Discussion rippled through the crowd, everyone speculating about who would end up with the most wooden tokens this time—and naturally, whoever did was assumed to be the strongest.
Evan Chu didn’t care about any of that. He had no intention of showing off all his wooden tokens—doing so would make him the center of attention, which he wanted to avoid unless Faye Knox insisted on making things serious.
Just thinking about Faye Knox made Evan’s heart clench. He didn’t know if she’d made it back yet—the Land of the Undead was insanely dangerous, and if anything happened to her, he’d regret it for the rest of his life.
He immediately spread out his divine sense, searching the Ghost Clan crowd for any sign of Faye Knox. It didn’t take long before a smile broke out on his face—he’d spotted her standing quietly in a line not far away.
Evan simply left his own line and walked over to stand behind Faye. The Ghost Clan youth originally behind her started to get angry, thinking Evan was cutting in, but Evan just took out a wooden token from his storage ring and handed it over. The message was clear. The Ghost Clan youth accepted the token and shut up.
Faye had no idea Evan was now standing behind her. At that moment, she was busy imagining how ugly his face would look when she beat him—and just thinking about it made her feel ridiculously happy. She had no clue that a big hand was already sneaking up toward her butt.
Evan wanted to give her a surprise, so he pinched her on the butt and flashed a satisfied grin. He had to admit, Faye’s butt was seriously springy. That smile was all for her—he knew she’d turn around any second.
Sure enough, Faye instantly exploded with killing intent and spun around. But when she saw Evan’s wicked grin, she was so frustrated she nearly spat blood.
“You little thief—y-you actually survived the Land of the Undead?” Faye’s face was bright red. She couldn’t even bring herself to mention Evan’s latest prank; he’d already seen her naked and stolen her first kiss, so a butt grab was nothing in comparison.
“If I’d died, what would you do? Stay loyal to my memory for life? Or are you just scheming how to beat me? Well, get ready to be disappointed this time.” Evan laughed.
“We’ll see soon enough. You’d better not go back on your word, or you’re in for it.” Faye smiled, but as soon as she finished, she noticed something different about Evan—he was giving off Saint Martial realm pressure. Her heart lurched in shock.
“Wait, was this guy really only Divine Martial before? That’s impossible! What’s going on here? I need to figure this out—if he was really Divine Martial before, then he’s way too scary. If we can’t be friends, I’ll have to get rid of him fast, or he’ll be a huge threat to the Netherkin.” Faye thought to herself.
But she’d already decided on the best solution: become Evan’s woman. That way, she could make him work for the Netherkin, and once the other four races were wiped out, the Netherkin would rule the Netherworld.
“You’re probably going to be disappointed. We’ve been apart so long—you must’ve missed me, right? Now that you’ve finally seen me, are you excited?” Evan said with a wicked grin.
“Of course I missed you—I missed seeing you get eaten by a monster. As if someone like you could ever be my type.” Faye laughed. Since you want to annoy me, I’ll just piss you off first.
“Heh, after months apart, my dear Faye isn’t just prettier—your mouth’s gotten sharper too. I really miss that beautiful river scenery from before; it was so intoxicating, so…”
Before he could finish, Evan felt a heavy punch land on his lower abdomen. It was strong enough that, even though it couldn’t hurt him, he couldn’t help but stumble back two steps and bumped into the Ghost Clan youth who’d gotten a wooden token from him.
“Sorry, sorry—my leg just went numb all of a sudden!” Evan turned and apologized to the Ghost Clan youth. He wasn’t about to show off here; if he unleashed a Star-Cleave, everyone in the plaza could get wiped out, but then getting the Netherghost Violet Orchid would be impossible.
The Ghost Clan youth glanced at Evan and said, “Watch it. Don’t let it happen again, or I won’t be so polite!”
Faye saw Evan getting misunderstood and burst out laughing. “How’s it feel, little thief? You dared to mess with me—now watch how I play you to death!”
Evan glared at her and said, “Fine, you win. Let’s try to behave ourselves—drawing too much attention isn’t a good idea.”
Faye knew exactly what Evan was worried about, so she turned away. But Evan’s face broke into another wicked grin. He thought, 'You dare mess with me? Just watch how I get you back this time.'
He stealthily brought both hands behind Faye, then suddenly hugged her from behind, pulling her into his arms—his hands landing right where he wanted.
The soft, shapely feel in his hands made Evan feel utterly satisfied, while Faye was so startled she nearly jumped. Just as she was about to explode, Evan laughed and said, “Don’t move. Unless you want everyone staring, just stay in line like this!”
Pinned by Evan, Faye felt a strange mix of emotions—especially since his hands were anything but honest, kneading her chest into all kinds of shapes. It was both infuriating and embarrassing, and his breath tickled her ear, making her even more uncomfortable.
“Let go of me—if you respect me at all, let go right now! Otherwise I’ll walk away, I don’t care how far I have to go. You’ve really crossed the line!” Faye snapped.
Evan immediately released her and laughed, “I was just joking around. Why get so mad? You’ll be my woman sooner or later, so think of this as an early surprise. Aren’t you shocked?”
“You—you’re absolutely hopeless! How can you be so shameless?” Faye fumed. She was still a proud princess, after all—even if she liked Evan, she couldn’t just let him get away with it.
Evan gave an awkward laugh. “Once I win, you’re going to be my woman—just you wait!”
Faye ignored him and kept moving forward in line. There were only a few people left ahead of her; soon it would be her turn.
At the very front of the plaza, five tables had been set up, each manned by an elder of at least Eighth-Layer Saint Martial strength. Their job was to inspect and tally the wooden tokens and Phantasite each contestant had collected.
So far, the top performer had just over two hundred wooden tokens and a little more than forty pieces of Phantasite. Only a bit more than thirty people had passed the selection—far fewer than expected. Even the commander looked disappointed.
It wasn’t long before Faye’s turn came. She walked up to a table, paused, then turned to give Evan a smile before pulling out a massive pile of wooden tokens from her storage ring.
PS: The chapter has been revised—thanks for bearing with it!