Early the next morning, Evan Chu stepped out of the room. The two maidservants were already up as well—thanks to the mysterious qi Evan had infused into their bodies, they'd fully recovered and showed no trace of last night's ordeal.
Rhea Yang took a long time to get up. When Evan saw the two women come out, he pulled several dozen high-grade Starstones from his storage ring and handed them over, saying, 'These Starstones are enough to support you for the rest of your lives. Take care of yourselves.'
'Thank you, sir! We'll forget about this night, but you gave us our freedom—and our first night will be something we'll never forget!' one of the maids said.
Evan didn't respond and simply walked back into the room. He found their words a bit amusing—wanting to forget, yet saying it's unforgettable. Wasn't that a contradiction?
At that moment, Rhea Yang was sitting at her dressing table, fixing her hair. When Evan came in, she immediately smiled and asked, 'Lin Feng, which hair ornament do you think suits me?'
'You're naturally beautiful—you look great with or without any ornament. How do you feel right now? Did your cultivation break through a few layers?' Evan asked.
Rhea was delighted by Evan's words. 'I think I've already reached the eighth layer of the Earth Martial Realm. It won't be long before I break through to the ninth! Thank you, Lin Feng—you really are amazing.'
Evan gently kissed her forehead, then took out a Star Crystal from his storage ring and said, 'Rhea, just absorb the energy in this Star Crystal whenever you can. You should be able to break through to the Heaven Martial Realm soon. Don't let anyone else see it—this is an extremely rare treasure.'
Rhea took the Star Crystal, glanced at it, and asked, 'Is this Star Crystal really that precious? You should keep it for yourself. I have regular Starstones to absorb, that's enough for me.'
Evan chuckled, 'You're my woman—no matter how precious, it's yours. I wanted to ask you something: do you know when Lily Tang is getting married?'
Although Lily Tang never said she'd go through a Marriage Tournament herself, she did mention she'd get married within three years. If I miss the date, she might hold it against me for life.
Rhea said, 'I was just about to tell you—Tang Sect isn't holding a Marriage Tournament, but the process is almost the same. This time, they're picking the strongest candidate to marry into the family, but it's not about dueling—it's a contest of pure attack power.'
Evan was baffled. Why do all these clans love such weird ways of picking husbands for their daughters? Isn't it supposed to be the matchmaker's job?
'So when is it happening? And what's the target for this attack power?' Evan asked.
Rhea replied, 'It should be in three days. In Tang Sect's Martial Testing Ground, there's a meteorite from beyond the heavens—it's extremely strange. When you hit it, it makes a weird sound, and the stronger your attack, the longer and clearer the sound. It's so tough that even seventh-layer Heaven Martial experts can't break it.'
'Then I'll head out tomorrow. Want to come along and watch?' Evan asked.
Rhea grinned, 'Of course! I'll disguise myself as a handsome young man and join in. And I'll make you look like a super ugly kid—so when Lily sees us, she'll be totally disappointed. Then you can reveal your real self and give her a huge surprise. How about it?'
'Isn't that kind of risky? She might get mad—you know how Lily's got that mother T-rex temper. What if she chops me to bits?' Evan asked, surprised that the usually gentle Rhea could be so mischievous.
Rhea said, 'She'll be way too happy to blame us once she sees you. Just do what I say!'
After chatting for a while, they left the room. First up, of course, was serving tea to Rhea's father. Evan followed her, but when he tried to kneel, Darren Yang quickly stopped him—he couldn't accept such a gesture.
After some polite conversation with Darren Yang and Rhea's mother, Evan left the main hall. 'Rhea, is there any interesting scenery around here I should check out?' he asked.
'There's a lake not far from here—we call it Red Lake. Most of the time the water is crystal clear, but sometimes the whole lake turns red. It's not as bright as blood, but it's weird enough that people whisper about water monsters. Still, after all these years, no one's ever seen a monster attack anyone.' Rhea explained.
'Really? Take me to see it—maybe I'll get lucky and catch the lake turning red.' Evan grinned.
After figuring out the direction, Evan grabbed Rhea and soared into the sky. It was her first time flying, and she was so scared she clung tightly to Evan, afraid she'd fall.
Soon they arrived at the so-called Red Lake, but right now the water was perfectly clear, with no trace of red at all.
Rhea saw Evan's confusion and smiled, 'I told you, the red color is all about luck. Why don't we wait and see?'
Just then, Sword Spirit Luna's voice sounded in Evan's mind: 'Lin Feng, use your spiritual sense to check the lakebed. If the lake turns red, something must be hidden down there—maybe a valuable treasure.'
Evan's heart skipped a beat. Luna rarely spoke unless something was up—if she said so, there had to be something good down there.
'Rhea, should we dive in and take a look?' Evan asked.
Rhea hesitated, 'Maybe not—I'm not a good swimmer, and if there really is a lake monster, that's trouble. You want to dive to the bottom, don't you?' She caught on to Evan's idea instantly.
'That's exactly what I was thinking. Don't worry—with me here, there's zero danger. Just hold on tight!' Evan said. He moved instantly, flying straight to the center of the lake and dropping into the water.
Evan activated Watershift, making Rhea feel as if the water didn't exist at all—her whole body seemed to merge with it. Amazed, she stared at Evan and asked, 'Lin Feng, how is this possible? You can actually do this? It's incredible. I really don't understand how you've changed so much in just two years.'
'It's a long story. Let's just check out the lakebed for now,' Evan replied.
The lakebed was littered with fish bones, plenty of mud, and some aquatic plants—everything seemed perfectly normal, with nothing out of the ordinary.
Evan searched the entire lakebed but didn't find anything suspicious, feeling a bit disappointed. Just then Luna said, 'Why aren't you using your spiritual sense? The key to the red water might be hidden under all this mud.'