"Sorry, I'm afraid I can't spar with you."
Evan Chu forced a bitter smile, feeling a bit helpless. How was he supposed to fight now? Was he supposed to defeat Black Haze in a single move and then expose himself as the Third Person who just emerged from the Frostbane Dynasty's trial world?
That was obviously impossible. Including Lin Hai and Lord Thunder, fewer than five people in the entire Frostbane Dynasty even knew his true identity.
Lord Thunder had explained before: only the trial seeds from the trial world would receive cultivation arts related to Stellar Power in advance. In other words, aside from Evan Chu, none of the others who just emerged from their worlds had ever fused with any Stellar Power yet!
Of course, Lord Thunder was an exception—back when he first entered the Frostbane Dynasty, he was specially arranged to absorb a thunder-attribute star.
"What? You look down on me? Hmph! I know your power is strong. If I'm not mistaken, your cultivation is already at mid-stage Saint Realm—maybe even higher.
But so what? I'm Black Haze—I love challenging the strong! Just say it: do you accept my challenge or not?"
Black Haze was clearly furious. He thought Evan Chu was looking down on him, and some of the others were getting annoyed too—this newcomer was way too arrogant, wasn’t he?
Everyone here had just come down from the very top of their own worlds. In terms of cultivation, they were the strongest in their respective Small Worlds! Even if your power’s a bit higher, so what? We’re all under the Frostbane Dynasty now—sparring is normal between peers. Your attitude of looking down on people is honestly disgusting!
But in truth, Evan Chu didn’t look down on anyone at all—he genuinely had no idea how to spar with them!
Sevenfold Absolute Cleave? Heaven-Phantom Thunder Cleave? Those are all powers that belong to the Three Realms tier—against these experts who have already surpassed world laws and advanced to the Saint Realm, they’re pretty much useless.
If he actually sparred, Evan Chu would probably lose quickly.
Besides, the source power of the three supreme artifacts had been resealed by Evan Chu. The Frostbane Divine Sword, Ethereal Divine Shuttle, and Timewheel Bracelet were all restored to their original states and left in Frostbane Divine Palace, waiting for the Fourth Person to awaken them again.
In other words, right now, apart from the power of the Big Dipper, the Crimson Demon Star, and the Blood-stained Demon Star, Evan Chu had no other means to harm anyone above Saint Realm. Forcing a spar would just be asking for trouble.
Lord Thunder, who fully understood Evan Chu’s situation, stepped forward. "My senior brother just went through a major battle and isn’t feeling well. Let me spar with you instead. Once he’s fully recovered, you can challenge him again."
"You’re his junior? Fine! Then step aside. I’m not accepting this! The senior refuses to fight and sends his junior as a shield. Spare me the excuses about just coming out of a big battle—who here hasn’t just fought their way out of a war? Bottom line:
If you personally defeat me, I, Black Haze, will accept you. From now on, you’ll be my big brother—whatever you ask, I won’t refuse! But if you keep looking down on me, hmph! Even if I get killed, I won’t let anyone mock me! Our grudge is set in stone today!"
Black Haze shouted, his neck flushed red, absolutely furious.
Evan Chu was truly helpless now. He could tell Black Haze wasn’t hostile—he was just battle-hungry. Whenever he saw someone who’d emerged from a Small World, he wanted to spar. After all, everyone present used to be the strongest in their own worlds, but now, having just arrived in the Star-River Dominion, they’d become bottom-tier nobodies again. Of course they felt uneasy.
But seeing that he wasn’t the only one feeling this way, Evan Chu felt a bit better. Once he realized these people all came from other worlds, everyone wanted to spar—and honestly, when Evan first met them, he had the same thought. The only problem was, he couldn’t afford to expose his Stellar Power.
"Brother Black Haze, I..."
Just as Evan Chu was about to refuse Black Haze again, Commander Henry Lin returned.
"Since this young brother wants to spar with you, let him. I’d also like to see the talent of this batch of ascenders from the lower worlds."
Henry Lin smiled softly. He’d come here specifically to see what kind of foundation Evan Chu had—just what kind of person could become the Third Person, a title that only appears after more than ten thousand generations of Frostbane God-Venerables in the Three Realms?
Evan Chu gave Henry Lin a wry smile, but the latter sent a message with divine sense: "Don’t worry. These people all come from Small Worlds, and their martial civilization is far behind the trial world. Just use your old methods.
Of course, don’t use any battle arts you learned in Frostbane Divine Palace or your Stellar Power."
Henry Lin’s words made Evan Chu even more troubled. Not even Sevenfold Absolute Cleave was allowed? Looks like Heaven-Phantom Thunder Cleave was his only option.
"Since Commander has spoken, then Brother Black Haze, let’s go."
Evan Chu looked at Black Haze and spoke. At this, Black Haze’s stern face finally relaxed, and he burst out laughing.
"Ha! Then I won’t hold back! I’m from the Horned Demon Race—my strength is naturally fierce, and my bloodline talent lets me triple my power. Your realm may be higher, but if you’re careless, you’ll still get hurt!"
Before the spar started, Black Haze even kindly warned Evan Chu, which made Evan pause in surprise.
This guy’s personality was just too blunt. Impulsive, sure—but no scheming at all. He was someone worth befriending.
Even Black Haze didn’t expect that a random urge to spar today would lead him to meet Evan Chu—and that Evan would change his fate, letting a guy of average talent from a Small World defy the heavens and ultimately rise to the very peak of the Star-River Dominion, surpassing even the current Ten Sacred Emperors!
Black Haze’s body began to radiate dark-element energy—streams of demonic qi, just like the kind Demon Lord Stonehaven once had, started to rise around him.
"Careful—don’t go overboard. In the Star-River Dominion, there’s no other power for you to absorb and recover except for Stellar Power. If you burn through all your energy now, before you’ve even returned to the Dynasty for your Stellar Baptism and fused your star, you’ll collapse from exhaustion and be crippled before you even begin."
"Got it, Commander—I’ll hold back!"
Black Haze answered offhandedly, but didn’t actually restrain himself. Now that he’d met the only person who’d emerged from his world at mid-Saint Realm, he couldn’t suppress his fighting spirit.
Boom! Unleashing all his power, Black Haze’s body suddenly swelled several times over and charged straight at Evan Chu.
But when Evan Chu saw his technique, he suddenly understood: he couldn’t use Stellar Power, nor reveal his identity by using Frostbane Divine Palace battle arts—but he could use elemental laws!
Besides, light restrains darkness, and thunder especially counters evil powers!
Whoosh! Evan Chu summoned a pure Light-Law avatar. His avatar casually swung a fist, and in the next instant, Black Haze was blasted flying, all his power scattered, grievously injured—his demon core even shattered halfway!
Evan Chu was stunned. The whole crowd was stunned. The gap was that huge? Just one move—and not even from his main body, just an avatar! Unbelievable!