Evan Lin lived in Peaceview District, Brightsea City. The area faced the sea, and behind it loomed Thousand-Saints Mountain—the legendary resting place of three thousand living Buddhas, famed for the saying "One reed ferries three thousand saints across the river to save the world."
This was also where most of Brightsea City's mid-to-high-end residential communities were clustered.
Brightsea Garden Court was exactly where Evan Lin lived.
To give Evan a better study environment, his mom, Joy Zheng, pleaded for ages before the Chen family finally agreed to take him in.
Originally, the Chen family had promised to get Evan into Brightsea No. 1 High School, but thanks to Lynn Chen’s stubborn refusal, he ended up at Brightsea No. 2 High School instead.
In Lynn’s words, having a country bumpkin like Evan at her school would make her classmates look down on her.
Lynn’s dad, Charles Chen, was a manager in the engineering department at Wansheng Real Estate’s Brightsea branch, pulling in over a million a year—a well-off family by local standards.
Charles was your classic career-driven guy, always dealing with all sorts of people, with a wide network and high ambitions.
When Joy Zheng first asked if Evan could board with them in Brightsea City, Charles was extremely unwilling.
Sure, their house was big—a two-story villa with plenty of spare rooms—but in Charles’s eyes, Joy, just a teacher from a county under Brightsea City, was basically worthless to him.
Plus, Charles didn’t like Evan’s poor grades and timid personality, always worried the kid might try something with his precious daughter Lynn.
Charles even suspected that Joy Zheng wanted Evan to live with them just so her son could chase after Lynn, hoping this upstart from humble origins could shoot up the ranks and never worry about food or money again.
But there was no way Charles would let Evan get such a lucky break. Luckily, Lynn’s attitude toward Evan made Charles pretty satisfied.
Charles was still hoping his daughter Lynn would find a boyfriend with family connections to help him climb higher in his career.
The real reason Evan could stay with the Chens was because of Lynn’s mom, Lucy Lu.
Lucy and Joy Zheng used to be colleagues and classmates. After graduating, both taught at Whitewood County Elementary School, and when Lucy hit her roughest years, Joy was the one who helped her through.
That’s why Lucy stood up to everyone else’s objections and brought Evan in.
Lucy really treated Evan well, always worried he’d be wronged. But when it came to picking No. 1 or No. 2 High, Lynn threatened to drop out, so Lucy had to compromise—which left her feeling even more guilty toward Evan.
Evan walked through Brightsea Garden Court, the cobblestone pavement feeling comfortable under his feet.
As he walked, Evan thought back on everything: "If Buck Niu hadn’t knocked me out with that punch, sending me to the Immortal Martial Continent to become the Nine Mysteries Immortal Lord, I’d probably still be walking this road feeling nervous and scared right now."