"With the Shaw family dealt with, next up is helping Victor Yu settle the underground fight club business. If I get the five million, I can buy Mom a better place to live."
On the way home, Evan Lin wasn't in a hurry. He stopped at a small street stall and bought some food.
It was already getting late.
Tonight was destined to be an unusual night for all of Brightsea City.
Just as Evan Lin got home, Big Tank was already leading the brothers left in the casino to clean up the venues that used to belong to the Shaw family.
Barry Shaw was the local kingpin in Eastcourt District, with all his roots planted on that street for years. Now that Barry was dead and the Shaw family destroyed, the small-time bosses in each venue weren't about to give up their slice of the pie willingly.
Evan Lin couldn't be bothered to care about any of that. If Big Tank could take over the Shaw family's business, great. If not, Evan would just have to put in a bit more effort.
When Evan got back to Brightsea Garden Court, it was already nine o'clock at night.
Evan took out his key and opened the door. In the living room, Lynn Chen was sprawled out on the sofa in a cotton t-shirt, holding a bag of chips and showing off her fair legs.
She was eating snacks while watching TV.
Hearing the door open, Lynn Chen glanced sideways at Evan Lin and snorted, "My parents are eating out tonight. If you haven't had dinner yet, there's still some food on the table. You can have a bite."
"I already ate. I'm heading to my room."
Evan Lin didn't even look at Lynn Chen and just turned to go upstairs.
Seeing this, Lynn Chen frowned. "Hey!"
"What is it?" Evan Lin turned back curiously to look at Lynn Chen, his gaze clear and calm.
"Fang You just called looking for you. Did you mess with her again? She sounded pretty upset. I'm warning you—she's my best friend, and I won't let you bully her!" Lynn Chen glared at Evan, her eyes full of warning.
"Got it. It's nothing."
Watching Evan Lin's back as he headed upstairs made Lynn Chen grit her teeth in frustration.
It wasn't until Evan's figure completely disappeared on the second floor that Lynn Chen's expression finally relaxed. She drooped her head, looking annoyed.
She got up from the sofa, walked to the table, and grabbed one of the small bowls. Inside was a serving of fried rice that didn't look all that appetizing.
Lynn Chen picked up the spoon and grumbled, "Fine, don't eat then. If you don't want it, I'm not giving you any anyway. I rarely cook, you know. Hmph."
After saying that, Lynn Chen started eating on her own. She took a few bites, pursed her lips, frowned, then stuck out her tongue and quickly grabbed some water to rinse her mouth, looking miserable.
"So salty..."
......
Back in his room, Evan Lin ran through a cycle of the Grand Dao Qi-Refining Art. Only when his meridians and qi vortex were full did he slowly open his eyes.
"Without Foundation Establishment, there's no way to cultivate true powers. I'm still a ways off from killing with a breath or turning water into a sword."
Evan silently felt the small amount of spiritual qi in his body. This qi came from Claire Sheng.
He'd noticed her spiritual qi when he interacted with her at Tianzi Building No. 1.
"But why is it, really? Why do some people have spiritual qi in their bodies and others don't? First it was Lily Zhong, now Claire Sheng."
Evan Lin frowned slightly, his gaze falling to his left hand.
That little dragon was still asleep. Evan Lin couldn't even tell if it was alive or dead—he couldn't sense any sign of life from it, but there was no sense of death either.
Legend says dragons are sacred beasts that guard the spirit realm. Back on the Immortal Martial Continent, you could see plenty of dragon-type demon beasts, but true dragons only existed in the myths of all the races. Even the records in the Liuli Palace's library were vague about dragons.
Other than absorbing and converting spiritual qi to nourish medicines, what powers do you really have?
Evan frowned, running through all the cultivation manuals he'd ever seen in his mind, but still came up empty.
In the end, the Immortal Martial Continent was still just part of the mortal realm. Even the Nine Mysteries Immortal Lord, who could shake heaven and earth, was only a 'half-immortal' if he didn't take that final step, ascend the Heaven Gate, and shatter the void.
In ancient times on the Immortal Martial Continent, every thousand years someone would climb the Heaven-Climbing Stairway and open the Heaven Gate. But as far as I know, there hasn't been a true immortal in tens of thousands of years. Even I, when I was just one step away, couldn't cross that gap.
Evan Lin thought for a long time before finally shaking his head. "Whatever. One day I'll stand on the Ascension Terrace again."
Just then, there was a hurried knock at the door.
Evan got up and opened the door. Outside stood Lynn Chen, clutching her phone and looking anxious. Evan frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Come with me—Yolanda Fang's in trouble!"
Before Evan could react, Lynn Chen grabbed his left hand and dragged him downstairs without another word.
"What's this?"
Before Evan could refuse, he suddenly noticed a faint ripple of spiritual qi coming from Lynn Chen as well.
That spiritual qi was flowing from Lynn Chen's left hand into Evan, and it felt incredibly gentle.
Lynn Chen didn't notice the change on Evan's face. She kept pulling him along, quickly leading him out the door and flagging down a taxi.
"To Jialan Bar!"
Lynn Chen yelled the destination at the taxi driver, then suddenly realized she was still holding Evan's hand. Her face flushed red and she quickly let go.
"What happened to make you so flustered?"
Judging by Lynn Chen's expression, she definitely wasn't faking it.
"Yolanda Fang was in a bad mood today, and I don't know how you managed to upset her again. She called you, so why didn't you answer?" Lynn Chen glared at Evan, her eyes sharp.
Evan pulled out his phone and glanced at it, a bit helpless. "My phone's dead. It already shut off by itself."
"She couldn't reach you, so she called me instead. She said she's drinking alone at the bar and someone started harassing her." Lynn Chen paused, locking eyes with Evan. "Seriously, what did you do to her?"
"I didn't do anything. I just destroyed Ethan Yi on the soccer field."
Evan replied calmly, shifting his posture to sit more comfortably.
"You destroyed Ethan Yi? You?" Lynn Chen shook her head. "I'd believe you beat him up, but saying you crushed him on the field—that's just ridiculous. I know what Ethan Yi's skills are like, and you—have you ever even played soccer before?"
Lynn Chen clearly didn't believe him at all.
Evan didn't bother to explain.
Honestly, Evan didn't really dislike or like Lynn Chen's attitude toward him.
After spending hundreds of years on the Immortal Martial Continent and returning, seeing the girl he once liked—even though there was no possibility between them now—Evan couldn't help but miss the youthful feelings he once had.
If not for that, with Lynn Chen's often bossy, punchable attitude, Evan would've left a long time ago.
Life, huh.
Evan sighed inwardly.
Looks like it's time to find a new place to live in Minghai City.