After her repeated 'requests,' Evan lost focus, his blood out of control, his mind going hazy, and finally the two became entangled together.
Crack! As Evan gradually regained clarity, he heard a change inside his body. Curious, he checked inward—and found he'd successfully formed his Foundation. A stable membrane had appeared in his dantian. "Early Foundation-Building?"
Not just him—even the woman in his arms had also broken through to early Foundation-Building, though she was still unconscious.
Evan glanced around, quickly got up and straightened his clothes. Seeing Tara Chu's own clothes in disarray, he hurried to tidy them up. Every time his hand touched her body, he felt a pang of guilt. "Miss Chu, I swear I didn't mean for this to happen—blame Gavin Bai, that bastard! He's the one who made you take that damned pill."
After making sure everything was in order, Evan looked around again. Confirming no one was nearby, he quickly picked up the unconscious Tara Chu and headed for the exit.
Finding the exit deserted and silent, Evan wasted no time—afraid of missing his chance, he leapt across and retraced his steps, arriving at the pavilion.
The instant Evan stepped out, he found the area crowded with people. His first thought was, "Did I end up in the wrong place?"
"Little Beggar." A familiar voice emerged from the crowd—it was Lily, Tara Chu's maid, accompanied by several guards.
Seeing Lily arrive, Evan quickly handed the unconscious Tara Chu to her. Lily, full of questions, saw Tara's condition and immediately led the guards to carry her away from the crowd.
Just as Evan was about to leave with Lily, Victor Howe blocked his way. "Don't go!"
"What's your problem?" Evan asked, annoyed.
"I just want to see this young lady," Victor Howe said with gentlemanly politeness.
If Evan hadn't seen through Victor Howe's fake gentleman act before, he might have been fooled by that honest-looking face.
"No way. She needs rest. If you have questions, wait until she wakes up!" Evan only wanted to leave with Tara Chu, not be stopped by these pointless people.
"Miss Chu entered with me. Now that she's succeeded in Foundation-Building, of course I want to congratulate her, and maybe discuss things a bit." Victor Howe had also broken through to Foundation-Building—he felt like he'd seized a throne, and didn't mind killing a few people to show off his power.
Everyone rushed forward, crowding around.
Someone said admiringly, "Brother Howe, you're amazing! You actually broke through to early Foundation-Building."
"Joyhaven Palace really is impressive," some people started flattering him.
Hearing this, Evan wanted to stomp him into the ground and say, "What's so amazing?" But for now, he spoke honestly to Lily: "Lily, take your Miss away first. I'll handle things here."
"Are you sure?" Lily asked, a bit uncertain.
"Don't worry," Evan said with a smile.
Seeing Evan's confident expression, Lily didn't know why she believed him. Glancing at the unconscious Tara Chu, she had no choice but to leave with the guards.
"Didn't you hear what I said?" Victor Howe asked, annoyed, as Lily and the others started to leave.
"I told them to go," Evan said, waving his hand. After exchanging looks with Lily, the guards immediately cleared a path and led Tara Chu away from the scene.
"Damn!" Victor Howe was feeling good, but ran into a reckless little beggar.
"Victor Howe, right?" Evan said mysteriously.
"You know me?" Victor Howe asked, genuinely curious.
"You're Joyhaven Palace's genius—we all know that. Besides you and our Miss, probably no one else succeeded in Foundation-Building, right?" Evan said with a smile after scanning the crowd.
Evan's words raised Victor Howe's status, making him smile awkwardly. "Not at all. Actually, there are others who succeeded, just not at this exit."
"Since Brother Howe has such ability, why not come with me to the Chu Family? Maybe you'll catch our Miss's eye." Evan said, dragging the topic to the Chu Family to buy time.
Victor Howe thought it made sense and smiled. "In that case, I'll go to the Chu Family with you now."
"He's really going?" Evan muttered to himself as Victor Howe prepared to follow him.
With nothing left to see, the crowd dispersed, not noticing Evan's expression.
At that moment, Evan looked toward the exit, secretly laughing: "Gavin Bai, I bet no one will ever know how you died."
Victor Howe, curious, looked in the same direction and asked, "Brother, what are you looking at?"
Evan snapped out of it and chuckled, "It's nothing. Let's go."
"You're pretty sharp for a little beggar," Victor Howe said, walking alongside Evan and chatting, even probing about Tara Chu. Evan dodged the questions, casually making up stories, even telling Victor Howe that Tara Chu took him in as a child.
Victor Howe laughed, "Little beggar, you must be close with Miss Chu then?"
"It's... not bad," Evan said, scratching the back of his head and smiling.
"Then you must put in a good word for me. If I win the beauty's heart, I'll reward you." Victor Howe said, getting friendly.
"I wonder what kind of reward?" Evan asked, pretending to be surprised.
"Look, I have a few Origin Nurturing Pills—they're used for cultivation. If you take them, you could live ten or twenty years longer, no problem!" Victor Howe took out a pill bottle and poured out a faint blue Origin Nurturing Pill.
"A mid-grade Origin Nurturing Pill?" Evan was secretly shocked—this pill could boost cultivation, no wonder Victor Howe succeeded in Foundation-Building.
Seeing Evan's entranced look, Victor Howe laughed, "Well? What do you think?"
"Not interested," Evan's expression suddenly changed. He never intended to bring Victor Howe to Tara Chu—both for his own identity and because Victor Howe was even more shameless than Gavin Bai. After what happened in the Foundation-Building space, Evan would never let Victor Howe meet Tara Chu.
Seeing Evan's sudden change, Victor Howe sensed something was off. When Evan unleashed Diamond Fist, Victor Howe cried out in shock, "What's your connection to the Bai Family?"
Evan thought Diamond Fist would land, but his punch barely scratched Victor Howe's right shoulder—against an early Foundation-Building cultivator, it was useless.
"No real connection," Evan replied, knowing Victor Howe recognized his fist technique. Evan was secretly shocked that Diamond Fist barely worked against a Foundation-Building cultivator.
"You... damn it!" Victor Howe had thought Evan was just a beggar, but was tricked by him. Furious, he recalled the Bai Family fist technique and connected it to Gavin Bai.