"Heh, Vice Commander Lin, right? No need to look around—we're all old acquaintances here. I'm right behind you. Didn't you notice?"
Evan Chu let out a cold, mocking laugh. The moment Henry Lin heard it, he felt a chill run down his spine.
What?! My cultivation has already reached mid Holy Emperor peak—how could anyone get this close without me sensing it? Until now, Henry Lin thought only Holden Hong could pull off such a feat!
Henry Lin spun around, and when he saw the man's face, he was even more stunned.
"It's you!"
"Obviously it's me! Who else could it be? Don't tell me after all the brutal fighting outside, you still haven't realized the person you're trying to kill is me."
Evan Chu joked, standing motionless with his hands behind his back atop Old Goldwing, Shadow guarding behind him. The three peak Holy Emperor auras stood tall, yet Henry Lin hadn't sensed a thing.
If it were just Evan Chu appearing here, Henry Lin could excuse it as Evan being far from ordinary—but how was he supposed to explain the two beasts radiating such powerful Stellar Power?
"Heh, looks like Hall Master Chu is getting desperate? I get it, really. Forced by circumstances, huh? The battle outside isn't looking good, so you had to step in yourself?"
"How could someone be this disgusting?" Evan Chu shook his head. The way Henry Lin spoke now was nothing like when they'd first met.
He vaguely remembered how Henry Lin once explained everything about the Star‑River Dominion to him inside the Star Ark battleship, worried about whether Evan could survive, and taught him all about the Star List.
But Evan Chu never knew—the Henry Lin before him now, though identical in appearance and aura, was actually a different person at the soul's core!
Of course, even Henry Lin himself didn't know this secret. The only one who did was Holden Hong.
When Holden Hong first discovered Henry Lin's strange dual‑soul existence, he was just curious. But as his ambitions grew, he began to use Henry Lin for his own schemes.
Henry Lin was a rare dual‑soul lifeform—two souls in one body, each unaware of the other. Once Holden figured this out, he began to carefully cultivate both sides.
First, he nurtured the righteous soul—the one who was simple and upright, always following Holden's plans. That created the warm and loyal Vice Commander Lin, the same Henry Lin who once rescued Evan Chu from the Frostbane Trial World.
The second soul was just as simple, but full of negativity and evil thoughts. Holden molded it into a cold‑blooded killer.
The moment Holden's plan was complete—the instant the Seven Thrones were imprisoned—the first Henry Lin quietly perished. Henry himself never knew; his body was instantly taken over by the second soul.
The memories stayed exactly the same, but the personality suddenly flipped. From then on, he obeyed Holden Hong without question.
"I can tell Holden Hong did something to you. What could possibly change a person this much?"
Evan Chu was baffled, unable to make sense of it.
"You dare speak ill of the Holy Emperor Lord! Trespassing in the base star‑region is a capital crime. Since I've run into you, you die here!"
Henry Lin didn't bother with more words and moved to kill Evan Chu on the spot.
When black light flashed in Henry Lin's eyes, Evan Chu suddenly understood everything!
"So, you really aren't him anymore!"
The Ninefold Profound‑Meaning Power contains star‑soul energy—a form of soul, and a top-tier one at that.
With the Geocore Soul Mother's help, Evan Chu had mastered soul-search, soul-refining, soul-condensing, and soul-gathering techniques. His understanding of soul-type lifeforms far surpassed the norm.
Now, Evan Chu immediately saw that Henry Lin's soul origin was incomplete—missing a crucial part. So even though Henry Lin was a dual‑soul lifeform, only the negative soul remained. To Evan, that meant he was half-dead!
"I never imagined things would turn out like this."
Evan Chu saw through it all and couldn't help but sigh. He'd come here to seize control of the place where the Seven Thrones and Four Temple Masters were imprisoned, but seeing Henry Lin like this, how could he bear to strike?
Now, with only the negative soul in control, Henry Lin was just a puppet—a walking corpse, incapable of any real human feeling.
"Sigh! Forget it—let's end this early."
Evan Chu let out a heavy sigh. He knew that ending Henry Lin's suffering now was actually a kind of release.
"Killing you is really avenging you. But don't worry—the real culprit, Holden Hong, won't get away. When he shows himself, I'll make him answer for everything!"
Whoosh!
A strange blue dragonflame suddenly ignited between Evan Chu's ten fingers. It wasn't wild, but gentle—yet if you sensed carefully, the heat was terrifying!
Only Evan Chu knew what kind of power and techniques he'd truly grasped during his last seclusion in the Seven‑Star Golden Tower. What he revealed now was just the tip of the iceberg.
This blue flame was a true dragonflame, condensed from his Sacred Dragon Emperor bloodline. Its power was terrifying—and if paired with the Desolate Dragon Saber and Primordial Dragon Secret Techniques, it could deal even more devastating damage.
Of course, Evan Chu had only mastered a fraction of this ultimate power. But even that was enough—just one move, before Henry Lin could even feel fear, the blue dragonflame reduced him to ash.
Not even a trace was left. A gentle breeze scattered the ashes, and Henry Lin vanished from this world.
A mid Holy Emperor peak expert vanished so utterly, so inexplicably! And Evan Chu, the one who killed him, acted as if nothing had happened and strode deeper into the Frostbane Dynasty's base star‑region.
"I have to rescue the Seven Thrones and the Four Temple Masters!"
"Whether it's for past kindness or for the bigger picture."
"Not to mention, seeing Brother Li and Brother Junyang suffer for my sake—I can't rest easy!"
Evan Chu had no idea how many dangers lay ahead, with three whole legions stationed up ahead. But one thing was certain: he could lose, he could be defeated, but he could never retreat!
No matter what lay ahead, he could only charge forward!