After school, Evan Lin received a call from Big Tank.
On the other end, Big Tank sounded pretty excited.
These past few days, he’d been busy consolidating the venues left by Barry Shaw. Imperial Grand hadn’t interfered, the Liu family was quiet, and Big Tank had smoothly taken over everything.
Evan didn’t care at all. Still, Big Tank had someone deliver a key to him—it was for a villa on the summit of Thousand‑Saints Mountain. Evan happened to need a new place, so he accepted it without fuss.
When Evan got back to Brightsea Garden Court, he ran into Haiyang Sheng.
"Evan, you’re back! Uncle Sheng is here for dinner tonight, come join us," Lucy Lu greeted Evan with a smile when she saw him.
Lynn Chen was sprawled on the sofa watching TV. She shot Evan a sideways glance as he walked in, pouted, and pretended not to notice him.
"Yeah, Evan, your Uncle Sheng said he wants to have a few drinks with you tonight! Haha, come on, come on, the food’s ready." Charles Chen was in a great mood, came over, and patted Evan on the shoulder.
At the table, Susan Pang nodded to Evan. "How’s school been lately?" she asked.
"It’s fine," Evan replied.
Evan glanced at Haiyang Sheng and noticed Haiyang was watching him too, but neither said much.
At the dinner table, Haiyang Sheng kept praising Evan nonstop. Lynn Chen felt a bit uncomfortable—why did Haiyang value Evan so much? Was it really just because he had an old doctor as his master?
Lynn couldn’t figure it out.
After dinner, Haiyang suggested Evan take a walk with him. Evan didn’t refuse.
The two of them walked quietly through the Brightsea Garden Court estate.
"Did your master also teach you martial arts?"
After a long silence, Haiyang finally turned to Evan, hesitated a moment, and then spoke.
"Sort of," Evan nodded. He knew exactly why Haiyang was suddenly being so friendly.
Just the way Imperial Grand’s Yu Weida treated Evan was enough for Haiyang to reevaluate his status.
"On the boxing ring, you killed Tiger with one punch. Do Charles Chen and the others know about that?" Haiyang was still figuring out how to ask, but he was getting more and more curious about Evan.
"No idea, but it doesn’t really matter." Evan shot Haiyang a sidelong glance, his tone cool. "I know what you’re trying to ask—no need to be so formal. I’m Evan Lin. As for the name Evan Nine Mysteries Lin, you’ll be hearing it a lot in the future."
"Also, you’ve practiced some martial arts, but from the looks of it you ran into trouble. That’s why you ended up paralyzed and unable to move before—it’s all from accumulated internal injuries, nerve and meridian damage. Even with medicine, I think you’d better not keep training."
Evan’s words made Haiyang pause. He stared at Evan, eyes flickering. "You can tell?"
"Of course. Your temples are bulging—a sign of surging blood and qi. The prescription I gave you was meant to clear your meridians, but in your condition, if you keep training, your body will just get worse." Evan spoke calmly, walking ahead at a steady pace.
"That’s right. Years ago, I met a martial arts master in the mountains who taught me a set of techniques. Whenever I practiced, I felt refreshed and stronger. But starting last year, every time I tried, the pain was unbearable." Haiyang nodded and looked at Evan deeply.
"Alright, let me show you a set of movements." Evan stopped, glanced around to make sure no one was nearby.
Evan stood in place, stepped forward with his left foot, made a fist, and punched at a strange angle. Then his body flowed forward like a fish following the path of his punch.
His movements were smooth as water—like a tiger’s roar, a monkey’s cry, and an eagle striking the ground.
When he finished the sequence, Evan drew back his fist. Haiyang, watching from the side, was totally baffled. He couldn’t see what was special about Evan’s moves—he just thought Evan’s technique was fluid and strangely beautiful.
"This is the Qi Source Body‑Forging Art. It uses the body’s joints as pivots, lets the muscles relax to the max, and then gathers up qi and strength."
"Try it yourself. Let me see," Evan said, giving Haiyang a calm look.
Haiyang didn’t dare refuse. He stood in front of Evan and tried to imitate the movements from memory. Evan corrected him as he went. The whole set of simple moves had taken Evan less than five minutes, but Haiyang needed a full hour to finish.
Slightly out of breath, Haiyang’s eyes lit up. "I feel my energy is much more stable now. Even though it was exhausting, it actually feels really good. My shoulders and back, which were always tired, feel a lot lighter too."
"Yeah. Do it once a week and in a month, all your hidden injuries will be completely healed," Evan nodded slightly.
On the Immortal Martial Continent, the Qi Source Body‑Forging Art was just a basic body‑forging method. But even so, on Earth it would be a priceless manual everyone would fight over.
Evan didn’t think much of it, but Haiyang knew how valuable this art was. The mishmash kung fu he’d practiced before had cost him a fortune to get.
The reason Evan gave this art to Haiyang was partly because he found Haiyang decent enough, not too annoying, and partly to repay some of Lucy Lu’s kindness.
As the Nine Mysteries Immortal Lord, Evan had always believed that even a drop of kindness should be repaid in full—everyone on the Immortal Martial Continent could attest to that.
Haiyang’s expression turned serious. He cupped his fists to Evan. "Mr. Lin, I’ll never forget what you did for me today, and I promise to keep your secret."
He could tell the whole Chen family had no idea about Evan’s other identity, or about his connection with Yu Weida.
"Do as you like," Evan replied blandly. He wasn’t worried about it.
Before, Evan used to worry that Lucy Lu would find out too much and disrupt his hard-won peaceful life. But now, he didn’t care nearly as much.
So what if she found out?
"It’s late. You should head home," Evan said without even glancing at Haiyang. With his hands behind his back, he turned and walked back to the villa. Haiyang respectfully followed three steps behind, heading back together with Evan.
"Tomorrow I’m off to River City."