Violet Thunder's face flushed with a healthy red, and in the next instant, the aura around his entire body began to surge wildly. The speed was so fast that, to Evan Chu, it seemed like only a few breaths had passed before Violet Thunder's cultivation soared all the way to the peak of mid Saint Venerable Realm!
In fact, Evan Chu could sense it himself: as Violet Thunder's cultivation skyrocketed, the power within the Star Crystals was vanishing at an alarming rate. Most of it wasn't being fused into Violet Thunder's body, but was instead converted into some unknown force to sustain the consumption of Star-Light Reversal.
The Ninefold Profound-Meaning Power within Evan Chu was merely a conduit; what was truly being consumed was the energy from the Star Crystals. In other words, less than one-tenth of it was actually being refined into Stellar Power and absorbed by Violet Thunder.
On the surface, it looked like they were gaining a lot, but in reality, it was incredibly wasteful! But Evan Chu had no choice—because for him, time was far more important! Resources, Star Crystals, Starstones—if lost, they could be seized again. But if they were wiped out due to lack of time or insufficient cultivation, then everything would be gone.
A few more breaths passed, and Violet Thunder's cultivation multiplied several times over. However, by now, the power within the Star Crystals was nearly depleted.
Just as Evan Chu was about to take out a few more Star Crystals, he noticed that Violet Thunder's body had already reached saturation. This was the current peak he could achieve; if Evan kept forcing him to break through, his unstable state of mind might lead to qi-deviation and mental collapse.
"Half-Step Holy Emperor? Not bad."
Evan Chu murmured under his breath.
A Half-Step Holy Emperor means someone whose raw power has already reached the level of an early Holy Emperor, but whose realm comprehension is still lacking, making them unqualified to condense a Holy Emperor Avatar. Such people are known as Half-Step Holy Emperors.
After another cup of tea's time, Violet Thunder woke from his breakthrough. When he opened his eyes again and sensed his cultivation, he was utterly stunned—how could this be possible?!
"Senior Brother... you..."
"Heh, how do you feel?"
"Strong! I feel like I now have the power to rival an early Holy Emperor!"
"Of course. You and I both emerged from the Frostbane Trial World, so our starting point is much higher than most. If I let you fuse a few more powerful lightning-attribute stars, I think you could even fight against mid-stage Holy Emperors!"
After Evan Chu finished speaking, a fiery light flashed in Violet Thunder's eyes, but he quickly asked,
"Senior Brother, helping me do all this must've cost a ton of resources, right? If I'm not mistaken, in this kind of environment, time can actually be reversed. I feel like I spent ages breaking through, but outside, it was probably only a few days, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, that's right. Looks like you've already sensed it. Just as you said, I'll bring in Nathan Yates, Lance Li, and Liam Savage one by one to help them break through even further. How far they get depends first on their personal talent and potential, and second on how many Starstones they can provide."
After all, even with ten thousand Star Crystals, I can't support too many people cultivating. And just boosting a handful of them won't change the whole strategic situation against the Frostbane Dynasty. Even if they all get stronger, our top-level combat power will still be at a disadvantage.
That's why every soldier in the Dragon-Chen Legion, Wan-Xiong Legion, and Dark Legion needs to find a way to improve themselves!
After Evan Chu finished speaking, Violet Thunder nodded repeatedly. With this approach, their odds against the Frostbane Grand Army would definitely go way up!
Violet Thunder's breakthrough took a full five days. When he and Evan Chu reappeared in the Flowing-Light Dynasty's base star-region, the others had already arrived.
Desmond Mansfield, Liam Savage, Night Wuming, Elder Warren Wu and the rest had just finished discussing the details of the coming war. Now, Desmond and Night Wuming stepped forward as spokesmen to report to Evan Chu.
"After our discussion, we've decided that even though we'll have to fight the Frostbane Grand Army head-on, our best move is to rely on the Flowing-Light base—defend, but don't attack. We should drag things out as long as possible, because in direct battle, we're definitely the side that'll die fastest.
But with Star-Treasure Pavilion backing us with resources and funding, we've got the edge in a war of attrition. Of course, we can assemble elite squads to harass the Frostbane Grand Army and force them to keep playing our game."
When Desmond finished, Evan Chu shook his head immediately.
"Drag things out? That might not be the best plan. Those weaker dynasties are just itching to cozy up to Frostbane Dynasty; even if they travel from afar to fight, they won't be short on resources."
"True! We've thought about that too, so we're planning to give the Dark Legion a tougher job—do everything possible to stop those alliances from forming."
"No, that's the worst possible move! I've said before, we can't just hide like turtles. If we're going to fight, we should fight openly and honorably! We can break the big war into countless small battles.
As long as we win each of those small battles, we'll win the war in the end."
"But... we'll need not just money and resources, but a foundation of true experts! Without absolute power, if we try to divide our forces, it'll be like sheep facing wolves."
Hearing Elder Warren Wu's concern, Evan Chu suddenly burst out laughing. "You all spent so long discussing, but did no one think to ask what I've been up to while I was gone?!"
As Evan Chu spoke, everyone suddenly realized—of course! As the Dragon-Chen Commander, why would he disappear at such a critical moment, even skipping the last emergency meeting? What exactly had Evan Chu been doing?
Evan Chu smiled mysteriously, then pointed to Violet Thunder, and then at himself. "Didn't any of you notice something strange?"
Evan Chu had barely finished when Liam Savage, Nathan Yates, Lance Li, Night Wuming, and the other Holy Emperor experts immediately caught on! Evan Chu's own power was always formidable, and though his realm had advanced, his aura hadn't changed much. But it was different for the Thunder Venerable—everyone knew his previous cultivation, but now...
Could it be that, in just a few days, there had been such a drastic change?!
"Half-Step... Holy Emperor!"
"Even I can sense a hint of danger from him now!"
Lance Li and Nathan Yates's eyes glimmered with starlight as they carefully observed Violet Thunder, but still couldn't discern any of the mysteries.
"It seems Lord Evan already has an excellent strategy to deal with this."
Elder Warren Wu smiled. Though he was weak on the martial path, he was quick to read the mood—Evan Chu had found a powerful technique to rapidly unlock people's potential and help them break through!
And clearly, this technique could be used on everyone!