The middle-aged man stared at Evan Chu in shock, finding it utterly unbelievable that Evan could break through his Spatial Lockdown. He knew Evan's strength inside and out.
No one would believe that someone who hadn't even reached the Divine Martial Realm could break a Spatial Lockdown cast by a seventh-layer Divine Martial expert.
The backlash to his mind was agonizing, but the middle-aged man forcibly stabilized his injuries and looked at Evan Chu, saying, "Qing Shuang, I never expected that after your reincarnation you'd master such bizarre martial arts. Truly eye-opening!"
Evan Chu, embracing the principle of 'strike while the enemy is weak,' instantly conjured an ice-fire orb and hurled it rapidly at his opponent.
This time, however, the attack was easily dodged. The elemental power of the ice-fire orb blasted a massive crater nearly ten meters wide into the ground, with countless fissures dozens of meters long radiating out, their depths unfathomable.
The sheer destructive force stunned Selena and Claire Ouyang; if an attack like that landed on someone, it could easily kill them outright.
"What kind of martial art is that? How can it be so powerful?" the middle-aged man exclaimed in shock after dodging.
"You're not qualified to know. Today is the day you die!" Evan Chu declared, launching another ice-fire orb at him.
While Evan Chu attacked the middle-aged man, Selena and Claire Ouyang couldn't even intervene; the power of his attacks was so overwhelming that they risked being caught in the blast. Yet despite their devastating force, Evan's attacks still couldn't truly hit his opponent, leaving him deeply frustrated.
It felt like having piles of money but not being able to buy what you need. Meanwhile, the middle-aged man was plotting how to catch Evan off guard with a sudden sneak attack.
With Spatial Lockdown unusable, he had to find another way. He couldn't attack Evan Chu head-on—those bizarre water orbs were no joke.
The protective shield on the other woman was also a huge problem; attacking her seemed impossible. Selena was the only one he could target. If he could subdue her, he could force Evan Chu to negotiate—if Evan truly loved her, he might even sacrifice himself.
With his plan set, the middle-aged man swung a massive sword strike at Evan Chu, pouring real power into it. If he was going to act, he had to make it convincing—no hint of weakness.
The three dodged swiftly. Even though the man's mind was injured, his strength was still far above theirs—they couldn't take him head-on.
Like a ghost, the middle-aged man charged straight in—not at Evan Chu, but at Selena. He didn't dare underestimate Evan; if Evan hit him directly with an ice-fire orb, he'd be in serious trouble.
But his plan failed—the trio had seen through his intentions long ago. With Claire Ouyang protected by the Goldscale Coat, his attacks couldn't touch her at all.
The only ones he could deal with were Evan Chu and Selena. But since he feared Evan's ice-fire orb, Selena was his only real target—if he could grab her, he could threaten Evan.
But when the middle-aged man swung his sword, Evan Chu and Selena dodged in the same direction, while Claire Ouyang moved the other way. She could have stood her ground, but did so to help create a false impression for their opponent.
After slashing his sword, the middle-aged man lunged at Selena—only to find Evan Chu suddenly appear at his side, holding yet another ice-fire orb.
He hadn't expected Selena and Evan to anticipate his move; instantly, he darted sideways, trying to evade the dangerous orb in Evan's hand.
Selena's strength was much lower than his, but subduing her in one move wouldn't be easy—he might even suffer a serious injury himself.
Evan Chu wanted to attack the middle-aged man with his ice-fire orb, but seeing him dodge so quickly, he realized he had no way to deal with him at range—maybe close combat would work, but his long-range attacks felt useless.
The middle-aged man shifted position several times, ending up dozens of meters away before stopping. He laughed, "Qing Shuang, I'll let you off for now. When we meet in the Azure Tide Ruins, I'll deal with you properly!"
With that, the middle-aged man's body turned into a cloud of black mist and vanished before Evan Chu, Selena, and Claire Ouyang.
Evan Chu stared at the spot where the black mist disappeared. "Why did he run away? And he's heading to the Azure Tide Ruins too—something's not right here."
Claire Ouyang put away the Goldscale Coat's shield and said, "He took a hit to his mind when you broke his Spatial Lockdown, and with my Goldscale Coat, he couldn't do anything to me. He wanted to target you two, but your bizarre ice-fire orb made him wary, and Selena's strength is formidable. Trying to deal with her wouldn't be easy, so he had no choice but to flee."
"Exactly, Claire's analysis is spot on. You know that man's identity well, Evan, but his attitude today was strange. Most notably, he actually dared to attack me—do you know what that means?" Selena said.
"I'm not sure either. What really puzzles me is how he recognized my true identity. I remember when we were heading to Weakwater, you told me about him, but you never explained everything."
"And he's heading to the Azure Tide Ruins too—that's hard to understand. That place is crawling with top experts, and for someone from the Demon Clan, it's even more dangerous. What could he be after?" Evan Chu wondered.
"Let's head back. No one expected things to turn out like this. Evan, you'll need to be extra careful in the Azure Tide Ruins—if he says he'll deal with you there, it means he has allies waiting." Claire Ouyang said.
"Let's go. Luna Chu and the others must be worried sick about us right now," Evan Chu said.
The three of them soared into the sky. This time, Evan Chu refused to let his companions carry him—he wanted to truly fly on his own, or he'd never grasp the secrets of harnessing the power of heaven and earth.
Evan Chu's speed in the air was slow, even slower than on the ground. Selena and Claire Ouyang flew beside him, sharing all their insights on harnessing the power of heaven and earth for flight.
The theory sounded simple, but putting it into practice was another story. Evan Chu said to Claire, "Claire, you go back and tell Luna Chu and the others. I want to master aerial flight myself!"
Claire Ouyang understood Evan Chu's meaning and nodded, quickly flying off...