After swallowing the pill, Evan Lin felt much better. "If that's the case, let's keep going. But shouldn't you change your appearance a bit? You're too eye-catching right now, and that could easily bring trouble," Evan couldn't help but say.
"That's easy! I could disguise myself as a hideous monster and there'd be no trouble at all! But honestly, I just wanted you to look at me more, to keep my face in your heart. That way, even if I'm not with you, it's like I'm always by your side," Lena said.
Evan glanced at Lena. To have such a beautiful woman care for him was truly a blessing—he really ought to treasure it. If he didn’t have so many things to deal with, he’d want Lena to know his true identity right away and make her his woman for real.
"Just a normal look is fine—if you go too ugly, I can't handle it. Let's hope we can find the meteorite before reaching the secret realm this time!" Evan smiled helplessly.
At that moment, the two of them were standing on a vast plain, surrounded by lush green grass and wildflowers in bloom. In a place like this, sitting back and enjoying the sunshine or lying on the ground to gaze at the endless stars—with a beauty by your side—would be pure bliss.
But Evan and Lena had no time for that. After a short rest, they both started searching with their divine sense again—and, as expected, came up empty.
They kept flying and searching, over and over. At one point, Evan suddenly sensed a faint trace of Stellar Power somewhere ahead. His heart tightened, and he couldn't help glancing at Lena.
Just then, Lena turned to look at Evan too. From the look in her eyes, it was clear she’d sensed the Stellar Power fluctuation as well—her face was just as shocked as his.
"I think I just sensed the Stellar Power you were talking about!" Evan blurted out.
"Me too! It's not far from the secret realm—let's go check it out. The sooner we get it, the better the results!" Lena said, her voice full of excitement.
The two of them took off again, grinning as they flew. Before long they stopped. "It should be right around here," Evan Lin said, spreading his divine sense wide.
Sure enough, just a few hundred meters ahead, he sensed a surge of Stellar Power—pure, intense, and way stronger than anything he could draw from the heavens right now.
Evan noticed it, and so did Lena. They shared a knowing smile and moved forward cautiously. After a meteor lands, the Stellar Power forms a barrier that hides the meteorite—if you don't know what to look for, you'd never spot anything out here.
"So how do we break through this barrier? Looks pretty tough!" Evan asked, curiosity written all over his face.
Lena grinned, "Dummy, you can just absorb the Stellar Power straight up. Once you do, the barrier pops—easy as that! That's why I dragged you out here so fast."
Just as she finished, two sharp sonic booms split the air. "Hahaha, I finally found it! This meteorite looks massive!" a middle-aged man's voice echoed overhead.
"Third Elder, is there really a meteorite? You aren't messing with me, right?" a youth chimed in. In the blink of an eye, both of them landed right in front of Evan and Lena.
"Evan, this is trouble. I didn't expect them to find the meteorite too. They're seriously strong—what do we do?" Lena whispered.
"Don't worry. One's mid God-Emperor, the other's mid God-Venerable. If they get nasty, you hang back—I'll take care of both of them," Evan said coolly.
Lena blinked, thinking she'd misheard. Evan wanted to go up against a mid God-Venerable? Was he crazy? "Evan, are you for real? You wanna fight a mid God-Venerable? You haven't lost your mind, have you?"
"Nope, I'm clear-headed. If things get ugly, I'll get you somewhere safe. Don't worry about me!" Evan reassured her, his tone gentle but firm.
"No way! What if something happens to you? Should I call my dad and the others?" Lena pressed, not backing down.
"No need for now. Relax—I never do anything unless I'm sure I can win. Let's just see how things play out," Evan replied, confident as ever.
By now, the two newcomers were only about twenty meters away. The arrogant youth snapped, "Who the hell are you, and why are you hanging around Lost Gods Valley? Get lost, or I'll make sure you die right here!"
The youth was unbelievably cocky, which instantly ticked Evan off. The guy was handsome, sure, but his eyes were sleazy—he didn't even look at Evan, just stared straight at Lena's chest.
"Why should we leave? This is the edge of the secret realm. Even if you're from Lost Gods Valley, you can't just boss people around!" Lena shot back, sharp-tongued as ever.
The youth's attitude flipped in an instant. He stopped trying to chase them off and grinned, "Girl, you're not bad. If you stick around and keep me company for a few days, maybe I'll spare that kid. Otherwise, neither of you are leaving."
Evan had seen plenty of creeps like this before, and Lena even more so. She didn't get mad—she just laughed, "So you're Lost Gods Valley's Young Valley Master? What a joke. You've really disgraced your old man. The world's getting worse every day!"
"Third Elder, grab that sharp-tongued girl right now. She looks like a virgin, and it's been ages since I tasted something fresh. Time for a little treat," the youth sneered.
Evan hadn't planned to snap right away, but the youth's filthy words crossed the line. Lena was his woman—even if they weren't officially together, she'd long since taken root in his heart.
Any guy would lose it hearing that kind of filth about his woman. Evan's eyes went ice-cold. "Kid, you're dead," he spat, and in a flash, his body blurred like a ghost, appearing right beside the youth.
He threw a punch with all his strength, smashing it straight into the youth's chest. Bones shattered, organs wrecked—the kid wasn't dead yet, but he was hanging by a thread.
The attack was so fast the youth couldn't react—Evan sent him flying dozens of meters, blood spraying through the air. When he crashed to the ground, he was barely clinging to life.
The middle-aged man—the Third Elder—was stunned stiff. He'd never imagined these 'ants' would dare attack in front of him, let alone cripple the very person he was supposed to protect. It was like Evan didn't even acknowledge his existence.
He'd thought about letting Evan and Lena go, but now only one thing was on his mind: killing them. He rushed to the youth, yanked a pill from his storage ring, shoved it into the kid's mouth, then straightened up and glared at Evan.
"You dare hurt Lost Gods Valley's Young Valley Master? You're dead! Give me your life!" With a roar, he lunged straight at Evan with his bare hands...