Immortal Lord Lin once crippled Evan Yang’s limbs. Ever since hearing of Evan’s terrifying rise, he’d been worried Evan would come for him. Now, seeing Evan in person, he knew the day had finally arrived.
“I really regret not killing you back then.” Immortal Lord Lin was filled with remorse; he never imagined Evan would grow so powerful so quickly. If he’d known Evan had this potential, he would never have dared to toy with him.
“Regret won’t help you now. Today, you’ll pay the price for what you did back then,” Evan said.
“For what I did? Kid, you may be strong now, but killing me here won’t be easy.” Immortal Lord Lin knew he could still use the advantages of this place, borrowing other forces to block Evan.
“Is that so? I’d like to see what you can do,” Evan snorted coldly.
Evan’s aura instantly surged, enveloping the surroundings. Seeing this, Immortal Lord Lin turned to the nearby Heavenly Immortals and ordered, “Get him for me.”
“Us?” The Heavenly Immortals were already terrified—especially the one who’d once disciplined Evan. Now, as Evan glanced at him, his heart trembled.
“If you don’t go, I’ll wipe you out later,” Immortal Lord Lin threatened.
Hearing this, the Heavenly Immortals had no choice but to force themselves forward to stop Evan. The result was predictable—Evan dealt with them effortlessly, not even breaking a sweat.
Within Evan’s aura, the Heavenly Immortals coughed blood and even knelt down. Not wanting to die, they all pleaded with Evan for mercy. Immortal Lord Lin cursed them, “Useless!”
“You all mocked me back then—letting you off almost feels like a waste.” Evan laughed. “We were blind, please spare us! We’ll never dare again,” one Heavenly Immortal pleaded.
The other Heavenly Immortals begged for mercy as well. Meanwhile, Immortal Lord Lin was anxious, secretly contacting reinforcements who were rushing over.
Once the Heavenly Immortals were battered and nearly powerless, Evan let them go. They could barely move, left lying there waiting for death. Evan turned to Lin with a smile, “Immortal Lord Lin, you crippled my limbs back then—now I’ll cripple yours.”
“Cripple me? Ridiculous! Don’t think you’re so great just because you’re a Profound Immortal. I’m still an eighth-tier Immortal Lord—what can you do?” Lin tried to hype himself up, then attempted to slip away. Just as he moved, Evan appeared in front of him, smiling, “Trying to run?”
Lin was startled by Evan’s speed—he’d never expected this. “Don’t bother trying to escape. I still need to cripple your limbs,” Evan said with a laugh.
“Let’s see if you’re really as strong as they say!” Unable to match Evan’s speed, Lin grew furious and threw a punch. Evan snorted and punched back.
Crack! Lin’s attacking hand was instantly destroyed, blood and flesh mangled. He screamed in agony, even sent flying backward.
“You…you…” Lin gritted his teeth, clutching his ruined hand in pain and anger.
Evan walked over step by step, glanced at Lin’s hand, and sneered, “You still have three left.”
“Three?” Lin was shocked, instantly realizing Evan meant to cripple all four limbs.
“Back then, when you crippled my limbs, I told myself someday you’d get the same. Now that I’m passing through, I couldn’t forget how you treated me.” Evan said. “Damn you—” Lin tried to sneak attack, but Evan was ready and broke Lin’s other hand with a cold snort.
With both hands broken, Lin screamed in agony. “Still trying to sneak attack?” Evan sneered.
“You…you!” Lin glared at Evan in fury.
“Looks like your hands are useless now.” Evan smiled, then kicked Lin hard. Crack! Lin’s whole body was wracked with pain as his legs were crippled, leaving him collapsed on the ground, trembling as he stared at Evan.
“You treated me like this back then—do you remember?” Evan asked with a smile.
“I really regret not killing you back then.” Lin glared at Evan, his whole body wracked with pain.
Just then, several powerful auras approached—the Emperor-level overseers of the Earth-Immortal Star System. Seeing the carnage, one Emperor demanded, “Who are you?”
Seeing the Emperors arrive, Lin was overjoyed. “He’s Evan Yang!”
