Taking a deep breath, Evan Chu walked up to within ten meters of the stone gate and pushed hard, only to find that it didn't budge an inch. This surprised him—a force of ten thousand jun should have been enough.
He looked at the monster, now in its true form, and asked in confusion, "How do I open this stone gate? Should I attack it, or is there a hidden mechanism to let us in?"
"That's your business—I can't tell you. Since you're the fated one, only you can open this stone gate. Consider it another test." The monster replied coldly, though he was clearly hoping Evan Chu could open the gate and prove his identity.
A bitter smile flashed across Evan Chu's face. This was the real test, and for a moment he felt lost, unsure how to proceed.
At that moment, Jade and Yvonne Xuan, along with the other three women, arrived not far from the stone gate. Seeing Evan Chu standing there unharmed, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"How dare you trespass in the treasury! I warned you before—if you come again, I'll kill without mercy!" The monster immediately barked, quickly shifting back into the form of a middle-aged man.
Evan Chu turned and saw that the four women looked badly injured. Not understanding how they'd gotten hurt, he quickly said to the middle-aged man, "Senior, please don't be angry. They're the closest people to me—of course they'd worry about my safety. Please forgive them!"
The middle-aged man glared at Evan Chu and said, "Just focus on opening the stone gate. I hope you haven't lied to me, or you'll all die here—killing you would be effortless. I trust you know your own limits."
"You're supposed to be a super expert, yet you're fussing with a few women—doesn't that embarrass you? As Evan's woman, of course I'd worry about his safety. If anything happened to him, we wouldn't want to go on living. Before he opens the stone gate, I hope you won't disturb him." Yvonne Xuan said seriously. Even though the middle-aged man was overwhelmingly strong, she showed no fear.
Only now did the middle-aged man take a careful look at Yvonne Xuan and the other three women. Earlier, when Yvonne and Serena Frost entered, he hadn't paid attention—just one sneeze had sent them flying dozens of meters. But now, seeing them clearly, he couldn't help but step back several paces, his whole body trembling.
Evan Chu and the four women were also curious about the middle-aged man's reaction, not understanding why he was acting this way. They all watched him quietly.
After a few breaths, the middle-aged man suddenly dropped to his knees in front of Yvonne Xuan and said, "The Black Qilin pays respects to the Princess. I never expected to meet the Princess here. Please forgive the Black Qilin's rude offense!"
Everyone was even more shocked. This arrogant powerhouse was kneeling to Yvonne Xuan, leaving her completely baffled. It all happened so suddenly—she felt like she was dreaming. When did she become a princess?
If it were as a Solarion Palace princess, she could accept it—but clearly this wasn't that kind of princess. So what palace was he talking about? Could it be the God Realm? Smart as she was, she couldn't help feeling puzzled.
To get to the bottom of this, she'd have to hear it from the middle-aged man. "You can get up. Why are you calling me princess?" Yvonne Xuan asked in confusion.
Evan Chu glanced at Yvonne Xuan, then at Princess Serena Hua, feeling genuinely confused. Princess Serena Hua was a true Netherworld princess, so maybe the middle-aged man knew her and it would make sense for him to kneel. But Yvonne—now that was strange.
The middle-aged man stood up and looked at Yvonne Xuan again, then turned his gaze to the other women. When he saw Princess Serena Hua, his expression changed drastically once more—Evan Chu saw it all clearly.
Clearly, he really did know Princess Serena Hua. What a coincidence—to run into someone familiar here.
"Princess Serena Hua, how are you in the Immortal Realm? What's going on?" the middle-aged man asked.
This question startled both Yvonne Xuan and Princess Serena Hua. Neither understood which princess the middle-aged man had meant—they both thought he was talking about the other.
"It's a long story. How do you know me? Who exactly are you?" Princess Serena Hua asked. She rarely visited the God Realm, and even when she did, she'd never met him, so she was curious.
"It's perfectly normal for me to know you. You're the famous Princess Serena Hua of the Netherworld—a super beauty, talked about all the time in the God Realm. Back then I followed my master to the Netherworld and saw you myself, but you just never noticed me," said the middle-aged man.
"I see. Then why did you kneel to Yvonne just now? What kind of princess is she, and what's really going on?" Princess Serena Hua asked.
"That's what shocks me most—meeting the Princess here in the Immortal Realm is almost unbelievable. Her real name isn't Yvonne, but Liana Moon. She's the princess of Moonspirit Palace in the God Realm and was the fiancée of my master, Lord Frostbane. During the War of the Gods, she fought and fell with him.
But seeing her again now is nothing short of a miracle. I know you all have questions, but it's the truth. Princess Liana Moon must be a reincarnation—her bloodline power hasn't fully awakened yet, or she would have ascended to the God Realm long ago.
The root cause of the War of the Gods was Princess Liana Moon herself—her beauty made many God Realm sovereigns fall for her, but she only loved Lord Frostbane. This fueled jealousy and hatred among the other sovereigns, and after the war with the demons broke out, internal strife led to many deaths," the middle-aged man explained slowly.
A look of confusion and pain appeared on his face—he had clearly lived through the War of the Gods, and it had left him with unforgettable scars.
"I don't know anything about what you're saying. I was born in the Immortal Realm—I have no idea about any War of the Gods. Maybe you've mistaken me for someone else!" Yvonne Xuan protested.
"I'm not mistaken. You have a unique bloodline aura—the Qilin Clan's signature. While you're a god-human, you also carry Qilin blood. Do you know what that means? In the God Realm, your true identity is the Qilin Princess. Only a few people know this, and I'm one of them.
Half of your blood is god-human, half is Qilin. You just never used your Qilin bloodline's power, so you've never taken Qilin form. Mostly, you were infatuated with Lord Frostbane and didn't want him to look down on you because of your heritage," the middle-aged man said.
Everyone was even more bewildered. The things they'd heard today were more shocking than anything before—it was hard to believe such things could happen...