Evan Chu lounged on Goldwing's back, zipping through the so-called ordinary-class zone. The scenery below blurred by so fast, it made his craving for real strength flare up all over again. Man, flying felt way better than hoofing it like a mortal.
Once you break through to Heaven Martial Realm—bam, you grasp the power of heaven and earth, flip it into stellar force, and suddenly you can float and fly on your own. Sure, it’s not as fast as Goldwing’s turbo mode, but it’s leagues ahead of my current movement skill. Talk about an upgrade.
"Hey, Goldwing, we've been flying forever. You spot anything weird yet or what?" Evan called out.
"This zone's huge, Boss. Haven't seen much so far, but there's one spot that feels kinda off. Might be exactly what we're after," Goldwing grunted.
Evan rolled his eyes. First Goldwing played dumb, now he was acting like the expert. Was this bird just messing with him? "How much farther, genius?"
"Half an hour tops. Sit tight."
Wind howled past Evan’s ears. Before long, Goldwing swooped down from the sky, and Evan hopped off his back. "We there yet?" he asked.
"Just up ahead. Haven’t set foot here in, what, a hundred years? Should be the right spot." Goldwing finished, a flash of golden light rolling over him as he morphed into a middle-aged man.
Evan squinted at the surroundings. Trees, mountains, more trees—nothing remotely special. Was this Goldwing’s idea of mysterious?
Goldwing led the way, soon stopping at the foot of a mountain. "Boss, I swear the entrance to the other zone’s right here. I came outta this spot ages ago," he insisted.
Evan squinted at the mountain wall. "You crawled out of here? A hundred years ago? For real?"
"That's right, this is the spot. Hundred years, give or take, but I can still sniff out my own aura. The entrance itself... eh, can't quite lock it down," Goldwing replied, sounding like it was no big deal.
Evan stared at Goldwing like he’d grown a second beak. What kind of monster could sense his own aura after a hundred years? Not a normal guy, that’s for sure—oh, right, he was a divine bird. Still, it was nuts, but Evan just had to roll with it.
"Wait, Goldwing, weren’t you supposed to be stuck guarding the Millennial Flame Lotus in Guardian Ground? How’d you end up crawling out of here a century ago?" Evan shot back. This bird had more mysteries than a sect’s forbidden vault.
"Back then, there wasn’t any zone split here. No clue why, but a hundred years ago, bam, suddenly we got boundaries everywhere and my turf shrank overnight. I must’ve landed smack in what you call the Honors Class zone!" Goldwing sounded all kinds of annoyed—guess even divine birds hate being caged.
Evan’s brain finally caught up. So this whole place used to be one big area, but then, a hundred years ago, some big shot from Heavenly Dragon Academy or Sea Dragon Academy carved it up into four zones. Talk about a power move.
To split up a region this massive, the barrier had to be huge. Evan couldn’t even wrap his head around it. But one thing was crystal clear: only top-tier experts could pull off something this crazy—Heaven Martial Realm at least, maybe even Divine Martial.
"So how’d you actually get out?" Evan pressed. He had to know, or he’d never get in himself. Sword Spirit Luna had said all he had to do was bust through the barrier, but the real question was: where and how?
"It happened when I was duking it out with the Horned Demon Flood-Dragon and the Skyfiend Tiger. We fought so hard the mountains crumbled, earth split, all of us got beat to hell—and next thing I knew, I’d popped out here, with the Flood-Dragon tagging along." Goldwing looked genuinely shocked as he said it.
Evan knew all about the Horned Demon Flood-Dragon—the giant snake. "So the Skyfiend Tiger’s still stuck in there, huh? What about Vera Stormfox—the Violet Thunder Fox?"
"She’s stuck in there too. But Vera? She barely ever shows up. And even if she did, you wouldn’t know she’s the Violet Thunder Fox unless she wanted you to. That fox is sneaky as hell."
"No kidding. If you didn’t go full bird-mode, I’d never guess you’re a flying spirit beast either," Evan snorted.
"Vera’s illusions are next-level. She can copy anyone, even you. For us beast types, it’s pointless—her scent always gives her away. But you humans? Totally clueless," Goldwing bragged.
Evan’s scalp tingled. What kind of freak skill was that? Better hope he never ran into her, or he’d be in for a world of trouble.
Evan paced in front of the mountain wall, back and forth, then said, "So how do we cross? We supposed to throw hands? You’d probably squash me flat with one slap."
"Me, fight Boss? As if! Let me try blasting this barrier open," Goldwing said, all puffed up.
Just then, Sword Spirit Luna’s voice echoed in Evan’s mind: "Lin Feng, the barrier entrance isn’t here. Move forward another ten meters. Focus—if you pay attention, you’ll sense a faint energy ripple.
Hit the spot where the ripple is, and you’ll bust through the barrier. Even if that old bird nukes this whole mountain, it won’t do squat."
Evan knew Sword Spirit Luna’s tricks were legit, so he hurriedly told Goldwing, "Hold up, don’t blast yet. I think you’re aiming wrong—it’s probably up ahead a bit."
"Why’s that?" Goldwing blinked, surprised.
No way was Evan gonna admit Luna tipped him off. "Shadow told me. Says he noticed something fishy," Evan lied smoothly, tossing Goldwing a sacred beast excuse. Monster beasts had all kinds of weird powers—Goldwing would buy it.
"Oh, if Shadow says so, Boss must be right," Goldwing agreed instantly, then strode forward like it was settled.
"Master, I’ve got no such skill! You’re way too slippery!" Shadow griped inside Evan’s head.
Evan chuckled. "Just tricking the old bird a bit. He’ll swallow it whole." With that, he strolled over to Luna’s suggested spot and started scanning with his divine sense.
He stared and stared, but found nothing. Evan started to lose heart, but Luna’s words kept nagging at him, so he stuck with it, racking his brains for what to do next.
"Use your heart to look, like when you mastered splitting your mind in two. Tap into your heart’s power," Luna coached.
Evan didn’t say a word, and Goldwing kept quiet too. He just watched Evan close his eyes, looking deep in thought, and didn’t dare interrupt—figured Evan was probably chatting with Shadow.
Evan slowly emptied his mind, tuning in to the world around him. At first, all he caught was the wind, bugs chirping in the grass, and his own heartbeat.
Bit by bit, those sounds faded away—even his own heartbeat vanished. It felt like his soul was floating right out of his body.
He’d never felt anything like it—no stray thoughts, no feelings, nothing at all. It was like he’d become part of the air itself, totally blended in.
Just then, Evan felt it—a faint ripple, like energy brushing past…