As soon as Lin spoke, the Emperors were shocked. But they all knew Evan was someone Ethereal Sanctuary couldn’t tolerate. They immediately surrounded him, and the lead Emperor snorted, “So it’s you. After what you’ve done today, even being from the Yang Clan won’t save you!”
“What have I done?” Evan stood up, smiling at them.
“What did you do? Obviously you’re causing trouble here!” the Emperor shouted angrily.
“Causing trouble? Is that so?” Evan kicked Lin in the chest, directly destroying all of Lin’s Immortal Essence. Lin’s eyes went blank—he forgot the pain, realizing his years of cultivation were gone. From now on, he was a total cripple.
Seeing Evan’s ruthless move, the Emperor shouted, “You’re too arrogant! Today, we’ll take you down!”
“Is that so? Just you lot? You’ll need the ability to catch me first.” Evan smiled, then turned to Lin, “This is your price. Goodbye—I hope you survive.”
With that, Evan flashed away. The Emperors hurriedly chased after him.
“These people—always chasing so hard even when it’s not their business. If I was in the mood, I’d teach them a lesson,” Evan muttered to himself.
Evan soon arrived at the array gate—the entrance to the Shard Bug training grounds. He activated the array, and by the time the Emperors arrived, Evan was already gone.
“Damn it, what’s he doing there?” the lead Emperor cursed.
“Who cares what he’s doing—he ignored us today, so we have to cripple him! If he grows stronger, we’ll end up like Lin!” another said, furious and fearful.
The Emperors nodded, agreeing that if they didn’t deal with Evan now, he’d deal with them later. Without hesitation, they entered the array as well.
Once inside the array, the Emperors discovered Evan was already gone—no one knew which direction he’d taken.
“That kid’s too fast,” one Emperor said.
“Damn it, everyone stand guard here. I don’t believe he’ll never come out,” the lead Emperor ordered.
The others nodded, while the lead Emperor returned to handle Lin’s situation.
By now, Lin was completely crippled. That wasn’t the worst part—word of his downfall spread, and many came to mock him. Some even took the chance to rough him up.
Lin never imagined he’d end up like this—helpless against those bullying him. No matter how he cursed, they wouldn’t leave until the Emperor arrived and finally drove them off.
“Lord Yao.” Lin looked at him.
“You’re lucky just to be alive in your state,” the Emperor said.
“Lord Yao, I can’t accept this. You have to avenge me,” Lin said through gritted teeth.
“He’s escaped for now, but he’ll be back eventually. When he does, we’ll take him down. Don’t worry,” the Emperor assured him.
“Alright…” Lin replied weakly.
“For now, let’s get you somewhere to recover.” The Emperor took the wounded Lin away.
Lin was puzzled—Emperors were usually cold and distant, but today, after suffering such a heavy blow, they were treating him so well. It felt strange, but with his whole body in pain, all he could do was endure.
After a while, the Emperor brought Lin to a fortress. The place was heavily guarded—outsiders couldn’t enter, only Emperors. Lin wondered why he was being brought here.
Soon, they entered a room where a group of people stared curiously at Lin. Lin, in turn, looked at them in confusion.
“Emperor Yao, what’s this?” Lin frowned, sensing something was off.
“Let me be blunt, Lin. Do you really think your life still has any meaning in this state?” the Emperor asked.
“What do you mean?” Lin felt a sense of danger.
“Since you’re here, we might as well tell you—human experiments. Do you understand?” Emperor Yao said.
“Human experiments?” Lin was shocked.
“That’s right—human experiments. You’ve probably heard why we established Ethereal Sanctuary here, right?” the Emperor said with a smile.
“It’s because we can recruit many newcomers from various worlds,” Lin replied.
“That’s only what outsiders think. But within Ethereal Sanctuary, there’s something special—human experiments. Do you know what we’re testing? We’re testing the fusion of humans and Shard Bugs. Every time we train with Shard Bugs, we’re actually gathering more bugs and corpses to study. We’ve already developed many useful things from Shard Bugs; some subjects died because their will wasn’t strong enough to accept the fusion. That’s why they failed,” the Emperor explained.
Lin was horrified, “You want me to fuse with Shard Bugs?”