Evan Chu nearly fell out of his chair when he heard Selena's sweet, teasing voice. He turned to look at her and said, "Can you not be like this? Any man has his limits. If you set me off, the consequences could be very serious."
Selena laughed and said, "How serious could the consequences be? At worst, you could just eat me up—I'm waiting for you to do it!"
Evan felt beads of sweat break out on his forehead. He subconsciously wiped it and said, "Since you're so eager, I guess I'll have to oblige you. Otherwise, I'd be letting down your passionate intentions."
As he spoke, Evan stripped off his outer robe, revealing his bronze-toned skin. His muscles made his body look flawless.
Evan walked up to Selena and threatened, "Weren't you saying you couldn't wait? Then let me show you just how wonderful it can feel."
Evan put on an exaggeratedly lecherous expression and even reached toward Selena’s chest, though inside he felt completely passive.
He was betting—betting that Selena would get scared and never try to deliberately seduce him again. If he lost, he’d have to truly grant her wish and make her his woman. He was incredibly tense inside, but outwardly showed no sign at all.
Seeing Evan’s act, Selena jumped in fright and nervously said, "W-What are you doing? Don’t... don’t get crazy!"
Evan knew he’d won the bet this time and immediately grinned, "Too late to regret now, little lady. You’re the one who teased me, so now I’ll let you enjoy it properly." With that, he reached straight for Selena’s chest.
At that moment, Selena sat up abruptly and grabbed Evan’s hand. "You... you rogue! You actually dared to get serious with me!"
Selena shoved Evan, pushing him back four or five steps before he finally steadied himself. Inside, Evan was so pleased he almost wanted to burst out laughing, but he held it in, feeling like his belly might ache from stifling the laughter.
Evan looked at Selena and said, "Will you still dare mess around next time? I'll let you off this once, but if you try it again, I swear I'll eat you up for real!"
Only now did Selena genuinely break out in a cold sweat. This guy actually dared to go that far! Looks like all men are the same—none of them aren't lustful. She really didn't dare tease him again.
"Fine, you win! But don't get cocky—there'll be a day when you suffer too!" Selena retorted, then left the bed and sat down in a chair.
Evan sat down on the bed and chuckled, "You just sit there. I'm going to sleep for a bit. These past few days have been exhausting—I need a proper rest."
"You... you!" Selena was so flustered she couldn't get the words out.
Seeing her expression, Evan laughed, "Come on, I’ll let you off. Don’t say I don’t know how to cherish and protect women. I still need to absorb stellar power, and tomorrow I’m heading to the Gravity Chamber—it might take a few days."
When Evan said that, Selena immediately sobered up and asked seriously, "Why are you going to the Gravity Chamber? Is it because of the Fire Spirit Pearl?"
Selena guessed half right—he was going to the Gravity Chamber to break through to the Fourth Layer of the Starforge Body. That way, when he cultivated the first transformation of Ninefold Stellar Transformation, the pain would be much less.
"Pretty much. Give me a few days, and when I come out, I'll take you back to my hometown. Once we head out to the sea region, who knows when I'll be able to return? I have no idea how my dad and the others are doing—I need to go see them," Evan said.
"Alright, you go ahead and absorb. I'm heading out for a bit!" Selena said, turning and leaving.
Evan took out two high-grade Starstones and began absorbing their power. The night passed quietly. Early the next morning, Evan stepped out of his room and saw Selena standing alone by the pond, watching the koi swim.
"Let's go, I'll take you over. I hope you bring me a surprise when you come out," Selena said with a smile.
The two of them headed straight for the training field. Now that Evan was Protector-General of the Realm and Prince Valiant, no one dared stop him from entering the Gravity Chamber.
Those who had tested alongside Evan during the Royal Capital Guard trials now looked at him with envy, knowing his true identity.
After Evan stated his purpose, he casually picked a door to one of the Gravity Chamber corridors and walked in. "Be careful, Linfeng! I'll be waiting for you out here!" Selena called.
Evan nodded and went inside. The Royal Capital Guard promptly shut the heavy stone door behind him. As Evan looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar corridor, a wave of emotion washed over him.
He walked slowly down the corridor, knowing he'd have to endure brutal torture to reach the ninety-meter mark. With his breakthrough to the ninth layer of the Earth Martial Realm, it shouldn't be as painful as last time.
At sixty meters, the gravity pressure noticeably increased, but Evan pressed on.
By sixty-five meters, he felt that unless he used Chaos Energy, even lifting his feet was nearly impossible. So he began circulating Chaos Energy through his body.
At eighty meters, that familiar feeling returned. It was only a little better than last time, but by now Evan was drenched in sweat, his breathing ragged.
Evan gritted his teeth—his goal was the ninety-meter mark. Only that distance would let him break through to the Fourth Layer of the Starforge Body.
When he reached eighty-five meters, the stabbing pain all over his body intensified. He felt like he was about to collapse.
Step by step, he inched closer to his goal. At eighty-eight meters, he stopped—he really couldn’t take another step. Even with Chaos Energy raging inside him, it was useless.
“Linfeng, hang in there! If you can’t endure this pain, how will you ever reach the Vermilion Bird Temple and stand with Roxy, or rescue your poor mother from the Dragon Shrine, or fulfill your destiny to save the world? How will you help me recover my body? Don’t you want us to be together again?” Luna urged.
Every word Luna spoke stabbed at Evan’s heart. He needed overwhelming strength to achieve those things, yet he was stalled by mere gravity—how could he possibly accomplish his goals?
“No! I won’t be defeated by the challenge in front of me!” Evan roared inside. Last time he’d relied on a trace of bloodline power to reach this point; this time, he had to rely on sheer willpower.
Minute by minute, time crawled by. Every step Evan took felt like his brain was about to split apart. The muscles on his face twisted in agony, and at some point, his lips had split from biting down so hard, blood soaking his clothes without him noticing.
Finally, just as he was about to collapse, Evan reached the ninety-meter mark. At that moment, it felt like none of his bones were whole anymore. He slumped to the ground, letting the crushing pressure of the chamber weigh down on him.
Slowly, he took out two supreme-grade Starstones from his storage ring and began to absorb them. Only supreme-grade Starstones could restore his Chaos Energy quickly enough to reach saturation and trigger the breakthrough. The pain and time required were terrifying—just thinking about it made him shudder...