"Crazy woman, look at me now and you still want to stop? If you do, I swear I won't marry you on our wedding day!" Evan Chu had no other way to threaten her, so he could only resort to this most helpless move.
"Even if you don't marry me, I won't blame you. I really can't go through with this," Selena Yale said helplessly.
"Good grief, how did I end up with such a stubborn woman? Why do you think I'm suffering so much? Is my blood just for nothing? Hurry up and do it—don't make me really hate you!" Evan Chu snapped, his anger flaring. He knew what Selena was thinking, but at this point, it was out of her hands.
Selena hesitated, tears welling up in her eyes. At last, she said, "Fine, if you want to die so badly, I'll grant your wish. Worst case, our child will just have to grow up without a father."
With that, she raised her longsword and struck out with all her strength. This time, Selena treated Evan as an enemy, no longer caring about the consequences. If Evan really died, she would just go join him after the child was born.
This strike was even fiercer than the previous two. Evan was left with barely any intact flesh, several bones broken, and multiple internal organs damaged. An ordinary person would be dead by now, but for him, it still wasn't enough to be fatal.
Evan lay on the ground for a long time before finally crawling up, his whole body swaying as if about to collapse, his face deathly pale.
"Evan, these injuries still aren't enough for you to cultivate Wood-Shift. You need to take one more full-force blow. Only at the true edge of life and death can you truly master Wood-Shift and gradually fuse the Fivefold Element-Shift. You must endure—endure what ordinary people cannot." The Sword Spirit spoke up at this moment.
Evan gave a bitter smile. "Sister Luna, I understand. Don't worry, I can make it through this!"
"Selena, give me one last sword strike. Trust me, I won't die. After this, I can start cultivating the martial art." Evan said.
Seeing Evan's state at this moment, Selena felt a pain beyond words. This man made her feel things she couldn't describe—his determination was unreal, his endurance almost unimaginable. But she knew she had to deliver this sword strike; otherwise, all the pain he'd just suffered would truly be wasted.
"Evan, hang in there. I believe you can make it through," Selena choked out, her longsword once again sweeping up a two-meter sword light and slashing toward Evan.
This attack may have truly inflicted the worst injury Evan had ever suffered. His internal organs were almost completely shattered, his body a bloody mess, lying motionless on the ground. If not for the faint breath occasionally escaping his nostrils, anyone would think he was already dead.
Selena desperately wanted to rush over and check on Evan, but she didn't dare—she was terrified of seeing what she dreaded most. All she could do was let her tears fall endlessly to the ground.
After a long moment, Evan, who was lying on the ground, finally moved and struggled to his feet. Now, he truly tasted the feeling of death—a pain that etched itself into his bones, far worse than the agony of breaking through the Starforge Body.
He slowly sat up, wounds still oozing faint golden blood, every inch of his body wracked with pain so intense that even sitting was a struggle.
When Selena saw Evan actually sit up, her worry finally eased a little. Now, she grew curious about the martial art he was about to cultivate.
Evan looked as if he might collapse at any moment, but he endured through sheer willpower. Anyone else would have fainted by now, but his soul strength, honed in the spatial black hole, was so powerful that even losing consciousness was impossible.
With a thought, the Wood Spirit Pearl appeared in his hand. He began to sense the attributes of the wood element, acting as if Selena nearby didn't even exist.
At that moment, the Sword Spirit's voice sounded: "Evan, I hope you succeed this time. This Wood-Shift technique is different from the others—you'll need to put in extra effort. Here is the complete Wood-Shift formula; take your time to comprehend it. If you don't understand something, just ask me."