"Where are you going? Hey!"
The man froze, watching the teenager stand to leave, then hurriedly called after him.
"I'm not interested in joining Nightstar. Just treat it as if I failed the test."
Evan Lin didn’t even look back. He was honestly a bit fed up with Ethan Xu’s enthusiasm.
If it weren’t for Old Man Xu personally recommending Evan to Nightstar, hoping he’d serve the country, Evan would’ve already gone over to knock some sense into him for all this hassle.
"N-not interested?"
Hearing Evan Lin’s words, the man looked as if he’d just heard something unbelievable.
In China, Nightstar, Moonshade, and Hidden Dragon—those three top combat forces are basically worshipped by countless people.
Compared to the others, Nightstar is actually the weakest of the three, but just being a Nightstar member—never mind the special privileges—those two words alone are enough to make countless people excited and eager to defend Nightstar’s honor.
And getting into Nightstar is extremely difficult.
First, you need enough strength. Then, you need someone to recommend you.
Nightstar only recruits five to ten people a year. Anyone who gets in or is recommended is always someone with real skills and pride.
A lot come from big martial arts families. This time, Ethan Xu put Evan’s name forward, even though he normally wouldn’t qualify for the test.
Even with Ethan Xu’s high status, and Evan’s win over Grant Yuan, it’s not like he’s the only one who’s ever done it.
But later, for various reasons, one of the original Nightstar assessments couldn’t go forward, so they decided to give this Evan Lin a shot instead.
That was a rare shot Ethan Xu fought hard to get. And Evan just says two lines and walks off?
"Hey! Do you even realize what this is? It’s Nightstar! I’m here to assess you on Nightstar’s behalf!"
Watching Evan’s figure fade into the distance, the man rushed after him.
"Not interested. You can leave now."
Evan Lin shook his head.
“You don’t have to do this. Lasting ten minutes isn’t that hard, and I promise I won’t go too hard on you—I won’t hurt you.”
“This is Nightstar! It’s the Nightstar assessment! Old Master Xu went out of his way to recommend you. Do you know what joining Nightstar means? It means a bright future! Compared to regular special forces, Nightstar is the true backbone of the nation!”
He tried to persuade Evan, following beside him, but couldn’t understand Evan’s attitude.
Usually, people are begging for a chance to get into Nightstar, hoping I’ll go easy on them. No one’s ever been this uninterested before.
“I said I’m not interested. Also, tell Ethan Xu to stop bothering me.”
Evan listened to the man’s endless chatter, then warned him: “And one more thing—don’t try digging into my background. If you mess with my family, I’ll personally send you to the Yellow Springs.”
Evan paused, turned his head slightly as he spoke, his eyes cold.
That look sent a chill down the man’s spine—even as a Nightstar examiner, he suddenly felt cold all over, like he might die the next second.
The killing intent was so real, it froze him in place.
His eyes widened. It took a few seconds to snap out of it, but when he looked again, Evan was already gone.
The park was silent all around.
How does a kid that young have such intense killing intent? It’s like he just walked off the battlefield.
The man was still shaken. He pulled a dossier from his pocket, with scattered notes about Evan Lin.
It listed Evan’s school history from elementary to now, but their investigation was pretty shallow—none of the key details showed up in the file.
School records, living situation, background—he’s just a regular person. A mom who’s a teacher. So where does all that killing intent come from, and how did he beat Grant Yuan?
The man scratched his head, completely baffled.
He thought for a while, then pulled out a pen.
If you don’t want to join, then don’t. It’s not like I’m begging you. Every year, so many people want in—if you don’t, suit yourself.
Let’s just say you couldn’t last five minutes.
He wrote the judgment quickly, still annoyed by Evan’s sudden burst of killing intent.
He glanced one last time in the direction Evan had disappeared, then stuffed the dossier away and hurried off to the next candidate.
Evan walked down the street.
He didn’t care about Nightstar at all.
Worldly identities meant nothing to him—they were just clouds passing by.
He only helped out of a bit of patriotism, and because he promised Eldest Brother Su he’d train the Five Blades.
Otherwise, Evan would’ve already taught that guy a lesson.
Just then, Evan remembered Lynn Chen’s question and faces began to flicker through his mind.
From Mia Chen, class monitor of Brightsea No. 2 High School, to school beauty Rachel Liu, and then Lynn Chen, Yolanda Fang, Selina Shi, Claire Sheng, Molly Su, and Jill Jing who only ever says three words and loves cola, and finally his master Lily Zhao, dressed in snow-white robes, standing atop the Glazed Glass Palace, overlooking the swirling clouds.
Sometimes, even Evan himself didn’t know what it meant to like someone.
Earthly romance felt distant to him.
A person lives one life—once there was heart-fluttering, later there is peace of mind; that’s mostly how it is.
Evan murmured to himself.
It’s not something you can explain clearly.
Before you open the heavenly gate, you’re just a mortal.
Mortals have seven emotions and six desires. Even if your dao-heart is steady and you’re making progress, everyone has attachments.
Evan took a deep breath, pushed the question aside, and cleared his mind, refusing to let stray thoughts distract him.
Meanwhile, Lynn Chen returned home, where Charles Chen and Lucy Lu had been waiting.
They glanced behind her, but didn’t see Evan come in, so they asked Lynn how the "battle" went.
Charles was so eager he almost wanted to cheer for his daughter himself.
Lynn just smiled sweetly, said there was no fight, and hopped upstairs, leaving her parents confused.