Evan Chu's words instantly enraged the middle-aged man, who shot forward and swung a fist at Evan with blinding speed, arriving right in front of him in a flash.
This was a true expert—far stronger than anyone he'd encountered in the city. That was Evan's first reaction. He tried to dodge, only to find the space around him locked down as if sealed, unable to move at all.
Evan had never faced a situation like this before and was shocked—if that punch landed, he'd be crippled if not dead. His only option was to throw a punch of his own to block it.
Not daring to hesitate, Evan quickly swung his own fist. In an instant, their fists collided, and it felt to him as if he'd struck an immovable boulder—unbelievably hard.
A massive force shot straight from his fist up his arm and into his dantian, making it throb with agony. The huge backlash sent Evan flying, crashing into a nearby tree as thick as a bowl and snapping it clean in half.
He couldn't hold back the blood surging in his chest and spat it out. Evan felt like his whole body was falling apart. Slowly, he picked himself up, shock written all over his face as he stared at the middle-aged man.
"How does that feel? Looks like we've all overestimated you. With strength like yours, you're not even worth my effort. Whatever—let's just finish this quickly." The middle-aged man strode toward Evan as he spoke.
Evan didn't reply. Instead, he rapidly circulated Chaos Qi through his body, gathering wind element at the same time. Against an enemy like this, only his strongest attack would do. He couldn't figure out why that punch had locked down the space around him—was this some kind of domain?
The middle-aged man saw Evan preparing a martial technique and stopped halfway, suddenly interested. He'd originally planned to kill him outright, but the reports said this kid had the power to slay Heaven Martial Realm experts—why else would the guild send so many to hunt him down?
But the strength Evan was showing now was nothing like what the intel described. The man couldn't help wanting to see what kind of attack Evan could muster, already certain in his heart that this kid was no match for him.
Evan, of course, had no idea what the man was thinking. All he cared about was gathering wind element to unleash the ninth form—Wrathful Wind Annihilation Slash.
"Kid, your technique is garbage. If it takes this long to charge up, you'd already be dead if I wanted to kill you. Hurry up and show me what you've got—don't waste my time." The middle-aged man sneered.
By now, Evan's technique was fully charged. He shouted, "Wrathful Wind Annihilation Slash!" and swung the Frostbane Sword in a rapid arc.
A cyan sword beam, fully two meters long and crackling with thunderous force, shot toward the middle-aged man. The air around it began to ripple with faint spatial tremors.
"Not bad—even managed to ripple space a bit. That's about the power of a ninth-layer Earth Martial Realm attack, but it's still too weak." The man scoffed, utterly unimpressed.
A fiery red longsword appeared in his hand. With a casual swing, a massive red sword arc burst forth, making the air howl as if the world itself were about to ignite.
The two blasts of sword-qi collided instantly. Thunderous explosions erupted in all directions as the massive energy clash whipped up a raging energy storm.
The ground within ten meters cracked open and sank nearly a meter. Dirt and trees swept by the energy storm snapped in an instant—some were even uprooted and shredded in midair.
Both Evan and the middle-aged man were forced back several steps by the energy storm, but Evan spat out blood again—another sign of internal injuries.
Only now did Evan truly grasp how terrifying his opponent was. Even his strongest strike had merely pushed the man back a few steps—killing him was impossible. This guy was at least Heaven Martial Realm.
Trying to kill a Heaven Martial Realm expert with his current strength was like an egg striking stone. Evan wondered if he should use the Lion Spirit Fist—even though using it now meant he couldn't use it again until Shadow grew stronger, he was out of options.
"Kid, that move of yours is actually pretty good. At your age, having this kind of power makes you a genius. But it's still not enough. No matter how strong you get, Earth Martial Realm can't beat Heaven Martial Realm."
"Now that I've seen your technique, it's time for you to die." the middle-aged man declared.
"Evan, even Lion Spirit Fist might not kill him unless you catch him completely off guard. You only get one shot—your best chance is a fatal surprise attack when he's totally defenseless. Don't waste it."
"If you miss, you'll die. I won't help you—you have to face this yourself. I can't protect you forever," Luna suddenly added.
"A sneak attack? Luna, are you saying I should use the Timewheel Bracelet to set up a surprise strike?" Evan asked hurriedly.
"Exactly. Whether it's Lion Spirit Fist or the Timewheel Bracelet, you only get one shot. If you fail, you know the consequences better than I do."
Evan understood Luna's meaning and grinned at the middle-aged man. "So this is the power of a Heaven Martial Realm expert? I wasn't even going all out before. This time, let me show you what I'm really capable of."
Evan instantly cloaked himself in Chaos Qi, unleashing a surge of power that made the middle-aged man pause in surprise. Then he smirked, "Really? Then let me show you what Heaven Martial Realm strength truly means."
As soon as he finished speaking, a powerful aura erupted around him. The sunken ground whipped up dust and stones, leaving Evan shocked at the sight.
Just then, Luna's voice rang out again: "Evan, hold out for three minutes. I sense that old man is rushing this way—if you can last just one minute, you won't need to use Lion Spirit Fist."
(Irrelevant system message—skipped.)
Evan was instantly delighted—stalling for a minute was doable. He immediately called out to the middle-aged man, "Hey, can you wait a second?"
Seeing the energy fluctuations around Evan suddenly vanish, the middle-aged man asked curiously, "Kid, got any last words?"
"I really need to pee—can I go first? If I hold it in, I can't fight at full strength. Surely you won't say no to that, right?" Evan said.
"Kid, I'm here to kill you. I don't care if you need to pee or not—just die!" the middle-aged man snapped, completely unmoved.
"Afraid of me, huh? Trying to strike when I'm at my weakest—some Heaven Martial Realm expert you are. What a disgrace! Go on, I'll stand right here and let you kill me." Evan shut his eyes, but inside he was anything but calm; if this guy didn't fall for it, he'd really be done for.
A few seconds passed and Evan realized the man hadn't attacked. He opened his eyes to see the middle-aged man say, "Fine, I'll make an exception—just go here. I want to see how tough you really are."
Evan was secretly frustrated—he didn't actually need to pee, and now he had to pretend. Of all the excuses, why did he pick this one? He regretted it instantly.
"Could you turn around? I can't go with you watching," Evan said, putting on a very troubled expression.
The middle-aged man frowned. "I'm watching for any tricks. You have one minute—if you disappoint me, your death will be slow and miserable..."