Evan Chu soon returned to his cultivation dormitory. With everything settled, all that remained was to wait for his showdown with Ryan Ouyang on the Life-and-Death Platform.
With nothing else to do, he realized it had been ages since he checked the monster egg in his storage belt. He wondered when it would finally hatch, so Evan decided to take it out and have a look.
Ever since he got the monster egg, Evan had never really examined it. As soon as he took it out, he was startled.
The shell of the monster egg actually had cracks on it. They were shallow, but clearly visible to the naked eye—dozens of fine fissures crisscrossed its surface.
“What’s going on? Didn’t Luna say that without powerful stellar force, this monster egg couldn’t possibly hatch? So why does it look like it’s starting to hatch just sitting in my storage belt?” Evan muttered to himself.
“Evan, are you really clueless or just pretending? Sure, this monster egg needs strong stellar force to hatch, but take a look—aren’t you missing something from your storage belt?” Luna’s voice rang out in his mind.
Evan didn’t waste words and immediately checked the items in his storage belt. To his surprise, all the Starstones were gone. This discovery made him overjoyed.
Luna had once told him this monster egg was the offspring of a Bloodshadow Berserker Lion—a true Spirit Beast. Hatching it was Evan’s dream come true, so he didn’t mind losing Starstones at all.
Finding a way to hatch the Bloodshadow Berserker Lion was the best thing that could happen to Evan. Right now, he was already fantasizing about strutting around with a Spirit Beast at his side—it would be so cool, so impressive.
“Don’t get too excited just yet. Hatching a Bloodshadow Berserker Lion will burn through a terrifying amount of Starstones. You’d better be mentally prepared—if you run out of Starstones, you’re in for a rough time,” Luna said with a laugh.
Luna was always raining on Evan’s parade, but he was used to it by now—if she ever stopped, he’d probably feel weird.
As for Starstones, Evan still had ways to get more. Dean Xavier gave him a decent amount every month; if he got the chance, maybe he could squeeze out a bit extra. With an academy this big, getting a few more Starstones shouldn’t be hard, right?
If Dean Xavier knew what Evan was thinking right now, he’d probably cough up blood on the spot. Starstones were so precious and rare that even the dean couldn’t always get his hands on them.
Heavenly Dragon Academy’s Starstones all came from the royal family of the Heavenly Dragon Empire. In fact, the academy itself was basically the empire’s elite recruitment ground.
Evan carefully looked at the Bloodshadow Berserker Lion egg and grinned. “Little Berserker Lion, you’d better hatch soon. I still need tons of Starstones to get stronger. I’ll give you three months to absorb Starstones—if you still can’t hatch, you’ll just have to wait until I level up.”
With no Starstones left, Evan couldn’t cultivate during the day—he could only absorb natural starlight at night. But ever since he’d absorbed the power from the Stellar Cultivation Chamber, the starlight he got at night just couldn’t compare.
A whole night’s absorption barely matched one hour inside the chamber. That kind of frustration really got on his nerves.
Two days passed in a flash. The academy was buzzing about Evan’s upcoming life-and-death duel with Ryan Ouyang. Tons of students showed up at the Life-and-Death Platform early, eager to watch this spectacular death match.
In the dean’s office, Dean Xavier lounged in a chair with his eyes half-closed and said to Marcus Gongsun, “Marcus, do you think we’ve been too lax with that Evan kid?
I’m sure that if we don’t step in today, Ryan Ouyang is definitely done for. He may not be as talented as Evan, but he’s still one of our better students. Should we save him if things go south?”
Even Vice-Dean Marcus Gongsun and Dean Xavier knew about Evan Chu and Ryan Ouyang’s duel on the Life-and-Death Platform. Both were top talents of the academy, and losing either would be a huge blow.
“Old Xu, do you think Evan might actually lose? If he gets into real danger, should we step in and save him?” Marcus Gongsun asked, dodging the question.
“You really don’t have any faith in the kid? I’m telling you, he’s definitely going to win. How about we make a bet—if Evan wins, you give me a hundred high-grade Starstones; if he loses, I’ll give you a hundred. Deal?”
“A hundred high-grade Starstones? Old Xu, that’s my whole year’s salary! How can you even bring up Starstones? As vice-dean, I’m basically just a figurehead,” Marcus complained.
“Alright, here’s the deal: If I lose, I’ll pay you a hundred, but if you lose, you only pay fifty. I just don’t get why you care so much about Ryan Ouyang—Evan Chu is the one we’re really investing in.”
“Fine, I accept. Enough talk—let’s go check out the Life-and-Death Platform. With fifty high-grade Starstones, I might just break through a realm myself.” Marcus grinned, already convinced he’d win.
Aside from student recruitment, this was probably the liveliest day in Heavenly Dragon Academy’s history. The area around the Life-and-Death Platform was packed with students from both the ordinary and elite classes—all eager to see what the legendary Evan Chu was really capable of.
By mid-morning, Ryan Ouyang was already on the Life-and-Death Platform. He was confident he could kill Evan—his informant had told him Evan was only at the second level of the Earth Martial Realm.
With that kind of strength, Ryan figured he could finish Evan in three moves. He stood on the platform, smiling at the crowd below.
Gus Bullard, Roxanne Lin, and Lily Tang had arrived early at the Life-and-Death Platform. All of them were worried about Evan’s fight with Ryan, since Ryan was the number-one expert in the ordinary class.
Instructor Lucy Lu was there too. She wasn’t worried about Evan—she was worried about Ryan Ouyang. She had a strong feeling that Ryan wasn’t even close to Evan’s match.
Minute by minute, time ticked away. The crowd below grew impatient and started whispering among themselves.
“Maybe that kid’s not coming. Look at the time already.”
“I bet he’s scared. The Life-and-Death Platform is no joke—who’d risk their own life for fun?”
“Challenging Ryan Ouyang, the number-one in ordinary class, is basically suicide. What was he thinking? Must’ve been kicked in the head by a donkey—he’s a total idiot.”
The chatter was nonstop. Ryan Ouyang, hearing all this, grinned even wider. Wanting to put on a show, he shouted loudly to the crowd:
“Evan Chu, if you don’t show up, I won’t force you. Just kneel down and kowtow three times, then say, ‘I, Evan Chu, am a useless coward,’ and I’ll let you off!”
His voice was so loud that everyone heard it clearly. Roxanne Lin and the others were furious—if Lily Tang hadn’t held her back, Roxanne would’ve rushed onto the platform to settle the score with Ryan herself.
She couldn’t stand seeing her man insulted like that. Glaring at Ryan, Roxanne said, “You’ll see how strong Evan is soon enough—enjoy your moment while it lasts.”
Just as she finished speaking, a familiar voice rang out: “Ryan Ouyang, I’m here! Even if you kowtow a hundred times today, you won’t escape death at my hands.”
In a blur, Evan appeared on the Life-and-Death Platform before everyone’s eyes—it was him, no doubt about it.