"Brother Tian, let's skip the fanciest restaurant. No need to waste all those Starstones—we can just go somewhere normal," Gavin Wei suggested as they walked along the road.
"Up to you. But from now on, don't call me Brother Tian. My name's Logan Zhao—just call me Brother Long. Otherwise you'll cause unnecessary trouble again," Evan Chu said.
Gavin Wei thought for a moment, then asked quietly, "Brother Long... you're not actually that wanted Evan Chu, are you?"
"What do you think? Do I look like him?" Evan Chu hadn't expected this kid to actually ask him directly.
"Even if you are, I'll still follow you! Life or death, I won't regret it." Gavin Wei said seriously. He truly admired Evan Chu from the bottom of his heart.
"Good! With words like that, I won't let you suffer by my side. Let's go have a proper drink together." Evan Chu laughed.
They picked a nearby restaurant, had the waiter bring wine and food to their room, and started drinking right away.
After a few rounds, Evan Chu asked, "You think you can make it in this time?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. The rules are different this time. But I'll give it everything I've got—otherwise, what would I do if you get in and I'm stuck outside?" Gavin Wei declared, full of determination.
"Get some rest early. Save your strength for tomorrow's first trial." Evan Chu then walked over to the window.
By now, the moon was high in the sky. The two of them had spent half the afternoon drinking in their room. Evan Chu revealed his true identity to Gavin Wei, feeling that Gavin was a friend worth keeping—sometimes a bit timid, but always upright and honest.
He glanced out the window at the night sky, the cold moonlight reminding him of the moment Roxanne Lin was taken away.
Strength—everything comes down to strength. If I were powerful enough, Roxanne wouldn’t have been taken, my mother wouldn’t still be suffering in the Dragon Shrine, her fate uncertain, and Jenny Sima and Rhea Yang wouldn’t be left waiting endlessly for me...
Thinking of all this, Evan’s craving for power grew even stronger. He walked over to the bed and began cultivating immediately.
He’d just broken through to the Eighth Layer of the Earth Martial Realm, but advancing another layer now was like reaching for the heavens—unless another battle like the Mystic Ice Toad and Flame Spider’s clash somehow gave him a Heaven Crystal. But he knew such a miracle would never happen again.
That night, Evan didn’t fully absorb the energy from his Starstones. Instead, he kept replaying the forms of the Demon-Breaking Fist in his mind. He’d felt its power firsthand; right now, it was his strongest martial art.
With his current Chaos Qi reserves, he could barely manage the fourth form. As for the fifth form, even if he forced it out, it would drain all his Chaos Qi and leave him unable to fight again.
Early the next morning, the two hurried to the training field. Many people had already arrived. After handing their tokens to the soldiers for inspection, they followed the crowd into the Royal Capital’s First Training Field.
Evan took a rough look around and realized the training field was several times larger than Heavenly Dragon Academy. He couldn’t even see the end of it—the sheer scale was astonishing.
More and more people kept coming in, scattered across the field, all waiting in place.
After about half an hour, a majestic, commanding voice suddenly rang out from above: "Citizens of Heavenly Dragon Kingdom! Today marks the day of the Royal Capital Guard recruitment. Welcome to the Capital Training Field—I'm your chief examiner, General Roland Lowell."
This year’s recruitment is different from before—it’s all about fairness and justice. Only the elites will stay; the trash will be eliminated. Who’s an elite and who’s trash? We’ll see soon enough.
The passage for the first trial is inside the massive chamber on the eastern side of the field. I’m sure you’ve all read the rules, so I won’t repeat them.
The token in your hand is your score display. Inject Stellar Power and it will show the gravity value at your location—the deeper you go, the higher the gravity and the greater the danger.
Whoever gets the highest gravity reading will be the final winner. These tokens were crafted by the capital’s top alchemists—at our command post, we can see your results clearly. Anyone caught cheating will be executed on the spot.
Each chamber run can hold a thousand people. I hope you all achieve your best results. Token numbers one to one thousand, enter now. The rest, wait outside."
As soon as General Roland Lowell finished speaking, the whole crowd was electrified. Everyone surged toward the eastern side of the field.
After nearly an hour of walking, they finally saw the so-called gravity chamber—a massive rectangular stone structure, about two thousand meters long and five hundred wide, built of enormous blocks.
There were ten doors, which meant a hundred people per door. No one knew what awaited inside.
At each entrance stood two guards clad in yellow armor. Gavin Wei pointed and said, "Brother Long, those guys in yellow are the Royal Capital Guards—check out how impressive they look!"
"Work hard and you can wear that armor too. No need to envy them," Evan Chu said.
At that moment, the first thousand candidates entered through the various doors, and the Royal Capital Guards closed the stone gates behind them.
Everyone outside waited, with many people whispering and discussing among themselves—the atmosphere was lively.
Evan glanced around and saw that most of the crowd were young people in their twenties, each wearing a confident smile.
"Brother Long, do you think you can get first place? The rewards are incredible—and you’d catch the general’s eye," Gavin Wei said.
"No chance. Look at all these people—quite a few are Heaven Martial Realm experts. If I can pass, that’s already good enough. First place? Not even thinking about it, but I’ll give it my all," Evan Chu replied.
He wasn’t lying. The Royal Capital Guard recruitment was open to anyone aged eighteen to thirty who’d reached at least the Seventh Layer of the Earth Martial Realm. Even with his monstrous Starforge Body, there was no guarantee he could beat the true Heaven Martial experts here.
Time ticked by, everyone anxiously waiting for the first batch to come out.
Suddenly, the general’s voice boomed from above: "Two minutes left! In two minutes, the gravity in the chamber will vanish—make your final sprint!"
The two minutes passed quickly. Soon, the stone gates opened, and the candidates inside began to file out one after another.
Evan watched as each door released noticeably fewer people—some had less than eighty survivors. That meant at least twenty never made it out, crushed to death by the overwhelming gravity.
Every survivor looked pale, clearly drained of Stellar Power. Some were even covered in blood, making the crowd gasp in shock.
"Best result for the first group: seventy-nine meters into the chamber. Next, the second group may enter." The voice echoed across the field.
And so, the next thousand candidates stepped inside, ready to face a life-and-death challenge...