"Boss, do you really think he'll agree?" Old Goldwing scratched the golden feather on top of his head, sounding a little doubtful.
"He will."
"You're that sure?"
"We haven't interacted much, but from what I saw in those guys' memories, Nathan Yates is someone who values loyalty and relationships. If he gets a chance to avenge his brother with his own hands, he won't let it slip. Right now, I'm his last lifeline—he's desperate to hold on tight.
He knows exactly where he stands. If he doesn't hurry and take out Marcus Inkblood, he'll get schemed against and killed soon enough. If he dies, with no one to protect them, we all know what fate awaits his sister-in-law and nephew."
At that moment, Evan Chu's Gold-element avatar held his main consciousness, since his true body was busy preparing for Stellar Blazeburst and couldn't afford to be distracted.
Old Goldwing looked at Evan Chu's Gold-element avatar and asked again, "But if he really agrees to our terms, what happens after we take the Pearl-Mountain Star-Region?"
"Like I just said, he's someone who values loyalty and relationships. And me, Evan Chu, I'm not the type to forget a favor, right? I trust he's smart enough to choose to follow me, and with his talent and potential, he'd make a solid right-hand man. Honestly, after I take the Pearl-Mountain Star-Region, I've been wondering what kind of force I'd need to keep this place in line.
Well, now that's settled—maybe all my future headaches can be handled at once."
"Wow! So Boss already had everything planned out. So what am I supposed to do now?"
"Idiot! Of course you're supposed to take my Light Transformation avatar and head to the Duskmire Dynasty! Bring back his sister-in-law and nephew—he'll be grateful to me for life."
"Oh... Got it..."
"Don't forget, you need to get Nathan Yates's soul-message imprint first. Otherwise, there's no way to reach his sister-in-law. I bet right now he's probably just as confused as you are."
Old Goldwing scratched his head, still looking skeptical. Since when did Evan Chu get the ability to predict everything like a fortune-teller? He still didn't buy it—Nathan Yates hadn't hesitated at all before, just turned and left without a second thought.
But the truth was, Evan Chu knew exactly what he was doing—he hadn't tried to stop Nathan at all. He wanted Nathan to feel like he was optional, that even without him, Evan could still take down all three legions.
On the contrary, letting Nathan Yates think he's indispensable wouldn't be a good thing for Evan Chu.
And sure enough, just as Evan Chu predicted, Nathan Yates was back in his command tent and couldn't calm down at all. Evan's confident smile and words were still fresh in his mind, echoing endlessly.
"Did I really just blow my last chance?"
Thinking of Evan Chu's final words—about being buried with the three legions—Nathan grew even more uneasy, and regret started eating at him.
If only I'd just agreed right then and there—at least I'd have a fighting chance. Now, it's probably really...
Just as he was sinking into regret, Old Goldwing shrank into a little golden sparrow and darted in unnoticed, while Evan Chu's Light-element avatar strolled in openly.
"Nathan Yates, Boss says you've made up your mind. I'm here to pick up your sister-in-law—hand over your soul-message imprint."
Nathan Yates was startled—had it all been calculated from the start?
But then he thought about it and understood—over the past three months, the chaos and endless bloodshed among the three legions was probably all the work of this one man. Who was he, really? How could he have such terrifying methods?
Without thinking much more, as soon as Old Goldwing spoke, Nathan Yates split off a strand of his divine soul, attached his message, and handed it over.
Seeing how straightforward he was, Old Goldwing was honestly floored by how clever Evan Chu was! Boss is a real genius!
Taking Evan Chu's Light-element avatar, Old Goldwing quickly left the Pearl-Mountain Star-Region and headed straight for the Duskmire Dynasty's home base.
Before leaving, Old Goldwing hooked pinkies with Nathan Yates and slyly extorted five thousand mid-grade Starstones—claiming they were just 'travel rations.'
What Old Goldwing hadn't expected was that Nathan Yates just handed them over without hesitation! That was his entire fortune!
Of course, not long from now, Nathan Yates would gain far more than he could ever imagine—wealth beyond his wildest dreams, and a cultivation realm so high he could only look up to it. Years later, he would always feel proud of the smart choice he made that night.
Old Goldwing was blazing fast—especially now that he’d broken through to early Saint Lord. Add five thousand mid-grade Starstones as travel rations, and there’s no way he’d dare slack off.
Back in Pearl-Mountain, time was racing by. By the next day, the three legions were almost done rallying their forces for the final all-out assault.
At three quarters past noon, Evan’s true body snapped open his eyes—the refining of over two thousand meteors was finally done.
Compared to the hellish grind of refining thirty thousand Blazing-Flame stars, these two thousand trash meteors were child’s play. Evan could melt them down with barely any effort, and when it came time to blow them up, he could control every blast however he wanted.
He could set the detonation time and impact point for every single meteor—total freedom. Of course, if he tried to add another two thousand, even trash meteors would start to push him. As for ever hitting that thirty-thousand-star overload again? No way.
Push past the limit and blow up thirty thousand? Forget it—even if the chance showed up, Evan would rather die than try that nightmare again. Once in a lifetime pain—never again!
Battle flags snapped in the wind. On the Sky Tiger garrison city walls, the atmosphere was thick with killing intent. Thirty thousand defenders braced for the coming storm—three legions, three hundred thousand troops, all ready to crush Pearl-Mountain. Inside, everyone was drowning in despair.
Just thirty thousand of them, up against three hundred thousand attackers. This was nothing like when Blazing-Flame faced Sky Tiger and Monroe—this time, it was pure suicide!
They weren’t Blazing-Flame’s one-against-ten elites, and they sure didn’t have a heaven-defying monster like Evan on their side. They had zero chance—none! All that was left was waiting for the city to fall and dying where they stood.
Maybe, the moment Sky Tiger Legion was wiped out, their fate was already sealed. There was no going home—retreat meant execution. All that was left was to fight for honor and dignity, one last time. If they didn’t face Flowing-Light, Ink-Blood, and Lanford now, they’d just be crushed by some other dynasty’s army later.